first zcar: 72 with ZX powertrain track project

[ol doc gully]

ive been contemplating what i wanted to build for a track car for over a year, wanted something with classic styling, good handling, minimal electronic gizmos, rear drive, manual trans (E30 and factory five hot rod were the runners up) before having an epiphone of the S30 being the perfect car.

 

some buddies were coming through town with an empty trailer after dropping off their pikes peak car so i had em pick this up in buffalo, NY.

 

he had said it was a 81/82 ZX block. its a 1979-1980 280ZX N42 block and N47 head, he also wasnt sure but it has the ZX 5spd as well (very glad for this as that was a definite modification)

as he stated:
NYS Inspected
Custom Aluminum Intake (bought off a custom shelf?)
Triple 45 DCOE webers
New plugs
New wires
New cap new rotor
New fuel filter
New electronic ignition (glad for this)
new crome coil 40,000
Rebuilt carb.'s
New battery
New belts
Original spare
Gas tank removed cleaned inside and out, painted, and reinstalled (funny, doesnt look like its moved in 40 years)
New fuel pump
New intake gasket
New 2 1/2 exhaust muffler and tip
New pressure plate
New Clutch
New throw out bearing

it seems to have been originally yellow, got in an accident on the passenger side (door and front fender have a lot of bondo that is rusting out underneath) and they just resprayed teh whole car maroon half ass. however it is basically my favorite color for the z so ill just touch it up as necessary

 

its pretty clean as far as rust, which was the main reason i went with it. the rocker panels need replacing, and theres some in the usual spots (above taillights, battery has some surface rust), but frame rails are pretty clean all in all.

anyway, heres pics. i took a lot cause its already under the knife and not pretty ..or even viewable haha. please let me know anything you see as far as concerns, again i am not at all familiar wtih these cars (yet )




i love the muscle car rear haunch shape. basically what sealed the deal for getting a s30 z car. cause i wasnt getting a leaf sprung live axle monster id have to wrestle around the track.







picture with my subaru impreza RS - has been everything from a track car to rallyx car, now will be retired to daily duty. im astonished the z is even smaller than it, in a very good way. they weigh about the same.







interior is super original which makes me very happy. will likely be keeping most of it from a visual standpoint in lieu of stripped track car route. basically remove sound deadening but use original carpet etc, eventually add cage.


curious as to whats under the dash cap, he said he had never removed it. ill probably flock it



the sills are rusted to crap but are replaceable and floorboards are mostly solid. didnt get a good pic of seats but they are in great shape, and i really like em, going to be difficult to toss them for race buckets. maybe ill keep em for a bit


he was very good about sending me lots of pics of main spots i was worried about (frame rails, etc). does have some rust in normal z places but is not bad at all compared to teh norm (not pictured are rocker panels and battery box which have some but not bad).


cosmetic rust i could care less about

passenger door


engine:






webers were something i would not have done myself but very happy to have them


i believe these are 6-1 headers from MSA?


rice


lighting is nice so took a bunch of night pics before she gets torn apart
















this is one happy dude








as you can see, working on a narrow ass one way cobblestone street sucks ass, especially in ohio winters sucks ass


so luckily after printing out flyers kindly offering to rent garage space and posting them on all my neighbors doors somebody called back!


to add to the blessing he was the only one to call back, and was offering space in teh ABSOLUTE closest garage (one pictured behind my friend who was so kind to deliver it for me)


nice stable mate, 65


started checking things out



strut shafts are in surprisingly good shape


part of the reason i kind of want to just replace all the suspension components, but we'll see how they clean up. think i may buy/build a sandblaster










im assuming this is the original 240Z R180


control arms will be replaced regardless in favor of something with some adjustability (likely zforce or techno toy units)

trans fluid is leaking, seemingly from drain plug


several bolts seem to be missing between trans and engine



yoke seems to be leaking as well


clutch slave attachment seems to be missing the nut..

[ol doc gully]

anyway, like i said, i really dont know anything about these cars (or carburetors haha) but already started a lot of reading (numberous carb books and the FAQs on here are a godsend). the basic plan is/was to replace all suspension (bushings, control arms, spring/damper, brakes, wheels/tires), basically do what i need to get her to handle good and be track ready - hoping to hit midohio in her this year.

 

but im switching gears now to just focus on teh engine and get it running to make sure everything is solid there before spending a bunch of money on suspension. wont start but thats because im literally just getting nothing out of the starter. battery is pretty dead but nothing when its being jumped either, need to keep digging through wiring and checking things out

[Perfect240z]

NIce ride, Good luck with your build.

[ol doc gully]

thanks man

 

 

 

 

 

 

vacuum hoses to distributor advance and for fuel tank vent was crapped out so went to replace it and i noticed (i think) the part of the T that would give vacuum from the throttle body or similar is just capped off. where would one normally tap into a new vacuum source if running webers? am i correct in that the one capped in the pic would be vacuum source? sorry for the crap quality of taken with a camera phone and a flashlight hahah

Edited April 8, 2013 by ol doc gully