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

Yes do mount the MSA bracket to the trans before jacking it up into the tunnel. This has to be done after the engine has been lowered into the car because the MSA trans bracket will hang up on the fire wall going in. We lowered the engine into the car and bolted the MSA engine mounts into place leaving all of the bolts lose. So the now the engine is supported by the engine mounts and the engine hoist with the trans tailstock at a slight down angle to allow room to bolt the MSA trans bracket to the trans mount. Next jack the trans up into the tunnel until you reach the desired angle as measured at the end of the trans output shaft. The engine and trans have to be tilted a lot going in and under the fire wall. Invest in a Tansdapt leveler as mentioned on page 8-1 of the JTR manual. They cost around $50-$60. If you can mark the MSA bracket holes with some white paint you might be able to then lower the trans out of the way and drill the bolt holes using an angle drill. I tried this, but was not satisfied with the accuracy of my marking the holes and then I couldn't get a drill up in the tunnel. Try calling the MSA tech line. When I called I was told that the installation was covered in the instructions. I told the MSA tech that the instructions were unreadable and to send me a readable copy. I was told that those were the only instructions they send out. Actually, installing the engine and trans was one of the easiest parts of the conversion once we had a plan of attack worked out. We were expecting it to be a major hassel, but it only took about 30 minutes. If I had another Z to convert I would use the MSA mounts again. Changing the springs and shocks was the most problematic chore. Not only were the shocks rusted inside of the strut tubes, but the previous owner had replaced the left rear strut with one off of a 280Z(?) which was just a bit longer then the 240Z. Miles

Remember that once you set the driveline and differential angles with a floor jack the trans and the bracket are now buried up inside of the transmission tunnel. Unless you have very small hands there is little room to move any kind of tool around between the transmission and the bracket. I got the idea from another Hybrid member back in September of 2001. I know this sounds flaky, but it works. Just use a very small drill bit.

Don't forget to indent the floor pan where the clutch throwout arm will be located after the trans and engine are in. If you don't there will not be enough room for the throwout arm to move. Installation: The bolt that goes up inside of the MSA motor mount to attach to the chevy motor mount is hard to get to and align. When we did the install I left the motor mounts loose so we could move the engine around to help align the engine and transmission mounting bolts. That single bolt is hard to tighten with a wrench due to the small inside dimensions of the MSA motor mount. The trans mount took us 30 minutes, but sounds complicated: Before you align the trans and differential bolt the MSA trans mount to the transmission so when you jack the transmission up into the tunnel the mount it will be in place and ready to start the drilling/bolt-in process. Do the drive line phasing at this time before any hole are drilled. Bolting the trans mount to the tunnel requires two people. Before you start to drill mounting holes in the tunnel recheck the the drive line and differntial angles to make sure that the jack has not drifted or been moved. To locate the bolt holes after you have the driveline aligned use a small drill bit and drill through the tunnel from inside of the car where you perceive the bracket bolt hole to be. My son was better at locating the bolt holes so I watched through the shifter hole to identify when the small bit came through the MSA bracket bolt hole while he drilled the small holes. He got the drill lined up on the first or second try. Then change bits and drill the small hole to bolt size. Once you get the first hole drilled to bolt size push a MSA supplied mounting bolt through the hole you drilled. Use large fender washers on each bolt. Have a helper go under the car put a lock washer and nut on a bolt that you have pushed through the tunnel sheetmetal and the MSA trans mounting bracket. After the first bolt is in you won't have to worry about the trans drifting out of alignment. There is not enough room between the transmission and the tunnel to wrench the nut tight so I tightened the bolt from top side while my son held the nut with a wrench. Once the transmision is bolted in go back and tighten the engine mounts. Also, after a driving few miles recheck the single engine mount bolt that goes through the MSA mount into the chevy mount. We found that it had worked lose after about 2 years on the road. The MSA motor mount is made from rectangular tube stock.

I used the MSA mounts for my son's 72 240Z conversion. You can see pictures of the mounts on my son's web site below. They were easy to install. Drive line phasing was a matter of jacking the trans up/down until I got the desired angle. Then I bolted the trans mount in place being careful not to move the jack. The good thing about the MSA trans mount is that you can move it up and down in the tunnel several inches allowing a lot of freedom in getting the transmision output shaft at the correct angle. This is an important step so get an angle finder and take your time. We installed a WC T5 trans and bell housing. The shifter comes up in the stock shifter hole. The T5 BH tilts the trans to the left so you will have to trim the left side of the shifter hole a little. We used a B&M shifter that has the correct angle offset to correct for the transmission tilt so that the shifter is vertical. The MSA directions were worthless crappy copies. Email or PM me and I can walk you through the finer points of the installation such as bolting in the trans mount. Note that the engine mount with the pad welded on top goes on the driver's side to provide steering shaft clearance. Also, the MSA trans mount was designed for a 700R4 trans, but it works with the WC TM too. Miles

Not stuck on a brand. I'll give John a call Monday to further my research. Cibies are reported to have the best beam pattern, but they are expensive. The only difference I have found between the Hella 70476 and the 70477 DOT "Vision Plus" is that the 70476 may be for off road only. According to one reviewer, the 70477 beam pattern isn't much better then a sealed beam. Thanks Miles

I have reseached the Hella 70476 and 70477 part numbers and can't find what the difference is. Autozone sells the Hella 7 " lamp as 70477 for $48.99 each and Kragen sells a Hella 7" lamp as 70476 for $59.99 each. As far as bulbs go the Narva XB3 and the H4 Xenon appear to offer bright white light.

Which is the correct Hella headlight part number for a 240Z: 70476 or 70477? Also, which 65w/55w bulb gives the brightest white light? Thanks Miles

Robin What kind of problems are you having? I ended up buying a max vac from Autozone for my 72 240Z. I checked to see if there was a reaction disk in the new max vac. There wasn't. But the place were the reaction disk sits was also redesigned and different then my stock unit. Evidently the reaction disk was designed out of the replacement. Which was good news since I was always a bit afraid to adjust the push rod that engages the MC fearing that I might drop the reaction disk. With a stock MC my brakes improved somewhat, but they were still not firm. I suspected that my MC might be leaking internally so I replaced the stock MC with the larger bore MC from a 79 280ZX. The 280ZX MC was also cheaper. I carefully bench bled the new MC by hooking old rear brake bridge tubes with clear plastic tubes pushed onto them from the outlets on the bottom of the MC. I connected clear plastic tubes from the bleed screws and then bent all four plastic tubes so they returned fluid back into the proper reservoirs. The plastic tubes were held in the reservoirs with clothes pins. You can just take one old rear bridge tube and cut it in half and then fit 1/4 in. clear plastic tubing over the cut ends. Make sure there are no leaks in your connections. I took my time and pushed in the MC piston slowly watching the bubbles get smaller in the clear plastic tubing as I continued pushing the piston in. I had to close the bleeder screws after each pump at first because bubbles would get sucked back into the plastic tubes initially. I let the MC sit for about ten minutes and then pumped more very fine bubbles into the reservoirs. When I was ready to onstall the MC in the car I closed the bleeder screws and plugged the outlets with rubber stoppers I bought for that purpose from the hardware store. I left the stoppers in until I was absolutely ready to hook up the hard pipes so as to minimize fluid leaking out of the MC. I then bled the brakes using a power bleeder ( messy, but effective). The brakes were firm, but there was still too much pedal travel so I pulled the MC loose from the max vac while leaving the brake lines attached. (Just push the MC and the connected lines away from the max vac.) Then I adjusted the push rod out and tested the pedal feel while driving and then repeated the push rod adjustment 2 or 3 more times. Be careful not to adjust the rod out too far as it can cause the brakes to lock up. With the the new max vac, new large bore 79 280 Zx MC, proper bleeding and push rod adjustment I now have very firm brakes. They are not great, but better then my old stock brakes. One factor in going to the larger bore MC is that I plan on installing large vented rotors and Toyota calipers soon. The larger MC did improve my brakes and gives a firmer pedal then my stock MC. With the larger bore MC you do have to apply a little more pedal pressure due to the change in bore size. Miles

Don't want progressive springs. However both dealers sell the Tokico blues for around $62.00 which is better then MSA or VB. Thanks for the heads up on the progressive spring info. Miles

While searching the web for a good price on Tokico Performance struts for my 240Z I came across two dealers that sell Tokico suspension kits. Each kit includes a set of Tokico Performance struts and a set of Tokico springs. I emailed each dealer and asked them to confirm the type of struts included and the spring rates. If they are the same springs that MSA sells then they should be 140#/in. front and 165#/in. rear. Here are the dealers and the prices for the kits: Direct Source Outlet located in San Diego, CA. 1-800-877-1911 HPK251 kit with non-adjustable struts: $380.97 ILK252 kit with adjustable Illumina struts: $591.97 Link: http://www.ajusa.com/cgi-bin/tokico/products?ajr_skey=f46b4ed5b716e6cc2ffdabbc02b1cff0 Spliting Imagez located in Irwindale, Ca. 1-866-358-8799 HPK251 kit with non-adjustable struts: $363.38 ILK252 kit with adjustable Illumina struts: $541.78 Link: http://www.splittingimagez.com/contact.htm Has anyone bought this kit or done business with these dealers? Miles

I ended up going with Eagle 28 series 15 x 7 wheels and 205-50R-15 Toyo Proxes 4 tires. The Eagle wheels were $89.00 each from Summit Racing and the Toyo tires were $80.00 each from Les Schwab. The wheels look good on the car and there is a very noticable improvement in handling. Miles