datsunlover

I just thought too.. your 240sx sounds like it was built up nicely.. Im sure you have decent rims/rubber on it.. I would think they are the same 4x114 patern, and should bolt up to a Z.. you may need spacers though.. (unless your 240 was 5 bolt..) also.. isn't the 240sx rearend an R200? I bet it'd have a nice high ratio that would make a Z FLY.. good for autoX anyway.. Oh, and I think a member here is using a 240sx 5 gear hooked up to his Z motor..

Hmm.. Personally, I'd try to find a SET off a car that are in good shape. Figure one broke already.. how soon is the other one going to let go? IMO, it's like ball joints, tie rod ends, and brakes.. If you replace one side, you might as well do both. The new parts (in my expiriance) will sometimes cause the old parts to wear/break faster as the old part is now the 'weak link'. I'm sure you can find some in good shape from cali or somewhere in the south.. I could find some up my way Im sure, but I don't know how good they'd be.. (Canada+winter= BADLY rusted Z's.. and evrything else! )

Yup, you'll still have air in there, and the wheel cyls wont work well. I snaped one off (bleader) on my 280z, and was able to drill it out to a size slightly bigger, tap, and use a fine thread bolt I found lying around.. It was just to get me going, and alowed my to blead the brakes and seal it up. BYT; I'm planing on doing a brake upgrade and swaping master cyl, so I'm gona buy a NEW wheel cyl just to be on the safe side. I don't know how much longer that wheel cyl will hold out, or if I'll be able to use the bolt to blead again anyway..

Do you know anyone near by you that has a 280z? I'd say go for a ride in one man.. you may be suprised! I know I was.. Even stock, the old Z's are decent handleing cars, and I think (not trying to start another 'great debate' here..) they are lighter than a 240sx to begin with.. Also, alot of your upgrades would be able to be adapted to the 280 I think.. With a little time and inginuity, anything can be done..

Ok, I'm getting things going fianlly.. I droped off my N42 head to my friend/engine builder a few weeks back. I talked to him yesterday, and I'm just wondering what you guys think of my 'game plan' here.. He's gona put in new valve, seals, springs, shave .010 -.015" off it, port match the intake/ehxast maifolds to it, and instal a cam from Colt cams (out in B.C.) Yes, he's going to shim the cam towers and get new lash pads as well. I think (shoud have writen this down.. doh..) the cam has 280* duration and .510 lift, with 108* lobe separation... does that sound right? My builder figures with the head work and this cam, I should be able to spin it to 6500+ RPM reliably, and will have loads more torque from about 2500 all the way up. Ready to bolt on my engine, $650 cash. The bottom end wasnt making noise or anything, so I'm hoping I can get away with new rings and hone it/re-bearing and new gaskets. (waiting for a price on that stuff) What do you guys think? Gona run SU's, 2.5" exhast, and zx dizzy w/MSD box.. power guesses anyone?

I ussually try to tighten it up (any car really that usses a similar setup) till the wheel gets a bit hard to free spin, and then back it off a bit. IIRC, you want a bit of 'play' in there, as the bearings get hot while driving and expand slightly. I use a metric adjustable and the weight of it is usualy just enough to snug the nut properly.

I think you may need to just back off the nut a little.. you're talking about the 'castle nut' when you say spindle nut right? (has a bunch of slots on one side for locking it with a cotter pin, through that hole in the spindle) Or does the seal fall out of place when you loosen it?

Eeeak! Im sure it runs like a top.. but I just noticed you live in Canada (like me) and WOW do these cars rot out bad! I'll bet that's the reason the car is for sale so cheap.. Floor, rockers, rear quarters are probly gona be the worst spots... Not trying to bum you out or anything, cause all that stuf can be fixed.. just don't know if you are aware of just how much work you (sometimes) have to put into old Z chassis to make it decent. Go check it out, and make sure to look it over really well.. good luck!

IIRC, the FSM actually shows a simple drawing of a tube (with diameters given) to use to pound out those things. It's listed in the 'special tools' section at the end of the chapter, and even has a datsun part number. I bent on of mine a bit trying to remove it, and then said "ahh, to hell with this!!" I live in northern Canada, and Im sure my car has as well.. longer than me!

Are you sure the rear drums/shoes are adjusted properly? If the drums and/or shoes are worn, you might be at the 'end of adjustment' for the handle/cables, but still not be getting good contact between the shoes and drums causing the car to roll with the brake pulled. Im not sure what year your car is, but drum brakes are ussually quite similar.. you could try adjusting out the little 'star wheel' in-between the shoes.. (what IS the proper name for that thingy? ) and get it to the point you almost have to fight to get the drum back on. Then it'll only take a slight pull on the cables to lock the rear brakes.

I'd say look up the member here "Dot" as he has done some similar mods to his 240z. He has a Jag V12 in there now, but last time I talked to him he said at one point, (before the V12 idea poped into his head.. ) he was building the car to take a big block. The rockers are 14ga iirc, and 'boxed' (I knocked on them with my knuckles and WOW they seamed THICK!) and he has frame conectors, ect. Was it Michal who did the complete 'front end tube chassis' because of a front end crash that wrote the car off? I remember seeing pics of it here.. basically, from the firewall forward was all custom fab'd tube frame.. and I think it ran back into a cage in the interior as well..

I've heard of people getting the 280's close the same weight of the 240s.. but it's not nesacarily 'safe' imo.. NO bumpers at all, no spare tire/jack/tools, removing inner braceing from doors, plexiglass side/rear windows, fiberglass fenders/hood/door skins, remove rear sway bar (as earlier 240's didnt have them anyway..) and yes, striping the interior. Personally, unless you're planing on racing ONLY, I would not worry about making the 280 as 'light as possible' because an accident on the street in a car as 'stripped' as that would be deadly... I run no rear bumper (wasnt there at time of purchase), and a 240 front bumper on my 75 280..yes, 280 bumpers are UGLY, I have carbs instead of the FI (Fi was crap.. but I'm sure I lost some weight there with all the sensors, wiring, intake, ect!) and fiberglass front fenders.. only because the steel ones were rotted off!

Jeez.. youre having a rough time with 240sx's arn't you?!? Welcome to the board man.. About your KA.. I assume you've built it up a bit, and thats whay you want to use it in a z car? Or perhaps this 280 for cheep has no motor/trans, or it's blown? I'm sure it will swap in easily, but the electrical will most likely be the tricky part. It's entirly posoble though. Personally, if your KA is stock, and the 280z HAS a good L28 motor, I'd keep that, (not saying the KA is a bad motor or anything) sell the good 240zx driveline, and put that $$$ into building up the Z motor.

Are you sure you don't have a broken spring up front? Seems odd to me that the car could be 'out of balance' enough for you to feel it just because of differing strut settings.. I'd try to find out what brand the struts are anyway.. you may be able to get new dials, or find something to 'stick in there' to use for adjustment..OR... maybe you could pop off the dials from the rear and use them to adjust the front?

Yah I have some 4x4 friends and they all want LSD's. Lockers work well off-road, but one of these guys I know has snaped TWO axles so far just from trying to turn with the locker engaged. And yes, a locker/welded diff SUCKS in the rain/snow.

From what I've been told by a Nissan parts guy (used to be a tech when these were fairly new..5-6 years old) that hitting what seams to be a rev limiter around 3K rpm/rough running sometimes means the ecu is in a 'limp' mode because of a bad sensor, or mis reading sensor. It'll basicaly ignore most of the sensors, and just run in a 'pre-programed' loop.. dumping extra fuel, and not reving past 3k as a safety measure.. OR... Does your car have the resistor packs for the injectors? Going out on a limb here.. could one of them have gone bad (got wet, changed resistance) and be causeing problems with only a few of the injectors? One injector overfueling? I'd say 'bad injector' ..but with 3 doing it, that seams unlikely..

Heh.. I think you'll be able to take him.. You've got a car that's 5-600 ponuds lighter than a Stang, and will have a better weight bias as well. I'll guess mid to low 13's are doable.. (seeing as stock Z's can do what... high 14's ? ) rear gear ratio and tires/traction will play a part though.. I think $200 is a good price for the heads and roller rockers.. and as far as I know, the 4.3 rods are the same as 350.. Im not 100% on that though. As for boring out, it depends on how bad the cyl walls are really.. You may be able to just hone them and re-ring the pistons (or pop in new pistons/rings.. depending on what you are doing..) and be good to go. I'd definatly run it once 'as is' to get an idea where you are, and where you have to get to.. I wish I'd run mine this past summer. Now I'll just have to go by the 'butt o meter' for how much power and acceleration I'm gaining from my cam/rebuild/diff change..

Maybe check the TPS? If the AFM got soaked, it could have gotten wet as well.. might be causing this. Sounds like what my 75 was doing, and I also changed out the AFM. I ended up just switching to carbs, so I never actually 'solved' the problem.. but evrything I've run across since then hints (to me anyway..) that the TVS may have been the problem..

Heh heh.. here goes.. I had the EXACT same issues with the EFI in my '75 280z. I wanted to switch to SU's, (for simlpcity sake) and got pretty much the same responces at first.. then, a few SU folks spoke up. ( now here I am on this side of the fence) I have to say that I am happy with the swap. I bought a set of 72 su's and manifolds, cleaned them up, instaled them, and they worked great. Car fired right up. A week or so of playing and tuning, and the thing (car) was like a different animal.. in a good way. AND I might add, the SU's have to be the SIMPLEST carbs I've ever seen.. no 'special' knowlege is needed IMO. I took them apart, cleaned them, and made new gaskets. Pieck of cake really.. A word on the head bolt holes though.. My 75 has an N42 head, but DOES NOT have the bolt holes for the carb maifold. (There is a simple way around this, I can explain to you if need be..got some 1/4 X 1" flat bar and a drill press?) I recently bought a used head, also stamped N42 and it DOES have the bolt holes.. I can not explain this...

Well I changed the rear struts today, and all went well.. suprisingly.. I'm just curious about the 'old' inserts I removed.. I'm wondering if they are oem, or possibly an older aftermarket unit. At the bottom of the cartridge, it reads; 1-0701 32 558-0 B O G E 11/6 The 11/6 kinda makes me think 'November 1976' but I don't know.. They apeared to be in decent shape, and for a moment I thought 'Hey.. maybe I can return these KYB's and get my $$ back.. and in the spring, buy the Tokicos..' heh heh.. I gently push on the top of the cartrige (it was still sitting in the strut housing) and it drops like a rock. It takes a little pull to bring it back up, but will actually fall back down on it's own now.. So I guess they ARE shot.. oh well.

I always wondered about those moving around.. Seams to me it wouldn't take much to twist them.. but it'd sure be an unwanted/unexpected change in a hight speed turn! In my mind, the more adjustment you build into something, the more.. room for movement/missalignment you leave when the part is in 'service'..

I had a similar problem, and also went through 3 batterys.. in a matter of months! I bought a car used, and the battery in it at time of purchase needed a boost. Seemed fine for a few weeks, and suddenly it was dead. Would not take a recharge, but managed to get a jump start. Drove to parts store, bought new batery. All was fine.. again, for a few weeks. Then one night while I was driving home, the stereo turned off, the lights dimed, and I had to coast into the driveway (what luck I was so close!) as the engine died. Tried a boost from another running car, but got nothing. So I called a few friends, and garages and the general consensus was a bad alternator. I pulled it out, and had it rebuilt. Got another battry (waranty replacement for the 2 week old dead one.. Me; "I dono man.. it just died.. and it wont take a charge" Parts Guy; hmm.. guess it's just a defective one.. I'll get you another.") And voila! Car started and ran perfect for the next 3 years! The rebuilder tried to explain to me but this is about 4 years ago.. things go fuzzy you know... I think it was something to do with a cuircut in the alternator/regulator/? 'sticking' and constantly charging.. Ie; It was basicaly running the engine/electrical system because the FIRST battry was dying, and on its way out. (dead cells, age) My guess is it then killed the NEW battery from overcharging, and by that point the alternator had had enough torture, so It gave out. Other than that.. maybe a slow drain somewhere in your electrical/charging system may be doing it.. slowly draining it, and after a certain point.. it won't take a charge from the alt OR a boost?

I to will have to say *expitive deleted* you socal guys have no idea how *expitive deleted* good you got it!! Funny.. I'd never heard of this 'kit' for the s/c and a few months back I was thinking of it.. all on my own I mean. heh.. First thing I thought of was a 3.8 tbird S/C on the passenger side of the engine..

I saw somthing like that on the web a few years back.. Seams a guy decided his Volvo 240 T wagon just wasn't 'quick' enough anymore... He found a turbo about that size of a big truck, and took the intercooler from it as well. He had the cooler cut down just enough so it would fit in the front of the volvo engine rad, and somehow (?) jamed the turbo and plumbing beside the engine... rediculus lag.. but once it DID spool, (it hit about 2700 IIRC..) aparently it would burn the rear tires out... at 60 MPH!! Silly.. the turbo huosing looked like it was the motor, and the motor looked like an 'accesory' or something..