260Z Weekend Warrior

[Herbonius]

A couple quick questions - I want to lower the car a few inches but will also be eventually changing the wheels once I have saved up the cash. Could  I lower it before I change the wheels or would it make more sense to just wait? It's much cheaper to purchase new springs than to buy new wheels and tires...

 

Also, I have the stock extractors and exhaust on there at the moment and given that the engine has seen quite a few improvements, I'm guessing that the stock exhaust system is a bottleneck for performance at the moment? From what I've read though, the stock extractors are actually quite good and probably don't restrict the engine too much? Would I see a performance increase if I were to move to a 2 1/4" or 2 1/2" exhaust without changing the extractors?

[Zedman240®]

You can lower now without changing wheels... won't make any difference that I can think of. With the exhaust, with stock induction, going to extractors may yield a small increase but nothing neck snapping; When changing carbs / cam then it's a must. For the street, standard is fine.

[Herbonius]

Excellent, thanks for the info. So is there any benefit in switching the exhaust without changing the headers while running 240Z carbs with the 3L L28 with a cam?

[Zedman240®]

depends on whats there now. If its just a 2" pipe, a switch to 2-1/4 or 2.5 with an L28 would be better.

[Herbonius]

Car has been great fun for the last couple weeks. Difficult to start when it's hot though as the carbies seem to flood a bit and it coughs at higher RPM when cold as it's running a bit lean now. The joys of 260Z carbs. Need to switch ASAP.

 

I'm putting the car in to get tinted tomorrow too. It's just outrageously hot with no window tint and no air-conditioning.

[Herbonius]

With a bit of tuning I've managed to get the car running really nicely, despite the 260 carbs. This frees me up to just do a few smaller jobs over the last week.

 

I finally switched out the terrible grey mirrors, replacing them with chrome mg midget/mini mirrors that I got off ebay. Very happy with them, they suit the car very well I think I'm surprised how much they lift the overall appearance of the car.

 

 

I removed all the rubber and large lumpy bits from the front and rear bumper, filling in all the holes with chrome bolts to make it look a bit more finished.

 

http://i.imgur.com/KroMO.jpg[/img]

 

You'll also notice that my exhaust is sticking out quite a bit. I read somewhere that having the exhaust tip finish a few inches past the bumpers can fix fume problems and it's completely true, I have no fumes whatsoever now where I was feeling sick after about 30 minutes before. HIGHLY recommend it for a quick, cheap fix.

 

It wasn't hanging out so far when the full sized bumper was on there so I might knock it in little bit more once I get my hands on an oxy torch. I'm not terribly fussed though, doesn't look too bad and it completely solves my fume problems.

 

The next project on the board is a stereo. I'll just do two 6x9 in box running across the back end of the hatch but have a few big plans for the head unit.

 

I'm still doing my research but I'm looking at completely overhauling the non-working Hitachi stock radio that it's there at the moment, replacing the AM tuner, adding an FM tuner, adding AUX and upgrading the amp so I can play music from an ipod I'll keep in the ash tray. I have seen it done with Mustangs and other classic cars but not with at Datsun. Not sure how I'll go, just an idea at this stage. I may just opt for a stereo in the glove box but I love these old push button radios and would love if mine was usable.

[Agno]

I'll be waiting for updates with your stock radio retrofit

[benny]

nice idea on the radio... have you seen these?? http://www.retrosoundusa.com/

[MaygZ]

For your exhaust.  You could cut it off short of the back of the car and then use a tip.  This would allow you any shape and also allow you to slide it up and down the pipe to find the perfect length.

[Herbonius]

nice idea on the radio... have you seen these?? http://www.retrosoundusa.com/

 

I have. I've also seen the Custom Autosound Radios. I'm not keen on putting an LCD display in there though. I'm starting to think that retrofitting FM is too much effort for an old Hitachi radio but I haven't given up yet, I'm still looking at a few options. No cash so there is no hurry anyway.

 

The Becker Europa or Mexico radios might work if the amps are clean enough for modern speakers but I would prefer to keep it Japanese.

[Z]

Those Custom Autosound radios seem pretty good value for money. I have a Retrosound for my car and it can be mounted under the dash with control via remote, keeping the Hitachi in pride of place... The Becker Mexico's are pretty amazing, even have Sat-Nav, but prrricey!:

http://www.navigadget.com/index.php/2006/07/15/retro-becker-mexico-is-back-with-navigation-system-and-a-lot-more