seattlejester's 1971 240Z

[seattlejester]

Oh I plan to. I am waiting until I can make an under tray before I paint it so I can minimizes the flex. Still looking for a bumper and a grill of some sort to finish it out so putting off body work until all the aesthetic pieces are in order.

 

mmmm VQ, I wish I would have waited, saw a vq with trans going for sale last month or so, but I have to admit, the boost is real nice.

 

Bought a bunch of wiring, connectors, and some really killer heat shrink from my local electronics store (not radio shack), and wired in the Leash electronics fuse/relay box. Took maybe an hour and the car starts and doesn't stumble at all. I am tempted to go over every single one of my connections now, but I think I will open that can of worms later.

 

Turns out my turn signal mod had a flaw where the coiled cable wrapped itself between the hub boss and the column and severed a wire and my horn. Will have to take the column apart again to figure out how to solve that little problem. 

 

Haven't been able to figure out how to fit a filter onto the turbo quite yet. For the time being I ordered a mesh insert and have an adapter pointed away from the front so hopefully nothing gets in while I am trying to figure that out.

 

Boost controller is sitting in my upgrades box just waiting to be wired in.

 

I am having major connectivity issues with shadow dash, when it works it works great, but it cuts out and doesn't come back on. Kind of risky driving around without any parameters. I have downloaded ms droid which has a hardwire option so I think I may give that a shot, I don't like the gauges as much, but I need some kind of readout.

 

(video)

 

Not getting any blow off valve noise, so either a boost leak or a really crummy blow off valve. Will have to chase that down as well.

 

Currently waiting on funds for an exhaust, and waiting on some motivation to fix the turn signal/brake light. Currently in the middle of a move so motivation/strength is lacking.

[Snowman1771]

Wiring of the turn signal switches, Now that is a special kind of Hell. Who thought it was a good idea to run everything through the effing hazard switch including the brake lights!?!?! I just finished rewiring my entire tail light panel, tempted to just rewire damn near everything.

 

For a grill you could do what I did and go Fairlady style,

I made it for about 50 bucks and run no bumper.

 

Good luck with the move.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Snowman1771

[seattlejester]

Definitely considering a removable hub down the road, not really a necessity but if I add door bars again it will really be required to get in and out of the car. Plus in all honesty it is a small fantasy of mine.

 

Managed to rewire up the steering wheel, used a much thicker heavier duty cable with 18gauge wires and used the the old cable and twisted it into one to run just the horn.

 

Sorry for the bad pictures, but I think the idea is pretty apparent, please don't mind the wiring mess, I had to pull all my wires out to get to my megasquirt and wire in the new fuse box, it cleans up really nice when it is put away.

Ignition on

Left turn blinking

 

The wiring was kind of a whole fun ordeal. Given how the stock switch is wired (turn signals are actually part of the braking circuit) had to incorporate some diodes to regulate the flow. At some point I wanted to add a quick disconnect cable and spent an hour or so soldering all that together when I realized I could just get a hook and hang it as the coiled cable would stretch a good 6-7 feet. All in all I think it turned out great, I just want to change out the old flashing units and I believe I will be golden as right now they click very slowly. 

 

The new sensor came in, trying to figure out the best way to mount it. Will have to find some space at a friend's to do most of the work and tack in the piece in my storage locker and finish elsewhere. 

 

Definitely finding a pool of oil under the car, I replaced the valve cover gasket and grommets which seems to have taken care of the dangerous oil onto exhaust problem, my thought is that my oil relocation kit is leaking. The lines are never covered in oil, but the relocation bracket always seems to have a bit of oil on top of it and that is sitting on the chassis rail. I've read that the casting is not that great so will have to take a look at that when I get the car to the exhaust shop.

 

To finish it off, picture of the engine bay

 

I have the cable wrap for the wires, just have to install once everything is finalized, and would like to try and get my hands on a 7mge valve cover so I don't have the silly studs sticking out.

 

Almost there .

Edited July 21, 2014 by seattlejester

[seattlejester]

So made some progress today. The newer version of the hall effect sensor came in. The first iteration I made was just a temporary solution. It really lost a lot of integrity when the wheel kinked and hit it and bent the thin metal. At the time, time was a concern so I just added some reinforcements and moved on.

 

This time I really wanted to make a decent mount. I went over to a friends place who let me use his space to make up some pieces I needed. Mocked up the piece, tacked it in place, then made sure the wheel had enough clearance and put a brace and a weld on it. 

Please excuse the welds, I was working in a small storage locker without a real power supply, I was stealing power from a light socket and it was all just fiddly. Basically speed to high, amperage too low, and at first the gas wasn't on. If there ever is a Mark III it will truly be a piece of work I promise .

 

I had not expected to get so far so I did not bring my laptop, but I wanted to see if the car would catch and the car ran. It was missing a bit which was slightly perturbing, but now that I think about it I did move the sensor quite a bit. The ECU will have to be retold how many teeth btdc the actual sensor is at. Once that is determined hopefully I can break the 4k limit I have been experiencing, and put it to the local exhaust shop for a once over and some exhaust work.

[seattlejester]

So finally got the car revving past 4k, I threw in the towel and called a local tuner. We went through all of my settings, played around with my pots, and tried some noise elimination algorithms to no avail. Turned out it was just the sensor being too far away from the wheel. A little twist here and a slot there and bam, revs right up to 7k. 

 

Unfortunately, the engine is slightly apart again.

 

A pet peeve of mine is a leaking engine, I can't explain how much that bothers me, I don't know why but it really does. The oil level was not dropping noticeably, but after every start there would be a small puddle afterwards. I finally had some time to track it down and found it to be the turbo drain pipe. There really does need to be a special place reserved in hell for the engineer who decided to run a stiff pipe at a 90* angle to studs on the block, and also studs to the turbo. After a couple hours, I decided that the best course of action would be complete removal of the exhaust side as the turbo refused to separate from the manifold. Hopefully I don't strip out any more of the exhaust studs as this motor is prone to do. I replaced the questionable ones with helicoil's but memory says that a few were not replaced as they seemed ok...so hopefully no problems.

 

New gasket set ordered to replace the leaking gasket, will definitely RTV it as well as machine the mating surface to ensure a good fit.

 

A friend I welded a muffler for offered to let me use his driveway, so I ordered up some pipes and mandrel bends and v-bands. Pretty excited to get my welder out again. Only problem is that my transmission being much larger, and the associated mount seems to run a bit too close to the tunnel, and I do not plan on having the exhaust hang low at all, so I may either need to bash the tunnel in a little bit, or perhaps play around with oval piping to pass through the thinner portion.

 

The only other few things to address include the clicking noise coming from either the transmission or the rear of the car, definitely RPM based, but only during loaded driving. Something is clicking against the drive shaft/wheel/half shaft. 

 

And a slight ring of moisture around my hydraulic brake is something I have been keeping my eye on, new bolt and washers ordered, but have not noticed a dip in fluid and the brakes feel solid, so not sure if I want to go through all the trouble of bleeding the setup, will have to see.

Edited August 25, 2014 by seattlejester

[seattlejester]

Clinking noise has been isolated to the forward portion of the transmission, also noted that even with the clutch fully depressed the car can grind shifting into 1st after a bit of a drive, on start up no problems. I bought a new datsun clutch master and new fluid to replace and flush, if that does not fix the problem I fear it does not bode well possibly syncro's may be going. I think the clinking is somehow one of the steps was executed incorrectly in installing the clutch and flywheel given that this transmission has a hub instead of a bearing with several washers and springs, it is not unheard of for a step to have been executed incorrectly. The clutch was not new, so I will have an extensive list of procedures, new hardware, and a replacement flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch ready to go for a small overhaul, possibly maybe look into a transmission rebuild to put all thoughts at ease.

 

Exhaust has been welded, big thanks to Timz for pictures to help with my routing! Unfortunately I ran out of time at my friend's house so I handed the keys to the local muffler shop. 

 

I mentioned on the side if they could take a look at the transmission mount, as I really did a piss poor job there, just kind of made it stick to be honest. Turns out the local muffler shop also does some pretty substantial fab work on the side, so they said they would make a new mount and reinforce the transmission tunnel mount as well as add the hanger I did not have time to add as they can fit time in over the next two weeks.

 

Good news is the car will be away for a while so it will give me a chance to clean up my storage locker a bit and maybe request them to take care of other small little things while the car is up in the air, bad news is my wallet is going to take quite the hit.

 

I did manage to get shadow dash up and running with the full exhaust and the rev limit fix, I am seeing a full 7psi before my very reserved up shift, I find it hard to fathom how people drive these cars with more than 300hp, at 230, I already have a grin ear to ear!

Edited September 9, 2014 by seattlejester

[seattlejester]

Picked up the car this weekend.

 

New knocking noise at low speed, and trans seems loose (shifter quite visibly moves), shop made a new mount, but I suspect a loose or missing bolt maybe, will have to investigate.

 

After reading a bit online, people have said that when faced with similar problems redline MT90 was the solution. Something to do with the fact that the lower weight of the 75-90 at operating temps does not allow it to cling to the gears in the transmission making it grind. Also found suggestions to shift into 5th, then reverse. Will hopefully be able to get the car up in the next few days to investigate the transmission mount and add the new fluid.

 

Newer racing harnesses acquired. Schroth 4 point ASM Profi II I believe. Should make getting buckled up a bit of an easier affair. If the transmission turns out to be ok (still quite suspect), will start on coilovers and seats.

 

Once the bigger ticket items are addressed will move to getting everything squared away:

Steering wheel wiring could be a little neater

Megasquirt and Fusebox need a more permanent mounting solution

Oil Re-locator needs to be mounted better then self tapping screws (maybe studs and nuts)

Rear banjo fitting on hydro brake still needs replacement

Some kind of removable module for tablet powered dash

Shift boot

Mounting heater and fans

Figuring out front grill and bumper

 

Still need the body work and to hang the new to me doors, but for now it's getting down to the short list. Only thing left to do is plan the next swap just kidding....I think

[Nite_Grind]

Damn good stuff. Every thread I see someone taking the time out to weld and build, makes me want to hope back in the seat and expand on what stick welding knowledge I had, LOL. Keep up the good work.

[seattlejester]

Welding is really fun, especially if you can get pretty consistently good at it. We started with a 4 foot pipe and 1 u-bend and a few hours later we had an exhaust, friend's dad popped out to the garage and quite literally said "holy shit" which was about a nice a complement as I could hope to expect.

 

I believe new knocking sound is the exhaust hitting the chassis again. The exhaust shop cut up my exhaust to fit the v-band and their mount and in the process I think they moved one of the bends a bit too close to the chassis. Will need a visit from the hammer fairy I think.

 

Local speed shop is having a sale right now on sparco seats, and I am hard pressed to prevent myself from buying a couple R100s to go along with me new to my schroth harnesses. Either that or I can start saving for coil overs. Decisions decisions.

Edited October 10, 2014 by seattlejester

[seattlejester]

Wanted to take the down pipe off to wrap so I figured I would put up some exhaust related things.

 

Downpipe

 

Wrapped

 

Exhaust

 

Exit location

 

Believe it or not, the exhaust is actually mounted in the shot above.

 

The DEI titanium wrap was real easy to use, followed their video on youtube and had it wrapped in a couple minutes very securely.

 

The exhaust shop did a great job with tucking the exhaust tip in the back. It does rattle a bit as it pretty much touches the chassis where the tip is, but it is completely stealthy, the entire exhaust sits above the frame rail to boot even with the massive R154 transmission sharing the same space. Even idling, there's no hint of exhaust fumes.

 

Exhaust vid

 

Completely different from previous engine and exhaust

 

Kind of makes me miss the old engine.

Edited October 13, 2014 by seattlejester

[Boog]

Awesome progress man! I've enjoyed following it and I can't wait to actually meet up with you to see it. I personally would recommend putting your budget towards coilovers next, they really make these cars come alive in the twisties. Nothing like taking the 520 E on-ramp out of Kirkland before the 405 turnoff and not feeling like the whole car is going to lose control, I feel perfectly fine taking it at 60!

[seattlejester]

Hmm which coil overs are you running? 

 

We'll have to see, coil overs are a lot of money, and while convenient for me, it would also be quite a bit to spend. 

 

Like my suspension is annoying, but still functional and safe, while my seats, I'm not sure I would trust all that much.

[Boog]

Oh well safety is always the top priority. I am running some generic slip-ons from Canada, I can't remember the brand right now but they were CHEAP. They work well though, and didn't require welding. I would recommend the ground control kit, it allows for better travel, ride, and height adjustment, and they are only $430 plus shipping from their website. I am not a good welder at all, but if you are then those are the way to go. 

[seattlejester]

Ok so I need help.

 

I am at a stand still.

 

First off, fixed the clinking noise, it was a bent shield on the tailshaft of the transmission rubbing the driveshaft under load. A little love with a crow bar and screw driver and the annoying clinking noise is gone.

 

Transmission seems to just be vibrating from a worn mount. Planning on ordering new mount along with some parts to make the shifter a little more friendly (shifter relocator, poly shifter bushing, short shifter) as well as a replacement starter motor.

 

So as it turns out I do not need to budget for a full rebuild of the transmission or a clutch swap quite yet.

 

That means I have a bit of money I would like to spend.

 

3 choices I have thus far, each one has merit, and each will be done in time, it is just a matter of what do I do now. I think I can only swing for 1 choice financially, obviously the more expensive option pushing my budget more.

 

Option 1: Replace diff

Info: I have an R180 from a subaru wrx sti. In very good condition, would need to order conversion flanges, bushings for the R180 mustache bar, and studs for the back cover, diff fluid, and rear gasket.

Merit: less noise during turns, easier to turn the steering wheel, probably a bit more predictable or gradual as it lets loose.

Downfall: still running stock half shafts, won't have the welded so much less likely that I will go to the local drift event, power limit of 275ft lb of torque according to posts by johnc

Price ~600$ (adaptor flange, fluid, gasket, bushings, studs)

 

Option 2: Replace seats

Info: I have some cheap ebay seats, would like to get better ones, sparco R100 come to mind. I also purchased some new belts which would necessitate removing the seats anyways would be best to do them at the same time.

Merit: new safer seats, get to run my new easier to put on belts, more bolstering

Downfall: Interior still most likely leaks at the door seals, car is still a work in progress, ruining the seats would be much more costly

Price ~800$ (seats, rails, sliders)

 

Option 3: Coilovers

Info: I have spare struts that can be cut and welded to receive the BC coil over kit. BC coil over kit will be bolt in from the car's perspective so I can re use my front strut brace etc.

Merit: Get away from the poly camber tops which johnc has pointed out can fail, will not have to reseat springs each time the car is unloaded, will make it easier to get off the ground due to anti droop. Will decrease the movement arc of suspension so potentially some gain in having predictable suspension geometry, independent ride height adjustment is a boon as well. Also gives me a chance to replace the rear wheel bearings and put in an inspected axle shaft.

Downfall: I don't have the facility to make or purchase the other adjustable suspension bits (tie rods, LCA's etc) 

Price ~1600$ (coilovers, new bearings, seals)

 

Thoughts appreciated. Really can't decide. As mentioned all will be done eventually just a matter of what I should do now. 

[rturbo 930]

Coilovers gets my vote. And I'm thinking the R180 may not be the right diff for your needs.

[SleeperZ]

Once I lick my Megasquirt problem and get my rear discs on, coilovers are looking real good to me.  I've got track fever for next year.

[seattlejester]

Gosh, coilovers would make my life so much easier when working on the car. And I wouldn't have to worry about the springs popping out during a downhill or up hill turn.

 

Kind of thinking the same way regarding the diff, most likely will not survive a power bump, but I am getting a little tired of the welded diff.

 

Decisions decisions, thanks for your guys' thoughts!

[Nelsonian]

Coilovers gets my vote. And I'm thinking the R180 may not be the right diff for your needs.

^^^ I agree on both  ^^^

[seattlejester]

This is going to be a long one....

 

I have sold the R180. As much as it would have been nice to run with a real LSD, I don't think it would have been very happy at the power levels I would have thrown at it. I have a few more ideas for getting an LSD into the rear, but that will be for another day. A Z-owner from canada stopped by to pick it up.

 

Waiting on some specific updates that affect my application on the coilovers before pulling the trigger on those.

 

Decided to spend some money on solving my shifting problem. After a while the transmission would not like to engage gears. I pulled the shifter to find the shifter bushing was deformed and to my surprise the PO had upgraded the rubber ball socket to a poly socket. I figured I would order a new poly shifter bushing for the deformed one and at the same time decided to spring for a short shifter and relocator. The relocator has skyrocketed in price unfortunately, and at about $270 to move the shifter back 1.125 inches it was a tough pill to swallow . After painstakingly removing the bolts I realized the tailshaft had to come off to install the relocator, so that will go in my "later" pile. The short shifter went in without a hitch, it does take a bit more effort (for fifth I have to brace in my seat and really put some weight to move it over), but the shifts or so mechanical it is amazing. Coupled with the new poly bushing car seems to really enjoy dropping into gear.

 

My first big tip for today, make sure you know where you leave future project parts. I just ordered two more AN fittings as I am not 100% sure where I left the originals I ordered. There goes 30$ down the drain. I now have a shelf cleaned off with the sole purpose of placing future project parts. Make sure you label or at least make a note of where you place "things to be used later."

 

So new AN fittings and a fuel filter is on the way, I've decided I want to remove the ugly trap door setup I have at the moment. Will have to figure out another way to seal the opening to protect from dirt and water once I remove the flap and extension, any suggestions is appreciated.

 

Second big tip, inspect your car.

 

On a trip to a friend's house the car started clicking really loudly on top of the clinking. Turns out the rear brake line was now rubbing on the axle and had eaten through the rubber protective layer over the braided steel. A little adjustment and that is now out of the way, and a future line is on the books to order. 

 

While filling the radiator with antifreeze as we approach freezing weather over here, I noticed something quite alarming.

A group of wires seemed to be quite singed.

As you can see some wires were even exposed. So I cut out the singed portion and an inch more to each side and removed the piece.

Cut new wires to length.

Stripped them.

And using this handy dandy little helper.

Put everything back together.

 

Had to run out to grab a lighter so I'll finish that tomorrow.

 

While I'm at it it seems like it may be a good time to go over the headlight wiring and such. So more updates on that soon.

[seattlejester]

More wiring done, I think if I revisit it two more times (once for length and routing, once more for fancy molex or weatherproof connectors) I'll be happy.

 

For now I think it's a much bigger improvement.

To this

 

Noticed the tie rod boot had ripped, so I ordered a new set of rods, but thought I might as well try out one of the poly boots.

Not sure how I like it, but we'll see how it holds up.

 

Now onto the public opinion poll.

I'm willing to take thoughts on how I should mount my tablet.

 

Options are...

 

HUD, would need to apply a bit of black tint to increase the daytime usage.

 

Speedo/Tach location

Would either just find a way to mount it or for a more permament install would have to cut out the bezel and make a box

 

High mount, next to rear view mirror

 

Center panel, would have to remove my temp, voltage, and time readouts.

 

I'm leaning towards just boxing up the tablet and cutting a square out of the dash where the tach and speedo sit, both the gauges don't work anyway it seems to be the most logical spot. HUD would be nice, but I fear it would be fairly faint during the day, and any person walking by could decide they want a tablet. The other options I haven't really tried. Would love to hear some thoughts on the matter.