vintagezracer

Darn, when did you sell that? any other race parts left?

BTW, what happened to HLS30 00029?

Very interesting topic and I hope you get to the bottom of these long standing questions you pose. Thought maybe I could help answer a few?? First, I am the current owner of HLS30-00008 and have been for the last 26 years since I bought it in 1991 after it ran its last professional race, the 1990 24 hours of Daytona. Some of the photos posted in this thread I took when I was restoring the car after it raced for 20 years and was very tired. It had several paint jobs through the years as a race car. I knew some of the history of the car and as I began the restoration I wanted to document the paint jobs both as a race car and its previous life as a show car so I hand sanded the roof of the car and photographed the results. I was able to document most of the race paint but couldn't really find any that were similar to the paint from the factory. I spoke to Bob Speakman's wife and she sent me this handwritten note... So you can see the car likely was a few different colors during its time as a show car and I was not able to find any of the early paint since it had already been stripped off by the Speakmans. If I remember correctly, Bob told me the car was silver when they received it. Hope this helps?? BTW, Dave Stone owns the second Z race car Bob Sharp built (not 00008) and the 00009 260Z that was built into a GTU car.

Any updates on the head? stock E88 chambers or welded? what size valves?

If possible, I would like some photos too as I would be interested in purchase of the car as well for a possible vintage race car for my son

Where is Tom Cruise's car for sale?

Anybody know where James Brolin's Natural Light car is these days? Had a chance to buy it but let it pass due to short funds Thanks! Tom

Looks like a car I saw for sale at a vintage race at Summit Point back in 2002. I looked it over at that time but couldn't verify if it was truely a BRE car or just a paint job. Has it surfaced again? Thanks! Tom

Great to hear it is working good! I had to go through my inventory of diffs recently as we finished the re-restoration of the race car in time for the US Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and needed to put some spares together. It has been a few years since I sold that diff to you....remind me was't the diff a LSD?

I too have a few of the R-190's (and Ron has one of mine as well I may be willing to part with one.....what ratio is needed? BTW, $5000 seems a bit high for a car that needs major chassis repair and a has a few "motorsport" parts?? Also...never heard of a Cannon header....thought it might be a cannon intake but the saw the car had SU's so not sure....

I agree, without a photo impossible to tell if the diff is an R-180 or an R-190. However, I've been told by several early Z racers that the R-190 was a diff that was brought in by Datsun comp for only a few cars so not that many were available. Therefore, I doubt it is an R-190 and more likely an R-180. I would love to know what other Datsun Comp parts are on the car??

For anyone with a reader in the family, I wanted to suggest my wife’s second book in her Broken Vows mystery series as a stocking stuffer this holiday season. The story has a fun subplot involving a search for a Datsun Z racecar—and the customer isn’t planning to put it on the track! In For Richer, for Danger, after years of ambivalence about parenthood, sports car boutique owner Jolene Asdale is now driven to adopt her foster child, the daughter of fugitive robbery suspects. But some major roadblocks pop up, including an open hit-and-run case and a recent murder—with the silent, uncooperative birthmother as the prime suspect. If you’re interested, the book’s available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Richer-Danger-Broken-Vows-Mystery/dp/0738719528/ref=pd_sim_b_1 as is the first book in the series, For Better, For Murder, which was an Agatha Award Finalist for Best First Novel of 2009. It happens to have not only a dead man in a red Ferrari but also a Christmas setting, making it the perfect gift. http://www.amazon.com/Better-Murder-Broken-Vows-Mystery/dp/0738718661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290055034&sr=8-1 Thanks and happy holidays!

Chicago 240Z...it is awesome to see that there are still new "converts" to the vintage racing scene with excitement and enthusiasm regarding Datsuns and racing the 240Z!! Congrats and welcome I can feel your excitement for buying parts and putting your car together. You are where I was 15 years ago when I started with my 240Z vintage race car. Looking back, I would say one important lesson I learned (that echos what DatsunDoc was alluding to) is to put your car together in stages with parts that work well with each other. A race car is a conglomeration of parts that must all come together properly. You can have a close ratio direct drive tranny but if the motor is not a full out race motor that is designed and built to be consistently run and the top end of the rpm band you are waisting your money. With that said, a fullout race motor is also very finicky and requires quite a bit of attention which isn't the way to go for someone trying to set-up or shake down a new car either. Put a yearly budget together that includes a ton of seat time at both vintage race weekends and track days so you can be fully comfortable with your car. Don't feel like you need every full-on competition part right away, just make sure that the car is reliable first so you can make the most out of the track time you have....just my two cents....BTW, if you want to talk sometime PM me and I would be happy to help in any way:) To everyone....in regards to the hens teeth everyone was discussing or otherwise known as gears and parts for the direct drive trannies, this may be a shameless plug but I am in the process of making available brand new gearsets for the direct drive trannies!! I am also remaking several other race parts for the L series motors and the vintage racing Z/510/610. One that we currently have available are the Quaiffe LSD's for both the R180 and R200. I too feel that there is really no need to go to the R200 except if you want useless added weight. Especially since Quaiffe backs their LSD's with LIFETIME warranties! Yes, something totally unheard of in racing parts. Anyway, if interested or you want more info on any of the parts PM or email me....

Found both the '87 and the '88 cars. Can't remember where but I thought I saw somewhere the asking price was around $325,000 for PLN's '87 car?? If I'm not mistaken this car was sold back to PLN by the owner of SVRA (P.Mc.) after he purchased a group of cars from Bob Sharp? Might be confusing it with another car though?? BTW, how is Bob doing these days? Haven't seen him since around 2000/2001 when we last ran our Z in SVRA....

Any links to where it is listed for sale??