Convertible 240 with 1UZ

[Lextreme II]

Hi, my name is Ken, i just found your site and am surprised to see so many 1UZFE swaps. I have a '73 datsun 240Z that i put a 1990 LS motor and trans into back in 1992. I finished it in early '98. I also chopped the car and made it a convertible.

 

[deankdx]

BRILLIENT! is the rear styled like a corvet or is that you're own design, never seen a ZED with a boot!

 

[Lextreme II]

I think its a conversion....

 

[NEXUZ]

NEXUZ 240Z convertible

Hi, i am new to this site. this convertible 240Z is my car. I built this car between 1992 and 1998 while getting married, doing a house remodel, having a child, and of course working a full time job. vehicle details: all work done on this vehicle was performed by me except for the finish paint. 1973 240z, chopped top off, reinforced chassis with 1.5" seamless tubing-low 'X' across door opening, double hooped roll bar, car is very stiff. rear body mods are all metal hand fabbed pieces. rolled taillight lens holders, mid 80s' corvette lenses, recessed license plate, fuel fill behind plate. trunk is fully operational, it is the old hatchback sectioned and rewelded. motor and trans are out of a 1990 LS400 that had been a rollover. when i built the car i had to abide by california smog laws so it is fully smog legal here. since than a 1973 car is exempt from being checked for smog. i ran a griffin aluminum radiator- these are excellent for swaps, i have used them on three and they are very efficient. front brakes are the four piston calipers off the toyota 4WD trucks, i drilled the rotors. rear brakes are off a 1980's 280zx and i also drilled the rear rotors. strut towers are sectioned 1.625" frt. and rear and i installed shorter cartriges. this alows the car to be lowered but still allow full travel without bottoming on the strut, car rides sweet and handles great. i installed a nismo limited slip with 3.73 rear gears. in order for motor to fit in i cut and modified the oil pan and also relocated the oil filter. the pictures i sent to your moderator are from a regular camera and then scanned. i have a digital now so i will shoot some better quality pictures and post them if you are interested. thanks for looking.

 

[Lextreme II]

Please do post more pictures. I have to reduce the size and quality didnt come out too good. Take pictures with 640 x 480 setting. I love your roll bar. Is that custom made by you too? I was thinking about a chop SC400 doing the same thing.

 

[NEXUZ]

yes, i made the roll bar. I had a shop with a mandrel tube bender bend the two seperate tubes to my needs and then i installed them so they touch each other at the top edge and then separate as they head down to there attatchment point at the wheel well. i then covered it with sheet metal (welded) and then i sewed a cover to finish it off. the cover was tricky but it turned out really nice. a chopped sc400 would be very cool. I wiil send more detailed pictures when i can, but at the moment we just bought a used home and i am remodeling the kitchen and next will be to set up my garage again for doing projects. needless to say my Z is sitting outside under a cover to get thru the rains we are having. so i will not be taking pictures in the immediate future.

 

[GSMnow]

Hi NEXUZ

I am also in CA, actually in Santa Clarita. I am in the process of getting the parts to put the 1UZ V8 into my 1983 Toyota Celica. Since you have it up and running in CA. I was hoping you could answer a few questions. Since you are a 73 you are not as strictly controlled as I will be, but you still had to get it looked at once. I have not been able to find a referee shop to talk to. Since the project is only begining, I want to ask questions before doing anything wrong. Do you have any contact info for a referee shop anywhere in LA county? My car is actually still licenses back in Chicago, IL but it has not had any engine in it for a bit over 2 years since I got my job out here. The conversion to 1UZ power will most likely happen in Chicago and the car will be brought out fully running with full Illinois emissions, title, and insurance intact. I am hoping this will make them a bit more accelting of it as a move in car. I have located a 1993 donor LS400, but it is not available yet. I am going for a pre 94 car due to the simpler ECU/wiring setup. I will also se the complete ECU and wiring harness including the auto trans from the LS since the same ECU controls it. My only big concern is it will be a 49 state Illinois donor. As far as I can tell the only difference is the CA cars have EGR also. I may need to get a CA ECU and EGR valve/temp sensor if they require me to put that is as well. I hope we can kep in touch.

Gary M.

 

[Lextreme II]

My friend's neigbor was talking to me about a 240Z. He has two of them and they are in the early 70s. I told him about swapping the aged inline 6 with a 1uz for power and weight. The 1uz is shorter then the I6 and therefore better weight distrubution.

Gary,
Smog issue is very complicated and i am not a the person to give you legal advice.

 

[lowboost]

he didnt mention what kind of tranny he is running.

 

[StockSC300]

I recently did a 1UZ-FE swap into a Nissan 240SX and it turned out very easy. I make adapter plates for just about any transmission you want to run. In this photo I have an SR20DET transmission bolted up to it. I've successfully mated together the 350Z 6-speed and the R154 5-speed all to the 1UZ-FE. I am currently working on mating together a 4-speed Dog-box for clutch-less shifting and high rev applications. the cheapiest 6-speed on the market today is the 350Z 6-speed, you can find them on Ebay for 300$ and the adapter plate that I make, makes this combo a direct bolt application.

if you guys have any questions don't hesitate to ask

my email is [email protected]

here is a video of the car at a local drift event about a month ago.

http://www.youtube.com/user/floridaracing#p/u/6/lxhM91D1oKg

 

[WDoherty]

Wow, tell us more about these adapter plates (price, their design, manufacture, etc.) . Do you make flywheels as well?

 

[StockSC300]

Well the price and type of material used is a case by case basis. It all depends on how much room there is to work with, how many other aspects of the drive train are affected by the adapter plate, and how much torque you realistically want to run at the rear wheels.

if you want a quote on an adapter plate or have questions about how the setup goes together, don't hesitate to shoot me an email. I will be more than happy to answer any questions. My email is:

[email protected]

I just got a Vortech S-trim in the mail, that I am thinking about putting on the UZi in the S chassis soon, so I will keep you updated!!

 

[StockSC300]

Oh I forgot,

Yes I do the Flywheel adaption as well

, I usually use a 11lb chromoly flywheel to start and mill it out to fit the 1UZ crank, which is also the same crank as the late model 1UZ and the 3UZ, so any aluminum block UZ will work with this flywheel and Pilot bearing setup that I have.

 

[dpf22]

Hey StockSC300 I am interested in buying an adapter from you for mating to a second generation rx7 turbo Gearbox. I was wondering what your time frame on something like this is as well as how much you're asking. Please e-mail me at [email protected]

Thanks