1970 240Z Works Rally - the road to restoration

[HS30-H]

10 hours ago, kats said:

About the mounting bracket for the igniter, thank you so much for checking it. So, we see only S20 cars have them on the cowl top panel. 
LHD cars have only one cowl top panel(no brackets for igniter and inlet opening)  for all variants including works rally car, RHD cars have three types i.e. L- series cars ( no brackets for igniter and inlet opening) , S20 Z432 ( brackets only for igniter), S20 Z432-R (brackets for igniter and inlet opening).

My own view is that the fitting of CDI is possibly one of those 'evolutionary' differences in the different batches of Works rally cars. The two earliest batches of cars (1970 RAC Rally batch and 1971 Monte Carlo Rallye batch) may or may not have had CDI ignition modules, but the 1971 Safari and 1971 RAC Rally batches certainly had them. Both were RHD batches and (most probably) used the E72 'Cowl Top Inner' 432-R type panel with the CDI mount bracket already in situ, but - apparently - without the heater inlet duct brackets (because full heater was fitted).

The import carnet spare parts list for the Works team's entry on the 1971 RAC Rally included the following:

 

[xs10shl]

12 hours ago, HS30-H said:

The import carnet spare parts list for the Works team's entry on the 1971 RAC Rally included the following:

If the factory is willing to sell me a Y9821-22101 CDI distributor, and a Y9821-22102 Ignitor for $12, I'd take 3 of each as well!

 

[xs10shl]

On 12/4/2022 at 8:17 PM, kats said:

PS I think this picture is your car.

Yes, I think that's SA-986.  Is that from your 3/71 issue of Auto Sport?

[kats]

On 12/5/2022 at 11:27 PM, HS30-H said:

 

Perhaps it is not so surprising that the heater inlet duct 'chimney' doesn't have 432-R style captive nuts? After all, this is an LHD car and there were no LHD versions of the 432-R's E72 'Cowl Top Inner' to use. Additionally, a Works rally car would most definitely need a fully operating heating and ventilation system (and more!).

All the roadgoing 432-Rs I've seen had the fresh air ducts, flaps and cables. There's not much weight in them and they would certainly be a welcome presence on a road car driven in Summer.

I don't know if it will have been done on xs10shl's car, but other (later) Works rally 240Zs had 'overclocked' fan motors with extra windings, allowing them to push more air. They also enlarged the ducts under the windscreen and put wire mesh in them to stop them swallowing up anything important...

There's some evidence of Namba san's mentioned ventilation system mods on cars later than the '71 Safari winner. '7924' is the '73 Safari winning car of Shekhar Mehta. LHD, but it was originally built in order to take part in the 1972 RAC Rally (driven by Rauno Aaltonen) and it shows the much-modified heater box and blower motor mounting position they used. This Works rally-specific mod hides its light under a bushel, and its full splendour would only be revealed if the dash was removed...

   

Thanks Alan, that blower motor configuration is shocking to me! And it looked cool, I am curious what is hiding in the dash.

Kats

Edited December 15, 2022 by kats

[kats]

On 6/16/2022 at 5:48 AM, xs10shl said:

I’m starting this restoration thread for enthusiasts of the early S30 Works rally cars, so they can follow along, and perhaps also provide comments and their own insights as to the very early days of the S30 Works rally program.   I additionally hope that others can chime in with comments, questions, corrections, and feedback as we go along.

A preamble: this is a thread about researching, documenting and restoring a genuine 1970 Works Rally car.  I’ve owned it for many years, but the realities of real life were getting in the way of getting started on a proper restoration.  Given the car's provenance, I knew it would be important to get the history and the details as right as I could, given what little is known publicly about the Works program, and the scarcity of remaining Works cars.   So I’ve used this time to do as much research as I could on the car's history, collaborate with a few historians (most notably @HS30-H, who needs no introduction), source a few needed parts, and work to provide a more complete pre-restoration snapshot in it’s current unrestored condition, as well as provide a glimpse of what the restored car will resemble when it’s finished. 

In addition to documenting and research, I've been looking for an appropriate opportunity to show the car publicly under my stewardship for the first time.  Given the car’s current condition, it would have to be trailered to a show, which limited my options to “Somewhere on the West Coast".  The stars aligned when ZONC announced it’s 50th anniversary meet in Northern CA in February for June 5, 2022.  With this as a target date, I set my sights on getting the car as presentable as I could manage, given the time I had available to me. Loose parts were screwed on, dirty pieces were dusted off, and period stickers were researched, ordered, and placed (note: this last step was insanely fun).  In my experience, there’s nothing like having a show deadline to motivate owners into getting their cars finished!

Enthusiasts, historians, well-wishers, even skeptics and haters (although hopefully not too many of the latter): I look forward sharing this journey with you, and to your comments! 😄

 

I found your car has a gas strut to support the rear gate. The rear gate is much lighter than the normal one, I am wondering if the strut is too strong to push the rear gate upward. Z432-R has a simple rod to support and it’s retainers are unique to the car. As Alan mentioned, a road going Z432-R has a steel rear gate with a plexiglass windshield, that is heavier than your rear gate. Interesting!

Kats

Edited December 15, 2022 by kats

[xs10shl]

@kats As you pointed out, the Works cars I've got period photos for came with gas struts instead of the rods (pictured).  In the Lightweight Spec cars, the deck was way to light for a fully charged gas strut, and I recall seeing a picture of the deck askew under the pressure.  @HS30-H, have you seen a deck setup using the rod in your photo collection?

For show, we ended up using a semi-old strut, which was too weak to keep a standard deck open, but had no problems with the lightweight deck.  Maybe they used the same trick in period?

 

[HS30-H]

3 hours ago, xs10shl said:

@kats As you pointed out, the Works cars I've got period photos for came with gas struts instead of the rods (pictured).  In the Lightweight Spec cars, the deck was way to light for a fully charged gas strut, and I recall seeing a picture of the deck askew under the pressure.  @HS30-H, have you seen a deck setup using the rod in your photo collection?

The gas struts certainly overpowered the tailgates on the lightweight Works cars, giving them a characteristic twist on the LH side:

I can't recall a good photo of a 432-R Sports Option style prop rod setup on a Works rally Z, but I'll have a look for one.

For my own FRP tailgate with acrylic window, I'm using a gas strut but discharged it by drilling a hole in the body (its a mixture of gas and oil  in there, so be careful if you drill...) and then drilled a hole in the rod so that I can insert a big R pin in it to hold it up. I know a couple of cars which used the same solution in period. Seems to have eliminated the 'twist':

 

 

[kats]

40 minutes ago, HS30-H said:

The gas struts certainly overpowered the tailgates on the lightweight Works cars, giving them a characteristic twist on the LH side:

I can't recall a good photo of a 432-R Sports Option style prop rod setup on a Works rally Z, but I'll have a look for one.

For my own FRP tailgate with acrylic window, I'm using a gas strut but discharged it by drilling a hole in the body (its a mixture of gas and oil  in there, so be careful if you drill...) and then drilled a hole in the rod so that I can insert a big R pin in it to hold it up. I know a couple of cars which used the same solution in period. Seems to have eliminated the 'twist':

 

 

Wow Alan!  This looks great! I can’t wait to see the car when completed. 

I can’t tell the rear gate is FRP, so cool!

Kats

[kats]

4 hours ago, xs10shl said:

@kats As you pointed out, the Works cars I've got period photos for came with gas struts instead of the rods (pictured).  In the Lightweight Spec cars, the deck was way to light for a fully charged gas strut, and I recall seeing a picture of the deck askew under the pressure.  @HS30-H, have you seen a deck setup using the rod in your photo collection?

For show, we ended up using a semi-old strut, which was too weak to keep a standard deck open, but had no problems with the lightweight deck.  Maybe they used the same trick in period?

 

This is a nice picture too, I can smell new from this picture. Maybe it’s keys are still intact, not worn out. Once I luckily have seen the keys of the 1971 Safari winner car, keys are like new. Yes those cars didn’t accumulate kilometers and miles so it would be natural for them I think.

Recently I bought a set of used gas strut for 1974 or later car to replace the one not functioning of my second blue 240Z.

Then I realized it is weak to support by only one strut. Maybe aging? Or is that meant to be so for dual application? 
I am expecting this weaker strut will work properly for my steel rear gate with a plexiglass windshield ( I am preparing for this) like Z432-R.

 I imagine why works cars didn’t have a simple rod. They probably wanted a quick opening and closing to save every second at the rally, didn’t care about uneven look when it closed. Z432-R simple rod is unique and cute but it takes some time to operate.

Kats

Edited December 17, 2022 by kats

[xs10shl]

Fuel systems on the Works S30 rally cars were bespoke, and bore little resemblance to their standard production counterparts.  Further, the Works fuel systems themselves underwent several evolutionary changes over the life of the program, and early system designs appeared to vary greatly from those in later cars.  As such, items which appeared on one batch of cars may not have been used on others, or been upgraded as rules and needs evolved.

Accurately cataloging the evolutionary details of Works S30 fuel systems is well outside my expertise and pay grade, so for now I'll stick to providing an overview of the specific system on my car, starting with the extended range gas tank (picture 1).  Although it looks similar to the 100L tank found on the Z432-R, there are a few subtle differences.  Firstly, the tank front corners are cut at several degrees. This was presumably done to provide extra clearance, at the probable expense of reducing the overall tank capacity to something a bit less than 100L.  Second, there are three pipes exiting the front of the tank, in addition to the 2 large-diameter breathers in the back, one of which is used as a fuel return line. Third, the fuel level sender is mounted on the top of the tank, instead of adjacent to the filler neck.

Of the three small pipes, one is used to draw fuel into a custom surge tank made from a stock expansion tank, and the other two are used to pump gas to and from a differential cooling system (picture 2).  All of these fluids are moved around utilizing four electric pumps - two for the diff cooler, and two for the engine fuel feed. For a little clarity on how all the inter-connected systems work together, I've attached a drawing of the system and it's sub-components (picture 3).

I've seen variants of this type of system documented in other Works S30s (notably via information courtesy @HS30-H, as well as references to some of the various sub-components in period articles), so I'd venture to say at least a good part of the system as I've documented and described on my car is true to as-built.

There are plenty of areas and topics to expand on from this basic fuel system overview, as I've only scratched the surface in the most general of terms.  I'm also learning as I go- I've been working on documenting the finer details this system for months, but only recently as we've been dismantling the car have some of the important characteristics of the system been observable in detail.

Edited December 23, 2022 by xs10shl

[Namerow]

5 hours ago, xs10shl said:

the other two are used to pump gas to and from a differential cooling system

What is the purpose of pumping gas through the diff cooling system?  

[Patcon]

I assume they are using the fuel to cool the diff. Liquid to liquid intercooler. Seems an interesting choice but I'm sure some engineer worked it out