My Swiss 1972 S30 240Z rebuild project

[JDMjunkies.ch]

You have quite the tolerance for set backs :) deffanitly not a bad thing when dealing with 35 year old metal ;)

Unfortunately i don't have any options so all i can do is just deal with whatever hits me - makes life interresting :P

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just got a Delivery from the great guys at MSA today. First of all a new rear weld-in valance:

And a set of rear lower corner valances. They're from a 280Z since none are made for the 240Z. All of these panels are not the best fitment and quality but the best available ones. So my panelbeater has to  use them just as base for his final product. I wonder why nobody makes better quality panels sine these would sell like hot burritos and there are so many of these cars around the world beeing restored currently...

Last but not least some small bits like the dustcaps, cotter pins and some washers. Now almost have all parts together to get the wheel bearings installed back to the strut housings...

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yeah it's not like i've been not doing anything on the car lately but im corrently working on what is probably the most complicated assembly on the car and it needs a lot of time to figure out how to handle the adventerous electronis design of the Niles Electric company from 45 years ago. As you might know I'm a senior electronics engineer in my daily job so it's kinda fun and i want to do it right. However it's a bit tricky to get such an weird and oldschool design "right". So it needs time. But let's start with something else:
Last week i loaded the hatch into my car:

Brought it over to R-performance so they can add new studs to the rear spoiler and he asked for the wing so he can align the studs to the holes in the hatch. Good idea :)
This time they were busy preparing the full-carbon bodied K24 Turbo Integra for the coming time-attack season. This car is serious business!

What really gave me headaches was the turn signal switch. After days of trying different things i finally brought of the switch knob from the turn signal arm and was able to disassemble everything:

Here you can see how the (what the manual calls) Dimmer switch works. Contact open:

Contact closed (the wire is short circuited to the turn signal arm which is mounted to the body, so basically it's connected to ground once the button is pushed):

Of course i broke the plastic knob while attempting to removing it. either i manage to remove one of the other two i have without braking it or i will need to have one 3D-printed for me since nothing is available..

I decided to exchange the old and brittly cable whilte at it so today i took two of the switches to my office and soldered in new wires. Before:

After. Tried two wires with different stiffnes so i can see which one works better. You can see the original wires on the right side. That's it. next step is getting a good turn signal switch knob and assemble everything back together since everything is clean and all the contacts nice now :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Since there is no out-of the box solution and not a single internet-thread on this topic i had a hard time completing this step and therefore the lack of updates. It seems just a turn signal switch assembly, but i spent several hours on this one to finally get a clean and well working result. And had to buy several stuff while doing it so that allways gave me a little break inbetween. Anyhow here is how i went:
After four attempts i managed to remove one of the four plastic handles (the last one) which i had without braking it - success!!

Cleaned the switching lever with some scotch and brite pads and you can see the copper where the corrosion started:

Painted it with some gloss black rattle-can spray:

But was disapointed by the result, so i removed the paint and sprayed it again:

This time the result was much better. Time to assemble things again:

Wire and positive pole back in:

Bought this plastic polishing / Scratch remover stuff and cleaned the plastic knob:

Not perfect but much better than before:

Wasn't able to find anything near the original brass thinky to mount the handle back into the base so i got a little inventive and used brass nails istead. Looks like OEM, fits perfect and is more stable than the original design:

And than the rest of the parts came back together:       

Final result. only need to connect the wires back together. but otherwise super happy with the result:

[picodelgallo]

I just stumbled upon your build today and spent hours...hours...looking through your progress over the last 6 years. Awesome stuff! You're determination great and I cannot wait to see more progress and see this car when it's finally put together!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I just stumbled upon your build today and spent hours...hours...looking through your progress over the last 6 years. Awesome stuff! You're determination great and I cannot wait to see more progress and see this car when it's finally put together!

Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it. And me to hope that the car can be put together soon. Hope my panelbeater is recovered again soon and have some parts on the way to me and some plans for the next weeks and months...

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I'm currently planning my next steps, doing a lot of research and ordering small parts here and there to contiue with work. One of the things i wanted to do is to decide wether if i really want to go my planned route with adding 52mm Oldschool Omori Meter gauges to the interieur or sticking with the OEM 60mm gauges. I once ordered a nice 52mm Fuel gauge with the correct resistors for my Z so i will probably give it a try soon and decide if i search for more (now discontinued) Omori gauges or not. First i tested my gauge but that means i had to translate the Japanese only drawings:

Then finally i was able to connect it to the 12VDC supply and check it out. the needle turns to max at the startup and lighting works so i guess it's ok since it was never used in a car.
Really like the oldschool look and the fact i can rock some more authentic and oldschool parts in my Project.

To make them fit into the original 60mm housings, the internet had all kind of funky solutions ready, but none of them seemed to be as professional as i wanted it to be. So i ordered these ATI 60 to 52mm Gauge adapers made out of rubber. they look nice but i'm not sure yet if my plan will work out. will have look soon i guess.

[petercscherer]

I love the look of those Omori gauges, really old-school throwback; especially with you being in Europe, those would really fit in and set the car apart from every other 240Z. By the way, been stalking this build for months now, and I really love the work you're doing and the attention to detail that you have! Keep it up! :)

 

~Peter

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I love the look of those Omori gauges, really old-school throwback; especially with you being in Europe, those would really fit in and set the car apart from every other 240Z. By the way, been stalking this build for months now, and I really love the work you're doing and the attention to detail that you have! Keep it up! :)

 

~Peter

Hi Peter, THanks for your feedback and kind words. Yeah really like the omori look, but not sure if they might look a bit small in the bigger holes of the original gauges. we'll see. i'll try :)

 

BTW: Just got good news: Yves, my Panelbeater is back at work but only part-time due to the whiplash injury but promised me to get back to work on my car as soon as possible. great :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Istead of fiddling around with all the small bits and pieces i decided it's more important to get the subframe parts ready so i can assemble the car back to a rolling chassis once the shell is completed. The reason this has been a bit on the low-end of my priority list was the fact that i just had no clue what to do. But lately i read a lot and now i'm even a bit more confused. Same goes for the suspension which i will dedicate a separate post to soon.
The main problem beeing i have a EUROPEAN 240Z, which suspension- differential- and transmission-wise is totally different than US-Versions and therefore useful information is rare and sometimes appears to be wrong. Ask three people and you will get three different answers...
I cannot confirm any of this Informations but so far what seems to be the right data (maybe someone can confirm?), is this:
Differential now:
I'm running a 1972 EU-Spec Datsun 240z. It seems like all 240z's worldwide have been delivered from the factory with the R180 Differential (Anybody knows the original manufacturer / designer of these?). European-spec cars seemed to have a 3.9 Final drive (Ring gear).

The good thing is i will be able to confirm this, as soon as i take my Differential apart and read the numbers on the ring gear (Picture shows a 49/12 = 4.08 Ring gear, not from my car)

Differential Future Options:
Now it seems like i have many options:
- R180 Stock differential, with upgraded LSD (OS Giken, Nismo, Quife, Cusco, ....)
PRO: Direct fitment, lighter compared to the R200
CONTRA: Depending on the original LSD relatively weak and oldschool design
- R190 Differential (Option from various Competition catalogues, Nissan Z432, etc)
PRO: Direct fit
CONTRA: Relatively rare to find.
- R200 Differential
PRO: Widely and cheap aviability, quite Powerful.
CONTRA: Relatively heavy, extensive modifications needed on the stub axles.
- R180 Subaru Differential
Pro: More modern design and quite a lot of parts available, Lightweight
Contra: Again a lot of modifications needed on the stub axle side.

Transmission now:
Comparing images, datasheets etc, it seems like my car came with the first generation FS5C71-A type Transmission. Definitly i have a 5-speed manual like all european cars and according to the cast-design of the housing it must bee an A-Type (First version), But i'm still not sure on that one. Can anybody confirm this?

The similar 5-speed transmission from my other 1972 240Z:

According to some information on the Interwebs it seems like these are my gear ratios (Still need confirmation on this one):

FS5C71A1.         2.9572.         1.8583.         1.3114.         1.0005.         0.852RearGear   3.900

Transmission Future Options:
Similar to the Differential i have a bunch of options.
- FS5C71A (Keep it stock)
PRO: keep it original
CONTRA: Oldschool design
- FS5C71B
PRO: Slightly more modern design
CONTRA: maybe slight modifications needed? (Shifter kit?), Small advantage compared to stock
- FS5C71C
PRO: Most modern design with much better synchronization etc.
CONTRA: Modification of the propellar shaft needed, etc.

Since i'm planning to run a modified L24 or L28 for street use and the annual trackday, i'm really not sure which option is the best for me. I don't want to run any overkill setup with huge heavy differentials and a gearbox with a lot of modifications needed for installation, but since i'm planning to take apart everything anyway, it would be great to upgrade it at the same point. So i'm really thankful for all information i can get from the pros. Let me know your opinion.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So after researching a lot lately i knew what should theoretically be in my car, but since i never had a look at my second car, i thought it might be the best idea to just go and check all the numbers and identification marks.
Motor:
The engine is clearly an L24 (2,4L),

using the P30 block:

While the head is the E88 head:

Also found a few interresting casting-marks and stamps on the front of the head, but not sure if this has any information behind. maybe someone knows? (#3 to the left, 30 on the top and something like 8.21 to the right)

So i guess these are the specs of my Motor. There are (depending on the source) up to three different E88 heads around and it seems like i have the first version which seems to be the best one, performance-wise.

Transmission:
I cannot confirm what it is inside, but what i know is, i haven an early 5-speed transmission. So it definitely has to be an "A-type" which is indicated by the 3-piece design, the cast-pattern of the middle-piece and the "monkey motion" shifter design:

Various sources tell me that european cars came with the FS5C71A Transmission, which means:
F: Type of Control, F= Floor (direct)
S: Transmission Style, S = Special overdrive top gear
5: 5 Forward speeds
C: Servo Synchros
71: Gear-pair center-to-center spacing in mm (distance between centershaft and countershaft = 71mm)
A: Continuos numbering of model version, A beeing the first version

I also found some castings on the bellhousings and middle piece but i guess they don't give any information..?

Also found this cast on the transmission. One seems to be the manufacturer's logo but wasn't able to track it down. Can anybody tell me which manufacturer this is?
Also found this "5.17" casted below the logo. Anybody knows what it means? This shot is of the rear piece and if you look close you can see it in the first picture of the transmission, above. 

Differential:
The last bit part of my investigation beeing the Differential. According various sources my car came equipped with an R180 Differential from the factory. Means an outer ring gear diameter of 180mm. Some say it's manufactured by Fuji Heavy industries (the mother company of subaru), since subaru used the same Differentials later, but if you have a close look you can clearly see the Hitachi logo on the bottom left. There are lot of numbers cast on the bottom of the differential but i doubt these indicate some useful information.

Same on the bottom. The only thing i can say is there is no big "K" casted somewhere, so i have an early type R180 without the 110mm Ring gear (inner diameter), which means my plan to install an OS-giken LSD (made for 115mm ring gear) will not work out, unless i swap something.

Here is the second (similar) Diff from the second car. I guess they sprayed it in some kind of nasty rubber to seal some leakage back in time.

Similar casts on the second Diff, with probably no information behind, except the Hitachi logo on the bottom left.

Unfortunatly all the important information is inside the Diff, so i drained the oil and had a closer look inside...

Surprisingly i found this yellow "29" mark. Not sure if it's from factory, but for me this looks like some replacement part or something? Can anybody confirm this is a factory marking?

But here we go. Not sure what the rest means (let me know if you know). but the first part 39:10 is what i was looking for. It means that i have a Final drive ratio of 39/10 = 3.9 Which is recommanded for "allround driving" with a 5.gear.

Also you can clearly see it's an "open Type" differential.

Still need to decide which route i go, but at least i know what i have now. Next up will be some informatino about the Suspension :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Remember when i removed the Waterpump from my Motor (it's already 4 years ago. Damn, time is running), it looked like this:

Ever since then i knew i need replacement but it's on the bottom of the priority list. However a while ago i made an order at a supplier in Japan and figured out they'd sell a waterpump for 35USD. So why not give it a try?
When it arrived i put a picture in this blog and a lot of people mentioned the poor quality.
After going through the Kameari catalogue i figured out they sell something from a Manufacturer called "Aisin". A quick search and i found the catalogue online with the Partnumber WPN-013. Available for 80 Bucks on the web. Just out of curiosity i bought it.

I also figured out that Aisin Seiki is a Huge OE-supplier in Japan and used to belong to Toyota in the past. and that they're really big in the water-pump business.. Googling the partnumber on the Cheap pump's box i figured out it's coming from a Chinese Company Called Wenzhou Aobon Pump industries:

So here is the comparison: Left Aisin, Right Aobon. Aisin has a classic Cast pattern while the Aobon somehow has a much smoother surface. The Sealing gasket of the Aobon item is more or less a piece of thin cardboard and the bolts / Studs are completely missing at the Aobon item.

But the main difference is on the inside. You can clearly see that the Aobon shuffle wheels are not cast but somehow a bent metal piece. Some people pointed out that the bearings are really bad on the chinese product and that it will rust much faster. Aisin Claims on their website that their products have been treated with anti-corrosion stuff. Also the Aisin item comes with an installation manual and lots of informations.

Here some more information of the Aisin pump. So i definitly will scrap the Aobon Pump and run with the Aisin Pump. More than happy to support a japanese manufacturer istead of the cheap chinese Copycat product ;)

[Lockleaf]

Nice comparison. Good info.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I'm at home with a flu. While this is generally a bad thing, on the other side i have plenty of time to do all the meticulous research on Suspension, Transmission and differential Options available. And the good thing is i'm seeing the light at the end of the Tunnel. Suspension wise i still miss some small chunk of information so i got myself this spring compressor to remove the old ones and measure them a bit:

However The most important part is: I made a deceision when it comes to the Differential.
I'll go with the Subaru STI Hitachi R180 Differential. This one is similar to the R180 From my datsun and looks absolute OEM from the outside. The main difference is the "K" casting on the top which indicates that there is a 115mm inner ring gear diameter compared to the 110mm of my old one. Now is this worh a swap? No. The main reason is that there are plenty of spareparts available and even optional parts Like limited slip Units.

The good thing is that Torsen-type (Helical) Limitied slip units (LSD's)  come factory from subaru in some applications so its even better :) I decided to go with the torsen type since i drive the car mainly on th e street. German readers might want to check out this page about the different LSD types: http://www.limitedslip.de/varianten.html

The bad thing is that the Subaru Differential has a 27Spline (teeth) side axles while Nissan had 25spline axles. Beta Motorsports made some adapters but from what i understoud the owner died a while ago and now they're available through wolf creek racing:
http://www.wolfcreekracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=31

I hope to get my questions regarding the suspension answered soon. so the next steps will be more about collecting, preparing and assembling these parts. It can get a bit boring in front of the computer :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

While im still investigating and reading a lot i got a Delivery from MSA today which i made a while ago. Still some parts are missing but it's allways nice to get new parts :)
1) Drum Brake Hardware kit

2) Brake and Clutch line mounting clips (inner and outer)

3) Rear brake lines. Somehow got two slightly different ones, but will just use them as a template for braided steel hoses anyway.

4) Brake light switch to complete the Pedalbox.

5) Hazard switcher unit. was quite surprised to see it's a "Niles" Company item, because the company was sold in 2011. Have been looking for these parts in a while and probably will do a post about it. still waiting for a few answers from the current owners...

6) Last but not least i got the taillight replacement center chrome bezels / trims. My tailights are in great condition except these so i plan to refurbish them.

Still waiting for the rest of the parts and a big delivery from japan...

[JDMjunkies.ch]

We currently have the best possible spring weather with nice temperatures and blue skies. So Istead of researching the specs of my Z in front of the computer i decided to rather do some physical work in front of my garage. Has been a while since i did some work there . This is how the garage currently looks with no chassis inside :)

Got straight to work with removing the springs using my new spring compression tools and some high-tech stuff :)

The reason why is, because i wanted to do some measurements on the original springs to get some specs which still are missing. You'll see in a following post, once i have all my data. still need to remove the dampers...

While at the garage i remembered i never actually checked if the second motor is turning so i tested it and it turns brilliantly. Perfect :)

More to come soon :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Despite the fact this week was super busy for me, i still managed to get some stuff done and i can't be happier :D
Yesterday i picked up my original Trunk spoiler / Rear wing which i left at R-performance for repair. It took them a bit longer than expected because the aged early kind of fiberglass material was realy weak and brittle so they decided to improve the design a bit by adding a new structure at the ground. here are some work-in-progress pictures i asked them to make for you (my followers): New fiberglass layers beeing added to the bottom:

This is how it looks finished once the rest of the fiberglass was cutoff. And i also asked them to replace the sheared off and rusty bolts at the bottom so the made put a complete new set in place, Should be bomb-proof now :)  

This is the fitment now. Much better then before and should last for many years to come :)

Since i finally got my hazard flasher switch and the Brake light switch i decided to use a few free minutes today to complete my Pedalbox. Had to redrill and tap all th e holes after Powdercoating first

Then i installed all the missing bits and pieces.

And this is how my pedals ended up: Left reworked pedal box and throttle pedal, right the original one from the other car. The one to the left was about the same state before i reworked it. All genuine and NOS or refurbished / Re-plated parts on the left!

And another shot. Love it. Just needs some adjustment once it's in the car :)
One more thing completed!

Someone in the DPAN group posted about these shirts with the original "Elephant" Oil filler cap design on it. I loved it and just had to get it. If you want one, get them here:
www.redbubble.com/de/people/pootermobile04/
Great quality and i love the design :)

[Lockleaf]

I too have that tshirt. I love it. The canvas brand t-shirts from redbubble are freaking great. I have a couple other shirts from there as well.

 

Nice pedal box, looks brand new. And that wing came out great.

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I too have that tshirt. I love it. The canvas brand t-shirts from redbubble are freaking great. I have a couple other shirts from there as well.

 

Nice pedal box, looks brand new. And that wing came out great.

thanks for the kind words man - allways appreciate some feedback. Indeed the shirt is brilliant. when i saw it i just had to have it. Specially when having the real-life part to fit it :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yeah this Transmission thing took me a while to figure out. It turns out again there have been plenty of different transmissions and even more possible swaps. But let's start with this: Why do People swap Transmissions? There are three main reasons:
- American guys running lame US-Spec 4-speed Manual or Auto transmissions
- People doing High-power engine swaps where the OEM 5-speed is too weak
- No Spareparts available for the original EU / JPN / AUS Spec 5-Speed

Since the FS5C71A seems to be one of the most desireable original early gearboxes of the Z-Chassis (Porsche style "competition" steel synchros, 5-speed and all...) i would like to keep it if possible. But i'll talk about possible swaps and "upgrades" in the next post...

First a few Facts about the early european / Japan spec 5-speed:
- The FS5C71A was carried over from the Datsun Roadster, but with changed bellhousing, gearing and rear end so it doesn't really have too much in common except the Name.
- The FS5C71A in the Z was used up to late 1971 at least in the USA, but maybe a bit later on EU-cars since i have two early 1972 cars which still came with that box.
- It was sold in the USA As a "competition parts" Option but was standard in most other markets.
- There were different gearing Options available through Nissan Japan, Datsun (competition) USA etc...
- According to some swiss People the original gearbox is nice for 270hp street use.

So what's my desicion?
I'd like to keep my original FS5C71A Gearbox, It's the easiest and cheapest Option, will not ruin the car's value (keeping it "original) and so on.
But what if the gears and synchros are worn out? www.swmotorsport.com.au carry some spareparts but not all of them are available. So my desicion is to open up the original gearbox and have a look. if everything is still nice or fixable i'll do exactly that and keep it. If not i will go for a swap with someething more modern, but still close to the family. you'll see :)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yesterday after Work i hopped into my car and after i spent some time in the Traffic jam i finally found the Speed-Industries Workshop. Speed industries is a Car-lovers allround business. Tobi and his crew import Cars and parts from Japan and install the parts, organize drift and trackdays in and around switzerland and they do some drift-shows as well. Their workshop is full of goodness, like this AE86 Corolla Levin Hatchback:

The only Non-japanese steel at their shop was this BMW. I'm not sure but i guess it's used for some drifting :)

Keen-eyed readers can see Tw S13's in this picture. one of them also known as the 180SX in other countries:

And i can't get any more JDM than an R32 Skyline and a JZA80 Supra under the wraps. As i understoud these are customer cars waiting for some maintenance and updates:

At the bottom of t he picture there's a secret upcoming project which i wasn't allow to show you yet :)

But what did i do there? First of all it was a long time since i met the Owner Tobias, so it was nice to say hello. First time we met was at the RHD owners meeting i organized many years ago :D But the real reason was because they had a S14 (200SX) FS5W71C Transmission for a good deal on sale which i bought for my 240Z Project :)

Now last post i wrote about i want to keep my original FS5C71A transmission. Why this now? Well i just bought because it was a good deal and these trannies are not too easy to find these days. So i have it as a Spare-option. If the original transmission is beyond repair i'll use this one (a post about the swap in theory will follow soon). If i can reuse / Repair the original one i already have a friend interrested in this one so after all it was a good backup-opportunity for me which i just couldn't miss. Thanks Tobias for your hospitality!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Last weekend i checked out the super-cool Japanclassic.ch meeting, switzerlands biggest meeting for japanese classics, check out the pictures and story here...
http://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2016-05-23/event-japaner-young-oldtimer-meeting-bleienbach-2016/


 

So lately, i've been working a lot on the underbody parts.. But i'm still not sure about a few things which seem to be tricky to find out. I'm sure i will get my results :) Anyhow, measuring is always better then reading, i thought so i bought myself a huge-ass 58mm spanner to open up the strut housing of my second car..


 

The reason was of course to see what was inside.. so far my two cars came with:
Car one: Tokico shocks front, Monroe (Belgium) rear
Car two: unknown front, KYB rear

 

Inside i found this. First a bit of head scratching.. The design and pattern looked familiar but there was no name stamped on it...

 

A bit of googling revealed that these were Monroe (USA) replacement shocks. The design is similar to the monroe rear's from Car one, but these were stamped with "Monroe" and "made in Belgium" while the ones here are stamped with "Made in USA". Here is a Comparison Pic of a Monroe MC-952 (probably from a different car).

 

Well and then i got a delivery of a spindle lock set which i ordered a while ago from zcardepot.   

 

And today i had another package in the mailboc: A set of custom made braided steel brake lines with Rubber insulation to look a bit more OEM. From Left to right:
OEM Front brake line, 2x custom made steel front brake lines, Fastener kit, 2x custom made rear brake lines, OEM-replica rear brake line (i sent them for reference) and then the most important part: Homologation documents for my car. Which means i can run these brake lines totally legal on my car. Yikes!

[JDMjunkies.ch]

About two years ago i was a lucky guy to find a NOS Bride Histrix Seat on Yahoo auctions. Probably the last new one for sale. I bought it and ever since then i was looking for a second one, because only one would suck. A few months ago my Buddy Stef was at my place and we talked about how hard it would be to find a second one. The same evening he saw something about a Histrix for Sale and sent me a screenshot.

I Immediately got in contact with the seller but it wasn't really a seat for sale, but more possibility to get one custom made for my by Bride Japan. A lot of emails back and forth and negotiating, which even including talking to Bride representatives at Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this year and finally, yesterday this box showed up at my door.. :)

Inside was a Brand-spaking-new, Order-made only-for-me damn BRIDE Histrix Seat. Oh how happy i am :)

My girl also liked the fact that there will be a passenger seat for her in the car now too :)

So at least that task is closed now. Seats - acomplished :) 

[Stoney]

Why does she think she will ever be holding the steering wheel? ;)

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Why does she think she will ever be holding the steering wheel? ;)

yeah, right?! :rofl: