Gumby83 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) So,i keep an eye on Kijiji and autotrader quite often, and whenever i see a 240z pop up i try to get in contact with the seller. and NEVER have i even so much as got a reply from maybe the past 4-5 sellers. Anywho i finally got in contact with a seller and was able to pick up this chassis for 2800$ CAD. No drivetrain. I am currently thinking about a L33 5.3 LSX swap. I believe the car is setup already to accept a R230 diff and supporting axles which should be more than enough for my purposes. I not a mechanic, in fact i am really inept. I plan on using this project to learn and save some money. i am a ticketed welder and my only for sure plan is to put in a roll bar. Everything else is going to take a LOT of research. If anyone has any suggestions, information or or ideas please post them!. I am working with a budget of about 10 grand CAD give or take. I will be doing as much as possible myself and only taking it to a garage on the advice from people like yourselves. Again, no set plan, just always wanted a 240z. Drive train ideas are welcome! Thanks for the hand. Notes for me: Comp Cams Big mother thumper Edited November 28, 2015 by Gumby83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Welcome to the forum, Congrats on your find. Somebody has really had a go at the car, seems like they put in a few upgrades and also did some pretty poor looking repairs in some parts. I'd be concerned about some of those patches, and those blue patches seem quite odd. Looks like you got a set of tubular rear control arms which are about 1/6th the price of the car. Along with a rear disc brake conversion kit, stainless steel lines, and 4 pot front calipers being about a 1/3rd the price. The tokico springs could be promising, although the 240z ones are not very good and actually had problems, so hopefully the part number matches with the 280z springs. Looks like you did quite well in just parts alone, hopefully that doesn't speak too ill of the chassis. Not sure what makes you think it is ready to accept an R230, looks like a stock mustache bar for an R180 and the threaded axles sticking out of the rear hubs point towards being regular stub axles, probably 25 spline for a 240z, which would mean they wouldn't fit any adapters of any sort on the 240z half shaft flange. You have a good plan, lots of research would be good. As always we advise against a roll cage in a car if it is going to see any street time. A roll bar would be more recommended for mild racing if you plan on keeping it road worthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I am picking up a T-56 from a 2000 Corvette Might want to look into your T56 selection. As far as i know the Corvette T56 is for rear trans-axle only and the conversion is difficult and expensive. You need an F-body T56. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Saw some odd things on the back end (besides the split open "fuel cell").. The rear mounts for the suspension look like they've been dropped with some square bar pieces. One of the hub castings looks split or broken or ground off. Hard to tell what it is, but I don't think that you should be able to see the spindle bolt. Maxima calipers. Maybe some companion flanges came with the car and that's why they're missing on the hubs. Looks like plain old rusty 240Z axles though. Seems pretty solid, otherwise. Edit - on second glance it looks like the spindle bolt broke out of that casting. Must have been quite a blow or maybe the modified mounts put things in a bind. You should take a good look at what's happened or happening back there. Edited November 18, 2015 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Nice pickup, I missed those on my first pass. That spindle pin, wow. Also very odd to lower the diff mount like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) That's the "hanger" for where the back two bushings of the control arms mount. The "dog bone" connects them. Basically angling the control arm down at the back unless work was done on the front also. Maybe why the spindle bolt broke out of the hub. Seems like it would be torquing the top of the strut also, at the insulator. Not a suspension guy so more thought would be required to venture more. The ugly welds caught my eye. Maybe it's actually the stock position... Edit #2 - Added a picture of stock position. That piece of square stock is not stock, as I thought. Edit #3 - the mustache bar seems to be on backward also, for the R180. Maybe it's all part of the R230 setup... Edited November 18, 2015 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 You are correct that has nothing to do with the diff, I am getting my dog bone and mustache mixed up. I'm not sure why someone would do that, the only reason I can fathom is that they broke the retaining bolts in the chassis and made new captive nuts by placing them in the tube and welding the tube to the car. Flipping the mustache bar would give you a bit more room and actually wouldn't be the worse thing given how far forward the diff is in the early 240z, but I have a feeling in this case it was more on accident I hope. If the holes in the mustache bar is oblong then we know the PO "modified" the bar to fit an R230 which might be why the owner thinks it is setup for a R230. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 That is an interesting set of alloys on the rear, can't say I recognize them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumby83 Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 (edited) So out of my league here, but yeah, that lower control arm was broken, i have a new one en route from the seller of the car, whom also is a member here. The mustache bar was custom, and he had a R230 diff and Z32tt Axles for sale when i picked up the car. i might of jumped to conclusions. However i am proud to say i backed off on bidding on that T56 and got out bid. So, there would of been a expensive mistake. I figured maybe one of you guys would have a cool idea for a swap and i should just wait till i have a well thought out plan. Thanks for the hand. Edited November 19, 2015 by Gumby83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 yeah, that lower control arm was broken, The control arm may be broken but the casting at the bottom of the strut assembly is also, for sure. You need another. You should probably put the suspension link mounts back where they were also. I'd guess that someone thought it was a good idea to make room for the back of the diff through moving the dogbone down by dropping the hangers and the control arm mounts. But that changes the geometry of the suspension movement. Wouldn't be surprised if the "shock" shafts in the strut tubes were bent also. The angle of the strut is changed. The front mounts would have to be dropped also. Are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumby83 Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 I will take a closer look tomorrow, but I have yet to get under the car enough to take a close look, currently parked infront of my landlords garage (i am renting while i finish the last of this job, about 5 months then i go home, with the car). so no garage, currently sitting under a car cover out in the elements. i got a replacement strut assembly from the guy i purchased the vehicle from. Going to fix the driverside door lock mechanism tomorrow, nothing major can be done without my tools.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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