Leaderboard

2.0 is coming along.

01-04-2025 UPDATE: I got it wired in and installed.

Take a really close look at those side seals as well. I did a rear main once on an L then got to do the job all over again along with the pan when I got the car back together realized the side seals were also leaking, masked by all the oil and years of grime on the rear of the block.

Hey dude right there with you! I've been working on my z since June 2015. Kids, houses and responsibilities have all pushed it farther and farther back. But I feel like this is the year and I'm hoping you get back in the game too! also, are the Howe Racing TA2 front control arms made for the 240z or do you have a different cross-member up front? They sound enticing for sure!

Good update! This right here ^ is why I committed to keeping mine fully a street car and I'm glad I did, but part of me also wishes I could go race occasionally without being scared I'll ruin it haha

Howdy HybridZ! Seems like the trend, y'all get an update at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year! Might need to reframe my temporal perspective and do every 6 months. This was a slow year for the car and myself. First year since I've owned the car that it hasn't gone to any events! Wish I could say it was because I was doing a bunch of sweet mods and we're hitting the track hard next year, but that's not how it went. Overall, since 2020, the "smiles per $" has been way down, and I think I probably burnt myself out doing the V8 swap as quickly as I did it. Combined with the wreck, I felt like I really needed to step back, re-evaluate and take the year off to figure out how I want race cars to fit into my life! A big thing I've found is that since this just isn't a street car, and has no ability to be a street car, it's tough to get that "just gonna go drive the dang thing" and get excited about the project. Starting to find motivation again, which is nice, and I'm aiming for an event or two next year. That's not to say I didn't get ANY mods done this year! I got the Haltech 2500 into the car, and got it tuned. That was a fun small project, with a bigger price tag, but I'm hoping that it solves a lot of problems moving forward. It did reveal that some of the problems with this current engine are just that. The current motor is a L33 aluminum 5.3, but it's just not making great power. Compression and all that looks fine, but it's only putting down 330hp, when we'd expect closer to 400. Putting that out of my mind for now, and going to run it like this. A new engine is just not in the budget right now. I also did quite a bit of work on the front suspension. I've been running the Apex Engineered arms up front, and have been happy with them. Full disclosure, Ohm is a supporter of the build, you may have seen the car on his page! After running a handful of events, I felt like I had 2 problems to resolve. 1) I needed more track width. I have a 1" spacer in the front, and it's just another thing to check on the car, also while making scrub radius work. 2) I needed a beefier ball joint. The Apex arms use a factory sized ball joint, that is a better material, but after running a few track events, getting up on curbs and getting pretty spicy, they were just not up to the task. Bigger is better, so I went and upgraded to a Howe Racing TA2 front control arm, with their thread in ball joint. The arm is 2" longer than factory, and allows the use of an improved ball joint, the design of which is derived from a 3/4 ton truck. I feel pretty good about this mod! I got some work done on managing airflow on the front of the car. With the freshly chopped fenders, I needed a way to get air out of the wheel well, and made up some Kevlar pieces to help with that. I also made a plug for a radiator extractor vent that will help direct air out the hood, rather than spilling around inside the engine bay. I'll need to snag one more fitting for the dry sump, but otherwise, things are looking in good shape. I'm excited to let the car be "done" for a little bit this year.

Just did a Dyno run. Never mind the Rpms on the results. Used an external tach which wasn't tied into the Dyno. 175 hp and 204 torque. Dyno 3.1L 1-5-2024.pdf

Rear Quarters are done.

Time to modify over the winter . On the list is to quiet down the exhaust and try and get rid of all my drone issues . Also on the list is make another intake manifold based off of the diesel intake . Currently at the welder for the first step in the process . I am flipping around the plenum part of the intake to ‘uncurl’ the intake away from the engine . This gives much more room for the fuel rail and injectors . Also provides straighter shot to my CAI . I also plan on increasing plenum size for more volume . I noticed with the Protunerz and its 38mm runners that I lost a lot of torque down low . The diesel intake runners are an ideal size to match my ports in the head . Longer runners should also help . It will be interesting to see how the engine performs with this intake

Can't tell from your pictures if the brackets are swapped. The engines have a tilt to them with proper installation. If the brackets are swapped I think that it does bring the left side up, making the top of the valve cover more level. It can look correct but be wrong. The simplest way to tell might be to check the bottom of the oil pan. It should be level from left to right. Hate to say it and maybe, subconsciously, you already know it but it looks like that custom intake manifold could also be the problem. Where did it come from? Good luck.

I beg your pardon, I meant to say that the hood is hitting the intake throttle body. I have added pictures below, in which I hope you can see my problem. Also, I have taken pictures of the motor mounts as well for comment. I used the transmission mount off my parts car but, when looking at it again, it is no different than the original mount for the automatic transmission. I knew the tranny mount was supposed to be different and assumed, when it bolted up correctly that it must be the right one. I will search for some pics of the manual transmission mount to compare.

These words don't make sense. The valve cover is hitting the intake throttle body? Not sure what the effect is but sometimes people get the left and right engine brackets switched. I know it changes the angle of the engine. Not sure about height. Parts 6 and 7. https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-280z/engine-mounting

That was what I was thinking as well. The only thing that has changed is the transmission, and the only thing the transmission can change about engine mounting is the angle.

I got some updates from John at ZTrix on my fenders, almost done and looking good 😁

The Megasquirt wasn't wrong. It was working well enough, but it wasn't able to provide any higher level diagnostic functions, effectively run the IAC valve, run drive by wire, or integrate a comprehensive traction control strategy. My tuner was also moving away from tuning megasquirt, and as someone who relies on a tuner, I figured giving him want he needed to succeed was important. The Megasquirt is a powerful computer than can do a lot, but I was running into those limits. The Haltech also provides a lot more I/O functionality, which I was out of on the Megasquirt.

Well, it took FAR longer than I hoped but the car is running again. Things that got finished -Rear seals done. -Oil pan got the OEM seal I forgot I had. Straightened the flange braces a lot. If it leaks again I'll go full RT -Replaced oil drain plug -Cleaned up some glazing on the flywheel and pressure plate. Clutch seems to be working well -Replaced throw out bearing while I was at it -Removed transmission dust cover on the back that made removing the driveshaft difficult. -Wiped down all oily surfaces including the exhaust, engine/trans plate, oil pan, trans crossmember, diff crossmember... -Engine oil got Valvoline VR1 20w/50 for upcoming summer weather next time I drive -Transmission fluid replaced with Ford Motorcraft XT-M5-QS manual trans fluid aka "unicorn tears" and very well liked in the Miata crowd. Supposed to be better than the redline MT90 I had before) In progress or needing extra work -Retorqued front crank bolt for now, but I think I'll have to replace that seal as well but it's only available online. I'll replace if necessary when I wire and properly do the electric fans -New coolant overflow tank hasn't arrived but will install as soon as it arrives to get things tidier -Waiting on a big C clip and wave washer so I can use the Nismo solid shifter. ISR shifter went back on with very light rtv for now. I plan on on somehow adapting the stock 240sx lower shift boot to the stock S40 lower shift boot bezel. Might require more printing or at least cutting from a sheet of aluminum or steel. -Driver window either got misaligned or off the track when I was rolling it up today 😢 doesn't seem to go down without way too much force. Little or no progress -Haven't installed the AC bulkhead plate, but I think I'll have enough time to at least do the interior lines and install the plate. Will cover the openings for now. -Still no radio/digital media receiver. We'll see if I can get something at least fitted to the console before I leave

started working with alloy oilpan. needs to be chopped a lot, over half off from height and corners cut above steering rack. if anyone has us spec ac at blue blue , blue yellow stock front springs i could buy them. mine has some sag on these

Ben, long-term projects take... a long term. So, here's another long-term voice of support! We're almost a quarter of the way done with the 21st century. Some folks started their Z projects back in the 20th century; should hopefully be done, in one capacity or another, before the 22nd! Question: what was wrong with the megasquirt, in terms of successfully operating your LS engine? And what does the Haltech do, that renders the improvement?

I'm installing this kit in my Z right now, and that explanation for the RPM wire doesn't make sense to me. The White wire that connects to an IGN hot source should serve that purpose, and I bench tested mine with a DC power supply that provides a current draw reading and sure enough, current draw goes to zero when the White wire is disconnected from power. I have seen that some EPAS ECUs require an RPM signal to enable the system so that it's not active when the ignition is on but the engine is off. That way, you can't put a potentially big electrical load on the system when the engine isn't running. However, that doesn't seem to be the case with the Silvermine ECU. The system is enabled and active as soon the White wire is powered. Perhaps the ECU manufacturer disabled that RPM function but left the RPM input wire for whatever reason. A friend of mine suggested that the RPM input may be a backup of sorts if the speed input is lost, but I tested that and RPM doesn't appear to have any effect on steering effort when there's no speed input. Has anyone found a conclusive explanation for the function of the RPM wire on this system? I'd prefer to avoid connecting wires that I don't have to. Nigel

I’m thinking ahead/planning the rest of the car and one thing I hadn’t thought about was my parking brake. Going to the Apex rear end and 370Z wheel hubs and disk brakes I’d have to add back in a parking brake. Drum disk brakes on the 370Z are $800 each. I saw these mechanical caliper type from Wilwood online, only $400 for the set, and it looks like all I’d have to do is fab a bracket. Anyone else try these or have another idea for parking brake?

Got the spindle and hug swapped on the side that burned out. Was a bit stressed at first thinking the spacer ring and the stock rotor didn't work but it turns out the new hubs just have much tighter tolerances. Some antiseize on the inside and we were good to go. The only downside to the replacement spindle from T3 to thread right into my BCs is it seems the threaded portion is maybe an inch shorter. Not a big deal but I was worried about minimum thread engagement. I had about 80mm before and I measured roughly 65mm now. I'll consider it safe it's more than the thread diameter by about 10mm, but I think BC recommends 80 meaning I'm basically at max ride height right now. Since I'm waiting on some things to ship due to Christmas I figured I'd pull the transmission to inspect the rear main. Honestly... I'm not sure I know what I'm looking for haha. There was oil on the lower inside of the transmission bellhousing, but the back of the flywheel looked dry. The dust cover also looked dry and seemed to have a clear line where it was dry where it meets the block, and very oily below it. It's a good thing I pulled though. It looks like my throwout bearing is already worn, and i don't know how bad the wear on the pressure plate fingers is. Tomorrow I'll buy the new throwout bearing, then pull the clutch and flywheel to see if the rear main is actually the culprit. If it isn't, then it looks like most of my oil leak comes from the oil pan gasket which I have ready to go.

The new shroud Fran at Galgo designed and made for me is done and shipped yesterday. Might not get it by Christmas but it'll hopefully arrive by next weekend at the latest. Since the brakes likely won't ship while I'm home for my break, I'm gonna focus on wiring this up and maybe finally fixing the rear main seal leak. I have new trans fluid ready to go and meant to inspect the throw out bearing among other things, so it may be time. If I'm diligent in the planning I might be able to get it done in a single day. Other than that I'm still hung up on how much I want to use hard lines for the AC. I think at a minimum I want one for a tight bend off the condenser. The original had lines coming off both sides, the new one only has them on one side. I don't want to route a thick hose across the entire length of the radiator core support - just seems like unnecessary bulk.

Hijack away Cary! I like the Howe Racing as i knew it would work with the balljoint I wanted to use, and it had the correct thread for an inboard heim joint. I had to modify it enough at this point, I think next time I'll have some fully custom ones bent up, and use a spherical bearing on the inboard side.

You can find cheap options on eBay by searching for "used IMCA lower control arm." These straight arms can take various balljoint combos and use a rod-end mounting or a bushing. That will get you options like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/156253492635?_skw=used+imca+front+lower+contrl+arm&itmmeta=01JFH1PRRQS4VARS84HE8VBR09&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABAHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmlnKptmEq49QXHuYUVK0t%2FVqtBOgHRzDCm%2BhuINAAj7rXduUHGplWvDm0w32o9rUYodX6FM68bik%2FtkVdR1OEgMQ4I6PEadB120ZYc9zeSyv94OLc3GuJyjb6aYDdKVZxcAMN9rjS5T4ibk%2FjJBDnCv3n%2FZTMwwRG4otjIm1OadN3F8Hka5QshaeMFiCF5qnoASz4Twy1WWKQTodhNhuPEYc28a4ZzlZ8AqqHhHRyyLV34MiKRX9jF82K8A48bmtIK3tFolRCJaAaOOv6BNOSwfDE8qOE5oa9QaEviKS4QtPVw4DgxBXjo4Dm4bOU3SGk%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7aM26H8ZA. Two types of TC links are used. One has a stud and uses a solid rod end for connection. The other uses a clevis that connects the TC link. For research, you can get a few used examples off eBay for $20 to $30 or get the manufacturer's catalog for options. Sorry for the hijack. Cary

12-19-2024. Dash center plate painted up.

Like many other Zs my 50+yr old staked ujoints were making some clicky play and of course there is not much good information out there. After some research online, the staked ujoints can be replaced but restaking them properly requires a special tool which is quite expensive (500$ to a few thousand). Also many shops will not touch these components for liability reasons. So what I did was I carefully ground down the stakes with a dremel tool and pressed out the old ujoints. For the new ujoints I actually had to do the job twice as I initially purchased some ujoints recommended by the classic zcar forums. What I found was the caps were so soft that they ovalled out when pressing in and caused binding in the joint. The country of manufacture were not specified on the boxes, and when I cut the joints out to redo the crosses were also soft. After many years of dealing with poor quality aftermarket parts, I should have known better and the solution I found was to purchase high quality Made in Japan Toyo joints PN ST-1540 (15mmx40mm), and when pressing these in the caps do not distort or cause binding. I believe this is an OEM part and OE supplier. Pressing the new joints in, you need to be careful and press the caps to the appropriate depth to achieve 40mm cap-to-cap, centered in the yokes on either end of the cross. Similar to what is done in the 4x4 communities I decided to tack weld where the old stakes were, 4 per joint and air cool after each tack as to not overheat the parts. I know this is much stronger than the factory arrangement as I was able to press the OEM caps past the OE stakes whereas I could not actually press out my first install attempt (before I realized the poor quality bearing issue) with a 20 ton press without exactly grinding down the spot welds for fear of bending the yoke ears (the poor quality soft caps were all kinds of mushrooming out and distorting unlike the OE hardened caps). Hopefully this helps someone. This has been on my to do list for the better part of a decade and I know from inspecting many columns and steering shafts over the years that there are a lot of worn joints out there. Edit: per suggestion from @NewZed the joints which did not work are as follows: https://www.driveshaftparts.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1100 From this thread at classic Z cars: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/63434-steer-column-u-joints/?do=findComment&comment=629099 When I was researching the above joint, it seems many of the same appearance above are sold under different name brands are coming out of China, probably from the same or similar factories. Also some tips: I practiced the tacks on a few spare caps I had laying around and they blow through super easy compared to thicker driveshaft ujoint caps. So focus your torch on the cast yoke, one small dab of filler, and lightly wash the filler down onto the cap. Work quick so you put the minimum heat into the parts. I used tig as that is what I currently have available but mig with small wire may work as well. Consolidating comments to FAQ from discussion thread: Another option could be to plate in like below- I did check and 15mm washers are available. Due to the construction of the s30 steering yokes, I'd recommend washers sunk into the holes versus plating above the recessed bearing surface so the bearing is fully captive and cannot move. This will make sense if you are servicing the joints and have the parts in your hands. See picture of washers welded to yoke ears. This way per @NewZed comments the metallurgical properties of the bearing caps are not affected.

Tomorrow is the big day. Finally breaking in the race engine. 3.1L, 495 gram Kameari rods. 4mm taller rod ratio. Forged pistons with valve recesses. .540 of valve lift. 10.5:1 CR. Haltech running sequential injection, wasted spark ignition. Finally going back to the track this fall. IMG_3175.mov

I just ran across this, I can't believe it's been this long. Still love the Z. The only thing I have done to it in the past several years was recovering the Miata seats with upholstery from lseat.com. is this site still active?

Well if you are looking for a complete rebuild kit... If you need replacement seals, this is perfect. Everything is different except the seals. I was able to replace all mine and get a good working master cylinder. If you are interested, see the part numbers below. Engine is together and is in. everything is plugging in nicely. I have to finish plugging in the exhaust, install the fuel tank, and finish the cooling system. almost there!!!

I cut all the stock stuff off and made my own TC brackets, so it might not be very helpful, but here are a few pictures.

with the 240sx rear brakes, you flip the parking brake cables left to right, and vice versa, and run adapters you can either get from ross, or make them yourself using 2 cleft pins and a metal bracket with 2 holes in it.