My deadline is November 11. That is when my Z will hit the road on something of a personal dream. I have been wanting to attend a first class vintage rally for years, hell, decades. When I first bought my Z back in 2008, I had this in mind as the main reason for getting a classic car. Sure car shows are fun and the occasional cruise to work is a joy. But getting them out on the road seeing beautiful scenery is what I think these cars are made for. Enter the TEXAS 1000.

http://vintagerallies.com/texas/

I first saw this rally 2 years ago and thought it was spectacular. The cars, the sights, the experience is just what I was thinking my Z was made for. It was pretty expensive, but if I saved up for many months I could probably swing it. AS time went on and I worked on the Z when life allowed me to. I had many things delaying this dream. My wife had a pituitary tumor that had to be taken care of. My fathers fight with Renal Cancer took almost a year. But things are settling, and life has a way of moving on. After many sun rises and sun sets, My Z is about to go under its biggest transformation since new. Up to this point it has been to build the best stock 71 Z that I could. I tinkered with a mod here or there, but for the most part, it has been OEM as much as I could afford.

But now, the chips have been played. I have been wanting to start a rally build thread for the longest time. But since the rally was not until November I figured I would wait. But then I figured you guys have been with me through dozens of mods (not to mention the dreaded year of the SU's part throttle popping fiasco). I figured I would take you along through my modification of a mostly bone stock 71 Z as it turns into a vintage rally driver that will do all of us classic Z guys proud when it is parked next to the Ferraris and Porsches.

My list of things to do was LONG. Not that my car was in any way in bad shape. On the contrary, it was a great driving car, but some things I have not had a chance to get to.

First lets talk about what has been done:

1) All new rubber in the car, every mount, hose, bushing, and seal (except for that exterior rubber that touches the window at the base)

2) All new brakes on all 4 corners, with a more aggressive street pad/shoe, and DOT 4 fluid, new power brake booster

3) New wheel bearings all around

4) Stainless brake lines installed

5) Newly cleaned and redone fuel system with shiny new evaporator tank and OEM plumbing

6) Poly Bushings on the steering rack, coupler and front sway bar

7) New retrosound audio system and 2 ken wood 5" speakers in the back.

8) Fixed rear power antenna so it works

9) Fixed all push cables in the heating system

10) Newly rebuilt clock and new Amp gage.

11) New wheels an tires (VTO with Bridgestone Potenza RE960)

12) New wipers

13) Daves headlight mod and a 60 amp alternator

14) Triple Weber Install (makes the car a joy to drive at any speed and throttle application! )

15) New U joints in the driveshaft and half shafts

16) Other odds and ins like a recurved rebuilt OEM dizzy, coil, wires, etc...You get the drift.

Second lets talk about what I have planned.

1) I plan upping the HP in the gal.

2) I plan on fitting a newly rebuilt transmission in her since my 3 gear has been whining for 2 years and it is a good time to fix that.

3) I want to totally redo the front steering components, for safety sake as I think they are original to the car

4) I want to get some wider tires for the rally, and preferably some Summer tires, in a 205/55/15 (currently have 195/60/15) which I can use as track day tires as well.

So far I have put into motion three of the four.

On the engine front... Eiji at Datsun spirit is building me a sweet L28, more on that baby to come, right now it is getting a cam ground to fit with my ROSS pistons.

On the transmission. I have a newly rebuilt Type B 4 speed that I purchased from Z car source sitting in my garage with a new 240Z clutch, fork, throwout bearing, sleeve, install tool, and bushing waiting to be mated to the engine when it comes in. To accompany that, I have ordered a new dust boot for a 72 and up Z and a short shifter that MSA sells that looks like the OEM comp shift lever designed to work when fitting a Type B into a car that came with a Type A. It may work, it may not. Who knows. We will all find out together.

On the front suspension front, since I have tokiko shocks and struts, I am leaving those alone, as I have no reason to doubt them. But my ball joints, and tie rod ends are old, I mean original old. They have got to go, as will my poly bushings on my TC rods. I ordered the Delrin ball kit. So I am going to do all of that at once.

Pics are about to start coming in on the front end. The car is in the garage with the nose in the air. So the transformation is under way. This is going to consume my entire summer, but in the end, I really hope to have a beauty of a rally ready Z.

Edited May 28, 201212 yr by Zedyone_kenobi

Good luck on this well deserve adventure , I am also on the same type of adventure but in a lesser scale.After attending a meet with the 510 East Coast ''Gang''at the Jefferson 500 Historic Race 2.5 Trans-Am series this past weekend the bug of doing track day at the Summit Point Racetrack in WV has bitten me .

Best of Luck to you. Actual racing is quite the undertaking. Go get 'em

Track Day is an intro to high speed driving, you bring your own street car and enjoy fast driving w/out the fear of blue/red lights in your rear-view mirror. For a fee you receive classroom instructions, a demo drive with instructor plus solo fast pace driving on the track. And yes the car has to be in proper condition to be abuse

Edited May 29, 201212 yr by 72 OJ

Stephen, whatever you do to your car, just make sure you complete it early enough so that you can put a lot of hard miles on the car before the rally. It is definitely better to make adjustments and repairs near your house than on a trip far from home. Also, if you want I can post a list of tools and supplies I bring just case of road emergencies (which NEVER happen, of course).

Of course, I think that would be great in this thread, so others can get the benefit of your wisdom

Ok, keeping in mind that you want to economize on weight and volume, and assuming that your car has a jack, lug wrench and pressurized spare tire (remember that the lug nuts for the spare may be different from those on your other wheels) I pack the following;

Tools

Sockets 10mm-17mm +ratchet + extension

Wrenches 8mm-14mm

Adjustable (crescent) wrench +channel lock pliers+ lineman's pliers with wire cutter

Standard and Phillips screwdrivers

Utility knife

2" length of 1.5" dia. copper pipe + 2 hose clamps (for splicing ruptured radiator hose).

Hammer

Flashlight and/or headband light

Supplies

Duct tape and electrical tape

Rags and paper towels

Thin rubber gloves

1 gallon water and 1 qt oil

Small bottle of brake fluid

Bailing wire (yes, I have had to use it)

Appx. 4' length of tubing suitable for fuel

Small length (appx. 12") of 2x4

Old Sheet in case you need to lay on the ground

I generally pack the tools in a small flexible cooler I have. That way I don't have to hear them rattle around. I pack the tools liquids and wood behind the passenger's seat, you do NOT want this stuff lying in the back because it WILL slide when you are throwing the car through turns.

Hopefully you won't have to use any of this, but there will be someone on the run that will if you are driving hard. If you have space there are other things you may want to take (I have a spare slave cylinder in the glovebox) but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Edited May 30, 201212 yr by tlorber

Thanks Tlorber!

That is great advice. I will take heed on most if not all of that.

I started my front end work officially, instead of just picture plastering here, I will just post links to my other threads that cover the work.

Front end Refresh

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread46265.html

UPDATE: I would rather have updated the first post to save some clicking, but My L28 is ready to ship! Eiji is the MAN You can follow the details of its build in this thread:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46362&p=400947#post400947

The next chapter in this saga continues, as the engine is on a pallet set to arrive tomorrow!

I went to northern tools and picked up a 2 ton hydraulic hoist which has a large reach. I will assemble that tonight after everybody goes to sleep.

I think it is time to get the car up on jack stands and start unbolting things. The OEM L24 has been a great engine, does not smoke, and has run strong for 71000 miles. IT will be pulled and stored in a climate controlled storage unit until its services are needed again.

I have decided to pull the engine/transmission together. I will remove the radiator and engine accessories first. Then look into getting it boiled out and cleaned. OR just replace it with a new 3 core aluminum one. NOt sure which I will do. I have time to decide I guess. Definitely do not want my new engine running hot.

Don't forget to cap the tranny where the driveshaft plugs in! You'll have a large mess if you don't.

That is getting drained my friend. With the engine oil and radiator as well. Plan to keep the whole system empty.

the only thing I am not sure of is how high off the ground does the car need to be to pull the engine/tranny as a unit.