"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin)
05/01/2015 at 15:00 • Filed to: 240z, project car
8
8|
"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin)
05/01/2015 at 15:00 • Filed to: 240z, project car | 8
| 8 |
So time to put in the engine right? Nope, I decided that I should put on the nice painted fenders first, just so it can be scuffed up and scratched in the process. Real smart....
Given the door bar running right in front of the door latch on the interior, I decided to run some simple pulls.
Couple bucks at the hardware store...
Installed.
Then came time for the engine. At first the crane wouldn’t lift high enough, so the engine sat back down while we lengthened the boom. Then it wouldn’t slide underneath the frame easily so the car went up on blocks. Then we hit the stud on the garage roof. Engine back down, car rolled back. Finally we managed to get the engine in place.
A little fan dangling and we were in business, note the not so white engine cover.
I then installed the rest of the front brace, along with the new radiator, and the front chin spoiler I picked up and installed the front turn signals (which had to be opened and cleaned because they had grass growing out of them...)
Then came the wheels.
15x7 + 0 König rewinds with a little modification and rebuilding some of the curb rash. They got a nice new coat of paint and were looking spiffy.
Then came the moment, the first start.
New oil for the engine and transmission, coolant, timing double checked. Sprayed some starter fluid, assumed the position and cranked the key and....
Nothing
Sprayed more starter fluid and I got it to flash and bang once or twice, but nothing. I went online and someone told me that it had to be that I installed my distributor off by a tooth. I had the book so I was confident, but I went back and pulled it repeatedly to check. On an L series one has to drain the oil and pull the oil pump to clock the distributor. After 4 times of doing this, I was positive my initial timing was correct. I threw in the towel and asked for help from anyone close by. A forum member answered the call and arrived in his turbo carb’d 280z. We went over plug gaps and found out the coil wasn’t getting any power with key on (the wiring was a bit convoluted as I had modernized the ignition with the ignition control unit from the 79 motor. Some more fan dangling and we got it to chug, but something sounded off. He said the compression sounded terrible, that the valves weren’t hissing correctly. He pulled off the valve cover and found the valves were all out of adjustment. I had never touched them and had just reassembled the head as I found it, the decking or something must have tweaked it a bit. We got them close or maxed out on adjustment and were awarded with several hissing cylinders.
http://vid639.photobucket.com/albums/uu119/j…
I think you can hear it in my voice, I was super ecstatic, the first start. She was running, and she was running LOUD. We shut her off and I had a stupid grin on my face for a long while. He gave me the homework assignment of getting the valves closer to the stock adjustment point and took off. Something to keep in mind, notice how hard he has to push to get the car to rev even a little bit.
An aside, for others, an engine needs 4 things to run. Fuel, spark, air, compression. With a carb as long as the fuel is making it to the carb and the carbs aren’t sticking, you are golden. With spark a simple spark tester will put you on your way, with air as long as the throttle body is open the engine will pull. Compression needs to be checked with a compression gauge or hissing in the valve train. If engine doesn’t run, pick one of those and check. Once you have all 4 it is just a matter of timing and running engine :).
I took off the rocker adjustment nut as it seemed like it was preventing the full range of adjustment. I ground some of the lock nuts down a few mm to give it a bit more adjustment and managed to get all of the intake and exhaust valves in spec.
I went off to the tire shop and came back with a set of falken tires and threw them on, the old wheels were 14’s and were ever so gently kissing the rear disc brake caliper so I couldn’t think of moving it without the 15’s on.
Then decided that since I wasn’t running a heater core I could use the panel for some more useful information. Like voltage, time, and cabin temp.
The fuel cell also needed a different sweep gauge so I ordered a green one to match and installed it in the old housing
Along with the new tach it made for a doggone purty sight.
Hood went on along with the hatch
My friend who had been helping me was coming over, and I figured I would surprise him. I pulled the car out of the garage and waited down the street. As he parked I came rolling by.
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Yea not quite the impact I hoped, but meh.
I went off to get her registered and insured. I wanted some custom plates and stuff so that ended up costing quite a bit and given my age I would not qualify for classic car insurance so I just went with the plan I could get from my job with an agreed value type of arrangement. And she was ready for her maiden voyage, or so I thought.
The goal was the exhaust shop, but when I tried to kick on my wiper the fuse kept blowing. I swapped motors and eventually found out it was binding on the linkage.
Once that was figured out I pulled out the car for the first time in broad daylight.
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And off to get my first fill up ever.
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Then off to the exhaust shop. I left them very specific instructions. The headers tend to drag on these cars along with the exhaust, so cutting a bit off the headers one can bring the entire exhaust up a few inches. I also requested some two bolt flanges to make disassembly easy. A few hundred dollars later and I was on my way.
(Note a bit farther into the future time line wise, but I figured it would be rude to not include the excellent exhaust note).
Next would come some more problems. I think it never really ends with this car.
Lessons learned:
Forums are awesome, sometimes bum advice, but most of the time really helpful and knowledgeable people.
Refer to aside above, engine needs 4 things to run, once you have it, it runs.
Carbs can stick, have a blunt instrument nearby to whack it a few times if that happens.
Open headers are stupid loud...and fun
The L28 sounds amazing! Coupled with the carb induction noise it is just an absolute hoot to drive.
The first start is an amazing experience, especially when you built up the engine yourself.
Costs:
200 - fluids
30 - spark plugs
50 - spark plug wires
20 - distributor cap and rotor
50 - new coil
30 - swage tool
10 - hardware store stuff
25 - fuel hose
50 - front chin spoiler
300 - König rewinds
500 - falken tires
400 - exhaust
50 - fuel gauge
50 - led readouts
50 - wiring and switches
1000 - insurance
250 - registration/tabs/plate
Subtotal: 3065
Total spent: 11885
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Frank Grimes
> StudyStudyStudy
05/01/2015 at 15:26 |
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thats freaking rad. it feels so amazing to have a pile of parts put together again and driving!
What are you plans for the car?
crowmolly
> StudyStudyStudy
05/01/2015 at 15:31 |
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Chinese tool alert! Ha ha.
Car looks great!
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StudyStudyStudy
> crowmolly
05/01/2015 at 15:40 |
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I should have bought stock at harbor freight lol
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StudyStudyStudy
> Frank Grimes
05/01/2015 at 15:43 |
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That it does, at several points I think a lot of people stopped believing it would come back together (myself included).
Still more to come actually.
MonkeePuzzle
> StudyStudyStudy
05/01/2015 at 16:17 |
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love the gold konigs. Looks like in the future you traded them for something a little more mundane though :S
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StudyStudyStudy
> MonkeePuzzle
05/01/2015 at 16:32 |
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Very observant sir.
I actually still have the konigs and plan on putting them back on one of these days. The dilemma is the cost to swap tires from two sets of wheels vs buying another set of tires is sadly in the same ball park. Either have to find somewhere much cheaper, or eat through the tires first.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> StudyStudyStudy
05/01/2015 at 17:12 |
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Great articles. These deserve to be front-paged. Is there anything left to do on your Z?
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StudyStudyStudy
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/01/2015 at 17:18 |
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It will take a turn in the next few posts.
And since I just ordered parts for it yesterday, still a little a work in progress and still a little bit more to go.