In reply to classicJackets (FS) :
Progress is good!
In reply to classicJackets (FS) :
Progress is good!
Front brake lines are done and don't leak. Had to make a little spacer for the new master cylinder out of some spare 3/16" steel. I'm getting the new engine mounts in, old parts repainted and everything ready to shove the engine back in.
Getting this much done over the past year with a toddler and an infant is impressive.
Love this so far!
Slowed down the last few weeks - continuing time with family as priority, got to spend some time with AngryCorvair, and also got a full household of strep.
Massive garage clean out underway and it's making working on everything go so much better.
I ordered fuel injector rebuild kit, and exhaust studs. My plan is to swap on my refinished oil pan, and swap on the intake manifold from the N42 Original to the car. That + thermostat housing swap (if possible) will simplify wiring and any other ugliness that's not needed in the older engine.
Also on order are spacers/bolts to do the Toyota vented rotor/caliper upgrade, since my calipers need replacement anyway!
In reply to classicJackets (FS) :
Do you want my injectors? I might be able to send them up with a michigander tomorrow
Been a few months and a little bit of progress, most of our time has gone to building this shed!
On the Datsun I've been trying to figure out which intake to run, the original to the car or the original to the engine - and also pulling/trying to clean injectors, swapping around thermostat housings/sensors, etc
I figured worst case of assembly takes until it's cold again, I'll go ahead and get the block painted while it's warm enough to do that! One side done, one to go.
Not a huge update, but finished painting the other side of the engine today, and I finished breaking down the injectors yesterday. The 280zx ones had the fuel hose integrated with a metal clamp that was a huge pain to remove!
I'm going to try to bench clean them (carb cleaner + battery) before getting them all put back together.
Injectors bench tested today! Found 6 good, 4 questionable, and left 4 untested.
I also got a coat of paint on the rear sway bar, which I pulled and wire wheeled/primed the other day. I use this gray Rust-Oleum enamel on pretty much everything and it seems super durable.
I'll hopefully get the injectors re-assembled with new parts this week, and then all I need to do is decide which intake to run!
Been continuing to chip away here. I had to pull the distributor to EZ-out another bolt on the head, which meant re-ordering some gaskets. Small mistakes, but fixable. Decided on a path for the thermostat housing as well, and I'm prepping to do a general Re-assemble once everything comes in.
To that point I spent some time cleaning layers of gunk off the intake and removing more EGR stuff (so much soot). Sorry for Instagram pics.
Also today I decided to do the tension rod bushings while engine was out. They were easy to do but I found I needed to order replacement sleeves, don't think I'll be able to clean the old ones up with JB weld. They have the ability to affect alignment, so id rather pay the $13 for these now than eat tires down the road.
I hear Futofab is a GRMer and has affordable adjustable TC rods and LCAs. Will be looking at that option closely when I get to suspension stuff
In reply to birdmayne :
Hadn't heard of them before, good to know! Last night I spent some time scraping gaskets, swapping over the brake booster hose port on the intake, and getting stainless studs/exhaust manifold on! Small, but right direction.
I also am going to leave plain steel for the front and rearmost studs, since they have a tendency to snap off anyway
No pictures but working to get the relevant bushings in the car while engine is out. Tonight I did the steering coupler - definitely a pain to get out. I also think the one that was in the car was delrin or similar, as it was definitely not rubber. Could have been old polyurethane as well, but it's fresh now!
Tomorrow I'll hope to get the Steering rack rubber replaced, maybe swap throttle bodies, and get some more parts ordered
In reply to classicJackets (FS) :
And the elephant gets a little smaller.
Rack and pinion bushings today, and removing the condenser/ac lines that won't be in use (for now!)
Because they were super crusty, I'm respraying the rack/ pinion hold downs. Primer/paint on today, hopefully they can go back on tomorrow with the new urethane bushings.
I had a helper today too.
You're definitely going to be driving yours before I drive mine.
I'll live vicariously through you at that time!
More progress tonight - still slow, but I have parts on hand to keep rolling now. I pulled and reinstalled the Stainless header studs with some antiseize as recommended, and got the right Fuel Injection hose. Installed the Fuel Injectors to the intake and got the fuel lines on the injectors.
I should have everything I need to finish up the fuel rail, and install intake, thermostat, and distributor again.
After that I need to install the oil pan (again) and then it should be good to come off the stand and get flywheel/transmission and go into the car! Simple right??
Some good and some bad on the update today.
Good news: got the rack and pinion bolted back in with new bushings!
Bad news: went to remove stab-bar and thought: hmm - that's pretty flakey. Poked around a little and opened up a hole here. Project for after it runs maybe :)
Without the vertical fender immediately above the stab bar bracket, that's gonna flex. A little at first, then more as it cracks, until it tears out.
It doesn't have to be concours, but it does need to be structurally solid. Grind away as much rust as you can and then scab over with 16ga metal.
In reply to FJ40Jim :
Yeah, not gonna do any driving with it like that. I had hoped to get the engine back in, but feels like welding will be much easier with it out.
Opened up both in front of and behind the wheel center a little more.
Behind:
I did get the fuel rail attached as well. Tricky son of a gun! All new fuel lines though..
Turned full attention to rust repair tonight, and had a marathon (for a working parent) session tonight. I got the 'bottom' section dabbed up as well as a captive nut plate to replace the one that's in there. Tomorrow or this weekend I'll work on the actual vertical panel, but it doesn't look like it should be too bad.
End result first:
Laser to help mark centerline on the current captive nuts
And s snapshot of this fitting fairly nicely:
Yikes - got the section cut off the car today, it is UGLY!
Had to take the inner frame rail as well to get the stab-bar bracket off. I probably should have done this before making the patch panel!
The whole section of rail is really scabby, which shouldnt be surprising. We'll see if I can weld to what's left.
Now that I own a Z I'm a bit surprised how small of a car it really is.
In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :
It really is small. And the parts in it are in turn small, which is nice. Has me thinking about dropping the front subframe to try and catch more of this rail rust while I'm already in here..
These little "While I'm in there" projects tend to snowball on these cars...
But, I highly recommend dropping the subframe, it only takes a few minutes
In reply to birdmayne :
The "while I'm in there's" really do stack up - but I'd like to be able to drive this car hard, and seeing the state of the suspension mounting area on the frame rail makes me wanna do it now.
Especially since it does look like 10 or so bolts to drop it all. I'll get my inside frame rail patched and then see how much to take off on the bottom, maybe..
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