Big Sky 240

Montana13 · May 27, 2020

Well to start off I guess I'll say how much this forum has helped me through the years and the wealth of knowledge here is tremendous. I don't really have many friends that are knowledgeable about cars, mostly trucks. So this Z has been pretty much a solo job and has felt very daunting at times. Scrolling through all the build threads in here has helped keep me motivated and moving forward. Hopefully this thread will help others stay motivated and provide more helpful info to the Z community. I guess I should have started my own thread a long time ago but alas here it is.

At lunch one day, a long time friend (the one sitting in the car) showed me an ad on Craigslist for a 240, the car was under some tires and the photos were pretty terrible but it got my interest for sure. I emailed the lady and not expecting a reply, I got a response quickly and so I started asking if I could come see the car. After going back and forth, I was able to get a time to see the car. First challenge completed, now the real work began, getting the parents onboard! I was barely 15 at the time and here in montana you can get your learners license at 14 and drivers soon after. So with this being my first car my parents had some safety and reliability concerns, anyway I told my dad "It cant hurt to just go look at it?" and so it began, most of you know that once you see the car it's really hard not to dream and think about it for weeks.

Circa 2013

I still remember how crisp that spring sunday was, the car was a lot rougher than I had hoped and really I had no idea what to be looking for,. I checked the head and engine code to see if it was original but that's it. A very nice older lady showed us the car and told us about how her parents had bought the car new in california and all of her memories of the car. After getting home my dad told me that it was going to need some major TLC to even see the road. I agreed with him but the stubborn side of me said that all it needed was a quick refresh and she would be driving in no time. About a month went by before I sent the seller another email asking if the car was still there. The seller responded that it was still for sale and was willing to work on the price, originally $3000. With another month into convincing my parents, I finally completed the second major hurdle and soon figured out a reasonable price for the car with a CLEAN title. I gave the seller some time because they said they had the title but it was back in california. Fast forward to the summer, I finally had a day to go pick the car up and drop off half of the payment. I rented a U-haul trailer and borrowed my dad's truck, finally after so many promises it was gonna be mine.

I pulled some strings and got my father to move his automotive project outside while I tried to get the car running. I changed the battery, pulled the carbs off, cleaned them up slightly and reinstalled.I also removed and emptied the gas tank, washed it out with degreaser and water, then reinstalled. After this quick refresh I gave the engine a try, the engine wouldn't turn over. I ran to the autopart store to get a 27mm for the crank bolt. I gave up trying to rotate the engine when a 5 foot breaker bar wasn't enough to make it budge.

Plan B, pull the engine and inspect the pistons,

Well every single F*%$#&@ piston was frozen with rust. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Plan C to the rescue! ...... The next week I was all hands on deck trying to track down a replacement L-Series. Sure enough a engine dropout from a local 280zx popped up and I snagged it for a very decent price. Guy said he was doing a SBC swap.

With the engine out I tried tackling some of the rust in the engine bay, first cutting out the old battery tray and then trying to clean up the edges and get a new piece of 20 gauge welded in.