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My "new" car/project.
I recently bought a really nice 260z, that already has a SBC and automatic. Swap was done sometime in the 90's and apparently saw nearly no miles after it was done. Not enough miles for either of the 2 previous owners to be bothered to get the right combo of drive gears to correct the speedo, for example. When I bought it, the tires were from 1992.
http://i.imgur.com/mu6EyXm.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/S8O9goy.jpg?1 Album: http://imgur.com/a/ic8Bx#tokFrVf The car is really in amazing shape. There's one small spot underneath starting to rust. The hatch, battery tray, tool/spare wells, fenders, hood, are all pristine. It still has what I can only assume is the OEM spare with a date code of 473 which I assume corresponds to 47th week of 73. It also came with the OEM manual, window sticker, radio guide, tool kit, jack and wheel chocks. The electric rear defrost, map light, and motor to raise/lower the antenna work. The light under the hood still works, too. Brake pads/shoes were replaced last year. I actually saw it posted via reddit from craigslist. Car was near Richmond, VA and I have a buddy from the Army that lives in DC so he checked it out for me. I bought a ticket from Minnesota to DC, cash in hand, without ever seeing the car in person myself and planned on driving it home, which I did. Eventually, it needs to be as fast/faster than my last car. But, at the same time, needs to hide what it is as much as possible. http://forums.hybridz.org/public/sty...ault/ph34r.png How it sits now: 350 from 1979. -Originally 170hp. -It has a cam(unknown). -Holley 600. -Accel coil. -Edelbrock Streetmaster intake(apparently these were a 70's thing). -Holley fuel pump. -Electric fans on a thermostat. Super awesome, I got stuck in traffic when it was ~90° and it didn't get hot. TH350 I assume from 1979 with the motor. -Feels like there's a shift kit. Issues as it sits: -Couple of oil leaks to chase down. It appears to be timing cover and oil pan gaskets. Not major, but, it bothers me that it leaks at all. -Speedo quit working in Iowa, it was ~10% off anyway. -In dash tach doesn't work, an old Sun SuperTach is mounted on the dash. -Mystery clunk from the rear, doesn't feel like any of the U-Joints. -Outer bolster on the driver's seat has wear, not quite to the point of tearing, but, it's fairly close.(Yes, this level of nit-picky of things not 100% right with the car) -Turn signal doesn't reliably auto cancel. I'm not sure if it's worth taking things apart(with the risk of damaging something else in the process) to try and get that working correctly, I've already developed the habit of turning them off manually. I have a background in electronics, my concern is over the parts I'd have to remove to get to the switch itself. -Rheostat for the dimmer died. It worked until I started playing with it. -It is geared really short with the TH350 and factory 3.90 rear end. 70mph is 3500 rpm. Things found wrong on the way home: -The fuel pump had a bad gasket internally, and the era of holley pump that was on it came with weep holes for oil when that gasket failed. So, $100 for a fuel pump from O'Riellys and I was good to go. -The other leak was the valve cover gaskets, another $22 from Autozone. -Ate the v-belt, luckily right before an exit on the interstate with services. I think it was $13 from an actual service station, which was about a mile walk into town from the gas station at the interchange. Things already done: -New fuel pump. $100 -New valve cover gaskets. $22 -New Tires. $250(lol) -New V-belt. $13 Things coming soon™ in the next couple of months: Done-Autometer speedo and tach. I'm sort of torn between the at-a-glance of the Phantom Series(which will stand out in the dash with the white face) and the Pro-Comp ones which have a black face. Done-Do something about the lighting of the OEM oil/temp/amp gauges to make it a bit brighter and more even. -Fix remaining oil leaks. -Get it dyno'd to have the timing/carb jetting checked out. Done-Make sure the clunk isn't a u-joint, the whole rear end will be changed out this winter anyway. If it's a bushing it will probably get left for the remainder of summer. -Address the one rust spot. Done-Check wheel bearings. At the very least, repack with grease. Done-Check out the rheostat for dimmer. Either see if it can be repaired, rig something up with a pot, or, use a variable resistor to get to a light level I like and leave it alone. Right now, I just have it bypassed. Done-Ditch the push in breathers on the valve covers for a catch can. Planned changes for this coming winter(2015-16): -New rear suspension/diff/brakes. There is a frankenstein setup on Hybridz, using a ford 8.8, combination of porsche and ford CVs, hubs from an intrepid and some fabbed mounts. It's a bolt-in to stock location setup. -New front suspension/brakes. -Poly bushings for whatever is left. -Wheels/tires. -Flares? I've actually had a few people tell me that the car is just too nice as it is to cut the fenders for flares. Supposedly, you can get a 275 radial to fit in the back without flares with exactly the right offset wheels, brand tire and alignment. Plans for next winter(2016-2017): -Turbo 5.3 It's so widely done, I can gather parts over the summer so there's not such a big hit all at once for cost. -Built TH400 -Cage? Probably worse than people telling me it's too nice to cut the fenders for flares. I don't like the idea of a cage in a street car, but, something would need to be done to keep the chassis straight with the power and a sticky tire. At least I've decided against having it back-halved for a 4-link, right? -NHRA safety stuff. If I'm honest, the car will probably rarely see a track, but, get used quite a lot. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
Very nice!! Super clean too, great find!
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Love those cars.
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Very cool
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I bet that trip home was a blast...great machine!
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Aside from the belt thing, it was.
It's surprisingly comfortable to ride in, and for being a big guy I have lots of room. Instead of interstate the whole way, I took a detour on US highways through West Virginia. It had the bonus of avoiding a ton of construction and a few tolls. It was a beautiful morning to drive through the mountains. Would have been more fun, if I wasn't running the 23 year old tires. The belt thing was sort of exciting. It must have landed on the exhaust and started dumping smoke into the cabin. There was a slight moment of panic until I noticed the amp gauge was negative and temp was climbing. Even doing 3500rpm at 70mph, I still averaged 17mph for the trip home which I was a bit surprised by. I'll probably order new seals for around the hatch, too. It doesn't leak when soaked with a hose, but, they're visibly dried out from age. The inner one was replaced at some point, but, the outer wasn't. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
That thing looks awesome for its age. Glad to see you finally were able to pick one up! I'm excited to see where it goes
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I used to have one of these, I'd like to see what a complete one looks like.
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Very cool. I'd love to have one of these some day. 5.3 turbo will be so fun. I. Agree the car is to clean to cut up. Is there any other way to add rigidity without doing a Cage? Sub frame connectors etc? I had a caged street car and it became a pain in the ass very quickly, and ended up staying in the garage all the time.
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Re: My "new" car/project.
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It involves boxing in some openings, cutting up the floor to run new tube, adding to the front/rear strut mounts then tying them together and tying them to the new stronger rails. But, people who have done that was for <500whp and <275 radial. I can't find much on people who have gone >500whp on a big tire(which in this case is ~275 drag radial or more) without a cage of some sort. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
It's clean, but its already modded. If this car isn't ever going to go completely stock/renovated and sit another thirty years until it would be a collector, then no reason not to cage it or whatever is needed to accomplish the goal.
I'd say do it. The second I saw you wanted to go as fast as the last car, I thought 4 link etc. |
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Awesome! Can't wait to see this thing progress
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Car looked great going down 494 at 1230 today
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You werent stuck in the stopped traffic trying to go south, were you?
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nope went right past you in the dd mirage going to maple grove days
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Ahh, I didn't notice.
I was pretty burnt out after very little sleep then being out on the lake for the morning. |
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Nice! Looks like a clean car and knowing your evo it should turn out pretty pimp
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Looks nice but I'd 4G6x swap that bish haha
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You'll like the 5.3T though. Should be fun
I'm going with an L33 with a baby 70mm in my Malibu |
Re: My "new" car/project.
Looks like a fun project. This is turning into a car board again!
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Ordering stuff tomorrow.
Decided on ProComp gauges with the black face. This. http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...tyler/Dash.jpg Instead of the white ones. http://image.superstreetonline.com/f...erior_view.jpg For now anyway, I'll probably just use a resistor on the wire for the backlight of the two new gauges, so the other stock ones can be left as bright as possible. That's assuming that the new tach/speedo would be overpoweringly bright in comparison. Probably different breathers and a catch can too. I don't like the vented push in breathers, if they saturate, oil drips onto the valve covers from them. If I modify the bracket that holds the vacuum reservoir I can stick a catch can cleanly next to it. There is a capped port in the intake I could run a line to so the can has vacuum pulled on it. On that note, I've no idea why it has a vacuum reserve canister. It's not some big nasty cam and it doesn't seem to bleed down and creep forward when stopped in gear for a long time either. But, it's already there so I'll just leave it. Quote:
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Always wanted to do a LS swap into one of these.
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Those gauges look silver.
I want to see this car. |
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If this had a 2jz, it would decimate all.
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^lol.
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Re: My "new" car/project.
This:
http://i.imgur.com/KQTmi9r.jpg This: http://i.imgur.com/LSxpfLT.jpg and a speedo cable is on the way. |
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I might be interested in white gauges depending on model.
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Got back home from Road America at 5:30 or so.
The Hawk vintage race is something everyone needs to go to, seriously. It was cool as fuck, and hands down the coolest racing event I've ever been to. Had the box from summit with the gauges and another from vatozone with new gas shocks for the front end as one is leaking oil(and probably original like everything else.) I got right to work tonight on the new gauges. http://i.imgur.com/9aakaMR.jpg Just sitting in place. I did get the wiring for the tach and all the lights done, which was actually much simpler than expected. Factory was 2 bulbs per light, and individually wired, so, I just removed those and added the bulbs/pigtails for the autometer ones. Same with the switched IGN ON power for the tach. I still need to make a mounting bracket and run the new speedo cable, which I'll start in the morning. The ratio for the speedo is still a wildcard, as I do not know what combination of drive gears are in the trans, so I can't just do the math. I actually expect it to be farther off than the stock one was. I'm waiting on replacing the shocks until I can get a new set of wheel bearings. It doesn't feel like it needs them, but, if I'm taking the front end apart anyway, I may as while do it while I'm there. I very nearly just ordered coilovers for the front, but, I don't actually want to lower it any, which nearly all of the pre-fabbed ones seem to do. |
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I was thinking about it, and to keep the functionality of the high beam/parking brake/turn signal lights I'm going to mount the bulbs behind the dash and use some of the plastic fiber filament stuff to route the light to the dash around the gauges.
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Gauges got mounted Monday. The speedo sits perfect, but, the tach is slightly off. The brackets I made are adjustable to compensate. But, I'm a big guy and it's a pain in the ass to lay across the rocker and reach up under the dash to get to it.
I've decided it's "good enough" until I feel like getting under there again. I had to order a ratio adapter to correct the speedo. There's not a combination of gears to drive the speedometer to make it correct with the short rear end and little tires. In hind sight, Autometer sells a VSS sensor that works with the TH350/400 transmissions. I should have gone that route with an electronic speedo instead. I bought some different valve cover breathers that have nipples so I can connect them to a catch can. I'll probably start taking the front apart to replace the shocks tomorrow. Probably fix how the tach sits while it's in the garage, too. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
Awesome project, I love these cars.
Curious on the speedo, could you have a magnetic type sensor on a front wheel, and just deliver a Hz reading to the gauge which is calibrated for the tire diameter? I guess at this point it's already done. Maybe the VSS thing you're talking about does the same thing. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
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This: http://www.autometer.com/hall-effect...er-sender.html Would have been the way to go, it goes where the speedo cable connects to the tailshaft and generates the the signal for an electronic gauge. The autometer electronic ones have a calibration button, where you just mark out and drive a 2-mile course and it will self correct to however many pulses/mile it recorded during the trip. I didn't know they were a thing when I decided to buy the gauges, and they don't really show up in google searches. I kept looking for "VSS" and not "Speedometer sender" It certainly would have been the way to go, since I'd never have to fiddle with gears to correct things when wheels/tires/rearend changes happen. I fixed how the tach sits yesterday. Turns out that bracket is much easier to get to than the speedo. Ratio box to correct the speedo shipped today, as did a catch can and some fittings. I'm not sure if I want to pull from the catch can to the air cleaner to get vacuum on the system or not. It will be an easy enough change to make later on. The valve covers must have been overtightened or something in the past(so the mating surface with the heads isn't flat), they do seem to still leak oil even with new gaskets. So, today I'm just going to use gasket maker to seal them up. This winter, I will probably just pull the motor and spend $70 on a complete gasket set and replace them all. Timing cover and oil pan gaskets have very minor leaks. I'm also taking the front apart to put in the new shocks. I can't wait any longer for the driver side one, if I hit a pot hole you can feel that the shock doesn't do it's job. I've tossed around the idea of trying to find a plate N2O kit this winter too. But, clearance could be an issue. I've not done the play dough thing to see how much room I actually have, but, it cannot be much. The 40 year old edelbrock intake manifold is actually a single plane. |
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One of these things is not like the other:
http://i.imgur.com/S98FdAt.jpg?1 The blue one is what I took out, and, it's totally blown. Where it slides into the strut tube was full of the oil that is supposed to be inside the shock. ...the KYB is also a rear. Someone fucked up and sent me the wrong set. I opted for free overnight shipping on a front set. I'll need the rears this winter anyway. Fronts not expected to show up until Monday, since I was too late on the call for today. Originally I was going to order a wheel bearing kit and just replace what was there. When I got things apart I'm glad I didn't, the side I have apart was in great shape with no wear visible of any kind. I cleaned out the bearings and re-packed. Bearings: http://i.imgur.com/vBmSbV4.jpg?1 Spindle: http://i.imgur.com/cUiJv5d.jpg?1 I don't know if these were replaced at some point or not. There is still the tooling marks on the spindle from when it was made, as it is not smooth. Outer Race: http://i.imgur.com/YoMLBST.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/TQUOB69.jpg?1 Nearly everything came apart nicely. One of the two bolts that holds the steering arm to the whole assembly will not budge. Leaving it to sit with some penetrating oil overnight. If that fails it will get a little heat. The brake line fittings took a little coaxing with the proper kind of wrench, but, came loose without too much effort. |
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Got the other side apart this morning. That last bolt did take a little heat and using my torque wrench for leverage. It was set for 100 ft-lbs and never clicked before the bolt broke free.
The cordless impact I have is pretty wimpy, especially as the battery drains. Progress stopped until the shocks arrive. I did crack open the bleeders on both calipers to make sure they would come free for when I flush/bleed the system as it goes back together. Both sides look like this: http://i.imgur.com/K4xoWa3.jpg?1 and a side by side: http://i.imgur.com/pLd9bUj.jpg?1 I find it semi amusing that the front caliper pistons/pads look roughly the size of the rears on an Evo. My 2-month to-do list is coming along nicely. Edit: Mailman just dropped off the ratio adapter for the speedometer, but, I'm already cleaned up and changed out of the grease monkey clothes. I'll just hook it up when I go back to working on the car when the shocks come. |
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I need to go snap a picture of it sitting in the street. I didnt think to take any pictures while I was re-assembling stuff.
Shocks came at about noon and I started working at 1pm or so. I just got back from a test drive and cleaned up the garage. Man, do new shocks completely change the feel of the car. I also added progressive bumpstops for the front that it never had before. Front brake circuit was flushed and is now new fluid, I'll get to the rears. Car has 2 separate reservoirs. The ratio box also came so now it has an accurate speedometer. |
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I saw a cheap catch can on Amazon the other day and ordered it. It does actually have a couple baffles inside. The breathers I got about a week ago are made to hook to an EGR and have media in them that is supposed to separate oil out, too.
There was an old hole from something when it had the L26, so I just had to make that one slightly larger and drill one more. http://i.imgur.com/qpol4vu.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/BqjO8pA.jpg?1 |
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Saw you on 65 in East Bethel yesterday headed south. Looks nice!
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Re: My "new" car/project.
Yeah, I decided yesterday was a nice day to go for a drive to make sure everything was solid after having basically the entire front end apart.
I drove up 47 from Anoka to Malmo, then cut across to 65 and drove home. I realized I probably should have had the rotors turned while I had it apart, they're non-vented disks so there's certainly a few thousandths to spare. But, they are coming off this winter anyway when it gets bigger calipers and vented disks. While on the subject of brakes: These 4 piston calipers from a toyota 4 runner: http://www.autozone.com/brakes-and-t...03_5913_11642/ http://www.autozone.com/brakes-and-t...03_2362_11642/ And these vented rotors from a non-turbo 300zx: http://www.autozone.com/brakes-and-t...8705_172993_0/ Will bolt in place with a spacer made that goes between the hub and rotor. Which is awesome because it's inexpensive and the caliper/rotors are available at any autoparts store. Hawk and other places make performance pads that fit the calipers. It's never going to be a roadrace car so it should be fine. Even if it was, all but one of the guys I talked to at Road America who were there road racing 240/260/280zs ran this setup. I could go simpler and there is a different toyota 4-piston caliper that will bolt right up and use the OEM disks without any other modification. The one other guy at RA I talked to went this way. Wilwood makes a 1" master that will work, with minor modification to the firewall. This needs to get changed because you have to move much more fluid for the 2-psion calipers vs the singe pistons. Also the rear will get changed from drums to disks. http://www.amazon.com/Wilwood-260-87.../dp/B00EANSS52 Pretty cheap for all the brake I should ever need up front. Article about the swap here: http://driven-daily.com/s30-toyota-brake-upgrades/ The rear will be fancier, as it's part of the deal for the rear suspension change. It's still not super expensive. Wilwood calipers: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wi...FQyoaQod0xQLKw Wilwood rotors: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-160-0277 Rotor hats: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-170-10040 This article from LSXtv is basically exactly my goal. Just with an 8.8 based IRS instead of a 4-link. Granted, that is a pretty big difference. http://www.lsxtv.com/features/car-fe...n-into-the-8s/ Added all the links for my personal benefit later on. |
Re: My "new" car/project.
Cool find with the brakes. I like the idea of using parts that are readily available at the parts stores. Plus for that price, that's hard to beat.
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