Hello from across the pond! Searching for a 240z

[240260280]

Remember to pour beer on your cereal instead of milk and you're golden.

Edited May 27, 2018 by 240260280

[siteunseen]

Snap, crackle, burp

[Woody928]

Well hopefully all being well exciting things are about to happen to bring the car back on the road in another revised and much improved state.

 

Given my lack of engineering skills and knowledge (something I'd love to change and keep endeavoring to) the car is going to Passion Engineering this Saturday for a lot of TLC and primarily to have the R180 3.9 LSD installed, S14 gearbox conversion done and the engine looked at with the new carb setup dialed in. It's safe to say that I'm super excited to have the car back and on the road to make the most of the rest of the summer having only managed to nurse the car to two summer shows and then locked it up in the garage. With the new revised setup it should be able to really attack some B roads and cruise a lot better.

 

Having thought several times I'd got everything I need over the past several months I've had several issues and hurdles to overcome including last minute items this week which have hopefully now rounded off the list. The biggest issue has been trying to find a good S14 gearbox, it has become abundantly clear that they are is strong demand now with availability going down while prices are going up and the condition of them going down due to the drift scene wrecking them. The gearbox I had stripped by a local workshop was not going anywhere the past few weeks due to the shop repeatedly going back on their word about looking at it week after week, I've therefore had to make alternate arrangements. Last week thanks to Moggy I got in touch with a chap through Facebook who had two gearboxes for sale, in the end I struck a deal and have bought both gearboxes (both of which are meant to be good). We're going to just drop one in and see how it goes after all the issues with trying to get a box rebuilt locally to no avail. 

 

John Palmer kindly acquired a set of S14 internals from Dean's BRE race car which were spare in an attempt to help me have the gearbox rebuilt however the local workshop having spent weeks ignoring me have decided there are slight differences in the gear sets (not sure if there were are any differences between S14 or 14a boxes) and aren't interested in the job. Having now got fed up I've just collected the gearbox in pieces and am storing it in the garage while I work out what to do with it. Not being an expert in any respect but having inspected the gears, this wear that has been mentioned does not seem to be significant and I imagine had I just dropped the box in the car it would have been fine. I suspect the gearbox shop aren't interested in anything that isn't perfect out of fear of any comeback and have just been off with me since day one. Either way I now have two spare gearboxes at the minute albeit one is already spoken for I'll likely keep the stripped box for spares now.

 

IMG-6582 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

I also need to give a massive shout out to Richie P who has saved the day with my propshaft dilemma. Having not been able to work out what I needed or being aware that my propshaft was inappropriate for shortening coming from an earlier car and therefore not having a slip yoke on one end. By chance Richie had a transitional prop with a slip yoke lying around as a spare which would be ideal to be converted for my conversion. Not only that but he's spent the last few days running around, stripping it back, having it shortened to the correct length for my conversion, repainted and shipped to me ready for the work to be done. In theory I now have a bolt on solution and no more headaches to contend with. Big thank you dude! 

 

IMG-6589 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

I've also now got my new stub axles to fit the Subaru LSD courtesy of John Williams in the US who is by far the most reasonably priced option for these and was well worth the wait.

IMG-6223 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

I've also decided to stray away from OEM aesthetics for a change, some people will love this and some will hate it however I decided to add some Bosozuku style to my build with this JDM styled shifter knob. I can't wait to see what it looks like installed however I'm confident it will look right at home. 

IMG-6583 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Finally I just want to give a shout out to all of the members of the club who have contributed and helped with my project to date, its amazing how many individuals have contributed to this car in some way and made it a reality when I've come across issues, needed information/advice and sourcing parts etc. Having a great community to support each other makes ownership that much easier and more enjoyable! 

 

Hopefully pictures of a working car are going to be up here imminently.

[Zed Head]

30 minutes ago, Woody928 said:

By chance Richie had a transitional prop with a slip yoke lying around as a spare which would be ideal to be converted for my conversion. Not only that but he's spent the last few days running around, stripping it back, having it shortened to the correct length for my conversion, repainted and shipped to me ready for the work to be done. In theory I now have a bolt on solution and no more headaches to contend with. Big thank you dude! 

 

IMG-6589 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Not a big deal but doesn't that shaft now have two "slip" points, one at the transmission and one in the middle?  Probably fine, just interesting.

Once you get the front case modified, boring the holes, and clearancing for first gear, to fit your S14, you can pretty easily swap gear boxes.  So, even if you get a grindy transmission, it will be just a transmission drop and front case swap to get another in there.  It's the machine work that takes the time, first pass around.

[grannyknot]

Sounds like it's all coming together, exciting!  That is a very cool shift knob, never seen any thing like it.

[Woody928]

14 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Not a big deal but doesn't that shaft now have two "slip" points, one at the transmission and one in the middle?  Probably fine, just interesting.

Once you get the front case modified, boring the holes, and clearancing for first gear, to fit your S14, you can pretty easily swap gear boxes.  So, even if you get a grindy transmission, it will be just a transmission drop and front case swap to get another in there.  It's the machine work that takes the time, first pass around.

So it came from another member of the Z club UK, I've been told it was one of the transitional props between the early series 1 cars and the latter versions (series 3 onwards) which were solid (I know some people get funny with the 'series' comment but its the easiest way to explain). These transitional props were two piece props, being a transitional prop it also has the slip yoke at one end which I need for the conversion and my car wouldn't have being a series 1 car. I therefore wouldn't have been able to shorten mine and use it. FOr the power levels the car is running I'm not really worried. 

Great to know, I was hoping that would be the case. Hopefully the one that goes in will be fine however if not as you say I'll just swap out the bell housing and hopefully bolt another in ?

14 hours ago, grannyknot said:

Sounds like it's all coming together, exciting!  That is a very cool shift knob, never seen any thing like it.

Thanks dude, it's pretty unique. Given the car otherwise looks very stock I wanted to add some personality in a more subtle way that people will only notice when they look up close. 

Have a google of Bosozuku if you've never seen it before, the Japanese style is insane!  

[Woody928]

Well its been quiet on here for a little while now but there's been lots going on in the background. The car has been and still is in with Iain at Passion Engineering who has been working his magic on bringing the car up to spec, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the LMC next week. It's safe to say if everything falls into place then it will be one hell of a road test! 

 

The car has been significantly stripped down to accommodate all of the work, the engine was opened up to check tolerances and make some adjustments when it was noted there was some slack in the timing chain when rotated backwards so it was decided to install a new kit. The broken water pump bolt has been resolved and new carbs installed and adjusted ready for tuning. The new radiator, coolant system filter, rocker cover and hardware will be following shortly. The steering rack lower UJ has been replaced which I'm keeping my fingers crossed will eliminate the play that was previously in the steering to really sharpen up the response with the newly fitted adjustable suspension. 

 

IMG-6760 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-6759 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7008 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7007 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

The bulk of the work has been transmission related with several surprises rearing their heads yesterday giving me a bit of a shock and stark reminder of the cars age and unknown history.  Below you will see what remains of the clutch pivot pin and the nice 'round' hole that it was located in. Safe to say that was an utter disaster waiting to happen and could have been a mess had we lost the clutch in France or anywhere else for that matter. I've been oblivious to the pending disaster all of this time. I've never been happy with the clutch but assumed it was a worn release bearing causing my trepidation. Fortunately Iain is fabricating a new pivot pin and has completely fixed the mounting hole so it looks factory fresh. His fabrication skills never cease to amaze me and remind me why I don't attempt the bigger jobs at home on the driveway... 

 

IMG-7034 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7038 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr 

 

IMG-7036 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Moving onto the gearbox mount itself we were surprised to find it looked nothing like we expected given the age of the car and after some investigation and confirmation from Richie appears to be an automatic transmission gearbox mount. Looking further into it there are no manual mounting points so I'm assuming that the car was more than likely an automatic from the factory that was converted in the US during its lifetime? This being the case I wonder whether the pedal box has also been swapped to accommodate the clutch and center console non original due to the auto transmission shifter? I'd love to hear from the Z aficionados who will likely be able to advise. I believe we are now proceeding with a full custom mount to suit purpose. 

 

IMG-7030 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

There's even silly little things like the new clutch master cylinder rod being too short for unknown reasons causing more work!

 

IMG-7037 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

I can't praise Iain enough at this point for the time he is putting into getting the car finished and most importantly to the very high standards which he works to. I really shouldn't be shocked by some of the things that rear their heads now given all that we've found in the last couple of years but it still does shock me. This is a car with a past that I do not fully understand and would love to know more about. I'm at least now thinking that the car had the gearbox replaced as well as the engine which really makes me want to check the rear diff ratio as well.  

 

It's safe to say it should drive impeccably well when finished, the car will have had all of the suspension, power train and drive train overhauled with very few exceptions. It will be far from the spec that it left Japan with back in September 1970 when it rolled off of the production line. 

 

Hopefully more and positive news to follow very shortly        

[Sunline]

I love reading your updates. Keep them coming! Your car is really coming along nicely. 

[Woody928]

8 hours ago, Sunline said:

I love reading your updates. Keep them coming! Your car is really coming along nicely. 

Glad to hear that your enjoying the thread and see people are still watching. It seems never ending sadly!

On another note your LFA ? What a machine!  

 

[Woody928]

Well as some of you will have no doubt seen we now have had the car back for the last couple of weeks and I’ve managed to put about 350-400 miles on her since then.

Where to start, well she drives nothing like she used to at all, that’s for sure. Sadly we had some unforeseen complications just before the LMC which meant it wasn’t going to work out taking the car however the wait has been worth it in the end. As you’ll see from the photos below the engine bay is starting to look very tidy now and really is a great centre piece to show off, sadly the more you replace the more you notice the few tatty items, there’s a few pieces that I’d like re-plated long term and I also need to find a way to clean up the screen washer bottle which is looking its age as I refuse to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a new one!

I think it’s fair to say the new centre piece of the engine is the OS Giken Lightweight Flywheel which now allows the engine to rev like a motorbike engine! Considering that I had never intended to even swap this item out until I looked at clutches and was talked into it by you all, I’m amazed at the throttle response now. She really picks up revs fast and drops off very quickly, solid rev matching is more essential (albeit you need to be careful not to over rev either). I really cannot believe how sharp the throttle response now is. The clutch itself is somewhat a point of contention as in traffic though as it is heavier than desired and really seems to either be on or off. Due to how robust it is though, burnouts, launches or general hooligan behaviour will be very easy even with the limited power we are running. On the move it makes shifting very precise and is perfect for a fast road style car. For now I’ve tried to behave myself more as its bedding in but wheels have been spun and tyres chirped.

The quality of the ZTherapy setup is very impressive and they have been restored to a very high standard, the only disappointment was that they did require a fair bit of setup and balancing out of the box so to speak. Now they are in though, they perform very slickly and with the recent engine adjustments have made the engine a complete peach. It’s all about revs and seems to go to a bit over 5k rpm fairly happily, however real world driving its being exercised to around the 4.5k range for road driving. This car certainly now promotes carrying speed given the engines more standard nature. Cooling has been massively improved with the installation of the mishimoto rad and has been kitted out with a low temp thermostat and electric spall fan kit. The whole system has been flushed and temperatures have been dramatically reduced. I had previously thought the temp gauges position of just over half was normal however it now resides at just under the half way mark leaving me thinking that the engine had been running warmer than it should have been with the tired cooling system in place. We’ve got a nicely hidden and trick manual override switch for the fan in traffic and after being stuck at Goodwood I have decided an extra fan will be added for peace of mind and with Europe in mind in the future.

Moving back to the drivetrain all of the necessary modifications have been made for the S14 gearbox to be dropped in, new propshaft courtesy of Richie and Subaru LSD. The gearbox seems to work fine however I have noticed that the synco on 4th gear is quite worn and there is an occasional wine which is making it very tempting me to drop the box out and rebuild this one with new syncros and bearings. Anyone know if these are still available from Nissan? The short shifter kit is like operating a rifle bolt when compared to the ridiculously long throws of the original 4 speed! In that respect we are very happy. The speedo is also still very wavy and of questionable accuracy despite the correct white 19 tooth replacement speedo cog for the 3.9 diff, another long term item to investigate as the speedo needle has never been very stable.

The LSD has certainly made things very entertaining, with sideways action very easy if you so desire. There seems to be a bit of slack/lash when engaging on moving off with makes a slight clunk and it doesn’t seem to like reversing slowly and chatters a bit however it all other respects it performs faultlessly and is very quiet on the move. A couple of you will be pleased to note the rear left is running 4 wheels nuts with a couple of lugs having also been replaced.

[Woody928]

Another dramatic change has been the installation of the rear ST anti roll bar. This single item really has transformed the cars handling dramatically, it’s quite silly how well the car now handles considering the platform is nearly 48 years old. B roads really have been made so much more fun and the overall package has transformed just with this item. The front bar is still waiting to be fitted as we have decided it will be prudent to reinforce the chassis legs before installation given how chunky the new bar is. The overall suspension package now is however fantastic, its amazed a few people how well it negotiates corners. Thankfully the replacement of the lower steering column UJ has removed a huge amount of slack out of the steering and made it far more responsive much to my delight, the car really engages you and provides lots of positive feedback when you want to press on! Long term the only addition I can see will be strut bars to help out further when funds allow.

 

We are very much shaking down the car given the huge amount of custom work that has been completed and various unknown parts installed. So far on the to do list is a vibration that comes in at around 60 & 80 while cruising, I’m not sure if this could be a propshaft balance issue having been told how precise this needs to be but will be investigated. Fourth gear syncro is also fairly high up the list as you cannot rush it and some attention to the gearbox however otherwise she’s running better than ever. The car is a far cry from the one that we purchased 2 years ago, with the exception of the half shafts I think everything drivetrain related has now been replaced. I think it’s only the brake master cylinder left in the engine bay before all major items have been replaced as well. Depending on my schedule the car is going to have a thorough check over in the next month or two and be looked at more seriously to get it running spot on and check that we’ve caught everything.

 

At this point I cannot say a big enough thank you to Iain at Passion Engineering (and his dad who pitched in as well), while it’s taken me 5-6 months for me to plan everything out and source all of the parts his engineering skills have made this part of the project a reality. Due to time and space I didn’t get to attempt a few of the jobs which I would have very much liked to have tackled myself, however when it comes to some of the bigger jobs such as the fabrication and repair of items his skills are second to none. He also bent over backwards in his efforts to try and get the car Le Mans ready, working full weekends and putting in lots of extra hours to get it just right. Sadly some unforeseen issues stopped us but that’s meant to finished product was not compromised in any way. I’ve mentioned all of the key items above however its all of the little details where he excels such as my hidden fan override switch under the dash (without altering the car in any way) and rerouting on the rocker cover breather to be more discrete that makes all the difference.   

 

As you can well imagine I’m completely broke on the Datsun fund this year. That doesn’t stop future plans though and in the pipeline I’m still hoping to get a 4 pot vented brake setup up front to compliment the rear drums with new performance shoes. I’ve also been aware for some time that the exhaust system midpipe and tailpipe is very much homemade and horrible. Having properly investigated we’ve identified that near the tailpipe the diameter shrinks from about 2.5 to 1.5 which is really choking the engine I would imagine and needs to go. Currently toying with speaking to Z story about a new JDM muffler and midpipe to go with the current headers or even go the whole hog and replace the whole system which I’d love to if it can be justified. All being well we also have plans to sneak an AFR gauge into the factory gauge setup in place of the clock to keep things looking factory but being more functional.

 

Aesthetics wise the project has taken somewhat of a turn with reality dawning that this is too nice a car to make it look like a race car despite my aspirations, I quite enjoy the fact that everyone thinks it’s just a standard 240Z with the exception of my crazy bosozuku style gear shifter. It’s only when you start talking to people that they realize all of the work that’s gone on under the skin. I may therefore continue to show restraint against spoilers and the like….   

 

There’s been several stories and experiences as ever in the meantime and lots of little extra details however I’ve already written lots so I’ll leave it for now, enjoy the photos instead if you’ve made it this far.

 

IMG-7113 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7112 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7115 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7116 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

A quick view of all of the area's you don't get to see. It would be good to clean up the fuel tank straps! (Follow link to video on Flickr)

 

IMG-7111 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7467 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

 

IMG-7316 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7470 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7325 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-7475 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[Zed Head]

13 hours ago, Woody928 said:

 Fourth gear syncro is also fairly high up the list as you cannot rush it and some attention to the gearbox however otherwise she’s running better than ever.

Redline MT90 has a dramatic effect on worn Nissan synchros.  It's not hype, it really works.  I had a 3rd gear grind on a 78 5 speed and Redline made it go away, over Valvoline 80W-90 gear oil.

It's a cheap fix attempt.  Pennzoil Synchromesh has a good reputation also.

 

Edited July 25, 2018 by Zed Head