Fairlady - Mustache bar bushing replacement part 2

Continued from part 1. Prepped the mustache bar for paint and masked off the ends.

   

Primed.

I used Rust-Oleum hammered finish spray paint. I think it worked pretty well.

  

Finsihed with paint.

Coat the bushing in the supplied grease before pressing it into the mustache bar. Installing the new bushing was very easy and did not require any special tools.

 Done:

It will proabably be a few weeks before I have any more updates since the suspension parts I ordered are on backorder from Tokico.

Fairlady - Mustache bar bushing replacement part 1

I started working on replacing the bushings in the mustache bar today. I am replacing all the old worn out bushings with Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings using their master kit for the 240z.

Before:

Only remove the inner rubber bushing. The outer shell is reused.

Drill a series of holes around the outside diameter of the old bushing.

I used a screwdriver and mallet to break the bushing away from the mustache bar.

Use a torch to burn away the excess rubber. I used a small propane torch but an acetylene torch would get the job done faster. The heat makes the rubber soft enough to scrape away.
The propane torch removed most of the leftovers, but there are still some small chunks of rubber stuck to the mustache bar.
I used a small wire wheel on my "dremel" tool to get clean up the rest of the leftovers.
Ready for the new bushing.
To be continued...

Fairlady - update

It's been a while since I posted any updates. I haven't done as much as I planned to by now, just been busy with other things. All I have left on the motor is installing the distributer and valve cover so it is basically done. I cracked open the diff and started cleaning up the 39 years of grease from the diff housing. Everything internally in the diff is in really good shape and the magnetic oil plug did not have any metal deposits.

The drum brakes are in decent shape and I would probably be okay keeping them but I went ahead and ordered the disk brake upgrade from silvermine for all four corners. I also have a set of tokico hp shocks (non-adjustable) and springs on the way.

Oil pickup installed:

The oil pan actually turned out to be a real pain. The ARP studs on the rear main cap were taller than the factory bolts and there was an indention pressed into the oil pan that was in the way. A few minutes with a hammer solved that problem.

Fresh set of NGK BPR6ES spark plugs.

Current state of the motor.

Diff housing after some cleaning. Almost ready for paint.

 

 

 

The early JDM Z cars have shorter 3.9:1 gears to make up for the lower displacement of the 2.0 Liter L20a. This may be interesting with the L28.