In Progress: 75Z getting 81ZX Turbo motor.

[EverRude]

Using this thread as a guide to wire it up once I have the engine swapped. It's nice since my turbo motor is an 81.

 

Currently yanking the Z motor and working on the ZX pull as I wait for Deep Creep to do its thing.

 

One problem I've run into is the driveshaft bolts. What a pain. Why couldn't the mount the bolts facing forward so you could access them better. It's just my luck someone rounded off 2 of the bolts slightly and I can't get a wrench fully seated on them to get them broke loose. I'm seriously considering a dremel but I'm afraid in the very small space I'll cut the shaft or input coupling. Has anyone managed to use a swivel socket from the back? I don't own a metric set but would be willing to buy some if I knew it would work.

 

At this point it's really just a matter of tunring wrenches till something brakes, then fixing that enough to work past it, then rinse and repeat. But this is my first Datsun engine pull. Heck it's my first Datsun. So if anyone has any tips they can send my way I'd appreciate it. Maybe you'll educate me on something before I can manage to mess it up on my own.

 

I'll be posting pics and such but my camera broke yesterday so it'll be awhile.

[JSM]

I don't own a metric set but would be willing to buy some if I knew it would work.

 

I'm assuming you own some metric box wrenches correct?

 

I was pulling a driveshaft in the Junkyard off a 280zxt. I used i think a 12 or 14mm wrench, forget the size, and used a pry bar between the driveshaft yoke to break them. I've never had a problem this way before but did round one off.

 

I then used some vice grips to get the rounded one off. Just not too tight.

 

The only reason I rounded it off was because I turned it the wrong way!

[EverRude]

Camera finally dried out so it's working now. A bit easiesr to explain what I'm talking about.

 

Yes I have a metric set of tools. Just not swivel sockets. Or gearwrenches either but I'll get those for sure. Here's a pic of the tight space I was referring too trying to get those drive shaft bolts out. I ended up using a prybar wedged against the wrench to seat it enough to break torque. Went smoothly from there. Still a major pain.

 

 

Here are the cars I'm working on. The blue 81 ZX donor and the green 75 Z patient. Dr. EverRude expects a full recovery for the patient. The donor is DOA.

 

 

Here's a couple of pics of both motors.

[bobbyc]

they make seivel adapters...sears has them...that way you have swivel for any socket you own.

[EverRude]

they make seivel adapters...sears has them...that way you have swivel for any socket you own.

 

 

Really? Wow.

 

Hadn't thought of that. Sears has mechanics too I'll bet. Maybe I should go pick up a few of those. Because since I apprently don't know about swivel adaptors I should certainly have someone else do it.

 

I sure hope your comment was sarcasm. Mine reponse was if ya couldn't tell.

 

I tried the swivel adaptor. With the socket it's too long to make the angle and won't seat. That's why they make swivel sockets, they're shorter.

 

Besides, as I said. I got the driveshaft off using a prybar to wedge the wrench on the rounded bolt head.

 

BTW I bought the prybar at Sears.

[JSM]

If the nut is stripped you will need to either cut it off or use vise grips to hold it.

 

As long as the original nut is in good shape and you turn it the right way I've not had a problem. Rust aside of course.

 

This is what I mean. You don't need a speacial wrench just leverage. A long extension, thin breaker bar, whatever that is strong.

[Daeron]

I find that my favorite tool in my toolbox is my set of craftsman six point metric combination wrenches. The six points tend to work better on rounded bolts for me than 12 points, and if you are a *little* bit more careful in making sure the head stays on the bolt, then it is also easier to avoid rounding anything off in the first place.

 

Don't be afraid to mix and match things like the fuel rail and other various hardware that seems interchangeable. Are you going to be completing the entire turbo swap, and running the 75 turbocharged, or are you just changing over the longblock now and running it NA for the time being? I had thought you were just doing a shortblock swap, but now it sounds more like the whole shebang..

[EverRude]

I intend to do the entire swap. Turbo and all. But I'll inspect the turbo once I have the motor out. If it's fried I'll consider a rebuild but I may just go NA to avoid more costs. Besides since I'm going to end up doing alot of troubleshooting and wiring changes (for alternator and EFI) I might as well add the turbo.

 

Guys I appreciate the tips about the rounded bolts. And I agree with pretty much everything you said. In fact using a large screw driver through the universal to hold the drive shaft was natural. The prybar on the back of the wrench to wedge it onto the rounded bolt really did the trick.

 

The question I have now is just how much of the emissions crap can I remove from this turbo motor without causing it to run badly and throw up error codes? The thing is a mess of vacuum hoses and wires. I know it could be cleaner.

 

Thanks

[ZXT_bean]

jsm has the right idea, all i did was slide a larger sized screw driver through the u-joint, and used a boxed end wrench, while using a small pry bar i have to hold it onto the nut, i was able to get them all loose.. i just did this not more than 2 days ago, and worked perfectly!

[EverRude]

The Z's motor and transmission are out. The ZX motor shoulda come out but the ball style exhaust flange is rusted onto the manifold/turbo. The bolts came out fine and the flange is loose but the darn tube won't drop out. I can't use the entire exhaust anyways so I'll probably cut the exhaust tube just aft of the bend and yank the motor.

 

Other than that it's going smoothly. As expected I'll need a new clutch. That one has some life left but not much. Probably better to just swap it now. However dropping the tranny is pretty easy. I might just wait on spending money on a clutch till I'm sure I have a running car. Yeah that's a good idea. I might need that money for something to actually get the car running.

 

Anyways that's the update. No real problems or nasty surprises with the mechanical parts of the swap so far. I hope the electrical goes as smoothly. Including engine and engine bay cleanup and painting I should be done with mechanical stuff this weekend.

 

Later

[Daeron]

a clutch is fairly easy, because the transmission is so light. I am NOT a big guy, nor am I Hercules.. far from it, more the skinny little weakling type. Even still, I was able to handle the weight needed to jiggle the trans around enough to get the bolts threaded, no sweat. Actually, outside of a timing belt job, the clutch in my Z-car was the first major mechanical work I ever did on a car without the aid of an "elder" holding my hand. Piece of cake. If the clutch doesn't look problematic, then it isn't REALLY difficult enough a job in the future to spend money you don't have on it now.

[EverRude]

Eh. I changed my mind about the clutch. Just couldn't stand the idea of installing a worn clutch.

 

Due to rain I'm behind schedule. But both motors are out. Picking up my new clutch kit and rear main seal today. Should go in tommorrow.

 

Cleaned up the engine bay and painted everything with Zero-Rust. Gotta clean up some wiring. There are several grounds that are burned. Clearly someone wired something backwards at some point. I'll rewrap that loom with tape and call it good for now.

 

Rain permitting I should have the motor and tranny in tommrrow, or thursday, the latest. Then provided I do quick work with the wiring mods I should have a running car before the end of the weekend.

 

I'm taking pictures as I go. I'll post some later.

 

Thanks

[EverRude]

I got the oil cooler system off the ZX. Think I'll be able to splice the supply and return lines and use that stock cooler on the Z and mount it in the engine bay on the passenger side behind the radiator support. I'll post pics ofcourse if I do it.

 

I inspected the turbo. The turbine fins all look good. The turbo spins smoothly and there is absolutely no detectable play, radial or axial.

 

Found atleast one reason that motor wasn't running. No key on the crankshaft pulley. No sheared pieces. Nothing at all. The pulley just spun. I didn't realize it till I cut the old belts to remove the power steering pump and a/c compressor. I grabbed the crank pulley and it just spun. Removed it and there was no key. If I had to guess someone worked on that pulley at some point and forgot to reinstall the key.Atleast that's what I hope happened. Think I need to pull the oil pan and valve cover. I'll post progress as I go ofcourse.

 

Later

[EverRude]

I gotta say this Nissan engine is impressing me. So easy to work on. I can just glance at a bracket or part and know exactly what I need to do to remove it including wrench sizes. The oil pan and oil pickup design alone is impressive.

 

I pulled the valve cover and oil pan. Inspected everything as best I could. Aside from a black tint to most of the non-contact surfaces the motor is amazingly clean, despite the fact I found some pretty think sludge in the oil pain.

 

Cam and rockers all looked nice and turned smoothly. No uneven wear on the cam lobes. Timing chain looked tight and and in fact looks almost brand new. I suspect the timing chain might be the reason the crank pulley was off and reinstalled without a key. I hope that's it.

 

I can't find anything wrong with this motor mechanically. Crank end play was .010" which according to the DSM is good. Compression seems good but I can't be sure till I get it installed and can spin it with a consistent speed with the starter. I found quite a few broken sensor wires or bad splices. Aside from that crank pulley key this motor is in nice shape for 167k miles.

 

I'm behind schedule once again. My wife wants to redo the kitchen floor. I asked her to give me two weeks to get the car and the road and I'll be all on it. She agreed. But she's already started tearing up the old tile. So I get pulled to help her and some of the more heavy lifting items. Between that and the rain I don't get more than an hour or two a day. Which sucks.

 

Still making progress though.

 

Later

[EverRude]

Motor and transmission are in. I had trouble lining up the passenger mount. Had to remove the mount assembly from the block then lower the motor into place and install the mount. It dropped right in. I was doing the install by myself. I sure with help I could have gotten the mount to line up as the motor was lowered without having to remove it.

 

Installed and bled the new slave cylinder lastnight as well as the brake master. I had to remove the booster for cleaning and painting.

 

I should have eveything mechanical hooked up tonight..radiator, exhaust, driveshaft, intake and breather.... The oil cooler is the only tricky part since that requires some custom fitting and brackets. Once that's done it's all electrical. If I do well I could have a running and driving Turbo 280Z tommorrow. I'll be honest though. I'm not holding my breath. I expect problems. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Later

[Daeron]

hows progress??

 

The only way I can begin to communicate the number of ways in which a helping set of hands is a MAJOR assistance working with these cars, is to say that it taught me how to be a mechanic they are easy to work on, but having a kid or two around interested in helping (me and my brothers) so much easier.

[EverRude]

Everything mechanical is done. If this was a carb'd motor I'd be driving it right now.

 

I wanted a carb'd 240 now I remember why. This wiring is a royal pain. I have no clue. The swap thread I was using didn't bother to mention that the ECU wouldn't mount to the Z frame and need custom work. Or that the AFR wouldn't bolt up to the old bracket and require mods. Mods far easier to do with the engine out. It's my own fault, I should have test fit that stuff. But that crap on top of the fact I simply cannot grasp what I really need to do to get the harness hooked up. It's a brain killer and extremely frustrating.

 

Anyone wanna trade a carb'd motor for my complete L28ET, ECU, harness and AFR?

 

I got in over my head. One consolidation. I can get half my money back from the scrap yard and chalk the rest up to "stupid tax."

[Challenger]

Come on stick with it!!! Like everything building and working on it might suck balls but once you get to drive it itll all be worth it. Dont give up.

[Xnke]

Wiring is not that bad. Lay out the entire '81 engine bay harness on the ground, and lay out the entire '75 engine bay harness on the ground. Arrange them as they would sit in the car, and compare the two. Check to make sure all the plugs on the '81 are there, intact, and clean the contacts. Get the harness in the car, and try to match up things like oil pressure sender wires, alt wires, coil wires, gauge wiring, things that you know, and then work on things you don't know, like injector wiring, the computer, temp sensors (all three of them), oxygen sensor, etc. Work it out section by section, use the '81 as a reference for mounting the computer, be methodical. You'll get it.

 

Like the others are saying, don't give up now, it will be so worth it in the end.

[EverRude]

I have a 1970 Mustang fastback in the middle of restoration with over $4k worth of new parts on shelves ready to be bolted up. I've always wanted and S30 Z and it seemed like a good opportunity to get into a car could be driveable in a short time and wouldn't distract from the stang restoration too much.

 

I got no problem working out kinks in mechanical parts. And I knew all Z's have wiring issues. Definitley ones pulled from fields. But atleast with a carb'd motor I could drive it as I sorta out where the shorts and bad grounds were...

 

I wish I hadn't found that swap thread. I never would have decided to do this. I would stuck with my original idea of a longblock swap and just driven the thing with low compression for awhile. I made the mistake of thinking I knew what I was reading. Clearly not. I screwed up.

 

Now I've modded my exhaust for the turbo swap. A few brackets under the hood and a little wiring all for this turbo motor swap and I can't go back as easily.