Caen Fred

I am not sure this tread will apply to you Uncle Sam Fanatics. Anyway, here in Europe Lancia came with one of the most unreal factory hot-road sedan. The 8.32 Thema is nothing more than a plain Sedan with a Ferrari V8 inside. I saw an ad the other day for a trashed Thema 8.32 and ... what if again ! So for you GTO replica owner, wouldn't you like to put a real Ferrari engine in your car? the engine was around 1500$ not cheap but it would have the real Ferrari badge on it. Performance wise it's kind of light at 215 hp, but that sound!!! To be honest it has not a good reputation (reliability, running cost) but it's still a lot nicer than a Chevy or Ford or Buick one. Don't get me wrong I like those Z with v8 just not good with a GTO body... more with the Cobra Coupe one. And Allan will tell us that it's been done before...

It's like nobody use the chatroom anymore, is it because the forum is so convenient? because nobody noticed it was there? It's a shame, go for it, the paint is dry by now and the rooms are brand new and well worth going to see... Fred the blabalber

Sir Alan, you have been promoted to the rank of Azmiral or our fleet. You have such a broad firepower, every time I think I will nail you... you come up with a pertinent response! I give up (no don't worry I will use you data base again, I want to know if it has an end? I am an human, as for you I start to doubt ! still not sure about angel or demon... :classic: :devious: Well This look awesome, almost like inside a Swiss watch, and some found that a 3carbs set-up look busy!!!! So there is a kit, is it for the manifold and linkage? from what you say they didn't used it for an economical issue? Well, merci, merci again.

Thank you, so we have a brave here, If I read you correctly, I did use unleaded for a long period of time without any bad side effects? was it a 240-260 ? I will tell him that (it's not my car after all!!!!) Thanks, fast repply as usal... Fred

Merci you both, my French practical sense make me think that if it never have been done before, it doesn't mean that it's not worth trying (very rational, hee?). Maybe I will try this test "new mod" in my free time.

Is it really bad (I think it is!) to use unleaded gas in a 260 alu head? How many miles before the valves sink into the ports? It's not for me, as I am ZXed, but for a fellow member... Every comments are welcome, fred

:stupid: I was looking at my bike the other day and a spark lighted my already burning head. What if I put 6 motorcycle carbs on a triple carb manifold? Why do motorcycles have one carb/cyl and not cars? They are very inexpensive around here and a lot of sizes are available ? Ever been done ? Fred

Merci so much, All is for the better here, you have the "best" from Sean Dézart. We where in Bretagne this week-end in order to organize the spring French meeting. It will be hold in the Morbihan's Gulf the 17-18-19 may, you are welcome as any members of your club or our Classic Z car club for that matter! Zee you later, Fred

Oh sorry, and what about butterscotch? like it better?

over classic but not seen much...

I dug in my pocket and couldn't end up with more than 1000 € will he be offended if you made an offer for it? Fred, the broken...

Endless... What can I say, I keep going deeper and deeper toward the dark side of the Z world and I cannot find any limits! Thanks a lot for your reply, fast and efficient. So now, tell me more about it if you can, is it really a kit, or is it home made? Does the car venture in our country from time to time? Thanks, Fred

Ok for me, just as long as it have the "chat" option... Where is it hiding?

I have little hope for this one! One of my fellow Zen club member, asked me the strangest question I heard for years, he (think) saw 20 years ago an ad for an after-market mod for the 280ZX, it was a gull-wing doors conversion kit, does it ring a bell to someone here? :disappoin I don't think it's a good idea :disappoin I don't think it would make a pretty car :disappoin It leaks enough already... But I must be trustful so I ask...

Hey, what about the country, is there any stats about it, where are we from? Our Z planet have so many states...

I was born before the Z !!!!!! Wich make me think that some of our friends here are younger than their cars... 38 I am, and hope to have my car back on the road before my 40's

you don't know how lucky you are to have the turn signal in the lower valance. In europe we mostly have them stuck on the bumper like the last minute adition it was!!!!!

your so right about the 250, I think it's a lot nicer than the gto. I guess it's not well kown enough... too bad it would heva made a killer car!

I did some heavy welding in Photoshop, bloody messy job, but I came along with that ! It shouldn't be to hard to do for real, wouldn't require to modify any body parts, just the bumper and the grid, oh and the logo's pinholes on the hood would need to be filed. But the main question is do you like the front of the standard Z, or do you think it look like the guy in charge took a long break and never came back to finish the job? I do! Fred, virtual welder

Ahah, it's like a wizard, just ask and he talk back... To go along this post, sir Allan, what do you think about the G-nose kit sold by MJP? One friend on our club wants one but I am not sure about the quality (more the factory look of it) of the product. I saw a lot of strange looking z-nosed 240-260 in UK. I don't like the look of the one with the wheel-arch bonded-in. You know that I just love your car , the best one in Europe today and I know that a kit on a 240z will not make a ZG out of it. But it still make a nice car, if it's not trying to look like a zedrarri... And for my three wishes, I will post them privately... Fred

hell no!!! Even if today races stages are a lot shorter than before, I don’t think you can remember all the curves of a rally stage. It is not about improvisation, it's about team work and trust on your pace note/navigator ability! Amazingly, one of the best navigator in rallying is today in charge of Ferrari F1 team, it's Jean Todt, and guess what he did ? he was the navigator on the Monte-Carlo 240Z WORKS rally the year they had the best result #3! Look at this guy, he is meticulous, stubborn, and as fun as a wrench but he was one of the most appreciate navigator of that time. If everybody raced alone, that would not be important, but if you bring along one of those reading ahead human machine you have not a chance. My 2 cents of euro Fred

Most of the "Scratch" times are coming more from the driving style than from the car itself. In Europe we have a lot of "Formula type challenge" racing (Peugeot, Citroën...). All the driver have the SAME car (well almost!) and the difference come from the driver and co-driver and overall team work. So don't blame it on the car. When rallying, remember that you better have big brakes and good traction than big hp. If you have to work on your car, improve the Brakes, tires, suspension... During the mighty years of rallying, most of the time the tiny Coopers (small engines, small power, good brakes...) where in front of the monster Camaros (tone of power, torque and NO BRAKES). One of the best car the era, the Alpine Renault, had the perfect balance hp/brakes/susp and kiked butt for a while... until they changed the rules. So keep your car simple, brake strong and late, keep as much momentum as possible and voilà your our new World Champ. Fred

Like Alan said, it was the year that all the cars broke down before the last stage. The Z that was runing this year didn't do very well, they broke the gearbox. But the one I was refering to is the one from the 1971 event. I will dig to see if I can come up with a pict from an era mag... Fred, sorry for the delay and Alan your were right as usual !

I am sure it’s before 1973, because I took this info from a 1972 SportAuto mag. As it was the February issue, I suppose that they where referring to the 1971 race (If I remember well, they didn’t had any race in 1972!). That’s my report for the day, boss. Fred

Or is it old news? Bandama 1971 : 240z 5th The Turcot-Dhaut datsun 240z finished #5th on the 1971 3rd bandama rally. They where 35 at the start and only 9 at the end.