260z 2+2 RBZ260 mk2. Back from the dead.

[Fairlady Z]

Well 180sx is giving me the you know what. Its takin lot longer than i ever intended to.

Since the rx7 died and sold on we were sharing a car between us me doing the extra driving. Has been ok saving on rego and fuel.

 

But that wouldnt be possible in 4 weeks as our jobs are on opposite side of the town.

 

I had an add here and few other sites looking for a 260z in need of some tlc, as i wasnt planing on driving the 180sx much due to money invested in it and work. Want it to be clean and away from possible accidents.

 

Finally few days ago i get a sms saying:

"Got a 260z factory manual turbo interested?"

 

Hmm my first answer "yep" followed by is it "2 or 4 seater and how much?"

Hoping it be 2 seater reply was "2+2 , come have a look and make an offer"

Oh well cant win them all the time plus at the back of my mind i secretly did want a 2+2 to follow my previous plan on my last 2+2.

 

So went had a look made an offer guy accepted it and i gave deposit.

This morning its home.

 

Though looked a bit worse initialy on the outside as po owner semi striped it and attempted at "restoring" but was way out of his league. In other words no idea when he started telling me how he planned  fixing rust with newspaper cardboard fiberglass and body filler.

 

I just looked at him and reply was HELL NO!

 

Ive cleaned it a tad put it back together so it looks bit more respectable while on the road. It is regod.

Body as usual rough with typical rust spots.

Though structuraly is perfect no rust in rails or floors. Also a first z witho no sunroof.

 

Bonnet is junk, rear tailgate is rusted, console is cracked, lucky have all the spares waiting for it with few jdm goodies looking for a home. 

 

Anyway 1977 260z 2+2

 

 

Engine is a 2.4 from a skyline unknown what has been done internally but does have copper headgasket extractors with top mount turbo, twin british god knows what carbies.

 

 

Interior aint that bad besides console and carpet need replacing. Dash has a dash cap and looks presentable at the moment. Seats are good and rest of trim.

 

Oh has an old school turbo timer. 

 

 

 

Plan is pending on time i have to work on it still 180sx is priority one at this stage got two weeks which will be concentrating on engine, suspension and brakes. Got some 4 potters comming in for quick upgrade and getting rid of those carbies and turbo setup and replacing it with efi system

I got sitting around. Maybe turbo if this can fit with 280zx manifold. Bout from looling at it dont think so.

 

So turbo and carbie setup will be for sale soon.

 

After that will be fixing things as time goes. Engine bay respray carpet replacment, bonnet and tailgate and finally complete paint job. Than rear wing, flares fender mirrors and fairlady z badges oh and fat rims.

 

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Quandary]

Can you give us more info about this 'factory turbo' setup? Surely if it's genuine you'd keep it?

[Ledge]

Hey knackers.

LOL on the "factory turbo setup"

Think that must have come from the "spit weld from 5 feet factory"

 

Nespresso please

[Fairlady Z]

Turbo setup is as genuine as a 'factory' sunroofs on s30 cars.

 

Mate heres the info.

 

You see what i see. 

 

British cd carbs turbo unknown, external wastegate unknown, tell u what now i want to get this sucker running just to see how it goes some one at some stage spent bit of coin on this. as extractors and all look reasonably good.

Got few ideas im going to try and see if it comes to life.

#1 fresh fuel lol

#2 if dont start scratch my ead and start pulling it appart and fit efi.

 

 

Can you give us more info about this 'factory turbo' setup? Surely if it's genuine you'd keep it?

[Enzo]

Hi Guys,

          Back in the early 80's in NSW I was a distributer for Normalair Garrett Turbo systems. This looks to have the 38mm Garrett waste gate and Turbo. Inlet and exhaust manifold were available in kit form. These were all aftermarket kits. The twin CD Stromberg carbs in this case appear fitted to a homemade manifold. As a drawthrough system these would normally come with a single carb. Back in the day a decompression plate would be fitted dropping the compression to about 7.5:1 and the CD Stromberg carb fitted with the correct needle jet for the engine size to give correct fuel mix under boost. With the Stromberg carb you could get good fuel economy and they would flow enough air to give good performance under boost conditions. These now are old school as fuel injected turbo is much more reliable. At the time though they were a good way for quick horsepower increase without having to rev the guts out of an engine. On my 2.0 litre escort race engine I ran a 45 DCOE Weber with the Garrett turbo for a 100% power increase over the same normally aspirated engine with twin 45 DCOE webers at lower rpms. Those were interesting times when a lot of people were saying that Turbos were just a fad and wouldn't last. If you wanted power than go supercharged. Well time proved them wrong.

      Anyway it would be interesting to strip you engine down and rebuild it with all the existing gear if your finances allow it. Have a chat to Peter Mac and get his opinion. It would be worth the phone call.

Regards David.

[zzzzed]

Awesome. So there will be some speedy cappuccino deliveries then. 

[Brabham]

Hey johnny saw this one and loved it was very tempted by it, love the color and interior and the old school turbo setup. I would be interested in the turbo setup if you want to sell the whole thing complete. Should be an awesome daily drive, hope you stick with the blue.

 

Cheers

[44014]

Thats really cool! What's stopping it from running at this stage ?

[Triptych]

Johnny you know the console in that is fine and you want to send me your jap one.

 

All in all looks to be a great buy and with your inventory should be a very nice car when it's done.

[Fairlady Z]

Wow bit of history there awesome. Cheers for the info.

 

 

Mick fastest capuccino deliveries in adelaide. Dont laugh when its finished. For all you 4 seater haters will be drinking your words made by my coffee maker at the back of 2+2 

 

Alex sorry color not staying. Been thinking about a lot if i ever get a 2+2 what will it be. It was, i have that and that oh bit this and that hmmm that looks damn good. Anyway stay tuned for updates.

As for turbo setup. I try see if i can get it going. Has alll the goodies to be a fun daily.

 

 

Why wouldnt it work.... Dodgy wiring crap everywere, stale fuel, who know. Previous owner had no freaking clue. Pulled stuff of had no idea how it goes back on but have spark does flood but no boom.

 

Suspect crap fuel. Been busy with weeds today grow like crazy so was whipper snipping than helping missus with the paint preping te doors than decided to pull appart the siezed l28 i have.

 

N42 Head looks good taking it get it tested and cleaned up. No corrosion so should turn out well.

Manages to save te crank no idea what to do with it looks nice though.

Pistons were corroded so well that even a 5kg sledge wouldnt free it so took what i could dump the rest.

 

Next few day will be trying to start the beast again. If it work take it for a spin. If i come back with a smile than ill just pretty it up and leave it in there till it dies. Than we see.

 

Though cant wait to go for a drive. Been almost 4 years since ive driven one.

 

Even on a trailer today in shoddy body  condition it still turns heads like you wont believe.

 

Got to love the Zs

 

 

[nizm0zed]

well, this one will be an interesting one to follow...

If you end up keeping the turbo but not on the car, maybe make it into a dirty jet turbine just for shits and giggles?

 

As for your weeds, Brunnings brand weed killer from your local Bunnings store, it surprised me that it actually works quite well, kills the weeds off and they dont grow back for several months, leaves more time for the toys and less time gardening.

Good time to hit them is just after whipper snipping as it leaves the core of the plant exposed, ready to soak up all that poisonous goodness.

[Fairlady Z]

I hope so. Im bit unsure of the l24 e30 combo with that turbo. Just hope some internals have been upgraded. But not pulling it appart if it starts and runs. Dont have time for rebuild or even engine swaps.

 

Nah this console is cracked and drilled for bush mechanic style choke leaver. Im only salviging the lid and rear ashtray needed for the jap one. Im looking for a new one anyway so if you not in rush jdm will be available soonish.

 

 

Johnny you know the console in that is fine and you want to send me your jap one.

 

All in all looks to be a great buy and with your inventory should be a very nice car when it's done.

[zzzzed]

Hey. I don't hate the 2+2. I love coffee. And they deserve saving

[Triptych]

Hahaha well we will see if it makes back up for sale before I get the time to repair mine but who am I kidding I will end up buying it anyway. I needed 1 nose cone, I now have 1 second hand one and 2 new old stock ones on their way.

[Fairlady Z]

Put fresh fuel, found some better plugs, tried it again and all i get is fuel poring out of the carbs.

 

Any ideas.

 

I did recheck the spark, does spark but doesnt look that good.

 

Going to get new leads, cap and rotor arm and new spark plugs. See if gets any better.

 

Drop some fuel into the manifold and see if she comes to life.

 

If does remove the carbs and get them sorted. And hopefully all works than.

 

 

[d3c0y]

Do Strombergs have floats?

 

 

Probably need a kit run through them if they have been sitting for any amount of time.

[Fairlady Z]

im assuming no idea. never seen it before or even pulled it appart.

 

got the plugs leads cap and rotor arm on order so we see when ignition is all up to scratch.

 

than look at the carbs once the motor cranks over.

 

 

got new clutch master and slave

 

hilux s12-8 rebuild kit and new pads.

 

Also 15/16 brake master to upgrade the brakes on the beast.

 

than start working on the rear hatch and few other parts after work.

 

indicators brake lights horn , parkers all work. no low beam for some reason need to check it out and havent checked the reverse lights yet.

not too bad.

 

cannot wait to get it all going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[d3c0y]

Yeah but are you going to finish it?

[FuzzyDropbear]

Awesome find, the turbo setup looks very similar to the one that came on mine, bar the fact that mine is only a single draw through setup. Good luck with it, would be cool to see it fire up 

[luvemfast]

I had an identical turbo set up about 6-7 years ago, that I sold. It had a dodgy adaptor to fit a single 45 Weber, I took it off and made a new one. Only just recently threw out the original adaptor too!

I never had it running. But was always curious about how it'd go. So watching this with interest.

[Fairlady Z]

Yeah im interested as well love to get it running. Try it out than improve it. Dont like the adaptor not symetrical plus they bashed the tower to fit it.

 

Thinking of moving the carbs slightly forward. cold intake pipe infront of grill and single pod filter.

 

But first see if it runs how it runs and if worth trying that path. Time is not on my side.  i play with it for a day and see what happens.

 

I hope it works great as that be the quickest solution.

 

I guess we find out tomorrow when other parts arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fairlady Z]

Ok more and more i dig about this setup the more interesting it is and more i want to get it going.

 

Update.

 

new plugs leads cap and rotor = no go. no different than before. suspect dying coil.

 

bought new coil = find out later today if it works.

 

rang few carby places for cost of carby kit/rebuild.

 

kits from $30 each and rebuild best price 150-180 each.

 

the guy was so nice about it that he gave me bd of history lessons of the setup.

 

most times they used single stromberg or webber45. on the top of the range they used twin stromberg setup.

 

apperently running approx 10-14psi pending on engine and they were nuts.

 

also gave me the setup rules. ie to make sure fuel pump can supply 2psi or more than actual boost pressure. so if boost set to 10 psi fuel regulator has to be set to 2psi higher to 12psi. and u want a pump cabable supplying 16psi or more.

 

as i dont have a fuel regulator and when i told him that fuel pisses out of carbies he said it could be over-pressurised. at idle shouldn't have more than 3psi. also could be that the seat and needle got gunk and need cleaning and not shutting off properly.

 

First i need to get the engine to turn over. than we see the operation later. also going ot do comp check just to see if not comp issues. could be wasting lots of time on this engine. so ill find all that out tomorrow.

 

Plan is get the engine to turn over make sure hasnt got any mayor issues like knocking or overheating issues. if all ok

 

1 .rip the engine and gbox out.

2. strip the engine bay and respray it.

3. clean the engine and turbo carby setup. send carby for rebuild.

than put it all back together.

 

after that is fixing the rust on the body and respraying it colour is going to be white.

 

than add flares and rear wing

 

brake upgrade at the front hilux joby.

 

and by that time i probably need to drive it so rest will be done as a ongoing upgrade. ie console, carpet, radio, tint, steering wheel, gear knob....

 

oh anyone know where to get carpet kits from for 2+2 ?

 

 

[Retro Z]

Tru-fit / knox carpet here in Victoria sell them. I think they also have a listing on ebay i'll try find it and post a link up.

[Fairlady Z]

Thanks retroz.  I giggled them got the info i was after cheers

 

 

UPDATE:

Well the l24 is in million pieces now. 

 

Spark is perfect occasionaly wanted to turn over but than nothing.

 

It will flood crazily at cyl 6.

 

Decided to take a comp readings and found the no comp what so ever on cyl1.

 

Rest were all even at 95psi.

 

So decided to take the head off and expected hole in piston or burnt valve.

 

Well none of the above. When took the rocker coer head looks like to be freshly rebuild. Onve i poped the head off noticed the culprit. Seat on the valve poped out and ha te vale stuck open.

 

 

Anyway easy tapped it back in place.

 

Has copper gasket with a headgaskets on each side so 3 headgaskets.

Cylinders look clean so do pistons.

 

So i took the block out and going to clean the engine bay and hopefully respray it over the weekend (weather permitting).

 

 

 

These are on the way from japan for it.

 

 

But not the tyres.

 

The stretch on those rims are 205/60/14 on a 10.5" rim.  Bit too crazy. Im going for 245 or 255 if i can get my hands on them.

 

As 6-9 week wait in transport for them ill fit my other watanabes on it for time being.

 

 

Oh if anyone is interested in the turbo, carb, extractors, wastegate and dump pipe copper gasket make me an offer.

 

Dont have time to troubleshoot it anymore. Also the l24 and the head will be also for sale if someone is interested.

 

 

 

 

 

[gav240z]

Nice wheel choice will look good with baby blue paint.

 

For all those curious about the turbo car by set up. I was in a black 2+2 owned by madz (Marc) on here and it was pretty bat shit crazy. Boost came on hard and made all kinds of noise from wastegate. Pretty fun but not very fuel efficient from memory.

 

Give it mechanical water injection and change wastegate spring and see what happens lol.. Probably destroy lots of modern stuff but I would imagine it will be a bit like the Millennium Falcon fast when its working .