260Coupe

Pretty simple There has bee a huge resurgence in the popularity of the Zed particularly with the young guys ...........hence when demand outstrips supply ...........price goes up. Good clean Zeds are getting harder to find and every year sees more being reclaimed by rust, poor repairs and 'bastardisation" ...........so again the price of good clean cars goes up............and then there is the cost of restoration, as the cost of restos goes up, the well restored cars goes up with it. (eg......I spent $2500 on a bare metal repaint and rust repair in 1993..........in 2007 I spent $10k on the same repaint and further rust repairs) To pay $8-$10k for a 240z or a 260z two seater (which are rarer) is now considered a "starting point" and the basis for a restoration. $15k will get a you good runner with $25k +....... a car which needs little improvement. If you were to do the sums and buy a cheap Zed for under $10k, you could easily spend another $15-$20k on a resto..........so why not just spend $25k + on a car already restored (given that is restored properly and body work is of high quality and not just full of bog)

FYI For those heading up to Gloulburn for the Zed Nationals, a large contingent of Zed "heads" from Melb and Sydney are staying at Trappers (plenty of parking, bar, pool etc and close to everthing) Rooms are filling fast Best Western A Trappers Motor Inn www.trappers.com.au P.O. Box 267 Goulburn, NSW, 2580 ph: 02 48225445 fax: 02 48225440

yep they were the factory fitted tyres My Aug 76 260 had the same tyres fitted when I bought it in 1988 with 52000 k's on the clock........although the tread was pretty thin ! My spare still has the original tyre fitted (Bridgestone Wide 70)

Guys For those wanting to join in the convoy to P.I, the NDSOC are meeting at Cranbourne Bunnings for at 8.00am departure (Club display trackside) I'll be taking the Zed and Roadster Al.

Busting to hear about your heater fan upgrade I was going to find a civic fan motor to replace my asthmatic old orginal fan ..........best waite to see what the better fix is

BTW These carbs are the early "light weight" Mikuni's without the fuel return system through the accelerator pump chambers

Guys Selling on behalf of the new owner of my Sc 240z Triple 44mm Mikunis c/w Nissan works competition manifold (cast in the US with independant runners ) , all linkages, 37 mm chokes and 50mm ram tubes also c/w lower heat shield and rubber isolators (between manifold and carbs to prevent fuel foaming) Carbs recently refurbished with no wear to linkages or butterflies, accelerator pumps and gaskets (all as new) Manifold ported to approx 40mm to suit Nismo inlet gasket. Excellent "bolt on and go" condition ..............recently run on my L26 for comparison testing These carbs turned 140 rwkw on an L24 engine fitted to the Sc race car ....................the induction noise at 7000 rpm was truly a mechanical symphony Price $2650 reason for sale .........Group Sc rules unlikely to change to allow the use of triples carbs , owner selling to fund other work to the car get in quick before they go on ebay Contact Alan PM me if you are interested

Hi Jamo Glad to have you back Alan

Hi Jamo No sorry but we have not had get engineers certs for any Permit plated cars as most are standrad or lightly modified and acceptable within the guidelines As such I cannot recommend an engineer Alan

On the subject of insurance, as others have stated here , it is not until you have a claim that the real "cost" of insurance is made obvious. I have heard many horror stories from those claiming on LSV policies and whilst Shannons may be more exy I can vouch for the fact that they pay up no questions asked. Having had three claims on my MX5 (two at fault......hmmm talk to my wife) and one with my Zed in the last two years , they paid up no questions asked and I choose the repairer. I swapped my house insurance over to Shannons a few months back and I recently submitted a claim for flood damage to my office and garage from the downpour we copped in early Feb and again they paid up without an assessor having to come out ..............I just sent in photos of the flood and the damaged office contents and they paid up no questions asked ............and by cheque not by a store credit as most insurances do now. My previous household policy would not have paid out a cent as the flood was caused by an overflow of a storm water drain !! So in short I have had cheaper quotes from LSV however I will stick with Shannons........the extra $$ in premiums are well worth it when it comes to paying out on claims. Alan

Guys The NDSOC can issue Club permit plates for lightly modified cars however major mods to brakes and suspension must have an RWC and /or engineers report Vic Roads are tightening up the rules on modifications, mods currently acceptable for Zeds as foillows: Engines must be of the same family (eg L series swaps are fine.......Rb's etc must have engineers report and RWC ) Brakes..........RWC as a minimum and engineers report if major (master cylinder swaps, vented discs etc need engineers report and RWC) Triples carbs are acceptable however they must meet basicemmision requiremenst for the period (no venting crank case or rocker cover to atmosphere) If you have any queries PM me with the list of mods and I will advise if they are acceptable under the scheme Alan Fildes Permit Plate Secretary NDSOC

Hi Simon Looking good...... If your are only feeding the brake booster off one inlet manifold (and you have a big cam) be carefull you do not run out of brake boost when toodling around at low RPM. As you are not running a balanced manifold you will only have vacuum off the one cylinder, as such multiple stomps on the picks at low RPM may cause you to run out of vacuum assist ................which in turn can cause a sudden stop with an immovable object If this is a problem you may need a secondary vacuum tank. Al.

I've seen Z shop built engines with a 5c piece jammed in the relief hole...............seemed to work just fine

Thanks guys...............you just refreshed my memory, I had read about the Honda fan upgrade some time ago............best get me down to wreckers and find me a Honda Civic !!! Al.

There is a basic saftey check list that we use for Club permit plates (a cut down RWC) that pretty much sums up what is required for RWC. (PM me if you want a copy) As soon as you start modifying your car (brakes, suspension are the most common issues) then you can struggle to get an RWC. From what I have seen over the last 20 odd years ............most Zeds fail on : Too low Too loud Too Rusty Emmision control sytems removed (post Aug 76 cars had Air pump, EGR and carbon canistor fitted) followed by mechanical issues (usually the easiset to fix) sloppy ball joints, steering rack play, stuffed shocks, poor brakes Keep the mods to a minimum and make the car safe and you should not have a problem

Do any of you guys/gals know of a decent fan replacement for a 260z, my 36 year old fan is struggling to push my aircon and it's getting hot in here !! I was going to try getting the motor rewound but thought that someone may have found a late model fan motor replacement ?? cheers Al.

Great stuff Jason I had the same frustration over eligibility with my Sc 240z 10 years ago and had numerous heated exchenges with the VHRR eligibility officer (who happened to race an Sc MGB with Webers !) over front spoilers, triple 44 Minkunis, CDi ignition and oil coolers ...............even my Datsun competion steering wheel for Cripes sake!! which I proved was in the parts catalogue ! The bazaar thing is : Sb Roadster - oil cooler permited , electronic ignition - permited - Mikuni's permitted Sc 240Z- Mikuni's - not permitted, electronic ignition - not permitted, oil cooler - not permitted ...........I was asked to proved that these were factory options available from the dealers so I handed over a copy of a Datsun competion parts brochure.............only to be told that it did not have a dealer stamp and a date on it so I was "out of luck" dispite a price list in Aussie dollars !!!. In the finish they wore my down until I gave up and I sold the 240z to John Ingham who ran it in a few events (John had the red/white/blue Sb 2000 and sold that to Tom Cantwell that now languishes in Lou Mondello's shop) keep up the fight ! cheers Alan

There is certainly some science in the airbox design, we have proved this on the engine dyno numerous times. The standard 240z air box on the twin Hitachis makes more power than ram tubes alone (and crappy uni filters) by at least 5% across the range. My Prince GTB airbox is tapered front to back and on the engine dyno, improves mid range power by around 10% and no hinderance to top end power (when compared with no air box fitted) For a bit of trivia, the Prince motor company stemmed from Nakajima industries (who made fighter planes during WWII), they still employed a lot of old aircraft engineers who flow bench tested everything before bolting it onto a car...............hence the airbox design . I am hoping to get a mold made soon so I can lay these boxes up if Carbon Fibre . Alan

Have you dyno'd your manifold to see it if helps or hinders performance ?

Yep entered and paid last week Taking up the Zed and Roadster Alan

If you find Rob is flat out and can't fit you in then try Paul Rankin at Rankins Restorations in Bayswater, Paul worked on my Zed (bare metal restoration with rust repairs to sills, guards etc) ........Four years on and the paint is as good as new and no signs of rust ! The specialise in Alpha's and Fiats (and now Zeds) so they know how to fix rust properly Rankins - 03 97290622

Further to that Synthetic fluid is very hydroscopic (absorbs water) and must be renewed frequently (before every race weekend) .............an old Synthetic fluid has a much lower boiling point than a fresh mineral fluid such as Dot 4. I have run Castrol and AP 600 in my Group Sc Zed (on standard brakes) and found that if I did not flush and renew before very race day, the fluid would boil, I then returned to using a Dot 4 Ferodo fluid and had no issues and much more warning when the brakes are getting hot .......peddle goes soft rather than hitting the floor with no warning which is what was happening with the Synthetic stuff (mineral is also cheap to flush and replace before every race day) .

Hi Guys FYI Following on from the announcement of the 90 day log book, I have had a number of new requests for Permit Plates from the Vic Z fraternity, this is fine however permits must be used within the current conditions of use. Please be aware that the new scheme does not come into play until log books are issued in Feb 2011 and any use outside of the current conditions of use risk a $500 fine and the cancellation of the permit (as stipulated by Vic Roads to all clubs issuing permit plates) regards Alan

In Victoria, Australia the Club Permit Scheme allows Historic vehicles to be driven on public roads without the need for full registration, the permit is for limited use "enthusiast vehicles" older than 25 years . (This scheme is also in place in mosts states in Australia) Numerous motoring clubs are eligible to issue permit plates to their members, the use of the vehicle is currently limited to only club sanctioned events (social drives, transport to and from tracks days and any other event advertised by the issuing club) . These rules are now changing to allow use of the vehicle for up to 90 days with no limit on the purpose...................so you can drive it to work if you wish. Full road rgistration is $624 per annum here in Victoria, Club Permit is currently $110 per annum so there are significant cost savings if you only use your vehicle occasionally ............less than 90 days per year.

Vic roads are still to provide the details around the new conditions of use suffice to say that they maintain that the Club Permit Scheme is for standard and lightly modified vehicles. The NDSOC issues plates on the basis of the following Vehicles must be presented with an eye to what is deemed to be acceptable for full registration Engines must remain of the same family (ie L series for a Z) Heavy modifications to brakes, engines, suspension etc must be supported by an engineers report, NDSOC committee will than assess eligibility To obtain a new permit plate issued by the NDSOC you must : Join the NDSOC and remain full and financial for the life of the permit Complete an application for Permit Plate and send to Permit Secretary for review Provide a RWC or have one of the NDSOC Scruntineers assess the vehicle for eligibility/safety Take signed permit application (signed off by NDSOC Permit plate secreatry) with RWC or letter issued by the NDSOC to Vic roads for issue of the plate. Any specific questions PM me cheers Alan