C.A.R.

My painter has now requested that we make the 260Z at least a rolling shell or drivable, so it's easy to move into paint booth. So I had a chat with Daniel about the direction of the build, as I was not going to refit the dirty and rusty suspension to the freshly painted chassis. We came to the decision to break the suspension down, have it media blasted and painted in 2k black. ALL the fasteners, brackets, catch's etc were cleaned and wire wheeled, then sent off for electroplating. The braking system can be upgraded later on by Daniel if he so wishes, but for the moment we had all the braking components rebuilt. However Daniel DID want a suitably lowered ride height, so I purchased a set of Z31 Front Koni Yellows, and Lovells 30mm lowered rear springs. The old Pedders 'Comfort Gas' inserts went in the bin! A new rubber suspension bush kit will be installed. Daniel had SW Motorsport rebuild the engine, with some tasty mods. Stewart then shipped it down to us to install. More on this later.

Time for another update! My painter was busy (he always is) but eventually he made progress, an in the space of a couple of weeks, it was in high build primer and the underbody in Nissan 305 LMB!

5 speed manual box (don't know what options exist) 280ZX / S2 bluebird '71B' is a bolt in. You can fit a 71C box from an S13 or R31/2 Skyline, but it requires mods and is not DIY friendly. You will also need to consider your diff ratio, as the auto diff is very tall. Subaru A/C system I've not heard of this. Another option is an AC system from a later 260Z is a bolt in, or you could go Vintage Air. Possibly a body kit (flares, side skirts, air dam, haven't seen a spoiler I like yet.) Each to their own, but none of the bodykits of seen for a Z improve the looks. Possible after market front suspension to eliminate rumor of bump steer. It's not a rumor and it gets worse the more you lower a Z. And it's a significant undertaking to deal with it, and none of the adjustable suspension kits on the market adequately deals with the issue. I suggest you speak to a Zed specialist - either Les Collins or Stewart Wilkins.

That's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, as it depends on what you are planning to do... '73 onwards wiring looms have more wires and the plugs are colour coded and not available new. Unless it's been butchered, it's can be reused. FWIW the last '73 I did, we unwrapped the loom, inspected it, fixed any issues, then re-pinned the terminals and re-taped it. I do recommend fitting a new modern fuse box though: https://www.thezstore.com/product/4750/msa-fuse-box-short-pigtail-72-73-240z as the originals are almost always damaged in some way. If you are modifying it in any significant way, I would suggest you 'dry build' it before paint to avoid damaging fresh paint.

Welcome. https://www.efihardware.com/ in Melbourne are the people to speak too. They'll be able to put together a package for you. Bare in mind it won't be cheap. At least $6k+ IMHO if you want reliability & economy on a budget, I'd fit a new Scorcher (Bosch) distributor from Performance Ignition and a set of 38mm Hitachi cabs on the factory twin carburetor manifold. I can put you in touch with someone in Vic to can help you out with this.

Set the gaps first. You may need to find a suitable door seal if one brand is too 'fat'.

Just buy a new set: https://resurrectedclassics.com/products/datsun-240z-series-1-toolbox-lid-set

We aim for a 5mm panel gap.

2-seater or 2+2? If you want to bring it down to Moe 3825, we can finish it off for you.

Updates?

Here we go again...

With the repairs complete, we spent a week or so making the panels fit nicely adjusting the panel gaps to 5mm. The body was then scuffed with 240g and given a fresh coat of 2k Epoxy. After this it went off the to paint shop!

The 260Z's original front valance was munted - bent, dented and loaded with filler over 5mm thick. I didn't have a spare available, so we canalized the mounts and made a new one:

The guards had a lot of damage once the paint & filler was removed, so we set about panel beating them straight, before we reinstalled the rear guard brace.