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240z8's '71 240z Chevy V8 Project


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yeah, the 280 harness could work. Another idea is to call Painless and see if they have a harness for a 240z. That way you wouldn't have to worry about corroded or cut wires, and you'd have all new modern fuses, and everything would be labelled all pretty. I know whe budget counts for a lot though, so it's up to you. but yeah, soldering and heat shrinking the spliced wires is the best idea if you swap. The other plan is just to figure wtf the PO did, and try to fix that so you don't have to remove the existing wiring. a good volt/continuity meter is your friend.

 

phar

 

 

 

I was already thinking about trying to fix the jacked up wiring, but I have no idea on how to get the wires back in the connectors. I was looking at the wiring diagram here http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/wiringdiagrams/240z/1971_240z.gif

and noticed that on the car, there is a red wire and a blue wire going into an inline fuse going to the blower motor, and the blue wire is cut way further back on the car. There was another blue wire, I don't remember if it had a stripe though, and it was cut. The other blue wires I see on the diagram are going to the ignition switch, the accessory relay, the cooler, the wiper motor, and the combination switch. I have a question about that too, what is the accessory relay, the cooler, and the combination switch?

 

Oh, and another thing, when I had been trying to fix the wiring before, I could get the blower to work and blow air out all of the vents, so I don't know if wires are bypassed or anything.

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Combination switch = headlight/wipers/washer/turn signal/high beam switch. Sometimes it means both sides, sometimes its just the headlight side (at least, thats how the term gets thrown about; they may be a bit more anal retentive about how the terms are applied in the FSM, I never really bothered to check.)

 

Have you pulled the dashboard yet? If it is REALLY jacked up, the task of repairing it is much easier if you can actually see what you are working with plainly and NOT feet up, bent in half, holding a flashlight in your teeth. It might seem like more trouble than it is worth, but I have never heard anyone say "Gee, I didn't really *need* to pull the dash out to do that, it would have been easier if I hadn't!!"

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The dash is mostly out, but the cage thing that goes behind the radio got caught on the radio and I just gave up on the dash because I didn't want to mess up anything more than it already is. I was already pissed from smacking my head a lot, finding the wiring like that, and before I had spent a good half hour using a shop vac to suck out the busted up sound deadening and I was kinda tired (mentally, not physically), so I was just like screw it and put up my tools and went in the house.

 

Is the combination switch right behind the steering wheel, like in the general area near the ignition?

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The dash is mostly out, but the cage thing that goes behind the radio got caught on the radio and I just gave up on the dash because I didn't want to mess up anything more than it already is. I was already pissed from smacking my head a lot, finding the wiring like that, and before I had spent a good half hour using a shop vac to suck out the busted up sound deadening and I was kinda tired (mentally, not physically), so I was just like screw it and put up my tools and went in the house.

 

Is the combination switch right behind the steering wheel, like in the general area near the ignition?

 

No, it bolts to the steering column......

 

I know what you mean, talking about getting "mentally tired..." I had an 87 Subaru that was my DD for about 3-4 years. That car was an ugly, automatic transmissioned, rusted piece of front wheel drive junk but I loved it to death. (My individual car was this crappy; I wouldnt bash the model :D) Anyhow, one of the things I LOVED about it was how easy everything was. Even the drum brakes; the retainer clip spingy thing that holds the pin on, that goes through the shoe and the backing plate? that spring was SO MUCH easier to use on the soobie than on the Datsuns that we have re engineered our rear brakes to use them. (Simple job, replace pin and spring and cap from Datsun with pin and spring from Subaru)

 

Anyhow, I did Axles, timing belts, head gasket, water pump, radiator... I had to do alot of stuff to that car. The single most difficult job I had working on it was... (drumroll) Replacing the bloody Turn Signal Blinker. I'm not a big guy, and my hands are small and its easy for me to reach up into narrow crevasses.... but to get to that thing I had to go up to my elbod in a dashboard that was smaller than in our Z-cars!! It took me 6-8 hours of fighting, cursing, searching, and taking breaks to cool off before I got the old one out, and I leftthe new one dangling, unsecured except for the plug. It was fine until the A/T gave out on me three years later, and the car got parted and crushed.

 

The head job took me one easy, six hour day of disassembly, a day of machine shop jail, and another easy, six hour day of re assembly. (She cranked up on the first shot; i remember being real proud of that.) Mind boggling sometimes. Stupid flasher can.

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Ok, I have a mini update. We slipped the new cam in and put on the gear drive. We got a new key for the harmonic balancer today, so we can start putting the engine back together. The engine mounts and stuff for the mounting kit are still at the powdercoater, but they should be ready.

 

I have a quick question. When I swap the r200 over to the 240z, do I have to swap the 280z stub axles too? And I think I read somewhere that the 280z stub axles are stronger than the 240z axles, and I'm looking for some confirmation on that too.

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Ok, I have a mini update. We slipped the new cam in and put on the gear drive. We got a new key for the harmonic balancer today, so we can start putting the engine back together. The engine mounts and stuff for the mounting kit are still at the powdercoater, but they should be ready.

 

I have a quick question. When I swap the r200 over to the 240z, do I have to swap the 280z stub axles too? And I think I read somewhere that the 280z stub axles are stronger than the 240z axles, and I'm looking for some confirmation on that too.

 

Swap it over, it can't hurt so long as the u-joints are good. I am not sure if they are replaceable in the stub axle but if they are, replace them just because you can. Also are you going to weld the r200 or get a LSD? or does a 1 wheel peel not bother you much? I think it would be cooler/more fun to have a welded one or an LSD. Welding it would be cheap and you could do it at school no problem.

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Welded diff is a royal PITA on the street, especially in a car with no power steering to boot.

 

I Agree. I had a friend back when I was in High School. Ya, back in the OLD Days of 1977. He welded his rear end of his Mustang. It was great for straight line racing but it sucked on the street. Going around corners all you hear is the ScReAcH of your tires trying to go around the corner. :icon13: on this idea!

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I Agree. I had a friend back when I was in High School. Ya, back in the OLD Days of 1977. He welded his rear end of his Mustang. It was great for straight line racing but it sucked on the street. Going around corners all you hear is the ScReAcH of your tires trying to go around the corner. :icon13: on this idea!

 

same experience in my brothers 71 mustang. it just howls through the corners and then on the straights because he cant keep his foor off the windsor ahah

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Page 8 and 9 have been void of pictures... So, here's your present(the picture, not the parts)! That's the v8 mount kit all powdercoated and looking pretty. :mrgreen:

 

 

Good stuff good stuff, is it in yet? haha I'm just kidding. At least you are making some progress, what you need is another z fanatic in Portales to get on you about working on the car, don't be afraid of the cold, I work on my car like 24/7 even if its just like something small. I am about to put a small bit more silicone on the fuel injector because its still leaking and I still cant afford new ones. I am just about to spend my 90 bucks I have till Friday when I get paid on a seat, because I want a decent, more comfy seat. Lazy, Just plain lazy Justin. haha. I hope I don't make you mad with this, mount kit looks fantastic by the way. Glad to see things coming together.

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Page 8 and 9 have been void of pictures... So, here's your present(the picture, not the parts)! That's the v8 mount kit all powdercoated and looking pretty. :mrgreen:

 

DSCF2841.jpg

 

The best thing about this powdercoat job. FREE. What is happening is called Bartering. I am going to do some computer repair and Website design and teaching for some powdercoating work. Got to love the Bartering world! :rockon::2thumbs:

 

We most likely will be getting the suspension parts powdercoated also. Who knows what else.

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The best thing about this powdercoat job. FREE. What is happening is called Bartering. I am going to do some computer repair and Website design and teaching for some powdercoating work. Got to love the Bartering world! :rockon::2thumbs:

 

We most likely will be getting the suspension parts powdercoated also. Who knows what else.

 

Get all your chrome trim powder coated. It looks great, seen it done on a few cars, I love the look. That and maybe your wheels. Free rocks! I am sure I missed it somewhere. What do you have planned for brakes? Going to do the Toyota 4 Pistons up front? Disk rear? AZC? Just something I thought about.

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Get all your chrome trim powder coated. It looks great, seen it done on a few cars, I love the look. That and maybe your wheels. Free rocks! I am sure I missed it somewhere. What do you have planned for brakes? Going to do the Toyota 4 Pistons up front? Disk rear? AZC? Just something I thought about.

 

 

I think powdercoating the trim would be a bad idea. The mounts and stuff have minor imperfections. Kinda like if you painted some stuff with glossy paint, then dust and stuff fell on it, then you did another coat of paint over the dust. I am probably just gonna paint the trim black or leave it chrome, depending on what color I paint the car.

 

And for brakes, I'm thinking just sticking with the stock brakes for now. I'm not sure what my dad is planning, but that's what I'm thinking of doing. The brakes work fine for now.

 

Oh, and no one actually answered my question, are the 280z stub axles stronger than the 240z stub axles? Also, I'm not sure how the axles are mounted to everything else, and I can't go look without getting totally covered in snow (it's snowing again here), but are the axles a straight swap or do I have to swap parts from the 280z rear suspension to get them to fit?

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I think powdercoating the trim would be a bad idea. The mounts and stuff have minor imperfections. Kinda like if you painted some stuff with glossy paint, then dust and stuff fell on it, then you did another coat of paint over the dust. I am probably just gonna paint the trim black or leave it chrome, depending on what color I paint the car.

 

And for brakes, I'm thinking just sticking with the stock brakes for now. I'm not sure what my dad is planning, but that's what I'm thinking of doing. The brakes work fine for now.

 

Oh, and no one actually answered my question, are the 280z stub axles stronger than the 240z stub axles? Also, I'm not sure how the axles are mounted to everything else, and I can't go look without getting totally covered in snow (it's snowing again here), but are the axles a straight swap or do I have to swap parts from the 280z rear suspension to get them to fit?

 

Yes they are stronger but I do not know about being a strait swap but I am thinking yes.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Soooo, who do I have to beg to get the title of this thread changed to 240z8's '71 V8 240z Project? I need it changed because it's a lie... We picked up another Z today.:D

 

Back in August, we emailed a guy about a '71 240z for $300 in Albuquerque, but ended up not getting it, and a couple weeks ago, my dad was going through his old emails and saw those emails and emailed the guy asking if he still had the car. We went and picked it up today for $200. It's in great condition rust wise. The floors only have very small rust spots around the front drain plug on both sides, the battery tray looks to be solid with no cancerous rust, the spare tire well is perfect, the wheel wells are rust-free, and the frame rails are fine. The only bad rust is in the doglegs; the rust made huge holes through them. The paint on the car is crap to put it nicely as there is minor surface rust everywhere, but that'll all be gone soon.

 

There is a weird situation with the title though, we have the New Mexico title for the car from Feb 1994 with some guys name on it, and on the back where you transfer titles to another person, he wrote his own name in that spot and like May 1994 as the date of transfer and his address was in Nevada. Jump forward 11-12 years, another person has the car, who sells it to a Marine, who tries to get it registered in California and can't, so the Marine sells it to the person we got it from, and now we have it. We have no idea if the title was transfered from the owner in 1994 to another owner, or if it is still in his name. We have the bills of sale from the owner in 2005 to the Marine, the Marine to the owner we got it from, and at guy to us, but nothing before 2005.

 

SUBJECT CHANGE TIME!!! Here are some pics: :lol:

 

Front shot:

DSCF2912.jpg

 

3/4 Shot:

DSCF2875.jpg

 

Interior:

DSCF2876.jpg

 

Driver side:

DSCF2879.jpg

 

On the trailer:

DSCF2886.jpg

 

DSCF2887.jpg

 

Rust :lol: :

DSCF2895.jpg

DSCF2900.jpg

 

The rust looks pretty bad from those pictures, but that is because the dirt and orange paint on the floors. From underneath the car, those were the only spots I could see, and it didn't look like they spread.

 

Cleaned out a bit:

DSCF2896.jpg

 

Rear shot:

DSCF2898.jpg

 

DSCF2902.jpg

I'm pleased with the rear end, its mostly straight, it has a cool bumper bar (it needs 3 more bolts, only one bolt is holding the bar on. That's why it looks bent.), the taillights are clean and un-cracked, the hydraulic strut holds up the hatch, all the tubing for the vents in the hatch are still there, and it has working louvers.

 

It was made in 1/71 and it's VIN is 20,388. I think it's definitely worth the $200 I payed. It has a good interior for the most part, a straight body with no major body damage, awesome looking iron-cross wheels, and decent tires.

 

 

 

In the spirit of updatey updateness, I have done a little more on my dash. I filled all the cracks with Great Stuff, trimmed it, sanded it down, and started working with the Bondo bumper repair. I used 2 of them already and need to pick up some more. I did a bad job with the first bumper repair kit and didn't spread it out too well so it didn't cover as much as I'd like, but I did a much better job with the second one. I still might need some more to fill a couple cracks and gouges that are left. I have 3 cracks filled in totally, but need to sand those down. I have to fill in a few more cracks that aren't totally smooth, and there are some gouges on the front that I need to smooth out and the dash will be ready for me to finish. So far it has come out pretty good. I have about 14 hours total in the dash including taking it apart, cleaning it, sanding the frame, painting the frame, reattaching the frame to the pad temporarily, filling the Great Stuff, prepping the Great Stuff, using the Bondo bumper repair, and sanding the bumper repair. I think I'll probably have about 20-30 hours in the dash total when I'm totally done with reassembling it.

 

I'm sorry about the long posts, I just like to explain everything. :D

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to clarify using the 280z stub axles/half shafts same difference.

 

If you have an R180 Differential, there is provisions that have to be done before installing the 280z ones, obviously due to different diffs.

Yes they are stronger, but if you want to be safe within reason and have a v8 making a decent amount of power, you probably want to do the stub axle upgrade to z32 half shafts

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Thanks, I was bugging him texting him telling him to post pictures. I think you told me about that car a long time ago, said I should have bought it, looking at how clean it is, I should have, would be much less repair then my 280z is gonna be. Man, you are taking all the good cars, I found a 76 in Muncie Indiana today. Trying to find the owner as of right now, its behind a run down old tow place. Pictures of the dash! lol

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