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~73 Turbo L28 to N/A RB25 240z Project~


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Are you going to upgrade that radiator? Eventually I am going with a dual pass that will put the inlet on the correct side to remove the crossover coolant line when using the L series radiator. Looking good!

Definitely want to do that in the near future. I've heard about specific year 510's that have the same side inlet and outlets but my searching hasn't come up with a part number for something after market. I would prefer something that somewhat replicates the stock mounting points. Do you know what rad your going with yet?

Edited by ~KnuckleDuster~
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  • 2 weeks later...

It's time to finally pay some attention to the aging front suspension. I figure while I'm doing a slight re fresh I may as well do some upgrades while I'm there. After some research on adjustable front control arms I came to the conclusion I didn't need anything over engineered. The Techno Toy Tuning arms had good reviews but they were quite a bit heavy, hence over engineered. I decided on the Futo Fab control arms because they're close to stock form and not heavy at all. They retain the stock sway bar location and can be used with their adjustable tie rod ends or stock. They're held in high regard in the 510 world and I've only heard one Z guy who had them installed. They seem quite beefy and sure are pretty! Paid extra for the optional dust boots.

 

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Edited by ~KnuckleDuster~
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  • 2 weeks later...

Passenger side is nearing completion, just need to torque everything to specs. Everything has lined right up without any issues. I've painted the outer tie rods and also cleaned and painted the steering knuckles. I think I'll do the traction control rod while it's off just to hit everything.

 

I re-greased the steering rack while everything was off. Installed zerk fittings on the rack and pumped fresh grease in, no old grease came out so the thing was basically bone dry. I had a spare steering rack laying around that I was able to salvage a used boot with out any rips to replaced one of my ripped ones.

 

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Edited by ~KnuckleDuster~
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  • 2 weeks later...

Got both sides of the suspension on now, just need to get the toe somewhat good enough to drive to my alignment shop.

 

A little while back I bought a used Nardi Classic steering wheel from Japan. My 71 had the Nardi Deep Corn which looked really nice but it placed the wheel to close to my chest, I have long arms so I don't need the wheel any closer to me. So went with the classic to keep it closer to the stock location. Love the feel of a quality leather steering wheel. The stitching is white which matches the Sparco seats. Eventually I may get a new shift boot with the white stitching to make the feng shui copasetic.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I wasn't planning on upgrading the radiator this soon but when you find exactly what you want for a great price you just have to do it. Bought this Mckinney double pass radiator complete with fan shroud and Spal fan. I bought an OEM RB lower radiator hose and a Z32 lower radiator hose to modify for the upper. The CX Racing cross over pipe kit with silicone couplers has given me nothing but problems. Constantly springs leaks, the latest leak spilled coolant on top and inside the alternator and now I have a battery drain problem which has caused my battery to drain down enough times to kill it. The hot coolant inside the alternator probably fried a diode and is now bleeding off my battery. So that's why I'm going with good old fashion rubber hoses now! The elimination of that cross over pipe will look so much cleaner..

 

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I want to get a dual pass later but my crossover pipe seems to work fine. I just sourced a pipe from O'reilly's the worked when I cut it and put a plastic coupler in it. I also don't want to get rid of my MSA fan setup just yet. I have seen some setups on the RB that they used the factory RB upper hose, we're you able to try it?

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I want to get a dual pass later but my crossover pipe seems to work fine. I just sourced a pipe from O'reilly's the worked when I cut it and put a plastic coupler in it. I also don't want to get rid of my MSA fan setup just yet. I have seen some setups on the RB that they used the factory RB upper hose, we're you able to try it?

I planned on running the oem upper hose too but it has to come from Japan and the cheapest I was able to find it for was around $30 plus another $24 for shipping. I didn't want to pay over $50 for it. The s13/s14 guys use a z32 lower hose since it has the bulged end and cut to fit with success, you can apparently use whats left over for the lower too. I got the z32 lower hose for $25 shipped.

 

For anyone interested the part numbers:

 

OEM R34 upper radiator hose - 21501-AA000

OEM R33/R34 lower radiator hose - 21503-72L00

OEM Z32 lower radiator hose - 2150340P60

Gates Z32 lower radiator hose - 21878

 
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  • 4 weeks later...

Alignment is complete and feels better than ever. Set camber at - 0.8 on all 4 corners. The people who run the truck scales were on vacation so I wasn't able to get the car weighed unfortunately. Got the new alternator in, no more drain! I decided not to go with the underdrive pulley in case that wasn't helping the overall cooling of the alternator.

 

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Radiator is in. Much cleaner, not as much bling but functions like a champ. Takes forever for the fan to kick on at 185*. The Spal fan runs so much smoother than the previous generic fan I was running.

 

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Just need to find a 90* barb fitting for the overflow drain tube so it's not flopped over the intake.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So the new alternator I bought turned out to be defective. When it arrived on my door step it looked like it had a 6 foot drop. Rather than attempt another one I decided to just get the old one rebuilt which actually saved me money in the long run.

 

Here's the oem unit, new brushes & voltage regulator, everything all cleaned up.

 

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While I was waiting for the alt to get rebuild I decided to attack the one spot of rust I knew was there but have been avoiding.

 

Just this little spot on the driver side floor..

 

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Upon closer inspection the rust had grown under the sound deadening material and starting eating through the floor just a bit.

 

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Took the wire wheel and removed the rust scaling.

 

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Two coats of POR 15

 

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And two coats of  spray on truck bed liner.

 

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I know this probably isn't the most preferred method of dealing with rust like this but given my time frame and lack of work space this should be a decent quick fix to last me awhile.

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My concern with the holes is that it will eventually act as perforation and tear when you apply a load to it like say going over a bump and you bounce in your seat.

 

I have heard por-15 can actually add some structural integrity back, but I have also heard it does it by curing really hard, making it a pain in the arse to remove later on. 

 

I get it though, sometimes you just aren't able to work on a piece, and this is way better then just letting the rust fester.

 

That rear end is looking a little dull now with all those shiny parts on the front :D.

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My concern with the holes is that it will eventually act as perforation and tear when you apply a load to it like say going over a bump and you bounce in your seat.

 

I have heard por-15 can actually add some structural integrity back, but I have also heard it does it by curing really hard, making it a pain in the arse to remove later on. 

 

I get it though, sometimes you just aren't able to work on a piece, and this is way better then just letting the rust fester.

 

That rear end is looking a little dull now with all those shiny parts on the front :D.

 

Yeah I figured I would at least halt the cancer and keep an eye on it and if it gets worse go from there. Body work is kind of the last thing to happen to this project and I don't see it happening for quite some time.

 

Hah I know. That's the beauty of a 43 year old car, the list of things to do never ends.

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The suspension looks nice!  Did you have any bump steer issues prior to the install?  I notice the steering wheel jerks around while cornering and hitting dips and bumps.  How has it improved?

Well I've only driven the car hard in the twistys once since my alignment was completed, I keep starting the next project on my list rather than drive the thing lately. As I recall the previous set-up was slightly twitchy when turning on uneven ground. My last drive out with the new set-up was a big difference mostly from the addition of negative camber and a good alignment, turn in was amazing on tight low speed corners, the car rotated as if on rails. I didn't notice the wheel being twitchy and as a result didn't have to white knuckle grip the wheel. I initially just bought the bump steer spacers to gain back proper geometry of the FCA's. With the car being as low as it is the control arms were totally horizontal, the spacers give back a better angle closer to the factory design and eliminating the bump steer problems that can arise from being lowered.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I haven't been driving the car for the past couple weeks because the factory rear exhaust hanger is hanging on by a thread now.

 

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Probably just from the weight of the bigger exhaust system and overall age. I bought a flex pipe to have welded in so it will cut down on the vibrations and other stresses, not sure how big of a deal it is on a RWD motor that isn't flopping around but seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

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Since the cars going to the exhaust shop again now, I figured I would try and shoehorn the auzzy made extractors in there. I figured it would be a 50/50 chance of fitting. After some measurements this is what had to be cut off to possibly make it fit.

 

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Thankfully it fit in there perfectly and I didn't have to cuss and put the old one back on.

 

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Now I just need to order up some new nuts and washers and I can bolt the ol girl in. The new unit is 11 pounds lighter than the cast iron manifold.

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