Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Managed to spend most of another day in the garage, though, I only maybe had 3 actual hours of work into it.

I had the nuts on the front hubs a bit too tight, when I got back from Brainerd yesterday they were hot. So today, I pulled them apart, re-packed the wheel bearings and put it back together.

I replaced the distributor<-> intake manifold gasket that was leaking. The nut that holds the clamp wasn't very tight again(I tightened it once before) so I added a lock washer. Happily, it fired right back up after having the distributor out and back in. I guess the pointers I made for where the housing/rotor needed to sit were good.

I did not yet go for a drive to see if it's better. That requires a first stop at the car wash to spray everything clean first anyway.

I figured I would replace the spark plugs while I was at it, since I had never pulled them nor had any idea when they were from. Now this part was interesting.

The casting marks and numbers on the block are easy enough to see and read. The block itself is from 1979 and I assumed the heads were as well. On a reference chart, the block was in a "passenger car".

Interestingly, the plugs that were in it, physically do not fit anything that came from GM in 1979. They do not have a tapered seat and instead use a washer to seal.

From what I've found looking, GM switched to using heads with a tapered seat in 1971.

Maybe the motor is more than I thought. Makes me wonder what cam/lifters/springs etc are actually in it. Or if the shortblock is even OEM. I was told it has a cam and idles like it. Also the 70's era Edelbrock intake manifold.

Anyway, all 8 plugs looked like the should. With the exception of half the insulators on all of them had black spraypaint from whenever the block was painted to get put in the car.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

New thing that's probably happening.

The OEM springs are tired, and a really low spring rate. According to the factory service manual, they're <90lb/in, when new.

The difference in weight of the V8 swap+auto and my big ass puts me right about at the limit for capacity anyway.

The solution without coilovers:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mo...FQUMaQodVxEO6Q

$35/pair.

Those are for... a chevette.

These are ~180lb/in as the come and end up ~250lb/in when cut to the proper height. From what others have said, they work well with the KYB shock inserts I put in there recently.

The backs will still be likely coilovers, mostly for the smaller coil diameter to clear big tires. A 28" tall 275 radial might fit without flares, and a 26" tall 275 will fit(it's already been done by a guy running the rear setup I'm going to change to) without them.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

It turns out the brake deal isn't 100% as easy.

This is due to the weirdness of the 260z, as it's basically a mix between 240z and 280z depending on the part of the car and if it was early or late in the production run.

Anyway. The issue is that the spacer between the rotor and hub isn't a simple .500" think one like it otherwise might be. The "right" one ends up being .345" or so. Now, I can probably get this made how I would need it(for free, but, on someone's spare time), or buy a set for $120.

OR, and what I'll probably do.

This place just sells all of the stuff as a bolt-in kit. Complete with hardware, SS brake lines, and brake pads.

http://www.silverminemotors.com/dats...ke-kit-stage-4

The cost of a complete bolt in kit is ~$80-$100 more than you can get the parts for once shipping, sales tax, and core fees are figured in. If I go that route, I will ask if I can get rotors that are not slotted or drilled.

I would probably hop on that right now, if those brakes fit inside the stock 14" wheels I have right now, which they don't.

I still need to find a set of wheels I like that I can buy in both 5x4.5 and 4x4.5 (which is 114.3mm). The rear will be a 15 because drag radial sidewall. The front will be either 15 or 16.

I should be placing the order for the rear end parts in the next week. The newest batch of them has been produced and is available.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

It's awesome to see this thing at the cookout.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Another change.

I sat in the car with a helmet on, and my head was very close/touching the inside of the car.

The one of the previous owners raised the seats up with some kind of janky spacers, and I had left it because I still fit.

Well, yesterday I took them out which lowered the seat about an inch and gives me much more room.

Old:
http://i.imgur.com/5s0XsU4.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/cOKiW0R.jpg?1

Stuff taken out:

http://i.imgur.com/cq9hpRE.jpg?1

How the seat sits now:
http://i.imgur.com/rFM8io0.jpg?1

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

I cant swing a turbo setup this winter, but, I think odds are high it will at least have 4.8/5.3 by spring.

A 5.3 with a cheap stock takeoff cam(from an actual LS motor) should make 300 something at the wheels through the auto, which I'm sure is a lot more than it makes now.

I need to get out somewhere to have it weighed and dynod in it's current state to see what the winter's changes bring.

Testing of stock LS cams in the 5.3 truck motor:

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/...st-comparison/

In theory, it doesn't take much to make it a quick car since it's light.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Pretty awesome read.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Well, pretend progress.

I have all the parts for the rear end, rear suspension, rear brakes, front brakes, new 1" master cylinder and a proportioning valve.

Custom parts for the rear swap:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps1yxlvytu.jpg

Most of the store-bought parts:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psvwuxdppk.jpg

I'm done with school for 3 weeks so I thought I would spend my first day off getting things prepped to actually swap the rear.

I went through the motions, which turned out to be a COMPLETE FUCKING WASTE OF TIME. More on that later.

F150 axles, these need to be cut apart to disassemble the outer CV, which is used along with the new 930 axle shaft and a 930CV as the inner joint.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pspokyxozj.jpg

The shaft needs to be cut off so you can spin the star far enough for the ball bearings to come out so that you can take it apart:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psa9nvljn2.jpg

Good thing a pipe vise is in the garage, it made this part fairly easy:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pscnxyrwhe.jpg

I spun the axle around the other way before I actually cut it, this just made for a better picture:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pslpfbtvlh.jpg

Done with a cutoff wheel, care taken to not ding the CV joint itself:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psrfzpzatc.jpg

Now you can spin the star far enough to get the balls out, which means you can get the whole thing apart:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psbzyzrx4p.jpg

Star and balls:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psfwa6gpdb.jpg

CV Joint separated and cleaned, shaft still needs to be pressed out of the star:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psoqpx3eia.jpg

Outer stub fits into the Dodge Intrepid hub like it should:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psczoouqnw.jpg

New 930 shaft in what will be the inboard 930 CV joint:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps50x5hx9e.jpg

Everything was good until this point. Until I had re-assembled the CV joint and went to slide the 930 axle in.

OH RIGHT THEY DON'T FUCKING FIT:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pssdlkj4s5.jpg

Despite the F150 axles being for the correct year truck, and correct model, these ones are different internally than how Ford designed them. The Ford design uses less/bigger splines than the shit I bought.

So I wasted $150 and 5 hours today on this. Tomorrow I'm going to try and see if I can source some re-man Ford shafts from an autoparts store. Otherwise I can order ones I now know will work with the 930 shafts from summit and have them on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

That's super shitty man...

Unfortunately that's not something you can check before getting them apart, because a worry I'd have about parts store remans is whether or not it's a reman OE or a reman of a shaft like you purchased; an OE replacement. You never know how many cycles this shit goes through. :(

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

I still have your engine stand when you're ready for that guy let me know, i can drop it off. I'll be going home for christmas this week I believe, but anytime after that

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Whenever works out for you. I'm done with school until until the first week of Jan.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

I picked up the correct axles today from O'Reilly

The wrong axles had a blind clip that basically was sheared off by the 40ton(since that's what I had access to) press I used to get it apart.

The correct ones have a spring clip you can compress with a couple of thin screwdrivers. While I did that I had my dad whack it with a hammer and bronze drift and it popped right apart.

The clip:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pszg9s8kgq.jpg

Re-man'd axles:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psw5mebtfa.jpg

Now for a side by side of all the parts, aside from the housings being obviously different on the outside, the axles, ball bearings, cage, star I had to measure with a micrometer to tell apart.

BBs different by ~0.05", cage by ~0.10" etc. The re-man'd parts are bigger.

Correct:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps3ojuymiy.jpg

Wrong:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psf1fiszot.jpg

Correct on left vs wrong on right:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pspl10xyjt.jpg

And the part that screwed me, correct splines on the left vs the wrong ones:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psbjuu4ylh.jpg

Anyway, that left me here ready for assembly tomorrow:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pswndsyti7.jpg

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Teardown.

There is surprisingly few fasteners that hold everything for the rear end together.

It all came apart without needing to be clever, to my amazement. Presumably the last time all this came apart is when the car was first assembled in Japan.

Old stuff, it turned out I didn't need to take the drum off, but, it made for a better before/after picture anyway:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pskbxrzj7c.jpg

Brake line on both sides, I did have to use a vice grip on the Driver's side as even with a proper flare fitting wrench it rounded off:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psi26efzbg.jpg

Parking brake cable. The car will no longer have a parking brake, which is sort of unfortunate, but, it will always be an auto anyway:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psylmibsjr.jpg

Exhaust came out partially by sawzall. Whether I get to an LS swap this winter or not, the exhaust was going to be changed either way. The quality of what was in there is a bit lacking(to put it lightly):

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psvlcnaqlf.jpg

Yes, that is RTV and some of the most booger'd welds I've seen.
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psh0zx59wf.jpg

At this point I had two jacks holding up the subframe+diff.

One of these on either side holds the mustache bar/diff up into the car at the rear:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psy6us4s2q.jpg

These two bolts on either side hold what I will call the rear of the sub-frame up into the car:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psjli5nwjp.jpg

These on both sides hold the front of the subframe/front diff mount:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psviojnswi.jpg

Now the only thing still attached to the car are the struts. I used some 4' zipties to hold the struts to the control arms so that they wouldn't flop out when they dropped free of the car;

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psldyfyncw.jpg

Out of the car it came:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psflpjitok.jpg

I honestly expected it to be a hassle to get the driveshaft off of the diff, so I just let it drop out of the trans onto a cardboard box. I need to get a new driveshaft made somewhere anyway.

There was 4 more bolts that secured the control arms to the rear part of the subframe that I forgot to take pictures of. The control arms, rear of the subframe, and strut tops are the only pieces re-used.

The control arms are held to the upright with a big pin. This pin is notoriously difficult to remove as it is not greased and pinned to not move in the upright, so it seizes together. I probably could have got it free, but, since I'm not reusing the upright nor the pins I just cut them apart with a porta-band.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psiwx8ctq5.jpg

The strut tops need to be slightly modified. OEM they're made to key onto the top of the damper cartridge and the hole needs to be made round for the Koni ones:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psyjuu8h8d.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pst3vd3jgn.jpg

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Assembly.

All the parts (minus brakes) going into the car:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pstegkg1ri.jpg

The first thing I did was assemble my new shocks. Koni adjustable shocks and 250lb/in springs. The strut tubes are part of the kit and custom made to work with everything else in the swap.

This little spacer goes inside the tube, so the inside is the correct length for the Koni damper. It's contoured to matched the shape at the bottom of the Koni:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pssrcwclhi.jpg

Everything else is simple to assembly and I forgot pictures. The lower spring perch is adjustable for ride height. The tube is filled with a small amount of oil, the logic behind it is so the cartridge can better transfer heat to the tube itself. It also stops the cartridge from corroding itself into the tube.

The tops are two of the 5 pieces re-used with this swap.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pshttwhvvb.jpg

Control arms ready to assemble:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psdjh8usp1.jpg

In goes the new subframe dropdown and mustache bar. While the old mustache bar was very much a leaf spring, this one is solid aluminum and not made to give a whole lot.

This is where I started to be really amazed by the kit. Parts are very close, but, don't touch.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pst2w78mmo.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps7yufwoyf.jpg

Now, I could have fought with the driver's side bolt for the diff, but, I chose not to and just drilled a hole in the spare tire will that I'll get a plug for. Eventually(maybe even this winter) I'm putting a fuel cell in the car so all that sheet metal will be cut out anyway.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps8tyzmlid.jpg

Next to prep the diff I replaced the pinion and axle seals. I know the pinion seal was bad and I realized it would be dumb to not replace the axles seals as well while I had it out of the car:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psaelhx8cg.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psvylrhvzj.jpg

I forgot to take a picture of putting in the front diff mount. I had to grind down some spot welds and knock off a tab that was used as an exhaust hanger. This is apparently only present here on the 260z and not the 240z or 280z.

I had help wrestling the much bigger Ford 8.8" into the car. A transmission jack(which I don't have) would have made this much, much easier.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psrmux8c2e.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pselntvyjf.jpg

The factory rear part of the subframe is re-used which holds the rear of the control arms. I had to massage it some with a hammer so it would clear the drain plug on the diff. But, only by 1/4" or so. I could have assembled as-is, but, didn't want it to touch.

Everything from here-on was so easy and quick I forgot to take pictures. After the diff was in, I only had an hour and a half into putting everything else back together.

New upright/axles:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps1psc7zmi.jpg

New struts and brakes:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psd4eadwx5.jpg

Stainless brake lines now run from the hardline to the caliper.

And that was that, I threw on a pair of old DSM spares(since the rear bolt pattern is now 5x114.3) I got for cheap from Brownman so I could set the car back on the ground and push it back to the side of the garage on the car dollies.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

I still have a new 1" Master Cylinder, proportioning valve, and front brakes sitting around to go in. I can't do the front brakes until I get wheels.

They're for another day, though.

The new front calipers/disks are pretty big and OEM from a 90's 4-runner.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...pshzusqoov.jpg

Next project is probably going to be pulling the dash to clean up the wiring/add relays and make better mounts for the speedo/tach along with rig something up for the turn signal/high beam indicator lights.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Dude this thing was sweet before and it gets better all the time! Awesome!

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

Painless has $100 mail in rebates on a lot of their wiring kits.

And Vatozone(who is an authorized retailer) has a 20% off deal right now.

So last night I impulse bought the 18 circuit universal kit, and after the rebate will be $190 or so.

Which I'm willing to pay vs piecing together all the needed stuff from digikey or something.

There's even a couple of threads on Hybridz on how to hook the painless stuff up to the OEM switches and such.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

That's an awesome deal!

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

That's an awesome rearend upgrade! It's cool to see companies are making swap kits for this platform! There's still tIme for a ls swap this winter. I have a great turbo (gt42 with a pte billet cea 76mm compressor wheel) for that setup going on the market very soon.

Re: My "new" car/project.
 

It's not even a company that makes the swap. It was dreamed up by an engineering student from Arkansas. He produced 25 of the kits with help from people he knows who work in a fab shop/people from his Formula Offroad team.

I might get to the 4.8 swap, but, can't probably swing turboing it. The cost jumps quite a bit that way as all the turbo parts, fuel system, different trans, etc adds up.

I kind of like the idea of having the summer of it being NA to get to know the car better with all the changes first.