Jump to content
HybridZ

240Z - Snailed style


Recommended Posts

I think it's time to document my project. The car is a '71 240Z with 71k miles on it. It has spent it's whole life in the North East and has the rust and shoddy repairs to prove it. My plan is to do a semi-professional restoration and modify things as I go. It will sit very low, but I plan on setting up the suspension so that it has pretty good geometry since I would like it to handle at least as good as my other projects. The rear suspension will be from a '95ish Q45 and the front will likely end up being some mongrel I cobble together but is still undecided. I have started reinforcing the body as I begin to repair the rust in hopes of making it a little more rigid without adding too much weight. The goal is to be under 2500lbs and have at least 400hp at the wheels.

 

Here is what I collected for parts so far;

 

240Z

5 lug 300zx hubs

q45 rear subframe with diff and shafts

17x10 wheels that are somewhat light

poly bushings for steering rack and coupler

Recaro seats

Cabin vents from some GM car

 

Now on with the pictures to get this up to date -

post-11686-069525700 1319749796_thumb.jpg

post-11686-056962300 1319749797_thumb.jpg

post-11686-039144800 1319749798_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 65
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

This car has a bunch of rust that was hidden under filler and fiberglass. The floors look like someone just taped the holes shut and flooded it with polyester resin. Next step is tackle the rockers and patch some smaller holes in the door jambs and A pillars.

 

post-11686-001172900 1319832087_thumb.jpgpost-11686-013887000 1319832047_thumb.jpg

post-11686-051607900 1319832056_thumb.jpg

post-11686-094276400 1319832071_thumb.jpg

post-11686-001172900 1319832087_thumb.jpg

post-11686-054927100 1319832027_thumb.jpg

Edited by Snailed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are two patches, one at the front of the drivers door sill and one at the rear. The passenger side got patches in almost the same spots and another one where the a pillar meets the door post. Then I cut the inner and outer rockers off and replaced the inner with a strip of 19G with holes for rosette welds to attach a 1"x3"x0.083" tube. The tube was treated with dupont etch primer in and outside then some black emamel paint to help protect it once it's on the road. Once the car is painted I will spray the cavities with some oil to prevent rust from forming. This was done to both sides and then I made outer rockers on both sides. The bottom of the rocker is 3/8" lower than stock to help the car look low. The front of the tube will be tied into new 2.5 x 2.5" rails and the back will be tied into the front subframe mounts and a bulkhead that runs across the car to tie in the tunnel, like the triangle section built by the factory. I might try to reuse the tool boxes too because I really think they are neat. We'll see how much room there is though...

 

post-11686-028096800 1319897215_thumb.jpg

post-11686-081920800 1319897227_thumb.jpg

post-11686-030961200 1319897249_thumb.jpg

post-11686-005100800 1319897269_thumb.jpg

post-11686-081226700 1319897280_thumb.jpg

post-11686-021861200 1319897352_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patches. I might name this car Patches.

 

New outer rocker panels are on. 19G w/ Dupont etch primer for now. The top edge was butt welded and the bottom is plugwelded every ~1.5"

 

post-11686-009963700 1320013733_thumb.jpg

post-11686-079756900 1320013724_thumb.jpg

post-11686-066546900 1320096901_thumb.jpg

 

edit- rocker picture

Edited by Snailed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work so far. I think we could all nickname our cars patches. :lol:

 

Thanks. I'm not being very fussy but I hope it's a fun car to drive when I'm done.

 

Now that the car has some rockers that are not oxide of anything, It's time to figure out the rear suspension and what I need to make that happen.

 

First some measuring;

240Z rear fender to fender outside measurment 63.125"

Q45 rear hub to hub 64.625"(!)

I decided I would remove 7" of the Q45 subframe. This should get me the width I want with some 10" 0ET wheels later. I'm using +12ET for now, probably with spacers. Total width will be ~68.625". That's 5.5" wider (2.75" each) than the stock fenders. Did I mention I'm making steel flares?

 

I want to leave the lovely center pinion in the center so that's 3.5" taken out of each side.

 

Taking it all apart. I'm really surprised how light these aluminum hubs are. Curious what the unsprung weight might be compared to a stock Z.

post-11686-082898700 1320098377_thumb.jpg

post-11686-097617300 1320098420_thumb.jpg

I turned some pins that fit the stock bushings and fabricated a jig that will hold the parts in alignment.

post-11686-002195000 1320098434_thumb.jpg

post-11686-008572300 1320098475_thumb.jpg

post-11686-088383300 1320098519_thumb.jpg

Tacked together. Pinion mount is raised 6mm in case I need to adjust pinion angle to match the drive train that I don't have yet in a currently unknown position. It's good to have adjustment, I figure.

post-11686-059917700 1320098611_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love seeing how you are doing everything! I'll be doing the same with my S13 subframe shortly and by the design of the Q's rear sub, it ought to be a fairly similar modification.

 

Have you thought about how you are going to mount the rear end into the car yet? I'm dreaming of somehow mounting mine without modification to the car. I would love to keep it to where all of my aftermarket modifications can be un-bolted and the original parts put back in place. With the value of our cars increasing all of the time there may come a day that I want to retun the Z to its factory setup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love seeing how you are doing everything! I'll be doing the same with my S13 subframe shortly and by the design of the Q's rear sub, it ought to be a fairly similar modification.

 

Have you thought about how you are going to mount the rear end into the car yet? I'm dreaming of somehow mounting mine without modification to the car. I would love to keep it to where all of my aftermarket modifications can be un-bolted and the original parts put back in place. With the value of our cars increasing all of the time there may come a day that I want to retun the Z to its factory setup.

 

Yup, I already have the floor cutout from the taillights to the seats and have started building a structure to support the subframe and strengthen the car a little. I'll get pictures up next week if I have time to work on it.

 

I would be really surprised if you could get one under it without cutting and have a ride height you would like. I really have no urge to treat this car as an investment. They are pretty much worthless compared to other classics. Which means more fun modifying them!

 

more subframe stuff. Added braces and removed the harmonic weights at all 4 corners. -8 lbs maybe...

Don't worry those bushings come out when I weld.

post-11686-094203400 1320152544_thumb.jpg

post-11686-033984000 1320152962_thumb.jpg

 

I machined some 3/16" steel discs instead of using the stock bushing setup. Much lighter and simpler at the expense of a little more vibration. The diff is rubber mounted (like s14/skyline) as are the control arms, so I don't think it will be too harsh.

Sandblasted and primed the whole deal so I can move back to the body.

post-11686-065065500 1320152778_thumb.jpg

post-11686-099860600 1320152791_thumb.jpg

post-11686-076251900 1320152808_thumb.jpg

post-11686-078946200 1320153138_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm mostly looking to the future. Not necessarily as an investment, but more as respect for a car I expect to be a full classic within a decade.

 

That's too bad that its looking hard to get the subframe in to the stock points. I expected it would be difficult, but I was hoping it was at least going to be possible.

 

We'll just have to see how things work out when I start work on mine. I like how you are doing things but I also have a different approach in mind for my own setup. I also have some great adjustable rear arms and links that may allow me to cheat a bit on the geometry and run the subframe a bit lower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are the rear bits hung in place so I can plan out how I'm going to build the replacement structure.

post-11686-067336700 1320426886_thumb.jpg

 

post-11686-070560900 1320426877_thumb.jpg

 

Some design details I'm considering;

 

-subframe position to extend wheelbase and allow for a low ride height

-battery built into the floor behind R seat and as far back as possible. Easy to access. on/off switch location? Jump posts?

-fuel tank should be as far forward and low as possible. 16-20 gallon. About 12" front to back?

-roll bar pickups tied into rear support structure

-shock tower bracing into roll bar rear tubes

-incorporating factory storage box(es)

-retaining factory inner wheel tubs?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

A little progress working out the rear tube structure so that it will be light and rigid. The front end of the round tube that comes from the rear subframe mounts, will be connecting to the end of the subframe connectors I haven't made yet. I'm trying to make sure as few tubes as possible are going to see bending loads. I'm trying to use each critical connection area as a node...It's tempting to totally get rid of all the unibody stuff and tube the whole thing but I don't think th

ere is any advantage for what I'm trying to achieve

 

post-11686-067203400 1322691004_thumb.jpg

 

post-11686-050132800 1322691084_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 9 months later...

Alright, I'm back at it after a little break. I ordered a 1JZ-GTE swap for my Z the other day and started fabing the main rails today.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to build an unequal length double wishbone front suspension for this. I haven't bought any parts yet but I'm iching to build a subframe and some control arms. Been spending way too much time on VSusp trying to dial in something that will fit and work pretty well for. I think a need to start a suspension thread and get some opinions on some of the details. There a several guys here that I would like advice from. Most likely going to use premade spindles of some sort. Forged Mustang II, 2" drop spindles for $110/pr?

 

I also picked up a nice used R154 trans to sell or build up for later.

post-11686-062486700 1347492455_thumb.jpg

post-11686-030650200 1347492457_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The engine swap arrived. 2nd version 1JZ-GTE with an R154 5 speed. Looks pretty clean overall. The driveshaft it came with is junk so I cut off the yoke to keep the trans output shaft clean.

 

I cut out the left sub rail, frame rail, whatever it's called, and set one of my new ones in place. Should work pretty well. I'm planning to add a tube connecting them over the bell housing and some boxes connecting the front of the rockers to the angled part of the new rails.

post-11686-027596100 1348272871_thumb.jpg

post-11686-041533400 1348272879_thumb.jpg

Edited by Snailed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...