1973 240Z "getting it back on the road" log - lots of advice will be needed!

[GongZ]

Welcome to the beginning of my (re-)build log - I hope there will actually be an end to this log one day too!

 

My name is Ian and I have now joined this group after about a month of lurking.

 

I have posted a thread in the Introductions and Forum Etiquette section;

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,8157.0.html

 

Quoting myself from this topic;

Hi everybody,

 

I have recently joined the group and today seems like a good day to introduce myself.

 

I have a September 1973 complianced 240Z which I have owned since 1984.

 

I bought the car from the original owner when it had 19,514 miles on the clock.

 

The car was last registered in 1995 and I have recently taken it out of long term storage.

My objective is to get it back on the road soon.

 

The obstacles are -

 

- Brakes need complete overhaul

- Engine has not been started since about 2003!

- There a few small rust (and therefore paint) issues

- Everything needs to be checked, cleaned, dismantled etc.

<snip>

 

 

I have also uploaded a gallery with some photos of my car as it is now;

http://www.viczcar.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=326

 

- and 2 pics showing my token effort of replacing the emblems on the wheel centre caps;

http://www.viczcar.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=327

 

My first objective is to fix the brakes - the pedal goes to the floor and nothing happens at all.

 

I would like to maintain as much originality as possible at this stage so my plan is to have the

wheel cylinders, callipers and master cylinder sleeved (stainless steel) and buy 'major overhaul'

kits for all of them

 

So my first plea is for help locating the major overhaul kits i.e. kits which include

pistons.

 

Am I being too hopeful?

[GongZ]

This snip from one of my posts in the Introductions and Forum Etiquette section gives you a bit more info about the car;

 

<snip>

The car is fairly original, with the exceptions of;

 

Kidney/jelly bean alloy wheels that were fitted to the car when it sat in Capitol Motors showroom (It was also fitted with BRE style front and rear spoilers)

A stroked L24 (L26 crank) with triple Weber 40 DCOE's and extractors

280ZX 5 speed gearbox (was Jatco auto from factory)

Original 3.54 diff centre replaced with 3.9 ratio unit

Koni strut inserts and K-Mac front and rear sway bars.

1980's Proton radio/cassette.

 

I have the original motor (needs rebuild), auto box, diff centre, spoilers and radio (butchered the faceplate in about 1985 to suit the whizz-bang cassette deck - can I say damn here?)

 

My intention is to keep the car pretty much as it is but to "balance out" the existing modifications with some progressive rate springs (I wouldn't mind if she sat a bit closer to the ground), a Toyota 4 spot upgrade up front, a "front valance with lip" (like the one MSA sells) and maybe some strut braces.

 

I will probably have the holes in the rear hatch welded up because I think the rear spoiler really does "spoil" the lines of the car.

 

I have to say how happy I am that the since I took the car off the road, the internet has evolved and makes it so much easier to find advice, parts, ideas etc.! There are so many parts available its amazing.

<snip>

 

As you can see - I am toying with the Toyota Hi-Lux front brake upgrade but I want to restore the stock set up first.

 

I will then look for a set of used backing plates to modify for the Toyota set up and probably a 15/16" master cylinder

to go with it. That would allow me to reverse the upgrade if needed in the future.

 

So back to sourcing brake cylinder/calliper major overhaul kits - any tips?

[GongZ]

I have been doing lots of planning for my project and I have been searching eBay and the internet for the

parts I need. I want to get the brakes working first - and I have received some parts for the upgrade/repair.

 

The 280ZX Master Cylinder was from Rock Auto (USA) and cost A$221.64 delivered. This arrived 10 days after being ordered.

 

The rebuilt Toyota s12+E callipers (to suit my original non-vented disc rotors) and ceramic pads cost $A276.32

delivered and were sourced from Silvermine Motors. Their original postage quote was US$160 but when

I asked if a cheaper option was available, the seller found that USPS standard parcel rate would be US$65,

which made the deal a 'goer'. These also arrived 10 days after being ordered.

 

I was going to buy used callipers from a local wrecker, but I figured that the cost of used callipers, rebuild kits,

brake pads and honing would be about the same as buying these rebuilt units and the seller's recommended pads.

[GongZ]

I have received a pair of Front Brake Backing Plates from Scoota G. Scoota (Mark) was generous enough to offer these for free.

 

Unfortunately, I made a typo when giving Mark my address, so they travelled from Ballarat to Wollongong, back to Ballarat and back to Wollongong again.

 

The plates therefore cost

$0 + $23 postage ($11.50 X 2!) + $20 donation to AusZcar = $43 - still a bargain in my book.

 

Thanks Mark.

[GongZ]

I bought a set of Stainless Steel Brake Hoses and a matching clutch hose from eBay USA seller gtautosports.

They are sheathed with either clear, red, blue or black - I chose the black (stealth) option.

 

The brake hoses were US$62.95 and the clutch hose was US$19.95 - total including postage was A$103.

They arrived 7 days after I ordered them.

 

I was surprised to find that the brake hoses are longer, and the outside diameter of the hoses is significantly smaller, than the factory rubber hoses.

In the photo is a NOS rubber brake hose between the stainless brake hoses and the stainless clutch hose.

[GongZ]

These ball joints came from US eBay seller 'worldsuspension'.

 

They were US$17.99 (supposedly on special - usually US$23.99) and the postage cost was US$24.00.

They took 11 days from ordering to arrival.

 

The brand is DLZ (Guangzhou, China) and their part number is 02B201 (substitutes for K-9011).

 

Looking at the prices from other suppliers, these seem to be very cheap - anyone else using them?

[GongZ]

Its tool time! A 10/11mm brake flare spanner to be specific.

 

This came from UK eBay seller 'xpn1'. It was £1.99 + £0.99 postage.

 

Delivered in 8 days, the total cost was A$7.04.

[GongZ]

Exterior Door Handles.

I bought these from US eBay - seller 'designguu'.

They were US$67.77 + US$17.00 for postage from Singapore.

They turned up 13 days after ordering and cost me A$87.52 in total.

 

Interestingly the same seller offers the same handles on the Australian eBay site for A$77.77 + A$19.50 = A$97.27 - about 10 bucks more.

[Sirpent]

Welcome GongZ

 

Your car and mine have some paralells as far as when we purchased them, how long we drove and then stored them.

 

Good luck with the resto.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Scoota G]

I have received a pair of Front Brake Backing Plates from Scoota G. Scoota (Mark) was generous enough to offer these for free.

 

Unfortunately, I made a typo when giving Mark my address, so they travelled from Ballarat to Wollongong, back to Ballarat and back to Wollongong again.

 

The plates therefore cost

$0 + $23 postage ($11.50 X 2!) + $20 donation to AusZcar = $43 - still a bargain in my book.

 

Thanks Mark.

 

Yea that was a bit harsh hey, i think if they it wasn't for the fact that it was new owners in the house it went they would've taken the time to walk 1 block and find out if it was for you. Somtimes these cars give us tough love.

[GongZ]

Well at least some parts of my car have been clocking up some miles Scoota!

[acf321]

Hi Gong

 

welcome to the site ... all the blokes are really helpful, and have all the clues, so you should find the forum a good source of info and there are some great events too.

 

I am rebuilding a 71 zed known on here as 'the brown hornet' and I have found an e-bayer called 'reddat' to be very helpful, and he had loads and loads of OEM parts. The other guys I have used include Stockcuz, and Z-connection. I typically ask for a discount, and typically receive one as some of the prices are a lot, given most of the stuff are 40+yr old NOS inventory.

 

Good luck getting the old girl back on the road.. for what its worth, I think those jellybean wheels and 65/70 series tyres look really great on the early zeds ... Lurch has some photos them on his earl red car.

 

Cheers

 

Adam