260Coupe

Guys FYI For those of you with NDSOC issued Club Permit Plates (CH plates/red plates, club reg) , the 90 day log book scheme has finally been ratified by Vic Roads and will come into effect in Feb 2011................yeahah we all say ! All permit Plate holders will be issued log books in Feb and may operate their vehicle under the new rules immediately, this meeans you will have 90 days per year of unlimited use as long as you complete the log book. Windscreen stickers will be issued upon renewal of permits, annual safety and compliance checks will be implemented in 2011. Please note that their will be some tightening up of the conditions around continuance financial club membership and reporting of any miss use (exceeding the 90 days of use, not maintaining membership etc ) to Vic Roads to comply with the administration requirements. No details of additional costs has been advised as yet however a small increase is expected to cover log books and admin, Vic Roads are continuing with the 25 year eligibility at this stage and the eligibility is still around standard or lightly modified vehciles. Keep an eye out for the next issue of the NDSOC mag for more details . cheers Alan Permit Plate Secretary NDSOC

Simon NDSOC life member Neil Cartledge (NEC Engineering) was making girdles over 20 years ago I think is retired now a works from home in Mt Waverly PM me for his details Alan

The NDSOC will be hosting the 2013 Nationals (we hosted the 2007 at Phillip Island) The event will most like be the same as 2007 with a P.I sprint, tarmac nav rally around Bass and Kilkunda and Show n Shine at Cowes. (on the proviso that we can again secure the P.I circuit for the Easter Weekend in 2013) 2001 in Shepparton saw 100 entries of all marques, 2007 was a hugely successful event with over 200 entries across the weekend so we hope to repeat and or better the previous event. Alan Secretary Life member NDSOC

Guys.........There is no exclusivity here - The Melbourne City Council insist that all vehicles/drivers be covered by PLI as there are pedestrians within the same space, hence why we can only invite people who are members of the NDSOC or assocated clubs covered by PLI or CAMS club insurance. (I won't go into the numerous benefits of joining the NDSOC however it is only $65 p/a ...........which is less than one tank of fuel) Hopefully the weather holds out fo Sunday as we should have well over 100 cars there Alan

Hi Guys FYI The NDSOC is holding it's annual display and Show n Shine at Docklands on Sunday 14th November in conjuction with SAU and CSA (Skyline clubs) Members of NDSOC , NCCA, DSRCV, SAU and CSA are invited Unfortunateley due to the nature of the public space and MCC regulations, entry for vehicles is again restricted to those poeple who are members of invited clubs with public liability insurance cover. cheers Alan Secretary NDSOC

Lou Mondello re- built my U20 10 years ago in standard config, (standard bore, pistons and cam) ...........we installed H20 rods (30% lighter than U20 rods) and lightened the crank and flywheel for better response . My U20 is turning around 135 rwhp in standard config and has been unbreakable over the last 10 years often seeing 8000 rpm on the track ! ...........His latest projects included offset ground crank 2.2 lt U series turning around 125 rwkw's. If you are going to buy a Roadster there is no other place to take it other than the Guru

The "Gold" colour of the wheels was actually due to the discolouration of the clear coat applied to the 260z alloys.................likely due to UV radiation damage. I had an original spare that has barely seen the light of day and it was silver.................it then started to turn gold after being left outside for a few years

Call Richard at Allcraft Automotive - Wren Road Moorabbin (where your Zed was Dyno'd by Lou) 9532 2919

Gav I have owned and raced my 2000 for the past 13 years. A few basics As with 240s, Roaders are prone to rust so check the sills and floors and firewall. Brakes work well (when rebuilt correctly) although un boosted............be careful of boosters added as these upset bias and reduce peddle feel. As the guys have said the body is bolted to a ladder frame chassis so its engine and gearbox out in one unit via the bonnet . Bodies are liable to cracking across the boot lid corners and the transmission tunnel up through the scuttle due to body flex, boot floors also crack due to the weight of the fuel tank...............so check these areas. Pre 69 models had a worm and peg steering box with worms gears subject to wear.................so check vague steering if it is an early 2000 or a 1600.69-70 models have recirc ball steering so not as direct but not as prone to wear. Drag links and idle boxes do also wear so check for steering play. A healthy 1600 R series engine will turn arpound 75- 80 rwkw and a good 2000 approx 95 -100 rwkw so performance is very different (go for a 2000 if you can find one) The only shared components between a Sports 2000 and a 240z are the locks, door handles and the flange type gear box (in a shorter housing) and the rear brake drums. The U series engine is similar to the H Engine (Urvan and forlifts) however the cylinder head is where the power is made, U series engine components can be very costly and hard to find (water pumps, pistons, timing gear including tensions chains and spockets etc Body panels here is Oz are very scarce and expensive, particularly grills and bumpers (2000 grills sell for $400+ USD) I do not believe they sold Roadsters in the UK/Ireland so I can only assume any over there are Jap or US imports Any further questions let me know Alan

Yep- sourced a set of triple 44 Mikunis, manifold and linkages from them PM me for feedback Alan

Simon, you could try Gem Parts in QLD although they seem to more costly than Wolf Creek Wolf Creek have a set listed for $750 which is quite reasonable..........also from my experience with Wolf Creek , "Rebuilt" means cleaned externally and a few new gaskets........my "rebuilt" set still need considerable work to get them refreshed back to "As new"

Simon I think you will find that the low Kings Springs are the same rate as the standard ride height.........I installed the standard Kings in my Zed and cut them down by 1.5 coils, this then increased the spring rates by around 25 % over the standard numbers The ride in my Zed is firm and corning is flat without being harsh and causing kidney damage Maybe order the standard height and experiment with cutting them down bit by bit (unless the 280zx has flats on both ends of the spings???)

Congrats on the win Rich ..........Good to see a Zed take home the silverware I came in a lowly seventh on the skid pan results (in the MX5) .........I think the morning's hangover had something to do with a lack on concentration ! The back track was also hoot and 11th out of 65+ cars was not to shabby in a little underpowered hair dresser's car I did however manage an equal second place in the VB challenge along side Cameron in his new Porker (funny that a $230k Porker and a $40k MX5 were pretty well neck n neck on the skid pan) , that Cobra which is built for motokhana stuff was always going to be damn hard to beat...........so the little MX5 redeemed itself A great day and a whole heap of sideways fun Alan

FYI For the guys on Club permit plates (or anyone else who wants to join us) there is also an NDSOC "mystery drive" on this Sunday 12th Meeting point Bunnings Carpark - Cranbourne 10.am (Cnr Sth Gippy Hwy and Thompsons Rd) Down to Inverloch for lunch via some nice twisty stuff

Whilst I was living in the UK from 93 to 95 I was lucky enough to see "Big Sam" at the 1994 Birmingham classic car show and a few months later at the '94 Zed Nationals in Manchester (the GB Zed Club's 25 aniversary) As part of the Zed nationals, there was a Sprint day held at the Aintree Circuit just out of Manchester.........I had "wangled" a hot lap (as passenger ) in Big Sam ...unfortunately it p1ssed with rain all day so my ride did not eventuate. (Big Sam did not emerge from the transporter) Bugger trying to post some picks of the GB Zed club display.......... Big Sam and a genuine 240ZG that was purchased and imported from Japan at a cost of 20,000, GPB

West Coast "Zee" Car Nationals Some truly magnificient cars ...............and some truly ugly ones as well ! http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/gallery.cgi

You could try Paul Rankin at Rankins Restorations in Bayswater.............did a great job on my Zed and in reasonably priced 03- 9729 0622

New genuine bumber rubbers were avaible through Warren at All Zed Parts in Sydney

Call Trevor at Brighton Nissan ...........new bonnets in stock ex Japan ($680) from memory

I have an Arizona ZCar short shift kit fitted to my Zed and it works very well (some say too well if they are not accustomed to the very short throw) The "ears" move the pivot point up shortening the top throw and increasing the bottom throw, the supplied gear knob is weighted for better throw feel. Fitting takes 1/2 hour, installed from the top after removing the console, North/South shifts (ie first - second and third to firth) are very short with only half the throw of the standard shifter. No change to the East/West throws as the pivit is changed for N/S throws only. The Up side- shifts are very positive and the shifter feels like a rifle bolt (shorter action than in my MX5) The down side - if your synchros are worn/lazy then this will excacerbate any synchro crunch due to the increased speed of the engagement..........so I would suggest you not fit a short shifter unless you have refreshed all your synchros as the increased speed of the shift will certainly speed up any synchro wear.

Gareth Some background info from the engine dyno tests I have had done on my own engines and witnessed on many others run up on the Power Play engine dyno. Firstly- big cam does not automatically translate to big HP......cams generally move peak HP further up the rev range and it is a complex combination of engine specs that produce HP rather than cams........(and remember what you gain up top you generally loose from down low with a big cam) In most L28s with big cams , the sudden big shove in the back at 4500 rpm that feels like it making huge power is more often attrributed to the big hole in the power and torque at low RPM rather than massive HP gain. (I proved this myself on the dyno with my engine build ) FYI I have seen Les Collins engine dyno many L28s and gone from a 70 to a 76 deg cams with very little peak HP difference (my L26 was a similar story) , the same was found with many Stewart Wilkins engines........it seems more power can be gained from head porting, induction and exhaust rather than cam shafts. Anyway my 2c

Guys For those wishing to build an L31 stroker I can source BNIB geniune Nissan LD28 cranks...........they are not cheap......not alot of change out of $2k PM me if you are interested

BRE Zed from Road and Track magazine

The plan was to make the back plate blank with template holes for 44mm Solex's/45mm Webers which can be cut to suit..............this would also accomodate 40mm Delortos etc. For this to go ahead I will need firm deposits for orders which will be fully refunded if I do not get enough orders to make this financially viable (ie to cover costs and not cost me a packet in the process). I also have to remove the carbs and airbox from my Zed to use for the plug.............as mine has been modified to realighn holes (I have spend nearly $800 getting this right ) I will be in a better position in the next few months after my man has finished the Roadster project so stay tuned cheers Alan

I have a mate who's company made all the C/F aero aids for the V8 Super taxis (spoilers, skirts etc) so he is pretty handy with F/G and C/F.....he is making air filter housings for Roaders for me at the mo.............next project is my Prince airbox. They won't be cheap.............probably around $400 if I can get firm orders for 12+ .............the $$$ for the mold is the killer..............very labour intensive to get right