Crazyoctopus 1972 240z build up (long first post)

[crazyoctopus]

i have been a rotary kid since i was 15 (nearly 10 years now), and i finally made the choice to switch over to the engine masterbating lifestyle. over a period of 5 months i finally narrowed my project car of choice down to either the MGB or a 240z. It wasnt until i found non-running 240z with a bit of rust for $500 to push me to get it.

 

the last time this car was running was back in 1991, and it has pretty much been sitting ever since. with this in mind, i knew that i would have to get a new engine. granted there is the off chance that this engine would run, i found an engine with SU carbs and tranny for $300 and couldn't pass up the chance just to swap it over.

 

when i got the car to my house i made a decision that i did not want to spend over 1000 to get the engine running. i knew that it would be a tough thing to manage, but i figured that with some of the parts that i sell off of it i would make back the difference. another reason why i chose the low budget rebuild is because this car is not going to be a show car, or a 100% original spec car; it is going to be a track car driven on the street.

 

--

 

day 1 of working on the car was pretty much spent learning what things did what, what went where, and what i could remove. Living in california has its perks when it comes to classic cars because anything built before 1975 is smog exempt. I know, for experience with my Rx7s, that removing smog equipment doesnt give you much, if any, power gains; but what it does do is reduce the amount of stuff that can fail and break.

 

 

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day 2 of working on the car was actually removing all of those worthless bits and pieces that i mapped out the day prior. on a side note, when i do get the time i am going to post an "idiots guide to a nearly no cost emissions removal" so that all of the kids who say "i want someone to tell me exactly what i can remove" wont have to ask again; it will include pictures for the illiterate. To finish the day off of emissions removal, we also pulled the engine and tranny out of the project car getting ready to put in the recently smogless engine

 

 

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day 3 was spent somewhat cleaning the engine bay, painting, and installing the engine

 

 

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day 4 and 5 was spent connecting, blocking off, and replacing bad coolant lines, installing spark plugs and wires, flushing the engine, tranny, and gas tank. Near the end of the day i took the battery out of my daily and tried to see if it would turn over. CLICK, then nothing. my first thought is that it was a bad starter, and since i had another one that came off the one that came out of the car i swapped them and tried again. CLICK. damn. the clicking came form the passenger side glove box area and after a bit of forum searching i found out that the CLICK that i heard was the accessory relay. I tried super grounding the starter (jumper cable from oil drain plug to chassis). but that didnt work either. so then i jumpered the starter cap. it spun. it took a couple tries to get the teeth to match up, but it started to rotate. it never started though. after this i called it an evening, and would start on it in the morning.

 

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day 6 was spent trying to diagnose the problems. since the starter was somewhat working (i still have to jumper the starter), i needed to find out if i wasnt getting spark or fuel. since the fuel hose was right there i disconnected the hose put it in some extra gas and tried to find out if the pump was working; it wasnt. so i picked up a new one for $35 at kragen (normally 59, but i got a discount! first one ever). while waiting in line i did a bit more forum searching and found that because the car has sat for soo long i would need to prime the system with fuel before i continued, so manually pump the fuel in.

 

when i got home i put the new pump in, put on the cleaner valve cover, and forgot to prime the system. right now i figure that i still need to find out if i need spark so no biggie. after i installed the new pump i went to check if i was getting spark by removing a wire at the plug but there was nothing. awesome. i checked to see if the coil was getting power by removing the negative terminal and attaching a cable from that terminal to a ground to see if i was getting spark. while there wasnt a big spark when i tried to remove it, there were small ones. i did the light test to see if there was power going to the distributer with a light test, and there was nothign shown. lame. i called it a night and would be back at kragen for a new coil and distributer stuff.

 

=at the end of day 5 thwe total spent was $999, and that includes the price of the car!

 

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this brings us to today, day 6. I picked up the new coil, and ordered all of the distributor parts and they will arrive on teh 28th. i have yet to install the coil to see if that is all that i needed to get spark. there are a couple more things that i need to work out, but i will forum search before i ask em formally. i have yet to check to see if i am getting fuel to the carbs, but if i am not there is a good chance that the fuel line is blocked by something.

 

--I have been meaning to post this for a few days, but i have been too dirty handed to type, so sorry for the long post.

 

--there is the option of going with an electric distributor and fuel pump, but i want to keep this car as mechanical as possible. less cables = more awesome.

 

more photos can be found at my flickr site HERE

[crazyoctopus]

3 weeks in and here are the updated photos.

 

-new install: MSA carbon metallic brake shoes and pads, SS brake lines, SS clutch line, removed interior and sound deadening, and then removed some hidden rust and the patch work that followed.

 

==i dont have unlimited funds to spend on the car, but i do have $20 to spend on some sheet metal and rivets

 

 

 

 

 

 

the holes were sealed with some extra "red" high temp engine gasket sealant, if it can seal the engine it can seal the ground from my feet.

 

next step is to further seal the holes with more red gasket, as well as use some crazy self etching primer to protect the metal. And then primer the interior not only to not only seal it, but also to make it look clean.

 

total cost = $1391 including cost of car ($500).

 

I just purchased the ABS plastic steering coupler and urethane steering bushings so that, along with a positive battery cable, will bring the cost to get the car road worthy to around $1450.

 

more photos can be found HERE

[crazyoctopus]

on the 6th(22nd day) I primered the interior of the car, received the ABS steering coupler and urethane steering rack bushings, and sealed up what needed to be sealed.

 

 

yesterday, 7th (23rd day), I routed the battery lines, and secured the battery, and flushed the brakes and clutch. the clutch master and slave needed to be replaced so i had to order them and will be installing them both today.

 

running total of car is $1500

 

lager photos can be found HERE

[crazyoctopus]

everything installed and just finished balancing and tuning the carbs.

 

here is her maiden voyage.

 

the first drive out --

 

there isn't as much power as i thought that there would be, but then again i am coming from the mindset of a FC Turbo2. I am sure that once I open up the exhaust and get some triple carbs life will be back to fantastic

 

this is the 32nd day since i have owned the car, and total spent is now 1300

=sold the wheel, hub caps, and rear louvers for 200.

[crazyoctopus]

replaced the clutch with a new stock replacement from msa, installed the MSA solid rear diff mount, and took my r180 to a welder and asked him to weld all of my spider gears together.

 

welded diffs arent the best, but the r180 is pretty worthless and a welded diff is better than an open diff.

 

when i finished i figured that my car was too quiet with the stock exhaust and with the welded diff and the wheels on order... i had to take it to ridiculous, childish, awesome levels. so i cut off the muffler.

 

here is what she sounds like now.

 

[crazyoctopus]

I ordered some diamond racing 15x10 -25mm (4.5" bs) and test fit them on my car. The 225.50-15 Kuhmo ASTs came in a few days after I took these photos, but you can get an idea of how they may look.

 

 

After the mock up I started a prep for paint.

 

 

Today I cut the fenders for the proper installation of zg flares. Final paint as well as the only real recorded (that I can find, and i have been through all of Google photos, and 100 Flickr pages) photo of a 240z with ZG flares and a BRE front lip.

[crazyoctopus]

finished the painting a couple days ago here are the shots of finishing the sides

 

 

here is the final body paint after sanding it down. there are a few streaks here and there, and the magical blue 3M tape took off some paint in a few areas, but all in all it turned out quite well for $70 worth of paint and sand paper.

 

The colors that i used were satin black for the front cowl, rear hatch, zg flares, bre lip, and rear metal shroud thing; and then i used ultra-flat deep forest green for the sides and rear of the car (according to the can i should "blend into the environment").

 

 

also finished painting my BRE front lip, ZG flares, and rear licence plate shroud thing.

 

-- have to sand down the spray on the steel lip of the brake lights.

 

all that is left to paint is putting my octopus tag on the cowl, lower the car to a proper height, and then mount all the parts.

[crazyoctopus]

haven't done much to the car, but I figured it was time to give a bit of an update.

 

I took the car out for a drive before it got painted and there was an issue once I started going up and down hills. My Initial thought was that my float was off and that I needed to set it; then I was told that i was shooting a stream of gasoline out of the rear of my car. since it has been on jacks and level there hasnt bit a drop of gas leak out of it, but today when I finally checked the damage this is what i found.

 

note: the size of the hole did not change after i took it off of the tank.

 

seeing this, and the lack of wanting to buy an unneeded line, I decided to plug the hole and just remove my evaporator tank. It was a PITA due to me not wanting to drop the fuel tank, but all in all I made all the lines work and fit.

 

After I took care of the Evap removal I set my floats (23mm from top to float upside-down, please tell me if i am mistaken) on my 4 screws, and boy were both of them well off...

 

After the floats were set, I really wanted to paint my wheel wells. Here are the befores...

 

 

 

The most common color that I have seen used is either body color, or some form of black... I found a can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is what followed.

 

 

 

because after all there is no better color that matches ultra-flat deep forest green and satin black like metallic gold... yeah...

 

and then my ebay headlights came in; some shitty bulbs in a glass front housing all for $20 shipped to my door!

 

 

and as much I hate seeing yellow glass on the road... I really think they would look smashing with my color scheme; for now though, I will stick with these.

 

I get my MM 240sx caliper brackets in on the 2nd of march, and i'll post some updates shortly after that!

[4runnerguy]

nice work man keep it up

[Meph]

very interested im the final look with ZG's and BRE lip, post pics when you can

[crazyoctopus]

as long as the weather is clear when the brackets come in it should be on the ground within the week.

 

the car running on the otherhand... I think that I have to rebuild my carbs... the nozzle, i think that is what it is, is stuck. so yeah...

[hoov100]

I have an l28e long block, two e88 heads and a bunch of EFI stuff in thousand palms for free, if you want to pick it up.

Edited February 28, 2010 by hoov100

[crazyoctopus]

awesome. does the l28 run? and when are you free

[hoov100]

supposed to run, but I got it for free and never heard it run. replaced the head gasket and it sat on my engine stand ever since. I put the timing set back together, you just need to put it back to tdc, put the timing cover on and insert the oil pump and dizzy shaft. I'm free tomorrow and monday, pm me and I'll give you my address and number.

[Bahraini240z]

that lady is turning pretty nice... keep us updated and good luck with the project

[crazyoctopus]

thanks to Hoov100, I was able to get some free power with an L28 (n42 & n47) so I will be in the process of transferring what I need from my spare engine onto it.

 

On a build note, my MM 240sx brake calipers came in and to my surprise they match my wheel wells!

 

 

 

Then after a few cigarettes, a trip to the dump, and an engine/tranny dismantle I finally got the rear brakes installed!

 

 

 

while it isnt the prettiest of brake connections it will work. in order for it to work I had to grind off the tab that aligns the stock banjo.

 

Tomorrow I will get them bled, and then the first shots of the car on the ground with the 15x10s. Then I play the waiting game, probably till thursday, when my carburetor kit comes in and hopefully get the L24 running while I have fun with the L28.

[iBang]

Cool build. That picture of the BRE front lip finally clued me in to what the old fiberglass piece was that's been in my car since I bought it. Awesome to find that you own aftermarket parts you don't know about.

[crazyoctopus]

So now for the next bit of building...

 

After the brakes were bled it came time for me to intall the e-brake cables onto the brakes themselves. now while Modern Motorsport sells a bracket with cleavis bolts and cotter pins for $30, I knew that I would be able to get the job done for significantly cheaper. And I was able to do just that, total cost = $0

 

here is where the e-brakes lines sit in comparison to the caliper

 

 

started with the idea of using a bracket that came off of the drum brakes, but it turned out that the holes were too close together and I dont have the right tools to make the holes longer. So then I looked around for what I had, and then found some Plumbers Tape.

 

 

folded it twice and cut.

 

 

and sure enough the spacing for the larger hole was the perfect distance between the e-brake line and the caliper bracket.

 

just to show you the actual thickness of the bracket, here is it compared to the modified bracket that I was going to use.

 

 

here is the test install, I say test because these bolts will be replaced with some clevis bolts and cotter pins when I head to the hardware store tomorrow; which will bring the total cost to about $5usd

 

 

Oh and to get the e-brake line to stay in the 240sx e-brake bracket I swaped the brackets on the calipers so that they would have a near perfect angle to the caliper itself, and then used two 7/16" spring washers and an extra brake line holder thing. and by the way, that line is not moving anytime soon.

 

In order to get the e-brake lines to have less slack, and significantly less rubbage on the drive-axle, I crossed the lines above the differential and viola! With some slight change of location to the sping that holds them up and out of the way the stock e-brake lines are now in the perfect length. I will add a clip here and there to remove all of the rub tomorrow.

 

[crazyoctopus]

I finally got the car on the ground, but unfortunately the engine dosen't run... I think it has something to do with the distributor, because I am getting fuel, and the multimeter showed power to where it needed to go. Anyways, here are the initial shots!

 

note-car will be lowered about 4" all around when it come suspension time, and the passenger side turn signal is missing because it cracked and I need to replace it.

 

 

minor note on the design; this is the first real non-cg/animated Datsun 240z to be photographed having both a BRE front lip AND ZG flares. I have searched through all of the 240z photos on google, and about 100 pages on flickr. If you know of one, please let me know

 

I hope you like the rest of the photos can be found here

[19762802+2]

I love the Diamond racing wheels, how much did they cost you? They look awesome if I end up buying them I will probably get 16x10 with the same offset as yours.