My 1973 240Z Widebody Project

[agentalpha]

Thanx for the link, dwnshfter!

 

I will be doing more than a few things to keep my wheels, and my car!

 

I have even thought about 4 different sets of locking lug nuts!

 

There was a Z on CL recently.

Has a salvage title, because it has been stolen and recovered,

in Berkley, TWICE!

At least he was up front about it.

 

Damn thieves! Get a friggin' job!

[Jester]

They have one.......stealing cars.

[agentalpha]

Maybe my job should be beating respect for others

into their selfish, lazy head?

[agentalpha]

Been a while since I've had a chance to work on anything,

as I've been doing Joe's 510/KA swap dang near full time.

It's been fun, and we are getting really close to firing it up...

 

He had to work today, so I thought I'd use the break to get the N42/N42 2.8L up on the engine stand.

 

WAY too MOFO difficult inside my storage unit.

You guys with a garage and/or plenty of room,

you BETTER not take that $hit for granted,

don't be lazy too often, and USE it as often as you can.

 

First, I was greeted with oil all over the floor of my storage unit.:eek:

AWESOME.

Apparently, I brought home an oil pan full of oil,

and the engine was leaking it out of the oil filter boss.

God, If I get caught by the Management, I'm history.

I pray it's not visible in the adjacent units.:cool:

 

So, I walk 1/2 mile back to my parent's house,

grab a few more tools and some cat litter.

What a huge mess.:eek:

 

Whoever put that CF clutch on, left one bolt out,

and torqued the living pi ss outta the bolts.

AWESOME.:mad:

 

I didn't have any bolts long enough to mount the engine on the stand,

so I had to walk a mile to Kragen's(No, I don't have a running car).

They didn't have any 10x 1.5's long enough to go through the stand arms, into the block.

AWESOME.:mad:

 

Luckily, the local hardware store had some, if not overpriced.

My God, everything here in Cali is so damn expensive.:blink:

 

So, it took me nearly 4 hours to mount an engine on a stand.:rolleyes:

 

AWESOME.

 

What a day.

[bonvo]

Been a while since I've had a chance to work on anything,

as I've been doing Joe's 510/KA swap dang near full time.

It's been fun, and we are getting really close to firing it up...

 

He had to work today, so I thought I'd use the break to get the N42/N42 2.8L up on the engine stand.

 

WAY too MOFO difficult inside my storage unit.

You guys with a garage and/or plenty of room,

you BETTER not take that $hit for granted,

don't be lazy too often, and USE it as often as you can.

 

First, I was greeted with oil all over the floor of my storage unit.:eek:

AWESOME.

Apparently, I brought home an oil pan full of oil,

and the engine was leaking it out of the oil filter boss.

God, If I get caught by the Management, I'm history.

I pray it's not visible in the adjacent units.:cool:

 

So, I walk 1/2 mile back to my parent's house,

grab a few more tools and some cat litter.

What a huge mess.:eek:

 

Whoever put that CF clutch on, left one bolt out,

and torqued the living pi ss outta the bolts.

AWESOME.:mad:

 

I didn't have any bolts long enough to mount the engine on the stand,

so I had to walk a mile to Kragen's(No, I don't have a running car).

They didn't have any 10x 1.5's long enough to go through the stand arms, into the block.

AWESOME.:mad:

 

Luckily, the local hardware store had some, if not overpriced.

My God, everything here in Cali is so damn expensive.:blink:

 

So, it took me nearly 4 hours to mount an engine on a stand.:rolleyes:

 

AWESOME.

 

What a day.

 

damn bro thats got to suck but at least you got it done and your one step closer to getting her on the road

[agentalpha]

Yessir. Gotta take the bad, with the good.

Nature of the Beast.

Helps you to appreciate the smooth sailing, when it happens.

Just never took most of a day to mount an engine on a stand before!

:lol:

And thanx for the encouragement! I appreciate ya, Bro!

 

And like I said, if any of ya out there have lotsa room to work, plenty of tools, and lotsa storage space, don't take that shit for granted. Some of us don't, and wish we did, BIG TIME...

 

Will be PayPal'ing Monday the 4th for a pretty nice header I found for sale,

1 5/8" primary tubes, great shape overall, uber cheap.

It's a 6-3-2(I'd prefer 6-1), but I'll take it for the price.

 

Might have a 5 spd lined up as well, pretty much FREE.

Gotta run the #'s, to see how the ratio's are, if it's worth fooling with...

 

Now I just need a decent sized aftermarket cam I can run with stock springs,

and I think I'll pretty much be set as far as the internal engine parts go.

 

Standard bore flat top pistons would be nice, but I don't think it gonna happen this time around...

 

Only other things I'd like to get is a single pulley harmonic balancer(much lighter), and maybe a lightened(11 lbs. or so) flywheel.

 

Want that 2.8L to ZING to that 7000 RPM redline, ya know!!

 

Maybe the list could go on, now that I think of it! :D

Edited January 4, 2009 by agentalpha

[bonvo]

Yessir. Gotta take the bad, with the good.

Nature of the Beast.

Helps you to appreciate the smooth sailing, when it happens.

Just never took most of a day to mount an engine on a stand before!

:lol:

And thanx for the encouragement! I appreciate ya, Bro!

 

And like I said, if any of ya out there have lotsa room to work, plenty of tools, and lotsa storage space, don't take that shit for granted. Some of us don't, and wish we did, BIG TIME...

 

Will be PayPal'ing Monday the 4th for a pretty nice header I found for sale,

1 5/8" primary tubes, great shape overall, uber cheap.

It's a 6-3-2(I'd prefer 6-1), but I'll take it for the price.

 

Might have a 5 spd lined up as well, pretty much FREE.

Gotta run the #'s, to see how the ratio's are, if it's worth fooling with...

 

Now I just need a decent sized aftermarket cam I can run with stock springs,

and I think I'll pretty much be set as far as the internal engine parts go.

 

Standard bore flat top pistons would be nice, but I don't think it gonna happen this time around...

 

Only other things I'd like to get is a single pulley harmonic balancer(much lighter), and maybe a lightened(11 lbs. or so) flywheel.

 

Want that 2.8L to ZING to that 7000 RPM redline, ya know!!

 

Maybe the list could go on, now that I think of it! :D

 

 

sweet good to hear about the header and the trans its alot easier to put a 5 speed in the to put in a 4 then take it back out for the 5

 

yeah all our list could go on for ever man but the key thing to remember is this: the longer the list the longer you have to wait to kill the little honda boys :lol:

[agentalpha]

So, later today I will be ordering:

Delta Cams Dual pattern grind, 742-311

Intake: 270 duration, 220 duration @ .050 lift, .470 valve lift

Exhaust: 280 duration, 232 duration @ .050 lift, .480 valve lift

Nice and lumpy idle @ 1,000 RPM, but can use the stock springs!

 

Also, calling WolfcreekRacing to order the Mikuni Rebuild Kits,

and needle/seat kits.

 

Can you say,

Lumpy cam+Mikunis?

:D

[Mr Skyline]

I like your rear Quarter panels , they make the car, I did a few on turbo Porsches , they are easy , they just come really rough , just mark the inside and cut off the fender for clearence, West system and density filler will glue them on with the rivets , then rough up the whole quarter panel with a grinder or some 50 grit cause you give the whole thing a skim coat and shape it , Shape it out with some fiberglass reinforced bondo , The rear of that car is going to be right out of Lemans . Thats a cool car !

[agentalpha]

I like your rear Quarter panels , they make the car, The rear of that car is going to be right out of Lemans . Thats a cool car !

 

Thanks, Boss. That's exactly the look I'm going for. Thanks much for the advice as well. I've been doing bodywork for nearly 25 years, I should be OK.;)

 

Got my Delta Cams Regrind today.

Nice looking piece, but It was missing a third of the cam!:lol:

Something got confused on my order and I got an L series cam.

Called 'em back, and they said they would send me the right cam immediately.

Sent me a Tee shirt, calendar and 4 stickers as well.

Now I have a very nice box to mail them my core in. :D

[Jester]

So the one they sent you, was that a special order or an off the shelf unit?

What was the cost on it?

[agentalpha]

Off the shelf, I believe. They sent it right away.

The price is @ $75 for the regrind, @ $20 for the core. Nice price, I thought.

 

Same specs as I listed ^^^, but for an L series 4cyl.

They also have the same specs for one of MY fav 4 cyls, the NAPS Z24.

AWESOME 8 canted valve, twin plug, Hemi combustion chamber, single cam head design,

uber, UBER cheap, but HUGELY overlooked.

My '86 720 with a Holley 350 2 Bbl would lay rubber for 50 ft,

and all I did was put a '90 Hardbody TBI cam in my shaved '86 head, on the '90 short block.

Just can't beat it for the $. I wonder if the single cam KA valve cover would bolt right on.

 

Should be a nice lumpy Idle, good streetable power band and can use stock springs IN THEORY.

Of course, it might be assembled, and I find out I have spring coil bind, so we'll see.

 

I will have an absolute Datsun/Mikuni guru to help me set up the head, so I shouldn't have any problems. Seems the Z guys have been wiping cam lobes recently. Both Delta and Schneider won't warranty their cams without vintage levels of ZDDP zinc additive, but I wonder how much of it really stems from folks not checking every valve's wipe pattern. Seems a lot of guys are cutting huge corners on a time consuming, but PARAMOUNT procedure.

Edited January 22, 2009 by agentalpha

[agentalpha]

Started tearing the 2.8L down.

Block looks GREAT.

Pistons look decent.

 

Spun bearing on #5 con rod.

NO bearing left, save some copper color on the crank.

So please tell me about how how MORE folks should turn wrenches,

when they can't even take care of a tough as nails Z engine?

Effin' lotta clueless on how stupid they REALLY are DUMB F^(*$ out there.

 

I HOPE the crank in my extra 2.6L

is standard sizes, and the rods are all good.

I'm glad no one wanted it when it was on CL, or here.

Might just save my ass.

 

Let us Pray...

Edited January 27, 2009 by agentalpha

[bonvo]

how bad si the crank? you might be able to get away with just taking a strip of emory colth and clean it up and put a new bearing in it

[agentalpha]

No way it could be used without machine work. Galled up rather nicely.

Might not even be able to be turned down. It's fairly garfed up.

Forged steel on forged steel banging back and forth.

 

Fucking idiots.

 

Also I just noticed the con rod shoulder right above the bolt heads was nicking the bottoms of the bore ever so slightly. Very small chips out of the block. That part *should* be OK, after the honing, and a slight chamfering.

 

I've seen the insides of various Nissan motors with over 200,000 miles, and none of those had a spun bearing, or needed any machine work at all, save a honing of the cylinders to break the glaze.

 

Tomorrow I'll tear down the 2.6, and then we'll know.

Throw some Karma my way.

[agentalpha]

The 2.6L crank, con rods, and respective journals are all BEAUTIFUL!!!:D

 

If ANY of you DID say a prayer for me, or throw some Karma my way, THANX A MILLION!

 

IT WORKED!!

Edited January 29, 2009 by agentalpha

[Llittle_Llama]

damn, where the hell have i been on this thread?!? looks like it's coming along nicely :D glad your making progress too! one day (WAY in the future) I will pull the motor out of the old datto and look up haynes video and get to work. need a place to work though :(

[agentalpha]

Thank you, Sir. Very kind words. I appreciate it.

AWESOME Fight Club quote.

 

I was away @ month, but I'm back at it full force.

Things will be moving very quickly, aside from the porting and blueprinting of the Head and Mik intake.

That work is hugely time consuming. I can't tell you how relieved I am that the 2.6L internals are VERY pretty.

I was seriously freaking out when I saw the 2.8 crank and #5 rod.

 

BTW. I don't technically have a place to work on shit either.

But, there's an old Air Force saying: Adapt, and Overcome.

Where the car is @, NO car work allowed(not even an oil change).

You can see how much I've done, with much more to do...

Should be very interesting to see what I do when I have a fresh motor to drop in, and do the initial break-in.

And, I have a 10*6 storage unit where my motor and extra parts are.

And the manager there told me *minor* auto maintenance.

I don't think that includes completely tearing down/rebuilding a greasy, 30+ year old motor. :cool:

Edited January 29, 2009 by agentalpha

[Skib]

I don't think that includes completely tearing down/rebuilding a greasy, 30+ year old motor. :cool:

 

id call that minor :D

[Llittle_Llama]

id call that minor :D

 

anyone on ratsun would ;)

[agentalpha]

That Exxon Valdez oil spill in my storage unit wasn't...:eek:

[Llittle_Llama]

That Exxon Valdez oil spill in my storage unit wasn't...:eek:

 

pics or id didn't happen,:lol:

[agentalpha]

I was embarrassed and rather panicked when it happened,

so it's much better that there is no visual proof on public record.

 

I seriously try to avoid petroleum distillates spills like the plague.

Unprofessional, IMO, and insanely bad for the environment.

A little care and thought go a long way.

 

BTW:

Oil can be tasted in water @ 3,000,000-1 dilution.

That's the equivalent of hocking an oil loogie into an Olympic sized pool.

DON'T EVER dump oil, gas, or ANYTHING into drains or dirt!!

So, whatever the Exxon Valdez spilled, multiply that by 3,000,000 and that's how much water was poisoned.

 

My unit's floor is now covered in oil absorbent/cat litter-ish crap from Kragen's.

Only problem there is no public use trash/dumpsters.

I have to cart it out, somehow.

YAY!

Edited January 29, 2009 by agentalpha

[Fineline]

Damn dude. Glad to hear you had some luck today!

[69FJWagon]

I know its a couple days late but...HAPPY BIRTHDAY bro!