RedNeckZ

Hello all, Before I get started, I have done the search and didn't find out the info I needed. Thanks to Sean73 for most of the info provided. Now, I have 1971 240Z that I am adding the heavy-duty harness (72-040) (page 61) from Black Dragon Auto to. The instructions are not that great. You have to splice it into the system in a few places, it is not a bolt in as advertised. First, I have had to splice the harness thru the headlight bucket, the plug wouldn't fit throught. Had to add wire to passenger side to get it to fit at all. But the part I have to work out is where it goes back into the harness for high/low control switch. It gives you a three prong plug-in with no where for it to go. Sean73 gave me the info that you had to use the plug-in harness already in place on the old harness. You have to cut off the three prong plug and slice it into one of the plug-ins to get the harness to work. After I did that, I had low beams only. But I also now have the problem of the headlight (driver side only) blowing out after going five blocks down the road. I know I have a short some where in the harness. But the question I have is why doesn't the high beams work? Do I need to splice into both of the connectors for the old harness system or do I have the wires in the wrong splice? I am not that great with electrical problems and don't know how to fix this problem. I did this to improve my headlights which were dim on the driver's side. Any help would be greatly appreciated to an old fart like me. Thanks, Rich.

Before I forget, Have you removed the brake bias bar (pressure regulating valve) in the rear brake system in your Z yet. It is the one just before the T-bar (3-way tube connector) above the rear axles. If you haven't then you need to. What this does is keep some pressure on the rear brakes after you release the brake pedal. It helps to keep from locking up the rear brakes before the fronts. But it is designed for the drum brakes and not for disc brakes. You can add a brake bias valve (you can adjust by yourself) in the system, if you like (most people do). I have the 300ZX brakes upfront and 280ZX brakes in the back. I took out the valve out of the system and bent the line over and reconnected it. I do not have a self adjuster in it at this time. I do have good brakes that pull down even on a hard brake. I like it this way and race it this way. You can do it both ways, it is up to you and your taste. Good Luck, Rich.

I am into replacing the archs in the Z at this time. I do have street flares on it. What we did was mark the inside line of the flare on the metal below it. We then removed the flare and cut the line that was made. After thet we got a stainless steel fender for a car trailer (you can get them at most farm products stores). We cut the fender in half (lengthwise) and used one part on the passenger side and the other part on the driver side. We set it up with just enough space, so that the flares would fit over it. We tapered it so that the bottom was only three inches wide and welded it in. We then cut and bent the inside metal (outer rear wheel housing fender) onto the new part. We then welded it all together. We plan on using paint on seam sealer and undercoating on to seal it. We almost have the passenger side done. We also had to replace the lower rear quarter panel that is located next to the door (rust). We are using POR-15 to seal this area before we close it. Good Luck, Rich.

Yes I have used the cam tower shims, you have talked about. I wouldn't worry about the thickness. What is more important is after you install them that the cam towers themselves will allow the cam to turn freely. As far as I know they were disigned that way. I haven't had any problems with them in my engine yet. Good Luck, Rich.

You can do the 280ZX disc brake setup on the car. It is mostly a bolt on. You will need a early 280ZX Caliber and a later model disc (small hat version). Then all you have to do is make the mounting bracket (there are several versions on this site) (just do a search on this site for mounting plates designs). I have several designs here if you need them. Just have to look for them. It may take me a little while to find them. I have done a three sided mounting plate and haven't had any problems with it. This way you don't have to remove the half shafts to mount it. Only thing you may need beside the mounting plates are longer bolts to mount it. Good Luck with this. I have had mine on the car for almost ten years and haven't had any problems with them. Just pick out ones (calibers) that are not leaking from the seal areas. To put new pads in them, you have to turn the head back into the piston. Remember to remove the rear brake pressure regulating valve. It is located above the rear drive area, just before the line divider. If I remember I just bent it to gether and reconnected it.

I have had the S-12 system (on a 280Z hub) on my car with solid rotors. It all bolted right up. We used a 15X7 wheel with zero offset and didn't have any fit problems. I am now using the S12W system with 300ZX vented rotors running a 16X7 rim with a 225x50x16 tire (front wheel drive offset) on it (Had to use a 1 inch spacer on the wheel mounting area because of the front wheel drive spacing it had). Again I was able to bolt it right up. Didn't have to use any flat washers to align the calibers (both makes, S-12 orS12W) to the rotors. We did use a .375 size spacer to mount the rotor to the back of the hub. Thats because we used a 280Z hub on the 240Z spindle. On the 240Z hub you have to use the .50 spacer to fit the rotor to the hub. If you are using a 15" zero offset rim. You may not need a spacer to move the wheel out into the wheel well area for the wheel back spacing. On most front wheel drive rims, you may have to use a spacer to put it out of harms way. Good Luck, Rich.

If the holes aren't that bad on the backside. Just fill the holes with (kitty hair) or short strand fiberglass. If you put body filler in it, over time it will swell from the moisture coming from the backside and in the end it will crack. If you put the fiberglass on it first. This will not allow this to happen. Then you can add the filler to the outside and sand down. Remember to primer over the area after you get done or before going out into the rain. If you only have the filler on the outside, it will still absorb water. So you can paint over it (rattle can it or primer), just make sure it is all covered. You can sand off the rattle can paint, just before you paint it.

Have you adjusted the rod going from the foot assemble to the master cyclinder yet? You can lay on the floor under the steering wheel and adjust it with a few wrenchs. All you have to do is loosen it up and turn the bar out until you reach the point you want. It may take you a few times to get it right. But it does work pretty good. Good Luck, Rich.

What minor machine work would be needed to make them work? I am interested in this setup and would like to find out what the machine shop had to do? Also how thick is the mounting plate you used in this swap? The only other question is, what size rims do we have to use on this setup?

Do you have the louver set that sits in the window frame or the set that fits over the whole window? There was two different kinds made. The set that sits in the window frame has mounting hardware that is held in by the rubber seal around the window. You had to push it in from the glass side, top and bottom to mount it in. The second set has the mounting brackets on top. All you have to do is drill the holes and mount it with stainless steel srews. On the bottom it has a sliding bolt system, like a gate securing bolt, only smaller. You can get them from most hardware stores if needed. After mounting the top screws, just line up the bottom holes and drill them. Again use stainless screws to secure them. Add some rubberized gasket material (form a gasket) to the screws to keep them water tight. Good Luck, Rich.

you can use two-side tape to mount it and then use screws or bolts to secure it. I have a large whale tail being mount onto my Z. Hope this helps, Rich.

I have one on my daily driver and like it a lot better then the old mount. But I am also not very stock any more. Just stripped the insides out and installed a rollbar. So noise is not a problem with me. It did stop the rearend hitting the tunnel everytime I dropped the clutch. Maybe you should try the system of wrapping a cable around the front mount to hold it in place. It seems to work for most people. Check this area with a search try and see what comes up. It has been talked about. The people at Jags that run, makes a book about info on how to do a V8 conversion for the Z. It also talks about some great info on the cable idea. Good Luck, Rich.

Yes, you can put bondo over etching primer and sand it. You just have to reprimer it, before you do the wet sanding on it. good Luck, Rich.

Yes, go with the spacer in the back. On all models, the tubes are longer in the back. The spacer should make up for that space.

I have the 300ZX brake rotors and toyota calibers on front and 280ZX Disc and calibers on the rear. Also have the 15/16th (280ZX) master cylinder on it. Also removed the brake bias unit from the rearend area for the drum brakes (just bent the line over and reconnected). Some people have put in a manual brake pressure adjuster unit in the rear line. But I have not done this at this time (did the back disc brake package in the 1990's). After bleeding the brakes, I had to adjust the length of the rod going into the master cylinder from the brake pedals. Before that it felt like soft brakes to me. After the adjustment are firm and nice. Only thing I have added since that time is speed bleeders. Good Luck, Rich.

Can you give us some more info on who this person is? Or at least what part of the country, that he is from? I like to buy from people I know and trust. Has anyone check out his site?

Before cutting the cable. Jack-up the car and put jack stands under it. Then crawl under it and see what is wrong. All you may have to do is lossen the two nuts used in the adjustment of it. Maybe needing new pads or such. First check it out (all of it) and see what is causing it to bind? Then make up your plan to fix it and go with your plan. If your not mech inclined. Take it to someone, who is.

Yes, I got the eight point rollbar for my 71 Z. We made some changes to it. The first one, we did was to bend the main loop out some so it would fit up next to the wheel wells (before it was bent to fit in the seatbelt wells) and cut it to fit. We mounted it on plates and had it leaning to the rear. I am 5'8" tall so I did the rest for my height. We mount the bar across the loop with out the bend (adding a flaming river adjustable steering column later). I strongly recommend that you bend this pole to give you more room for your seats. Also added the cross brace as required by the SCCA. The rear braces were cut to fit to the top of the strut towers and mounted with plates. I have not added the forward brace yet. I am looking at putting in the front roll cage soon and will add them then. We also added the small side braces that go from the side of the loop to the transmission tunnel. I liked the kit and haven't had any problems with it. Good Luck, Rich.

No sealer required. The rubber gasket does the sealing. You can wrap 550 cord (parachute line) (at least one whole wrap and half of another) around the window and gasket. Then set the whole assemble in the rear hatch opening (need two people to do this) and have one person push down on the window corner (corner end near the end of cord). The other person needs to pull the line slowly from around the window (the person pushing down will move with the puller as they move around the window frame). Making sure that the cord lifts the rubber out and over the edge of metal lip on frame, causing it to seat. It takes some time, but it will go faster then you think, after you get the hang of doing it. Good Luck, Rich.

I had a problem with some thing like this. Turned out to be a bearing in the rear hub. My daughter had used the car and hit a curb with it and didn't tell me about it. Didn't find out about it until I started driving it. It start out with the popping sound and then went to a dragging sound. One of the bearing rollers broke out of the cage and the cage then started dragging on the race. Not a very easy problem to fix. I used the time to replace both sides.

The trim around the doors is pretty easy to remove. Roll the window down first. Then remove the screws holding the frame into the door. If I remember, it has two in front and two in the back holding it in. May be more. But after that the hard part begins, Just pry the part out of the door. It is not that hard to do. Just take your time and good luck, Rich.

You can remove the hood emblem with a screw driver. It has two sided tape on it. Just take your time and don't try to scratch the paint. The fenders are also done the same way. They are held in place by two pins that are pushed into the body. Just take your time and pry them out. The air vent on the roof posts come off the same way. Also if you want to take the window apart, you can do it. Just remove the screws on the sides and slowly pry apart. just remember how you did it, because you just do the reverse to put it back together. Good Luck, Rich.

You first have to remove the inner trim panel that goes around the window frame on the inside. It is that black plastic piece that covers the metal around the window. Before you can remove it, you have to remove the plastic rivets that hold the panels next to it also. All of them are interconnected. After you remove the panel, all you have to remove is 4 metal screws holding the window in. Before you try to remove the screws, spray them with WD-40. Most of them have rusted up and frozen in place over time. Let it sit over night to soak in. The next day you should be able to go out and remove them. Then slowly pry the window out and then do your thing. To put it back in, just do the reverse of what you did to get it out. Good Luck, Rich.

You can put the 280Z rack on the 240Z. It is a bolt on, for most of it. You have to order the 280Z bushings for the rack. The 240Z bushings are to small and will not fit properly. But most of the companies out there have them for sale as individual items. I do know it will work, because I have it done on my 1971 Z. I have three complete frontends sitting on my back deck. So I have a lot of them to pick from. Good Luck, Rich.

On the 280ZX rear brake package. The mounting plate is flat plate. The calibers are the early model (79-8/81) and the rotors are the later model (small hat, not the early version, wide hat). But the mounting plate is just a flat plate of steel 1/2". This is what I have in my Z at this time. But I know some poeple who has used 1/4" and 1/8" plate in their Z. The 1/8" plate was used by Mike Wilson, he had a article on it on the Internet Z club site. 1/4" plate was used by PParaska on his site. I also have a drawing around here from a GT-2 racer that used only 2 mounting holes to mount it to his car. You can conduct a search or look over individual's personnel sites to find out more info. :burnout: