Six_Shooter's money pit and time vampire... v.240Z

[Guest]

Getting all lubed up... and down

Well, The oil drain back from the turbo took a bit to decide on just exactly how I wanted to do it. I've ran -10 braided hose on my last couple of turbo installs and while it worked it can get expensive and the piece I was using was getting old starting to seep a bit of oil. I hate leaks, and so I eventually decided on a solid tube to a rubber hose coupler at the oil pan. But then I had to decide just what route I was going to take, after some trial fitting, I came up with this:



It snakes in past the Y-pipe and then on a downward slope to the fitting I have at the oil pan.

[Guest]

Springing into action

I knew the weak point on the LX9 valve train was the stock springs, and truth be known, I believe it's been this way for a long time. I used stock valve springs on my Franken60 that used small port 3100 heads, and believe they were a major part of the limiting top end on that engine. I didn't want to take any chances this time and want to rev it to about 6500 RPM or so. I installed a set of Crane Cams valve springs.

Comparison shot:



I used a handy tool that an engine builder friend of mine had (I also bought the springs from him). I was able to remove the stock springs without adding an extension handle, not so with the new aftermarket springs.



No Heat For You!

Last week, while I was under the car, I looked at the block heater and really didn't like that it was still there. I mean I needed something there to keep coolant in the car, but I will never use the block heater, then it hit me, vehicles that don't spend their lives in Canada (or Northern States) probably don't have block heaters fitted to them, so there should be a plug option. Off to the dealer I go, and sure enough after some searching we find it. Has to come from the states, which wasn't surprising. I think I found the same plug at Car Quest the other day, though, which would have likely been cheaper.



Clutching At A Solution

So with the new trans there were some clutch things to sort out, one being that while the original clutch slave could be used, it has to move to a new position relative to the car. It's mounted lower on the bellhousing requiring a different flex line or some other solution. I came up with my own solution:

I decided to make a short extension piece, and a new bracket to anchor the flex line:



I don't like how low the flex line hangs, so I might try using a different hose and a banjo fitting to move the hose up higher.

[ForcedFirebird]

If that's a 10mmx1.0 thread, Nissan used 10mmx1.0 banjo bolts on their brake calipers on the 90's-era cars. I know for sure the 240sx used them, and pretty sure the 300zx did too as the 300zx big brake conversion is popular on the 240's. This would be an easy solution since the brake lines and banjo bolts are readily available.

[Guest]

If that's a 10mmx1.0 thread, Nissan used 10mmx1.0 banjo bolts on their brake calipers on the 90's-era cars. I know for sure the 240sx used them, and pretty sure the 300zx did too as the 300zx big brake conversion is popular on the 240's. This would be an easy solution since the brake lines and banjo bolts are readily available.

Yes, I've already verified that it is indeed 10mmx1.0 thread, using a banjo bolt from a brake caliper I have, which is where I kinda got the idea.

My only concern is whether the flow of fluid would be dampered and would slow down the clutch action.

[Guest]

Going about it

Well, in looking at the cooling system and specifically the bypass that the gen1 used and the gen3 used and how very different they are, I started to formulate a plan to get something better then relying on the heater core as the bypass.

I had to go with my alternate routing because I couldn't find a fitting that I liked to do it my preferred method.

I started by welding up the hole in the back of the front cover that is present on the gen1 front covers. I then added a plate that I drilled and tapped for 3/8" NPT to the top side, where it will be accessible when the front cover is installed.

I followed the idea of the gen1 path for the coolant bypass.



90* fitting with a 3/8" NPT to 3/8" tube adapter.



I then pulled a plug in the block and put a 1/4" to 3/8" tube adapter in that hole.



I then formed a tube with proper tube nuts to connect the two.



Bypass installed



In the intake, where I really would have preferred to run the bypass to, I simply threaded the hole where the tube was for 3/8" NPT and plugged it.

[caffeine]

Just curious why LX9 over keeping the L28? There was a guy at the 1/4 mile event I just went to who was running around 11.5-11.7 with an L28 in a 240Z.

[Guest]

Gimme Fuel, Gimme... Well... fuel...

Engines require three things, fuel air and spark, here, I get fuel to the engine.

In the past on my 660s I've used a stock fuel rail and regulator, well, I had tried an MSD regulator that I was not impressed with and replaced pretty quickly with a stock regulator that I modified to be adjustable. This time I have plans of really increasing available flow through the fuel system, so this is what I shall call "the get it running set-up".

On the previous engine I had a custom fuel rail made, since the stock fuel rail was fugly and wouldn't flow as well as I needed it to, and also limited me to barb style injectors. In that system I had an Aeromotove FPR, that worked well, so I wanted to retain that with the 660. To do this easily required some -6 AN fittings at the fuel rail. Now I know there are expensive adapters available to do this, but I am cheap, and I plan to modify the fuel rails even more in the future, so it made the most sense to weld on some AN fittings to the stock rail. I used a couple 3/8" NPT to -6 AN fittings, instead of the "weld on" type since these were cheaper, if I had to buy them, but I also had a pair of these already, so it made it easy, and cheaper for me.



Installed in the car. I attached the FPR to the strut tower, because I wasn't happy with anything I came up with for mounting it on the engine itself.





I've Got The Power

Next up was wiring. I retained the ECM and harness I was using on the previous engine, which is a 1227749, with a modified harness from a 1988 Cavalier. This is actually the third 660 this harness has been attached to, and third vehicle, if you include the donor car and engine. I used this same harness in my Jimmy years ago. This set-up has been running the L28 for the last 6 years, so all I had to do was modify for the LX9.

Funny enough I didn't have to modify each injector length, since they kinda fell into place, I just had to shorten some wires, and extend only the O2 sensor wires to get everything to fit how I wanted. I aldo had to add some wiring for the alternator, since I am using a Toyota alternator, instead of the GM alternator I was using on the L28.


In these pictures is where I pulled a couple wires out of the vehicle harness to be connected differently, or at different points then where they were originally.





I had intended on using an old hot rodder trick for the starter, where a Ford starter solenoid is used to give power to the starter, on both the heavy feed and the small signal wire. I have done this in the past without issue, but this time it held the starter on for a couple extra seconds, so I ended up changing to using the Ford starter solenoid as only feeding the higher current supply and triggering the starter more conventionally otherwise.

Here I have the loop that is now removed:



Ford starter solenoid, I may remove this and wire it a little differently now, because of how I actually have this connected, but it's working well as it is.

[Guest]

Just curious why LX9 over keeping the L28? There was a guy at the 1/4 mile event I just went to who was running around 11.5-11.7 with an L28 in a 240Z.

Because I bought this car 6 years ago to install an LX9 in, I only played with the L28 because it was there, and not an L24.

The L28 was starting to show it's age and would need a full rebuild pretty soon. It would also cost me a lot more money to get the power out of a the engine that I want if I stayed with the L28 than it will cost me with the LX9, probably by a factor of like 5 to 8 times more money from what I see other people pour into their L28s and still come up shorter than what I want.

The only reason the L28 stayed in the car for 6 years instead of a year or two as planned, was because it was just so bullet proof, it would take a beating and keep going. One of the most robust engines I've ever had the pleasure of owning, and I mean that sincerely. The L28 once it had the manual transmission behind it (my car was originally automatic), and then the turbo and injection on it impressed the hell out of me.

But now that I've driven an LX9 equipped S30, I have ZERO regrets in swapping the L-series out, the car handles and feels different. The way power comes on is much smoother and less labouring. It's also EXTREMELY unique, it's not another turbo L28, or LSx, or RB, or SBC, or any of the other multitude of engines that have been swapped into an S30. As far as I'm aware I'm the first to put one of these engines into an S30. Though I do have some pictures of an S30 that had what looked like a FWD gen1 660 poorly installed in it years ago. No one that I've found has actually installed a gen2 or 3 660 in an S30.

[Guest]

Getting To The Nitty Gritty

At about this point it's getting into the small details that just take time, like vacuum lines, plug wires, etc, etc. Not a lot of pictures of this stage, because, well, it's difficult to show these details in pictures. But I'll show what I do have.

For the PCV I kept the PCV that I used on the turbo L28, which is a Mitsubishi PCV IIRC, I've had it for 6 years, so I don't recall the actual application.



After finishing off the vacuum lines, and wiring, I was able to perform some testing, like the fuel system pressurization, in which I found 2 leaks. One was an O-ring that got pinched upon install, the other was much harder to locate. It turns out that one of the welds was either a bit porous, or not completely welded. After running the fuel pump for a few minutes that end of the rail and injector #1 would get wet with fuel. After a while I decided to just go ahead and touch up the weld on that fitting and see if that would do it. Well, it did.

Time For The Big Pay Off

It was almost 8 PM on Sunday, Zfest, an annual event held by the local Z car club was long over, which sucks, it was the first one I missed since I got my car, and the first one that the car was not running for. The first year I had my car I got it running on the injection the day before the event, though I did start that project months before the event, but I digress.

Going through the check list, fluids (except coolant), wiring, mechanicals, yep, all there and in the right places.

I thought to myself "should I connect the laptop and make some changes or just see how it runs on the bin for the L28?"

I decided to just go for it and try to start it, it could only be better than starting from a "starter bin".

Turn the key on, the fuel pump primes, recheck for leaks, none, and hit the key...

"Vroom" is what I heard, and it was a glorious sound. The birth of a turbo LX9 powered 1973 Datsun 240Z. This made all the work worth it.

It sounded different than the old engine, as I would expect, but I wasn't sure if I liked or disliked the sound, I was undecided, but liked it just the same, because it meant the car was now running and that much closer to driveable. The engine ran for a few more seconds when I decided that I should shut it off, due to no coolant.

So at this point I haven't found a rad that I like, that has the inlets and outlets on the correct sides for the LX9, and has the right fit. So I use the old rad, and make some embarrassing rad hoses, just to get the car going. I will find or make a rad that is the way I want. I will likely need to make a rad. :/



Shift Me, Shift Me, Baby...

I also needed to finish off the shifter. I had built the base mechanism a long time ago, but not the actual shifter handle itself, since I wasn't sure exactly where the shifter mechanism would sit in the shifter opening. Now that it was the last detail it was time to get something that I can at least use for now.

I started with a stock 5-speed shifter which has a unique shape, this shape worked for me, when it came to cutting it apart and making a handle that would place the shifter where it needs to be. It worked out that the shifter came up through the stock trans tunnel, shifter boot, which was a bonus.

It actually works better than expected. I am still going to look into a different shifter, at this point I am going to look at finding a 2WD Pathfinder, or late '80's 300ZX that supposedly used the same trans, but had the shifter in a different location, which might work better in the end.









I did some drivetrain testing on the hoist. Checked that the clutch worked as it should, checked that the rear wheels would actually turn, etc. Did a little bit of AE tuning on the hoist.

While doing this I saw that the coolant temp was being reported as 60*, which was odd, it should have been much warmer than that. Unplugged the coolant sensor, same thing. I thought to myself that it could be a wiring issue, but didn't feel like pulling the upper intake manifold to check at the time, so I left it for the time being.

I was doing something else, near the throttle body, when I noticed that the TPS connector was disconnected, due to the blue wire, then looked at the TPS and realized that I had swapped the CTS and TPS connectors. *facepalm* connected them properly and now everything reads as it should.

It was too late to drive the car home, I didn't want to wake my boss (he lives in the house in front of the shop currently), and I wasn't sure how much tuning it would actually need to be driveable, so I left it on the hoist and drove home in my Yukon. :/

Just Like The First Time

Well, the next morning I go into work and put the car on the ground, and drove it out of the shop for the first time. It was great, the clutch engaged just as it should, no weird noises, no clunks, no bangs.

So I let it sit outside and get up to temp before taking it for a tune drive.

[1988GTU]

Just curious why LX9 over keeping the L28?

I really disliked the intake/exhaust unigasket. Who does that!?!!?! PITA design if you ask me.

[Guest]

I really disliked the intake/exhaust unigasket. Who does that!?!!?! PITA design if you ask me.

While I agree it's an odd design, it had never present a problem for me. Any time I had to replace the gasket, I had both the intake and exhaust pulled off anyway. I only replaced it when I swapped from N/A/carb to Turbo/EFI and when I had to replace the head gasket. The part that I didn't like that allows a combined gasket to happen is that the intake and exhaust are on the same side of the head. This causes the intake charge to be heated from the exhaust, both in the head and from radiated heat to the intake sitting above the exhaust manifold.

I've already noticed that my intake temps are consistently lower with the LX9 compared to the L28, which I did expect, but it's great to see it actually happen.

[Superdave]

Good work Chris!


Waiting for videos

[caffeine]

That engine bay looks gigantic. I guess that comes from being designed for an inline-6. Will you be taking this to a 1/4 mile track this year?

[caffeine]

Also does this have an aftermarket cam in it? What size turbo? (Sorry if I missed it) And what rpm does the boost come on?

[Guest]

Good work Chris!


Waiting for videos

You guys and your need for moving pictures...

Soon enough, once I get some good footage, and figure out why my phone wants to turn pictures and video 90*. *iFacepalm*

That engine bay looks gigantic. I guess that comes from being designed for an inline-6. Will you be taking this to a 1/4 mile track this year?

Also does this have an aftermarket cam in it? What size turbo? (Sorry if I missed it) And what rpm does the boost come on?

Yes, the bay is pretty large, but can be eaten away pretty quickly. I really thought I was going to have more space between the turbo and the rad, but everything fits, just snuggly.

I plan to get to the track at some point before the snow flies, I need to do some tuning on it first, before considering that though.

The engine itself is a stock LX9 internally, except for the valve springs, which are Crane Cams, but I don't recall the part number off hand.