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Layla - The V8 Z


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So as a few of you would know, I made the decision to sell my 2+2 (https://www.viczcar.com/forums/topic/16813-neds-z-76-22/) early 2020, as I felt that I would need to spend too much money to get it to the stage that I would be some what happy with, and with a little one on the way and the wife buying a new car, it just made sense to me to make way in our single car garage. This finally sold in April 2020 just after we got out of Melbourne's first lockdown. 

Now for those who like long stories:

As most people with the Z bug, I never actually stopped looking for another Z, preferably 2-seater (most have always been out of my budget), or if the right 2+2 appeared, I would still be happy, but this was not at the front of my mind during 2020. We all know prices started to creep up, and then we got of lockdown for the summer, I started paying more attention! April 2021 came around, an orange 260z appeared on Facebook for $40k I believe, but sold the same day. It was that day the wife and I discussed a budget should something like that appear on the market again. The seller also had a white 2+2 for sale as well, so I thought I'd go have a look. Not my thing, but he had another 2-seater, but as I umm'd & ahhh'd, it sold later that day. DOH!

After chatting with Gavin, I decided to put a wanted ad on facebook and gumtree with a budget of $40k for a Z I could essentially hop in and drive. A couple of projects, some rust buckets and a couple of Zs for $70-90k.

Then one guy just NW of Melbourne,  messaged me and said lets talk. I have a white 260z (originally silver) with a 4.4L V8 from a Leyland P76, Supra 5-speed (W58), R180 diff (assuming OEM 3.7), he sent me some pictures and had a decent price range around my budget. I was a bit snobbish about the idea of the motor, and we also just went into yet another lockdown, so I kept the conversation open and said we will organise inspection after lockdown. He said no worries, I am not in a rush, and I am not going to list it. He wasnt even looking to sell it, but saw my wanted ad, I guess they work. I message him early December to see if he still wanted to sell, and he said he will let me know in a couple of weeks, so I reached out again and he gave me a non-negotioable price under my budget. Sweet!
Organised to go have a look at it with the Z Godfather, and to both our surprise, the body was in very good condition and barely modified to fit the motor, and currently on club permit with the motor. We agreed on price, and said he will hold it until I am ready to collect it. 

January came around, picked up the car and took it to a mechanic, who said it wouldnt be an issue with the motor regarding the RWC, he would give me a list of things I needed to fix, and he also got the carbie sorted, so she starts up first time. Then the fun started, he did some work on the motor and the carbie, got it running, then tells me he wont give me a RWC without an engineers cert. (Car has previously been registered and on CPS with this motor, so not really his concern).

Off to another mechanic, and the list of things to fix was relatively small compared to what I was expecting. 
- drivers side seatbelt freyed
- door rubbers
- tires cracked
- bonnet safety catch missing
- gearbox mount hitting metal
- engine mounts to be replaced (standard 260z mounts)
- exhaust too close to the steering arm (less than 15mm, could cause binding)
- headlights not working (headlight switch and also loose connection at drivers side headlight)

20220108_095405.thumb.jpg.47c48e7475b581868f38fe5279bbec00.jpg
20220120_164257.thumb.jpg.af986a3c07b665035d935914bbab7390.jpg
20220120_164248.thumb.jpg.dca37ea23b8bdd5eb230727cee4760f9.jpg
image.thumb.jpeg.ba82a39f6fa23a895bd7f42edbd6d7ab.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.f7064225b0697e8239077148d0562fda.jpeg

(The Japanese Torana)

 

Edited by OdinZ
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Best part is, being a late 260z the engine number is not on the ID plate in the engine bay. It just says type "L26" so you could swap an L-series back in and it would be "original" again. But the V8 is kind of fun, if you plan to tow a small boat in future. :)

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2 hours ago, OdinZ said:

Organised to go have a look at it with the Z Godfather, and to both our surprise, the body was in very good condition and barely modified to fit the motor, and currently on club permit with the motor. We agreed on price, and said he will hold it until I am ready to collect it. 

 

 

The Leyland V8 is not the controversy.

 

Who's the Z Godfather is:  Gav or Lurch?

 

Edited by hmd
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1 hour ago, C.A.R. said:

nelson.jpg

Don't laugh at me, wait until I get you to cut my guards............
I also know you now want a V8 Z to go racing in!

 

 

1 hour ago, gav240z said:

Best part is, being a late 260z the engine number is not on the ID plate in the engine bay. It just says type "L26" so you could swap an L-series back in and it would be "original" again. But the V8 is kind of fun, if you plan to tow a small boat in future. :)

You heard it here first folks. Full disclosure, Gavin has since driven the car, and thoroughly enjoyed it's quirkiness compared to an Lseries

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43 minutes ago, 240ZBUILTBYME said:

Going back to purity or staying a heathen?

Part of me wants to work on the heathen, the low down torque is nice and it's actually a nice cruiser, also sounds decent. So it will stay put for now, my main thing was to get a decent 2-seater body and worry about the rest later. As a family, we need to look at a bigger house, and as a car Z owner, one with a bigger garage!

 

 

13 minutes ago, hmd said:

The Leyland V8 is not the controversy.

 

Who's the Z Godfather is:  Gav or Lurch?

 

I kind of thought of Gavin as the Godmother, or a Mother Nature of Zs if you will.....

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So now I had to wait for my turn in the shop.

First job, new bonnet safety latch fitted:
image.thumb.jpeg.73f6bdf42dbf4ac0f7ccba21a0634551.jpeg

Then to the door seals/rubbers
271584006_308235617923243_4529096334800098191_n.thumb.jpg.aedc5eb4137737528698d1684d0fc2c5.jpg275785078_648625193091850_3666079280187975142_n.thumb.jpg.0302c4f33e006897503a541c985ce538.jpg

The gearbox mount was slightly modified to stop metal hitting metal and causing vibrations. It was then blasted and painted:
275787045_331310279026789_549155854269640087_n.thumb.jpg.726c8734e638e9dc79083c9cf0f459a7.jpg275738736_691486111992830_3651745299367272477_n.thumb.jpg.ad3571853edae37ae04aef438e11d785.jpg
275726908_657660911978282_7374010779240095520_n.thumb.jpg.e678904aff8b84d37c0e741bb14cd139.jpg275738733_1161209371356737_6213316208318210931_n.thumb.jpg.ef6da5b8ef60eb28df98c5ce295f418f.jpg



 

 

Edited by OdinZ
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New engine mounts & bolts, and you can also see the restricted exhaust and where it was very close to the steering arm, although kind of hard to tell from this angle:
No description available.



Off to the exhaust shop next
275787045_476265620904092_8800816911852934539_n.thumb.jpg.687cf0291aa5b7846c0ecdf7bf273112.jpg
275938646_470485131533878_2812287955128724844_n.thumb.jpg.45f9de64674d05aa3ee9906d92d5a4e4.jpg
275971922_1391688244584026_2759902318551581036_n.thumb.jpg.a53fff55863dc760faa846f4730a4217.jpg

 

Next, to work out why the fuel gauge wasnt moving.....
   

 

Edited by OdinZ
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10 hours ago, KatoKid said:

Well done Ned.....+1 for the heathen.

What gearbag?

 

Thanks Dave! 

It's a Supra 5-speed, but I do not know which variant as, I havent really bothered looking into it as yet, as I figured I dont need to do anything to it at this stage.

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The gearbox felt solid, only complaint I had was the position of the gear lever felt off centre (down and to the left) and so felt a bit weird to operate compared to a regular L-engine gearbox. Not sure if the lever is bent or it's just the way it sits in the car. But made it kind of difficult to know what gear I was in and moving to.

I recall in the 90s everyone was using the Supra gearboxes in engine swaps since they were meant to be a strong box. My guess is that it's an MA70 Supra box (R154). It's actually W58 confirmed below (they look very similar).

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Once I got the car back home, it was just a matter of waiting for the new seatbelts and finding the time to put them back in. We choose to get both sides rewebbed so they matched and were both new, seeing as they are the main safety device in the car, it was a no brainer. Seatbelt king supplied new reels in the end as legally they are not allowed to re-sew these, but they do use the rest of the old hardware. The new ones do not have the locating pin, hopefully this wont be an issue, as when I installed the new reels with the newly supplied bolts, they came loose when you slightly twisted them, so I used the old bolts and havent had any issues. 

image.thumb.jpeg.12aad9cc9aa707a127228318f2dd0776.jpeg



image.thumb.jpeg.c11cf57fbf954c0ccbda2b5bea1daecb.jpeg

 

Next up was to tackle the headlights, so swapped out the headlight switch, and they seemed to work for the first couple of days, and then passenger side was bright, but the drivers side was very dull. I cleaned out the connectors to the switch, seemed good, but then played up. The RWC mechanic said he would take a look at it for as well, turned out, a loose connection at the headlight........phew!

image.thumb.jpeg.1eda0d5dc968eb983e5469ccb06d2160.jpeg

Edited by OdinZ
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13 minutes ago, gav240z said:

The gearbox felt solid, only complaint I had was the position of the gear lever felt off centre (down and to the left) and so felt a bit weird to operate compared to a regular L-engine gearbox. Not sure if the lever is bent or it's just the way it sits in the car. But made it kind of difficult to know what gear I was in and moving to.

I recall in the 90s everyone was using the Supra gearboxes in engine swaps since they were meant to be a strong box. My guess is that it's an MA70 Supra box (R154).

Yes, the bent gear stick does my head in a little, I will most likely get a short shifter kit, which comes with a new lever I believe. It could also be a W58 box

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  • 3 months later...
On 5/11/2022 at 11:00 AM, OdinZ said:

So as a few of you would know, I made the decision to sell my 2+2 (https://www.viczcar.com/forums/topic/16813-neds-z-76-22/) early 2020, as I felt that I would need to spend too much money to get it to the stage that I would be some what happy with, and with a little one on the way and the wife buying a new car, it just made sense to me to make way in our single car garage. This finally sold in April 2020 just after we got out of Melbourne's first lockdown. 

Now for those who like long stories:

As most people with the Z bug, I never actually stopped looking for another Z, preferably 2-seater (most have always been out of my budget), or if the right 2+2 appeared, I would still be happy, but this was not at the front of my mind during 2020. We all know prices started to creep up, and then we got of lockdown for the summer, I started paying more attention! April 2021 came around, an orange 260z appeared on Facebook for $40k I believe, but sold the same day. It was that day the wife and I discussed a budget should something like that appear on the market again. The seller also had a white 2+2 for sale as well, so I thought I'd go have a look. Not my thing, but he had another 2-seater, but as I umm'd & ahhh'd, it sold later that day. DOH!

After chatting with Gavin, I decided to put a wanted ad on facebook and gumtree with a budget of $40k for a Z I could essentially hop in and drive. A couple of projects, some rust buckets and a couple of Zs for $70-90k.

Then one guy just NW of Melbourne,  messaged me and said lets talk. I have a white 260z (originally silver) with a 4.4L V8 from a Leyland P76, he sent me some pictures and had a decent price range around my budget. I was a bit snobbish about the idea of the motor, and we also just went into yet another lockdown, so I kept the conversation open and said we will organise inspection after lockdown. He said no worries, I am not in a rush, and I am not going to list it. He wasnt even looking to sell it, but saw my wanted ad, I guess they work. I message him early December to see if he still wanted to sell, and he said he will let me know in a couple of weeks, so I reached out again and he gave me a non-negotioable price under my budget. Sweet!
Organised to go have a look at it with the Z Godfather, and to both our surprise, the body was in very good condition and barely modified to fit the motor, and currently on club permit with the motor. We agreed on price, and said he will hold it until I am ready to collect it. 

January came around, picked up the car and took it to a mechanic, who said it wouldnt be an issue with the motor regarding the RWC, he would give me a list of things I needed to fix, and he also got the carbie sorted, so she starts up first time. Then the fun started, he did some work on the motor and the carbie, got it running, then tells me he wont give me a RWC without an engineers cert. (Car has previously been registered and on CPS with this motor, so not really his concern).

Off to another mechanic, and the list of things to fix was relatively small compared to what I was expecting. 
- drivers side seatbelt freyed
- door rubbers
- tires cracked
- bonnet safety catch missing
- gearbox mount hitting metal
- engine mounts to be replaced (standard 260z mounts)
- exhaust too close to the steering arm (less than 15mm, could cause binding)
- headlights not working (headlight switch and also loose connection at drivers side headlight)

20220108_095405.thumb.jpg.47c48e7475b581868f38fe5279bbec00.jpg
20220120_164257.thumb.jpg.af986a3c07b665035d935914bbab7390.jpg
20220120_164248.thumb.jpg.dca37ea23b8bdd5eb230727cee4760f9.jpg
image.thumb.jpeg.ba82a39f6fa23a895bd7f42edbd6d7ab.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.f7064225b0697e8239077148d0562fda.jpeg

(The Japanese Torana)

 

Would love that set up in my z.

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19 hours ago, peter t said:

Would love that set up in my z.

will be up for sale once i decide to go back to an Lseries

 

15 hours ago, C.A.R. said:

No. You wouldn't.

Oh, and updates @OdinZ!

I know deep down you like the V8! 

yes yes, ok, i got lazy as usual

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2 minutes ago, Agno said:

I think I saw this on Sunday at the Nissan Z launch event? I couldn't hang around long so I didn't get a chance to take a good look at it unfortunately

yep, you did! maybe dont look too close! haha I didnt get a chance to talk to many people either. Got to Mulgrave last minute, and probably left not long after you did. 

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Well, as @C.A.R. asked for an update here (because he really loves the V8 in it!)

The Z passed roadworthy, CPS paperwork signed by NDSOC, off to vic-roads, spent 1.5hrs there, not lining up either, but more trying to sort out the M-plates! long story, not for the interwebs.

Plates on, quick trip to get groceries:
20220831_122218.thumb.jpg.609762f064f56dcf70102feba482ef71.jpg

 I had taken the Z out a couple of times after it was first registered, mainly to my soccer games on Saturdays if the weather was dry enough, the roads get filthy around here with all of the roadworks.
20220430_162744.thumb.jpg.4fe6297a57212b8225a9ec035dd647b6.jpg
20220430_162740.thumb.jpg.2bba3ed4bd7676a06439c642ed544910.jpg

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