jamo240

Thanks Dave! Sorry I missed the xmas party too...for some reason I thought it was on Sunday....oh well, next time! I got the 3.5" stainless bends from Nizpro...I am not sure he sells them ordinarily, but he's got them, and we went to trade school together, so he looks after me. That said, I got the 3" bends, muffler and cone from Best Mufflers in Sydney. I think the guy's name is Chris (don't quote me), but he is super helpful, and they have a great on-line store. I ordered and it turned up a couple of days later....I can strongly recommend them. For the V-band clamps, I used Kustom Bits in Croydon. He is also a really helpful guy, and the parts are really well made. I am very confident they will be in the car many years from now. They come together perfectly, and provided you weld them carefully so as not to deform them, they will pull up nicely once all finished...I tacked them in 4-5 places before welding all the way around with the TIG. You may also note I left a bit of pipe sticking through to help pilot one into the other....that is the only thing with the V-band joint...you need a tame centipede to hold everything in place while you get the V-Band on. For the final installation, I gave it a wipe of silicon sealant. The guy at Kustom Bits also said a few rally car guys have used them because flange joints weren't holding up in competition applications, resulting in leaks, and then fines when they went past the noise nazi testing stations. They have not have failed joints since using them. They also give you the benefit or a little radial compliance when putting the whole lot together to get things sitting just right. I got the flex joint through RP Wallis in Oakleigh. Bevin is the guy to talk to down there, and they have just about every kind of pipe and silicon hose and clamping system you can get. They have some guy in Sydney or Brisbane who custom makes the flex couplers to the diameter and length you want. Mine is 3.5" in and out, and larger through the flex part. It cost about $120. I have gone to a lot of trouble to isolate noise out of the rear end this time around. Given your head is more-or-less on top of the rear axle in a 240, I wanted to minimise structure and air-borne noise spoiling the ride. Hence everything that rotates or is connected to things that rotate is bushed and isolated to stop the noise getting to the sheet metal in the first place. Let me know if you need any other info! CHeers Jamo

MaygZ....I guess you could, but the packaging is tight down there, so it may prove difficult to fit things, and you would be talking about a very stiff spring. In my view, the standard setup is adequate, provided it is set up properly. Cheers Jamo

MaygZ you are amazing....how can one man know so much!!!!? They are indeed the inner valve spring off an L series. I'm not sure if it was an E30 or E88, but the exhaust doesn't seem to mind, as long as I don't over-rev it. If you want the fully sick look, you can use the outer instead. Cheers Jamo

Thanks MazgZ. And Bigfella, just so you don't think I'm talking from a text book here, I'll tell you what you're up against happened to me too. My first resto was a 59 Morris Minor. It was 1984 and I was 16, and dead keen on a split screen four door with the centre mounted speedo! In a round about way, I came across the 'perfect' car, which intriguingly had been bought brand new by my then deceased grandmother, which just added to the apeal. I got it home, got into stripping it and all that (with absolutely no money and even less of an idea), only to find the rear leaf spring hangers had all but come away from the body, and all the structure behind the sheetmetal that was essential to the car's integrity was more like honeycomb than steel. A mates dad who actually knew what he was on about gave me the bad news, and so it was that the Morrie got cut up and went down the tip. With all the resources of a year 10 lad, I had to confront a bunch more shifts at McDonalds to get back to where I thought I already was, and some time later I bought anothery that was in much better shape, and that was the one that got finished in the end. It was a better car, and a better finished product. Cheers Jamo

Hey Bigfella SOrry to hear you're in a spot. Ever the contrarian...here I go. I agree with the comments about persistence, and it is true that projects always hit the mid-game slump where the effort and reward seem to head in different directions. HOWEVER....if you are reaching the conclusion that despite your best efforts, the car is not going to come out the way you want it (eg big door gaps, or a number of things that just aren't quite right), then there is no shame at all in cutting your losses and starting with a better car. I said it before and I'll say it now. It's ALWAYS better to spend more money on a better base car than try to fix a clunker. While it can be done, Z's aren't Duesenbergs...there are still a few around, and better examples do come along. Up to you of course, and I along with a number of others here will help if we can, but don't make the error of throwing good money and effort after bad if you're not going to get it how you want it in the end, or worse still, you throw the half/nine sixteenth on the floor in frustration and give it all away. Cheers Jamo

Hey Gareth. I'm surprised to hear you're breaking mounts. I have run a stock standard setup with my 240Z/L28 on 22psi (400 BHP) and never had a problem...it will wheelspin in 3rd gear, so there's no shortage of torque. To get it to work though, the torque reaction strap must be in good condition and be positioned to be in substantial tension as you bolt the front diff bracket into place. I position it first (using slotted holes), before the diff is in place. After installing the diff, the last thing I do is offer the front mount up (the one that also retains the front end of the rear LCA bushes), and as you bolt it all up, the strap should come under tension, and the whole system can do it's job. The front mount provides support and vibration/noise isolation, while the strap takes torque reaction under hard acceleration....no rubber mount will last long if you keep exposing it to tensile forces....that's what the strap is there for, and it has plenty of strength to take the forces present...I have never seen one in good condition 'snap' due to overloading. I know the racers love to remove all compliance from every bush in the whole car, but it is not necessary, and mounting everything solid will do absolutely nothing of any use, and will ensure every vibration will be transmitted through to the body where you will hear and feel it. Cheers Jamo

Heya Some of the chaps on here have excellent knowledge on which year cars had what, but in a nutshell, the early 240's had the R180 diff, and the curls on the bar faced rearward. This configuration caused problems with the rear driveshaft angles (too much angularity in the plan view), and early Z's were/are known to chop out the splines between the stub axles and drive shaft flanges. I have removed a number where the retaining nuts are only still in place due to the staking, but have become loose, and the spline has noticeable wear. So much so that the flange and axle have to be replaced. To correct this, Datsun moved the diff rearward by turning the mustache bar around, offsetting it by the diameter of the curl. This corrected the vibration/wear problem. By 260Z, the R200 had come along, which has a different offset in the rear case to accomodate larger gears etc. The mustache bar is different for an R200 to accomodate the different diff, and from memory, the two studs that go through the mustache bar from the diff cover are larger in diameter too (c/w R180). I have an R200 in my 240Z, and simply put the mustache bar and diff from a 260Z straight in. Mine is a 73, and I am pretty sure had the late model fix for the diff from day 1. I can't remember what they did with the front diff mount, but it is pretty straight forward, as I am pretty sure I have all the original 240Z diff mounting brackets in place, with only a change to the rubber mount. You will of course need the appropriate propeller shaft to go with the diff offset rearward. The early Z's had the flange type gearbox, whereas the later ones that went with the diff position change had the slip-yoke style. Cheers Jamo

And some more!

Hey guys Here's a photo expozay of my exhaust...it's back in the car now. I made it 3.5" back to the rear suspension, and then it necks down to 3" up to the rear muffler. The hanger you can see near the flex coupler hangs off the gearbox, and I also added an extra mount at the rear muffler...this stops them pulling the spot welds out of the frame rail on standard single mount. The spring hangers are how we used to mount exhausts on the Grp A Skylines.

Hmmmm.....some of the more dubious moments in exterior styling on display here.

Geez MaygZ...when you put it like that it's a pushover! I will put a highlighter through your name as someone to meet at the xmas party, that's for sure!!! Jamo

Thanks Lurch...looking forward to seeing you there. Cheers Jamo

Hellooo!!! Luvemfast....there won't be any ring mounting...especially of a 280ZX driver!! I do wish I could get it to the Xmas party, and it's so close it's driving me nuts. Just doing the last 127 5 minute jobs, and I don't want to put it out there until it's done and dusted. Looking forward to meeting a few more Z owners there though. Cheers Jamo

Hey gents I will try to get there too, but unfortunately my car will not be ready, so I will have to bring the Commode. Can I ask where it is, and when it kicks off? Cheers Jamo

Hey Simon I am going to struggle to get it to the Xmas party...I have a bit or work stuff on over the next few weeks which is going to slow down my progress, and I can't see me having it all done in time. It's a shame, as I wanted to get there, but think I'll have to pick up on the next event to put it to the tribe for a vote! You'll be pleased to know your ring and pinion is now happily mounted in the car and ready to smoke em up! Cheers Jamo

Well Gang, the engine is now complete and will be back in the car by the time you read this! I have a couple of turbo ducts to finalise prior to plating, but otherwise it's all done. The exhaust dump and turbo heat shield will go on for good with the engine back in the car. Then it's over to wiring and fire it up. Interestingly, the VL Commodore turbo speedo drive fits straight into the R33 skyline gearbox in place of the electronic unit. The standard 240Z speedo drive cable then screws straight onto the VL drive. So getting the speedo to work is that easy (although the VL turbo has a diff ratio of 3.45:1, so the calibration will be out a bit with a 3.7:1). BUT...that means the Apexi FC ECU will not get a speed input. I'm not sure what that is going to do, so we'll see what happens, and if there are problems, I can get a remote signal generator made by CAE in Castlemaine. It's an adaptation of the VL turbo setup apparently, which uses the cable drive I have just mentioned, with the signal to the ECU being generated by electronics mounted in the speedo cluster (along with the speedo dial that the driver looks at). I'm not too sure why Holden did this, as the VL had a 90 degree angle drive hanging off the speedo drive, which was a bulkier thing than if they'd just used an electronic sender like what is in the R33 skyline...am sure they had their reasons! Exhaust wise, all the bits arrive today, and I found some neat 3.5" (pipe dia) V-band clamps made by Kustom bits in Croydon. These are easily the best choice for an easily serviced joint which also allows a bit of radial movement to ease fitting the exhaust up. I have decided to run 3.5" up to the rear suspension, then come down to 3" from there and through the muffler. That should give better noise reduction during cruise. I'm not worried about how loud it is at full noise, it's when I'm cruising at 100km/h that I don't want it droning away! If it knocks the power output around, or forces me to pull spark out I'll make a 3.5" option for the odd occasions when I need the extra performance. Once all that's sorted out, I'll get a reconfigured radiator made up with the outlets in the right place. I am thinking of going a copper/brass radiator with 45mm core (3 tubes thick) and 12-13 fins per inch (FPI - the taller 0.450" high fins, not the 0.310" low fins) in a split flow configuration. By running an extra tube core (2 instead of 3), the water flow rate through the core can slow down too much, while the extra core thickness can slow down air flow through the radiator if the fins are too tight. That causes the radiator to perform badly. Hence opening the air-side of the core up by going to high fins both improves air flow while reducing tube count. The smaller tube count then increases coolant flow rate/turbulence through the core. Turbulent rather than laminar flow is essential to the performance of radiators. It'll be painted black to look factory. Oh, the pic of the engine in the car shows the inlet manifold upper removed...I took it off because it gets in the way of my engine lifting rig...it's back on now!! While it would have been easier to use one of those Greddy GTR style manifolds, I like long inlet runners for good low end and mid-range torque. It intrigues me that so many road going RB engines are converted from having long inlet runners and short exhaust runners into having short inlet runners and long exhaust runners (via header manifolds)!! It's exactly the opposite of what is required for road cars! Although I have always believed any performance reduction can be overcome by a couple of Holley-equipped stickers on the quarter windows. Cheers Jamo

Matt....Maaaate!! Love your work and tenacity, as that has been one huge job.....BUT, I hope other prospective restorers take note of the work and effort involved in recovering a badly rusted body.! Having done one or two over the years, I can only say to people that it is ALWAYS ALWAYS better to spend more money on buying the best car you can afford to start with. These days, I'm quite happy to buy a car that's already done up and start from there, rather than buy a roughy and fix it up from scratch. Body work burns up squillions of hours, and hours cost money. If you love body work, knock yourself out, but if you want the cheapest way home, start with a good body! Cheers Jamo

Thanks Sirpent. It's coming along pretty quick now, so it's fun to be doing all the finishing work that makes the car start to look complete. You're obviously having a whale of a time with adaptors and CAD drawing and all that. I will be interested to see how the whole thing turns out when it's done...should have beautiful throttle response with a large blown engine. Cheers Jamo

OK...I lied....HERE are the last pics of the engine bay. Stab bar is now back in with re-plated bush brackets and I've put the splash guard back on. This took a stack of time to panel beat all the dents out and then get powder coated. I thought I'd better take a pic now before it starts getting scratched! New bolts round it out nicely to look like factory original. Even with the power steering installation, I'm happy it look factory. Oh, BTW, all the plating I got done including the sump which some of you may have seen in my other post cost under $100. It's money well spent to make your resto look better. Cheers lads Jamo

Ok one and all. The hits just keep coming with my two-fitty Zed. Here is the final shot you'll see of the engine bay before the RB goes in. This one shows all the power steering bits in place. I made the steel pipe for the fluid reservoir - pump feed as that way I don't have to worry about heat-ageing of rubber hose near the exhaust. If you're looking for a plater in the Melbourne area, I can strongly recommend Warners Metro in Bayswater. Their work has been really superb, and very reasonable prices. Next stop is the reinstallation of the engine after I put a couple of 90 degree bends in the heater pipes...that's all that's left...yippee! Cheers

Hmmmm.....I don't normally weigh in to the emotive issues on this forum, but I'm with 6 shooter on the question of language. While everyone will have their own standards on the use of colorful language, this being a semi-public forum, we have collectively decided to maintain a standard which precludes foul language being acceptable under that standard. While you may not agree with it, that is the standard here, and that is what all are required to observe. End of discussion. As for being ripped off by service providers, well, that can happen anywhere. I am a mechanic, and in my many years of providing service for a number of shops, I have seen varying practices. With dealers, you are paying for a lot of overhead (all those nice waiting rooms and courtesy buses). At little shops in industrial areas you are at the whim of the standards the shop keeps and the ability of the person doing your work. Accordingly, you must do your diligence and satisfy yourself that the shop you are using is working to the standards you expect, and the people doing the work are competent. After that, you must respect their expertise, and while questioning is healthy, to head in there confronting and abusing them will get you no-where fast. I am in the locomotive maintenance business nowadays, and we provide top-notch services, and customers value that even though it costs them substantial $$ because they know it's what keeps their freight getting to the port. Bottom line: Choose a good maintainer, discuss the situation with them respectfully, and the overwhelming majority of the time they will sort your problem out and get you going. Cheers Jamo

And a couple more....

Well folks....here are some pics to draw this 'how to' session to a close. Stay tuned for the next episode where I'll show you how to make a muffler! Cheers, Jamo

Hey Craig...the Xmas party is going to be a stretch, but you never know...I will by trying though! There are a few things you can do to adjust weighting of steering. I will fill you in on them when I start fiddling around myself. In a nutshell, you can either increase the rate of the torsion bar inside the control valve, and that will increase the weight, or you can modify the boost valve in the pump (if so equipped) to modulate the pressure delivered at different pump flow rates. If all that is too hard, you can bypass some of the flow from the pump back to the reservoir via a controlled orifice, thereby reducing the pressure at the rack. Cheers Jamo

Hey Craig My congrats along with Kato. My engine is going back in the car this weekend, and then I have a few days of wiring work before it will run. But I hope to fire it by end November, so will then get a sense of how the steering feels too! Cheers Jamo