EvilC

What have I been doing since 2005? Back in 2005 I bought my 1973 240z. I found the car because of David (1 tuff z) and we looked at it together as this would be the start to my V8 s30 affair. I finished days before 07 ZCON. Rough around the edges but she was fast. After a year I now wanted paint to match the drivetrain I was driving around with. In 2008 I picked up a 1971 240z that had old school fg flares and made her into this car that most people know today which was completed in 2009. After having the 71 built for 3 years now, I realize I wanted a car I can drive for longer periods of time, have ac, not smell like fumes and STOCK body lines. I looked into a subtle Z kit, vintage ac kit, repaint of engine bay and new barrels for the CCWs and the cost was up there. I know I have out grown the look of the car and though it was something I thought about for a long time - it was time to part the car out to build the final version of what I now wanted. Lucky a very good friend of mine was thinking about selling his Z of 27 years. For as long as I knew him, he has always told stories about it and once in awhile look back at old photos. Looking at the car for the first time 2 years ago, I knew I wanted it. Actually to know the history of the car and something that meant so much to a friend of mine would have been a honor to own. So after some talking, Feb 2013 I purchased Joe's (rags) 260Z. The plan is to swap my LS1 combo into this car giving her new life again. The car has been well taken care of and will see another 25 years as such. There are a few major items that I love about this car and it comes with knowing the history of it. The frame kit Joe had installed back in the day is awesome. Watching this car roll down the road, you can see it is rock solid. I plan to post pictures and the ad for the frame kit later next week. This is an AC early 260z with rechromed 240z bumpers and the car looks great! Stock body lines that I have been after. Very nice interior which non of my v8 cars have had. When this car was painted back in 1991, NOS fenders, headlight buckets and both rear quaters. I will have to snap more pictures of the car when the weather clears up but I am very excited. The plan is to have the car done before June so I can test out the AC! Stay tuned as this swap takes place........again!

Well the one you sold Will ended up with a guy who just bought the last greeb 260z I had for sale who is also a member here.

With so little Z cars around this way, it would seem so. lol

She is in good hands for 25 more years! I have to say, just watching her drive down the road you can see how tight the car is. I am just glad that I am able to bring life to a car again that belonged to a great friend of mine. Plus who's garage you think I am going to work in anyway?!?!??!?!?! Thanks JR! Evil Z - final version 2013

I picked up the TWM from Ebay when I bought the triple 45s as a package deal. I went with it because it was new and it is the same Rebello uses on their engines. I need to get work done, winter is getting in the way!

Almost two months later and not much has been done on the Z, audio is done but at some point I will need to have the door panels recovered. I did source 350Z leather seats and will get them in the car once warm weather comes back around. So short/long list of items to do - Get the tach working (280z) Swap in 350z seats Wire the oem choke light to no become my shift light set with the MJ 5 speed swap Have flex pipes installed in the exhaust r200 open diff swap -maybe cvs and 280z stub axle upgrade seat of the pants tune! Not sure if I will be taking this car to ZCON this year as I am in the process of picking up another 260z to swap my 240z items to. That is another complete build thread but the car is a great starting point.

Great story and very nice car, you sure know how to find them Can't wait to see of you get this done in a few months and I sure you will be able to. I need to get filters like you have on your webers. So much to do! Keep us updated!

Glad you got it Mike! I need to take a look at the heads, lol.....damn work getting in the way. Hope to have them on the engine in a month or so after I get the car stripped.

i just want to see more pics. Funny we both ar getting 260z cars at the same time

Very nice car!

Took it for a spin tonight.......... Love German V8 cars! Congrats to my boy JR..........drive it like you stole it!

Want to make a trip to BMW on Rt 17? M3 test drive before the snow hits.

Here are a few things I see and I hate that I can't compare to my car right now: Strut tubes do not look like they were welded straight "plum" The stock uprights look bent towards the rear of the car The "homemade" cage looks like it mounts the nose of the diff downward - I def can't see over the top of my diff. Take measurements of the rocker to the ground, diff mount bolt that is in the ttt MS bar to ground. I took a look at rags car today which has the 280zxt axle setup and with the car on the ground the rear control arm is almost parallel to the ground and the angle of the axle from cv adapter to diff is small. Your angle of the axle looks like my car at full droop.

Just took a look at your newest vid - your diff is mounted too low! You can see right over the top of it in the vids. I will be able to go into details later with pics but for sure the diff is too low.

Hmm, I can't tell from the pics but are the strut tubes plum? Might just be the angle of the picture but wondering why the big metal patch over the strut tube. Honestly if they were really out of plum the strut wouldn't fit inside the tube without being "forced" in. I would check with JohnC about your measurements since he does provide the service of sectioning strut tubes. I am wondering if the overall length of the tube is at play here? My diff looks like it is mounted slightly higher than yours but take that with a grain of salt. Lets see if your new fix will help any. There def should be a snap ring in that grove which limits the axle travel from side to side but doesn't come into play before you hit the axle stops. I imagine that if the stops were not installed, all the "limited" side to side movement would be on that snap ring which would fail.

Hmm, ripping it all out doesn't seem like the right answer to me. Check out my pics in this old thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/75896-axle-stop-mm-q45-diff-problem/ Starting at the axles stops - your axles are def more at an angle with the stops than mine are. I have about 15k miles on this axles setup and plenty track days on them and they have never busted apart. Like I stated before, 1TUFFZ also has as many and if not more track days and only did what you did once because he had too much camber. Starting off with that basic info, what do we see is causing your extreme angle during full compression and droop. That is where we start, too many people on the site running this setup to just thrown in the towel. Measure your strut housing length, I am curious to know the distance from your stub axle to the gland nut.

Ross is right, my 240 won't share a common hard point as your 280 maybe the distance between the top off the diff to the body right above it?

We are at the same point with the MJ and the tach. I just got a 280z tach and bought the tach adapter from MJ site. I plan to get this going soon but hmm, snow again this week. lol

Sorry I can't see the video links because I am at work. Is it possible for you to measure the height from ground to the bottom of the diff? Does anyone think that some of the gap can be made up with adjustable control arms? Being able to pull the bottom of the strut housing more inboard.

Mark - Rags - Sunny - 1tuffz mentioned what I am thinking and can speak from my own car. I have not seen a picture of your MM cv adapters. A spacer should not be needed. So recap here and moving forward. When doing this swap, buying the MM axles I went to the local junkyard and bought 4 Q45 axles to get 4 cv "cup" sections of the stock axles. I followed the install guide and bolted the setup together. The only issue I have had is like you showed - the axles stops being torn into by the axle. Like Mark said, it is a floating axle design so the stops are the only thing that stops the travel. You can have them turned down to the depth that the axle appears to be hitting them. There isn't any need for flipping cages, just be sure to have 4 of the same stock CVs. It is possible to have too much travel as 1tuffz mentioned in his case. Do you have camber plates? Adjustable rear control arms? I am curious that both 280z owners had the same issue. I would love if we on Hybrid were able to get a stock 240z and stock 280z and check rear end setups. It looks like the 280z has slightly more toe than a 240z. I will see if I can find any pics of my setup.

Alrighty love how you did that! Very clean look. You running the mini 2 version?

Mine will run about 200 and at the track about 210, I do know and heard from several LSx tuners that they like to run hot. Right now I have to change the temp in my ecu when my fans comes one because I have them tied together and even at 90 degree days the car wont go over 180ish which i believe is a little cool for the engine esp track days 40-60 min sessions.

Cool, the next parts car 240z I get with AC - I will have to take a closer look at the system.

Here is something I am not sure of - is the AC circuit needed in my ls1 harness? When I got the harness made a few years ago I wasn't thinking about AC so now that it isn't there can I run the AC without? Basically I know when the AC is turned on usually the ecu will raise the idle to make up for the new load. I am guessing since the 240z didn't have a computer back in the 70s the aftermarket units were just run as is. Thinking out loud here and looking to keep the cost down if I don't need to buy another harness or maybe even run a seperate one if needed. Bryan - how would you rate your AC system in the Z? I know it is a huge improvement from not having anything but how would you compare it to modern cars? I have never been in any s30 cars with AC.

No worries, we are all sharing ideas and thoughts.