Fairlady - Rear suspension upgrade started.

I started doing some work on the rear suspension, but it seems like I took one step forward and two steps backwards after what happened with one of my stub axles.

Here is a comparison of the new and old springs.

I am glad I decided to go ahead and replace the shocks. They were leaking pretty bad. I can push in the piston by hand and it does not even try to return..so they are trash.

While I have everything apart I am also replacing the wheel bearings. This involves taking out the stub axles, something I have never done before. To remove the lock nut on the 240z you have to grind away the nut where it is pressed into the stub axle. The first side I did worked perfect without any trouble at all. On the second side I didn't grind enough metal away and ended up snapping the end of the stub axle off at the threads. I did not expect the metal to be that soft. Oh well..another expensive lesson learned the hard way.

Here is a before pic so you can get an idea of what has to be grinded away to remove the lock nut.

After - ouch.

Now I need to find a replacement stub axle. I think I may just use one from my other 240Z since they will be upgraded to the stronger 280Z or modern motorsports stub axles anyway.

Fairlady - Suspension and Brake parts.

I have been collecting parts since July and finally have almost everything I need to finish the suspension and brakes on the Fairlady.


Tokico HP Performance Suspension Kit (non-adjustable).

Silver Mine Motors Front Big Brake Kit (stage 4) - Based on Toyota 4x4 brakes.

Silver Mine Motors Rear Big Brake Kit (stage 4) - Based on Mustang GT rear brakes. I chose this kit because it is one of the few rear disk upgrades for the s30 that keeps the parking brake.

I also have a 280zx 15/16 Master Cylinder too but I didn't take a pic.

When I ordered the brakes I was not sure if they would fit my 15" 280zx wheels but I just checked and the rear brakes do not fit. Looks like it is time to start shopping for a set of wheels. I will probably order a set of 16x7 konig rewind wheels (watanabe knockoffs). I would really like to get a set of real watanabe wheels or volk te37v but I think I am better off putting that money towards getting the Fairlady back on the road so I can continue my LS1 swap. I can always upgrade the wheels later.

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. 

Fairlady - Diff and Rear Suspension removed.

Me and a buddy dropped the rear suspension and diff in the Fairlady. The job went better than I expected thanks to this post from dirtys30.blogspot.com. We were able to get the rear end dropped in just over an hour. Not bad for the first time I have done anything with the rear suspension on a Z. I think I got lucky because none of the bolts were siezed tight with rust. It was actually scary how loose some of the bolts in the front diff mounts were. There is no telling how old the gear oil is so I am not looking forward to cracking open the diff cover.

I have ordered an energy suspension master bushing kit and stainless brake braided soft lines for the brakes.

I noticed that the right side brake drum was seized which explains why the car was so hard to push when we loaded it onto the trailer the day I picked it up.

Before:

After:

 

Fairlady - More progress on the L28 motor.

It's getting closer!

I am using an LD-28 water pump. The impeller on the LD-28 pump is larger so it does require some small modification to the front cover to make it fit but it was pretty simple. The Nissan part number is: 21010-17SY7.
More info here if anyone is interested: HybridZ link

Comparison:

You need to trim the a little from the front cover. The gasket makes a good reference.

ARP head studs installed:

Head torqued down and cam oiler installed:

Timing chain installed:

Front cover installed:

 

Right now I am waiting on some parts that I forgot to order and a few things that I decided to go ahead and upgrade while I have everything apart.

I dropped the gas tank tonight to clean it out and it was worse than I expected. The gas had to be at least 5 years old (judging by when the car was last registered) and had turned red. The tank will probably need to be boiled, it looked like the inside was coated with rust and I was afraid it was ruined but I sprayed the inside with a water hose and the rust washed away and there was nice bare metal underneath. Hopefully the tank won't cause any headaches.

Fairlady - L28 re-assembly started.

L28 block honed:

Bottom end assembled using ARP bolts and studs:

 

Fairlady - L28 primed and painted.

Primed and painted the L28 block. Now I can start the re-assembly on the bottom-end.

Primed:

Painted:

Fairlady - L28 rebuild for Fairlady Z.

Got my pistons back from the machine shop. I also got a set of ARP bolts and studs for the entire motor.

Fairlady - L28 going in the Fairlady

Since I have had trouble finding the pistons for the L20a rebuild I am going to use one of my spare L28 motors. I am going to use my built up E31 head and dished pistons to drop the CR down low enough to use pump gas since I want to keep this car streetable. The head has an MSA stage IV cam (290/290 duration .495 lift) so it should be fun when I get the mikuni's fixed up.

The L28 block I am going to use:

I almost have everything I am going to need for the motor. I bought the Koyo radiator from MVP motorsports last year for the yellow Z, but then I decided to tear that car down to the chassis and never installed it. Might as well put it to use in the Fairlady. The water pump is actually from a LD28 Nissan Diesel motor. It has a larger impeller and can be installed on an L28 with very little modification to the front cover. The oil pump is for an L28ET. Pistons are .50 oversized with dished top to drop the CR down a little.

New heater hoses from Nissan:

This is probably the best upgrade you can do for an old Z. I always hated how dim the headlights were on my 240Z so I never drove it anywhere at night. These harnesses will connect into the stock harness without any cutting. It adds relays to the high load circuits such as the headlights and running lights. The 105 amp H.O. alternator is from Z Specialties and is internally regulated. It is a direct replacement without modifying any of the existing wiring, you just need disconnect the external voltage regulator. I got the headlight housings from John at h4lights.com. The housings have modern H4 bulbs to replace the useless sealed beam lights.

Innovate MTX-L wideband: