symon

Dear Landmizzle, I have done various gearbos & axle ratio changes in past, though not on a Z. The differences between the 4 & 5 speed box ratios in 1st, 2nd & 3rd will be hardly noticable but what you will appreciate is the extra high speed cruising. In my 260Z 5th gear runs 4.000 revs at 155 km/h ( approx 93 mph). This makes it easy to cover a lot of ground comfortably. You wrote about lightening the flywheel. Well hear are my thoughts ! 1. The reduced weight would show significantly in 1st gear, less so in 2nd, & in 5th the acceleration should be about the same as standard. This is all to do with the the geared down effect that the gearbox you. I´ll dig out the article I read about this when I come back after new year. 2. As you progesively lighten the flywheel you make the tick over rougher as the heavy original flywheel smooths out the relatively uneven firing sequence. Once the engine revs up you won´t notice any change. 3. A lightned flywheel makes it easier to stall the car when starting off. ( Maybe a few red faces here then ). 4. In my last 2 cars I lightened the flywheels considerable, for example my Triumph Stag´s 3,900 Rover / Buick aluminium V8´s flywheel went on a diet from 13,5 kg to 9,2. ( sorry don´t know how much that is in pounds. My MGB engine in my MG TD originaly had a 12,5 KG flywheel & now has a 3,5 kg aluminium unit that I knocked up in a weekend specially to use a 5 inch twin plate sintered clutch. Both of these cars have terrific performance in 1st , 2nd & 3rd. In 4th & 5th they are just bloody fast. The Stag pulls 0 - 160 km/h ( 0-100 mph) in 9.8 seconds, the MG does the same run at 9.2 secs. 5. My advise is reduce the weight as far as possible & enjoy the performance benefits that you can have without opening up the engine or cam changes, etc. Ok that my view on all this. Best of luck with the gearbox swop.

I´m not expert on oils but I have always put in a quality oil of the type specified buy the manufacturers. At least the Castrol GTX I normally used is well rated on that test, it also has another advantage that when you strip the engine down it is all nice & clean with no gunge. Here´s my thought on oils for high milage engines : - If the engine has done 100.000s of miles & the oil pressure is down, it burns oil, & make a hell of a noise, no oil is going to solve that. You just got to bite the bullet & strip the engine down & fix it.

Hi Alan, The Father´s garage used to be called Newtown Service Station in Bloxwich, nr Walsall. A few years ago the whole lot was torn down & some property devolopers built an OAP home there. Even so the garage was well past it´s best. I remember well as a kid going up there with my father, whilst he was talking business I used to sit in the new cars,( trash like the Chrysler 180 & Hilman Imps ) & play at rally drivers. The best thing about driving around with my father was that he always a new car or "smoker" as he called them. One day it would be a beat up Hilman Minx or may be a Ford Grandada or if things were going well an XJ6 Jag. Oh happy days before I realised that I had to work to pay for my motoring dreams

I remember seeing this short film in famous company. Years ago my father was a Talbot dealer ( Talbot was a horrible invention of Peugeot who used the name to when they took over the old Chrysler Europe & Simca ). Anyway in the RAC rally of that year my father´s garage sponsored a couple of Talbot Avengers that were run by Skip Brown. More by luck that anything else one of the cars had a class victory & to celebrate there was an evening organised to show rally films, etc. The invited guests were the bloody ´orrible Avenger & Henri Toivenen ( hope I´ve spelt that right) Being the boss´s son I got to sit next to Toivenen for the films & if I remember rightly I bored him silly with questions like how to be a rally driver, do rally drivers make lots of money & were rally drivers successful with women ! Almost at her end of films & before the buffet the famous film was shown. I remember that even Toivenen was impressed. Ok that´s one of my claims to fame.

It looks like the paint & trim is all original colours. Underneath the carpets, underneath the car & in the engine bay is Silver. The trim I believe to be original. The alloy wheels also seem to be original. I think that I would have ordered a diferent combination of colours but I can´t buy a new 260z, so I stick with what I´ve got.:classic:

Thanks Guys, I´ll try the Castrol GTX 10/30 for the motor & 80w for everything else. I´ll report back to say how I get on.

What oils should I use in the engine, gearbox & differential on my ´76 260Z 5 speed. I´ve only had the car a week & I´ve not yet received the worshop manual I´ve ordered. :stupid:

I have no first hand experience on SU carbs on a Z car but on my MG TD with MGB 2150c full race engine, the 2 x HS6s gave 172 hp at flywheel at 7,800 revs & with twin weber I only get 181 hp. Previously I had a Triumph Stag with a Rover / Buick 3,900. With 2 x HIF6s the gave 234 hp at 6,250 revs So they are not bad, just a case of setting the car up properly as suggested by other members & then running down to you local rolling road dynometer & fine turning. The results can be extraordinary !

Yes Guus, I know that the previous owner was trying to sell the car for some time. Here in Spain the Datsun Z cars are completely unknown ( the twits here only want to buy MGs, TRs & Jags) I´ve been trying to put a deal together for some time as I wanted to unload a 1964 MK I Mini Cooper that we had. Finally a couple of weeks ago we did a deal which made sense. I´ve now realised what a small world it is. :sleepy:

Yes this car is a real rarity. The car was apparently imported in April 1976, I havn´t found out by who as yet. In what was a third world country just coming out of a dicatorship this car would have been really something ! I have all the MOT test certificates & it would seen that the car has just 82,000 kms. It certainly drives that way. I have been really lucky as I swopped a ´64 MK I Mini Cooper for the 260Z & 4,500 €uros. I think I got the better part of the bargain ! As & when I need any parts I´ll get in touch. Many Thanks:D

Thanks a bunch Guus for their e mail address. I´ve already been looking round you website. You´re serious about Z´s. I´ll be going up near to you in late January or early February so, if time permits, I´ll try to get over to break open a few beers with you !

Thanks Guus for telling me about the French Z club. I ´ve had a look around there web page but as my French is not so good I couldn´t find an e mail address to contact them. Maybe you can let me have it. It´s good to know I can count on you guys to help me out. Enrique sugested that it could be difficult to organize a real club get together, my sugestion is that it would be more fun just driving around & visiting the members where they live. At least i´d get to use my 260 a lot !

Your guys have got members in France. I´ll have to look them up & get over to see them. This is the first time that I have taken part in a forum & it really works.

Well I feel like I´m alone out here. I live in Barcelona Spain, a week ago I bought a 260z & have yet to get in contact with anybody who has a Z & lives close. If there are any Z lovers here in Spain of in the south of France we should arrange to meet up & use our cars in good company. Please let me know where you are & we´ll get together. :cheeky:

Hey, Can I join in on the round France Zeding trip in May. I´m from Barcelona, Spain & last Friday I bought an original Spanish registered 1976 260Z. Please let me know about the trip. Happy Xmas to all you Zeddders out there.