Darren-B's 1971 240z Project Pumpkin

[darren-b]

Hi all, thought I would post up a new thread for the re-build of the 240z I bought back in July

http://zclub.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24447

After sorting out a few critical bits, (lights, shocks, steering gators) I've spent the last 6weeks enjoying the car, including a 850mile round trip to Wales, where the car performed very well.

So now that the Autumn is here it's time to start the strip down today.
Whilst awaiting my hangover to wear off I decided to start removing the interior, so started with the carpets, to reveal the original white vinyl which is in a pretty poor state & I realised that there are some parts missing. I'll probably just scrap the white interior all together & go black as I can source all the parts in black fairly easily.








I then got bored with the interior after removing the centre console so decided I may aswell make use of the afternoon. So got underneath & removed the exhaust with no snapped bolts





All out in one piece


Then onto removing the gearbox, drained the oil out, removed the prop shaft, unbolted & removed (didn't take pictures as I was covered in oil)

Then proceeded to drain the engine oil & coolant


Removed the Radiator, HT leads & labelled all connecting wires in the engine bay


Then disconnected the fuel lines & removed the carbs




Then got to work with my new toy




At this point I was almost laughing to myself how easy the job was, until I got to here:





Maximum height on the crane I already had to jack the car up to clear the support arms under the wishbones where the car a very narrow track & the front radiator support is welded in rather than bolted so I couldn't remove that.

It was already about 4ish so going out to buy a winch/hoist was out of the question. I needed more height. So a little modification to the crane was the answer:


Which gave me plenty of height




So rolled the car back


& then she was naked


I need to look a little closer @ the crane mod as now the lowest height still holds the engine around 200mm from the floor

Need to make a proper stand for it in the week so that I can get it cleaned & stripped down

All in all a fairly fun afternoon

 

[racer]

Nice progress Darren.
Something a bit odd about your crane though. I've used a couple of different ones to lift out Zed motors and they normally always have enough hieght to remove the motor easily?
The piston on yours does not look fully extended to me? Arh well at least the motors out now.
Amazing how easy it is on a Zed.

 

[richiep]

Definitely looks like something is up with that crane. Still, as Matt says, you got the engine out. Something that's worth picking up for that job in the future though is a load leveller. I have a Clarke one. They are very useful for guiding the engine out and controlling the angle, making it possible to do engine and box in one go easily.

 

[jonbills]

That crane looks like the ebay copy of the SGS 2 tonne crane, which only has 2000 mm lift
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/garage-equipment/engine-cranes/ec2000-2-ton-folding-engine-crane


But that extension doesn't look anything like 2m!

 

[darren-b]

This is the one I have
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130515229853?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

But looking at the specifications (max jib height) mine goes no-where near, the jib goes no further than a 90' angle to the main upright support, so I'm thinking that I either have a duff ram or the more likely case is that the bracket that supports the base of the ram has been welded on 100mm to low as I have raised it by 185mm but thats a little to much as it stops the jib from lowering fully.

I suppose that will teach me for buying at the lower end of the market.


Richie - thanks for the advice, I'll look into one for when I re-install it, as I won't be wanting to mark any of the fresh paint

 

[Rob Gaskin]

This is the one I have
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130515229853?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

But looking at the specifications (max jib height) mine goes no-where near, the jib goes no further than a 90' angle to the main upright support, so I'm thinking that I either have a duff ram or the more likely case is that the bracket that supports the base of the ram has been welded on 100mm to low as I have raised it by 185mm but thats a little to much as it stops the jib from lowering fully.

I suppose that will teach me for buying at the lower end of the market.

Surely you are going to complain and get a replacement! Whatever price it should do the basics and safely. I'm concerned that you are using a machine that has been modified, also your bracket looks to be in the same place as the one in the advert.

Anyway moving on - keep the pics coming.

 

[darren-b]

Rob

I have got to the bottom of my Crane problem, with my hangover head on I didn't look at the most obvious part of the crane. The ram, it was only extending about half of it's height. Turns out there was sod all oil in it so once it got halfway up it was just pumping air

So topped it up with some AT fluid & it now extends 500mm pushing the jib way higher than I'll ever need it. I guess the oil had leaked out when the ram has been on it's side for however long.

Managed to get a couple of hours in this evening so thought I'd get a few bits cleaned up before storage.

Started with the carbs

quite some time later they looked like this

HT leads de-greased

Then I decided to make a start on the prop shaft

Thats all for today,

Could anyone enlighten me on what this does on the carbs?

 

[darren-b]

Quick update:



Finally had a full day off work today so after a good lay in I ventured out to the garage to make a start on stripping the engine down.







So before I started I thought it would be a good idea to get the worst of the oil/grease off, so mixed up some industrial strength de-greaser into an old spray gun & got to work















So just as I was rinsing it off my mate called me & asked me to go look at a 350z with him Why would I say no?











had a good look over the car, 07(57) 313 GT & took it for a quick spin then the deal was done,



So once I got back the engine had dried off nicey & it was back to work



Oil filter/pressure sensor, fuel pump & coolant hoses removed:





Intake/exhaust manifolds removed:













Then cleaned:









Coolant hard pipe was looking a little sorry for itself:







& then it wasn't





Then removed the rocker cover & cleaned









Which left me here:









Timing cover, water pump, oil pump removed







Tensionor, & guides removed followed by the chain







Upon removal I found that part of the chain guide was missing which would explain the debris I found in the sump some time ago, so thats a bit more to the shopping list :dry:

 

[darren-b]

Then it was onto the head removal, which didn't quite go as well as I had hoped the first two bolts I went to removed snapped on the first crack! After some friendly words the rest came out with not to much of a fight:



















Once the head was off I discovered why the first two bolts had sheered off, there has been a slight leak on the head gasket allowing water to corrode the head bolt onto the block. So removing the studs is going to be so much fun I thought it could be saved for another day.



The pistons are pretty coked up with **** to, but the bores seem pretty good, no scoring. I think I have found the source of my smokey idle, no.5 intake valve is really oily so hopefully once re-lapped will be ok. Going to get it all cleaned up tomorrow hopefully along with stripping down the head. I'll then take the block & head to a machine shop for them to check everything for any runout & see if it needs re-honing/ head skimming rings or bearings.



Finally I removed the sump in order to make a bit more mess :teeth:

 

[AliK]

Wow all of this in a day with interruptions!?

Thank you for the write up and the photos, this is such an interesting thread to follow!!



Ali K

 

[darren-b]

Now I have a heck of a lot of parts to catalogue & remember where they go

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Wow all of this in a day with interruptions!?

Thank you for the write up and the photos, this is such an interesting thread to follow!!

Ali K

Agreed!

Interesting to see the US emission bits.

 

[darren-b]

Yes I wasn't expecting the tubes to go down into the header, I had initially planned to remove the ports & weld up the holes but I have now decided to replace the complete exhaust system for something a little less restricted.

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Darren you want a matched length 1 5/8" system

Whats your plans for the car?

 

[darren-b]

Darren you want a matched length 1 5/8" system

Whats your plans for the car?

Thanks for the heads up, I'm not modding the cam's or the mechanical side of the engine. So if I keep the headers at 1 5/8" will I be ok to open up the rest of the exhaust to 2 1/2" without any negative power implications?

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Thanks for the heads up, I'm not modding the cam's or the mechanical side of the engine. So if I keep the headers at 1 5/8" will I be ok to open up the rest of the exhaust to 2 1/2" without any negative power implications?

It'll be an overkill system really but will work better than the standard one.

 

[jonbills]

I've got some spare timing chain guides you can have for nothing if you like. PM me your address if you want them.

 

[Mr.F]

see if it needs re-honing/ head skimming rings or bearings.

Surely rings and bearings will be replaced as a matter of course...?

Re. carbs - knurled knob adjusts height of nozzle, therefore alters mixture. Fully home (up on car) is lean; lowering will enrich. Good starting point would be 1.5 - 2 turns from fully up.
The other circle is a fixed stopper to make sure you don't screw it fully out!

2.5" bore exhaust with no other mods will hurt performance.

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

2.5" bore exhaust with no other mods will hurt performance.

Hurt it with a 1 5/8" manifold?

 

[darren-b]

Surely rings and bearings will be replaced as a matter of course...?

Re. carbs - knurled knob adjusts height of nozzle, therefore alters mixture. Fully home (up on car) is lean; lowering will enrich. Good starting point would be 1.5 - 2 turns from fully up.
The other circle is a fixed stopper to make sure you don't screw it fully out!

2.5" bore exhaust with no other mods will hurt performance.

So I'll leave the fixed one alone I have read about the mixture/nozzle on here, also got myself a flowmeter to assist in syncing the carbs.

So would the general consensus be to stick with the stock exhaust? Just remove the emission control & weld the holes?

Yes I'll be replacing the rings & bearings, just need to get it all measured to see if I need anything beyond standard specifications