Dadson Racing: 2010 Revival

[Whittie]

When we did them the first time we logged about 20hrs a piece

[Grandad]

Hi

That wheel looks amazing, if you don't mind me asking roughly how many man hours did it take ?

Cheers

PB

 

Hi PB and All

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

The latest polish took about three hours but it was the worst wheel and I did a couple of things twice so I'm thinking the rest won't take quite as long.

 

When we did them first time round as Whittie said they took ~ 20 hours a piece because they were quite badly pitted and required substantial sanding before any polishing could begin, we were new Zed owners at the time so our enthusiasm was high but I'm not sure I'd do it again I think I'd rather but some good used ones that don't need as much work.

 

This is what we used.

 

Cheers

Dad

[George]

Do those wheels have a name? What are they worth in average to good condition?

[Grandad]

Do those wheels have a name? What are they worth in average to good condition?

 

Hi George

 

I'm not sure they have a name they're stock 260Z mags.

 

Cheers

Dad

[George]

Yeah I think you're right. I've just searched around for a bit and every reference I found was that, a stock mag. Did they only come on the 260's or were they available for the 240's as well?

 

Really impressed with your results.

[lightmaster240z]

No just the 260

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

After a four year hiatus we have both renewed our Cams licenses and entered our first competition event which is round one of the local Speed Event Series next Saturday so there's still a bit of pressure to get the car right but it's good pressure.

 

Here's a link to the SES http://thenewspeedeventseries.lsdlconnect.net/documents/

 

At 9.30 tomorrow morning John Fowler will give us the extra 1 degree of caster that I asked for last time but he wouldn't do until he saw the car with guards on so he knows there is sufficient wheel clearance then it's off to scrutineering, the Guy I'm taking it too has done the car lots of times so it will be interesting to see his reaction to it now.

 

Did a bit more on the film today and will continue with it during the week as time allows, when I was researching this stuff the high priced people told me you can't just attack it with a Stanley knife and scissors, it must be computer cut but another guy said that a Stanley knife and scissors work perfectly well so as there's no computer pattern available for these cars, that's what I'm using, when the backing is on you can see that it's not perfect but when it's applied it becomes virtually invisible.

 

The front two guard vents are exposed to stone damage from inside so get the film.

 

Cheers

Dad

 

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

The wheel alignment went well we now have the extra caster I was after and John's "Wanneroo set up" which is a touch extra neg camber on the left to allow for the clockwise circuit.

 

The scrutineer wasn't available yesterday so I took the car in this morning and it flew through as expected although because I haven't done this for so long I had completely forgotten stickers like battery and tow but there on now.

 

I've been driving round with the stock wheels on and must say that as everything on the car is now muscle assisted the hard tyres certainly make it easier to drive but the aggressive look and feel are gone and it doesn't attract as much attention which I guess is a good thing.

 

Here it looks like a well maintained (almost) stockie.

 

Bring on Saturday.

 

Cheers

Dad

[77260Z]

Love the builld, you've done so damn well with it! What paint did you use for the chrome trim and locks/door handles etc? It looks great but I'd imagine it would have to be pretty tough for door handles and locks or it would be gone pretty quick.

[Grandad]

Hi 77260Z

 

It's all gloss black powder coat much harder wearing than paint, the powder coater was reluctant to do the locks because of small springs in the mechanism so I said let's just give it a go at my risk and it worked a treat, the plastic light surrounds had to be painted because they would melt in the oven.

 

Here's some before and after of what we did.

 

Cheers

Dad

[77260Z]

Thanks for the pics mate. I think I might be going down a similar route, I really like the look of the black trim.

[Grandad]

Hi 77260Z

 

Thanks for your interest in our re-build.

 

These are sensational little cars with a great body shape and an admirable sporting pedigree and although frowned on in some quarters as being Japanese they are increasingly being recognized as genuine classic cars so from here on I can only see them going up in value.

 

The trim on the other hand is fashion and that comes and goes, when these cars were new chrome was in fashion but that changed, black or no hi-lites became the fashion but now chrome appears to be making a bit of a comeback.

 

I really like the body color/black combo stealth look that we've achieved but if in future fashions change or Whittie decides to return the car to a more factory look, gunwash will do it in almost no time so if you want to go for the black look then do it just make sure you don't damage the underlying trim by sanding or preparing it in any way other than with something like gunwash.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

HI all

 

I've been preparing for the Speed Event tomorrow and have re-fitted the 16" Rotas on the front, while the stock 14" are conservative and great for the commute, the 16" Rotas are Tuff and eye catching.

 

A bit more protective film and re-fit the film protected mud flap.

 

And now for a little teaser, we are out to set a new Speed Event Series class 3D Wanneroo Long Circuit lap record which currently stands at @70.565 and is held by a 260Z.

 

Kicks or Kisses, tomorrow will tell.

 

Cheers

Dad

[PB260Z]

Good luck in bettering the old mark of 70.565

Look forward to hearing by how much

[Whittie]

Our previous pb in this car is a 71.8 which we could do consistently before the restoration.

 

Our skill has no doubt dropped off, and it's a brand new car to learn to drive, however, the goal I set myself when I started was to do a 66. I don't think we'll do that today, but I've no doubt the car is capable. Time will tell, we'll let you all know tonight!

 

The event runs 12-930pm so maybe tomorrow for most of you folks

[George]

All the best today. Have fun!

[Whittie]

New pb, 70.8 first lap out.

 

Tyre pressure too high, lots left in car, which is faster than driver

[PB260Z]

New pb, 70.8 first lap out.

 

Tyre pressure too high, lots left in car, which is faster than driver

 

WOW cut 1 sec off your previous PB on the first lap, sure  sign of good things to come 

[Whittie]

Oopsie daisies, fan belt came off....

 

Coolant everywhere.....

 

Trip to repco but bought the wrong length! Bugger. Good thing there is 5 hours left still

[Whittie]

Dropped the tyre pressure for a 69.1

 

60's baby yeah!

[PB260Z]

:) :) :) :)

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Yesterday was a bit of a mixed bag but mostly good.

 

The event was an afternoon-twilight (under lights) super sprint, we got to the track at 12.30 and drove through the pits looking for the Zed brigade, we did attract a bit of attention but the Zed brigade were nowhere to be found so we found a vacant car port and unpacked then signed on and attended the drivers briefing at 1.30.

 

There were ~ 85 entries so the field was split into two groups A and B which suited us well, Whittie was in A and I was in B, each run consisted of a warm up lap, three flying laps and a cool down lap with up to ten cars on the track at once, there would be one practice session and four competition sessions two in daylight and two after dinner in the dark.

 

Whittie did his practice and came in reporting the car to be in great condition so I went out onto the dummy grid ready for my practice when Murphy arrived to see how we were getting on and wouldn't you know it, the timing broke down officially because of the heat but you just never know when Murphy's around although it was 38deg ambient so much more where I was parked near the timing box, it seamed to take forever for the timing to be fixed and I was wringing wet by the time I actually got going, my warm up was fine and my first flying lap was going well but over the top of the hill on the main straight I thought I could smell coolant so checked the gauges and the temp was right up and the charge light on so even tough tempted to complete the lap to record a time I managed to see through the red mist and returned to the pits where inspection showed we had thrown a fan belt.

 

Fortunately Whittie and I had gone to the track in separate cars so I took off to the local car accessory shop little knowing that Murphy had slipped into the passenger seat so when I got to the parts counter I was served by the local "Village Idiot" who couldn't get his head around the fact that because of balancer mods the part I need will not be the same as the one listed in his parts book and even though I told him I'd thrown the belt he asked if I could bring it in because that would make it much easier to match, DER it's somewhere out on the bloody race track, anyway with a belt and coolant in hand I went back to the track only to discover that Murphy had selected a belt too short so while he was preoccupied with the MX5 beside us I went back to the shop and bought two slightly longer belts and some more coolant, why two belts you ask, because in the ten years we have been in competition with the Zed this is the first time we have had a belt failure and the first time we haven't carried a spare.  Back at the track the belt fitted perfectly so I went out in what was my first timed event which meant that we had only lost my practice session and Whitties first timed run, the car felt great and my times were ok but it will take me a while to really get brave with the new brakes and that will take track time.

 

When Murphy wasn't bothering as and other competitors he was clearly up in the timing office, we have double entered the Zed forever at tracks across the country and have our own Dorian but some how Whitties times weren't being recorded so after a couple of visits to the timing office they gave us another Dorian which we had to change after each run which is a bit inconvenient but as we have a dedicated bracket it's not a big deal.

 

After Whitties first timed run I was in the dummy grid when he came up and said he'd just seen on the timing screen that he did a 69.1 which is sensational, we discussed it for a moment and he said he wanted to go and photograph it (probably to post here) then I was out for my run, when I returned to the pits it was time for the dinner break and Whittie told me his times had dropped of the timing board again so I went back up to timing to find out what was going on, they were able to restore some of Whitties times but not the hot lap and said what's there is all we can do for you so I thought do I blow up like its World War three or thank the volunteer timers for their efforts under trying conditions, I thanked them for their efforts and left knowing that there is a lot more in the car than will appear on the time sheets today.

 

John Fowler came out to support us and following Whitties run checked tyre temps and pressure and lowered pressures for us he also said with all the caster we have we need to reduce the camber because the inside of the tyre is now working too hard, this track side assistance is fantastic and gives us confidence that there is a lot more in the car.

 

At the end of the day Whittie won the class and set a new class track record with an official time of 70.450 beating the old mark of 70.565, over the course of the day we had a lot of people admire and photograph the car which was great, at the trophy presentation the MC (Mike Grogan) said about Whittie that he first met him as a 15 year old school boy and had seen him as a regular competitor over many years before he dropped off the scene but it's great to see him back with a spectacular looking car, Whittie accepted his trophy and said he's been away for four years doing the rebuild and special thanks to The Old Man because without his input we wouldn't be here now, as we were leaving Tony Flood a long time competitor and previous series winner who rallied Datsun 1600s in his youth and now builds and maintains not only his own cars but many class winning customer cars stopped us at the door and said I didn't recognize the car but the numberplate was familiar, congratulations on a sensational rebuild the car not only looks good but performs well, well done.

 

The things that have kept me going through the re-build process have been the goals of producing a show quality class winning car and achieving that first time out with the accolades of our peers is beyond expectation.

 

I must be in heaven.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Whittie]

Video #1 uploaded

 

 

More to come tomorrow!

[MaygZ]

 

The things that have kept me gong through the re-build process have been the goals of producing a show quality class winning car and achieving that first time out with the accolades of our peers is beyond expectation.

 

 

So now that you have fulfilled your dreams it must be time to move onto your next project (my Zed ).

 

Well done guys.  You have done an amazing job with the rebuild of this car.  You have also done an amazing job with the production of this thread.  I'm prepared to bet that I'm not the only one here who has checked every day for your updates, which have provided inspiration, knowledge and entertainment.

 

A great big thank you from me.

 

Seriously, come over east a build my car!

[Grandad]

Hi MaygZ

 

Thanks for the feed back, I'm pleased you've enjoyed following our progress and checked in regularly for up-dates we've certainly enjoyed both the build and production of this thread, interestingly I have acted on a number of members comments that have improved our end result so it is certainly not a one way street.

 

 

Hi All

 

Last Saturday was full on and finished late then Sunday was the local Zed Register day which we considered was a must attend but again was damn hot and we must have spent too much time in the sun because neither of us took any pics but I do have some from Saturday.

 

The WA Cams Speed Event Series is highly competitive and has always attracted a wide variety of cars but after having been away from it for four years the category growth that struck me the most were the open wheelers, there used to be a few now there are lots so clearly if you're after the outright gong that's where you have to be.

 

Anyway here's a pic of the grid that just happens to include Whittie and a couple of him on his practice run.

 

After the presentations on Saturday night while we were still at the track Whittie said, wow this car is amazing we hammer it all day and it just gets better, (had Whittie remembered that Murphy was also at he track he may not have made that comment) Whittie's photographer mate was with us and decided to follow us home to help clean the car up for Sunday so we set off in convoy (who needs a trailer when you have blind confidence) Whittie was first then the photographer and finally me in the shopping trolley, anyway about halfway home Whittie slowed and I thought I could smell fuel then at a fairly major intersection Whittie got out of the car and said "it wont go", how do you recon we felt pushing our new class winning, record setting car across an intersection onto a slip road?

 

The slip road was very dark but we were able to do a couple of simple tests and found the engine would idle but broke down badly under load so we decided we had two alternatives first was to call Vince our regular towie who although being paid wouldn't enjoy seeing his favorite Zed in this condition or second to try and drive it home, we went for option two and Whittie opted for the shopping trolley drive which left me in the Zed with a totally uncooperative battery requiring a push start, once under way it was a bit like being on an economy drive using every down hill gradient to get you up the next rise, anyway in spire of all the popping, banging and farting I made it home and that was the first time I managed to catch every green light on that stretch of road which was fortunate but as soon as I got home I went off for a nervous wee anyway.

 

When I got back to the garage Whittie and the photographer had removed the plug leads and the photographer wanted to pull the plugs to see which were fouled and what damage might have been done to them but I thought that after driving the car home the misfire was similar to our first attempt at firing the motor when ultimately the carby linkages were way out and the engine was trying to run on two cylinders, so that's where I looked and here's what I found.

 

With the linkage reconnected everything was fine, I'm a bit of a believer that things happen in threes so we now have the ignition wire that came off at our first track outing, a thrown fan belt and the throttle linkage, time will tell and maybe Murphy will leave us alone for a while, if that's all we suffer after a full bare shell rebuild then I think that's a pretty ok result.

 

 

Cheers

Dad