Hello from across the pond! Searching for a 240z

[Woody928]

4 hours ago, gotta240z said:

Hi Woody. Great topic and congratulations are in order for creating a beauty.

Just for information - I’m new to this forum and I also live in Surrey UK restoring a 5/70 240Z. Mine is an ex-California car but still suffered from the rust worm – but no more, as she has been in the bodyshop for a year getting a full body makeover. All the rubber, pins and things underneath have been replaced and now I’m putting all the interior back together. I spent forever refurbishing the cracked dash and now looks like new. Didn’t like the dash cap that came with the car. My car started red, then orange and I’ve had her re-sprayed in 110 red – changes colour red to orange depending on the light. Maybe the type of paint who knows.

She is stock apart from the 280ZX engine [F54 + P79] with round top carbs. Even have the early rocker cover with 240 on the top. Don’t know about the cam.

My car is in Portugal where I spend the winters. England is too cold for my old bones. Had the seats recovered here for 200 Euros and bits and pieces re-chromed  in a Victorian –style back street workshop by a little old lady in a housecoat.

Like you – I’ve had to buy most of my parts from The USA  and the prices have been pretty reasonable apart from postage and import duties. A small price to pay for a labour of love.

One day soon I’ll get my car up and running – fingers crossed. Did a lot of rewiring due to burnt wires and trying to figure out wiring mods over the last 50 years by POs.

 

I would like to thank all those contributors that have provided and continue to provide a wealth of information on the net so that us newbie’s can help keep these amazing cars on the road.

Thank you very much, its been my pride and joy these last few years! ?

What a small world indeed, awesome to know theres another Z fan just down the road, there's a few lurking and hiding in the area I know, even if I don't see them... 

Sounds like a great project that you're making good progress with, do you have a project thread that can be followed anywhere?  

[gotta240z]

Regretfully, I didn’t think to cover my rebuild with a project thread .

Wiring has been a pain as I have been juggling 3 or 4 wiring diagrams to understand my particular wiring. Currently working on the steering column, checking the turn and light switches. Probably will open up and clean the terminals before putting back in. Also fitting new u-joints in the column before reassembly in the car.

I am in Epsom Surrey, there is a guy in Dorking Surrey with a 240Z and a guy near Southampton with about six 240Zs in various stages of undress and tons of spares.

Going to our monthly Classic Car Event on the seafront tomorrow – no 240Zs in sight. However I’m told that a few exist in Portugal – probably locked away.

 I think I’ve got most parts for my car now but I’m missing the heat shield between manifold and carbs. I assume it’s going to be needed otherwise why would Datsun make one.  Are they really effective? Summer temps can reach 40C here so I maybe looking at changing the original radiator and fan for something bigger, more efficient and cool

[Woody928]

22 hours ago, gotta240z said:

Regretfully, I didn’t think to cover my rebuild with a project thread .

Wiring has been a pain as I have been juggling 3 or 4 wiring diagrams to understand my particular wiring. Currently working on the steering column, checking the turn and light switches. Probably will open up and clean the terminals before putting back in. Also fitting new u-joints in the column before reassembly in the car.

I am in Epsom Surrey, there is a guy in Dorking Surrey with a 240Z and a guy near Southampton with about six 240Zs in various stages of undress and tons of spares.

Going to our monthly Classic Car Event on the seafront tomorrow – no 240Zs in sight. However I’m told that a few exist in Portugal – probably locked away.

 I think I’ve got most parts for my car now but I’m missing the heat shield between manifold and carbs. I assume it’s going to be needed otherwise why would Datsun make one.  Are they really effective? Summer temps can reach 40C here so I maybe looking at changing the original radiator and fan for something bigger, more efficient and cool

Shame, sounds like it would have been a damn good read! 

Wiring is the one thing that still scares me, I must get past that some day... All sounds really sensible, I can confirm that a new UJ in the steering column makes a world of difference! 

No way, do you also have a rally S30 out in South Africa? (If so we've spoken before through the Zclub's calendar applications as a I manage them, or if not then there's another S30 owner in Epsom as well!). Such a small world as I'm by Esher and used to play rugby against Epsom College... 

You really don't see many about ever short of the big organised events, not many people like to actually use their cars sadly! 

I'm not sure how effective they really are, I suppose with the stock manifold they must have been fairly functional otherwise Nissan wouldn't have bothered. One of the big reasons I've kept mine in the setup is because they are the perfect place to have your carb throttle return springs mounted as Nissan intended assuming you're still running factory carbs and not tripples or efi. 

With regards to the rad, my mishimoto aluminium rad has made an amazing difference! dropped the temps massively and stays really cool on the move... Also with the electric spal fans with the manual override I'm quite happy in traffic if I want to override the thermostat.... Hope that helps ?

[gotta240z]

The world is getting even smaller. I lived in Hinchley Wood, Esher until 2006. Small world. I must be the other guy in Epsom with a 240Z.

I see there are 381 240Zs registered in UK as of last year and that’s been increasing by about 30 per year [note, also 149 260Zs]. I guess the increasing numbers represent imports mostly from The USA. So we have company – we are not alone. I wonder how many are left in the USA  or other countries – anybody have any numbers.

[Woody928]

21 hours ago, gotta240z said:

The world is getting even smaller. I lived in Hinchley Wood, Esher until 2006. Small world. I must be the other guy in Epsom with a 240Z.

I see there are 381 240Zs registered in UK as of last year and that’s been increasing by about 30 per year [note, also 149 260Zs]. I guess the increasing numbers represent imports mostly from The USA. So we have company – we are not alone. I wonder how many are left in the USA  or other countries – anybody have any numbers.

? That's amazing! What a small world... I live in the estate the next to the train station in Eastmont Road. I love how we've connected on a US Z forum all all places... 

Would love to know the numbers, there's certainly more cars coming into the UK every year. Not many actually on the road though unfortunately... 

[240260280]

FYI:

 

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/tgs-guide-japan/driving-wonderful-mzr-roadsports-datsun-240z#1

[Namerow]

On 4/15/2019 at 4:57 PM, 240260280 said:

FYI:

 

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/tgs-guide-japan/driving-wonderful-mzr-roadsports-datsun-240z#1

Very nice work... but very pricey work. 

I visited Bradford many years ago for a meeting with the now-vanished Marsden Radiator Co. (swallowed up by Calsonic in the 1990's IIRC). Got lost afterwards while attempting to drive across the moors in the dark (cue Heathcliff).

[Woody928]

On 4/15/2019 at 9:57 PM, 240260280 said:

FYI:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/tgs-guide-japan/driving-wonderful-mzr-roadsports-datsun-240z#1

Thanks for the link, they're gaining quite the reputation in the UK and across the globe now it seems! The quality of work is undoubtably superb, however certain changes are definately taste driven. I love restomod type cars however I really dont like some bits they've done on these, otherwise some great ideas.

They do actually present superb value for money  (GBP £ 100k) when you look at the man hours invested in them compared to alot of other compaines doing the same thing to other types of car. Just way out of my budget, I'm building my own dream version anyway it seems.... 

[Captain Obvious]

57 minutes ago, Namerow said:

Got lost afterwards while attempting to drive across the moors in the dark

Boys, keep off the moors. Stick to the roads.

[Woody928]

Well another update, they're coming thick and fast now with show season about to hit and several small jobs still there to be done.

 

The car has been with some friends at a local resotration company to replace our handbrake cable as I was fed up of crawling around on the ground with rubbish access. I am now however pleased to confirm that the car has now had a new handbrake cable fitted from Thailand. Strangely having only ordered one, another one came in the post the day after as well however its always good to have a spare even if it needed to be modified to fit as with most things on these cars. Thankfull it was just a snapped cable and not the mechanism!

 

Next challenge will be piecing together the airbox setup which I have shamelessly taken inspiration from Richie, so here's to hoping that will be done before Donington. The airbox should be arriving this week to complete the parts collection.

 

As if that wasn't enough we've come to the realisation that our front brake setup is actually worse than I realised and therefore needs to be ripped out sooner rather than later. We have been running Hilux S12+8 calipers and solid disks without actually realising but it now explains the slightly spongey pedal feel with a stock MC fitted. That 15/16 master cylinder sitting in my bedroom was more needed than realised!

 

While we could just overhaul what's there this has been an area that I've wanted to address properly and future proof so that the car is well over speced for our needs. In the name of performance and safety we're therefore going to be fitting R32 GTR Aluminium brake calipers with custom brackets, disks and braided hoses thanks to Iamatomman (Gary). Not cheap however this setup will be alot lighter than the more conventional options and thankfully brake pad compund choice is very good. More news on this o follow shortly I'm sure....

 

In other news, I enjoyed the car over the bank holiday with my dad, it was the first time he's been out and driven the car since the full exhaust system was fitted. Safe to say we were both grinning like children with all the silly new noises it makes and also showing him what its capable of, I even dialled the coilovers up a bit as I think they've been a bit soft on reflection (more tweaking to be done there). 

 

I got chased down by a Focus RS in Sussex who was having a lot of fun, after a while we ended up stopping to chat and turns out he had a Laurel, Supra and Scooby and to top it off was a massive Jap car fan. He was super excited to see a Z on the road being properly used and driven given how few there are about in the UK. I also meet another 240z owner in traffic who's currently restoring his car and was admiring the Z and its burble, inadvertently it also drew lots of positive attention from a passing biker who loved the noise of the car when I was providing some aural pleasure to the crowd 

 

Finally I even took the time to give the car a deep clean and renovated and polished the paintwork in preparation for the upcoming shows, safe to say it was gleaming and now is already dirty again from being used and enjoyed. We're getting very close to a happy point with the car where fingers crossed I can back off with the progress and just really enjoy it rather than constantly tinkering and upgrading. 

 

All that said, until next time here's a little teaser of her sitting pretty from Friday....

60EDEF27-039F-4278-B766-FF9EC6C1ADE9 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[Woody928]

Well we're back again, its been another busy but productive weekend. I'm pleasesd to say that the car now has a fully functioning forced cold air intake fitted!

 

I just wanted to start by giving a shout out to Richie, I completely hijacked this setup from his recent work and used his suggestions and parts list to make this possible. It goes without saying that this setup is entirely custom, with all of the parts having been sourced from ebay with the exception of the airbox from MJP (this effectively comes in flatpack form though). This setup previously seems to have only been used on tripples rather than SU's from what I've seen to date though...

 

First up was to protect the airbox itself, arriving in naked firbreglass it looked a bit dull and looked like it would benefit from some protection. Also the lip of it was white in places from the raw finish and gave it a rugged look, having gone round with a black shapie everything was blacked up to match in. Following a quick degrease and a few coats of laquer using a rattle can in the garden the results the next day were much better and give it a more premium finish. 

 

Saturday afternoon started by getting the carbs back to basics to allow me to get in with some masking tape to make a transfer outline of the bolt holes and carb intakes before transfering this across to a cardboard template of the airbox. Having carefully cut this up I could test fit the cardboard for fitment until I was satisfied, with that done I transfered the outlay onto the airbox backing plate marking it up with a Chrome Pen. So as to not rip the fibreglass up, a dremel was used to drill around the areas before opening up the gaps annd sanding them back to get the desired fitment. This was a bit of a sod and took some patience as you only get one shot to get it right. 

 

With that done the rubber sealing trim was installed and the clips/brackets that secure the airbox offered up for positioning and drilling, being patient with the dremel and drill got all of the holes in place. These has now been locked down using M4 Bolts and Nylocks on the inside to give a flush fitment and cause the least disturbance while remaining removable. Long term if there's no issues, I'm still tempted to move to rivets however we will see. 

 

Come Sunday, next up was taking the CRX induction pipe to mark up and chop up using an angle grinder. With my small one out of action the hacksaw came into play as the 9inch grinder I had turned out to be too man for a precision job. This was a case of more patience and conservative cuts to get the desired length (I still think the pipe may be a tad too long with the airbox being very snug pushed up against it). In order to hold it in place a silicone joiner hose was inserted through the bulkhead, this was an absolute just fit and had to be heated in hot water to be made pliable enough to slot in place and is now going no where. With alot of squeezing the ali pipe was dropped in place with some pushing, pulling, cursing and swearing before being tightened up using jubilee clips. 

 

With all of that done, all that was left to do was cut the 90 degree bend pipe out of the front to fit up a suitable cone air filter, the pipe was a bit too heavy duty so took some time with the grinder but seems to have done the job. This slotted in place with jubilee clips and has had a generic ebay red 3 inch cone filter added onto the end. Having covered it in K&N filter oil it looks to be more than up to the job of keeping out all necessary debris and flies etc. Only time will tell how durable it will be! 

 

Overall it seems to be gone very well, its snug but has good clearance in all of the right places. I may cut down the pipe from the airbox to the bulkhead to allow for easier fitment and removal going forward however its ready for the shows this weekend. Having taken it around the block it seems to be running smoothly however the extended roadtest of a couple of hundred miles should reveal all. Fingers crossed I can get it to a Dyno soon to have a proper tune up and see what all of our hard work has gained us, the performance certainly seems stronger.

 

In other news we're getting close to our big brake upgrade on the front, pads have arrived, fitting kit cleaned up, disks and brackets on their way. I'm just waiting for the brake calipers to be done by BiggRed and then we'll be looking to get them fitted up. More than likely a job for next week to take the pressure off  assuming the clipers arrive before then... 

 

Fortunately the car is all fueled up, polished and stowed away in the garage for the weekend waiting to go this year, no more water pump fixes at 11pm the day before please! 

 

A little detail I've been meaning to do something about for a while now! 

IMG-9845 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG-9875 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

One Template

IMG-9818 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Test Fit

IMG-9820 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Transfer Across

IMG-9823 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Cutting 

IMG-9825 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9830 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9847 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9848 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9834 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

The business end!
IMG-9858 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9864 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9884 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9891 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9901 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-9920 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[Woody928]

I had the car out on Wednesday night for a few more tweaks before the weekend. The induction pipework was a bit too blingy for my liking and didn't match the stainless bend, so I removed it and gave it a matt brushed finish to tone it down a bit. I'm sure this will be a bit marmite.... I've also repositioned all of the jubilee clips to hide the tensioners etc to tidy up the bay. Overall I'm very pleased with the results, looks more of a finished product in my eyes now. 

 

After recently finding another dodgy wheel nut I got fed up of all of the issues I've had with several of them and have now replaced the entire set with new steel wheel nuts for peace of mind. More boring little bits but I removed the choke baseplate to clean it up and fit some rubber feet to remove a vibration/rattle which had been driving me mad while driving and did the tyre pressures thinking of the weekend.

 

Car should be all good for Saturday and now has rolling road time booked for next Wednesday evening to check where we're at, I'm hoping to give the car a quick service with oil and plugs beforehand as well just to make sure we're in good order. In the meantime though, bring on the weekend! 

 

IMG_9949 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_9952 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr