L33/TKO600 73 240Z

[Mike Mileski]

I just used a thick piece of aluminum bar stock (see picture) to use as a front diff stiffening bar. Although my control arm set up isn't stock, I don't see why you couldn't do something similar.

 

Mike Mileski

Tucson, AZ

[hornedcow]

I just used a thick piece of aluminum bar stock (see picture) to use as a front diff stiffening bar. Although my control arm set up isn't stock, I don't see why you couldn't do something similar.

 

Mike Mileski

Tucson, AZ

 

That's a good idea! Might use it if there is a driveshaft clearance issue.

 

I had my Q45 hubs and 300zx rotors redrilled for a 4 lug bolt pattern. Already had the wheels, no other real reason to go to 5 lug other than to dump $ (a lot!) on 5 lug front hubs that serve no other benefit. Guy I had do them is really nice, just wants me to install a motor mount in lieu of payment. Works for me.

 

 

With the hubs and bearings now ready to go, I put together the shop press and used it for the first time. Only had enough studs to get one side done, but everything went smoothly. Plenty of clearance around the face and edges of the caliper and more importantly everything lines up. The amount of camber adjustment in the strut bolts is pretty crazy, even more so when you consider I have additional adjustment in the LCA's as well.

 

Just waiting on the axles and driveshaft and the drivetrain portion of the swap will be complete. Then on to the fueling and electrical!

[hornedcow]

Got the Wilwood clutch master cylinder installed, I tried to re-use the Nissan pushrod but it caused more problems than it solved. I ended up adapting the Wilwood pushrod to work with the pedal setup. Got it bled out and clutch feels good, engagement/disengagement looks good from what I can see in the bellhousing window.

I got the driveshaft back from the shop, looks good as expected. He cut it shorter than we discussed but I think it is still within the acceptable amount for a slip yoke.



Almost got ahead of myself installing it, first I re-checked my driveline angles. Pinion was at 0*, trans was pointed down 3*. Shimmed up the nose of the diff to 2* up and the transmission mount to be 2* down so now they are parallel to each other.



Just got the shipping notice for the CV axles, I should have those back next week. Working on the in-tank fuel setup, hopefully get some progress made tomorrow on that.

[Phantom]

My feeble goals

-More than 2x current HP

-Same or better mileage

-Lighter curb weight/better distribution

-More reliable

-AC

 

You've been at this awhile but I'd like to comment on the goals - NOT feeble - good solid goals.  When I did my LS1 conversion those were my same goals.  My car gained 30 lbs - all on the rear wheels but I had an LS1 vs an L33 and a T56 vs the TK0600.  My flywheel HP went from 170 to 390 with a stock motor. From 145 to 325 at the wheels.

My mileage stayed the same as the L28, the car had AC which works fine, and has had no major issues in the 39K miles and 13 years I've had the LS1 in it.  The curb weight went from 1400/1400 front/rear to 1400/1430.  Just know that between 2/3 & 3/4 of the drivers weight or anything else done in the cabin area goes to the rear wheels.

 

 

 

 

[hornedcow]

Got a little bit more work done, nothing too crazy.

Got the rest of the exhaust fitted. Ground clearance right now is great but the rear is going to come down a bit on the coilovers to match the front height so I'll reserve final judgement on that for now.



Also had some loose dimensions in mind for a condenser, looked up the dimensions for about 30 different small cars and finally found one that is a good fit. Was hoping to find one with the drier built in, as that means not only one less piece to buy, but less hose fittings, one less bracket to make, and less clutter in the engine bay.



Used the smoke tester on the fuel tank with the new in-tank pump setup and then again with the radiator. Radiator had a nice rust colored stain down the side and I couldn't tell if it was from a bad connection or seepage. Just a loose connection on the old overflow, all is well on both the radiator and fuel tank.

Because of the extra height of the fuel pump assembly on the top of the tank, I will need to raise a small section of the trunk flooring. This will also give me an access panel for pump access in the future. Also need to find an appropriate charcoal canister for venting. Once those two are out of the way I can mount the tank and then some electrical wizardry and she might start!

[hornedcow]

I wanted to keep everything looking somewhat nice in the engine bay, so I bought some new coil brackets to use with the new coils I've had kicking around here for awhile. The old coils work but it would take more effort than I care to to clean all the crap out of every crevice on the coils, brackets, and harness. Of course, the newer style coils I have take a different bracket, so I can just keep the whole assemblies as spares.


Old vs. new





Disregard the Jethro throttle cable. Just wanted to see if it would reach. Looks like the OE location inlet/outlet on the Z radiator will work pretty easily with the LS hose locations.

[hornedcow]

Have had too much going on with side jobs and commitments that I haven't been able to put any time into the Z lately.

I did finish up getting the rear suspension sorted and rough camber/height adjustments in place on the struts. Also figured out what I'm doing for the rear brakes/hoses/hardlines.

I was going to run a hose directly from the back of the caliper to the factory hard line connection, but ended up going with the stock style hard line->hose->hardline to body. I re-used the brake hose brackets off of the old struts and with a little modification to the new brake hoses I made them work. The pictures on car are taken at full droop, at ride height the hose is about level on both ends.




I also found a dual fan setup from some car that fits my radiator pretty nicely - but I need to re-angle the lower outlet on the radiator. I don't have any aluminum welding experience or a spool gun so I called in a favor.

Once the fuel tank is back in place I can get started on wiring ...

[BossaNova]

Have you got any up close pictures of your transmission mount?

Excellent work, by the way.

-Mark

 

 

 

[boostfed]

very nice build , looking forward to seeing more progress. what are the specs on the wheels/tires? Post some vids of the exhaust when you fire it up, i too have been eye balling the cx kit.

[hornedcow]

Have you got any up close pictures of your transmission mount?

Excellent work, by the way.

-Mark

 

I don't have any pictures and I can't really get any decent ones now as the exhaust obstructs it. I basically cut off the eyelets off of the mount body, and then welded some thick bar stock steel at about a 45* angle to bring the mount further rearward and downward from the stock location.

 

very nice build , looking forward to seeing more progress. what are the specs on the wheels/tires? Post some vids of the exhaust when you fire it up, i too have been eye balling the cx kit.

 

Wheels are 15x8 +0, tires are Kumho ASX 225/50/15.

 

Got a few things done this weekend, just about ready to start on the electrics now.

 

I had some rotors modified to work with the Z32 front brake calipers/adapters. I've had the calipers kicking around for awhile now so it's nice to be able to finally fit them.

 

They installed without any drama, although my brake line solution I was planning on won't work - I found a hose that will but was only able to locate one for today. The line for the other side will have to wait.

 

 

Old front setup was solid 10.6" rotors with 2 piston cast iron calipers. New setup is vented 11.6" rotors with 4 piston aluminum calipers.

Old rear setup was 11" drums, new setup is solid 11.6" rotors with 2 piston aluminum calipers.

 

I also did a bit of non-swap related maintenance. The lower ball joints were bad, so I picked up some new Sankei joints, new LCA bushings, new outer tie rods, and new rack boots. The LCA bushings and ball joints were shot, the outer tie rods weren't really bad but they had to come out to get to the rack boots so I changed them anyway. Luckily the inner tie rods don't have any play, because they are not very easy to find.

 

New setup ready to install

 

These are still good, right? I actually think they are original ...

 

I need to replace the tension rod bushings as well, but I don't want to use the poly replacements I have. Going to order in some high quality rubber ones instead.

[boostfed]

worried about traction at all with a 225 series tire? youre definitely putting in some work!

[hornedcow]

worried about traction at all with a 225 series tire? youre definitely putting in some work!

Ha I'm sure it won't be hooking with those tires. Going to use them to get a feel for everything and get any kinks worked out. There are some stickier options out there.

[hornedcow]

Had a welder extend the lower hose connection on my aluminum radiator, now my dual fan assembly will clear.



Fitted the fan assembly in place. Need to trim the sides off, they overhang the core but the fan area itself is a near perfect fit against the radiator.




Went ahead and threw the wheels on and dropped it off the lift. Time to start wiring and interior work!
Sits pretty nicely, going to raise the rear slightly to match the gap with the front wheels. Ground clearance isn't too bad and will get better with the increased height.





My Vintage Air unit came in, plan on making a blank plate where the existing heater controls were and mounting the switch panel from Vintage in the factory location.





Pulled the dash


Then the heater box and evaporator
So much room for activities!


I think I'll actually shave a few pounds with the vintage air setup, the factory heater box is pretty heavy, never mind the evaporator or blower housing.


My Japanese is a little rusty, but I think this translates to "Final QC check OK'd by Frank"

[RebekahsZ]

Your Japanese is rusty. It says: "My shift supervisor is a dick weed."

[hornedcow]

Sorry for the lack of updates, too much has been going on to make serious headway on the Z.

 

Electrically I have gotten the new MSA fuse block installed, and the new underhood fuse block figured out (in my head, not physically)

Mechanically I have installed the vintage air unit and re-installed the dash and vents.

 

I fitted the speedhut gauges to the stock housings and re-installed them into the dash. It was very difficult fitting the small gauge cups back into the dash as the foam had swollen significantly. When I got the gauges they weren't fully seated/straight either.

 

Once I got the gauges in as best I could I installed the dash cap and then the dash.

 

Starting to figure out what wiring I need and what I don't. I've hooked the two leads from the ammeter together and installed the fuse block and ignition switch. Can anyone help identify which relays are what on the giant relay block on the passenger side? I've done a bit of searching and looked at the FSM and I'm not coming up with anything besides tracing down each wire color and looking on the diagram for it.

 

[trackzpeed]

Looks great... Just keep plugging away at it and you'll be on the road in no time. I keep adding bits and pieces along the way, not sure if ill ever get to a real paint job as I'm waiting on that until the car is done lol. You have done some nice work!

[hornedcow]

UPDATES!

On the home stretch now hopefully, assuming everything I have purchased so far works/runs.

I've done a lot underhood, mainly electrical. Got the engine bay fuse block installed and wired in, as well as the dash harness tie-in. New battery cables made up, with 2x 4ga wires on each. Also made a hold-down for the cute little battery box I'm using.

Once that was done I reconnected the heater and A/C lines to the bulkhead. Then I installed the intake manifold for what is hopefully the last time. In doing that I discovered a new clearance issue with the throttle body to water pump, but nothing a little grinding couldn't take care of.

Made a half assed throttle bracket, but the attachment point at the throttle body isn't allowing 100% opening. I will need to get a different style cable end and make a new bracket to correct that issue. But for now it will work for testing purposes.

Ended up having to lengthen the ECT and alternator pigtails a little further due to the harness routing. Not a big deal.

Really close to being able to start it. To start it I need to
Install and flash PCM
Wire in fuel pump (relays and plumbing in place just not run to the back of the car)
Wire in ignition trigger for fuse block

To finish for real I need to
Re-check/tighten a lot of bolts
Mount PCM
Wire in OBD port
Wire senders for gauges
Make new throttle bracket
Wire electrical for AC unit, pressure switch, heater valve
Modify faceplate for AC
Install kill switch
Install new carpet/speakers/seats/radio
Zipties

Here are some photos from the engine bay progress

[hornedcow]

IT'S ALIVE!

Lots more do electrically and physically in the cabin. But not too much longer hopefully!
  Edited July 12, 2016 by hornedcow

[trackzpeed]

Congrats. That's a big hurdle and great acomplishment.

[hornedcow]

Progress still being made ...

Engine bay is pretty much done. Wired up senders for the gauges, and ran the AC compressor lead. Made an overflow tank bracket and mounted that.

For the A/C controls I cut out the factory control section (was all controlled by levers) and made a blankout plate out of black ABS to cover it. Then I took the rotrary AC controls from the vintage air setup and mounted it into that panel. Looks decent, and keeps the controls where they were intended to be. Still have some minor wiring to do but nothing that has to go under the carpet so I went ahead and laid the new carpet into the car.

AC works well, blows out mid 40's out of the center vent, and this is with the car idling in the shop in 90+* high humidity weather. The condenser I'm using is a more efficient parallel flow design but is smaller than what is usually recommended by Vintage Air. I'm pretty constrained size wise unless I move the condenser way in front of the radiator, which will kill airflow from the radiator fans. Because of this I ended up needed a smaller refrigerant charge than what they figure you will need. I figure this is what is keeping me from getting any colder air from the evap. Of course, I may be pleasantly surprised when I actually have more airflow over the condenser.

Got the drivers seat rail modified and bolted in. Passenger side was already modified earlier. Cleaned out everything from the hatch area and then insulated it and made a spare tire cover. Boxed in the fuel pump cutout and then laid the carpet down. I don't have any lighting working yet, so I can only drive around my block for now.

Happy with the sound deadening thus far, once everything is buttoned up it should be even a little bit quieter. The real test will be on the road because who just sits in their car listening to it idle? Oh right, I do.

Backing out of the shop I scraped the shit out of the exhaust and more worryingly the flex sections on the Y pipe. I raised the rear coilovers up a bit but it still didn't give me enough clearance so I put a pair of coil boosters on the front for now. Going to order coilovers for the front next week.

First drive down the road was OK, but under medium throttle there is a large knocking noise under the car. I put it on the lift and couldn't find anything loose or any evidence of the drivetrain /exhaust hitting anything. Ran it up on the lift through the gears and it doesn't make the noise. Drove it around again today and it's still there. Not sure where it is coming from. The top of the shifter assembly is very close to the underside of the tunnel, but I don't see any scuffs or marks from interference. Nonetheless, the shifter effort from my shifter extension is far from ideal so I ordered a shifter relocation that uses a lower pivot point that should reduce shifter effort. It also appears to be lower profile so it should take care of the clearance issue.

Probably going to just get the lighting working in the mean time and then see if the new shifter takes care of the noise issue. It's really tight in the back of the tunnel and with the exhaust in place you can't really see or do much. Hopefully I don't need to drop it to get the shifter out but with my luck I will.


A/C controls in place


Passenger seat in place


Both seats in place with new belts and reels



Engine bay and intake completed. Just need to loom the sender wires


Out in the sunlight for the first time in months! Blue still looks good under the layers of shop dust.