Hi Guys, I'm new...

After a bit of advice, I've tracked down a fully restored and modified 240z, it has appeared in magazines over here in oz, and the owner will be selling in about a month... he's asking about $18,000 aud (about half in us dollars $9,000)... the following is a list of his modifcations (written by the owner) and a picture, just wondering if any of you have used a button clutch, if so, what are they like to drive?...

"...I bought the car three years ago already restored for $12,000. The engine

and gearbox had problems, however, so I decided to do an engine conversion.

I had the 1JZ-GTE twin turbo engine fitted by Rocco's Performance. It has

polished pipework, a large front-mount intercooler, Haltech E6K computer and

3-inch mandrel-bent exhaust system. It makes around 200kW at the wheels with

13.5psi boost and has run a 12.5 second pass on street tyres.

The entire driveline has been replaced too. It has a button clutch, Supra

5-speed, custom tailshaft, 3.9:1 LSD (R200) and custom-made driveshafts with

DR30 CV joints (these cost $1800). The brakes were another part of the

project, now 330mm vented front and 310mm solid rear discs, with HSV

2-piston calipers on the front.

The wheels are 17x7.5 and 17x8 Evolution Stich three-piece alloys, with the

guards lipped to fit the rear tyres (235/40ZR17). The suspension is

Whiteline springs, KYB shocks, Lovells swaybars etc, with modified rear arms

to allow toe adjustment. Despite all this the body is completely standard,

in metallic red. The interior has a fresh dashboard and trim, standard seats

retrimmed in leather and velour, custom console, custom stereo installation

and so on. It is virtually a show car, but set up to be driven daily if

needed. It also has 12 months rego, all receipts for my work and full

engineering certification..."

so, what do you guys think? and what about that clutch?

Cheers,

Doco.

pic

Don't buy the car...by the land and build a house on it...what a view.

Great colour isn't it. The clutch will most probably be a high performance tri blobby dowhacky. Hell I can't remember the correct name for it. Basically you get more performance out of a clutch with this design. Someone else will tell you why no doubt if you really need to know. The pedal would be a little harder to press I woudl think but I'm only guessing.

It is quite obvious that with that engine in there...it would burn out a standard clutch in no time. What rear wheel HP has it got?

Check to see if those 17's rub on the guards. It will be very close.

I just got off the phone with Eddie from South Bend Clutch in Indiana. He gave me the skinny on button clutches...

They are also called 6-puck or puck clutches. They will handle much greater HP and torque than standard type disk clutches. The problem with them for daily drivers is that they can cause excess wear on the flywheel and pressure plate -- especially if you slip the clutch at all. The clutch pedal throw will be about half normal too -- this allows for quicker shifts when racing. They make various levels of these types of clutches. Some are race only, some are ok on the street if you have a high HP engine like this car seems to have. Just don't slip it too much.

Only thing I see wrong with the photo is that I'm not in it!!! :mad:

Let's see, me, my dog, and a beautiful female, oh well, it's nice to dream huh?:cross-eye

You shouldn't have too much trouble with it with a hydraulic clutch. It would be a lot stiffer if you had a mechanical linkage trying overcome the heavy springs used in the pressure plate with a puck type plate. Your leg would surely get a work out.

Gotta love that color!!

I'd be afraid of taking it out. I would recommend parking that beauty in the living room and getting rid of the furniture. NNNIIICCCEEE!!!:classic:

All i can add is what a beauty.

If you do end up buying her congratulations and please add loads of pics in the members gallery, also let us know what colour that car is.

Good Luck.

I like that with the candyapple paint & no side marker lamps. I think it helps the flow of the body.

I filled mine awhile back. Now very happy I did after seeing one done & painted.

That for 9k. Take it!!!

That photo made A real nice wallpaper

Hi Doco,

that car is a great buy, if I'm not wrong the car belongs to a guy called Ben Ellis that writes for many car magazines here in Australia (Zoom, High Performance Imports, Fast Four and Rotaries etc.)

The whole project is documented in Zoom magazine and would ad significant history to the car. Zoom featured all of the build: from the engine conversion and intercooler pipework, adapting the gearbox, brake upgrade, ecu install, engine dyno tuning and licensing the car.

They mentioned that at one stage the diff was welded so that they would get drive down at the drags (this may be a different diff to the one in the car now), you may want to check up on that as a welded diffs are not very nice on the streets when going around corners (they skip like crazy).

The car should be a great buy as the guy is a zed car nut himself, and also the work was done at reputable car shops. Take it now before its too late (trust me it takes way more than that to try and replicate a build like that, thats not considering your own time and frustration, plus the car is all police approved and ready to be enjoyed!!!)

If you want I can dig up all of the issue numbers that the car was featured in Zoom.

Thanks for the tips guys...

Cuong, you're absolutley right, I didnt know if I should post Ben's name or not, it's a pretty unique Zed, Ben will be away for a few weeks, so I'll have to wait till he gets back before I can have a look... That'd be great if you could dig up those issue numbers, i'd love to read the articles.

Cheers,

Doco.