RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 I bought my 240Z in late September and have been deliberating since as to which way to go with the build, either to keep it period and run the L series engine or to build my dream 240 and go LS-1 So I have finally made the decision based on what will bring the biggest smile to my dial every time I drive it and nothing makes you smile more than a very worked LS-1 and lots of wheel spin The project so far, after negotiating and getting the car home, the car has sat awaiting the completion of my shed being built, now that that has been completed the project has begun. I have checked the car over pulling the guards off trim out and carpets and apart from some patches of rust and a couple of love taps the car is very straight and has no structural defects. The parts accumulation has begun with all rubbers for the car having been bought in nolethane, a pair of period Recaro seats, suede Sparco wheel, a set of Rota RB's in 17x9 and 17x8.5 with 255/40 rears and 235/45 fronts, top-stage carbon flares, R33 GTS-T calipers etc I have also bought a a VX II SS Commodore with low kms and T56 6 speed, that will be the donor car, I will use all the parts I need including accessories off this car and sell off what I dont need to recoup some money to finish the conversion. I still need the following parts to get it under way, engine mount kit, transmission mount, speedo converter, diff set up, front rotors, rear disc set up, front one piece cowl and spoiler, suspension and then to get the body work and paint done then exhaust, fuel system etc. Time to get cracking Jon S30 1 Quote
Roberto Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Welcome Jon. Good luck with your build. Quote
620Z Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Sounds nice John. I just hope it doesn't end up another half finished projects. The LS1 will put a smile on your dial. Sounds like you are well under way. Big project though. So committment is the key. Good luck with it. Cheers Craig Quote
PeterAllen Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Jon – You look to have the wherewithal to get this done but I will offer a few initial comments: Prepare some kind of written plan or sketches on how each component will be installed, engine, gearbox diff, fuel tank, emission fittings, etc and make sure these comply with regulations. Engage an approving engineer and discuss with him what you are planning to do – it is better to work with your engineer than to go ahead and build something and then have hassles trying to get it registered, or worst, not being able to get it registered. For starters, you need to work out which sump you will be using and the engine mount configuration – the latter will be very important in making the extractors. Myself, zed240au and RB30X all have LS1s and I’m sure are willing to provide advice based on our expensive learning experiences! Send a PM if you want. Quote
Riceburner Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Welcome, you'll find lots of help here. RB30X has an awesome 240 with LS1 conversion, he'll have a heap of tips for you Quote
zed240au Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Good luck jon not a project for the faint hearted but the result is well worth the headaches Mick Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 19, 2012 Author Posted January 19, 2012 Thanks guys, and thank you for welcoming me to the forum Also thank you for the offers to call upon your experience, I will take you up on those offers as I get closer to the involved aspect of the build. I have done a large number of involved engine conversions and as such on the surface this appears to be a fairly straight forward conversion, as Peter noted getting the sump and engine mounts right to begin with is pivotal to the success of the build, as such I welcome any input to peoples experience in what works and where to purchase the required parts. I am very excited about getting this underway and am actively looking for a rotisserie to set the car up on, so if anyone in SA has one or can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated Cheers Jon Quote
RB30X Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Welcome Jon. As the others have said, make a plan. If yours is a rotiserie job, then get most of that done first before starting the conversion part incase you lose interest. You can buy a lot of LS1 conversion parts prefabrciated from the US, although talk to PeterAllen about how/if they fit? Other things like diffs and gauges are up to your personal taste and what you want to do with the car. I've got a full Autometer dash with pin outs from the LS1 computer for speed and revs which made it a hell of a lot easier, where as PeterAllen's gauges are custom to suit the era of car he is re-creating. Peter is also using the GM diff here got from his VZ donor car where as I still have an R200 in mine. Not sure if you have an LS1 back ground already, but you will need to have your Computer or PCM (Powertrain Control Module) modified to run 'as is' and not have to talk to the VCM (Vehicle Control Module). When getting a tuning shop to do this, also get them to give you a mafless tune. Not only will this unlock a heap of free power but it gets rid of the restrcitive maf sensor and makes your intake set up a lot easier and prettier. Rip both engines and gearboxs out of your two cars and sit the LS1/T56 in the Zed and have a look at what you're up for. Then plan, plan, plan. Read through my build thread in my sig, there'll be lots of info for you to consider. The other guys with LS1 S30's havent really posted a lot of 'build' info, because they either forgot what they did, or they're old and computers scare them Quote
PeterAllen Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 ...actively looking for a rotisserie to set the car up on, so if anyone in SA has one or can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated... Jon - Two $40 engines stands off eBay. Weld in a 300mm section to the height. Another $50 of steel and a welder and you are there. See my PM. Regarding Tim's suggestion that I'm too old, too slow, too stupid, I would like to state that... errrr... err... gee, forgot what I was going to state. Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 20, 2012 Author Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks for the tip on the rotisserie I will make one up in the next week or 2. The car is not at the point that it "requires" being put on the rotisserie, rather I am keen to strip all the under seal off the under body, and either re-do it all, or, clean it all back to clean steel and paint the underside to match how the exterior will be, I am also keen to brace and link the front and rear chassis rails to reduce body flex and the best way to do that is with the car stripped and easy to access. I have a very good friend who specialises in LS1 tuning, so he will take care of the computer aspect of the engine conversion. I will be keen to use the Holden diff as it simply means I dont have to buy another part to use for the build....and it is LSD already Quote
Joiji Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 Always nice to have more in Adelaide. Seeing as you mentioned underbody, I'm not sure how much use it will be to you, but I read through and E30 M3 resto thread a while ago where he had the shell dipped and redid the underbody coating, helped me get my head around it, plus, he does a nice job of most of the rest of the work too. http://www.e30owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4446&page=5 Let me know if you want a hand with anything. I can't say I'm fantastic, but I enjoy a rant like everyone else. Tim. Quote
chris240 Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 Welcome Jon.. Now that the lads have given you some advice , you now need to advise us what on earth you did to get that ballroom finish on your garage floor ! Im jealous ;D Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 20, 2012 Author Posted January 20, 2012 Welcome Jon.. Now that the lads have given you some advice , you now need to advise us what on earth you did to get that ballroom finish on your garage floor ! Im jealous ;D Very simple, a product called Salcomix 729 2 pac, applied with a roller, full chemical resistance, anti slip, and so gwossy :-) Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 21, 2012 Author Posted January 21, 2012 The donor car is in the shed, only issue is I am away at Taga Wrestpoint next weekend so nothing will be done for a few weeks Quote
mossy Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 Another option for the rotissorie Jon is one of these on ebay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Auto-Car-Body-Rotisserie-Twirler-Hoist-900kg-2000Lb-Capacity-/380401871346?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5891b7e9f2#ht_500wt_1069 I think of the members here bought one and loved it. Good luck with the build, I would have loved another 240 with an LS1, too technical for me though, the missus would probably kick me out too! Quote
zed240au Posted January 22, 2012 Posted January 22, 2012 From my experience the camaro sump is good choice for this convesion bolts straight up and fits good you will need to get windage tray dip stick and dipstick tube to suit this sump as well Another issue to consider is where u want to get your oil pressure reading from u can get a std bolt on fitting for this sump and then fit std datsun style oil pressure sender As for mounts Johns cars in texas makes a good kit that fits well peter and i have both used this kit I used std guages apart from tacho which i installed aftermarket center to std tacho housing Cable x make a speedo converter which takes signal from gearbox and drives std speedo works good As i own a exhaust shop i have made my own extractors to fit managed to get 1 3/4 inch 4 into ones into car tight fit but good performance i was running twin 2.5" exhaust which was nice sound Have just made new twin 3" system is very loud going to take some serious muffler to quieten down just not much room to put it Good luck Mick Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 22, 2012 Author Posted January 22, 2012 Cheers Mick Any sugestions as to where I can buy a camaro sump and pick up for the right money, I am not ruling out the JCI kit just keen to explore further before buying it Cheers Jon Quote
RB30X Posted January 22, 2012 Posted January 22, 2012 As i own a exhaust shop i have made my own extractors to fit managed to get 1 3/4 inch 4 into ones into car tight fit but good performance i was running twin 2.5" exhaust which was nice sound Have just made new twin 3" system is very loud going to take some serious muffler to quieten down just not much room to put it Pics please??? You need more pics in your thread, especially build pics so old mate here has an idea what he has to do and help him decide on which way to go........ And so I can drool over them. The previous owner of my car wanted to be able to keep the Australian LS1 sump and made the cross member and mounts to suit. This would have been harder to do intially but awesome now its done. I could drop in another LS1 or any other LS motor very easily. I updated page one of my build thread (click on my link under these words) to include pics the custom engine mounting. Quote
zed240au Posted January 22, 2012 Posted January 22, 2012 The one option i would suggest for mounts is to make it same as the right hand side of johns car kit and use same mount to both sides pretty easy to do Andrew who built a ls2 260z in S.A went that way on my suggestion and it worked fine Pity he sold his car would have been well worth a look for you but last conversation i had with him he said he believed car ended up over here in tassie On sumps or oil pans as the usa people call them pretty sure be easy to buy from usa web based parts suppplier peter and andrew bought theres that was and was not much more than i paid for second hand one from ebay usa and then i had to buy tray and dipstick from spare parts supplier anyway Here in aus eagle imports be good one to try Will load some pics with my ideas next week under the pump this week got lot of small changes to make to car for Powercruise next weekend mick Quote
RB30X Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Summit racing in the States can have cheap stuff sometimes too. Postage is the killer though. Quote
zedevan Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Very simple, a product called Salcomix 729 2 pac, applied with a roller, full chemical resistance, anti slip, and so gwossy :-) where abouts can you buy it from? ie shops in Australia or easiest to just buy it over the net? Is it still slip resistant (within reason) when wet? Quote
RAdelaideRatsun Posted January 23, 2012 Author Posted January 23, 2012 where abouts can you buy it from? ie shops in Australia or easiest to just buy it over the net? Is it still slip resistant (within reason) when wet? The distributor in Melbourne is ART, or if you know a repairer using Glasurit paint ask them to get a price for you, you can order it in any shade you want even mono metallic :-) Quote
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