alexx933

So nobody mentioned anything about the sway bar. In post 10, I have pictures of both links for the bar. Are those supposed to be straight? The passenger side end link is the one with the scraped control arm and the super bent looking link. Tow truck driver dragged my car along the curb about 20 feet before he stopped which is why that side is so badly scraped.

For control arms, I might be talking to Jon about his rusty ones as a temporary. Until I have the monies to do an overhaul on the suspension. I'd love to go to Japan!! Too bad s30's in Japan would be hard to find for sale. Shipping would only cost a grand or two tops! I might have to settle for an rx7 or something if a Z couldn't be found!

I appreciate the tact, and you're right. It definitely isn't something I should be doing with a car I really care about. I had on the original rims and semi-bald tires on the back to have a little fun but took it too far. I had planned upon going through the suspension after selling the Honda and knowing my ship date for the Air force. At the moment though, I can't fix the bent pieces until I save up some more money. I think I will just put it in storage for now until I know what's happening in my future. As for rust repair, I think replacing the rails would go a long way. There are only a couple spots that need attention without going over the entire body. The rails and control arms seemed to be the only important pieces damaged that will affect it driving. I also havent looked over it with my mechanic yet. I want to get his opinion before anything as well. I wish there was a local track here! That would certainly alleviate my need for speed.

My other car is a CRX that gets 35 mpg. I wasn't daily driving the z to crash it and build another. $7000 is too much to throw away like that! Both doors and hatch open and close better than when I bought it (couldn't even open the passenger door and the driver door handle was broken.) They also sit straight in their positions. I actually get slightly upset driving the honda now because it's not the z.

Thanks for the input guys! This will definitely require some thinking as to my lack of finances at the moment and where I want to go with this project. I went turbo because it was cheap and a direct swap without fabrication (plus my NA was going out.) If I got a new shell, I'm not sure if I'd want to be using the same L28et as my daily driver. I love the torque, but I was averaging 11-12 mpg. I was also in the process of converting to MS but even then I'd be looking at 20ish mpg's (not bad). Using the Mckinney kit, a SR swap would be just as difficult as moving this engine over into a new chassis and provide the 20ish mpg right off the bat with a small power bump. I just have a lot to think about with this. It's what I get for being stupid.

I was thinking about getting another shell but to ship one from Cali would pretty much double the cost. On top of that, I don't have a garage for storage, and I'd feel pretty bad about giving a z cancer. This body already was rusty when I picked it up so I never felt as bad about driving in the rain.

So I went to look at the car today while it sat at my uncle's house. I lifted the back up and got these pictures. As you can see by the wheel, I hit the curb fairly hard. The fact that the tire hasn't tried to remove itself from the rim is surprising. The control arms seemed to be fine except for where the sway bar attaches to. I didn't spend much time in the back before this so I'm not sure if where the sway bar bolts to is supposed to be crooked or not. You can also see the amount of rust on my rails. The holes weren't there before this incident. The rust hadn't eaten all the way through at that point. Or it seemed that way. Doesn't matter now anyways. The suspension pickups seem to be completely fine though. The only indication the suspension was damaged, aside from the sway bar bolts, revealed itself in how the wheel sat with weight on it. The passenger side rear had a lot of toe in both jacked and on the ground. The driver rear tire had more negative camber than the passenger side. Overall, it seems as though the damage was not too extensive. Seems is key. I wouldn't drive it very far (more than 100ft) without being inspected by my mechanic. He is some what a mentor as my his experience level far exceeds my own. Anybody change their mind about the advice Jon gave me? Should I be looking for a different shell or just replace the rails and move on? I realize the pictures don't offer a great overall picture, but I thought most of you would have a good idea of the original. Once again, thanks! Alex

Thanks Jon! I will jack the car up and get under there in the morning. Should I be weary of driving around with bent rails?

BFH as in a reference to Doom's BFG? haha Big F**king hammer instead of gun? The suspension pickups are where? I searched on here and found your drawings of a possibly roll cage which attaches to the pickups here. Looks like they are at the back of the tranny tunnel to each side. My suspension already needed upgrading and I had planned on selling my honda for funding, but I now need the CRX until this can be sorted out. The struts are already pretty much worthless and I was thinking about Techno's rear LCA's. Thank you very much for the offer of the arms. If I think I will need to arms to get me on the road, I will contact you as Seattle is only a couple hours from Sequim.

Also at this time, I don't have a shop/garage at my house to work on this. Nor do I have any fabrication skills with welding, cutting, etc. A friend would probably let me use his shop that he works out of again (he helped swap the motor in) but I'd prefer not to do that long term as that is his lively hood and he could use the space in the two car shop with one entrance.

Today was going well: got off work, went for a run, it was raining so I could slip the back end out a little bit. Until on my way home, I took a detour in order to drift a little. Nothing crazy. Well go figure, I hit a super slick spot on a semi-narrow road so I spun completely around after counter steering. I ended up slamming into the curb, which was about 6 inches high and wide, while still spinning. My back two tires and driver tire were over the curb in the ditch. Cops showed up to make sure I was okay and access the situation. They didn't do anything except tell me to stay out of the road and give me a break on my ticket. The officer could have cited me for negligent driving ($500) but instead only gave me driving too quick to conditions($175) as the road was fairly wet and nobody was hurt. Tow truck got there and pulled me out after dragging me along the curb for almost twenty feet until I showed him the better place to pull the car from. He ended up charging me $271 after also giving me a break because I didn't have more than $261 in my bank account. The actual price would have been over $300 without taxes because the car was in an "accident". I actually just couldn't move my car because the rear wheels weren't on the ground. It did drive though. The total damage that I could assess in the dark while the car was pretty much bottomed out was overall fairly minimal. The engine compartment seemed fine besides the battery flying over and disconnecting. The fuel tank had a dent in the bottom about eight inches in diameter. The rear driver wheel was definitely not in its correct position, and the entire rear end was squatting. The rails are my main concern. While not in the greatest shape when I acquired the car, it looked like I bent them on the curb pretty bad. The damaged portions were flat with the body and possibly a little above the bottom of the car. The passenger rail split open in a very small spot. So my options are to fix what I broke, swap everything into a new shell, or just part with it all which I truly do not wish to do. Fixing it could require straitening the rails, pulling the dent out of the tank, and possibly getting new suspension components. Swapping my parts into a shell could require any where from just the motor/tranny to almost everything. So what would you do? What are some pro's and cons of each? I have attached a couple pictures of the crash at the scene. I will take better pictures tomorrow in the daylight to give a better understanding of the damage. Sorry for some of the blurriness as I was fairly cold in awkward positions to get the camera under the car. On the last picture, I was shooting blind. So the damage is on the left edge. Thanks! Alex

That would certainly be the easiest way to do it if the use of all four mounts is needed. I will keep that in mind. I like the idea of solely suspending the IC more because it will look cleaner. Thanks for the feedback!

Last night, I picked up an intercooler set up from a guy parting his car. Unfortunately, in the pictures, the intercooler was mounted. This proved to only be semi-true. He drilled two holes in the radiator support for the upper mounting points and hadn't made a bracket for the bottom yet. This looks exactly like the intercooler I just bought. I don't have much in the way of fab skills at the moment and lack the means to fab a lower bracket up. Would it be a smart idea to just hang the intercooler from the radiator support with rubber insulators? Or should I look into finding somebody to make me that bracket to fully support the intercooler from the bottom as well? Thanks! In case my link didn't work, here is the link to the intercooler. http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CXR&Product_Code=IC-B705&Category_Code=

I haven't used an early wood wheel yet. I'd be interested to know the diameter of the wheel in order to compare to my own. As for the thickness, I have lady hands! It helps to reach those hard to work on spots but I also don't feel the need for a thick wheel. I appreciate the suggestions though.

In this case, I prefer the look of the original wheel without the adapter and the shiny look. I know, I know. HYBRID Z lol Just my personal preference. Though those do look good too!

I'm looking for a wooden steering wheel from an early 240 to swap into my '77 280. So long as the wooden wheel itself is in decent condition. I can always repaint the spokes.

I feel as though this thread has a lot of good information. If cleaned up of extra bits and conversation, this could prove to be a great piece to add to the FAQs. Possibly coupled with links to the shifter bushing threads or the how-to on atlanticz which covered bushings. I have read this before, but having forgotten the specific words I used to search, it was difficult to find again. If it were in the FAQs, the few beginners such as myself may spend less time searching for the answers and more time actually enacting them. Plus, who doesn't love short throw shifters!

I'm looking for the entire lever from the knob to the bushings. Doesn't need the knob though. Looking to make a short throw shifter out of it and my local junkyards don't have any.

http://seattle.en.craigslist.org/kit/pts/4137571296.html Just saw this! Id pick it up if I had something to do with it. Not sure if he will ship though.

Thanks for the heads up nullbound! Once I'm done with some of the more important pieces of my project, I'll definitely go that route. much simpler.

You're certainly further along towards 240 turn signals than I am! All I've done is searched for an answer. When will you try to make this work?

I've always preferred the look of the 240s but I settled for a 280 as there was much less rust than most for Washington state. I've already removed the bumpers to get a little closer to looking like the 240, but my favorite parts of the front of the 240 are the turn signals. Mine currently reside next to the head lights. Is bolting on a 240 lower valance, such as the one pictured, even an option? I don't want to install the 240 bumpers. In this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/28647-simple-remove-and-replace-yeah-right/?hl=%2Blower+%2Bvalance , it seems as though I'd have to replace my headlight buckets. However, he was going from '75 to '72. I'd be going from '77 to '72. I also lack the ability to do much more than bolt on applications as I have no shop, heavy duty tools for fabrication, or fabrication skills. Bolt on applications would be preferred as well because there is a better chance of it looking stock as opposed to my first fab job. Thanks!

Converting my engine to MS. It's in a 77 chassis if that makes a difference to you. I currently have a MSII PCB 3.0. Just looking for a ready to go wiring harness. I have the 83 optical dizzy. Also need a stim kit to verify the function of MS. PM me or text 360 477 7424 Thanks, Alex

It's helpful to know that your TPS has the pigtail! that means I can obtain a similar one rather than sift through all this. Thanks!

I need a sensor and not a switch then. I don't plan on switching the TB at the moment as money is kind of tight. I plan on making small adapter plates to hold the newer sensor onto the stock TB. How do I tell that the TPS is the sensor type instead of the switch type? Or are the 240sx TPS both sensors and switch and that's why they have the Bosch style connector as well as the pigtail? I'm probably over complicating this.