Miles

They all have the metal sleeve in place. The play is between the metal sleeve and the spindle pin. Thanks Miles

Urethane bushing fit over spindle pin for a 1972 240Z: I just picked up new spindle pins and checked out how the new urethane bushings that I bought from VB would slide on. They slide on very losely, There is some lateral play when holding the bushing and moving the pin from side to side. One bushing set out of the the four sets that go on the spindle is snug. Is this normal or should I return the bushings VB? I have read that some brands of bushings are too tight and require sanding/polishing the spindle pin until they slide on. My concern is that the lose bushings will cause the spindle pins to rattle going over bumps. Thanks Miles

Gavin Did you bench bleed the MC? Proper bench bleeding is essential to getting all air out of the system. I purchased a pressure bleeding system for about $100.00. It is a little messy, but I can now bleed my brakes without an assistant and it forces all air out of the system Miles

Looks like Conquest seats will work. As soon as the rain stops I am going to the bone yards to look at Conquest, Hyudai Tiberon and RX7 seats. I thought that I would remove my passenger side seat and do some fitting and measurements at the bone yard. Anyone have pictures of any of these seats in a 240Z? Thanks

Has anyone here made adaptors to install Mitsubishi Starian or Dodge Conquest seats in their 240Z? Thanks Miles

Perfect. Thanks for the pictures. Miles

The missing spacers must explain the noise I hear from the rear strut tower area going over bumps. I ordered the spacers from MSA and will install them this time. Thanks Miles

What is the correct orientation for the front strut mounting bearing? It is located under the strut mounting insulator. Does the open face of the bearing face up or down? On the rear suspension there is a spacer that goes under the strut mounting insulator. This spacer is missing on both of my 240Zs. I am debating if the spacer was lost over the years or is ok to to just leave it out. Thanks Miles

The SU carbs were rebuilt by ZTherapy two years ago. No problems until one week ago. 240Z L24 Engine idles very rough/ragged. It smoothes out at higher rpm, but there is a definite surge at times at high speed. Here is what I have done so far: • Replaced all ignition parts using Nissan parts. • Set points • Set timing per factory specs. • Set mixture and balanced the carbs. The new ignition parts and timing did not improve the rough idle. After balancing the carbs the engine still idles very ragged. If I lift the piston on the front carb the engine RPMs drop slightly and then the rpm recovers. If I lift the piston in the rear carb the rpm drops and stays low and the engine idles very ragged. When I drop the rear piston the RPMs increase, but the idle remains ragged. If I completely cover the throat on the front carb with my hand the engine continues to run smooth. Actually it runs smoother when I cover the throat of the front carb. Evidently the rear carb is capable of carrying the load of both carbs. If I cover the throat on the rear carb with my hand the RPMs drop and the engine will die. It doesn’t matter where the mixture/idle is set on the front carb it will still idle ragged and the engine will die when I cover the throat on the rear carb. Any help will be appreciated. Miles

I just bought a set of Tokico HP shocks from AJ-USA, INC., San Diego for my 72 240Z: Front: Tokico HZ 3015 $62.69 Rear: Tokico HZ 3016 $64.18 This is much cheaper than Victoria British or MSA and the shipping was free. Received the shocks in 6 days via FedX after order was placed. Contact: http://www.ajusa.com 1-800-877-1911 Miles

I found a strut housing in good condition at a local recycling yard for $75.00. The yard had a complete 72 240 plus some new Nissan and after market stuff. If you are near Sacramento the yard is called N.O.W. and deals in Nissan, Datsun and Infinity parts. They are located in a suburb of Sacamento called Rancho Cordova at 3561 Recycle Rd. Phone: 916-631-8333, 800-649-9936. They can special order Nissan and after market stuff for you. Ask for Mike. Also, the gland nut is a M48 x 1.5 thread according to the info that came with my struts. Miles

A machine shop might have the right size taps. If I new what size and type of thread I might be able to rent a tap and die set to clean out the threads myself. Otherwise I'll have to find a replacement strut housing. If anyone has a spare 240z strut housing let me know. Thanks Miles

The threads inside the left front strut housing on my 72 240Z are messed up. Is there any way I can clean up the threads where the gland nut screws into the strut housing? It took a lot of effort to get the gland nut off and the new one won't start into the threads. I suspect the nut was cross threaded into the housing. Thanks Miles

I had considered the stub axles from Ross, but it was out of my budget and it would be over kill for a stock daily driver. Miles

The used stub axle I installed turned out to have a slightly bent hub from when my son slid his V8 240Z into a curb. Visually, you couldent tell it was bent, but on the car under load it caused the brake drum to wobble enough that it rubbed on the baking plate dust guard. It also caused the drum to drag on the shoes at one specific spot. I got tired of searching junk yards for another used, and potentially weak, stub axle so I called my Nissan dealer and bought a new stub axle with a set of inner/outer bearings and a grease seal. The stub axle ran about $250.00. The dealer installed the parts for $190.00 which I thought was very reasonable since I would have had to hunt up the tools and have a machine shop remove and press on the outer bearing. Total shop time was about 2.5 hours. Next month I plan on replacing the right side stub axle with all new parts. Victoria British also sells the stub axle for about $275.00. Miles

I'll try taking some measurements at the flange as it rotates to see if it is out of alignment. If the flange is out of alignment I might as well get a replacement stub axle and replace the bearings too. Can the inner bearing be removed and replaced with the strut assembly in the car? The outer bearing I'll take to a machine shop and have the old one removed and a new one pressed on. Miles

I found this website that shows some photos of the 240Z and 280Z stub axles for comparison: http://www.magshooterz.com/280z_stub_axle_swap.htm Miles

Terry Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking that the companion flange dust cover might be rubbing on the stub axle housing and that adding a washer might help. Also, the axle I used did come out of my son's V8 240Z that he slid into a curb damaging the lower control arm. The axle spun free in the housing before I removed it and it spun free after I installed it in my car. I suppose that the axle could have a slight bend that doesn't show up until it is under load and at high rpm. Interesting point about the threads. I did some research and found that the splines differ for the 240Z and the 280Z. On the axle I removed from my car the splinned section of the shaft appeared a little larger then the spare axle and there were flat spots fore staking. The spare axle that I used has a round threaded section and no flat spots. Miles

My Z started making noises like a U joint flange had come loose so I inspected each joint and found that the left flange that connects to the left stub axle was just flopping around. Removal of the flange revealed that the staked nut had sheared off right where the threads meet the splines. I had a spare stub axle so I drove out the broken axle and installed the spare. The original broken axle had a larger diameter threaded section then the replacement and it used the staked nut. The replacement used a nylock nut. The replacement also had a copper bushing and the original axle didn't. I installed the copper bushing with the replacement stub axle. When I test drove the car I could hear scraping noise coming from the left rear and I assumed that the drum was rubbing on the backing plate. Inspection showed that the drum was rubbing in two places so I bent the backing plate away from the drum and thought the noise would be gone. The scraping noise is still there, but not as bad. The scraping noise gets worse when making a right hand turn. I didn't replace the bearings since I knew the history of both stub axles and never had a problem. What could be causing rubbing noise - backing plate, bearings, nut not torqued tight enough? Thanks Miles

Maichor Do you have any pictures of your 00 Miata seats? Thanks MIles

What is the latest model year Miata seats that will fit into a 240Z? Going through the archives I have found references to 91, 92 and 93 Miata seats that that are alomost a bolt-in. Thanks Miles

No Damn 240 You wrote: "BTW... how's the T5 holding up in your boys Z and how much HP do you think he is pushing?" The sbc in my son's car makes about 300 hp and he has driven the car hard for about 3 years with no transmission problems. The T5 and stock Camaro clutch is just fine for a street car. Don't forget to install an R200 differential. A safety note: beware of driving in the rain after your hybrid is on the road. My son was driving in the rain a year ago and the car spun out without any warning. The car spun into a curb nearly flipping it over. I ended up replacing the left rear wheel and entire left rear strut assembly and trasverse link. Fortunately, the racing seats and shoulder harness did their job and kept my son and his girlfreind from getting banged up. Miles

I used a stock harmonic balancer on the SBC in my son's car. No problems. Miles

I just went through my notes from 2001 when I started the Z conversion. I got help on the MSA kit from a Hybridz member here: Contact: 72zcar Miles