mikec(nz)

Bought a NOS head from this site, thanks so much Garrett (inline6), its a P90 so will require a bit of work to get high compression but great place to start. Managed to buy NOS lifters and related parts from Nissan Japan and some Valves and retainers from Kamaeri. And i turns out the Hakosuka sump fits the Kenmeri, so got one of those with a kit that ties into the gearbox. But looking at the existing crank and rods and doing some maths, looks like will they will have to replaced. Can't bore the new block too much so going to limited a bit in capacity 87mm = 2960, but it should be able to rev. So the head is off to Horsepower heads (Kevin Bann ex Kelford Cams) who is starting on the port work. This build is going to take a bt longer than planned but the end result is going to be better than expected, so will be updating shortly.

Well the plan was to just a simple freshen up, but that is not going to work. Engine out and inspected. The block was already bored to around 89mm so after sonic checking, we could not even get a hone, the leaking headgasket has scoured the bores. So luckily found a fresh unmolested block (thanks Don - who sold me the car for letting me have one out of his collection). This is currently off being linebored and we are going to reuse the deisel crank and 260Z rods as they are in good shape. We are going to put in forged pistons, but waiting on some calcs before deciding how much to bore as we will be running around 10:1 compression. I run the car on Av-gas (aviation full 100octane) so there is no reason to not up the compression. The old sump is looking a bit sad as it has been modified a lot of times and the exhaust headers are rusted out from running the leaded gas (and their ten years age). So had my first delivery from Japan. new exhaust manifold, new clutch and had the starter motor and alternator rebuilt. Next .... finding a head and .....

Oh well I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. The engine I got with the car which was a bit 2nd hand decided to give up at the recent GTR festival. Only got two laps before it started overheating. Not too bad after 3 years hard racing. Diagnosis blown head gasket. We expected that as it had been showing signs and we just keep patching it up. So we decided new head gasket and maybe rings/bearings ...... but turns out it is too far overbored to give it even a hone and the head is to soft to last much longer - so time for a new engine. Happy to post pics etc as we do it - but only if there is interest. Most online forums are dead these days and I can't be bothered with facebook. So post here if you want to see pics of the engine build - heres a teaser

red light - correct for low oil pressure. red button horn (we had to retrofit as aftermarket wheel did not have horn, but needs it for road registartion). Starts off the key like normal.

Sick of guages not working and no rev counter (because we upgraded to MSD) so fitted whole new dash. Lot more work than planned but finally all done and working properly.

The car has always been unhappy on cool down lap, as the heat soak from the manifolds often causes it to stall. So Dale from Coastline Automotive fabricated me a new heat shield. So this is what Bob Sharp did with the 240Z back in the day So I suppose that makes it a period correct part We got an alumium one folded up and HPC coated (thanks high performance coatings Akld) Coated the underside with heat resistant material (the headers are already wrapped in cloth) And the finished result Took all to the track and she ran perfectly (well almost it seems the engine may be a getting a bit tired after 30+ hours racing - so next job ......) well actually next job is a few gauges - will post that shortly when finished.

So the good news is the car has been behaving so gave it some new boots Ordered some Wantanabe 15 x 9.5" for the back to fill out the guards. Now I wont bore you with all the dramas of getting that right (miscommunication resulted in wrong hole spacing) and it seems Wantanabe are quite difficult to deal with and I was not 100% happy with the quality of the wheels as the material seems weak as my wheel nuts seem to be wearing into it. So thanks to arrow wheels we got steel inserts, corrected stud spacing and them painted to all match. Also fitted Hoosier cross ply race tyres for that 'old school - period correct look" Much better stance and look now. Running 245/45 x 15 hoosiers all round on 8.5 x 15 rims front and 9.5 x 15 rims rear. The Wantanabe centre caps did not fit the rears and kept falling out the fronts so we made our own.

So next race day - off again with my new diff ratio and we had decided to lower the car a few inches as well However did not really get much of a chance to find out how the diff went as first lap of practice I lost 2nd gear, there was a strannge whirrying sound. No worries most said sounded like a shift rod had come off. Hmmm - no Those bits look important So rebuilt an early Datsun Skyline shortnose 71C box with a L6 bell housing (thanks Andy for the box). You can see below the old 71B vs the 71C in this picture and the internals are so much bigger and stronger. Did not quite fit as the was about 20-30mm diff in the rear gearbox mount, but other than that it bolted up. The L6 bell housing needed a minor bit of machining to fit the 71C internals. We also Tig welded front housing, helicoiled 2x damaged threads. fitted new bearing Kit H/Duty and synchros rings and fitted input shaft dog set, 3rd/4th selector fork, 3rd/4th selector keys, 3rd/4th outer shift hub, 1st/2nd selector fork.

Well the Ken Meri has seen a bit of racing and with that comes a bit of wear and tear (or in laymans terms breaking stuff) Seems that we might have strained the old diff. I had put a new Quaife LSD in it but left the original crown and pinion. Well last race of the day. We were doing handicap standing start. I got beaten off the line by a dirty of Capri, but then the race was red flagged so we started all over again. MIght have given it a bit more power of the line doing the launch as it made horrible noise and I quickly pulled over and it was making more horrible noises. Thought I had snapped a wheel stubb again, but no that was not it. Yup those bits should be somewhere else Hmmm that looks a bit munted Well even I know that dont look right So we fitted the crown and pinion out of a Subaru R180 diff (quite a rare version out of 300hp Imprezza I think) - its a 4.44 ratio and much stronger. We had to make a thin spacer plate and use the larger bolts, but other than that pretty much a straight swap. The good news was that the Quaife LSD was sweet. But they have a lifetime guarantee supposedly so must be pretty strong. So all good and off to the track again.

Stock z32 brakes dont last long on the track. Willwood if on a budget, AP/Brembo if not. Rim will determine diameter but suggest rotor thickness and pad size is more important

Well car ran flawlessly at the 2016 NZ Festival of Motor racing at Hampton Downs (except for a slight incident with a not quite tight radiator cap) , sorry no videos but here are some pics. Our new brand Helfee- Serious supplements for the not so serious - was the class sponsor (shameless self promotion http://www.helfee.co.nz), but thought I better get a photo with the Pirelli girls too.

Message sent - there are a few 240K owners in NZ with parts.

Bit tricky when I am driving. Might get some at the NZ Festival of Motor racing next month. http://www.nzfmr.co.nz/ I will be racing with the Historic Muscle and Saloon Cars.

Also Got in a Harada manifold from Japan and new 48mm triple Webbers, fitted with a HPC coated rocker cover - sounds even nastier now and has a lot more throttle response, peak power much the same.

Haven't posted for a while but she is still running sweet and has seen a bit more track action. Upgraded the rear brakes with discs as well but managed to snap an axle launching off the start line. Lucky we had gone to disc as it held the wheel on, snapped a shock but no major damage. Also upgraded the LSD with a Quaife version. and repainted suspension new bearings/crosses etc

And a S20 just lying around..... so jealous

No longer needed thanks

SOLD

Some videos but mainly incar footage. Skyspeed TV programme Skyspeed HMC - YouTube Practice and Qual Race 1 Race 2

She ran pretty well, weather was a bit sh%$. We did have a bit of shuddering under braking which I think is a alignment issue and it was losing a bit of fuel pressure at the end of the straight, which we think is due to the standard lines leading from the tank to the fuel pump. So will fix those. Videos are not far away Here's some pics to tide you over There was a lot of positive attention and I got interviewed by the TV station and the car was videoed but don't think it made it to broadcast. My laps results are here Event results - details - MYLAPS Sports Timing look under HMC and Pre 78 Saloons - car 77

Well we have just put the final touches on the car and took it for a quick road test. All seems good. Goes to the track next weekend, will try and get some video but as I will be driving might be difficult, will see what happens. Bought the rear quarter covers from City Auto, but the quality was not the great. The petrol cover one fitted fine, but the other side needed a point but it was rounded. Lucky my mechanic is handy with a hammer (it hurt to watch) and bashed it into shape. Also fitted the rear badge, decided to have both gtr and 240k like the front.

Thanks Guys, I updated and finished the Zclub thread just now if you want to see the final bits. If you need any ideas or help just ask. I do have some bits left over that I am unlikely to use so will post them up sometime too.

We pulled the restrictor out of the exhaust last week - now it sounds even better! I am putting together a full build thread on the Z club site in New Zealand, only halfway through at the moment so keep an eye on it if you want to see the step by step. Mike's 240K to GTR Replica Build