Hi

[FuzzyDropbear]

G'day all,

 

I own a 1976 260Z 2+2 which is in a very sorry state (will upload some pics when I get them uploaded, I'm on 56K  ).

 

I've just started stripping her down and completely rebuilding her from the ground up as she's got a fair bit of rust, which luckily appears to be mainly surface rust with the usual problematic sections (sills, bonnet and front guards have to be replaced). But I haven't finished stripping her so there might be more structural rust, but it's looking good at this stage!

 

There are a few modifications done by the previous owner which are a bit shoddy (can't really complain because of the extremely low price I paid for the car), but more about that another time  . Anyway, I'm taking my time with her as I plan on doing the majority of the work myself, with help from Dad.

 

Apparently the car was modified by the Datsun Racing Team, although I'm not sure if this is correct (Dad has never heard of them modding street cars).

 

Cheers,

 

 

Rob

[George]

hello fuzzy. welcome to the boards.

 

can't wait to see pics and hear all about your rebuild. hope you enjoy it.

[koopa]

 

Welcome and good luck. 

[haul]

G'day fuzzy & welcome, as a 1978 2x2 owner its nice to see another one being resurrected.

cheers Tony

[FuzzyDropbear]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm sure I'll need them over the life of this project  I think it will take around 2 to 3 years for me to rebuild my Z.

 

Here are some basic pics. I haven't really been working on her in the day (been busy at uni) so hopefully I'll get some better pics up soon.

 

I'll start a project thread when I get some more pictures in the future.

 

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb101/FuzzyDropbear/Datto/

 

[RBZ 260]

HMM that looks like a turbo stuck to it .interesting. obviously someone has done some work on it previously. also looks like its been on there for some time. 

 

its taking me 3.5yrs for to do my 76 2+2 and still counting. (though i had some other projects along side)

 

also good to see another 2+2 getting some decent treatment.

 

good luck with resto keep us posted.

 

be interesting to hear how the engine runs with that setup. looks very simple and clean.

 

 

 

 

[sco_aus]

Welcome and good luck.  looks like you have a bit of work to go yet.

[FuzzyDropbear]

HMM that looks like a turbo stuck to it .interesting. obviously someone has done some work on it previously. also looks like its been on there for some time. 

 

its taking me 3.5yrs for to do my 76 2+2 and still counting. (though i had some other projects along side)

 

Yep, you'd be right, at the moment it's running a turbocharged L26, although the turbo is extremely small. Would that size turbo be making more power than a twin carb setup?  Apparently the engine was running fine until the owner blew the head (haven't checked this out yet, I'm hoping it's just the gasket). Once the head blew the car sat around in my mate's back yard for a few years so that's where all the rust comes from

 

A few years ago the car used to be raced around Phillip Island by a privateer, that's where the turbo setup came from. He also added a few 'injection' systems which are a bit less than professional (you can see one bottle mounted on the front right strut tower in one of the pics). Well mounted, but where it's injecting it's just sorta drilled and has some glue around it. The other bottle is mounted on the inside beside the passengers feet and injects something into the pod filter.... I hope they were just injecting methanol or some other go-fast juice All these run (I think.. or hope) off about 2 or 3 switches randomly hanging in space under the steering wheel, as well as a random dial thingy which might be some sort of boost control but I'm not sure (neither is Dad). Had to laugh when I asked my mate about the bottles and 'injectors' as he replied that neither he or his son had actually noticed the bottles!

 

Wow, your 2+2 looks great rbz! Did you paint the car yourself? I was going to do mine blue like yours, but I've decided to leave this one red (I have a new shell now which has no rust in it). Mine isn't going to be as fancy as yours. lol. Just return to stock and get roadworthy and registered, then I'll figure out whether I'm going to keep it stock and get another one, or modify this one.

 

Just out of interest, I noticed that there is only 1 project car thread... Are project threads frowned upon or something? I thought there would be more Z's being restored and modified... Or can't anyone be bothered with it? 

[sco_aus]

It took me 3 days.  Im not surprised   Im trying to get motivation to add to it cos it takes to time to get it right.  Time that could be spent on the car :D

[FuzzyDropbear]

lol. Well, you've done well with your thread mate. You'd hope so after three days hey?  Time spent on the car is usually more fun than messing around with forum threads!

 

I was thinking of making a thread for mine but since I bought a new shell, (thanks nicedat!) my restoration project has now become a strip and refit. Not sure what I'm going to do with the 76 shell. Might sell it as it is too good to scrap and I don't really have the space to store it until I get time to restore it later. That's once I finish stripping it. I still reckon buying the 76 Z is the best $500 I've ever spent though! Already having a lot more fun on it than I've had with most other things.

 

If anyone is ever coming through Bacchus Marsh and wants to drop by give us a shout, especially if you have your Z! 

[modular9]

Fuzzy : Interesting pic datto3 is. That is sort of the setup i am/was/gonna get for my 2+2 77 zed. While i save up for the eventual rb swap ( err sco_aus you didnt tell me that it was gonna run to about double than what i bought the car for  ). What does it sound like if you have run it and where was the turbo oil plumbed into ? Luvemfast has one on ebay and it is between that and a triple weber setup in USA.

 

Oh and there'll be another re build thread starting soon as I get my turbo/webers/rb/busty wench/lowered springs/konig rewinds and a better solution to the sub that i am putting in there. 

Problem is that i really got the bargain of the century with my zed and I dont need to do things like cutting out rust and so forth.

[FuzzyDropbear]

Can't rightly tell you how the engine sounds as I haven't turned it over. I am still aiming to check out the head soon, but I'm at uni in Creswick during the week and most of my weekends have been full lately so there's be limited opportunity to work on the Z. Oh, and I have to replace the radiator as the core is shot, so I won't be running the engine until I fix that as well. 

 

I'm not actually sure where the turbo oil is plumbed in. I can't actually remember seeing any oil lines near there  , though I haven't actually looked. I will have a look this weekend sometime and get back to you on that. If I'm going to keep the turbo setup, I'll upgrade the turbo to something a little bigger as I'm not sure there would be a great increase in kW over the double carb setup.

 

Good luck with your build mate! You'll definately have to start a thread. lol. Maybe it's just me, but I just like to see what's happening with other people's cars. 

 

[RBZ 260]

 

Wow, your 2+2 looks great rbz! Did you paint the car yourself? I was going to do mine blue like yours, but I've decided to leave this one red (I have a new shell now which has no rust in it). Mine isn't going to be as fancy as yours. lol. Just return to stock and get roadworthy and registered, then I'll figure out whether I'm going to keep it stock and get another one, or modify this one.

 

Just out of interest, I noticed that there is only 1 project car thread... Are project threads frowned upon or something? I thought there would be more Z's being restored and modified... Or can't anyone be bothered with it?   

 

 

cheers yeah 98% work was done by me. including paint and most of the mods. the ones i didnt do is the ones that required fancy expensive machinery. but still had mates rates so wasnt bad.

 

yeah i was thinking to paint my 240z in the mazda vermilon red but changed my mind and porbably doing it in white pearl or mettalic. though that project is few years down the track.

 

as for project cars is there such section   

 

 

 

 

 

[modular9]

thanks mate interested in where it is plumbed in. I think it needs to be just rammed into the sump but not sure.

 

[FuzzyDropbear]

Hey Modular,

 

I didn't have much free time to work on the Z on the weekend as I had family committments. I can't actually remember any turbo oil pipes or anything. Neither can my Dad. Is it possible that it doesn't have any oil piping running to the sump / engine / wherever? 

 

Anyway, I will have some spare time this weekend to work on the Z and look this up. Sorry for not being able to help much.

 

Cheers,

 

Rob

[Enzo]

Hi rob, Just had a read of this thread. The turbo setup that you have is an old one. I used to be a distributor for Normalair Garrett in NSW back in the early 1980's and was racing Turbo cars back when people thought they would not last and the only way to go was supercharging. The oil feed to the turbo will to be to the turbo body between the compressor housing and the Turbine housing to lube the bearings. The return line is from the bottom of the housing to the sump above the oil level. The tube feeding into the air cleaner will be for water injection to to cool and condense the fuel air mixture. Less chance of pinging at boost. The Vacuum switch in the picture at the back of the inlet manifold is boost operated at a preset boost to turn the water injection on. The system will produce good performance and economy ( depending on how you drive it ) using the single CD Stromberg carb installed. The Turbo should be rebuilt because of it's age . Compression should be in the vacinity of 7.5:1 and they should have a Turbo camshaft installed. Turbo cams are less aggressive than ones used on normally asperated performance engines. The radiator should also have a shroud fitted to aid cooling. An oil cooler is also a good idea on a Turbo car. Good luck with your project . Regards David.

[FuzzyDropbear]

Hey Dave,

 

Wow, thanks for all that info mate!  The previous owner (to my understanding) never filled up the water reservior to feed water to the air cleaner. Would this have created any problems for the engine internals? I haven't pulled the engine out of the car yet, but am planning to do a full rebuild before it goes back in.

 

I'm not sure if I will be refitting the turbo as I have to get the stock carb's to pass the roadworthy. But we shall see.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Rob

[Enzo]

Hi , Depending on how the car was driven and the octane rating of the fuel used, you can get away without the water injection. It was mainly used as an extra precaution again detination.David.

[modular9]

thanks david for the very informative ( and money saving in my case ) post.

 

I have a N/A 2.4 block with a e88 head on it so's i would be up for a turbo cam , new pistons and or crank. I was going to buy something very similar and just bolt on.

 

 

[FuzzyDropbear]

G'day guys,

 

Just for modular's reference really. Dad and I pulled the engine out on the weekend so I was able to get some photos of the oil plumbing. The oil feed line is running from a T piece plumbed in front of the oil pressure sensor. As far as I can tell, the oil return line has just been stuck in any old place.

 

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb101/FuzzyDropbear/Datto/

 

If there's any particular shots that you want, just give me a yell and I'll get them for you.

 

Hope that's of some help.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Rob