Just bought our first Z (240Z)

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
 

toopy

Club Member
Looks and sounds great Mark :drool: :hurray:

So, what was the issue with the first manifold gasket? not thick enough, damaged, or just needed a little sealer off the bat?
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Looks and sounds great Mark :drool: :hurray:

So, what was the issue with the first manifold gasket? not thick enough, damaged, or just needed a little sealer off the bat?

Had it out this morning and it has a very different tone now, it used to be very rumbly and a bit more 'American' however now its very raspy, I'm sure the stainless causes this. The cam really sings over 4k rpm now as well because of it. Crazy loud at those RPM's...

It looks like it had some damage to it, the new gasket on its own would have been fine however the sealant was just an extra precaution as I didn't want to take it apart, again....
 

johnymd

Club Member
Runs and sounds great Mark. I must get my Su's working that well. The 4k rasp is really nice. I would really like to know what causes it. Comes at pretty much exactly 4k then disappears.
 

Bobafett

Well-Known Forum User
Sounds and looks insane, though was pretty nice before EXTRA:D

Superb job & well executed, bet you can't wait for the Spa tour!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Runs and sounds great Mark. I must get my Su's working that well. The 4k rasp is really nice. I would really like to know what causes it. Comes at pretty much exactly 4k then disappears.

Cheers dude, seems to be going really strong now! You and me also, it becomes crazy loud from 4k rpm till just below 5k rpm for me and then tails off... Obviously part of the design of the system I guess, but reminds me of the ACIS lift on my old NA MR2 with induction kit roar!

Sounds and looks insane, though was pretty nice before EXTRA:D

Superb job & well executed, bet you can't wait for the Spa tour!

upload_2019-4-7_22-38-1.jpeg
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well done! Glad you sorted the issues out

Cheers dude, left me feeling very smug!

Well another update, they're coming thick and fast now with show season about to hit and several small jobs still there to be done.

The car has been with some friends at a local resotration company to replace our handbrake cable as I was fed up of crawling around on the ground with rubbish access. I am now however pleased to confirm that the car has now had a new handbrake cable fitted from Thailand. Strangely having only ordered one, another one came in the post the day after as well however its always good to have a spare even if it needed to be modified to fit as with most things on these cars. Thankfull it was just a snapped cable and not the mechanism!

Next challenge will be piecing together the airbox setup which I have shamelessly taken inspiration from Richie, so here's to hoping that will be done before Donington. The airbox should be arriving this week to complete the parts collection.

As if that wasn't enough we've come to the realisation that our front brake setup is actually worse than I realised and therefore needs to be ripped out sooner rather than later. We have been running Hilux S12+8 calipers and solid disks without actually realising but it now explains the slightly spongey pedal feel with a stock MC fitted. That 15/16 master cylinder sitting in my bedroom was more needed than realised!

While we could just overhaul what's there this has been an area that I've wanted to address properly and future proof so that the car is well over speced for our needs. In the name of performance and safety we're therefore going to be fitting R32 GTR Aluminium brake calipers with custom brackets, disks and braided hoses thanks to Iamatomman (Gary). Not cheap however this setup will be alot lighter than the more conventional options and thankfully brake pad compund choice is very good. More news on this o follow shortly I'm sure....

In other news, I enjoyed the car over the bank holiday with my dad, it was the first time he's been out and driven the car since the full exhaust system was fitted. Safe to say we were both grinning like children with all the silly new noises it makes and also showing him what its capable of, I even dialled the coilovers up a bit as I think they've been a bit soft on reflection (more tweaking to be done there).

I got chased down by a Focus RS in Sussex who was having a lot of fun, after a while we ended up stopping to chat and turns out he had a Laurel, Supra and Scooby and to top it off was a massive Jap car fan. He was super excited to see a Z on the road being properly used and driven given how few there are about in the UK. I also meet another 240z owner in traffic who's currently restoring his car and was admiring the Z and its burble, inadvertently it also drew lots of positive attention from a passing biker who loved the noise of the car when I was providing some aural pleasure to the crowd :D

Finally I even took the time to give the car a deep clean and renovated and polished the paintwork in preparation for the upcoming shows, safe to say it was gleaming and now is already dirty again from being used and enjoyed. We're getting very close to a happy point with the car where fingers crossed I can back off with the progress and just really enjoy it rather than constantly tinkering and upgrading.

All that said, until next time here's a little teaser of her sitting pretty from Friday....
60EDEF27-039F-4278-B766-FF9EC6C1ADE9 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
 
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Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
That looks absolutely stunning!

What are the camber settings?

:blush: Thanks, its amazing what some polish and decent lighting can achieve even with a phone...

-1.5 on all corners, the full geometry spec is in the thread if you have a look through. It really turns in fast now, the car really does have an agressive setup!

Always go with vented discs.

Seems a no brainer given the choice!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well we're back again, its been another busy but productive weekend. I'm pleasesd to say that the car now has a fully functioning forced cold air intake fitted!

I just wanted to start by giving a shout out to Richie, I completely hijacked this setup from his recent work and used his suggestions and parts list to make this possible. It goes without saying that this setup is entirely custom, with all of the parts having been sourced from ebay with the exception of the airbox from MJP (this effectively comes in flatpack form though). This setup previously seems to have only been used on tripples rather than SU's from what I've seen to date though...

First up was to protect the airbox itself, arriving in naked firbreglass it looked a bit dull and looked like it would benefit from some protection. Also the lip of it was white in places from the raw finish and gave it a rugged look, having gone round with a black shapie everything was blacked up to match in. Following a quick degrease and a few coats of laquer using a rattle can in the garden the results the next day were much better and give it a more premium finish.

Saturday afternoon started by getting the carbs back to basics to allow me to get in with some masking tape to make a transfer outline of the bolt holes and carb intakes before transfering this across to a cardboard template of the airbox. Having carefully cut this up I could test fit the cardboard for fitment until I was satisfied, with that done I transfered the outlay onto the airbox backing plate marking it up with a Chrome Pen. So as to not rip the fibreglass up, a dremel was used to drill around the areas before opening up the gaps annd sanding them back to get the desired fitment. This was a bit of a sod and took some patience as you only get one shot to get it right.

With that done the rubber sealing trim was installed and the clips/brackets that secure the airbox offered up for positioning and drilling, being patient with the dremel and drill got all of the holes in place. These has now been locked down using M4 Bolts and Nylocks on the inside to give a flush fitment and cause the least disturbance while remaining removable. Long term if there's no issues, I'm still tempted to move to rivets however we will see.

Come Sunday, next up was taking the CRX induction pipe to mark up and chop up using an angle grinder. With my small one out of action the hacksaw came into play as the 9inch grinder I had turned out to be too man for a precision job. This was a case of more patience and conservative cuts to get the desired length (I still think the pipe may be a tad too long with the airbox being very snug pushed up against it). In order to hold it in place a silicone joiner hose was inserted through the bulkhead, this was an absolute just fit and had to be heated in hot water to be made pliable enough to slot in place and is now going no where. With alot of squeezing the ali pipe was dropped in place with some pushing, pulling, cursing and swearing before being tightened up using jubilee clips.

With all of that done, all that was left to do was cut the 90 degree bend pipe out of the front to fit up a suitable cone air filter, the pipe was a bit too heavy duty so took some time with the grinder but seems to have done the job. This slotted in place with jubilee clips and has had a generic ebay red 3 inch cone filter added onto the end. Having covered it in K&N filter oil it looks to be more than up to the job of keeping out all necessary debris and flies etc. Only time will tell how durable it will be!

Overall it seems to be gone very well, its snug but has good clearance in all of the right places. I may cut down the pipe from the airbox to the bulkhead to allow for easier fitment and removal going forward however its ready for the shows this weekend. Having taken it around the block it seems to be running smoothly however the extended roadtest of a couple of hundred miles should reveal all. Fingers crossed I can get it to a Dyno soon to have a proper tune up and see what all of our hard work has gained us, the performance certainly seems stronger.

In other news we're getting close to our big brake upgrade on the front, pads have arrived, fitting kit cleaned up, disks and brackets on their way. I'm just waiting for the brake calipers to be done by BiggRed and then we'll be looking to get them fitted up. More than likely a job for next week to take the pressure off assuming the clipers arrive before then...

Fortunately the car is all fueled up, polished and stowed away in the garage for the weekend waiting to go this year, no more water pump fixes at 11pm the day before please!

A little detail I've been meaning to do something about for a while now!
IMG-9845 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG-9875 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

One Template
IMG-9818 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Test Fit
IMG-9820 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Transfer Across
IMG-9823 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Cutting
IMG-9825 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9830 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9847 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9848 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9834 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

The business end!
IMG-9858 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9864 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9884 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9891 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9901 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9920 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Thanks guys :) only a few small details left now!

I had the car out on Wednesday night for a few more tweaks before the weekend. The induction pipework was a bit too blingy for my liking and didn't match the stainless bend, so I removed it and gave it a matt brushed finish to tone it down a bit. I'm sure this will be a bit marmite.... I've also repositioned all of the jubilee clips to hide the tensioners etc to tidy up the bay. Overall I'm very pleased with the results, looks more of a finished product in my eyes now.

After recently finding another dodgy wheel nut I got fed up of all of the issues I've had with several of them and have now replaced the entire set with new steel wheel nuts for peace of mind. More boring little bits but I removed the choke baseplate to clean it up and fit some rubber feet to remove a vibration/rattle which had been driving me mad while driving and did the tyre pressures thinking of the weekend.

Car should be all good for Saturday and now has rolling road time booked for next Wednesday evening to check where we're at, I'm hoping to give the car a quick service with oil and plugs beforehand as well just to make sure we're in good order. In the meantime though, bring on the weekend!

IMG_9949 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_9952 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Well there's more news, again... The car ran beautifully over the bank holiday weekend up to Donington and Silverstone, very pleased with how it's been behaving of late. It was nice to finally show you what we've been up to in the flesh.

In the name of progress today I finally managed to service the car with new oil and plugs in preparation for a trip over to BD Engineering in Kent for some Rolling Road tuning to dial the car in properly, see where we've got to and understand how best to drive the car. The car has also just ticked over 84,000 miles albeit I doubt that number really has any meaning these days, triggers broom and all!

The nice surprise what that Andy still had a record of my last run back in April 2017 when the Head Gasket pissed coolant all over his floor and we had to abort his run so I actually have a bench mark of the last setup which I thought was lost. At the time of the last visit, the car was running original carbs, old exhaust setup, K&N filters and obviously a leaking head gasket.

The scary thing is that it's taken me two years to get back however so much has changed, even Andy noting the gearing and road speed change due to the 5 speed box and 3.9 Diff. We've dropped 20mph at the same rpm from the last visit for starters!

So interestingly having dialled it all in the first run actually provided the same peak power and a bit more torque but no major differences in terms of power, the midrange had however vastly improved. Having left Andy to work his magic he identified that one of the carbs was sticking slightly behind the other, the needles were set too low, two spark plugs were incorrect and advanced the timing slightly.

With all of this done the final run gave us 149bhp and 162 ft lbs peak power at just over 5100 rpm with some nice smooth curves to match. You can certainly see where the cam and exhaust kick in at 4k rpm and hear it. Short of engine work or a triple setup we've maximised what we've got and its really lively to drive, I was hoping for around 150bhp so quite happy and now know to drive it to around 5k rpm for best performance albeit it will happily go up to 5500 rpm.

Certainly a few hours and £165 well spent in my eyes. Even with the drive over, the RR time and a little hooning around at home for testing purposes of course ;) the car still produced a healthy 26.4 mpg, so very happy just ahead of our trip to Spa.

For those that don't know the current spec is currently a Stock L26, Schneider Stage 2 Cam, Ztherpay Carbs, Zstory Raceport Exhaust, Custom Airbox, OS Giken 4.7KG Flywheel and upgraded Mishimoto cooling system with Spa Fans.

Dyno Graphs and Video of the final as follows:

0A5FA893-54FE-4343-AD19-E15234B149F5 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Comparison, run from 2017 with old setup, first run tonight and then final run after setup
IMG_0043 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Final Curve
IMG_0047 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Numbers Breakdown
IMG_0044 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Power at the Wheels, Peak 118.2bhp
IMG_0046 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Video of my final power run

In other news my newly refurbished brake callipers should be arriving tomorrow so all being well I just need to find time to fit it all now, this car really is all coming together finally! :coolgleam: Fingers crossed this can be done before Spa, I just may chicken out of swapping the Master Cylinder out until our return in the event that something goes sideways!
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
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.
 
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