Woody928

Well as some of you will have no doubt seen we now have had the car back for the last couple of weeks and I’ve managed to put about 350-400 miles on her since then.Where to start, well she drives nothing like she used to at all, that’s for sure. Sadly we had some unforeseen complications just before the LMC which meant it wasn’t going to work out taking the car however the wait has been worth it in the end. As you’ll see from the photos below the engine bay is starting to look very tidy now and really is a great centre piece to show off, sadly the more you replace the more you notice the few tatty items, there’s a few pieces that I’d like re-plated long term and I also need to find a way to clean up the screen washer bottle which is looking its age as I refuse to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a new one!I think it’s fair to say the new centre piece of the engine is the OS Giken Lightweight Flywheel which now allows the engine to rev like a motorbike engine! Considering that I had never intended to even swap this item out until I looked at clutches and was talked into it by you all, I’m amazed at the throttle response now. She really picks up revs fast and drops off very quickly, solid rev matching is more essential (albeit you need to be careful not to over rev either). I really cannot believe how sharp the throttle response now is. The clutch itself is somewhat a point of contention as in traffic though as it is heavier than desired and really seems to either be on or off. Due to how robust it is though, burnouts, launches or general hooligan behaviour will be very easy even with the limited power we are running. On the move it makes shifting very precise and is perfect for a fast road style car. For now I’ve tried to behave myself more as its bedding in but wheels have been spun and tyres chirped.The quality of the ZTherapy setup is very impressive and they have been restored to a very high standard, the only disappointment was that they did require a fair bit of setup and balancing out of the box so to speak. Now they are in though, they perform very slickly and with the recent engine adjustments have made the engine a complete peach. It’s all about revs and seems to go to a bit over 5k rpm fairly happily, however real world driving its being exercised to around the 4.5k range for road driving. This car certainly now promotes carrying speed given the engines more standard nature. Cooling has been massively improved with the installation of the mishimoto rad and has been kitted out with a low temp thermostat and electric spall fan kit. The whole system has been flushed and temperatures have been dramatically reduced. I had previously thought the temp gauges position of just over half was normal however it now resides at just under the half way mark leaving me thinking that the engine had been running warmer than it should have been with the tired cooling system in place. We’ve got a nicely hidden and trick manual override switch for the fan in traffic and after being stuck at Goodwood I have decided an extra fan will be added for peace of mind and with Europe in mind in the future.Moving back to the drivetrain all of the necessary modifications have been made for the S14 gearbox to be dropped in, new propshaft courtesy of Richie and Subaru LSD. The gearbox seems to work fine however I have noticed that the synco on 4th gear is quite worn and there is an occasional wine which is making it very tempting me to drop the box out and rebuild this one with new syncros and bearings. Anyone know if these are still available from Nissan? The short shifter kit is like operating a rifle bolt when compared to the ridiculously long throws of the original 4 speed! In that respect we are very happy. The speedo is also still very wavy and of questionable accuracy despite the correct white 19 tooth replacement speedo cog for the 3.9 diff, another long term item to investigate as the speedo needle has never been very stable.The LSD has certainly made things very entertaining, with sideways action very easy if you so desire. There seems to be a bit of slack/lash when engaging on moving off with makes a slight clunk and it doesn’t seem to like reversing slowly and chatters a bit however it all other respects it performs faultlessly and is very quiet on the move. A couple of you will be pleased to note the rear left is running 4 wheels nuts with a couple of lugs having also been replaced.

Glad to hear that your enjoying the thread and see people are still watching. It seems never ending sadly! On another note your LFA ? What a machine!

Well its been quiet on here for a little while now but there's been lots going on in the background. The car has been and still is in with Iain at Passion Engineering who has been working his magic on bringing the car up to spec, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the LMC next week. It's safe to say if everything falls into place then it will be one hell of a road test! The car has been significantly stripped down to accommodate all of the work, the engine was opened up to check tolerances and make some adjustments when it was noted there was some slack in the timing chain when rotated backwards so it was decided to install a new kit. The broken water pump bolt has been resolved and new carbs installed and adjusted ready for tuning. The new radiator, coolant system filter, rocker cover and hardware will be following shortly. The steering rack lower UJ has been replaced which I'm keeping my fingers crossed will eliminate the play that was previously in the steering to really sharpen up the response with the newly fitted adjustable suspension. IMG-6760 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-6759 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-7008 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-7007 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr The bulk of the work has been transmission related with several surprises rearing their heads yesterday giving me a bit of a shock and stark reminder of the cars age and unknown history. Below you will see what remains of the clutch pivot pin and the nice 'round' hole that it was located in. Safe to say that was an utter disaster waiting to happen and could have been a mess had we lost the clutch in France or anywhere else for that matter. I've been oblivious to the pending disaster all of this time. I've never been happy with the clutch but assumed it was a worn release bearing causing my trepidation. Fortunately Iain is fabricating a new pivot pin and has completely fixed the mounting hole so it looks factory fresh. His fabrication skills never cease to amaze me and remind me why I don't attempt the bigger jobs at home on the driveway... IMG-7034 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-7038 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-7036 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Moving onto the gearbox mount itself we were surprised to find it looked nothing like we expected given the age of the car and after some investigation and confirmation from Richie appears to be an automatic transmission gearbox mount. Looking further into it there are no manual mounting points so I'm assuming that the car was more than likely an automatic from the factory that was converted in the US during its lifetime? This being the case I wonder whether the pedal box has also been swapped to accommodate the clutch and center console non original due to the auto transmission shifter? I'd love to hear from the Z aficionados who will likely be able to advise. I believe we are now proceeding with a full custom mount to suit purpose. IMG-7030 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr There's even silly little things like the new clutch master cylinder rod being too short for unknown reasons causing more work! IMG-7037 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr I can't praise Iain enough at this point for the time he is putting into getting the car finished and most importantly to the very high standards which he works to. I really shouldn't be shocked by some of the things that rear their heads now given all that we've found in the last couple of years but it still does shock me. This is a car with a past that I do not fully understand and would love to know more about. I'm at least now thinking that the car had the gearbox replaced as well as the engine which really makes me want to check the rear diff ratio as well. It's safe to say it should drive impeccably well when finished, the car will have had all of the suspension, power train and drive train overhauled with very few exceptions. It will be far from the spec that it left Japan with back in September 1970 when it rolled off of the production line. Hopefully more and positive news to follow very shortly

So it came from another member of the Z club UK, I've been told it was one of the transitional props between the early series 1 cars and the latter versions (series 3 onwards) which were solid (I know some people get funny with the 'series' comment but its the easiest way to explain). These transitional props were two piece props, being a transitional prop it also has the slip yoke at one end which I need for the conversion and my car wouldn't have being a series 1 car. I therefore wouldn't have been able to shorten mine and use it. FOr the power levels the car is running I'm not really worried. Great to know, I was hoping that would be the case. Hopefully the one that goes in will be fine however if not as you say I'll just swap out the bell housing and hopefully bolt another in ? Thanks dude, it's pretty unique. Given the car otherwise looks very stock I wanted to add some personality in a more subtle way that people will only notice when they look up close. Have a google of Bosozuku if you've never seen it before, the Japanese style is insane!

Well hopefully all being well exciting things are about to happen to bring the car back on the road in another revised and much improved state. Given my lack of engineering skills and knowledge (something I'd love to change and keep endeavoring to) the car is going to Passion Engineering this Saturday for a lot of TLC and primarily to have the R180 3.9 LSD installed, S14 gearbox conversion done and the engine looked at with the new carb setup dialed in. It's safe to say that I'm super excited to have the car back and on the road to make the most of the rest of the summer having only managed to nurse the car to two summer shows and then locked it up in the garage. With the new revised setup it should be able to really attack some B roads and cruise a lot better. Having thought several times I'd got everything I need over the past several months I've had several issues and hurdles to overcome including last minute items this week which have hopefully now rounded off the list. The biggest issue has been trying to find a good S14 gearbox, it has become abundantly clear that they are is strong demand now with availability going down while prices are going up and the condition of them going down due to the drift scene wrecking them. The gearbox I had stripped by a local workshop was not going anywhere the past few weeks due to the shop repeatedly going back on their word about looking at it week after week, I've therefore had to make alternate arrangements. Last week thanks to Moggy I got in touch with a chap through Facebook who had two gearboxes for sale, in the end I struck a deal and have bought both gearboxes (both of which are meant to be good). We're going to just drop one in and see how it goes after all the issues with trying to get a box rebuilt locally to no avail. John Palmer kindly acquired a set of S14 internals from Dean's BRE race car which were spare in an attempt to help me have the gearbox rebuilt however the local workshop having spent weeks ignoring me have decided there are slight differences in the gear sets (not sure if there were are any differences between S14 or 14a boxes) and aren't interested in the job. Having now got fed up I've just collected the gearbox in pieces and am storing it in the garage while I work out what to do with it. Not being an expert in any respect but having inspected the gears, this wear that has been mentioned does not seem to be significant and I imagine had I just dropped the box in the car it would have been fine. I suspect the gearbox shop aren't interested in anything that isn't perfect out of fear of any comeback and have just been off with me since day one. Either way I now have two spare gearboxes at the minute albeit one is already spoken for I'll likely keep the stripped box for spares now. IMG-6582 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr I also need to give a massive shout out to Richie P who has saved the day with my propshaft dilemma. Having not been able to work out what I needed or being aware that my propshaft was inappropriate for shortening coming from an earlier car and therefore not having a slip yoke on one end. By chance Richie had a transitional prop with a slip yoke lying around as a spare which would be ideal to be converted for my conversion. Not only that but he's spent the last few days running around, stripping it back, having it shortened to the correct length for my conversion, repainted and shipped to me ready for the work to be done. In theory I now have a bolt on solution and no more headaches to contend with. Big thank you dude! IMG-6589 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr I've also now got my new stub axles to fit the Subaru LSD courtesy of John Williams in the US who is by far the most reasonably priced option for these and was well worth the wait. IMG-6223 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr I've also decided to stray away from OEM aesthetics for a change, some people will love this and some will hate it however I decided to add some Bosozuku style to my build with this JDM styled shifter knob. I can't wait to see what it looks like installed however I'm confident it will look right at home. IMG-6583 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Finally I just want to give a shout out to all of the members of the club who have contributed and helped with my project to date, its amazing how many individuals have contributed to this car in some way and made it a reality when I've come across issues, needed information/advice and sourcing parts etc. Having a great community to support each other makes ownership that much easier and more enjoyable! Hopefully pictures of a working car are going to be up here imminently.

Cheers dude, works still to be completed but another weak link eliminated I expect. Thanks for the tip, that's a great little tutorial and one that I'd never thought of!

Well time for another update, I'm getting painfully close to putting the car through its next transformation having collected parts, researched and talked about it for the past few months. The car made it to Leeds Castle again and home with no dramas despite being a little unhealthy and was a cracking day out, it was great to see a few S30's together again this year and some of the usual faces. The weather even turned up by the end of the day so awesome all in all. IMG_6097 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr So the parts are now really stacking up, with everything now sorted via the gearbox which is waiting on the local shop to get their arse in gear and take another look. Looking at radiator options having had several conversations about cooling and the state of the radiator we decided to go ahead and over engineer so we are now the proud owners of a Mishimoto Aluminium rad which should be more than man enough for any engine build we do in the future! It also comes with a lifetime warranty. Just trying to decide whether to paint it black or anodise it black to make it blend into the engine bay a bit more or not? IMG_6136 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr I need to give a shout out to Toopy for kindly selling me his old rocker cover as I've been meaning to attempt to refurbish one in a wrinkle/crackle black finish having seen so many done before I've been keen to get one done and move away from the polished look as it's really not for me. Having spent several evenings this week, I managed to strip it down, degrease, paint it and finish it. It's not perfect having had to spray it in the garden at compete with the wind and flies which kept being attracted to the paint (fortunately the wrinkle finish hides most of it). With paint not really being my forte though I'm quite please with how its come out and I've learnt lessons for if I do it again. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves though. IMG_6142 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6154 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6172 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6186 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr With parts continuing to pile in I also need to give a massive shout out to Mike, Chris and Alan on here. Having missed the window on anti roll bars for my suspension work I had a rethink and was sensibly pointed in the direction of suspension technics anti roll bars on the basis that the rear bar mounts off of the diff support like the period BRE cars rather than requiring any body modifications, particularly when being an early car with no brackets to talk of. Having realised shipping would be insane with the quote coming in at $850 dollars! Mike allowed me to have them shipped to him, dropped into Chris's car to be shipped over to the UK before it was sold to Alan (who I coincidentally met at Donington and found out lives just down the road). Who in turn delivered the bits to my front door! It never ceases to amaze me the sense of community, with three members generously helping me out and getting parts several thousand miles to my front door free of charge Having now seen them in the flesh I'm convinced these are going to go a long way towards removing hte body roll with a seriously chunky front bar and a sensible looking rear one to bolt on. At the same time I also picked up a brand new passenger grab handle as one of the Chrome pieces of trim had decided to fall to pieces, the nice thing its a Nissan nos item. I always love original parts in bags with the stickers! lol IMG_6178 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6175 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Finally my evening has been topped off with another arrival from the US, this time after months of waiting on the list ZTherapy have come through with the goods. Fantastic packaging to keep the newly refurbished carb, intake manifold, euro balance tube, heat shield, fuel rail and throttle linkage all protected. The setup looks amazing, and everything feels very slick. The only problem is that now there's loads of nicely zinc plated items, there's lots of little bits and pieces that will need to be done to match in, I'm not sure quite what I've started here! I'm still recovering from the import duties and had second thoughts over tripples however they will come at a later date long way down the road, for now these are going to be awesome and should give some decent performance and economy. I think it's fair to say the car is going to drive like a different beast very shortly with all the parts that are being thrown at it, I'm getting super excited as fingers crossed work will begin in a couple of weeks time. Getting an idea of what things will look like shortly: IMG_6191 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6194 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_6195 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr More to come in due course, don't go away

Well more to report still, recently its felt like one step forward and two steps backwards however I finally feel as though some progress is being made. Quite a few weeks back now my new OS Giken single plate clutch and lightweight flywheel combo turned up from Japan which looks like a piece of art, currently placed on the shelf gathering dust for now though. I’ve also received an uprated diff mount from the US which seemed like some sensible over engineering to go in with the LSD not knowing the state of the oem hardware which I imagine is still very original. I now have a good lead for S14 gears thanks to JP so keeping my fingers crossed on that count, my Z therapy setup is also just waiting on the polished intake manifold and then that’ll be on its way as well. In other good news the stub axels made by John Williams have just been finished so I’m finalising details to have a small batch sent across for a few of us at the same time to keep costs down. Having further investigated my coolant issues as several of you now know it turned out to be that the water pump gasket had failed and was leaking coolant down the block onto the alternator belt and arb. Having written the car off from attending both the Donington Historic and Japfest I changed my registration on both tickets not thinking I wouldn’t be able to source and fit a replacement before the weekends shows. Having nearly given up in a last ditch attempt I gave Four ways a call on Thursday who happened to have literally one left in stock so a priority delivery later and I had a replacement on Friday morning before show day. Having got home and drained and stripped the front end it was clear that the original gasket was knackered and where the leak was coming from, having cleaned the surfaces and fitted everything back up it was apparent the gasket hadn’t seated properly so back it all came off with some more gasket sealant more generously applied to the bottom to seal the joint. Everything was going well at this point until in my tired state I over tightened the last bolt and snapped it! A job for later, the system was refilled and the leak was gone. Following a short test drive, fuelled up and loaded all the spares I could think of into the car as well as printed off my breakdown cover policy the car was ready to go at 11pm. Having recycled the coolant following the installation more signs have been appearing to support the theory that the car had serious coolant system issues in the past before my ownership and the band aid approach was applied. Having now done the heater matrix, head gasket, water pump and physically inspected and seen the poor state of the oem radiator it’s clear that some form of rad weld was holding the system together for a while. Plans in the short term are to remove the water pump to sort the snapped bolt and replace all bolts with new ones, completely flush the system again and look to sort the radiator. I’m still in two minds as to whether to re-core the oem radiator or to take the opportunity to drop a Mishimoto Ali rad in its place to improve the cars cooling. I’ve also been recommended a Gano filter that can be put into the system to pick up any remaining crud as well which should all massibly improve the efficiency. Fingers crossed that once this has been done everything was be in tip top condition and I won’t have any more surprises from the engine bay. The good news was despite the fact the engine needs a health check it made both Donington and Japfest and managed both journeys without complaint! Both shows were fantastic and allowed for some long overdue catch ups, let me put some faces to names and get plenty of ideas of things to be done. Having not been out in the car properly in months it was really nice and gave me some much needed motivation to push on with the project. The car got some fantastic attention over the weekend particularly at Japfest which was really nice, and on the home had people hanging out of windows and all sorts to get pictures and wave. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed everything slots together I can try and ambitiously get everything some before the Le Mans Classic in July. IMG-5612 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-6011 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr When most people are cleaning their cars or chilling with a beer before show day! IMG-6013 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Out with the old and in with the new IMG-6014 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Looking fairly tired and abused IMG-6016 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr More evidence of my band aid theory, this didn’t get back into the system IMG-6021 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Hmmm, thanks for confirming what it is guys. The car had a top end engine rebuild last year so the head gasket was done at that time and I know was done properly then, this was because we noticed the head gasket weeping coolant at higher rpm on the rolling road session. I was advised that the oem rad was showing signs of wear in a few places so this could all starting to add up to signs that it was having issues before my ownership. The heater core was corroded and completely bunged up when I got the car as well, we actually flushed the system and replaced the coolant last year so the liquid copper was likely lurking in the system somewhere. The whole engine is getting checked over very soon due to the coolant/oil leak which we're speculating is waterpump or timing gasket related so it'll get a full comb over then for anything further. It coule well be that refurbing the rad will be on the cards sooner rather than later. Thanks for all of the input

Well more news, some good and some bad. I'm definitely learning the joys of classic motoring having had my second breakdown in the car now. Enjoying some of the first sunshine we've had in months a few weeks back I completely lost the clutch on a short drive out. Fortunately being local at the time my dad got called out and the same tow rope that saved the car in Caen also towed me home this time. Following investigation it turned out that the slave cylinder seals had failed and the cylinder was quite literally pissing clutch fluid all over the floor every time the clutch was being used. The pool of fluid on the lock up implied it had been leaking for a little while before the complete failure, we were just unaware. I also noticed salt attacking the new suspension from our unfortunate incident being stuck out in the Snow with Goodwood, having cleaned and oiled everything to halt any damage I've now picked up ACF50 which has been generously applied over all of the adjustable parts to attack/prevent any corrosion, and provide a layer between the parts and the road grime. New OEM slave cylinder, master cylinder and slave cylinder hose ordered from the US which finally arrived last Friday in the hopes to have the car roadworthy for Doninigton. On Saturday we managed to get the new slave cylinder and hose fitted and bled the system to see if it fixed the car, the Haynes manual did us proud. While messing around I also got the BC spanners back out to mess around with the ride height to try and get the car more balanced from an aesthetics point of view. Also having the front end of the car flying in the air we got around to the long overdue task of removing the front bumper to detach the over riders before refitting the bumper, I need to get some 14mm blanking grommets however it already looks a lot smarter in my opinion. A quick road test revealed the clutch was back in business and I thought we were back on track for Donington however the car was running rough and not firing on all cylinders, an oily plug cleaned up and that was resolved. Thinking we may be finally be in for a break to add insult to injury we now have a coolant leak from the front of the engine. I'm currently speculating that the water pump is on its way out however there's also some oil that's falling onto the alternator belt and being sprayed in the engine bay as well. We're therefore going to be getting some slightly more professional help with concerns over the engine. While this is all being worked out and analysed I've heard last week on return from my holiday that the S14 gearbox we picked up has wear to the second gear and won't be suitable. I'm currently making various inquiries about replacement gearboxes or gear sets however no luck as of yet. The only positive news is we are running out of things to replace in the engine bay so fingers crossed it'll be all sorted for this summer! A few pics, kind of forgot to take a few as I went However here's a few: IMG-5935 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Oily mess lurking below IMG-5942 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Out with the old and in with the new IMG-5947 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Low light, done for the day with the ride height adjusted and over riders removed IMG-5967 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG-5973 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr A question to those with far more knowledge, any ideas what this bronze shiny stuff is that has appeared in the rad? Should I be concerned? IMG-5974 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

I'm really glad to hear that, I've only head good things about the guys! haha mine is in much need of that, the current setup really isn't working as well as it should be and is looking quite tired in a lot of respects. I'm hoping both the performance and economy will increase. They seem a solid option for fairly standard engines... I believe you call it a KA transmission in the states and it would be from your 240SX rather than our 200SX over in the UK. The bell housing will obviously go which will make it look a bit more familiar, however it should make it fantastic to drive compared to the long four speed that currently resides in the car. Thanks, I'm glad to hear that people are still reading and enjoying the thread!

Well in other news, while the car has been stuck in the garage for the last few weeks owing to this miserable weather I've been making good progress with collecting parts for the transmission upgrade with things starting to fall in to place. My very mucky looking S14 gearbox turned up in the post today, will be talking about having it rebuilt with a local gearbox specialist tomorrow hopefully. For those with this conversion I now have the gearbox and a 260Z five speed bell housing to be machined. I know that I'll need to modify/replace the gearbox mount and shorten the prop however is there anything else I should be getting? Just thinking silly little items such as a new Clutch fork boot as linked below? Is everything else reusable? https://zcardepot.com/clutch-fork-boot-oem-240z-260z-280z-280zx-72-83.html This has been my guide so far: http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/240SX5spd/Transmission2.htm I've also since acquired a Subaru R180 3.9 Suretrac LSD, and am currently waiting on stub axel production in the US to get those on their way over. While doing the conversion I've been kindly reminded that this may be a sensible upgrade so will need to order one of those as well. The long parts list continues. https://www.technoversions.com/DiffMountHome.html I've also finally decided upon a flywheel and clutch combo and looked to Japan in the end following some very helpful input off of here. I've therefore got an OS Giken single plate clutch/flywheel on its way over. Weighing in at 10.7kg for the whole assembly I'm hoping the car will rev more freely and I'll have future proofed against any engine upgrades to come (rated to nearly 400bhp) while keeping a nice pedal pressure. https://www.rhdjapan.com/os-giken-super-single-clutch-kit-aluminum-cover-gc10-hr30-c110-c210-s30-s130.html As if there wasn't enough else going on back at the end of January I asked Ztherapy to put me on their waiting list so that I could completely refresh my carb setup with it more than showing its age in places. Hopefully as of May I'll have new carbs, euro style balance tube and fuel rail heading over the Atlantic to be fitted. I was tempted to use the opportunity to look into a triple carb setup of some description however looking at the cost implications, the fact that I only have a very stock engine setup and insurance implications (the joys of being young) I've strayed away for now. I'm hoping this will more than meet the cars current needs and when the time comes at a later date I can decide upon an engine and triple carb setup to suit. Current plan is to have all of this done so that the car can be enjoyed to its full potential on its way down to the Le Mans Classic this year IMG_5575 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5563 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

(Post starts on page before) Despite feeling somewhat rubbish having been getting over a virus we were accepted to take part in the members parade on Saturday morning, which while it was very much a parade was good fun. I got to at least open the car up along the pit straight out of the chicane and we heard our car being talked out over the radio so will be on the look out for the days coverage when it gets released by Goodwood. We also managed to blag circuit parking on the Sunday given how shocking the car park fields were there was no way we wanted to go anywhere near them so the car got some more expose and a fair bit of attention as well. With the weekends awful weather it was also the first snow the car has seen with us which made for some good pictures! IMG_5355 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5408 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5410 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5437 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5422 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5464 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5465 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr All cleaned up briefly from the weekend before being put away IMG_5468 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Its fair to say the cars handling has transformed beyond belief and can now attack corners with far more speed and confidence, the BC's are set at very soft settings to keep things compliant so overall we're very happy with the results. Also having the adjustability that comes with the T3 control arms has meant the car is really sharp and responsive in a way that it never was. The only issues now to combat are the 1cm of play in the steering, which is linked to a worn lower UJ in the steering column. Some squeaky polybushes from the rear control arms are driving me made though! With the weather being the way it has though we've still not had a proper opportunity to really take the car out and put it more through its paces to get dialed in and familiarise ourselves with the changes. We had hoped to add anti roll bars in at the same time however unfortunately couldn't tie them in with the planned works, given the delay I've been talked into now going with Suspension Techniques anti roll bar kit which mounts off of the rear diff. In hindsight this seemed more appropriate rather than drilling holes in the chassis with no rear mounts fitted being an earlier car. On that note a big shout out to Mike and Chris on here who are both helping me out big time with getting them across the atlantic without incurring the extortionate postage quote that I received! They'll get put on in the coming months with other planned work. Any thoughts on the ride height? I'm thinking the rear could come still down a tad? IMG_5294 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr As usual I've said enough so I'll stop here, I am already working on the next stage of the project so more details will follow shortly!

Well it's long overdue that I got around to writing on here again, it's fair to say that there's been a lot of Z related work and plans going on for the last few months. Those of you on follow me on social media will have already had a sneak peak. Winter has not stopped the car from being used with it having been to Bicester's Sunday Scramble, Pistonheads runs, weekends away and all sorts. The cars suspension overhaul has now been done with the setup finally decided upon. After lots of research and after weighing up the options we decided that BC Coilovers would be most suitable to our needs, having considered the performance vs the cost it made the most sense with money unfortunately having to be consideration. We also went slightly softer than BC recommended at 4/4KG or 225/225lbs which seems more than appropriate for road use. I would have loved to have gone to Intrax for a custom setup however the cost just couldn't be justified with the extra money needing to be spent in plenty of other areas. Thanks to moggy I picked up a spare set of donor struts that could be cutup for my BC's to be welded onto making a straight swap out possible, and retaining my stock struts that can be rebuilt should it ever be desired. Having dropped the BC's to a good friend in Bexhill he sectioned, welded and powder coated the BC's ready for me to bring the car down so that I could make use of his lift and help to fit all of the T3 components, BC's, rear wheel bearings and a few items of poly in the steering rack to reduce the play I headed down for the day. Over the course of a Friday and Saturday morning we managed to get everything dropped out and fitted up before getting the ride height roughly set, the alignment was made as accurate as possible using a tape measure to get the car on the road and home. Having previously contemplated completing the job at home I was immensely grateful of the high lift and fully kitted out workshop, along with my friend Patrick's knowledge. Without which the job would have been a complete nightmare and impossible to complete, plenty of machines, power and air tools which made various jobs a breeze. Even being able to clean up, ultrasonic cleand and powder coat the brake shields before re-fitting. Amazingly and to our surprise both spindle pins came out really easily after hearing all of the horror stories. As expected with the alignment completely out the car was a royal pig driving home nearly 80 miles in the rain, via a few small scares it made it home in one piece. Some pics from the job anyway: IMG_5254 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr New vs Old IMG_5248 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5252 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5259 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5261 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5271 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5266 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5274 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5278 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Poly UJ to get rid of the deteriorating rubber IMG_5286 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr The spares heap for restoration another day IMG_5291 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Promptly booked into Wheels in Motion in Chesham having chatted to Tony who setup the company himself and trains people in alignment setups around the country I was confident I was in safe hands having had them setup my cars before. Having survived another 40 mile journey we chatted about the cars intended uses, and our goals before the guys got to work. As expected with everything being brand new it could be setup like a dream. The nice thing being that any desired alterations or characteristics I want changed can be made free of charge if I return again having become accustomed to the car. The guys were extremely complimentary of the T3 and BC setups and complimented that it was nice to see the job being done properly. Being a busy site, the car stopped various customers, a local classic car restorer and the workshop guys all of whom wanted to stop and chat and take photos of the car. Having got it on the ramps and checked by the lazers the guys thought it was a miracle I even got to them bearing in mind how far out everything was, while there I also got all four wheels rebalanced having not had them checked since the car first arrived in to my ownership. Unsurprisingly they were all out so we started a fresh. Setup complete per the settings below the car was at least ready for a weekend at the Goodwood 76th Members Meeting. IMG_5354 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5491 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5492 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Several more inserts from my recent adventures, stolen from my UK thread for those interested. With fast road and Europe in mind we’re now in full swing piecing everything together to completely bring our suspension setup into the 21st Century. Rather fortunately my parents have had a last minute trip out to California where they were they were quite literally passing Techno Toy Tunings front door. A very last minute phone call the day after (4th July public holiday) when they reopened first thing in the morning and by chance they had all the bits I was after in stock. Order completed and all parts collected just before closing my dad even got a quick tour of the workshop the lucky sod! Some duffle bags packed later and we’ve certainly saved a few quid on shipping to say the least with some seriously robust quality parts turning up on Friday afternoon on their arrival home. Very handy being able to get some extra hold luggage space on the way back. We’ve decided to pick up some T3 Adjustable Lower Control Arms, T3 GTX2 Adjustable Front Lower Control Arms, Inner/Outer Tie rods and prothane steering rack bushes. I’ve only been able to have a brief look before to check it was all there before returning it to bubble wrap however the quality looks superb. All the remains on the suspension list for now is a Poly steering coupler to try and remove some more steering play, Anti Roll bar kit (1inch front ¾ rear) and suspension struts of some description. I think I’ve concluded coilovers will be the answer and will therefore be looking to source some suspension strut assembly’s to be sectioned however I’ve still not made my mind up as to who and how much. I may try and blag some rides in other members cars beforehand if possible, however it looks like I’m going to leave the current bits for one big swap and then only require one four wheel alignment and setup. It’s nice to say we’re finally doing something on our wish list for a change Here’s a few pics for now anyway. FullSizeRender (8) by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr FullSizeRender (9) by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr T3 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr T3.1 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Thanks for all of the feedback guys! I have looked at the Futofab option but have since been sold on the Suspension Technics setup. That seems the closest comparable product to the BRE option back in the day. I also may have a line on some EU/JDM factory bars which may be appropriate so following that up first. Much appreciated

Hi All, I've seen mention in several places of a BRE anti roll bar kit for the rear of the 240Z which bolts on to the diff rather than involving drilling. Are these still available anywhere of are they a product of the past? I'm looking to upgrade both of the anti roll bars on my car and would ideally like a bolt on solution to go on my 09/70 240Z which has no mounting location on the rear. Does anyone have any suggestions other than the MSA kit? Cheers

Oh right, either way still impressive work. Keep the good work up, I look forward to seeing the final product

Any pictures of this fitted? It looks fantastic!

Glad to hear that Thanks for the info, ours is an L26 so it adds up.

Haha how does that not surprise me, they're silly money! My dad always told me you have to look at the cost of these cars from new to appreciate what the relative parts/running costs will be. Seems to ring very true from everything I've heard and been told. I think I'll just stick with the Z. Given my complete lack of knowledge in this area I couldn't clarify. Is the spray bar a stock item? I know the cam is schneider aftermarket one which would explain the holes but don't know about the spray bar. Surely more flow can only be a good thing? (All I can confirm is the engine has been running better than ever following the rebuild)

Thanks for sharing, interesting to know a bit more than before. I've never made it to Ireland before however from what I've seen its beautiful in places. Thank you very much, I'm told its not a bad place then again its all I know. I think the same can be said of so many places though, The West coast of the states is beautiful from my trips over there and come this August I'll be sampling its offerings by visiting Boston, New York, Philly and Washington for the first time. France is always amazing every time I've been. It had a fuel leak having chatted with the owner, despite knowing members of the Aston team there was nothing they could do so it was going back to the local dealer in the UK. In fairness the DB7 model is over 20 years old now so hardly a youngster I'm therefore less surprised but certainly wouldn't want to pick up the bill! DB7's can be had for about £30,000 now so relatively speaking not too dissimilar to the price of our Z in the greater scheme of things. I'm sure the parts will cost a small fortune though.

Apologies again if this doesn't make 100% as its lifted off of my UK forums page, however I thought I'd keep you all posted Well as usual this is well over due and a lot has gone on in the last few months. As some of you will know during my trip to B.D. Engineering to have the car tuned after only the first run we discovered a head gasket leak so had to abort the session, leaving me with no choice but to drive in a particularly gentle manor to both shows until it could be sorted. Having thought over my options and spoken to several people the job was well beyond my mechanical knowledge so I decided to leave it to the Pro’s on this occasion. While figuring out where to take the car I remembered a contact that I’d met through Russ on here last year while attending a Pistonheads meet at Goodwood who’s recently setup his own workshop and helped Russ work on his car with great success. A quick phone call later and the car was booked in to visit Iain who owns and runs ‘Passion Engineering’ based in West Sussex. Not quite knowing what to expect with a 47 year old car and engine of an unknown quality I explained the issue and left the car with Iain to do a complete check over and resolve the head gasket issue. To begin with Iain did a pressure test on the coolant system which revealed several leaks from various pipes across the engine which all had to be fixed before the pressure allowed the coolant to start dripping from the suspect area. Next job was to strip down the engine and find out what we were dealing with. As with all of these jobs and with engines of this age various bits and pieces popped up, the head was warped and required re facing, for unknown reasons the valves on cylinder six had run hotter with one of the intake valves having recessed into the seat requiring replacement, all of the exhaust studs were pretty knackered. The list went on…. We had some delivery lead times which were longer than expected with parts arriving from the US however finally everything eventually turned up. A visit to the machine shop and everything back ready to reassembly, we took the opportunity to replace the stem oil seals, gaskets and re-lapped all valves. While looking at the fitment of the current exhaust manifold our heat issue was identified with the manifold only half covering the exhaust port on cylinder six strangling its airflow. Fortunately owing to Iain’s mechanical skills he’s completely sorted out the alignment of it and we’re back in business (hopefully a Z story replacement will make it on there one day). Following which several bodges were revealed from the cars past including the most bodged replacement bushing I’ve ever seen in the cylinder head for the exhaust cylinder 6 exhaust stud location. Fortunately Iain milled a replacement and welded it in to sort the issue (Pics below). With the engine fully rebuilt various tidy up jobs were done to clean up the engine bay making it safer including an oversight on my behalf. The battery was also further isolated to protect the car further along with some clean-up work as well. Full Strip down IMG_5803 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5804 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5805 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5945 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_5944 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Reassembly IMG_6147 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr The aforementioned beautiful ex horror exhaust stud bush IMG_2576 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_2575 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Every item that was removed was stripped and examined before being reassembled and oiled or greased where appropriate, our throttle return issues was found to be the return springs holding insufficient tension owing to their age so have been replaced with some new Webber one which are performing fantastically now with no signs of a sticking throttle. We’re aware that the carbs are showing signs of age related wear however we’re leaving them as is for now with plans for triples and a new engine down the road. There’s even been some polishing work to give the bay some extra bling as well. At this point it’s probably very fair to point out that as things developed and conspired against Iain (through no fault of his own I would add) we (my dad and I) had an upcoming deadline which was our planned trip to Le Mans for the 24 Hours which we had planned to attend in the Z. With the pressure on the car was finished the weekend before we left with Iain working around the clock (quite literally I would add) to make sure the car was finished to his standards in time for us to collect it and take it to France. To top matters off the car had even been fully detailed and waxed so it looked immaculate. Fortunately for us at all stages Iain worked to our requirements and, as far as was possible, to our schedule, even agreeing to meet us outside of normal business hours to facilitate the collection. When we arrived to collect the car, we were talked though all of the work that had been undertaken, showing us the engine bay, explaining what work had been performed, showing us various worn out items that had been replaced, and explaining any fabrication work that had been undertaken. Following this we were also given a list of advisory items where Iain believed improvements could be made, or potential issues identified that we should be aware of going forward. Finally, knowing we were about to be embarking on a several hundred mile trip, Iain had gone to the effort to make up an emergency repair bag including all sorts of useful items that could potentially keep the car on the road in the event of an issue. I should add that throughout the process we were kept constantly updated with photos showing the current state of the work so that we had copies for our personal records :thumbs: It’s fair to say that Iain went above and beyond our expectations in all regards and, when it came to the bill, was extremely reasonable considering the time he had invested. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone who needs any work done on their Z, his work was second to none and he’s a true enthusiast. Nicely tidied up engine ready to rock IMG_1951 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_1952 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr With the car collected and having done about 100 miles including the drive home and several cruises around when it was back we we’re ready to go to Le Mans. Much to my amusement nothing has changed with the amount of heads the car turns, going down to my local to meet a friend the night before departing there were several people ogling over the car while enjoying a pint as I pulled up. Got into conversation with several people before I was allowed to the bar. D-Day – we decided for better or worse that we didn’t want to purchase EU Breakdown cover given the cost for a five day period and arrogantly thought what could go wrong with a 47 year old Japanese classic sports car driving several hundred miles to France and back with a fresh top end engine rebuild! The usual gear, some spares, basic tools and a tow rope packed and off we went. We got the Ferry from Portsmouth on Wednesday morning going across to Caen in order that we could catch the last free practice and first quali session for the race. With the weather set for scorching heat the Z has no worries over seeing any water. Deciding we had the time we drove some of my favourite roads down to Le Mans sticking clear of all payage using A and B roads even going through the Forest D’Ecouves Normandie which is always great fun. Having warmed her up the new engine was now pulling like a train leaving me grinning like an idiot as we raced down towards the circuit. Given the cars relative low capabilities/threshold in its very OEM guise its was hilarious fun rolling around going pedal to the metal so to speak. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to drive a slow car fast, albeit it has only served to increase my desire to perform several major upgrades. Having made it down to the circuit we settled in at Auberge Des Hunaudieres restaurant to catch the end of the GT3 session before the final practice begun. With the car parked in sight from our table we giggled to each other as we saw the amount of passers by who stopped to have a good gawp and admire the car while we enjoyed our meal and the racing. All that done we did something different for the Thursday and left the comfort of the circuit to head South and check out Chateau de Breze which has the largest dry moat in Europe being 18 meters deep and an impressive cave system, enjoying some fantastic roads on the way down it was also easy to spot the Roman influence with dead straight roads for mile on mile (if that floats your boat). On route back we met up with our neighbour who was on his first trip out in his R35 GTR. Its fair to say together they made quite a sight and drew some looks albeit for road presence and performance despite my admirable efforts to drive in a spirited fashion would never come close to Godzilla’s potential. For a change we also decided to attend the Classic British Welcome which we’d never done before, it’s been going for several years now and draws about 1000 cars of all varieties and ages to a small village local to Le Mans. There was a fantastic turnout with almost anything you could imagine in attendance with the theme this year being Marcos. Thanks to Sean I met up with a French 240Z owner who spoke fantastic English and had a good chat to him about his car and had a good poke around, it was in fantastic condition and right up my street being a practical road legal racecar Everything was going well and I wish it stayed that way however his is the point where I say ‘but’. While getting back to the car and preparing to head to the circuit for the pit walk I was chatting to another passer-by who asked to have a look at the engine bay. In my typical fashion I went to oblige pulling the bonnet release however a second later I was pulling a very screwed up confused face as I was holding the handle in my hand with about 40cm of cable visible and the engine bay sealed shut. Having realised there was nothing I could do I instantly got several very helpful responses from the usual suspects on Facebook following my pleas for help including the offer of tools and help from a fellow member at a local campsite :thumbs: On reflection though we concluded that there was no real need to access the bay with everything running well that we’d just leave it well alone for the weekend and worry when we got home and had better access and a cold engine to faff with given we had no guaranteed way to fix it even if we opened it up Several more days of racing went by with visits to other favourite locations such as Hotel de France in Chartre-sur-le-Loir where despite other tasty machinery being parked with the GTR and Z parked together drew a lot of looks and sparked more chats. The car continued to perform very nicely chewing through the miles well into Sunday afternoon as we were returning to Caen for our return crossing following the race. As we made swift progress through the French countryside it was apparent while slowing down to pass through towns that we were smelling a sulphur/bad eggs smell. Quite apparent it wasn’t going anywhere and some scanning over our notoriously ‘reliable’ gauges and it was clear that the Amp gauge was up at maximum +45. Some discussion later and we concluded the voltage regulator had decided it was the end of its days and to give up. Given we were still ticking over nicely and there was little we could do (assuming we were correct) we opted to continue making progress for Caen. The car kept eating up the miles all the way to our obligatory stop in the Wine cave before shooting the last few hundred meters into the Ferry terminal. Having pulled up in the usual queue we made for our usual beer to relax and ponder the machinery and kick tyres with all the other brits waiting alongside. With the queue starting to move we had to stop chit chatting and jumped into go, a quick turn of the key and nothing….. stone dead nothing… No problem we thought a quick bump start and we’ll be away, no such chance with several of us pushing not even a hint in first or second gear. Pushed to the side several brits seeing our predicament kindly came over offering a battery charger and jump leads. Alas our trivial bonnet being locked was suddenly a big issue! A few discussions with the port authority and having been told we couldn’t be towed with cars having to make their own way to the boat and no tow hook fitted our options were looking thin on the ground…. Several conversations later and that annoying tow rope was suddenly looking very appealing. Having fitted it around the front subframe/cross member we had a big rig turn up with two kind French men from the port. A lot of stress and some giggling later and we had been towed to the back of the ferry, literally being the last car pushed down the ramp onto the boat before departure. Disaster averted the AA were on standby for our arrival back in the UK, the next day having watched every vehicle possible disembark little old us were left in the corner awaiting the ports recovery rig. Not so expected was the jobs worth who arrived refusing to tow us off of the boat on the basis we had no tow hook and he therefore he ‘couldn’t’ tow us. Much bullshit later the car got pushed off to await the AA. Immigration cleared with thanks to Portsmouth port authority we sat and awaited our man in yellow. Agreeing we were buggered we arranged for the car to get towed to Iain to get the car on a high lift to get some decent access. All arranged we drove not so tastefully on the back of an AA van to West Sussex to be cracked open and analysed before heading back to work as originally planned. By the afternoon our broken bonnet release cable and knackered voltage regulator both confirmed we set about with repair options. Looking to bring the car slightly further into the 21st century we’ve opted to move onto an internally regulated 280zx alternator for hopefully some more reliability. New battery to be sourced and bonnet release cable on route repairs are well underway meaning she should be back on the road in no time. All ranting aside one day soon I plan to be performing some work by choice which I would like to be do as an ‘improvement’ rather than our usual list of essential areas of attention. Suspension is well and truly on the cards with hopefully some T3 components in the pipeline while other items are sourced including the dreaded conversation of suspension struts. I’m watching a few threads with interest however having chatted with Franky Intrax sounds like a very nice option if I can stretch to the costs. Other than the minor episode which I now look back and laugh at the car performed faultlessly on its first ever trip to the continent eating up the miles and is hopefully the first of many trips planned over there. I’ll never get bored of saying that I am still blown away by the help I’ve got through the community across our ownership of the car, I still giggle to myself when I see the attention the car gets and love sharing my experience with all of the people I’ve encountered since day one of owning the car. I’m not sure this one will ever get boring….. I really have now said far too much so I’ll leave you with some pictures to look at from France in the meantime rather than listening to me drone on! On our way South in France DSC_0618 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Beautiful war memorial DSC_0628 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Giving the lady a rest DSC_0630 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Home for the weekend DSC_0646 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr A quick diversion to Breze for a change DSC_0650 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr DSC_0653 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr DSC_0663 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr DSC_0668 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr The dream team (incase you've never seen the faces behind the project) IMG_2045 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Lovely French S30 racer IMG_2090 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr IMG_2089 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Evening visit to Hotel de France with our neighbour and Godzilla in tow FullSizeRender-2 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr Our rescue steed in France, helping out a fellow Brit after us... IMG_2392 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr and our trusty steed for the UK IMG_2398 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Thanks guys, its quite nice to finally be making progress with the car and getting out and about in it. Doing road trips always makes new memories, hopefully the car will be ready for the Le Mans 24 Hours this June and we'll be going down in it but only time will tell. The irony is it was in Le Mans a year ago that the whole process of buying this car begun. Site unseen yes that would be considered a moat, it extends the entire way around the castle and acts as a fortification. Also not many people know but they were also designed to prevent an enemies from tunnelling under the walls as they would be flooded. Below is a link to an image of the castle to give you a better idea, if you google 'Leeds Castle' there's lots of info. Leeds-Castle-1495.jpg I suppose there's not really anything in the way of castles in the US given its history, only really Civil Wars Forts maybe?

As promised here's a link to the very few images I took at the event, much smaller turnout by comparison to Donington. https://www.flickr.com/photos/148965131@N05/albums/72157680936590832 Also here's a picture of me and my dad at the event with our pride and joy (weather wasn't the best hence my dad wearing the flying jacket). Castle was very cool. DSC_0577 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr