Miles

The straight ends should work. No booster...just adjust the rod until it just touched the MC piston.

With the Toyota 4 x 4 claipers and 79 280zx MC in place, properly bled, and pushrod adjusted you have to push a little harder on the pedal , not much, but it is noticable. The Toyota 4 x 4 calipers eliminated the brake fade I used to experience making just one hard stop, such as, a red light or car stopped in front of me with no warning. It used to get scary. Fade is much less in those situations. I noticed that when applying the brakes the first time that the car slowed down faster and the nose of the car pitched down like the brakes were working like they were supposed to. The rear brakes have never seemed to do much even with all new parts. You will notice that the pedal travels more, even with the ZX MC extra volume, but that results in a feeling of more modulation. In emergency stops the car nose plows down hard and stops where I want it to even though the pedal feels like it has more travel. To some degree the push rod adjustment will take out some of the long pedal action, but you have to be carefull not to adjust it out too far or the brakes will lock up due to fluid being trapped in the system (long story do a search). I just adjusted the rod out, test drove the car in front of my house , and the brakes locked meaning the rod was out too far. If the brakes lock up you simply take a 10mm wrench and open the MC bleeder screws to relieve the pressure and then carefully drive home. Keep readjusting and test driving in a safe place until you get the pedal feel you want. The push rod can be adjusted with the MC hardlines in place, just unbolt the MC and push it out of the way. The push rod adjusting nut is 7mm and you will need vicegrips to hold the rod while you adjust the nut. You can bend the Datsun hard bridge tubes to fit the Toyota calipers. It was the most time consuming part of the install because you have to be careful not to kink the hard line. You can get longer steel braided lines and eliminate the bridge tubes. DO NOT use banjo fittings on the Toyota calipers as the spot they mount to are not milled for bajo fittings and they will leak. Instead, get stainless lines that screw into the caliper like the original Datsun bridge tubes. Get stainless lines with a 90 deg angle fitting where it goes into the caliper. The toyota calipers are available at Napa p/n 442-6648 and 442-6649 loaded about $300 including core charge. To make this swap work properly bench bleed the ZX MC and the system after installing the Toyota calipers. After years of frustration bleeding Datsun brakes I bought a power bleeder for this job and it worked well. Be sure your booster works and the push rod is adjusted to where it just touches the MC piston. There is an excellent wright up in the Brakes section with photos and measurements for the push rod adjustment. Miles

No you don't need the 15/16 MC unless you are planning on installing the toyota 4x4 calipers or you want to pay less for a new MC ($90.00 vs $140.00). I installed the 15/16 280zx MC before I switched to the Toyota setup. With the stock calipers it will take a little more foot pressure on the brake. You will also have to adjust the master vac push rod out a little longer since the 280zx MC is deeper where the push rod contacts the piston in the MC. There are several write ups you can search for here in the brake section explaining the pros and cons of installing a 1979 280zx MC in a 240z. Miles

Tires are 7inch and rims are 0 offset. I have had the tires and rims for about a year and didn't experience the wandering which came on just recently. I'll try adjusting the preload.

Steering rack sounds expensive. DANG IT. Thanks Miles

Given: 72 240z with all bushings replaced with poly U throughout 4 months ago, toyota 4x4 S12 calipers installed a year ago, rear brake cylinders replaced two years ago, new rear shoes 3 months ago, ball joints and outer tie rod ends replaced 6 months ago, Arizona Z springs and Tokico blues installed a year ago. Three weeks ago I replaced the right stub axle and inner and outer bearings. Had two mechanics check out the steering and all suspension for looseness and alignment. All was ok. I have go under the car and checked everysuspension part and everything is tight and functional. Car has 16 inch rims. Recently, the car will pull left, streighten out and then pull right, streighten out and then be ok for a mile and then repeat the wandering. I do get some slop when turning the steering wheel back and fourth and can hear some clunking as the steering moves and takes up the slack in the steering rack and other steering components. It feels like an invisable hand is pushing the steering wheel left then right and it is worse on rough roads. The car stops well, will pull left or right slightly at random times. The only thing I have done about the same time as the wandering started was to adjust the master vac push rod out a little to take up some slack in pedal travel. I know that adjusting the push rod out too far can lock up the brakes. The wheels spin free and the brakes don't drag. Could this be caused from adjusting the MC push rod out or sticky brake calipers? Miles

Dave The 280z booster is out as I don't want to redrill the firewall. Thanks Miles

I did a search, but didn't find an exact yes or no to the question: Are the brake booster firewall bolt patterns the same for the 72 240Z 7 inch dia booster the 75 280z 8 1/2 inch dia booster? I believe that the MC bolt patterns are the same. I have a manual transmission so the larger 280Z 10 inch booster will definately not fit. The reason I ask is that I have the 79 280zx MC with Toyota 4x4 front calipers and since I am replacing the booster I might try the larger 8 1/2 inch 280z booster for a little more assist when braking.

Mark I bought two cardone boosters. Before I put them on the car I checked if there was a reaction disk. There was no reation disk in either booster. I am going to install original factory boosters on both of my 240s. Miles

I'll take some before and after pictures and post then here. Miles

Thanks for the link. It really filled in the gaps. Miles

Thanks Miles

We just shot some base coat, 4th dimension, by Sherwin Williams and went to color sand it before applying the clear coat. Tried sanding the base coat with 800 grit sand paper and the paint just gummed up. So we ended up stripping the whole car to start over. Are we supposed to sand the base coat before applying the clear coat? Do we sand each coat of base? Do we sand each coat of clear? THanks Miles

Yep, hydraulics. Any harm running it for a while to see if it might be a stuck lifter? The PO claims he put a performance ERSON cam in when he rebuilt the engine. Thanks MIles

I just had the camel hump heads on my SBC rebuilt. I also installed new lifters with assembly lube and spun the oil pump with a drill before starting the adjustment. For the installation of the head and adjusting the valves I found several posts explaining how to do a hot valve adjustment. I cut open some old valve covers and installed them and then warmed up the engine and went around slackening each valve until it clacked followed by tightening until the clacking was gone. Then I tightened the rocker 1/4 turn. I did this twice and the valves are still clicking. I had to have the engine idle at about 1500 -2000 RPM to keep it runinng at first. I am a bit paranoid to keep tightening the rockers. Should I slacken all of the lifters and start over or just hunt around for the clickers and tighten them? Is it possible that the new lifters are sticking? In one of the posts I read that GM makes a product called EOS that works well to unstick lifters. I recall from an old post that there is a device that fits on the rocker to suppress oil from spraying while doing a hot valve adjustment. Who sells them? I goosed the throttle a few times and the engine revs fast and sounds good with no bogging or strange sounds. Miles

What is the punishment for "tampering" with smog equipment.? Miles

I have a chance to pick up a fresh built up 302 from a 71 Camaro for my 72 240z. I know that in California the engine has to be the same year as the car or newer. If I put the 71 engine in my 72 z would I be looking at a big fine or worse? MIles

After I installed stiffer springs and shocks on my 240z I would hear a popping or clatter sound when I went over small bumps such as expansion joints or reflectors. Checking the right rear strut assembly I found that the lower control arm bushings were sloppy. I replaced the inner and outer control arm bushings with MSA poly U bushings and the popping/clateraing sound is gone. I believe what happened is that the stiffer springs and shocks forced the old rubber bushings to reveal their aged and worn condition. Miles

For new brake components, is there an Underwriters Lab type of organization that tests and certifies brake components or systems before they are sold to the public? Also, does DOT get involved in certifying new brake components/or systems? Thanks Miles

I had the exact same thing happen. Had the correct p/n for my 72 240z rear struts, but the gland nut was too large. Contact Tokico and they will send you a new gland nut. Tokico no. 1-800-548-2549 Also note: the shoulder depth inside of the gland nut differs for different manufactures and vehicle types. Try to get a Tokico galnd nut or your strut may rattle. Miles

Has anyone had a bad experience with Prothane brand rear control arm bushings and do they install the same as Energy Suspension on a 240Z? Thankks Miles

Terry What was the ID of the metal sleeves? I measured a new spidle pin at 0.627 in. Miles

Ok. I'll install the bushings in about two weeks and let you know how it goes. Thanks Miles

The clearence betwen the sleeves ES sent me and the spindle pin ranges from 0.005 in. to 0.001 in. for the sleeves ES sent me. This is not a problem then? Miles

Es sent me two sets of sleeves, but they still wiggle around on the spindle pin. Seems like they should just slide onto the spindle pin and not have any slop or lateral movement for a proper fit. I found a machine shop that can make a set of sleeves. Do the sleeves need to be heat treated? Thanks Miles