Richard Oben LS1 series 1 240Z build

[Richard Oben]

First I am in this forum a lot.  Without the pioneers before me we would never have taken on the job of putting an LS1 in a 240Z.  

I admit to being a car junkie, at one point there were 4 series one 240Zs at once, paired to two.

Have been in the car business over 20 years. www.northracecars.com if anyone cares we make stuff for FFR cars and for Fox mustangs.  If this inappropriate delete as needed.

FFR Daytona coupe replica 

So it all started in the mid 80s with a series one car in my home town.  Bought it as it was less rusty than the mustangs before it.  In 92 bought 09070, not knowing anything about it other than I had been without one for several years.  Back to school and life stuff.

I actually drove the car and then we started the restoration.  NO Rust

 

Done. 9070 factory auto dealer air. August 1970 production date.  Just no grunt.

 

 

We sold the GTM and started thinking about LS in a Z So for $500 we bought Ruby.

Ruby had a sunroof so we fixed it first

 

Ruby had too much rust too. 

Ruby was sold so someone could save the front clip.  Good bye. 

Then came Leslie.  This is the first day, all stock six which was sold. 

 

Fixing the floor surprising little rust for a local car.  

 

Under side of Leslie

Sanding down to put in frame rails

 

Fitting bad dog rails they are straight floor not so much.  lol

 

Frame rail installed Don't laugh at my welding

 

We installed the bad dog rails figuring the car would just twist in half if we did not.  

On the to fuel system

New top of tank

To fill hole in tank.

 Now that we filled the big hole the little one needs a pump.

 

Pump has its own sump and sits on the bottom of the tank with the return going to the sump.  So far no issues  And I hate the sound of an external pump  

 

 

Engine out fenders were not actually bolted on as the bottom of the rocker panels had not  been tapped for bolts.  In short the car was a mess.  

We bought the kit from CX racing. complete and worth every penny in my opinion.  

Prepping for LS install.  Note all new stainless brake lines, fuel lines etc.  

We are in the highlight version of the build.  

 

Rustoleum red is the same as Porsche red which is what this was supposed to be. Car was green originally.  And it has rear ended someone as the front aprons are welded back on.  A mess like I said.  

 

Put in the LS1 in.  I bought a wrecked 04 GTO, changed pans, alternator, shifter, swapped the clutch to and LS7 one, and had the harness cut down. All the stuff that needs to be done to make the swap. 

 

John's cars AC set up is tight. but fits and works.  

 

 

Getting closer

So very sorry for the bad pic, but is a bad mount I cobbled to hold the 8.8.  Came from a 95 Lincoln mark 8.  We put 3.73 gears in and traction lock.  

Front mount is from TTT.  

Waiting on Z car depot or Spitsnaugle to make a mount I am happy with for the 8.8

 

Modified the Datsun push rod to fit the Wilwood MC.

 

To mate the 8.8 to the Datsun stub I bought the Z car depot ends and the DSS end for the 8.8 to fit the a 930 Porsche CV.  Mounted everything in the car and then measured for the axles.  Had them made and made a mess putting it all together.  

 

ITS ALIVE 

 

As it looks now. 

 

It had 80 miles on it when we left for the hot rod power tour!  Went from KC to Des Moines to Davenport to Champagne to St Louis and back to KC did not do Indy or Bowling Green.  1300 miles later, had small oil leak fixed by tightening the by pass and filter, never figured out which was leaking.  Blew out the 40+ year old wheel cylinder on the left rear.  Other than that it performed great. 

 

There is so much I am leaving out but will edit as my time permits.  

 

In short CX racing kit.  Gauges from speed hut. JCI compressor. Vintage air mini, with a condenser my local gut sourced.  EZ wire main harness M&M cut down engine harness.  Factory headlight and turn signal switches.  From the outside and inside it looks like a 1971 240s with a fat exhaust pipe.  

 

Projects left to do.  Install proper 8.8 mount.  Springs and struts will be done at the same time as the 8.8.  Rear discs and 280 Z stubs (28 vs 24 spline). Finish interior.  Polish wheels a little.  All of which I hope to get done over the winter.  

 

Ask all the questions you want.  If you have a negative opinion leave it at home.  The amount of blood, sweat, time and money involved is mind numbing so keep any all negative comments to your self please.  

Edited December 11, 2017 by Richard Oben
saving as I went.

[LLave]

Nice work! How do you like the tanks inc efi conversion? I am considering doing one with their kit, or ricks, or Aeromotive... or vaporwox... Having a hard time picking one. 

 

 

[Richard Oben]

We got the idea from another member here, can;t remember who it was but he had lots of problem with external pumps.  In the end, it was not cheap doing the tanks inc pump.  A couple of hundred in tank mods plus the pump.  But I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Everything is serviceable and sure you can hear the pump a little at start, after that it is like any other car.  I am never worried about running the pump dry.  There were a few decisions I would change but my goal on this project was to most of the stuff my self.  Had the harness dieted and tank welded.  I did everything else.  HTH, Richard. 

[trackzpeed]

Hey Richard..... Glad you finally got around to your build log.   nice work!

[Richard Oben]

I know it took too long.  Took me a while to figure out the gallery here, car guy not computer guy lol.  Sorry for the giant pictures.  Richard. 

[toolman]

Richard,  Love to see more information and pictures of your beautiful project car when you have the time.

                                                                                                                                                      Sunny

[alainburon]

Looks great, hope you get to enjoy it for a long time

[Richard Oben]

Thanks for the kind words.  Like I said, a LOT of info came from this site.  Ask any questions anyone has, I will do my best to answer them.  Richard. 

[JoeK]

Looks clean. You mentioned you used the same EZ Wire body harness as I’m using on my build. Where did you mount fuse box? Any pictures would be helpful. Thanks,

[nmehdikh]

On 12/12/2017 at 5:03 AM, Richard Oben said:

We got the idea from another member here, can;t remember who it was but he had lots of problem with external pumps.  In the end, it was not cheap doing the tanks inc pump.  A couple of hundred in tank mods plus the pump.  But I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Everything is serviceable and sure you can hear the pump a little at start, after that it is like any other car.  I am never worried about running the pump dry.  There were a few decisions I would change but my goal on this project was to most of the stuff my self.  Had the harness dieted and tank welded.  I did everything else.  HTH, Richard. 

I'm looking to do the same pump, but why did you have to mod the tank? Was it clearance issues on the top of the tank? Or does the pump not reach the bottom of the tank?

[Richard Oben]

Joe K  I mount mine in about the same place as the original harness.  Except is is on the side of the console.  If I were to do it again, I would mount it on the to the dash on the driver side.  Something behind the vent control.  The harness is designed to be there, we had to extend the driver headlight since we came from the pass side like the original Datsun harness.  HTH

 

 

nmehdikh, the tank top is up against the body at that point, really up against the body all the way across the top of the tank.  The pump would be in the trunk without the drop.  Pump is plenty long as is comes from tanks inc.  HTH, Richard. 

[nmehdikh]

Thanks for the info. One more question, what front strut tower bar is that? And how does it mount to the firewall?

[Richard Oben]

Techno Toy Tuning. It mounts to the hood lock part of the firewall.  Well made part, really stiffened the front end.  HTH, Richard. 

[Richard Oben]

So we decided to update and upgrade the rear mount.  We bought the Z car depot  8.8 Ford IRS mount system.  It is a nice nice set up.  Only problem, not built for a 240 or really for a Lincoln Mark 8 differential.  No problem, well a few problems.  

 

First thing we did was install the mustache bar mounts.  We shifted the diff forward and took off most of the rear mount hardware.  Sway bar had to come off, uprights had to come off.  It would have been better to start from scratch.  

 

 

Second thing we did was install the rear diff mount;  It is a little low but it helped a lot.  Our axles were too angled and the diff was too far forward.  

I would highly recommend using the cover Z car Depot sells.  It fits like a glove any other mount would likely not fit.  

 

Since the mount if for a 280 We had to drill new holes to line up with old strap mounts.  In the pic the original holes are very far apart, that would not work for us.  

 

On the upper mounts we used Nut inserts.  These use a special tool, I didn't have the correct size so I used an allen wrench and a really good washer and a spacer nut and a regular nut.   We also had to remove some of the sheet metal that had been folded over.  

 

This pic shows the mount installed on the Pass side.  The top is Nut inserts and the bottom is the factory strap nuts.  

 

Last but not least we used solid mounts for the front as the Lincoln is much smaller on the front eyes than the Explorer.  The top is also sandwiched but it is had to see.  

 

On last look from the front of the car.  

 

 

If there are any questions.  Fire away.  Richard. 

 

 

[toolman]

Richard,

       Looks like a nice installation!   Roughly how much did it cost you?   I am considering it for my car.   What rear gear ratio

are you going to run?   I would guess about 3.90 with a T-56 trans.   Is there a lot of these swaps out there?

                                                                                                                  Toolman

[NewZed]

On 3/6/2018 at 1:42 PM, Richard Oben said:

So we decided to update and upgrade the rear mount.  We bought the Z car depot  8.8 Ford IRS mount system.

 

Second thing we did was install the rear diff mount;  It is a little low but it helped a lot.  Our axles were too angled and the diff was too far forward.  

 

If there are any questions.  Fire away.  Richard. 

 

 

Did the axles still end up angled or did you get them back to perpendicular to the hubs?  

[Richard Oben]

Toolman.  Cost is a bit fuzzy.  To buy the mount from Z car Depot is about 700 by the time it is delivered.  We have done a lot of 8.8 stuff so I had the pumpkin and had the gears.  I would not use the Lincoln, I would use the recommended explorer.  We had the 3.73 gears already and they work well with the T-56.  We bought the 930 to 8.8 stubs, the 930 to 240 hubs, axles, CVs and boot kits all separately and If remember correctly, all that stuff added up to a fairly expensive list.  But done only once.  No idea how many are out there.  It was a preference for us, we did not want to go R200 or R230 or what ever.  We have 280 stubs for it so everything will be 28 spline when finished.   

 

New zed, Our axles were not perpendicular before, too far up and too far forward, but they are now, and better in both directions, visually perpendicular in both directions.  We also used same length axles on both sides.  The driver is a tight fit, I can still shift the axle in and out, but I will watch it closely.  The pass side is fine.  In retrospect I would have done the right mount (didn't exist when we did the swap) and then measured for the axles.  When I do the struts, brakes etc. we may shorten the driver side at the same time.  Re notch for the clip and cut the current clip groove off.   

 

HTH, Richard.  

[toolman]

Camaro IRS swap

            Richard, Thanks for the Rapid Answer.   Before I heard about some guys using Ford 8.8, I was thinking about putting in the whole rear suspension

from a late model Camaro and basically narrow it to fit.   That way you get a  beefier wheel hub( although 5 lug).   Also,  it would limit machine work to 

shortening both axles.   Most of late model cars use an independent rear with four  bolt mounting system so it could be possible.   I was looking for 

a wrecked Camaro so I could take measurements to even see if this swap was possible.  But I got diverted to the paint booth build and still got more 

rust work to do.   Anyway, somebody might already done the swap already.

                                                                                                                       Toolman

factory Camaro IRS suspension

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by toolman
correcting text/pic

[Richard Oben]

That was just more work than I wanted to do.  Huge project.  A vendor is working on an 8.8 complete set up coming soon.  Richard. 

[Richard Oben]

Well, I drove it around yesterday.  I appears the vibration is gone. got up to about 70 in the neighborhood.  I thought something was wrong, the car didn't accelerate like i remembered or thought it should.  Well cold tires cold road and I figured out the problem,  Speedo said 50 car acted like 20,  wheel spin, a lot of it.  No more clunks in the rear, really no issues at all.  Very happy with the mount swap.  Now on to struts and springs.