JonU's '73 240Z project

[JonU]

Hey guys I'm new here and figured I would post up a build thread on my 240 project. First of all I've been lurking around here for a couple weeks before making my account. I'm pretty happy that I did make an account because I've already received plenty of help from people on this site in my hunt for parts. You guys seem like a really friendly bunch and are very helpful.

 

Anyways, I'm going to try to get a build thread going for my 240 that I bought about this time last year. I bought it from an older gentleman who was selling it for a friend of his. After talking to him and looking it over we agreed to $2000 dollars. I was pretty happy because it appeared to be in great shape and came with a truck load of spare parts (we literally filled the bed of the trucks with the extra parts). When I bought it, the car hadn't been run in 6 years, so I decided to start the project by getting the engine ready to turn over. I replaced all the fluids and took my time to make sure the engine hadn't seized during that time. I also pulled the carbs apart and gave them a thorough cleaning. I was surprised at how big a difference it made. I also replaced the battery with a Braille lightweight battery (11.5 lbs). I was happy to see that it had plenty of oomph to start the car, and was a little shocked by just how small it was. After I finished all that I got stuck. In the process of cleaning it up I accidentally cracked an oil cooler line (yeah, it has an auto :(). At that point I kind of got stuck because I didn't have the money to do a swap, and I couldn't find the lines I needed to get it fixed. I kept doing other things though. I ended up getting the tank cleaned, reran fuel lines, and got new tires before I deployed. Just before I deployed I took it to a shop near my Mom's to get it restored. My main goal is to get rid of any rust and get the transmission swapped for a 4 speed. As it sits right now, the car has been disassembled, media blasted, and is fixing to go into primer and paint. It will be getting repainted it's original metallic blue and hopefully soon I can get some pics posted up. I've been having issues downloading them, so the shop should be sending me a CD with a bunch of photos soon. Then I can resize them and get them posted up for you guys to see. I'll link the pics that I took from the stuff I have done in a little bit. Hope you guys enjoy.

[JonU]

Pictures as promised

Sitting next to it's stablemate at the time:

 

I think the similarities of the 240 and 370 are fairly noticeable:

 

 

 

Finally I thought some people might find this helpful:

 

Once I get the CD of pics from the shop I'll add more to the thread.

[JonU]

Last few days have been fairly productive! I haven't had a chance to talk to the shop yet, but I have been finding the bits and pieces I need thanks to you guys. I was getting a bit frustrated trying to find the parts for my auto to manual swap until I hit up the WTS/WTB portion of the forum. Now, I spend my little bit of free time looking for various things I either want or need (I think I may have a parts addiction). I've nearly got everything I need for the swap now. There are just a couple minor details I'm working on, but all the major stuff has been found. Here is a quick run down of my desired end state for when I return from deployment:

 

• Rust free and repainted body (in progress)
  
• Manual transmission swap (located/paying for parts)
  
• 6-2 headed with dual exhaust out the back stacked similar to the ANSA exhaust (swapped bumpers for headers)
  
• Modernize the ignition (have a MSD 6AL+Pertronix+Coil sitting at the shop)
  
• Triple weber carbs + Intake (still searching, have a couple of leads)
  
• Possibly a head if I can get the one I want.
  

 

There are other things I plan on doing later on but these are my major goals for this deployment. Still waiting on the pictues, I figure it will be a couple weeks at least before I get the cd back. I figure the other stuff can wait. My biggest concern is to get rid of any rust before it becomes an issue. As you can see from the pictures above, this car was a Texas car. More specifically west Texas. The previous owner had owned the car since 1984. Most of it's time was spent in El Paso. The low humidity helped keep rust to a minimum, but the heat ruined the dash. The only bad area of rust is the cowling, but that will be getting replaced. All the typical places to check for rust either had no rust or very little rust. When I dropped it off at the shop it's currently at they were pretty impressed with it's overall condition. I would be really happy to believe that the odometer was correct. It showed that it was less than 60k miles. Judging by how his friend described his driving habits and the fact that it sat for 6 years, I wouldn't be too surprised if it was right.

[JonU]

It's in paint!! Once that's finished it will be time to get it all back together. I'm thinking I'm going to get the energy suspension master bushing kit to replace all the stock items. I also still need to get the clutch and flywheel, but I'm working on that. Can't wait to get back from this deployment and pick it up. It'll be the first time the car has been driven in 8 years by the time it's back together.

[I'm BLUE]

Nice pictures JonU and I like you plans :thumbup:

If you looks through 72240z's build thread he repaired and flocked a 240z dash that came out .. rather nice ! :cool:

If the car was less than 60K than you sir got a steal !

 

Love to see what this looks like out of paint !

[JonU]

Well, still waiting on pics. Either my internet here really sucks or I'll need to teach somebody how to attach pictures. The shop has tried emailng them but I have yet to get one that worked properly. I have sent a cd so they could burn the pictures to that. Hopefully I'll have some soon. I do have a question though. I'm planning on purchasing the clutch and flywheel sometime this week but I need some suggestions on a reliable source to order from online. NOPI has what I'm looking for but having never used them before I'm a little leary since I'm so far away from the states it makes it hard to handle problems if they should arise. 

[I'm BLUE]

I do like that blue Jon :thumbup:

I keep skimming the z-forum section for your car and... everytime I forget it was in project datto ! doh !!

You're wise to hold back on the purchase for now if your gut tells you that :)

[freetheoranges]

Okay, it has been TWO YEARS
 

Can't wait to get back from this deployment and pick it up.
It'll be the first time the car has been driven in 8 years ...
by the time it's back together.

Are you back from deployment and is it coming together?

I found your thread by search for braille battery.

[MicroMachinery]