Miles

Just use a pipe wrench. Be sure to hand thread the gland nut as far as you can as it is easy to cross thread. Use the search button as there has been a lot written about the gland removal. I did research on the special gland wrench and it cost over $100.00. If you find one cheap please post the info here. Miles

I found this at another Z site: This is easy. The only special tool you MUST have is spring compressors. These aren't expensive, and are also available for rent from some parts stores. Once properly equipped, all you have to do is: 1. Jack the car up, secure it on jack stands, and remove the tires. 2. Open the hood and hatch, and remove the plastic plugs/covers. 3. Loosen the nut that lives under there, but DO NOT remove it entirely. 4. Disconnect the end links for your sway bars. 5. Disconnect the brake lines, front and rear. 6. Remove the two large bolts the hold the front strut assembly to the steering knuckle. 7. Remove the three nuts holding the strut insulator to the body under the hood. 8. You may need to disconnect the TC rods where they bolt on to the front control arm. 9. Take the front strut assembly out of the car. 10. Remove the nuts from the four bolts that hold the halfshaft to the wheel axle. 11. Disconnect the halfshaft from the axle. 12. Remove the three nuts holding the strut insulator to the body. 13 Lower the strut assembly downward until the studs clear the bodywork, the pivot it outward until it clears the fender. Careful, don't scratch the wheel arch! 14. Place the spring compressors in to the spring, and, believe it or not, compress the spring. 15. Remove the nuts loosened in step 3. 16. Remove the upper spring seats and springs. 17. With whatever burly tool you can get, loosen the large nuts that hold the strut cartridge in the strut housing. 18. Remove the strut cartridges, and toss 'em out! 19. There should be oil in the strut housings, but if not, add some oil.Aim for an ounce or two. This helps radiate heat from the cartridge. 20. Put the new strut in, and retighten the nuts. Make sure they're tight - if they get loose the struts will rattle around. 21. Compress the new springs, and place them on the strut assembly. 22. Put the upper spring seats back on, and tighen the retaining nuts. 23 CAREFULLY loosen the spring compressors. 24. Once everything looks seated well, put the rest of it back together - remember to bleed the brakes thoroughly. Leaving the rear strut assembly in the car would save some time and there appears to be room to pull the rear assembly out and away from the fender and then install a spring compressor. Miles

I think I'll just pull the assemblies off and use a spring compressor. Short cuts don't always save any time and can lead to problems. Thanks Miles

I changed out the springs and shocks on my son's 240Z 2 years ago by removing the entire strut assembly and then using a spring compressor changed out the springs and shocks. It took about 4 hours. I recall reading on another Z website that there is a way to remove the bolt on the top of the shock and then jack the car up which allows the spring to expand and then, without removing the whole strut from the car, push the strut down and pull it out of the wheel well far enough to then remove the spring and shock out of the strut assembly. A freind told me that he changed the shocks on his Z with this procedure and it only took about 20 minutes per corner. Anyone here tried this procedure? Thanks Miles

Greg I have the exact same question as I am installing a new headlight relay harness. Miles

Greg I have the exact same question as I am installing a new headlight relay harness. Miles

I looked at the wheels deals. The bolt pattern is correct, but the offset is 42 mm. Would that offset be a problem? Thanks Miles

Anyone here have any experience with the Eagle 028 wheel? I am also looking at Centerline Autodrag, Star, ET and Telstar model wheels, but they evidently have to be custom made as I can find no shop that sells them with the correct bolt pattern, offset etc for my 72 240Z. The Eagle 028 comes off the shelf 15 x 7, 4 x 4.5 bolt circle and 4 in. back spacing which should fit with no problems. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Miles

Don't waste your time or money on a rebuilt MC. Every rebuilt MC I ever bought failed. Buy a new OEM MC from Motor Sports Auto or Victoria British or from your local Nissan dealer. Miles

Go to the site below and you can see a picture of a T5 bell housing. In my JTR book the picture is the same as the bell housing on the left on page 5-7 of JTR. When I did my conversion I bought the bell housing, T5 and driveshaft all from the same car. After installation, the trans mount was level and the shifter was angled, but the BM shifter for a T5 corrected the angle so the shifter was in a normal position. http://www.fbodymotorsports.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=8098 Miles

Brian I used a stock clutch kit from Carquest p/n NCL-K1675-21 for an 89 Camero T5 @ $150.00. It has been 3 years since I did this project, but I recall that I had to have my old flywheel resurfaced for a larger clutch face. So it must have been an 11 inch clutch. You could check the Carquest p/n for clutch size. Miles

The pictures in my JTR book seem to be reversed too. I used the Camero angled bell housing with a 89 Camero T5. You can buy a clutch slave from Napa p/n 37821. I used a clutch MC from a Ford F150 Napa p/n 39560. The Ford MC and the Camero slave both use roll pin connectors allowing me to use a ford F150 clutch hydraulic hose. The Ford MC requires redrilling two of the mounting holes in the fire wall. Using the Camero bell housing keeps the transmission mount vertical. If you use a different bell housing the transmission mount will be at an angle which will require an angled mounting bracket. With the Camero bell housing the shifter will be angled towards the driver. Using a BM shifter for a Camero trans angles the shifter straight up. I used the Motor Sports Auto (MSA)engine and trans installation kit to mount everything. The trans mount was designed for a 700r4 auto trans, but the auto and T5 mounts must be identical because the MSA mount fit the T5 perfectly. You can see pictures of the installation at my son's picture site below. If I build another V8 Z I would use the Tilton 15/16 clutch MC and try to find a shop that could make up a -3 SS line with roll pin connectors to avoid re-tapping the Camero clutch slave as shown in the JTR book. http://www.netsnapshot.com/pcw/b?KEY=0&ACCOUNT=4581 Miles

Pop N Wood I installed a 79 280ZX 15/16 MC on my stock 72 240Z this morning. The brakes are firm and there is much less pedal travel. The hard pipe connections to the MC were all in the normal 240Z stock positions so no changes were required. I may tweak the booster push rod out a little to give it a higher pedal, for now the brakes work well. Thanks for your help Miles

Pop N Wood What is the pedal feel like and how is the performance affected using the larger bore MC (280ZX I presume) on stock 240Z brakes? I plan on replacing my worn stock 240z MC with a 79 280ZX MC in preparation for the Toyota upgrade. Miles

Try the spring set from Arizona Z. They are 180 lb/in. front and 200 lb/in. rear and maintain the stock ride height. I have them in my 72 240Z with 350 SBC. The ride is a bit stiff, but I like it. The springs are shorter then stock, but because they are stiffer the car stays at stock height. Miles

Zline I am not familiar with the Z32. Is that a 280 or 280ZX code? Also, do you have to do any modifications to get those parts to work? THanks Miles

John Are you using the ZX MC and booster with stock calipers and drums? The reason I ask is I am planning on doing the toyata calipers and replacing the drum brakes with disk brakes on my 72 240Z. Since my MC needs replacing I thought that I would just put the 79 ZX MC and booster in now. I suspect that the pedal will have a stiffer feel until in get the brake upgrades done. Why does the ZX booster have to go in upside down? Any other mods? Thanks Miles

Here is a website with a step by step procedure for diagnosing low pedal brake problems. One of my 240Zs has this problem even after replacement of everything but the pipes. The procedure on the website calls for using line clamps on the brake lines. Can line clamps be used on SS lines without damaging them? http://www.winbrake.com/trainingmaterials/LowPedalDiagnosis.html This web site may be helpful to those who are pulling thier hair out trying to diagnose the cause of a low pedal. It gives a good description of the ever popular missing reaction disk problem. Thanks Miles

It does sound like a reaction disk problem, but I just installed a rebuilt power booster last week. How can you tell if the reaction disk has fallen out? There is a seal around the push rod. Does that seal pop out? Miles

I have completetly rebuilt my 72 240Z brakes over the last year. All parts are new and stock except for the hard lines. The MC is US built and installed three weeks ago. The MC was bench bled, bled on the car and all four corners have been bled using standard bleeding procdures and then using a power bleeder. The problem is I can not get a firm pedal with minimum travel before brakes start kicking in. The pedal doesn't seem to sink past a certain point and pumping doesn't improve the firmness. I just replaced the vacume booster and adjusted the push rod that goes into the MC cylinder. As measured from face of the spacer on the booster the length of the push rod is 9 mm. The depth of the stock 7/8 in. MC cylinder as measured from the face of the mounting flange is 10 mm leaving 1 mm space between the end of the push rod and the bottom of the hole it goes into. Still the pedal travels a good 2 inches before noticable braking action. While the brakes stop the car it takes increasing pressure to really get the car to slow down. I know there is something wrong because at one time the pedal was firm with a 1/4 in. of free travel and the brakes would put you up against the seat belt with just normal pedal pressure. It almost seems like the fronts are doing all of the braking. Should I increase the length of the push rod? From searching old posts this is a common complaint for both stock brakes and brake upgrades. I am about to rip out the stock stuff and do the complete vented rotor, 15/16 in. MC and rear disks. By contrast, I rebuilt the stock brakes on my son's V8 72 240Z almost two years ago. The brakes work well and I have not had to do anything to them since. Any help is appreaciated. Miles

For a stock 72 SBC with a points style distributor: I hooked up a hand vacume pump to the hose that goes to the vacume advance. I pumped up the vacume and watched for the plate that the points are attached to move. It didn't move. I also noticed that the plate was loose and wobbled around. I checked the timing with a timing light. The timing jumped around due to the plate being loose. I replaced the worn distributor with a rebuiilt unit which also included a new vacume advance. Now the engine runs smooth, starts easy and has better throttle response. Miles

Drax Which Tokico springs and what spring rates? I have seen them advertised in MSA as 25% stiffer then stock which would be about 125 lb/in. ??? I put the Arizona springs in my V8 240Z and it is a little stiff. The Arizona springs are shorter than stock but are stiff enough (180 front, 200 rear) that the ride height remains stock. Miles

I used a Hotronics quick flip master battery disconnect that has a hidden remote toggle switch that kills all power from the battery as a theft deterrent. The starter button is mounted in the cigarette lighter hole. One side of the button has a hot wire I pulled in and the other side is connected to the original starter wire that goes to the starter solinoid. You could just pull another wire between the button and the soloinoid. Now the only way the car can be started and ran is for the master disonnect switch to be toggled on. Hotronics: http://www.hotronicsproducts.com 714-971-8543 Miles

Thanks for the feedback. I have replaced most of the brake parts except for the PV valve, brake switch and the hard pipes and the pedal travels too far before the brakes engage and then I have to push firmly to get the car to stop. The max vac holds vacume and the vacume line is hooked up right and I have bled and adjusted the rears. I think air may still be an issue, but I cant locate the leak. Miles

I am going to replace the master vac in my 72 240Z and spent some time researching parts suppliers for the best price. Quality is also a concern. I would appreciate your opinions/experience for the following rebuilt max vac units: Autozone: $82.00 ARI rebuilt or $99.00 Cordone rebuilt Carquest: $114.95 Cordone rebuilt Napa: $114.49 Cordone rebuilt MSA: $149.95 rebuilt by MSA supplier unkown Vicoria British: $129.95 supplier unkown Thanks Miles