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Hi all, I thought I would introduce our new build. We have just picked up a very sound 260Z 2 seater shell and parts and intend to build a road track car for targa events, hill climbs and track days. So a bit of background, my son Matt was quite an accomplished driver through karting and then Formula Ford. On our many trips across to Victoria from Adelaide, we would often talk about one day building his dream car. One that we could both share the build, and also enjoy driving it after. We looked off and on for a 240/260 2 seater for some years, and eventually this one popped up, and after road trip to Arrarat, it's ours. The basic plan is a stock LS3, 4 speed T10+, roll cage, and upgraded suspension, brakes etc. It will in the restomod theme, where it will remain cosmetically sympathetic to the original, but then upgraded for competition use underneath. I have a couple of builds under my belt now, having just finished a 1960 Split Window Kombi, and prior to that a 750HP LSx454 into a 93 HSV Senator. The idea of this build is for me to teach Matt as much as possible, as he really wants to be very involved with the build. We wont get started on it for some time, but at least we have the car.

Well, it's time for an update! Picked up the Z for C.A.R over the weekend, they're done a great job! Overall I'm really happy with how the car is turning out. I ended up purchasing a set of Resurrected Classic doors as the ones I have will not be economical to fix. The doors fit okay but they will need some work. I've also got Resurrected Classics guards too, but to be honest, they don't fit well at all. I've found a set of NOS front guards in the states that i'll probably import instead. Next step is to get the car on my rotisserie and see what happens with the front guards. The paint shop was booked in for the next few weeks, but they may have to be put on hold pending on what happens with the guards. Definitely getting closer though!

Featuring our very own @gav240z

After the BBQ, Les Collins Racing was able to squeeze me in for a look over and maybe a quick tune up. I was able to sit (stand) through the whole process as Josh went through balancing, changing the floats and we changed over the main jets a couple of times. The initial bench jetting (based of Les' recommendations) was close, but in the process of getting the Z driveable, another mechanic had gone to rich on the mains to combat the float levels being out. Lambda sensor attached, we went for a few drives trying to iron out the lean spitting down low, and sorted out the richness up top. Les jumped in for the final adjustments, changing the idle jets a couple of times and got it as close to perfect as possible. One of the downsides to OERs is sometimes they can be a bit lean on very slight throttle. Further modifications to the carbies will be needed, but that will be for another time and perhaps when we change from the HM style headers to the SWM headers. Aside from the above, Les/Josh didnt comment on the difference between them. Main positive is that the OER carbs I ordered are set up with Weber Jets, which makes tuning easier if you carry as many spares as LCR do. The downsides to Mikuni's these days is availability of spares, and some hardware are just complete odd ball sizes. And now for the first video after tune, as Les calls it: "An angry L28" *Note: this engine was NOT built/refurbed by Les Collins Racing, only the carbs were tuned there

Some more making parts look nice: *mechanical fuel pump to be removed

Hey lads, hope everyone’s been well! It’s been a good two years since my last post. Unfortunately, a family health situation changed my plans, but praise God everything is well now and life is getting back to normal. I had Andrew from Motorsport Solutions in Castle Hill sort out all the braided lines, fuel lines, turbo lines basically, lines, lines, and more lines! His workmanship was top notch. It was a bit costly, but looking at the quality, I’m glad I had him on the job. The car’s finally out of its garage hibernation and off to the mechanic to finish up all the nitty gritty bits that my big fingers would probably break anyway (and I’d end up sending it out regardless haha) There’s a long list I handed to the workshop, and they’ve been progressing smoothly. I’ve had to order a heap of parts 180amp alternator, starter motor, PRP timing kit, PRP pulleys, ATI Super Damper, timing belts, and more. Thought I didn’t need much… definitely wrong there! Still on the list: I need to order the tailshaft, sort out the Hypertune intake, drive-by-wire full kit for the RB26 ITB setup, and track down a 370Z pedal. Also need to grab a flex sensor and a few other bits, these parts never end! Anyway, it’s going to be an awesome journey getting this 240Z over the line and on the road. Cars is very dusty and needs a massive detail when done. Until the next post, enjoy your weekend, everyone! VID-20250619-WA0037.mp4 VID-20250619-WA0036.mp4 VID-20250619-WA0035.mp4

So 3 weeks ago it FINALLY happened! PAINT! My painter took the Z and performed his usual checks, picking up & correcting anything we might have missed, before wheeling it into the booth. This is a full day exercise, with masking up of the bodyshell and panels, before 3 base coats are laid down, followed by 4 coats of PPG's finest clear. Now for reassembly!

Update time! In 2025 Daniel contacted me saying he's like to continue with the restoration of his 260Z, so in October '25 we extracted it from storage. As we'd already done the body shell, the panels needed attention next. On inspection the hatch frame was beyond economical repair, so I ordered a new one. I had the bonnet blasted and as expected that was damaged and rusty around the perimeter, so a new non-vented one was also ordered. Front guards were typically rusty at the bottom where they bolt to the sill, but the rest of the was ok. Se we set about removing the rear brace and repairing them bottoms of them: And the inner braces on both were reconstructed at the bottom: With the guard repairs complete, we turned our attention to the doors. This wasn't going to be easy... Later 260Z doors are different to 240Z, and 260Z door shells can't be bought new currently, so our only option was to repair them. We removed the skins (one had been replaced with a rare spares skin already) as they were both had rust at the bottom. The shells were pretty bad - espically the right door. The hinge mounting was gone, so we removed the inner reinforment and fabricated a new patch then welded it in. With the repairs to both doors done, the guards repaired I sent everything off to my media blaster so all the paint & surface rust could be removed...

Time to start putting everything back in, I have to say, I am very glad we decided to zinc plate the hardware and paint the block and anything else that needed painting. Next post, the engine and gearbox will be installed in the bay

It's on again! Date: Sunday 7th December 2025. Time: 11am Onwards. Location: Same as previous years, Gordon and Sharon's property in the outer East near Lilydale. Please prey for dry weather! PM me or @Gordo for the address if you haven't been before. Bring your Zed, food and Drink and a chair. The wood fired BBQ will be provided. Bring your Wives , partners and kids. All welcome!

Great to see everyone, perfect weather and mint cars. Once again big thinks to team Gordo for hosting.

I personally know the chap selling this. Recommend highly. https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/detail/ferrari-250-gto-1030793

LH is indeed incorrect. Can yo see evidence of it being modified? Did you ask your RW inspector why does it matter? As long as no part of the hose assembly is touching anything, it's performing the same function. There's no need to change the strut. No. That's not correct. There is no such shim for that purpose - perhaps clarify with him what he means. What 'I think' he's talking about the anti-rattle shim that goes between the brake pad & the caliper piston. They do go missing, but are easy enough to obtain through someone like Stewart Wilkins at SW Motorsport. RW Inspectors are a strange breed - they almost always focus on some obscure issue, while missing something else obvious...

And finally... And on the 28th of December 2025, I borrowed a mates enclosed trainer, loaded the 240Z up, drove to Sydney and personally delivered to Tony the mother of all birthday presents: 4 years (with 6 - 8 month break in the middle). 1682 Hours (lots not accounted for). Lots of lessons learnt. One VERY happy owner of 240Z HS30-00211 Would I take on a project like this again? You bet I would.

Hi Folks, There was an issue with the forum recently, I am in the process of troubleshooting it. Looks like a post update issue with a template file and a custom 'hook' call was causing it to break the template code for the page. I've just cleared all caches and made a few small changes as part of debugging. It looks to be working again, although I cannot exact explain what change I made that resolved it. Perhaps a combination of clearing old template files and forcing them to be regenerated fixed the issue? Hard to say for sure, but let me know if you still have issues going forward? I can raise an issue with the IPS support team to have a look. Our current hosting environment may need to undergo some changes to meet requirements of the newer version that will be pushed out soon. So I may need to do some ongoing updates/changes in due course.

@C.A.R. @gav240z You were right, it was the valve stem seals - you guys rock! Last week I got booked in with Richard at Allcraft and he's worked his magic on it, she's up and running again. It took a lot of work. Shout out to him and Lou Mondello - Allcraft Automotive 23 Wren Rd, Moorabbin VIC 3189 (03) 9532 2919 When I asked him what we should work on next to get it past RWC he rolled his eyes and said "where do I start....?!" Yeah. Enough said. It's a restoration! I'm sourcing an airbox for the twin SUs then he can dial it in on the dyno...she might even make 3rwhp! Right....back to admiring Nedz ride.

And now the crown jewels, the triple OER45s on the Kameari Harada manifold:

Engine & gearbox in: Engine bay wiring harness off to the auto elec From this: To this:

We're not that old, first thing to do would be confirm where the oil burning is coming from, if the motor has sat a long time, it may simply be dried out valve stem seals leaking oil from the top end of the motor into the combustion chamber. Replacing those may fix your oil burning issues. Otherwise it will be bottom end oil control rings. But it's worth a shot, since I had that issue years ago and replaced the seals and it was fine after.

Big thread bump from 2010, but I managed to meet the owner and got a ride in this car recently in Japan. The owner Tomitaku San was a great guy and he spoke about as much English as I did Japanese, but we had a few laughs as he drove it through the Japanese country side. Will share some videos soon. Also the original SpeedHunters link in this thread is broken, but you can still find the article here: https://www.speedhunters.com/2010/04/car_feature_gt_gt_office_tomitaku_s30/ Although SpeedHunters is kind of on hold or taking a hiatus as of late. At least the images and content is still there. I also on the same trip managed to meet Dino Dalle Carbonare who wrote the article back in 2010. Which was also great. The trip was part of the S30 World Team 2025 expedition to Japan, of which I have become part of, to try and help promote and celebrate the S30Z worldwide.

Hi guys. I recently purchased a 1975 260z and had it brought up from Melbourne to sunny, tropical Goulburn. (well, it is for at least a few days). It's largely complete but very tired. The body appears to be in excellent shape, though. L28 engine, auto. Plan is to ditch the auto and keep the rest as it is, maybe add a few go fast bits as we progress, and change the interior trim to black. Motor is tired, blows smoke and brakes are barely working, so had it towed home. Transmission is vague, so hit it with some Lucas transmission stop slip and it seems to have improved it a little. I am a long time fan of the z cars ever since I took one for a test drive when I was around 20 years old. Sadly, it has taken a further 42 year before I can say I now own one. Because it was brought up from Vic, it now has to start afresh with a blue slip. I think I am going to be in for a ride.

Hi guys. I had a second go at it and this time pulled apart the mechanism and cleaned up the terminals /contact points. One side was in poor condition. Hit it with some super fine steel wool and put it together. Wasn't expecting much, but suddenly discovered I had a win! Blinkers work perfectly again and no smoking.

George had done a lot of the big jobs like fitting the suspension, drivetrain and dash. But once #19 was unloaded we took stock of all the parts: Some parts needed replacing, some needs refurbishing and some needed painting. The doors needed to be assembled with their glass and mechanisms, door cards installed, the tail light panels needed repairs and painting, the fiberglass centre console need repairing and painting, it needed carpets, a front bumper, bonnet hinge torsion rods straightened and installed, interior plastics installed... Basically we were going to be undertaking the last 50% of reassembly. So on with the photos in no particular order: The window tinder mechs were seized & in terrible condition, so we bought new T3 items. Checking 1/4 glass frame fitment: Plumbing the fuel tank: TBC...

I am Without Speech! The one thing that is bothering me is the bonnet release cable. I dont know what to do to hide it. Any options out there?

uhoh, what's going on here: anddddddd, she is no longer a V8 Z. A somewhat sad moment

Had a good think about this, although its tempting its not worth the money they are asking. Haven't seen the old ones selling for crazy prices as investment purposes Could put money towards the actual car but everyone is different. Im more of an Omega kinda guy

Hello all, Haven't posted for many many years, as Ive been zedless for all of them but anyway, Ive been asked to list this particular zed on behalf of a friend. Many members will know this car, as I've known of it for around 30 years. Its a 77, has many mods, including some super rare options, many are easy to spot and even more underneath. Way too much to list, best to ring and I can try to remember them all! Comes with plenty of spares, along with its original seats and other parts. Its only with its second owner who has looked after it well. Asking $40k ono My number is 0413243760. Dimitri

123 is China junk. Buy Aussie: https://performanceignition.com.au/p/scorcher

How to start/warm up your classic car's engine : Discussion around lubrication system, using the choke, rpm etc.

Get it on a hoist or stands and inspect with a torch. Lightly tap and probe any suspect rust areas to check for soft metal, as rails can rust inside and out. Pay close attention to suspension mounts, sills and floor pans. For that kind of money, a professional inspection is worth it.

Holy thread revival, Batman!

Thanks man, really appreciate this! I'll find out a bit more, not sure if it was modified or why there's a difference - probably someone's great idea at the time.

Hi all, Just joined the forum after reading along for a while. I have a strong interest in Z cars, both stock and modified. This place seems like a great source of knowledge, so I am looking forward to learning, asking the odd question and contributing where I can. Cheers and glad to be here.

Great watch 👌

Been a long time but have been chipping away Repaired dash just need to texture Tidied steering wheel Body work all done managed to get 5mm gap all round In the process of sorting out the rear hatch venting system I need to source some barrel clips (same as the ones that hold on the emblems?) and some speed washers, Nissan have discontinued, so will have to find some generic ones. Need so many small bits and pieces that are not available in Australia and the postages costs from Europe and the States are so expensive. Lucky the only panels I've had to replace are the bonnet and rear valance Hoping for paint by end Jan.

Hey All, been a long time, trust you're all doing well, great to see pics from the BBQ get together as usual at Gordo's place. My ex 240z is on the market, tempted 😀 https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1973-datsun-240z-manual/SSE-AD-19207068/

See if Carlos from Sports Car Classics Sydney has an engine laying around 0418284776 https://www.facebook.com/share/17NrD7b2HX/

Guys, thanks so much for the input, I really appreciate it and I am currently researching all those points, and reached out to Wayne at Pearl automotive who was dead helpful (and a man down) - it's a relief to know there's help out there. I'll do my best not to take too much and give where I can here on the forum.

Nope, you MUST only get the 152G webers that come with the 4 progression holes, AFAIK the plain 152 webers came with 3 progression holes from factory. And of course you need to ensure that the jets/tubes etc are suitable for what engine you have. See this post : https://www.viczcar.com/forums/topic/15533-drilling-a-progression-hole/

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1971-datsun-1600-manual/OAG-AD-25262582/

I would be interested in the (non-seized) L26 if it's running? (see my recent ad in Wanted) But I understand if the car needs to be sold complete.

I found this on facebook & youtube:

If it helps anyone, I had the same issue on my (new to me last month) very tired 1974 260z 2+2...none of my gauges were illuminated, my heater didn't run. After chasing it for what seemed like days, prodding everything in sight with a multimeter, it was an unconnected rando purple cable under the dash that was spliced to a GreenRed wire coming out the fusebox and had 12v with ignition On or Off. I removed the splice clip and....there was illumination and a fan running. I should have removed it earlier but was trying process of elimination. I think it was joining two independent 12v circuits, whenever one was live it dragging voltage into the other, killing the heater and confusing the heck out of me. Now I have time to look at the other thousand problems exciting challenges.

https://www.dmhistorics.com/showroom/other-classics/1971-datsun-240z/ No VIN listed but I believe that it is #675. Gavin already has it logged in this thread but this is a reappearance for it. I remember when it sold on carsales several years ago. It was in top condition, went to the UK, pulled down and rebuilt. Roughly AUS$120k which seems right for our market. I thought they might be going for a little more over there considering the numbers they got.

https://classicthrottleshop.com/1978-datsun-260z-eggshell-white/ As most of us know you dont see these everyday in Australia...perhaps that is why it was imported from the UK (of all places!)

Original seats, well used and in expected condition for their age. Complete seats with factory covers and recline mechanism but NO RAILS $600 PIckup only The Basin 3154

VIN#117 is for sale on facebook marketplace WA. I know it is listed here but the ad might provide an opportunity to gain photos/numbers of the car and add to the database.

Update! Hard to believe but the splitter is finished! This has been a very long project, about 1 1/2 years overdue. Happy with the final result.

Alright here comes big post about my sound system design. I’ve spent months researching car audio and coming up with a design for the system, I’m gonna do a brain dump of the whole process, but the end result is this: Tweeters: SB accoustics SB21SDCN-C000-4 Midrange: Morel MM2 Midbass: Studio Integrity TM8 Sub: none Amp/DSP: Helix V Eight MK2 Head Unit: Sony AX5500 I love music and all things audio and set out to design the best sound system I possibly could for the Datsun. To make a sound system in a car sound good, rather than just loud, there’s a bunch of issues that need to be overcome that aren’t present when you listen to 2 speakers in a room: Time alignment (listener is not equal distance from both speakers) Many sound reflections causing EQ issues Directionality - music is designed to come from in front of you, but there is not much space in a car cabin in front of the driver for speakers The first 2 of these issues can mostly be solved with something called a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). A DSP a little computer that processes the music signal before it’s sent for amplification, and it does this separately for each individual speaker. This allows each channel to be EQ’d separately, and certain channels to be delayed in time so that the sound arrives at the listener from all speakers at the same time. The other thing that the DSPs made by Helix allow you do is a “2 seat tune” which is a way to make the music sound good for both driver and passenger, rather than tuning the whole system around the driver. The general concept of this is for the center information in the music to play out of a dedicated center speaker, rather than being a combination of left and right playing at the same time (which doesn’t work well cause time alignment can’t be done for passenger and driver at the same time). 2 seat tune was a really important thing for me cause since my partner is allowing me to spend all this money on a sound system, I want it to sound as good as possible for her too, not just myself. The third issue to be overcome is that music is designed to come from in front of you and often each instrument has a distinct placing on this “sound stage” in front of you, from left to right, and close and far. This is hard to achieve in a car cause there is limited space for speakers in front of you. Door and kick panel speakers are an improvement over speakers in the back, but are still a big compromise to sound quality. There is one factor working in our favour though and that is that humans can’t perceive direction in sound below around 200hz. So we can design a split system where the above 200hz information plays out of a speaker pod in the dash or attached to the a pillar, and the low frequencies play from anywhere else. And this is indeed what high end audio builds do. So with that in mind, I had 3 options: Cut the dash to put speakers in (ugly) Build a dash or a pillar pod for the speakers (not really possible with the sharp slope of the windscreen and also ugly) Put the speakers in a sub optimal position like doors At this point you’d probably wonder, why bother? And especially why put a good sound system in a 3.1L stroker Z which already sounds insane and is pushing legal Db limits? Reason is… for science. I wanna push the envelope and see what’s possible. So I was coming to terms with having to cut big ugly holes in the dash for my midranges. Then I came across a very special speaker, the Morel MM2 midrange. Although these don’t quite go down as low as the target 200hz, they’re absolute tiny for a midrange, so small that they fit into the dash cowl area up front near the windscreen. So the idea became - mount the speakers into the dash cowl. After some testing, keeping the dash cowl in one piece wasn’t possible, it’s hard enough getting that thing in and out already, with speakers mounted in it would be impossible to install without removing the windscreen. So I decided to cut up the dash cowl and make mdf speaker panels for the sides so everything fits. Lachlan’s shop helped do the cuts to the cowl for me and got the circles for the speakers perfect. While I was at it, I also made a speaker pod for the center. Photos attached for how these ended up looking. I think these turned out okay given I have zero prior woodworking experience. I’m mostly just happy everything fits and works cause it was playing with fractions of a millimeter trying to get it all to work. But I’m not completely happy with them and I’ll have another go again some time and make them nicer. For the tweeters, I went with sb accoustics SB21SDCN-C000-4. Reason being crazy good off axis peformance, aesthetics, rave reviews, and low price. For the low end, I’m going with a stereo integrity tm8 8 inch midbass, which will run from ~60hz to 500hz. These will be mounted into the riser behind the seats and will be mounted in an “infinite baffle” setup. I decided to go with 8 inches rather than traditional 6 inches in a 3 way setup cause 8 inch covers the frequency range I need <500 Hz way better, and the car audio forums are going crazy for these speakers. I’m going to try this setup first without a dedicated sub woofer cause I’m thinking I’ll be getting more than enough low end from the 8 inchs for the type of music I listen to. Other goodies being added in Sony touch screen head unit with apple car play Reverse camera Helix controller for volume, tone, and preset selection (1 vs 2 seat tune) Next step now is to get the professionals to install it all. I’ve reached the end of the road in terms of what I’m comfortable doing myself and I don’t mess with electrical stuff.