Fuzzydicerule Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Hi guys, I've been lurking long enough, I figure its time to post up a build thread. A bit of an intro. My name is Sam. I've been into cars for quite a while now, but until recently I have mostly been only interested in American cars. Being that my entire group of friends drives Japanese cars, I didn't really ever live that down. My first three cars were all Ford, a Foxbody, an LTD Station Wagon that I never got a chance to get running, and an 03 Cobra that I still have currently. Aside from that my dad and I got and proceeded to rebuild a 1969 Mach 1 starting when I graduated from Middle school, so most of my experience was with Fords. However, recently, my outlook has changed. My friend had an S30 that we continually worked on(but never seemed to get anywhere with, the project is all but abandoned) In fact I came close to buying an S30 in 2010 when i sold my 92 mustang, but I ended up getting the Cobra, and I kind of forgot about them, and pretty much settled down with my car combo. then in february, I bought a starion, and got it running, and then drove that until the beginning of may, when I sold it, and had to figure out how to spend the money, and then i came across this car. It was listed on Craigslist for a measly 950 bucks, and the only known problem was a bad Ignition tumbler, and an auto that didn't like to shift. aside from some interesting carpeting tactics, missing seats, and some dents, it appeared to be well worth the 950. Best of all, it has close to ZERO rust. Theres a small hole under the battery, and some bubbling on one of the 1/4's and that is IT. The floors are a bit dented, but Ive fixed worse. after spending 200 dollars in towing fees (im an idiot, also, dont tell AAA that the car isnt registered to you.) i got the car home, and after fiddling with the igntion to get it to the on position, and spending a couple bucks on a fuel filter and some new hoses, it ran. My first drive in the car was without seats (being 6'6, i made out just fine sitting on the platform just before the toolboxes.) Then I started modding it. i grabbed a BUNCH of parts off my friend because he had absolutely 0 interest in finishing his Z. Being the generous type, i have them all for a very good price. parts include: Modern Motorsports 4 piston front brakes with larger rotors, Modern Motorsports Rear S13 Disk brake upgrade, Stainless steel brake lines, His torn to hell stock seats, Tokico Lowering springs, MSA 6-2-1 Header, MSA Twicepipes. Fidanza Flywheel, ACT clutch, stock 4 speed, and his pedal box, as well as the Hood, fenders, access panels, and doors. We got to work and in a matter of about 3 days had pretty much all of it on the car, but then we found out that the wiring is complete crap. (It is spliced and hacked to ****, almost nothing worked. Fast forward a few days. The same friend has an impulse buy and buys a *less than perfect* 240, another 72. After driving it, we realize its pretty damn bad, and i end up with the car, which i decided to use as a parts car for wiring and sell the rest to make up the payment, only to find that the wiring is as bad, if not WORSE that my own cars. This thing had almost all the power wires in the dash melt through the insulation, i figure it was about a stones throw from a major car fire. My plans out the window for an easy peasy wiring swap, im now in the process of making the two terrible harnesses one decent one. That just about brings us to today, and should thoroughly explain the topic description. I also forgot to mention, i picked up an L28ET, and im working on getting that to the point that i can drop in in place and get it running with a couple extra atmospheres. Current Specs: 1972 240z E88/E31 L24 with Dual Weber DGV's MSA 6-2-1 with Twicepipes Fidanza aluminum Flywheel ACT 6 puck clutch Stock 4 speed Modern Motorsports 4 piston Front, S13 rear disk brakes Tokico Lowering springs And soon it will include (* indicates parts i still need to acquire, if anyone has these, let me know) F54/P90 L28ET (i am still looking for an oil pan and cooler, would prefer baffled such as the AZC peice.) T3/T4 turbo of unknown build 14PSI internal Wastegate* Supra 440's with a billet rail* Mitsubishi Starion intercooler (i may stop being cheap and get a good one.) Megasquirt2 V3.0 with relay board and EDIS (still need all the EDIS junk and the VR. as well as a dizzy block plate Without further ado, here are some pics. I am notorious for just not taking pictures, and thusly, i dont have many, and most of these are from after i started getting parts on it. This is when it was pulled in to do the suspension and brakes, still auto at this point Good old dark interior shot. Black fenders and the rewinds The L28ET, this is when i got it, its currently down to S30 Status with all of the superfluous crap taken off. These are from Sunday, i figured it needed to have some pics taken, this is with pretty much everything there that has been mentioned so far. We got bored, and had some sharpies, the cars going to get painted eventually, so its whatever This is what i always imagine when i see the empty bumper holes. Got some sweet 280zx hood vents, an awesome hood scoop, custom Firechicken grafix, and a dude who is confused at it all. the truest statement to ever be uttered Good old L24 The interior currently, notice how there is nothing there..., im also mad that some idiot painted this car red, that lime green is awesome Thats it for now, ill have her running soon and i will have something to do with that to update with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 so why did you replace the doors and fenders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 The passenger door lock/handle/actuator was frozen (biggest ***** in the world to remove), the drivers door, im actually going to put the red one back on, because the regulator in the back one died the day after i put it in. and if you look in the first pic i posted, the passenger fender was creased and had a signifigant dent on the fender lip, and the drivers was bent up badly at the front portion of the rear of the thing all in all, the black car was signifigantly straighter than this one, so why not use the good body panels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 So i have an interesting problem. I wired the engine harness back into place, and did minimal installation to try and get it to turn over, after some frustration, i realized that the ammeter wasnt in the loom, and once i had that back in the loop, i started to have an interesting problem. First, the chassis power wire from the positive on the solenoid (basically constant 12v) fried almost instantaneously, so i used a connector off the old harness and made a new one. then the ammeter started heating up and appeared to short slightly. we started messing with the thermal relay that bolts just to the left of the hood pop on the kick panel, that has 3 wires going to it. after switching around the wires, the power wire stopped trying to fry itself; however, almost NOTHING works. does anyone know what all needs to be plugged in on the dash harness in order to start the car, i want to verify that it works before i put in the dash because i dont want to have to remove it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 GREAT SUCCESS! I got her running again, and i drove it down my street. After half a day of fumbling around and being frustrated, my friend jimmy came over and helped me out, and we figured out what my problems were. Turns out i had 2 major ones 1 the alt was wired backwards. the charging post and ground were flopped. This explains why my chassis power wire and my ammeter fried 2 the ammeter was fried. I fixed those and had cranking power. Kay, but it wasnt starting, why, the problem was with the spark, being that there was none. after fiddling around in the car again, i had another gauge related epiphany, and i plugged the tach in. Success, i got shocked by the coil wire, its working again! Now why wont it start. Grabbed the trusty old brake cleaner, cool beans, it starts, but it wont maintain an idle. no fuel, I grabbed a spare pump, which turned out to be ****, and the one on the car was working WAY better. so i ended up priming it by hand before reinstalling, and viola!, she starts. and no more trying to crank from the off position!. Only problem is, the Clamps on the twice pipes were touching the ground with me in it, i need to fix that >_< To top that off, my dad got a MaxJack portable 2 post Lift today, and we got that off the pallet and ****, so soon i will have a feasable working unit What i learned today. 1: Having the alt wired properly works. 2: These cars not only need the Ammeter installed, but the tach as well to run. 3: The MSA Twice pipe fitment is **** (who am i kidding, i knew that already) 4: Z cars, even ones with no interiors with 2 bolts holding in the column, a loose steering wheel and needing a tune are REALLY fun to drive. TL;DR, My day went from ****, to awesome. Good times! pics and vids will come soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 I figure its time for an update up in here (no pics currently, unfortunately, ill take some tomorrow of the current state of things In the three months since ive updated this, a couple things have happened 1: I have been driving the car, i was attempting to daily it, but the mileage and the reliability issues just werent cutting it, but i was driving it 2: I never put more than 5 gallons of gasoline in it, as i noticed when i got it that it leaked profusely when more than half full 3: i had a SERIOUS charging problem, somewhere in the system, causing the battery to die in as little as a night if left plugged in. This killed one battery (3 months old...) and when i put the new one in(and back in, after it happened again) the problem was gone for about 2 days, and if i didnt drive it for 3, it would die completely in a night). My guess is the alt was dying, which is convenient that i have one with the ET... 4: The fuel pump was dying. (This was confusing. This was by far the biggest problem with the car, and the two options were a dead fuel pump or clocked carburetors. Basically, and more and more frequently, the car would act as if it had NO power, and in revving actually sounded like my cobra does when traction control kicks on. Definately something wasnt right, usually happened after or durning hard (ish) acceleration On multiple occasions, pulling the pump out and priming it by hand did the trick, so im fairly certain that the fuel pump was faulty and the diaphragm was ripped) 5: Painted the car Olive Drab Green 3 and 4 left me stranded or nearly did on multiple occasions. So a couple of weeks ago i parked it im preparation for what i started on monday. I FINALLY got cracking on my L28ET Swap Monday the 12th: Me and my friend james started by removing the dash and the entire wiring harness(AGAIN), and pulling the L24 and 4spd. This went from attempting to pull the motor while leaving the trans in the car, to having to bolt them back together in the air because the input shaft didnt want to let go of the pilot bearing and pulling them out as a unit (which is what i should have done in the first place). That excursion left me with a destroyed transmission mount. And i had to buy a used one after finding out that i couldnt get one at ALL through my work. sadly, that is ALL we got done that day, despite plans for more... Tuesday the 13th: We didnt get started until about noon, mostly from being exhausted from the day before, All we really had time to do was remove the diff, Gas tank, stock fuel lines, and the differential. At this point, i was going to do a short nose R230 swap (friend has one and 3 CV's laying around from his abandoned project that hes giving me for doing some other work), unfortunately, i then found out all the other stuff i needed to do that swap, so my Open diff R200 is going back in. We also got around to degreasing the engine bay and getting it painted a nice flat black. Wednesday the 14th: i had to work that day, but i did get to spend some time getting my Boost and Fuel gauge mounted in the clock and Amp/Fuel gauge housings respectively. They look pretty good, albeit mismatched Friday the 16th: Today started fairly mundane, aside from getting a new trans mount in the morning, i had to go recycle a bunch of metal to get some more funds(i was down to 9 bucks after getting the engine mount) with which i bought some gear oil for the trans, and some radiator hoses. We didnt get started until about 3pm. I started by installing a new hockey puck and steering rack bushings(traded my friend a set of 440 supras for a master bushing set, hoping that will solve the rest of my unsettling handling issues, followed that up with buttoning up some stuff on the motor, and throwing that puppy in there. that took us until about 9 and that basically brings us up to date. Motor is in, sans the Intake, and the car is devoid of wiring in the front. Im a bit anxious to find out what is going to explode first, the Type 1 4 speed, or the open diff R200. with my driving, it could be either at any time. My bets are on the 4 speed, shaft play isnt good on anything, and that sucker has about 1/8 inch on the input shaft, so im not hopeful for that one Plans for the next couple of days include -Getting the intake somewhat smoothed, and port matching it to my KA24 throttle body -Redoing the Wiring harness and pulling out all the circuits and wires that are unused in the current system and -Reinstalling the previously mentioned -Wiring, wiring, and did i mention wiring. and lastly -BOOOOOOOOOOST. Refined setup F54/P90 L28ET T3/T4 14PSI internal Wastegate Tial 50mm BOV Supra 440cc Injectors Pallnet Fuel rail Izuzu NPR intercooler (a damn sight bigger than the starion intercooler) Megasquirt2 V3.0 with relay board and EDIS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Some more progress, got my trunk floor cut out and my Fuel cell hung on saturday (i still need to finish up the mounts, but its just about there) today I got my Isuzu IC and 280zx radiator mounted, unfortunately, thats about it, aside from starting to smooth my intake mani. I suppose i should throw in some pictures to make people reply to this thread... These are all i took, like i said, im practically allergic to cameras. Sadly, i found out later, the IC is a bit crooked, mostly due to my tweaked core support, and it hits the hood slightly, so im going to fudge the mounts to straighten it up and get it to clear tomorrow. In the next couple of days, im hoping to get the fuel cell all buttoned up, as well as get the motor back together and start running IC piping, and then wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Been a little while since i updated, i kinda feel like im talking to myself here, but ill bear with it. Since my last update. I redid the wiring, AGAIN, but unfortunately, it seems a third time is in order, seeing as the Headlights and the windshield wipers both decided that all the time is a good time to be on... The motor is buttoned up. I finished smoothing the intake, got the turbo installed, got the throttle cable im using working, fabricated all the IC piping, Got a generic oil cooler from my Work and got that plumbed. Annoyingly, my thermostat housing cracked when tapping it for the GM CLT sensor, and i ruined my L24 part trying to to the same, and welding up the crack did not fix it. I got all of my MS wiring done for the engine and got it running well enough to move, still needs tuning badly but im going to leave that for another day. I got my exhaust all built, it consists of a Down pipe with 2 45* bends and a wideband, a flex pipe, a couple shallow kinks, a spiral flow by Moroso, and a 60" out the ass end. I got all the fuel system buttoned up and fought with fuel leaks for a week, but thats all said and done. Yesterday, I spend 12 hours custom making inserts for the radio bezel Area and the fuse block cover, and a Battery cut off panel for the old fuel filler opening in the 1/4, out of aluminum for a combo Gauge pod/Radio bezel/Switch panel, that ended in two very pretty, very functional panels, many cuts and many blisters Aside from progress, i also gave myself more to do in the next couple of weeks. A couple days ago i bought a full set of Bad Dog frame rails and a Thermostat housing from John. So obviously when those show up im going to be balls deep replacing my floor boards. My friend decided to pay me for future work (wiring his car, among the rest of the huge project his car will be [LS1 swap into a RHD Ta27 Celica]) by buying me an 8 circuit HotRod wiring harness. That was what prompted me to make the Radio bezel switch panel. So once the floors are done, The Third and final wiring job will begin. Lastly, the same friend had bought a set of floor mount pedals for his Celica, and found out that he didnt have the room, so he gave them to me. I decided the other day to buy some master cylinders for them, and install them when i redo the floors. So a TIlton Floor mount setup is in the works as well So yeah, the next couple of weeks is going to be really, really fun... So without further ado, here are some pictures First off, my engine roughly as it sits. This is with the exposed wiring before i bundled it, but you get the gist Here is the exhaust i built, Just the tailpipe obviously, but i have it tucked as high as i can get it, and it sounds pretty decent. and lastly, The Bezels i made Radio. Top: Horn-Headlights-Hi Beams. Center: Boost gauge, Misc buttons for the LC1 and A/F, Innovate Air Fuel gauge, Lower: Im planning on putting in a CB for shits and giggles, mostly because i dont want to wire/Install speakers. Fuse cover. Top: Hazards, Turn Signals, Wipers, Bottom: on/off key, ECU Power, Starter Button. The lights in the center are Two for the Turn signals, and the red is for the E brake warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Heres a bad video that got turned upside down for some reason of the exhaust Ignore me and my friends being idiots, we were excited that it ran http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v236/BANDGEEK234/?action=view¤t=IMG_0007.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) Small update, my baddog rails and tstat housing showed up, and i took a picture of my Tilton floor mount pedals that im going to install (Masters should be in tomorrow, hopefully) Those guys are going in tomorrow and thursday, then i can start with my new wiring harness, hopefully someday soon i will be done =/ im trying to find a way to spend a gratuitous amount of money on speedhut gauges... im not finding that easy... although i think i just need the Speedo and tach for now... Edited December 13, 2011 by Fuzzydicerule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 My Christmas presents to Me finally showed up I got a Nardi Classic/NRG Quick Release Setup. Unfortunately The Part they had listed for "260/280Z's" is the same as for 240sx's... Sadly, they are not the same. I bought a Grant Hub with a nardi adapter today. The Z Logo Mahogany Shift knob, I bought along with my Type 1 Airdam and BRE Ducktail from MSA. I also got a Tach and GPS Speedo from Speedhut last month, and got those installed in the stock Bezels Airdam installed (checking fitmet/photo op, its coming off the next time i work on the car as the drivers side fender is not bolted up. Why you may ask, scroll down a few pictures. BRE Ducktail Installed. Both the airdam and this were sanded and painted with Duplicolor bumper coat. The airdam will get redone eventually as it has quite a few imperfections, but the spoiler looks damn good This is why i had the Drivers side Headlight bucket and fender unbolted. As you may be able to see. The Toe board has been excavated to make room for the Floor mount pedals. Everything is tacked in at this point. Im going to fab up a few more braces and then get it finish welded and skinned. But the Pedals are Mountable and i got the Brake lines bent and mocked up today. Once the drivers side floor is done i can get it so it can stop on its own... The Double wide crossbar is a footrest for the slightly higher than stock pedals, i think im going to add another one or two to the front, it doesnt quite go far enough forward... Lastly, you can seen the seat frame i fabbed up, its to mount the Generic Racing seats you can find at any O'reillys (no pics sadly) but with them mounted about an inch off the floor (versus the stock 3 or so) the seat bottom is about the same as stock, and i have the ability to properly run harnesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Some more pics Only real update is my Grant hub and Grant-Nardi adapter showed up (45 bucks shipped from Forever Sharp.com, Good deal IMHO) The wheel is a bit close, But luckily, i am 6'6 and sit as far back as possible, so its not bad and i just took a few shots of my Turbo plumbing to post in the intercooler thread in the Turbo section Setup: 3 inch Spectre Air filter, 45* bend and 6 inch straight section before the turbo T3/t4 Hybrid. 14psi internal wastegate 2.5 inch steel intercooler piping. Isuzu NPR Intercooler, Mounted at a ~15* angle GM IAT sensor in the final pipe before the TB Tial 50mm BOV Just before the TB Routing is as follows: Compressor outlet pointing straight down, snakes between the steering shaft and the frame (about 1/2 an inch of clearance, should be plenty) Has a couple bends to get it in between the Sump and Crossmember (i need to add a brace here, its very floppy) Snakes around oil filter and comes into engine bay between the starter and filter, has a support on the passenger side Strut tower Heads forward with some compound bends through the firewall, into the intercooler More compound bends to get it from the intercooler to the throttle body, with the IAT and the BOV in the last pipe The angles on the outlet of the NPR intercooler are a bit funky to work with, but the way i have it, it clears the hood, grille and air dam, and with a couple funky multi directional bends can get it through the stock upper holes in the firewall just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistah mofro Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 This is awesome, got the fighter shark on the side there too? Good stuff man keep it coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks man. Hopefully should be running fairly soon and then I'm gonna drive the hell out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
destruck Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Just went through the whole thread. Awesome work on the Z! Got me a little more inspired to get started on my L28ET swap, when funds allow of course. Does that car ever sit on the street? I could swear I have seen it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surpip Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 sweet build man im subcribed, must be nice that you dont have to SMOG it eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 That is quite literally the main reason I bought the car. No smog ftmfw Destruck. Not much of a thread, but thanks. My swap started because I was tired of the l24's drivability issues so I said **** it and pulled it and started. I don't have **** for cash so I'm spending money as I need to. Where do you live? The car gets parked outside. ( the cobra and my dads 69 'Mach 1 get the garage, the z is in there for the time being cause the machs getting tuned). The z gets parked on the street but I live on a cul de sac so it's not likely a chance encounter unless you know someone who lives near me, and I never drove it after I painted it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surpip Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thats what kept me from doing my swap for so long dam california laws, thats why i love TX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzydicerule Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Do you have a 280? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surpip Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yup: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/104397-383-280z/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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