Well hello there children

[hartattk]

Ok so Hi,

 

Names hartattk or lee, whatever's easier, i'm 20, from SA and i'm looking into getting a zed. It all started when my cousin bought himself an old 300xz probably 5-6 years ago as a project car and now i to want to do this with a 240 or 260.

 

Admittedly my knowledge about engines and such is not as good as i would like it too be, but i thought a project car would be the best way of learning. I know that if i really want to do this, that there are many hurdles i'm going to have to clear, but hey hurdles are made to be smashed right?

 

Currently i'm searching for a zed to purchase as well as doing the required amounts of research in preparation for the project. So expect many questions from me in the future.

[C.A.R.]

Here we go again...

 

Welcome

 

BTW the owner of the Zed in your avatar is on this forum - I'm not sure he'd like you useing it... :-\

[hartattk]

thanks for that lurch, ill be sure to change it right away.

[Jospef]

Welcome, Lee. Good luck with your searches.

 

P.s who owns that 2+2?

[hartattk]

Welcome, Lee. Good luck with your searches.

 

P.s who owns that 2+2?

 

Thanks and sorry i don't know who owns the zed, it was just a random image from my collection.

[Toecutter]

Hi Lee,

 

Welcome. You will find plenty of Z's on the classifieds here. All the good deals go real quick so as long as your Johnny on the spot you should find a good project car.

 

Sulio

[hartattk]

I should probably add what i'm looking into at the moment.

 

My initial idea was to come up with a 240z/260z and bring it into a new era. I can say that while i have never driven a 350z(cant find a dealer who would let a p plater test drive one ) they are reportedly quite good in terms of performance.

 

So the plan was to purchase the running gear from a 350z (vq35de and so on) and put it into a (preferably) 240z while doing some major body mods. By that i mean ill make new fiberglass panels and change the shape up a bit and completely new interior. I even found a sort of journal of a guy in USA who did this swap, if you want to check it out go to

 

http://www.vq240z.com-a.googlepages.com/

 

 

So far it's proving a little difficult to find a vq35de so i had a look at a RB25DET with 5 speed gearbox all for $4400, now i'm thinking due to cost and availability that maybe the road to take. While the RB's still a nissan i really wanted to have a full blooded fairlady. Also im a bit iffy on the rules and regulations that the gov has on car mods, i keep running around in circles.

 

Note that I'm not aiming for a track car, just a nice daily driver.

[sexual_sushi]

Welcome pranged 370z on ebay atm. Too expensive if you're just after the engine though...

[hartattk]

Welcome pranged 370z on ebay atm. Too expensive if you're just after the engine though...

 

heh yea thanks for that... just a little out of my price range though it would be awesome to grab the running gear outa that

 

 

So update time seeing as its been a little while, i sent an email off to Lakeside Nissan to see if they could get me a vq35de in, this is their response.

 

There are two engines listed for the Z33 Nissan;

one being to suit auto trans.;$16880.00

other being to suit manual ; $11035.00

Both same era ; both available from Nissan Aust.stock.

These engines are long motors only ie.no starter motor,no alternator etc etc etc.

 

i have to admit that i knew that this project car was going to be expensive but damn. After hearing that i thought id go through and just gestimate the amount of the total cost of the project that i had in mind while assuming i could do all the work myself... well it came to a figure around about 70k. However thats not enough to deter me

 

i started working on some sketches because my recent lectures have been boring as hell, they're pretty rough but capture a completely conceptual phase i am in at the moment. The designs, for the time being, take 'inspiration' from other cars that are desirable, but not necessarily achievable. For instance the rear is 'reminiscent' of the new r35 skyline, the sides take lines common to Porsche, Lotus and the like while the front is a combination of falcon (please dont hate ) and a modern take on 1930's-40s classics.

 

For the time being i cant get a feel for the car design as a whole (ie continual theme and transitions), but i plan on resolving that in sculpture rather than sketch. Let it be known im not a brilliant artist so my ability to sketch is limited, so im trying to get a 1:18 diecast model of a datsun 240z so i can sculpt the new body work for it.

 

As a note, these designs are like i stated, completely conceptual. As i dont have a zed i dont know how well these designs would transfer to the real world for instance with grill designs i have seen 2 intercoolers side mounted rather than a single naturally mounted but i dont know how this effects performance or whether this would be possible with a vq35det.

 

please take a look at my designs gallery, any constructive criticism is welcome.

[hartattk]

thanks for the reply RBZ 260, i totally agree that the classic look of the z30's is beautiful. The main reason i wanted to do the new body is that by trade im a designer (of sorts) and its where my passion really lies. Hopefully when my designs are finished they will do the car justice and not look like some monstrosity.

[sco_aus]

Welcome. 

I'm sorry, but did you say $4400 for an RB25DET and gearbox?  I paid less than that, 4 years ago and don't believe even a Neo motor and gearbox would sell for this much nowadays..  I would find somewhere else unless that's a half cut (which you really don't need).  RBZ 260 is a good person to ask on how to do such a conversion and I can offer plenty of advice on what not to do should you choose this option.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

As for designs, I would suggest excentuating the current lines rather than changing them all together.  Most of the people here have seen what can go wrong when people totally re do the shape and it so far has never worked that I have seen.  There have been some fantastic "wide" bodies done before, maybe that would be a challenge for you?