Stock Car Mafia Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 ehren, I'm glad to hear you are back in the biz of z cars! Life can be pretty damn cruel, but as long as you can find some love for working on the z, life all of a sudden is good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) Edited December 29, 2015 by ehren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestlowrida Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 its crazy how life works! welcome back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 engine and trans are ready to pull. its so freaking cold here right now. lol I'm gonna have to pull the gas tank out and clean it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 trans is out. gas tank and rear bumper come off next. Then I have to decide what to do next. Do I start replacing all the suspension components that I have or do I start prepping for my engine swap? I'm pretty certain I'm gonna go with a 302 Ford so I'm going to fab all the mounts myself. I can weld and stuff so it's not a big deal. Just trying to figure out what do next... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stock Car Mafia Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Do you have a tube heater or a way to heat the place? I'd say work on your engine swap and get all the hard fab work done. You'll run in to a road block here or there where you can advance for a week or so, and that'd be a good time to do the suspension. Get it all powder coated when the old bushings are out!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 picking up an engine hoist today. yanking the engine this weekend. cant wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 engine is out. now to drop the gas tank and clean it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) gas tank is out. bumper is off. Is there a write up anywhere for all those convoluted fuel hoses in the trunk area? like say i go with a carbed 302 and a low psi electric fuel pump.... what can i dispose of and what should i keep? is there a need for a return line? thanks Edited January 10, 2016 by ehren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Dropped the rear suspension out. I even removed my spindle pins. Took 5 minutes with a hammer, some pb blaster, and a long drift. No torch. HA! I need to get some more jack stands so I can drop the front suspension out next. I'll be doing my GC coilover install and replacing all the old dryrotted bushings. Seriously considering doing a rear disc brake swap while I have everything apart. thoughts? Drum brakes suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stock Car Mafia Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Wow, you got lucky there! Will you be using new spindle pins or just cleaning up the old ones since they came out so nice? I haven't read too much in to the putting disc's on the back but I'd say save for a good aftermarket set instead of the 240sx? upgrade. You should be ok with the rear drums and I'd be more concerned with swapping good front disc's on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 i gotta get new pins. I beat the hell outta the threads on the old ones. This car is really clean actually. Very little rust. Just a ton of dust from sitting around in Idaho. And of course all the plastic and rubber is toast. But I'm building this as stripped down, bare bones car. I may not even put a dash in it. Just a crash bar with gauges. I'm hoping to keep the weight around 2300lbs. With a little over 300hp it should be a ton of fun. Considering how light the car will be I was considering leaving the rear drums on there, but now that I have everything apart... i dunno. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 ugh so i had my first minor setback today. Realized that i was sent an incorrect Ground Control setup. For some reason I received the sleeves and springs for a 240z. For anyone curious about why this matters - the 280z strut housings are 2.175" and the 240z's are 2". fail. Everything else seems good. I have most of the front suspension removed at this point and I should be ready to start reassembly in a couple weeks. Just gotta get the GC situation sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 So the car is pretty much a shell now. Suspension, drivetrain and 90% of the interior has been removed. Time to start cleaning parts and going in a forward direction. This is SO much faster than building a hot rod. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 I've started reassembling the suspension. I forgot that I wanted to replace those mustache bar bushings so I bought those and I'll install them this weekend. I also really need more info on the install of the ground control setup. I PLAN on following the same steps mentioned here - http://dirtys30.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-240z-ground-control-coilovers-w.html BUT I have a question about the strut inserts... He's doing this on a 240z. As I found out, the strut tubes on a 280z are larger diameter. So will the MR2 struts actually work? Anyone? I also finally finished cleaning the gas tank out. Fortunately there was minimal rust. Just lots of sludge from old gas. I poured two gallons of acetone in it with a bunch of nuts and bolts. I sealed the tank up, sloshed it around for a while then let it soak for a week. Sloshed the acetone around in there 3 or 4 times during the week, Then drained it. I put a bunch of dishsoap in it, then power washed the heck out of it. Looks like that did the trick. It's like 90% clean. I'll probably have to clean my fuel filter out a bunch of times when I finally drive it but I think It's all good now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stock Car Mafia Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Great find on the install on the 240Z! I've missed your thread for a while but I see your question on the ground control setup. Did they get back to you and were you able to get that sorted out? What instructions did they send you? I was given the instructions for a 240Z front and rear but they just hand wrote "same as early 280Z" even though mine is from 1978 (built in Sept. 1977.) They are having me cut 6" up from the spindle on the fronts and they have 7" up for the rears. Now I'm worried I may have the wrong diameter pieces as well. I in fact are going home to tear apart and rebuild my front strut tubes tonight. I cannot comment on the MR2 struts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 LOL ok I found my receipt for the GC setup. I bought it from Techno Toy over 2 years ago. haha. I called them and there isn't much they can do for me because they don't even carry GC products anymore. So it looks like I'll have a 240z GC setup for sale if anyone is interested. I just ordered the rear strut inserts for the MR2. I'll think I'll know by the end of the week if all this is gonna work. I'll post up details once I have it figured out. In other small news, I replaced those mustache bar bushings. It was relatively simple. I had to burn the old ones out. I've never actually done that before. It was kinda fun haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Bit of insanity in all of us I see Is that a 302 Windsor or Cleveland you are looking at installing ? In 1991, I actually had a prepped 351 Cleveland (Less intake manifold) sitting in my Z's bay hanging from a gable workshop roof, came in after the weekend and found the roof had flooded over and turned the engine into a goldfish bowl, sadly that was the end of that idea. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehren Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 yeah well Sirpent... I don't know what to say haha. Your dedication to your project is incredible. i don't have that kind of patience. I generally like to keep my projects simple. When It comes to this hobby, I'm a 'path of least resistance' kind of guy. Working on cars is therapeutic for me. I have a day job as a sculptor for a collectables company, so doing something more objective and mechanical on the weekend kind of puts my mind at ease. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time and I like to drive the cars I have, so I try to get my projects on the road as quickly as possible and then tinker with them until I get bored. I can't see myself getting involved in a project that drags on for years. Of course I'm not not being critical of others that spend months or years creating something flawless. This is just my approach to the hobby. I'm planning on doing a very mild 302 build. Basically stock with a little cam and some head port work. I'm going to leave the interior basically gutted for the time being so if I make 220hp at the crank it should be a nice power to weight ratio. I'm sure I'll have it at the drag strip and maybe some auto x stuff. I'll start small and work my way up until I feel I've gotten what I want out of it. Cheers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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