Just bought our first Z (240Z)

toopy

Club Member
I just may chicken out of swapping the Master Cylinder out until our return in the event that something goes sideways!

I think that would be a wise decision, nothing seems to be quite guaranteed when it comes to swapping brake parts with these cars! given that Spa isn't exactly a local jolly either :driving:

Cars looking and sounding really good Mark :hurray:
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Lovely car and hope you enjoy Spa. I've been 3 times and want to go again. Surprised you run out of 'steam' at 5,500 and yet it only 'comes in' at 4000. My Sam 'comes in' at 4000 but goes well to 7000.

Thanks Rob, I'm really looking forward to getting out there finally! What's the rest of your setup? I pressume you're running a decent cam and tripples, perhaps a tweaked engine as well?

I'd love to see a thread with details of the car if you find time, the period suspesnion setup you were telling me about at the weekend sounded interesting!

I think that would be a wise decision, nothing seems to be quite guaranteed when it comes to swapping brake parts with these cars! given that Spa isn't exactly a local jolly either :driving:

Cars looking and sounding really good Mark :hurray:

I took inspiration after reading about your woes on your detailed thread and talking to you at the weekend, I struggle to get my head around the mechanics that I can't see to fully understand. Fingers crossed i'm over thinking it, changing the rest should help alot for now until i find time when I'm back!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well here we go again, lots more to report and I really need to control myself with spending on this car!

The car was selected and displayed with Petrolicious for their first ever UK meet at Bicester Heritage, it certainly kept in very good company within the main site. I’ll also admit that I was very excited by this as their channel is the reason why I ended up buying my 240Z so it was a big deal for me. I’ve seen some photos of the car from the day but I’m sure there’s more to be found. Great to catch up with several club members and we had awesome weather for it.

Finally our new brake package has come together and now been fitted up, I need to start with a huge shout out to Iamatomman (Gary) for sorting me out in this regard. I’ve been searching for a long time to get the right solution to this element of the build, I’ve not been a fan of the shouty willwood solutions and equally not convinced that the Hilux setup was up to the task with its more limited ‘performance pad’ options for a 4x4 and weight. Bring in the perfect solution in my eyes, R32 GTR Sumitomo Brake Calipers with 296mm vented disks.

Gary’s made custom titanium brackets and re-drilled the standard GTR disks so that these bolt straight up to stock 240Z hubs. As you’d expect with a GTR, the brake pad choice is phenomenal so we’ve put on some Porterfield R4S pads designed for fast road and track use. These so far seem to be superb with great bite from cold and just get better the more heat you put into them, the only downside as you’d expect with any performance pad is a little more dust with enthusiastic use.

With the car only weighing in at 1000KG this setup is hugely over spec’d and gives massive amounts of confidence, particularly with modern traffic.

Having got the kit from Gary, sourced a set of callipers off of ebay and refurbished then with thanks to Big Red, picked up the pads from Porterfield and refurbished the brake fitting kit I got with the brakes to save a bit of money, we were good to go. Doing my usual with any European trip looming I decided to fit these last Monday evening after work on the driveway with our scheduled departure of Thursday morning. What could possibly go wrong!

As expected a few headaches, 6 hours, a packet of crisps, numerous cups of tea later everything was fitted up with the assistance of LED floodlights at midnight. Test drive was revealing a very spongey pedal however that was a problem for a new day. Certainly had some fun removing the original brake dust shields (now too small for our big disks anyway), removing the old disks and hubs and wrestling everything into place.

At the same time with rain scheduled for Spa and knowing how lethal our tyres are in the wet (even if very fun and childish in the dry) I decided it was time to bite the bullet and replace these with something deserving of the rest of the car. Finally we had a set of Yokohama AD08R tyres on their way to be fitted before the trip, in a last minute dash I managed to get the brakes re-bled and working, tyres fitted, filled with nitrogen, booked a trip to Edinburgh and flew out all on Tuesday leaving last minute packing and preparation for 9.30pm on Wednesday night before we left. I’m very relieved that I decided to leave the stock MC installed for now with the time I had available, while the car needs it and the pedal has a little too much travel, this remains a headache for another day as I still have no idea as to how to properly adjust the rod to it.

We had an amazing time out in Spa, with the car covering just over 1000 miles in less than a week. Great company and tour guide from Tony, being shown some nice backroads closer to Spa which could be enjoyed away from the Motorway (even drove the old track). What a circuit Spa is, the elevation changes were fairly breath taking. I can see why it’s a bit of a Mecha for motorsport fans and definitely the most exciting circuit I’ve visited and driven to date. As hoped and with the car running so well we got a track session for Saturday evening however much to our disappointment it was plagued by safety cars while a wall was being rebuilt. Unfinished business and a return visit one day I’m sure…

The car felt really keen and we’re super impressed with the new tyres, for a road tyre they really hang on through the corners and still slide nicely at the limits of traction. Less childish behaviour can be had with the trade-off of superb grip on the road. We could really push people through corners and drive around them however in a straight line we were still left lacking and wanting more with almost everyone pulling away. Certainly some drag racing going on against Peugeot 205’s. Thoughts are turning to building an engine with approx. 200 bhp flywheel that revs happily to 7000prm without spending the earth….

The trip didn’t leave the car unscathed though and we picked up a big stone chip on day one of the trip which we watched expand all trip until we got home. I’m relieved to say that despite it having spidered outwards, Kenneth from Autoglass has saved the windscreen with a resin filler yesterday. Quite scary seeing how big it had really got when he applied some pressure to it. I’ve also got rubber trims turning up to try and reduce some wind noise and make the car a little more comfortable for longer journeys.

These cars are never really finished but I feel as though the whole package has really moved on, particularly when I compare it to the sloppy driving experience the car started with…

IMG_0135 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

6D62364D-FE32-4CE8-8041-18E19804611E by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_0123 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

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IMG_0167 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

New tread pattern looking alot meaner:
IMG_0186 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_0191 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

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Getting a little dusty
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Think we'll need to take a trip to the French Riviera next
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Bobafett

Well-Known Forum User
What a circuit Spa is.................... I can see why it’s a bit of a Mecha for motorsport fans

Hopefully going for the 6hrs Classic Meet in September, with a bit of Nordschleife action if you fancy it!

...and tour guide from Tony, being shown some nice backroads closer to Spa

...pleasure, though doesn't help when you don't dump your coolant over the Z's following :blush:

Those brakes look the absolute business!! Very smartly indeed, hopefully with the bigger MC you'll see a further improvement again!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Hopefully going for the 6hrs Classic Meet in September, with a bit of Nordschleife action if you fancy it!

...pleasure, though doesn't help when you don't dump your coolant over the Z's following :blush:

Those brakes look the absolute business!! Very smartly indeed, hopefully with the bigger MC you'll see a further improvement again!

You bad influence! I'll be on the way back from my European road trip to Northen Italy so not sure it'll work out this time...

Shit happens, it all cleans up and was cracking fun!
 

Ian

Club Member
Fantastic work. Nice setup.


Tyres should be good, have some waiting for the Z but not actually tried them on it yet, only went to them because Toyo stopped making R1Rs but I did recently put some on my Civic and it made a huge difference, took .3 of a second off my 0-60 time, which is more impressive than it sounds.
 

peter_s

Club Member
Great tire choice!

I'm running the same tyres, and they feel very much like a real r compound in terms of the sidewalls and tyre structure.

Don't buy these for comfort in other words :) They also throw up a lot of rocks and debris, just like a semislick :)
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Fantastic work. Nice setup.

Tyres should be good, have some waiting for the Z but not actually tried them on it yet, only went to them because Toyo stopped making R1Rs but I did recently put some on my Civic and it made a huge difference, took .3 of a second off my 0-60 time, which is more impressive than it sounds.

Thanks Ian, I bet they’ll be epic on yours and much better suited to your power levels! I can believe it, no more wheel spinning happening anymore and they stick like glue…

Great tire choice!

I'm running the same tyres, and they feel very much like a real r compound in terms of the sidewalls and tyre structure.

Don't buy these for comfort in other words
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They also throw up a lot of rocks and debris, just like a semislick
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I’ll admit it, I was jealous of yours and Jon’s cars with these fitted and knew we could get bad weather in Spa so just bit the bullet and finally invested!

I have actually found them fairly comfortable so far, despite everyone’s comments….

So I had the car out at the weekend, went to Brooklands on Saturday with my mate in his C7 and then on to brands hatch on Sunday for the Historic racing having been out for a spirited drive in the morning. I’m pleased to report that the car was leaving a 240bhp mx5 turbo and the Corvette behind through the corners, as you’d expect though they both reeled me in as soon as the roads straightened up however it was surprising most people for a middle aged lady and well and truly holding its own down B roads.

Another exciting discovery was that the exhaust is shooting flames on overrun and on some up and downshifts particularly with rev matching. People were enjoying the sound of the exhaust from several back in the convoy as well. Rather scarily, we’ve covered 1300 miles since it was serviced only a few weeks ago and need to up the insurance mileage to see us through the year….

Finally after being driven mad by wind and cabin noise all the way to Spa and back I invested in some draft excluded which has been installed onto the door frames to create a positive seal all the way around the door frame and eliminate all wind noise! I’m sure the purists will be up in arms however I took inspiration from the 280Z door seal and its works so a £4 fix from eBay. I’m now moving onto stopping more car rattles and shakes and soundproofing to add some more comfort for longer journeys where possible….

Rubbish photos but before and after:
IMG-0513 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-0516 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Quick stop at Brooklands:
DSC-1620 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
How is Brooklands as a museum? Is it worth a visit if you are close by?

I think its fantastic, its got a bit of everything depending on your interest. As long as you enjoy engineering and motorsport then it's worth swinging by. I'm a member and only live 20 minutes down the road so its easy, albeit I don't get there too often... It was the home of motorpsort for a time and the worlds first purpose built racetrack which you can still walk on, and that's before you look at the sites WW2 and manufacturing significance....
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well its long overdue that I got around to updating this again, lots more mileage and enjoyment, albeit inevtitably some more signs of wear and tear with maintenance to be done.

The car got taken out to Le Mans for the 24 hours as part of a two car convoy, very much chalk and cheese with my dad and his mate pedaling the Z and me and a friend taking his Corvette C7. Albeit seperated by nearly 50 years of design development and with three times the power output, fundamentally the cars shared alot in terms of layout and design.

It was quite amusing to see which car appealed to which groups of people, the younger generation and kids all swarmed over the Vette given its status as a current Le Mans car, technology and intoxicating noise, with anyone past their twenties gawping over the Z and its condition. On balance I still think the old girl tipped it in terms of attention!

Thankfuly I got several opperunities to drive the Z and show off its capabilities through the twisty backroads, its safe to say on the narrower B roads the Z was really holding its own losing the Vette (too big for the smaller roads) in several places however as soon as the road opened up the Vette just left the Z behind like it was standing still. The performance of the Corvette was simply mind boggling in terms of what it could get away with, particularly with its fancy electronic aids. The Z really couldn't hold a candle to it in terms of performance, however it could certainly hassle around the back roads though which was good enough for me.

We did the grand tour including driving the Mulsanne straight and down to Hotel de France one evening where the Z stole the show to the point I couldnt actually see it through the crowd around it. We met some amazing enthusiasts as ever and there was a superb amount of enthusiasm. Much to my amusment several people doubted the Z's reliability as an older car, suggesting we'd be lucky to make it home without issue. Strangely I've never had any such concerns given its robust nature... I dont know whether maybe I'm just too trusting? or there is just a very unfounded reputation with older cars....

This is where a small host of jobs stack up, sadly and to my disapointment on the way home the car developed a rumbling noise following some enthusiastic driving. Turns out that following some inspection I managed to kill the front right wheel bearing so that's now been replaced and remarkly a replacment was sourced in the UK.

Having covered over 2000 miles in the last few months including trips to Belgium and France the repaired windcreen has decided to give up and has cracked internally, we're regrettably therefore replacing the windscreen. With autoglass not being able to help source the glass I've sourced and purchased a replacement screen from Lithuania which got delivered a few weeks back and has been fitted by Merlin Windscreens again. The bonus is the new screen is much lighter I'm told!

Another slight frustration has been that the exhaust manifold bolts slackened off due to the heat cycles and we picked up a blow from the exhaust manifold gasket, much to my frustration I have stripped this off again to replace the gasket. I've not taken any chances this time and used high temp sealant as well as the gasket for good measure. I've certainly not had much luck in this area however I should have been more proactive in checking the torque settings following installation. This was however ather aptly timed as my dad decided to take the Z up a track due to a road closure and beach the car, safe to say there have now been some reapirs done to the exhaust with various new clamps fitted and dinatrol added to the underside.

Within a two week period I managed to take the car and visit several members a few months back, it was great to chat and share their pride and joys. Some amazing cars which have given all kinds of ideas with every visit, our car seems to be held in high regard however I think all of us seem always seem to underate our own hardwork on these cars, each time I took a new idea away and found something to be improved.

At this point I need to yet again give a massive shoutout to another member on here, Jon who on a recent business trip to to California took the time out of his day to go and meet my uncle and collect my strut braces and cpillar bar from Techno Toy Tuning. He managed to bring them all back over to the UK for me. Another great example of a member bailing me out and helping to move the project along, so thank you very much!

I'm pleased to say these have now finally been installed and really look the part in the car, I've not had too much chance to really put them through their paces though. The good news is the fire extinguisher has now also been mounted in a prominent location as a just in case measure rather than being tucked away behind the car seats.

We've also recently installed a 15/16's brake MC in order to help with the bigger brake setup, however this unsurprisingly has not come without its own issues. It turns out that the rod used with the old MC was worn, bodged and not particularly adjustable so we've had a new rod fabricated to be dropped in its place. There's still been some issues with binding brakes and brake lights sticking on which really need looking at, another ongoing project....

That covers most basis, we're getting the car ready though as its about to embark upon a 3000 mile road trip through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany which should be amazing fun!

Only 11 more working days left before I'll be unemployed and be embarking on my travels, I've also booked my CBT for this weekend so will hopefully manage to get my bike license before I leave to make the most of it on my travels.

IMG-0900 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

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23561CE5-7E39-4D3B-8D87-1097B2FD9794 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

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tyroguru

Club Member
At this point I need to yet again give a massive shoutout to another member on here, Jon who on a recent business trip to to California took the time out of his day to go and meet my uncle and collect my strut braces and cpillar bar from Techno Toy Tuning. He managed to bring them all back over to the UK for me. Another great example of a member bailing me out and helping to move the project along, so thank you very much!

You are more than welcome Mark! Glad to see the stud braces in - all looking fab. I'm flying back to the UK today and have a haul which includes some T3 bits but nothing as sexy as that: a prothane total bushing kit.

Enjoy the CBT. Hopefully your right wrist is slightly less enthusiastic than your right foot is in your Z (at least for a while) :) .
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Good report as usual. Why do you think that your spirited driving ruined a wheel bearing?

Probably more a case of wear and tear, I just imagine when I've been driving the car hard in hot conditions its accelerated the inevitable.

You are more than welcome Mark! Glad to see the stud braces in - all looking fab. I'm flying back to the UK today and have a haul which includes some T3 bits but nothing as sexy as that: a prothane total bushing kit.

Enjoy the CBT. Hopefully your right wrist is slightly less enthusiastic than your right foot is in your Z (at least for a while) :) .

You really can't go wrong imo, great that you've got the access to that part of the world!

Haha thank you, sound advice. I'm far more aware of my vulnerability on a bike, passed the day with flying colours so just sorting out my theory and then onto mod 1. Also I won't be sitting on anything like the monster you have sat in your garage for a very long time!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well time for another quick update before the cars next big trip to Europe, safe to say it will be a good test of all of the last several years of work to get it to a point where I'm happy to cover the miles and make the most of it.

Knowing how tiny all of the pannels sound on the car whenever I'm driving, or opening or closing doors, some sound proofing has been on the cards for a while now. Finally I've taken this a step further and added about 10kg of silent coat to the floors, transmission tunnel, spare wheel well, rear deck , rear hatch and doors. Thankfully the entire roof was coated with dynamat previously which only leaves the rear quarters and wheel arches for another time.

Unsurprisingly I had some fun removing the reluctant oem sound proofing is various places which exposed some surface rust which had to be treated, given that this was aimed to enahance things I only removed the loose material and left all of the solid areas to keep doing their job. Also along the way I've also located a eliminated all of the annoying interior rattles which have driven me mad for far too long.

The good news is the doors and boot now all close with a satisfying thud, and the road noise on the motorway seems to have significantly improved :) It can only get better with more time and effort. Another bonus of having the door cards off was being able to lubricate the tired window mechanismas to take off some of the pressure and lubricate the locking mechanisms as well. Long term it may prove benifical to rip the whole lot out for overhaul though.

We've decided to remove TTT's C-pillar bar as well due to the visibility obstruction it was providing so we're back to just the front and rear strut bars as orginally intended which really look the part.

Per the recent thread we've now got to the bottom of our sticking front brakes after the fitment of the 15/16 MC, a big thanks to JB and MarkN for identifying the constant pressure valve which needed to be removed for my disk brakes. Now that's done the car is hauling up as expected just in time for departure, I just need to clean it to look its best.

Rather excitingly both the Z and Healey should be partaking in a Petrolicious rally through the lakes in Northern Italy in a couple of weeks, so very excited to see what company we keep :coolgleam:

Only two days of work left so this will likely be my last big hurrah with the car for the forseeable but who knows... (In other positive news I passed both my CBT and motorcycle theory test so just my practical elements to go before I get my full UK bike license!)

IMG-2443 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

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IMG-2456 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

No after photos having done the doors but pleased to say they both looked very solid and tidy!
IMG-2464 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
 
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