Vintage Datsun Z Race Car Build

[Will_Race_For_Food]

This is a Datsun Z car that had been racing SCCA and other events most of its life. A client of ours owns the car and we are going to freshen it up some and then go vintage and track day racing with this car.

You can follow our build as we go along. This is meant to be a fairly low budget but nice build. The owner will run this at many track days with the Destiny Racing Support Group and also at vintage events mainly on the East Coast.

Tommy Fitzgerald

DestinyRacingUSA.com

[240260280z]

Tell us more about mods to those carbs

[gnosez]

We look forward to seeing your project car next year....

[Will_Race_For_Food]

Thx for the comments and interest in this build. We were able to get the engine and transmission out and take a better look at what we are starting with. Destiny Racing USA plans to have this car ready for the December 5 - 8th HSR race at our home track - sebring florida. WISH US LUCK!

here is an image of the car minus the drive line;

The car is very sound with minimal floor board repairs. The cage is actually very sound with the exception of the door bars, which we plan to improve;

We expect to add a fuel cell so we decided to cut the truck floor out. This is how the Bob Sharp car that we are working on in the Destiny Racing USA shop was done. see image below;

here is a picture of the Bob Sharp - Sam Posey #33 Datsun GTU Race Car;

Edited October 28, 2013 by Will_Race_For_Food

[preith]

Tell us more about mods to those carbs

Not sure if that's sarcasm, but the SU's would be required in ITS, which I gather this car was raced in, and some guys claim the flattops are better in certain respects.

Tommy, somewhat off topic, but do you guys run a full tube car out of your shop too? I seem to recall seeing one with similar Geneva sponsorship on it, looked to be nicely done.

[Will_Race_For_Food]

small world - we did race a GT2 Datsun for years that you likely recall ........... interesting story about this car is that i actually owned it many years ago............. it was the first Datsun i ever raced. I sold it and lost track of it and then recently a new client of ours trailer-ed it into our shop for a freshen up! I had tears in my eyes looking at it!

Not sure if that's sarcasm, but the SU's would be required in ITS, which I gather this car was raced in, and some guys claim the flattops are better in certain respects.

Tommy, somewhat off topic, but do you guys run a full tube car out of your shop too? I seem to recall seeing one with similar Geneva sponsorship on it, looked to be nicely done.

[preith]

small world - we did race a GT2 Datsun for years that you likely recall ........... interesting story about this car is that i actually owned it many years ago............. it was the first Datsun i ever raced. I sold it and lost track of it and then recently a new client of ours trailer-ed it into our shop for a freshen up! I had tears in my eyes looking at it!

Very cool, thanks for the reply. Yeah I saw the gt2 car on ebay years ago, would have loved to get my hands on it but wasn't in the cards at the time, and good deal on the ITS car, looks to be VERY straight.

[SteveJ]

Not sure if that's sarcasm, but the SU's would be required in ITS, which I gather this car was raced in, and some guys claim the flattops are better in certain respects.

Tommy, somewhat off topic, but do you guys run a full tube car out of your shop too? I seem to recall seeing one with similar Geneva sponsorship on it, looked to be nicely done.

Phil wasn't being sarcastic. There are a few of us around here who are still interested in the flattops. In addition to the ones mounted on my 260Z, I have four more lying around in my garage.

[240260280z]

Yup... Steve is correct....flat tops have the fuel around the jet like webers.. if fact SU adapted this from (guessing) Hitachi for their HIF.

Flat tops also have two circuits and a bigger balance tube.

I have read about some racers removing plugs in the balance tube to get even more air into the engine that can pass by the throttle valve..... thus the query.

[Will_Race_For_Food]

We got some work done on the car that included gutting the doors like the original bob sharp car in the shop. We also cut out the trunk floor getting ready to install a fuel cell.

The car has been dropped off at the cage builders and we should have some more progress this week to report!

Vintage Race Cars for Sale

[Will_Race_For_Food]

So now we have dropped our Vintage Racing Datsun Z car off to our favorite Rochester Roll Cage Fabricator, JR Fitzy Welding and Fabrication. I cannot recommend him enough if you need Race Car Fabrication Rochester NY. James is en extremely competent cage builder in Rochester NY. He got his start years ago welding cages with Troyer Racing , one of the largest stock/modified car builders in the nation.

This car presented a challenge in the sense that the hoop design didnt originate at the floor like most cars built today. This was not uncommon years ago and we even have an original Bob Sharp car in our Vintage Racing Services Shop and it was done this way. In this case, the client does not want to spend a lot of money to install a new cage so we have big hopes that James at JR Fitzy can set us up!

Here are a couple of pics of what we are starting with:

Here is what our Rochester Roll Cage Builder did to update the passenger door bars:

Let us know what you think of our project below!

Vintage Racing Restoration Services by Destiny Racing USA

Ask us about storing your car at the infield of Sebring Intl Race Track this winter and have fun with us as we race the Southern States!

Edited November 7, 2013 by Will_Race_For_Food

[Camille Saint]

Most people familiar with Brock Racing Enterprises immediately think of John Morton and the Datsun 510. With good reason. The boxy red, white and blue No. 46 BRE car won the SCCA 2.5-liter Trans-Am championship in 1971 and 1972. And the affordable 510 adapted so well to racing that scads of them, many painted like original BRE cars, popped up at racetracks around the country. Even today you'll see the occasional 510 road racing, often in BRE-inspired paint.