240z/280z insulator/mount options

[stravi757]

Thought I would share this with everyone.  1978 280z l28 280zx 5speed, Stock EFI(for now)

 

To give a little back story. I daily drive my 280z 19878, so comfort/quality drivability is important to me. As we all know the Z cars are known for having a "clunk". After replacing  everything from the motor mounts to the half shafts, the car drove very well. I was enjoying life for a while. But as I continued the drive my car more and more, I found myself dissatisfied  with the drive quality again. So I began looking for more things to change. I went ahead and installed 350z seats, those made a huge difference. After that I continued to try more things out.

-I did the Technoversions front diff mount https://www.technoversions.com/DiffMountHome.html

-Polyurethane bushings on everything excluding the rear inner control arms, and the TC rods

-3.9 SUBARU R180 LSD

 

This is pretty much what i have done so far, and dont get me wrong, the car drives really well. But I still feel kick between On and Off throttle that gets on my nerves a little bit.

 

So My next idea is, filling in the stock transmission mount with Liquid urethane http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/diymmi

I used a new Nissan mount. Im waiting a couple more days for it to cure, and then will install and post results. They are real soft stock, so we will see how much of a difference this makes. I know I can see my shift rod move a good amount when giving the car gas.

 

After this my next things in line are Lokar cable throttle, and motor mounts.

 

I bought the cable throttle already but Im still working on how I will install it.

I would like to use KTM's design, But I haven't figured out how to put together a kit myself, or to see if KTM still has one laying around for sale http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/276091-throttle-cable-conversion-kit-interest-does-not-require-different-throttle-body.html

Im sure this will be a huge improvement also!

 

As Far as motor mounts. Right now I am running New oem. I tried using https://silverproject.eu/en/shop/nissan/solid-engine-mounts-for-datsun-240z-260z-nissan-s30/

But they are a little rough, as my dash was vibrating at idle. But they did feel smooth while driving. I may give them another shot, or maybe try using one solid mount and one rubber?

I really wanted to try the Mckinney Poly mounts, But Those are NLA

 

 

So I Hope this helps anyone looking to solve or improve their Z's drive quality. And If anyone has any tips or advice, please share! would love to hear feedback, Ideas or things you have tried as well.

 

 

UPDATE: I installed and ram the urethane filled mount. It was a disappointment for what I was trying to achieve. There was to harsh of vibration coming into the car from it. Its not so bad while driving the car once your going 25mph+. But at low speed, especially starting out in first gear, it vibrates a good amount throughout the bell housing.  It felt a little like there was a mild missfire on a cylinder. Maybe if I had dynomat installed it could have helped out, but it its a fairly harsh vibration. Its did improve the throttle response on acceleration though. I could really tell when stepping on the gas in 3rd gear. 

 

UPDATE: December 3, 2018. After almost 8 months of waiting I finally got the rubber style motor mount insulators(which they sell still) from Mckinney Motosports to pair with their 240z-280zx motor mount set-up(which is NLA)

Wow! They are amazing. I had in my head an idea of what they would feel like, and they are better. They was no significant increase in vibration at idle(silverproject mounts shook the dash) or at driving speed. The throttle response of the car is much better on acceleration, and it feels very smooth on deceleration 2nd gear and up. I havent driven on them too much yet, so Ill add more details on them as I put more miles but four thumbs up on these!!!!!! 

Thanks  z240 for selling me your Extra set!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by stravi757
make post better/update

[z240]

I've been on this path for a while as well. Very interested to find out how well that potted in place transmount holds up. 

 

I have a set of this McKinney motor mounts if you want them. PM me.

[stravi757]

2 hours ago, z240 said:

I've been on this path for a while as well. Very interested to find out how well that

in place transmount holds up. 

We will find out soon! Is there anything you have tried I havent mentioned?

 

Quote

I have a set of this McKinney motor mounts if you want them. PM me.

Whoa. is your set the poly or rubber style. Come to think now I probably would prefer the rubber, but would give the poly a shot too. Did you ever run them? how did they feel?

On their website they have this posted. https://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/prod_motor+mount+styles

So it looks like these are options to swap/replace between rubber, poly, semi solid poly, and aluminum. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by stravi757

[LLave]

I once filled a torn rubber motor mount with urathane windshield adhesive, out of a caulking gun. It worked amazingly well. 

[z240]

2 hours ago, stravi757 said:

We will find out soon! Is there anything you have tried I havent mentioned?

 

Whoa. is your set the poly or rubber style. Come to think now I probably would prefer the rubber, but would give the poly a shot too. Did you ever run them? how did they feel?

On their website they have this posted. https://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/prod_motor+mount+styles

So it looks like these are options to swap/replace between rubber, poly, semi solid poly, and aluminum. 

 

They are the poly ones. They worked well, but, did get more engine vibration than I liked.  I currently run only one on right side, and a stocker on the left, or is it the other way around.. Whichever one is under compression when the engine torques over. I had two sets though, never used the other set, it's new.

 

I've used the aftermarket stock replacement engine mounts. They are fine, but watch out. The ones I got had SAE welded nuts instead of the stock M8. And the little metal nub that locates in the little hole on the engine mount is in the wrong place or too large or both. Other than that, they are the right size....

Edited April 26, 2018 by z240

[ZHoob2004]

9 minutes ago, z240 said:

 

I've used the aftermarket stock replacement engine mounts. They are fine, but watch out. The ones I got had SAE welded nuts instead of the stock M8. And the little metal nub that locates in the little hole on the engine mount is in the wrong place or too large or both. Other than that, they are the right size....

 

I can confirm that. I used the cheapest mounts available on rockauto (I think they were $5 each). No real problems, but they're SAE on one side, metric on the other, they had a very strong smell straight out of the box, and I had to persuade the locating pins into their proper places. I haven't noticed any issues with excessive engine movement, but I'll have to follow up on that when I get my motor back to stock power or beyond.

[LLave]

"they had a very strong smell straight out of the box"

 

You know what we don't talk about enough, the smell of new parts. 

[ZHoob2004]

It's usually not a big deal what parts or chemicals smell like, but this was significant enough that it left a serious impression on me. It was like an entire pack of cigarettes blended into burning tires and then compacted down into these two motor mounts. I could smell it from outside the rockauto box, to the point that I made sure not to open it inside.

[stravi757]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:35 AM, LLave said:

I once filled a torn rubber motor mount with urathane windshield adhesive, out of a caulking gun. It worked amazingly well. 

This is a good idea to always keep in mind! You can probably find a lot of uses out of it.

 

 

On 4/26/2018 at 10:50 AM, z240 said:

 

They are the poly ones. They worked well, but, did get more engine vibration than I liked.  I currently run only one on right side, and a stocker on the left, or is it the other way around.. Whichever one is under compression when the engine torques over. I had two sets though, never used the other set, it's new.

 

I've used the aftermarket stock replacement engine mounts. They are fine, but watch out. The ones I got had SAE welded nuts instead of the stock M8. And the little metal nub that locates in the little hole on the engine mount is in the wrong place or too large or both. Other than that, they are the right size....

So how did it feel to run one poly and one stock mount compared to both poly? Is that combo what you still are running?

 

Im interested in buy a set. how much do you want for them. You can pm me details.

 

 

On 4/26/2018 at 11:03 AM, ZHoob2004 said:

 

I can confirm that. I used the cheapest mounts available on rockauto (I think they were $5 each). No real problems, but they're SAE on one side, metric on the other, they had a very strong smell straight out of the box, and I had to persuade the locating pins into their proper places. I haven't noticed any issues with excessive engine movement, but I'll have to follow up on that when I get my motor back to stock power or beyond.

 

I did install these types of mounts in a z once(not mine) and had the same issue with fittment. How did they feel/how are they holding up? I just figured they weren't even worth trying. But maybe I was wrong. I mean, the Nissan OEM ones start to flex more over time fairly quick anyway. The rubber on them will always separate from the sides on them...

[ZHoob2004]

I can't really give a fair judgement of how they're holding up as I've only got a few thousand miles on the car since I put them in. I'm hoping to have the refresh on the car done with a built motor by the end of the year, so maybe next year I'll have an idea of whether or not they're adequate.