Just another 7m powered 260z

[outrider]

---Sorry some of the pictures are sideways, and being too lazy to rotate them.

 

Long time Z enthusiast, albeit with 300z's, network administrator, admitted car junkie, etc. I've been zed-less for about 6 or 7 years now, and finally decided to try my hand at an older one. I sold my BMW 540, biggest complaint being there is just so little aftermarket available for the German V8. I started looking for an S30

 

Last fall, I bought a early 260z from a member on another Z site. He lived close by, and the car was in decent shape for Michigan (I believe it came from somewhere down south). A friend of mine and I headed out with a trailer, and came home with the banana. I never took pictures of when I first got it, here are the pictures from the ad:

 

I putted around for a few months with it. It was fun, but needed some work. Someone had obviously put some effort in to restoring it at some point, but it was time for another go. The floor pans were repaired once already with fiberglass, and were gone, again. A few spots had been clearly repaired before it was painted with leftover line striping paint (if the previous owner is on this board, I'm sorry for making fun of your color). And I was just not a fan of the color.

 

Also around this time, I started looking at how to get a little more from the stock 2.6, which most people would say replace it with a l28et. I searched and searched, and just couldn't find anything close to home that was priced reasonably. I considered a vh45, rb motors, Nissan vg, and the Toyota sixes. I'm most familiar with the VG, and 2jz, although before I did the 2jz swap on my MK3 Supra, I messed around with the 7m a bit. It's a very torquey motor, and is very underrated in my opinion. Usually when you mention the 7m, people just run off to hide their head gaskets. With a standalone and E85, I think it will make way more power than I need, and hold together just fine.

 

The final nail in the coffin was coming across a sweet deal on the ar5 solstice transmission, which is basically an updated r154 5-speed. Some haggling with the members over on a supra forum, and I had everything needed to bolt up the modern manual for less than 500 bones. I grabbed an entire NA MK3 Supra from a Craigslist ad for $400. I wasn't worried about using the NA motor, since I was doing a big T4 single, standalone, and 10 thousand dollars in overnight parts from Japan. I know it doesn't have oil squirters, I'm doing forged internals, I don't think they really help on aftermarket pistons. So here is my prize:

 

I saved all the parts worth anything, sold a handful of it on Ebay, took the steel back to the scrap yard, and am about 200 bucks ahead now and have an engine, harness, accessories, etc, etc.

 

I've stripped the Z down, I have a million pictures of this, no need to post them all, but here are a few good shots:

 

Really the only major rust I've found is the floorboards, a little bit by the fuel filler that was repaired once already, and in the spare tire well, also not really serious I guess.

I've already got new floor pans sitting here, I'll hopefully be welding those in soon.

 

So here is a surprise, and I might start a new thread if this works out. I have the S30 front subframe out, and set it next to the MK3 subframe I saved from the donor car. Interestingly enough, the inside dimensions for going between the frame rails is basically identical, 31.5 inches.

 

Is it wider overall? Of course, but it doesn't appear much wider. only about 3 inches on either side from the face of the wheel hub. So I had to see if it would fit. It's obviously heavier, but maybe that extra weight could bring some advantages. 5 lug wheels, bigger brake selection, suspension selection, more modern suspension geometry? Also I have the option of using the Supra luxo power steering rack. And in my particular case, with any luck I'll be able to use the 7m motor mounts. I guess if it all works out, one could use any of the cheap 2jz in a MK3 mount kits to mount a 2jz on this subframe as well. Any rate, here are the pictures:

 

For those that aren't familiar, the Supra front subframe mounts with 4 great big bolts through the frame. It should be pretty trivial to drill those. The real issue will be lining everything up straight and centered. Also crossing my fingers I can swap the tops of the struts. Lastly, I'll have to fab a bracket of some sort for the rear 'smaller' subframe mount. Here is test fitting with a 16 inch supra spare:

 

Surprisingly, with the offset on the stock wheels, it only sticks out about 1.5 inches. I was hoping to be able to just throw a set of flares on, and have everything fit. Thoughts? I'll be checking the rear subframe as well, although I suspect it will be a bit more work. It would be nice if it could just drop in like the front. I would have CV axles, clutch LSD and a very strong diff. Matching 5 lug wheels, brakes, suspension, etc. So hopefully in the coming weeks I can post the results of that. I know at least one other person has talked about it. If anyone knows if this has been done already, please point me that way!

 

And finally, if anyone needs a complete running 2.6L or 4 speed manual, let me know.

Edited June 28, 2015 by outrider

[Six_Shooter]

Rotating pictures in Windows takes literally seconds. In the folder the picture is in, right click on it and select either "Rotate counter clockwise" or "Rotate clockwise". You can even select a whole bunch of pictures and rotate all of them at once.

I'm interested in the front suspension swap idea. I've been looking at all sorts of front suspensions for something that looks close to what I want, but hadn't thought of the Supra front end. I may have to explore that deeper.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Six_Shooter

[outrider]

Rotating pictures in Windows takes literally seconds. In the folder the picture is in, right click on it and select either "Rotate counter clockwise" or "Rotate clockwise". You can even select a whole bunch of pictures and rotate all of them at once.

I'm interested in the front suspension swap idea. I've been looking at all sorts of front suspensions for something that looks close to what I want, but hadn't thought of the Supra front end. I may have to explore that deeper.

 

I knew someone would call me out on that, just didn't think it would be so quick . I edited a few of them, just now. The frustrating thing is that windows (8.1) displays them correctly, but once they are uploaded some are goofy. Something to do with the orientation of my phone when I took them I think.

 

The front is going to be too easy. If the back half will drop in, it could open a lot of doors for people that want to do the full brakes/diff/axles/and so on to these cars. Just from looking at it though, I think it's going to take a bit of fab work.