aarc240

Considering they are compound curved that is pretty reasonable. Only thing to watch is they MUST be supplying toughened glass with ground edges and NOT laminated glass. Laminated is only suitable where the edges are fully enclosed and protected at all times so that means windshields, rear glass and the odd rare bird like early Mustangs where the upper door frame is attached to the glass and winds down with it. An exposed edge on laminated is just as prone to chipping and cracking as ordinary soft glass (which the inner and outer glass actually is).

ok, tried that - he says a deal for a dozen cases of Wild Turkey! I suspect his distant relationship with one infamous Ned Kelly is showing up.

Same here. Maybe we should put together a small medium term loan group so that Lachlan doesn't need to sell it for the move. Shouldn't take him too long to repay the debt, especially as we could leave the car with and hold the keys until the loan was cleared!!

You're right about the cost, particularly if done the 'conventional' way. A ferro-concrete mould is a short life and relatively cheap solution but for a very limited number, who cares? A bit like Holden with the last Monaro - to make steel dies for those big side panels would have killed the project so they used ceramic dies. Life expectancy was in the order of 250,000 articles maximum but then they sure weren't planning on building millions and probably never anticipated building as many as they did. Funny about that, I got out of my original trade for the same reason (though not the same trade). That's probably the main reason to get me off the backside and do a mould - the bonnet on our car is dead straight (at least it is as yet). The fault with it is minor rust in the frame, easily covered to make a usable master for the frame mould part of it. If I can con my ex son-in-law into it there just might be a chance. He loves playing with that sort of stuff.

A CF bonnet will require a mould every bit as expensive as that for GRP. For strength, carbon fibre construction is done by laying up the epoxy and CF, bagging the whole thing, pumping out all the air and then baking in a high temperature oven. If high strength is needed then another outer skin, bag or shell is required so that the article being molded can be placed under pressure. Things like carbon fibre race car tubs, wings etc etc are done in an 'autoclave' with a complete mould set covering every surface and under VERY high pressure as well as high temperature. Not withstanding all that, I must admit I've been toying with the idea of a ferro-concrete mould of the bonnet and then doing a bagged & baked ECF replica. Bloody expensive and time consuming though!

Have a read of the National Code of Practice (NCOP) for modification and construction of light vehicles. Replacement of removable panels with ones made from GRP is specifically permitted with a minimum thickness of 3mm. That requirement is there for the sole reason of preventing 'crash through' intrusion and subsequent increased likelihood of injury to a pedestrian. Note this does NOT include doors or door skins which must remain metal! So, all that is needed for ECF (epoxy bonded carbon fibre) is for the impact resistance of the panel at the desired thickness to be shown to be at least equivalent to that of 3mm GRP. The manufacturer of the material can provide the data needed. The main difference is that a metal panel (even aluminium) will bend and stretch on impact. GRP will bend to a much more limited degree and then fail catastrophically ('punch through'). CF exhibits similar characteristics although the amount of energy absorbed before 'punch through' is much higher for the same thickness. The downside with CF is that when it does fail it produces some very nasty pieces which still retain that incredible resistance to deformation and have razor sharp edges as well! I've seen such pieces punch straight through the tread area of interstate truck tires, destroying the case in the process.

You 'should' have enough room under the boot (trunk) floor to the right front of the spare wheel well. It will need a sheet steel shield protection plate in front, under and at the side of the pump area. For filtration use something from a late Holden - spares tend to be easier to get!

Talk to your PPG etc paint outlet or a good paint & panel shop. Try using the phone - if you can find a shop that specialises in Japanese cars in say Seattle then you have a good chance they will be able to supply paint mixed to the original formula.

73skyline, If you can get a set of C210 struts they are more suitable than 280ZX. C210 had 270mm discs vs 280ZX 252mm discs. The caliper sits further out on the C210 - ie the caliper offset from the bolt holes to the centre of the pad is nearly identical but the mounting point on the strut is further out from the axle centreline. Then you can go with 504/604 Pug 270mm x 20mm ventilated discs, 5mm thick spacer between the disc and the hub, plus a set of 87/88 Toyota 4WD four piston calipers. Pretty much a bolt together deal. Some of the six cylinder models from the same years would be worth investigating as they may also have had the 270mm solid discs. A set of 260/280Z struts can also be used particularly when going to coilover - just use the C110 upper plate with appropriate spring seat adaptor. That will also give 270mm discs but you then have to use C110 hubs.

Looking good! To fill the holes, see if there is anyone reasonably nearby who does aluminium construction, boats or bullbars If you can find someone then a short piece of aluminium bar can be inserted into each hole and MIG or TIG welded into place. I didn't go to the extent you have, just made a 5mm steel blanking plate, had it zinc electroplated & irridited gold, then bolted it on in place of the EGR valve. Looks factory stock and was easy!

Am I right that you are aiming for an effective 300 lb/in at the WHEEL?? That's an EXTREMELY high spring rate and would unload the tires on a 2500 lb car over a matchbox bump! Once you get your (factory configuration) spring rate and damper rate set up to work well on the surfaces and types of roads / tracks you frequent then you can vary the static ride height easily by adding a nylon spacer ring on top of the spring. You DON'T need to replace the spring. Unless you are prepared to keep a very accurate and detailed logbook of track / road surface, weather conditions, spring and damper rates used at a minimum then there really isn't much point in spending the cash required for a COMPLETE coil-over setup. Don't forget that just because the coil-over is easily height adjustable that does NOT mean you can change the spring rate without changing the actual spring, so you still need a spring selection for smooth to washboard roads. Have a look at any good suspension book or talk to a spring manufactirer and you will find that there are three main factors involved in a spring - the wire thickness, the number of turns and the Young's Modulus of the spring material. Cut a turn off and you will both stiffen the spring and lower the car. Reset the lower spring perch further down and you will lower the car, period. Ask some questions of the circuit racing guys, some will give you a quick look at the type of logbooks they keep to know where they are going with the suspension. Just don't expect to get any sort of detail!! For Australians, just get to a racetrack when the V8 Supercars are there and ask them how many springs are in the parts drawers. Also keep in mind that they are now effectively illegal in all Australian States and Territories for public road use unless you can prove that the car either came with that setup from the OEM factory or can not be adjusted to below the 100mm ground clearance requirement. Then you have to get an engineer to sign off on the insurance risk! On a road car coil-overs are good wow factor but not much else. On a circuit, hillclimb or several other competion cars they are good value (and we run them on my wifes hillclimb special).

Man, that looks like a lot of work!!! Should look pretty trick in the end though.

Thanks Jim. Now, does anyone have a pointer to hard evidence of the Sports Option 8" wheel that Alan mentioned? Eventually this info could make life easier for someone.

Don't feel bad - you might not NEED marine clean & metal ready but American friends tell me it helps even after sandblasting. Something about unless you are absolutely and totally sure you get ALL the rust including surface. The only time I used it I stuck with their guidance and then used a large evaporative air cooler to pump as much moist air as possible around the job for several hours. Seems to have worked!!

Sure are - at least on the '73's! (our hardtop now has a much straighter sedan bar) edit : not sure about the mounts as I used the originals on the car

240kconvertible unless you can source & are prepared to pay for marine grade stainless parts then don't waste the effort. the material you need is called '316' & is a pain to machine. a method successfully used for many years in restoration is: 1. clean all the bolts/nuts & then plate with zinc (NOT cadmium as was originally used) 2. if desired have them irridite treated (for colour) 3. when installing them use a good quality white grease on EVERY threaded fastener a trick I recently learned from my youngest daughter to remove really frozen parts: heat with one of those dinky little butane powered hot air guns (looks a bit like an overgrown pen) while hot apply a little candle wax ok, I knew about and use the candle wax but I have NEVER seen such an easily controlled source of heat as that butane hot air gun. didn't even melt the plastic parts within 2cm of the target!

Also noted that the pictured Skyline doesn't have '240K GT' on the rear panel and presumably never did have. The skyline badge would be interchangeable with the Datsun badge on the 240K GT and 240K GL by the look of it. My assumpyion would be that the grille doesn't have a '240K GT' badge either. Alfadog and some others can probably give a better idea of what Nissan called it other than a 'Skyline GT'. Maybe GT-X?

A really good effort regardless - even the photos are unique to the C110! I have done this mod myself on a few occasions but have never got off the behind to make it available to others. The same info is good for 'foreign' alternators such as the internal reg Bosch units in Oz. Just get one for a Chrysler Valiant or earlier Mitsubishi and it will not only be easy to set up for bolt on but has the same connections.

Knew about the facelift parts in Oz, just surprised that almost identical facelift parts were used in other markets. That is apart from the obvious differences in the wording within the badges like 'Skyline' vs 'Datsun' and '240K GT' vs '240K GL'. Not real smart if they wanted to have different identities in different markets - but then there is plenty to indicate that Nissan had an identity crisis in those years. I assume that the earlier '73 & '74 cars had the short bar in the centre of the rear panel with 'SKYLINE' within it.

Bugly or Fugly - take your choice! The only one I have seen was way back in '74 or '75 - short C110 chassis with four cylinder, live rear axle and the rear of the body looked like someone started to do a panel van (or panel truck) and then got confused. Got a photo somewhere.

Noddle, I've taken the liberty of transferring the info you were good enough to post to attachements to this message. That way it won't disappear quite so unexpectedly and maybe our moderators will think it worthwhile making this a sticky. This is one of the better descriptions I have ever seen! Quoting Noddle: " THE ALTERNATORS: The OLD (externally regulated Alternator) had the "N" and "F" connected by the plastic "T" connector. "N" Neutral was connected by a Y (yellow) wire. [This is the top of the "T" connector] "F" Field was connected by a W/B (White, black stripe) wire. [This is the stem of the "T" connector] The NEW IR ALT (internal regulated alternator) will have two connections, also in a T configuration like the old unit. "S" Sense is connected to the battery (direct +12 Volts) [This is the top of the "T" connector] "L" Lamp, this Senses if the circuit is turned on when the ignition is, it will energize the alternator. HOW TO MODIFY THE WIRING: Disconnect the old voltage regulator see picture "Regulator.jpg', and disconnect the Choke Relay See picture "Choke Relay.jpg", (my 240K doesn't use this..) Splice the W (white) wire to the Y one. (Sense circuit), See picture "Sense Circuit.jpg" Splice the W/B (white/black) wire to the W/B (white/blue) one with a DIODE with the white stripe to the white / black wire. (Lamp circuit), This fixed the "Run-On" problem. See picture "Lamp Circuit.jpg" If the DIOIDE is not used, the engine won't shut off even when the ignition switch is off and the key removed. This is because the charging system is in a "feedback" loop and can't stop once it is going. To solve the problem, a diode must be installed. A diode is basically a one-way valve for current and will not allow the "feedback" problem occur. The diode can be found at Radio Shack and the most common is specified as 1N5402.see picture "diode.jpg" The cathode end of the diode (end with a white stripe) should be connected to the switched 12V connection (white / black). The anode end of the diode should be connected to the "L" terminal (white / blue). "

Thanks for that. Interesting that the '240K GT' part of the badge is very different to the '240K GT' badge fitted to the Australian market early '73.

Jim, could you also scan & post the whole page? Transport SA will want 'provenance' (proof of source) to accept the info. They may even demand that I show proof of original source, so if anyone has that info in a Nissan publication please speak up.

Bu Zamil, The rear lights on the sedan have the brake light in the centre of the inner light and the reversing light surrounding that. Did the 240K GT sold in SA have those lights also?

Seems that even more variants have come to light. A 'Nissan Skyline 240K GT' is exactly what Bu Zamil is describing in 1, 3 and 5 above. Substituting Nissan Skyline for Datsun badges has been a desire of mine from the first 240K I owned, like many others I suspect. Now I know that this WAS a variant marketed by Nissan some parts collecting will happen. Do you have any more photos of Skyline 240K GT cars? A rear shot of a car sold new in SA with the Skyline badges would be very interesting.