wheelman

I live next door to a guy doing the same thing to an early 260. We moved into our house about 4 years ago and within a couple months I went over to see if he'd be willing to sell it. Nope and he said it had already been sitting for 8 years at that point, so now it's up to about 12. He bought it, drove it for 6 months and parked it and it hasn't moved since, he didn't even re-register it, might not have even transfered the title to his name. So now I get to look at it every day when I head off to work. My neighbor is a real pack rat though, he has 8 lawn mowers in his back yard and 6 cars in the front including the Z. His garage is full of stuff to the point you can't even walk though it. Wheelman

You are thinking of the tachometer not the speedometer. If you swap a V8 into a Z but retain the same speedometer drive gear ratio the stock speedometer will read correct. I was able to do this when I swapped the LT1/T5 combo into my Z, an added complication for me was I also swapped the differential. But the speedo is based solely on the revs of the drive shaft per mile traveled. Using that, which is calculated from the tired diameter and rear end ratio, you can determine which speedometer drive gear to use. Wheelman

You are wrong in calling this crank an LT4 3" unit. The engine this crank comes from is an L99. Externally it looks identical to an LT1 but has a 3" stroke and a 3.75" bore which makes it a 265. The crank is not forged and the rods are powdered metal, not exactly the strongest combination. It is externally balanced and set up for a 1 peice rear main seal so has to be used with a later block. I thought real hard about using one of these cranks with my LT1 block to build a 302 but after reading Grumpy's posts addressing the real differences between the larger and smaller displacement engines I changed my mind. Currently my engine is a 350ci LT1 (stock bottom end) with an LT4 hotcam and heavier valve springs. I set my rev limiter at 6300 and ran the engine on a dyno, power peaked right at 5800rpm but only dropped slightly all the way to 6300. I've since lowered the rev limiter to 6000rpm for safety's sake. All this to say that building a motor for high revs does not require a short stroke, but a very good valve train and high quality lower end parts. If you want a 302 to be different, go for it, I really like the idea. I would still like to build a 302 LT1 but probably won't, there are other issues with this build than are encountered with older parts. If I put a little more money into my LT1 valve train I can spin the engine to 6500rpm without problems (other than the stock EFI won't reliably control it at that level). Wheelman

Astral Ace, Listen to what's been said before you install a rear sway bar. If you aren't running one right now and the rear "steps out" on you then installing one will probably make it more likely to "step out" (over steer). If you install a larger front bar it should reduce this tendency. Another option is running wider tires in the rear, this should provide more traction and again reduce the tendency to "step out". Is the drivetrain stock and if not how has it been modified? Wheelman

The 73s did not come with a bar but the mounting tabs you see on the sub-frame in front of the a-arms are the same ones used by the 260s and 280s. you can get a stock 280 bar with the mount clamps and bushings and mount it right on. I'm running the MSA 7/8" rear bar and find it to be just a tab to large, makes the tail a little happier than I want it. BTW: What about hitting an on ramp makes you think you need a rear bar? Wheelman

I've taken to calling mine the Phoenix. It was pretty much a basket case when I bought it, I rebuilt most of it, still haven't finished the body work, and now I have to rebuild it again due to the accident I had during an auto-x run a few weeks ago. It will have risen from the ashes (not literally) twice by the time I'm done. Wheelman

Hey 78zlt1, Mike Mileski noticed that the rack he bought has an 18 spline 5/8" input shaft. He brought it to my attention so I checked mine and it's the same. Could you give us a measurement of the size and spline count of yours? I know you said the Borgeson 11/16x36 u-joint would work but is that the exact size of the input shaft on your rack or will it just clamp down enough to work? Wheelman

Yeah, I have a similar experience with deer, highway speeds and automobiles. The year following bagging the huge white tail I was returning home from hunting (unsuccessfully BTW) and used my Ford Ranger to generate a little road kill. Doing about 65, rounded a corner and saw a small herd crossing the road. The herd had split, part going left the remainder appeared to be staying put so I slowed to about 25, moved to the center of the road and continued on, just as I was passing them one on the right panicked and decided to cross jumping right in front of me. I had no time to react and hit her in the mid-section, drug her for about 50ft and then she fell under the tires. It still bothers me when think about it. I'll hunt and only take a shot if I can get a clean kill but hitting one on the road is such a waste and they suffer much more while the die. OK, no more thread jacking.. Wheelman

Being from the same area I'm 100% sure it's not wabbits, it's either Elk or Deer. Snag Point, Where do you hunt? and what for? I used to hunt over by Dayton, up on the wheat fields for deer, but it got to be like Grand Central Station out there and after being scoped on a few times I stopped going. The last deer I got was a huge White Tail, weighed in at 139lbs hanging on the butcher shop scale fully dressed, no hide, guts, head or fore limbs. That was back in 1999. Antlers were 3x4 and the GMU required 3 point or better. I had a heck of a time dragging that guy back to the rig but he sure did taste good. Wheelman

Hey Snag Point, Welcome to the site, there are at least 3 other members that live in the Tri-Cities, don't know of any in Walla Walla. It's almost getting to the point where we could have our own local get together and attract enough people to maybe do some racing. My Z is down for rebuild right now but it's a 73 240 with an LT1, T5, LSD R200 and many other upgrades. I slid it into a curb at a local auto-x event about 2 weeks ago. The accident busted the right rear strut tube assembly and pushed the right front around enough to where I need to replace the frame rails in the engine bay. Anyway, good luck with your project, keep us informed of how it progresses and when it's done come and race it with the Sand and Sage Sports Car Club (ssscc.org) in the Tri-Cities. Wheelman

First off I posted earlier but couldn't say all I wanted because I had to leave. I have to agree with Katman. My 20 year old son got pulled over 4 times in a 2 month period driving an old station wagon, not exactly a sports car. Mean while I drive the Z around making lots of noise, with no front plate and even with the front fenders off, past several cops and don't get a second look. Why? I'm 42 and have gray hair!! Simple as that. Wheelman

Ok all you young guys (sub 25) who is that is being stupid most of the time out on the streets? Who is it that generally drives the faster modified cars and has more of a propensity to street race? And you wonder why the cops pay more attention to you than to the older gentleman driving a nice Porsche or Vette or even a ratty looking fairly loud 240Z? I know the cops profile and I happen to agree with it. Younger less experienced drivers in high performance cars are more likely to injure or kill someone because they don't think far enough ahead to anticipate problems. When they get into a bad situation they have less experience to draw from. Now don't flame me as I know these are generalizations and there are actually some younger drivers who are controlled and with lots of experience but thats the exception. If you don't want the cops to notice you cut your hair, paint the car, put a muffler on it and don't act like an ass while on the streets. When they do notice you, be respectful, don't take it personally (they don't know you from Adam, and if they do it's a problem) and if you deserve the ticket admit it and stop doing things that will earn them. Wheelman

Johnc is correct in the amount of time it takes to bo the suspension upgrade if you replace all the bushings with poly. The metal sleeves he's refering to are a pain to get out, I tried to press mine out at a machine shop (20,000lb press), ended up having to use a hack saw to cut through the sleeve, then pry them out with a big screw driver. I still have them sitting on my desk at home as a reminder of how I did it. The springs are relatively easy but you will want a spring compressor. I started out with the Tokico set nbesheer is talking about, even ordered them from the same guy. The springs are OK but be aware the fronts are progressive and the rears are linear. This was not what I wanted and they lowered the car more than advertised so I sold them and installed coilovers. The Tokico struts are pretty good and sufficient for street driving. My overall experience with jdmwerks and Tokico was not the best. Tokico does not provide customer service for their products but expects you to work with the vender. Jdmwerks didn't want to refund my money after I discovered the configuration of the springs (progressive and linear) but said if I wanted to return the entire package I could but there would be a 25% restocking fee. What pissed me off the most is that no where in the advertising material does it state the spring rates or that the fronts are progressive and rears linear, I had to call Tokico and talk directly to a tech rep before I could get that info., then when I wasn't satisfied nobody wanted to make it right. Needless to say I won't be doing business with Tokico or jdmwerks in the future. Wheelman

Has anyone run a tranny with dog rings instead of synchros? I'm just wondering because it would seem to make shifting very quick not having to use the clutch but might be a real pain on the street. Wheelman

The TH350 will bolt right up with no changes. Edit: You might need to create some sort of vehicle speed sensor (VSS) to feed to the PCM so it can manage the IAC. If your TH350 has an electronic speedo connection that is all you need. Without the VSS you may run into issues with the engine stalling when you come to a stop. I had this problem with my LT1/T5 combo until I cobbled together a VSS. Wheelman

Hey Zeister, Do some searching on the subject of the 240 rearend, you'll find more information than you have time to read. Also before you get told to search again be sure to read the rules for the site. BTW: Welcome to HybridZ, you won't find a better group of guys to hang out with anywhere on the net. Wheelman

I've received some pictures from the guy since I posted. It's not rust free, they never are, but it doesn't look as bad as mine was when I first got it. He placed it on ebay starting at $700.00 on a 3 day no reserve auction. He offered sell it to me for $1000.00 if I paid cash today. No bids yet. Here is the listing http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-Datsun-240-Z-with-A-T-3-DAY-No-Reserve-Auction_W0QQitemZ220147658089QQihZ012QQcategoryZ6187QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I also have a line on a pair for sale in Spokane for $1000.00. One is a 71 the other is a 72. Talked to the guy today on the phone and it turns out he has a 69 240 race car imported from Canada. According to other Datsun guys who race with our Auto-X club the car is immaculate. Anyway a guy who runs a turbo 240 with us lives up there and checked them out yesterday, I'm trying to get in touch with him now. The word is that the 72 has been partially restored so the body is in good shape but the engine is missing, the 71 is a complete car but doesn't run. So, wish me luck. Either way it looks like I have some options at hand and have already been contacted by a member here to buy some of the spare parts that may come out of the whole thing. Wheelman

Larry, Thanks for pointing that one out. I haven't made up my mind yet but I did email the seller just to get more information. The fact it has a "rare" automatic is not a selling point for me and I think $1200.00 for a non-running car is a bit much but if it's rust free and he's willing to deal it might be worth it. Wheelman

I just did a more thorough exam of the Z and found a lot more damage to the front than I saw the first time I looked. Both frame rails are pretty badly tweaked. There are visible bends on the bottom and engine bay sides of them right behind the cross member and the right tension rod bucket is twisted. The cross member and engine were pushed about 1/4" to the left. All this indicates the front is going to need a lot of work to square it up and I don't have the equipment to do the job. I'm going to do some thinking about whether to repair this car or transfer the drive train to another.

If you use alcohol as a drying agent make sure it's 99% pure ethyl not topical isopropyl (rubbing alcohol). The topical stuff has anticeptic/anti-bacterial in it that leaves behind a film that is very hard to get off. I used some to clean a circuit board, didn't have any ethyl at the time, and still haven't gotten all the stuff off. You can get the ethyl at electronic supply stores and it doesn't take much to evaporate the water off. Wheelman

She's in our prayers and cancer is very beatable these days. My older sister dealt with breast cancer 7 years ago. She had surgery, chemo and radiation which really wiped her out for a while. She's checked out clean ever since so it appears she's beat it but we'll always be praying for her. Same for your wife. Wheelman

It'll be next season before I have it on course again, hopefully. The next event is in mid Oct. which I could probably be ready for but I have several other projects in the works that take priority. So the next time I Auto-X the Z it should have power steering. I had reduced the positive caster for this last weekend which really helped in the high speed maneuvers but slow speed is still pretty heavy. Yeah, I'm really glad no-one was hurt, like I said before I'm really having second thoughts about taking passengers. I would feel real bad if I hurt someone who was riding with me even if they begged for a ride, and I've had a few of those. I've also had several guys pushing real hard to co-drive the Z which will not happen now. Wheelman

The curb wasn't really all that close to the course. The slide started about 100 feet from the finish lights which were about 50 feet from the curb, the race line was roughly parallel to the curb. I slid through the lights sideways with the rear slowly rotating around to the right. Ended up sliding pretty much sideways into the curb after passing the lights. The rear hit harder but I think the front has damage thats more difficult to fix, I need to take another look at the right side frame rail. Anyway, this is not the fault of the course designer. It was a safe course but very fast and I got way out of sorts from being to aggressive on my first run of the day. Turns out I got second in class from that 1 run. I made a couple runs later that day in my Mustang just to get back in the saddle. I'm glad I did, these things can really mess with your head. Wheelman

It was Monday, the last of 3 days of auto-x. The course designer had set up some good fast courses for us and the last one was the fastest. On my first run I rounded a cone wall hard on the gas, the rear got light and came around. I slid sideways through the timing lights and before I got stopped hit a curb still sliding directly sideways. Turned out I got a clean run out of it and actually took second in my class for the day. The rear is busted up pretty good but there appears to be little to no frame tweakage. The hub assembly broke right above where the spindle pin goes through. When I got home we had a bit of a hard time getting the car off the trailer, it seemed like the rear was locked up. Turns out it the e-brake cable pulled by the broken right side locked up the left. Once I got it jacked up and released the cable the left spun just fine. During the loading process the right side axle had pulled from the diff which along with the e-brake made it seem as if the driveline had let go but it hadn't. The front looked fairly minor until I got it jacked up. It looks like the front frame rail on the right side is tweaked a little just behind where the crossmember is bolted on. It didn't seem as if the left side was bent but until I measure it out I won't know for sure. So the initial survey isn't to bad but until I tear it apart I can't be sure. Here are some pictures of the carnage. This is the broken hub assembly. Again from a different angle The axle pulled out of the diff View from rear in garage And the right front wheel, notice location in wheel well to far forward. As for me, I'm a bit sore and still a little shaken. I keep replaying the slide in my mind trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done to prevent hitting the curb once I was sliding. Still haven't decided if cranking the wheel to the left would have helped. The car hit sliding almost directly sideways so probably not but you never know. I had a passenger with me and this is making me question whether or not I will have any in the future. It's a big responsibility to have someone in the car when things like this happen. I really feel bad for any pain or injury he may suffer. He approached me for the ride and seems like a real upstanding type guy so I don't think there'll be problems over Dr. bills. We both were in the full harnesses which I think helped a lot, I'm VERY glad I installed them. Anyway it's currently 3:30AM or so and I need to get back to bed so I'll post again later. Wheelman

78ZLT1, Thanks for the pictures, they really helped and the measurements will be invaluable to those of us attempting this swap. We should sticky this thread. I haven't started disassembling my rack yet but the measurement of the length of the main tube (18.5 inches) is the same and they visibly look the same so I would say the 99 Forrester rack is the same as the 04 Forrester rack. I measured the stock setup of the Subaru rack and it's 55 inches from the center of one tie rod bolt to the other. I'm thinking maybe ViperRedLS1Z's idea of moving the control arm pivot point out 1/2 inch on each side would give enough adjustability to satisfy me. Edit: Based on your pictures and measurements I don't think the MOOG outer tie rod mentioned in the other thread will work without shortening the Subaru inner tie rod. Wheelman