[240Z TwinTurbo]

Finally got the bump stops so I was able to put that on the passenger side shock as well as driver's side. In the process I found the passenger side shock to have almost no rebound so it needs to be replaced sooner than later. On the driver's side I added the titanium spacer to the shock top, the bump stop, and added the painted top plate. Since my heater core was leaking from a hose I decided to buy a bunch of stainless liner clamps from Breeze and replace all of the existing hose clamps from the block to the heater core.

Next order of business was to ship all the valve covers to Greggs Customs for some powder coating love. I painted a card with the 350Z Dayton Blue and simply asked him to get the color as close as possible. $62 to ship with a UPS account. Gregg doesn't know it yet, but I need him to add 6AN ORB Swivel Banjo to 6AN Male to the top off the driver's side valve cover for an oil return because I'm adding a Turbo Smart oil pressure regulator. I drilled a dimple using a 3/16" bit so you know where I'm talking about. BTW, the white box is my new short throw shifter.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

The car uses a Z32 trans with an RB25 bell housing to mate to the RB26. The OEM Z32 shifter bracket is attached to the trans with rubber isolators, which allows the bracket to move and over time it gets super sloppy. I ordered a solid shifter bracket and to my surprise Amazon sold a nice short throw billet shifter for about $50. Gonna try to get this installed soon.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Good news and bad news!

Good news is that Greggs Customs got my valve covers and found a very close color match for the 350Z Daytona Blue. I purchased a rattle can of that color for the camber plate tops so I sprayed out a card and stuck it in the box so Gregg had a good color reference. Looks like a match to me!

The bad news is that I didn't take the time to remove the old shifter bracket before ordering the new one because I would have realized it was shortened. Gotta send this back and get my $100, but I discovered the one that is the correct length is $300. Gotta pay to play!

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

I pressure tested (25psi) all of the hoses and tubes in the heater system to find the leak, which ended up being the heater control valve. Well, because the 260Z was only one year in the USA parts can actually be harder to get vs the 240Z. In my case, the new heater control valve is $299.

Well, for $300 I can find a way to repair the valve. I simply took apart the valve and found it contained 2 orings so for $1.25 from NAPA I was back in business and it pressure tested to 25psi.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

I'm thinking this was not designed to install with the trans in the car or by yourself. Where there is a will there is a way! Solid shift bracket and short shifter install and feels great. Next step will be to make a cover for the trans tunnel to fit around the billet shifter base and then attach a rubber boot to seal. BTW, that wasn't me who hacked up the shifter opening.

 

[gtrbillet]

Wiring looks super clean

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Wiring looks super clean

Off in the distance the ECU wiring is actually decent as seen below. Some of that will be cleaned up and/or removed based on changes I am making. For example, you can see there is a "tachometer adapter" box that was custom configured to convert a 30-2 trigger wheel off the exhaust cam to a 60-2 trigger wheel that is required by the Electromotive. This piece is finicky at startup and sometimes doesn't give the proper signal and the car won't start. Therefore, i will be removing this box and have ATI machine my crank pulley hub for an actual 60-2 trigger wheel.

What you don't see is the Dash Logger that monitors and controls additional sensors as well as the traction control module that does a good job of eliminating tires spin, which both add to the amount of wires. Two of the gauges are also custom driven off the can bus and that will also be removed with the new SpeedHut Gauges I am installing.

Definitely the wires up close for the stereo need to be cleaned up, but add it to the list.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Another small project was to modify the factory block fitting for the heater core to remove the small tube off to the side. The tube simply had a rubber cap on the end with a hose clamp, but I prefer to just eliminate crap like that because eventually those caps will leak.

I cut off the small tube off to the side and drilled and tapped the hole 3/8" NPT and installed a pipe plug. The fitting on the end I cut it off and installed a 1/2" BSP to 17mm barb and then TIG brazed with silicone bronze. Once that was done I pressure tested to 95psi and no leaks!

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

While I've got the front dash removed fixing the heater core I have access to remove the 3 center gauges. The two larger gauges behind the steering wheel pull out from the front so much easier to install. Because I only have 5 gauge openings total and the touch screen dash logger will be hidden in the glove compartment, I decided to pack a bunch of stuff into the available space since I don't wan't to get rid of the stereo.

Here are the two 4.5" gauges behind the steering wheel that I want. Since the interior is grey I went with a grey background and because the car is blue i went with the blue backlit LED. The first two pictures show the day and night difference with the speedo and also notice it shows the water temp and fuel level. The third picture is the tach and it also shows the battery and oil pressure.

For the three center gauges they will be Boost, AFR, and Fuel pressure. However, because the site hasn't updated the fuel pressure gauge that matches I have to wait until next week to order. Below is how the boost gauge looks during the day and they are 2-5/8"

Let me know what you think because I debated doing white background or perhaps different gauge combos. Below is a picture I ripped from the internet showing these gauges installed.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Finally got the shifter squared away! Found a nice boot to cover the shifter so the grease was not exposed, which was a generic Dorman seal off Amazon.

I next added the custom aluminum plate I made to cover the hole. I added some 3M weather stripping caulk around the entire edge prior to attaching the plate so it would seal. The caulk never hardens and can easily be removed so kinda like the stuff that holds the plastic door liner to the door underneath the door panel.

I then added a generic shift boot from Spectra, which was another cheap option off Amazon, but works well.

Here is the final outcome although I will probably put some black silicone caulk around the aluminum plates just in case.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Some powdercoating love from Gregg's Customs!

 

[gtrbillet]

Do you have a replacement emblem for the center?

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Do you have a replacement emblem for the center?

Yes, the one I pulled off. It is an aluminum piece that was glued to the center section so I used a heat gun to slowly soften and remove. Gotta figure out what glue to use when I put it back on.

 

[Wicked]

Some powdercoating love from Gregg's Customs!


View attachment 406726
View attachment 406727
View attachment 406725

That's gorgeous!!

 

[gtrbillet]

Illusion Blueberry from prismatic powders.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

The Electromotive Tech GT requires a signal input from a 60-2 trigger wheel for the ignition timing. However, the previous owner created a conversion box to convert the 360 slot OEM signal from the CAS to a 60-2 signal. It is always best to drive the ignition signal from the crank as opposed to the cam to ensure accurate ignition timing. Additionally, the conversion box doesn't always pick up the signal when cranking the car so it can randomly take time for the motor to fire up.

The trigger wheel works by establishing TDC when the trailing edge of the 11th tooth passes the magnetic pickup. The 11th tooth is established following the -2 missing teeth as shown below, which in this picture assumes clockwise rotation.

To set this up, I put the motor at TDC and then made a custom mount for the magnetic pickup. The magnetic pickup is secured by tightening the bolt, which essentially clamps the sensor in place. Once the mount is made I can then determine where on the damper the sensor is positioned and that mark represents where the trailing edge of the 11th tooth will be positioned. Due to limited areas to mount the trigger wheel, it will be integrated into the back of the smaller pulley on the front of the damper.

Once the location on the damper for the trailing edge of the 11th tooth is determined, I then transferred that mark to the smaller pulley. The trigger wheel is 0.125" thick so you simply take 0.125" off the backside of the pulley and machine the trigger wheel ID to be the same as the pulley ID. Line up the trailing edge of the 11th tooth with the mark on the pulley and secure the trigger wheel to the pulley with flat head machine screws.

 

[hunter]

I missed this when you started, great project. 40 years ago, I did something similar, I took a 635 1980 BMW and put a turbo set up on it. Callaway . I have no idea the power output but it drove away from Turbo 930s.... The weight was only 2800 pounds because sold in EU only. It was a 5 speed close ratio and a short locker rear end. Top speed was only 135 at red line but it was very fast. MY days of doing this stuff are gone but this project is right up my alley if I wasn't an old guy. I will enjoy the completion of this.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

Received the powder coated valve covers from Greggs Customs Saturday and they look great. For the valley cover and upper/lower timing covers Nissan added a silicone bead along the edge to help create a seal. For this step I used Permatex Ultra Black in a caulk tube to apply to the edge. This needs to completely cure before I can put it on the car.

This was a quickly mock up of the valley cover prior to adding the silicone bead shown above. I haven't decided if this is too much blue because I have a spare valley cover that I can powder coat grey to match the interior and future rims. I do like how the grey Nissan emblem creates contrast, but let me know your thoughts.

 

[240Z TwinTurbo]

I sent the ATI damper in to be refreshed because they recommend servicing every 10 years and this thing was built 20 years ago. Well, one they led to another and I decided to go ahead and change the timing belt and the two pulleys since it's right there. It never ends!

 

[hunter]

Good move, why not do almost everything while the motor is out and easy to work on. Maybe a new water pump ?