1973 240Z LS1 Build

[vdubn]

I've been lurking for quite a while, and really appreciate this site and the people for its information and the experience that you all provide.  Over the last 4 months or so I have been developing the plan for the project.  I've vascilated back and forth on a couple things, but I think I've settled on a pretty solid plan.  My oldest son and I are doing the project together, so its been fun developing the plan together and spending the time as well. 

 

So, my son and I picked up a 95% rust free 1973 240Z for a good price.  It was hit in the front, and the repair was barely ok.  I actually took it to my local body shop and had them do a couple of frame checks and a frame pull here and there, and they were able to square up things a little better (mostly fender to door gap, etc.).  The front drivers side area in front of the radiator support is still a bit wrinkled, so may have to replace the support panel to make it perfect, but not sure if it needs to be done... that will come later.

 

The plan is to build a good running car that might occasionally be run at the track for fun, but no intentions to make it a drag car, or track car, just a good solid build.  The initial idea was to run an old school carburated 350 V8, but that quickly changed into getting an LS1 drop out with a manual transmission.  One main requirement for us was that it have a manual trans.   The fact that it had fuel injection, weighed virtually the same as the stock powerplant, and was roughly 300 hp stock were also major bonuses.

 

The car is currently at the fabrication shop, where we are getting front and rear subframe connectors welded in, and having some other fab work done.  This weekend I dropped the fuel tank out and cut out the spare tire tub.  Forgot to take pics this weekend, so I'll get some pics and post of some of the fabrication work here shortly.

 

We have gathered the following parts so far (organized by category):

 

Suspension Setup

Ground  Control Weld-in Coilover Kit
Tokico Illumina Strut Cartridges - Front and Rear
Urethane Steering Rack Bushings
FutoFab Front Adjustable LCA and TC Rods
TTT Rear Adjustable LCA's 

Suspension Techniques front and rear sway bars

Energy Suspensions Urethane Sway Bar links
 
Rear End Swap to R200
1980 280ZX R200 3.91 Open Diff

Arizona Z Car Billet Rear R200 Mustache Bar
Arizona Z Car Billet Rear Sway Bar Mount Kit
Ron Taylor Front Snub Mount + Urethane Snub Mount
 

V8 Swap Parts

JCI V8 LS1 Front Mount Set
JCI T56 Transmission Mount kit (6 Speed)
JCI Driveshaft
JCI Vital Liquids Set
Aluminum 3 Row Radiator
JCI Headers

7/8" Tilton Hydraulic Clutch Master Cylinder Kit

Hydraulic Clutch Fitting and Hose
Lokar Throttle Cable
Billet EGR Block Off Plate
MSD Ignition Wires
 

Engine and Transmission
100K LS1 Engine and Transmission Drop Out Assembly
ECU Reprogrammed to eliminate smog components (EGR, Secondary Air, etc)
Camaro Harness Modified to eliminate smog, add relays, etc.

 

Fuel System

Camaro Fuel Tank, Fuel Pump, and fuel lines

Body
Xenon Air Dam, With Brake Cooling Ducts
Fiberglass Flare kit
Fiberglass BRE Rear Spoiler
Clear Headlight covers
Bad Dog Front Frame Rail Reinforcements
Bad Dog Rear Frame Rail connectors
 
Wheels and Tires
Rota RKR 17x9.5 et -20 Front and Rear Wheels
245-40-17 Khumo Ecsta
245-40-17 Khumo Ecsta
 
Brakes
Front Toyota Pickup 4 Piston Caliper Upgrade
200SX Rear Disk Conversion Brackets

200SX Rear Brake Calipers
Front and Rear Braided Brake Hoses
1980 280ZX 15/16" Master Cylinder

280ZX Brake Proportioning Valve
 
 

Future stuff that still needs to be purchased:

 

The plan for the exhaust is as follows.... I don't need to run catalytic converters due to no smog on 1974 and earlier cars in Oregon, but I am planning to run cats to eliminate the fumes that seem to come into these cars no matter what you do.  Here are the pieces we will use to fab up the 2.5" dual exhaust:
 - Borla Mufflers - To accent that great V8 sound
 - X Pipe - For that great V8 sound
 - Stainless Steel Double Braid Flex Pipe - to give flexibility to the exhaust system and eliminate some extra harmonics
 - 2.5" High Flow Catalytic Converter (2) - to hopefully eliminte hydrocarbons in the cab of the car
 - V-Band Flanges with Clamps (2) - So that we can easily disconnect/remove the system as a header back section
 - 4" Double Walled Stainless Tips (2) - To be mounted through aluminum panels through the rear valence

 

Lots of stuff still to buy, but really looking forward to getting started with the initial assembly after getting the car back from the fabricator.  Once the car has been initially assembled, fenders cut for flares, and we know that it runs, then we will fully disassemble for final body work.

 

More to come as I get some pics, and begin to make real progress.

[NgoZ]

Great plan layout, can't wait for pics!

[socorob]

That 3.90 may be a little low though (for just a cruiser).

[vdubn]

What ratio would you recommend, like a 3.54 (I think that was one option I had seen).  I had heard that first gear in these cars is pretty much useless, so maybe going with a lower ratio would make all of that more useful.  I am still looking at some options for LSDs for these, so if I swap out an LSD, that would be time for a gear ratio change.  Was hoping for an OEM solution for an LSD, but leaning more towards aftermarket just due to availability.

 

I appreciate the perspective on the ratio.

[mattd428]

I have 3:08 and 6th gear is completely pointless. I would do the 3:90 personally.

[RebekahsZ]

The size of your rear tires matters a lot in selecting a ratio. With 24.5" tires and a 3.90, 1st gear was optional, but I cruised in town in 5th and used 6th on the highway. When I put on 26x8.5 MT slicks (fits in fenders with 4.5" backspace 7" wheels), you are out of first quickly, and you are out of legs in 3rd gear before 600' when dragging. Gotta use 4th. But, for 1320' this setup was perfect, hit the rev limiter just past the 1320 in 4th. Switch to a 3.54 and you use 1st, and run out of 3rd at about 620'. I found it fastest to just ride the rev limiter thru the 660' instead of shifting to 4th. To go to 27" or 28" slicks required major fender cutting. But, I like 28" slicks with the 3.54 for the 660'. It lets me stay in 3rd all the way thru. Haven't tried it in the 1320. With the 3.54, 1st is worth the trouble, but I'm cruising in town in 4th and almost never get much opportunity to use 6th-it's kind of lug-y on the highway at 65.

[vdubn]

I should have about 24.7" diameter rear tires, so I think the 3.90 should be a good ratio based on what I'm reading, and what you guys are stating. Probbably just stick with that for now.

 

I took some pics of parts, along with some questions I had. I had posted another thread about the clutch, asking if Luk was the factory clutch in the Camaros, and wondering if I should be fine leaving the factory clutch in its place. I have a list of "well I'm in there so lets just replace it" and was thinking of putting a lightweight flywheel and a clutch kit in while its apart, but also just thinking of leaving the stock clutch and flywheel to save a bit of money for now. Here is how much material is left on the clutch disc.

 

 

 

Pic of the R200 upgrade parts I picked up (Billet Z Cars stuff is in the mail, should arrive by Friday):

 

Here are the sway bars.  The rear one has Suspension Techniques sticker on it, but the front one I measured at about .78 inches, so not sure if that is just a factory sway bar, or Suspension Techniques, or ???

 

 

LS1 Engine swap (cleaned up nicely, no oil leaks that I can see).  I pulled the A/C bracket and compressor, motor mounts, exhaust manifolds, and EGR, so its almost ready for header and motor mount brackets install.

 

I have almost all of the brake and suspension parts here.  Just waiting on the TTT rear LCAs to show up, and the Ground Control coilovers are still in one of the bins:

 

Found one of these Grant wheels to install... not sure if we will keep it tan, been looking for a shift knob that is at least close in color, if I can't find one, I'll have the wheel painted black to match the current shift knob.

 

Finally, something interesting that came in the 240, it is a dealer installed air conditioner.  Was thinking of using it, but I would need a condensor for in front of the radiator, a receiver/dryer, custom hoses, and probably run the A/C setup from John's Cars, as it seems to be a way to install the A/C Compressor and not hit headers, mounts, etc.  Curious if anyone has seen one of these A/C units in a 240Z?

[vdubn]

One other clarification regarding the R200 upgrade... I read that I can eliminate one of the lower brackets, to make room for exhaust, if I use the Ron Taylor mount with the red Urethane trans mount.  Is that true, and if so, which bracket in the following pic would be eliminated?

 

[vdubn]

Any ideas on the size of the front sway bar?  Is it stock?

[RebekahsZ]

Get the motor in first, then worry about the rest. Don't major in the minors.

[SUNNY Z]

...Don't major in the minors.

 

A little college advice from the wise one?

 

Hahaha

 

I love my 3.55 gears.

[vdubn]

Get the motor in first, then worry about the rest. Don't major in the minors.

I'm just using the time I have to work through some build details. The car is at the fabricator for a couple more weeks, so I want to be ready to drop the engine and trans in when I get it back.

[PLATA]

Get the wallet factor ready and welcome to the addiction .

[vdubn]

Here are a couple pics of the car.  Also some pics after removing the spare tire tub to make way for the Camaro tank.  She's in 4x4 mode , but will be dropped pretty low when finished.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, the T3 rear LCAs showed up, these things look beautiful.  Excited to start getting the car put together.

 

 

And finally, I got our wheel situation sorted out.  Originally I was going to run Rota RBs, 17x8.5" all around, and see if we could get them tucked under the fender without flares (by adjusting in the front and rear LCAs), but nowing that it might still rub or poke a tad bit, I decided to run flares, and just run these Rota RKRs, 17x9.5" all the way around, with -20 ET.  With the adjustments I have the the LCAs, I think I can pull the fronts in a bit, and the rears out a bit, and end up with a pretty square setup.  So, the Rota RKRs showed up yesterday as well.

 

 

The Arizona Z Car Billet Mustache bar and sway bar mounts should show up today.

 

I shipped off my Tokico struts to Don at DPRacing, he is going to machine the shoulders so that I can run the DPRacing upper camber plates (biscuit style), as well as the 1" knuckle spacers.  Since I want the car pretty low, and with 9.5" wide wheels, it was recommended to run the 1" knuckle spacers to help with bump steer.

 

I have seen people space up the ball joints as well, to ensure that the front LCAs stay horizontal, but not sure if I can get something like that to work with my FutoFab front LCAs.

[vdubn]

Got the Arizona Z Car stuff today, can't wait to get the car back from the fabricator.

[dhardison]

Subscribed and looking forward to following your progress.    I have a 260Z and am following a similar plan.

 

Question:  Do you happen to have a pic of the JCI headers you can post?  I'm trying to decide between the JTR headers (http://jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_DAT-Z_LS1-Headers.html) and the JCI and would like to see the major differences between the two (with the exception of the primary tube sizes).

 

Thanks,

Dan

[ktm]

Subscribed and looking forward to following your progress.    I have a 260Z and am following a similar plan.

 

Question:  Do you happen to have a pic of the JCI headers you can post?  I'm trying to decide between the JTR headers (http://jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_DAT-Z_LS1-Headers.html) and the JCI and would like to see the major differences between the two (with the exception of the primary tube sizes).

 

Thanks,

Dan

 

The primary size IS the primary difference.  The JTR headers (which I am using) have the larger primary and as such you run into spark plug boot issues on a few of the cylinders due to clearance.  I finally went back to the stock LS1 aluminum covers and had to slightly modify (dent) one of them.

[vdubn]

This is a good segway into questions I had about exhaust.... so, here is a pic of the JCI Headers... I had no idea what they were going to look like, and initially I thought that they might just have a 3 bolt flange, but I was happy to see that JCI adds the 90 degree bend to send the pipe to the back of the car.  These may have smaller primary tubes, but they will work fine for our application.  Thinking of having these ceramic coated after I get the V-Band Clamps and flex pipe sections welded to the headers.

 

 

Here are some pics showing the flex pipe, and V-Band clamps that will be welded to the headers:

 

 

 

 

Here is a pic of the mini catalytic converters (I'll run two of these) that I am hoping will reduce/elliminate the hydrocarbons from flowing into the interior of the car (and allow me to run tips through the rear valence that won't have to stick out 18").

 

 

This should make it easy to remove the cat back portion of the exhaust as one piece. Still trying to decide if I will cut and weld all of the angles, or if I should have the pipes mandrel bent (if I can find a local shop that will do the mandrel bends for a reasonable price).

Edited July 21, 2014 by vdubn

[vdubn]

The final piece I am researching for the exhaust is the X-pipe.  In the end I understand that it may make no difference which of these I run, but I wanted to see if anyone knew of any reason to buy one of these over the others.

 

 

 

[RebekahsZ]

Getting the JCI headers to make the 90 degree bend was definitely tricky-I think you made a good choice. And I concur on your plan to cersmic coat-it just makes for such a clean engine bay. I did my engine swap a couple years ago and it still looks like i just did it. I have v-banded my exhaust and I love it. I used the JTR headers, but basically followed your plan, but I went single from the y-pipe back. For what it is worth, dual 2.5" to single 3" made 400hp/435tq on my bone stock LS2 at the rear wheels. Get the exhaust to fit well and be easy to service, but don't spend too much energy on it looking for a lot of power.