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The Restoration of a Monster: our V8 240Z


Samfa12

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I think strut bracing is a great idea.  I look on it as a bit of cheap insurance.  You may never need it, but if you do, it will cost a small fortune to repair the damage done.  The thing is you wont know that you need it until the towers flex or split.  For the sake of less than $500 it can be prevented.

 

MaygZ

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Haha. How about it what? Is that what you are running in you Z? I am not looking to change the engine, plus I'm pretty sure that the 308 produces more torque and similar power at less RPM.. It probably weighs a bit more than the Nissan v8 though :)

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wrong way around , Nissan V8 produces more Torque & torque curve starts at 1200 - 6900..and yes much lighter as all alloy.

Holden 308 = 208nm , Nissan 399nm

 

Oh OK, I read that the 308 produces (stock) 430NM, which would make sense because it is a 5.0L engine.. all in all though that's the engine that we got with it and that is the engine that it is engineered for so I doubt I'll be putting any other engine in soon lol, and if I did it would likely be a worked LS2 or LS3 haha.

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The best "stock" red 308 (going off your block) and my trusty Holden bible the best they got was around 179kw 240"bhp" and 427NM or 315ft/lbs old school measurements the worst it could be would have been the vh 114kw - 125kw 344-352NM net measurements ide say with a realistic cam and piston in a boat 300hp would be a close guess unless its lumping like a bandit haha 350 tops!!!

Ive had a ton of v8 holdens including currently a ve ssv Ute and i still want my z going your car would be awesum as it is!

good luck with the build

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  • 2 weeks later...

So!

 

Over the past few weeks (other than working) I have been prepping the Z for paint. The engine bay is all primed, all the little front and rear pieces are primed, the body is 80% sanded (mainly little fiddly bits left) and things are coming along nicely (pics tomorrow if I get time).

 

For Christmas I got my father a 16" electric radiator fan so that we can do away with the large, noisy, mechanical clunker that is standard on the 308, and I just a rather cheap (though brand new) electronic ignition system for the heart so that we can delete the ancient points system and get some real tuning going on (when the time comes).

 

All in all I am getting very ancy and excited about the project, thought more than anything (and I know this is always the case) I just want to drive it!

 

Let me know what you guys think about the project. I am getting stressed a little bit over the whole strut bracing thing as the eBay ones from California look really good, though they wont get back to me about shipping cost, and I'm worried about Clarence between the carby/CAI set up and the strut brace. are any of you guys running under bonnet CAI setups with your v8 Zs? have you had any issues with strut bracing if so?

 

Thanks for all of the suppost crew :) this part here, the supportive and ever-excited community is part of the reason that I really dig the car scene.

 

Cheers.

 

Sam.

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Check out the COME Racing website, they specialise in Holden V8's and do stroker kits - 355, 383 & 396ci  :o

 

They also do cams, trick heads even alloy blocks etc... i know, a lot of money but something to think about for later on  ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey Guys,

 

So in the past few weeks my father and I have put the 308 back in! The engine bay is now (was) a very nice white that should match the exterior colour. The engine runs perfectly (despite a new electronic distributor to replace the old points system) without a tune, though that will definitely be on the cards in the future. The exhaust system we are unsure about, though it looks like a good one. we are pretty sure that it is running stock 308 headers, but then runs into a straight through system that has no muffler at the back. The idea is to rig up one of the hot dogs that used to be on my sv6, because at the moment just holding it up to the exhaust, we can tell that it makes it sound AWESOME. much deeper growl than with no mufflers.

 

The electronic system is causing us problems, and we have not got the first clue what to do with it. we have a wiring diagram and are following it best we can. It's just a rats nest and we have decided to talk to some auto electricians and find out who is interested in coming out to the house and working on it with us. I have found an auto electrician in Bathurst who claims to do call-outs and will talk to him this week sometime.

 

Other than that everything is on track. Last week we fitted the electronic thermo fan and today we bled the brake and clutch systems, serviced the front brakes and oiled the transmission.

 

Now we are just waiting on the strut bracing to arrive and are sorting out this bloody wiring.

 

THEN painting, interior and registration. Wish us luck!

 

Sam.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Guys.

 

Bit of an update.

Our strut bracing has arrived from the states! It's beautiful :) we have also got lots of little bits and pieces for the wiring side of things (which we decided to leave until last because we don't get it). We bought some finned alloy rear drums so that we can do away with the heavy and inefficient iron ones and are focusing on the painting!

 

I made a short video, so have a watch and let me know what you think :)

 

 

Sam.

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  • 4 months later...

WE ARE UP TO PAINT!

 

To be more specific, we are up to primer.. The body work is done, and all of the small parts, one of the door sills and the rear hatch are primed and ready to go.. The only problem is that here in Bathurst it is bloody cold ALL of the time.. not perfect painting weather. In the mean time we have been designing an exhaust system that will promote that lovely V8 burble and promote power whilst losing all of the drone. We were thinking of body hugging extractors (4-1) which a twin 2.25" stainless system with twin centre mufflers and connecting at the back into one hi-flow muffler then exhaust tip. Is anybody practiced in the art of exhausts? Does this sound like a good system? I know it's hard to imagine.. Should the exhaust meet up in an H pattern closer to the beginning of the system? I've heard this promotes torque. I'm sure that the blokes at the fabrication centre will help in this.

 

Another point! We got our wheels! They are Volk racing 17" running 215 front and 235 rear. I nice upgrade from the 224 all round that was rubbing on the front guard.

 

Thanks for the patience, we are on the home stretch!

 

Sam.

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I've heard with a balance pipe they draw a line of chalk down both sides underneath the exhaust and then run the vehicle. Then where the chalk burns off they fit a balance pipe. I'm building a 302 V8 Cleveland powered Zed so i'm following this build with much interest!

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Yes definitely use a H piece at the start.

Those 308 get a very distinctive 'thong clap' so it depends on what sort of V8 noise you're going for.

Regarding mufflers, you probably dont have room center mufflers??

Most of us with twin systems do all the muffling at the rear where the exhaust exits.

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Yes definitely use a H piece at the start.

Those 308 get a very distinctive 'thong clap' so it depends on what sort of V8 noise you're going for.

Regarding mufflers, you probably dont have room center mufflers??

Most of us with twin systems do all the muffling at the rear where the exhaust exits.

 

Great thank you, that is exactly what I wanted to know. As far as room for a centre muffler goes, I looked.. You're dead right haha no space. That's OK though, Just a rear muffler will do fine.. I don't want to get rid of ALL the noise after all.

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  • 1 month later...

The weather has been cold and thus the going has been slow on the old Datsun. We have not been able to paint due to -5 degree weather so we have done a few other things! This includes a home made battery box and Cold air induction system. Check it out!

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  • 1 month later...

It has been a little while since the last post, however things with the 240z have been coming along swimmingly! Dad and I spent a good 4 days on the body of the car preparing it to go to the shop for a splash of paint. We bit the bullet and decided to spend the money and get it done by professionals.

I called a few places in town and decided that Rise Again Smash Repair would be the best choice for us in Bathurst (http://www.riseagainsmashrepairs.com.au/).

Zac, the proprietor of the business took the time to come out to our house and have a look at the car and has since got it into undercoat (theres a pic!) and should as of now be spraying it in arctic white in the booth :D. Very excited!

 

As far as the mechanical side of things goes, about all we can update on is that most of the wiring gremlins have been sorted out and we have since purchased a refurb 60 amp alternator with inbuilt regulator (I think from a 280zx), with accompanying wiring harness adjustment clip, thing. We got that delivered to us from California while the car was with Zac so we have not fitted it yet, though I'll be sure to update you all on how that goes!

 

All that's left after paint is refit, exhaust, tune and blue slip!

 

Then the fun begins. We have interior to do, tinting, sound system, an LSD at some point etc. Everything is coming together!

Thanks for reading :)

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  • 5 months later...

I apologise for the lack of material lately, BUT WE FINISHED HER!!

 

Well.. I wouldn't claim that it is FINISHED, however she is registered and I'm driving her most days.

 

So what did we do?

 

Paint got sprayed the whitest white you will ever see, and it is lovely.

Reassembly took a few weeks, we wanted to make sure it was as good as we could get it (some large panel gaps still, but that's expected :P)

After it was put together there were a few hiccups with Blueslip, mainly the guy not wanting to accept my engineering certificate, but a few phone calls to the RTA by me later and a week of waiting to re-book the vehicle and that was sorted! Blueslip - check, Greenslip- check, rego - check!

 

Now the fun starts, as with any build you find many.. annoyances. The first and foremost was in the way of an alarming read on my newly wired temp gauge. Begin ducting, acid flushing, double thermo fanning etc.. gauge is still reading high (around 250f after a short drive). So we order a PWR aluminium 4 core beast of a cooling unit, put the thermostat back in, blah blah blah, temperature is now being visually regulated by the thermostat (it's lowering when the thermo is open, raising when it's closed) all is sweet, we are happy.. turns out the gauge just reads high :/ oh well, it doesn't hurt to have overkill in the cooling department I guess, now we just never have to worry about it.

 

The suspension is quite loose so we ordered a full bushing set and are getting that fitted today (no hoist and no time to do it ourselves)

 

We got a full engine tune by Adam Cope and it pulls like a freaking BEAST, my gosh. AND THE SOUND!! We took the dicky piece of pipe off the back and got a twin 2.25" into 3" into sport muffler and it sounds (and flows) amazing! (Done by Bathurst Mufflers)

 

We put a 60amp 280zx Alternator on and got rid of the 40amp stock alternator - got it all wired up by Brett at Sparks and Spanners, he's definitely the man for the job.

 

Also we are struggling to get the tacho to read with the new Dizzy (which is next on the list of things to replace BTW, want MSD everything) any suggestions?

 

Link to new videos!

 

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