PeterAllen

You young folk are too soft... this it how real men handled dangerous goods in the old days. This is Kenny Mitchell (who, along with Peter, build Brocky's A30) at Hume Weir. Photo courtesy of Clark Watson.

Is 'hi-fill' what I remember as spray putty? I don't have a compressor so is a pressure pack can okay? I think I'm following you and I've been using the pencil crosshatch technique with this sanding tool. Is this suitable to use in lieu of the ply sanding block you describe? Thanks.

John (and other pros) - I have used filler to get what I feel is the new profile of the door skin but I want to know where I go next to ensure the surface is perfectly smooth and flowing. There is nothing worse than looking along the side of restored/modified cars and seeing a 'cellulite' surface.

Part II. Please.

John - thanks for that. As I started to use the filler I was anxious not to use up the hardener too early and I was a bit frugal with the last mix. Thanks all - A scrapped it all out... what's 15 minutes in 6 years.

After years building the mechanicals I thought the bodywork would be easy - how wrong can one be. Anyway, after getting the new profiles on the door just about right I put some final bodyfiller on last night and as I started to sand it this morning I find it's still soft. It's obvious I didn't put enough hardener in the mix but what do I do now? Will it cure given enough time, or if I hit it with a hairdryer, or does it all have to be scrapped off... Bugger.

Red Hill St... Park in the unsealed carpark of the Katoomba Sports and Aquatic Centre, it is at the exit of The Tunnel of Love and adjacent to the beginning of the start/finish straight. I'm not sure that there is any legal vehicular access to the actual circuit.

See post 272 http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=55102&st=240 A couple I took in 2007.

On another thread someone has raised the desirability of 5-slot 'deep-dish' Datsun wheels... am I missing something here? I threw these under the house many years ago as I thought they were worth nothing - are they the same wheels as on Six Shooter's new buy? They don't seem to get much money on eBay... Please explain.

I normally use the body filler available at TAFE but I'm hoping to do some mould work between now and February. With the amount of reshaping I need to do I reckon I'll use 5 ltrs or so and wondered if I should buy a large quantity or several smaller tins. What sort of shelf life does that stuff have after a can has been first opened? Thanks.

Is it a road registered car, and if so, what were the engineer's comments? That was my concern and why I abandoned its use so early. I'm happy in the long run that I went with the GM diff - availability of spares, CV, etc.

"For the 1981 season Sharp, in partnership with Electromotive, decided to escape GTU and the Mazda's and move up to IMSA GT class for cars over 2.5 liters. With a Nissan President 4.5 liter V8 engine and the work of Gene Crowe and chassis designer Trevor Harris, the two teams developed a couple of unsuccessful turbocharged ZX's. They had the power, but the engine design lacked strength and cracked under pressure. The IMSA now shifted focus to allow even more highly modified prototype cars that outclassed even a 700 horsepower twin turbo V8 ZX. The project was abandoned." ref: http://www.zclubhungary.hu/BobSharp.htm More here on the six cylinder; http://zhome.com/History/Electramotive/ElSh28zx.htm "Being successful in both IMSA and SCCA C Production, Bob Sharp had other things in mind, and he would make the big move in 1980. The car would be a true AAGT car, and would be fitted with a V8 powerplant, the one you could find on the Nissan President, which was manufactured in Japan. In fact, the car was not even imported in the US, and Bob Sharp had to use his relations with Dick Roberts, who was Datsun's competition manager, to have one engine in his shop by the end of 1977. The engine was then studied by Gene Crowe, the chief mechanic, who was to modify it accordingly to its future purposes. The car would be a unique design by Trevor Harris who would work on the chassis, body and the suspension. Thanks to his past experience, he would apply his skills to the Datsun ZX Turbo, which would then become the first ground-effect production based racing car. The car would completed in seven months. Rick Mack, who had worked at Rotomaster, would care about the turbocharger, which was supposed to feed the 4,5L engine. This was supposed to give out around 800 hp." ref: http://alex62.typepad.com/imsablog/2008/02/bob-sharp-racin.html

Ian - I think they are 3.69 but I'll try and check and get back to you. I picked it up off eBay right at the start of the project because some guy was fitting one in the USA (HybridZ). That's 5-6 years ago now but I don't know that anyone else followed. I've never run it so I can't tell its condition but there doesn't appear to be too much backlash. I've tried to illustrate on a photo what is involved in the cross-member modification and you can see it's pretty drastic. On top of that they are bloody heavy. I think the reality is they simply don't fit an S30. You're welcome to drop in and have a look but I'll put it on eBay in a week or so if no one wants it. I see a wrecker in SA is asking $369 for one - tell him he's dreamin'! I'm still spending Tuesday nights at TAFE - it's a lot cheaper now.

As I understand it the car is now out of registration (?). If it's over by more than 3 months you may need to check with the RTA if there are any issues you need to address to get it re-registered. You may have to produce the original engineer's report (V8, etc) when to go to the registry. There is a lot to be said about buying a finished modified car - my V8 Zed project is just about to celebrate its sixth anniversary and it's not even halfway done. I'm envious. Re: Battery placement. I know many of the competition Zed relocate it to the boot but i am very very concerned about having sparks anywhere near a fuel tank, e.g. rear collision. There are many V8 conversions in the USA (see HybridZ) but I've never heard about issues with the engine bay temperature and battery performance.

I bought this some time ago to fit into my S30 but it required modification to the rear unibody cross-member (I fitted a Holden diff instead). I believe they were fitted to the 300ZX twin turbo cars. $50 - pickup only. Sutherland, Sydney.

Getting a bit off the topic but some of the GTOs in the US do extend the 2 seater wheelbase via repositioning the front cross-member so that the rearward mounting holes in the cross-member are fitted to the front chassis holes and new front holes created. The front shock towers are unpicked (spotweld remover) and the tower moved 100mm forward to match the new position of the crossmember. There are some rollbar mounting and steering shaft mods to be done and inner guard touchups required, but basically it seems to work quite well. I have an instruction manual on how it's all done. Here is a Canadian example.

Could some IT literate person place gridlines over the image above and repost it? Thanks.

Seems there is more to a 2+2 than just being a stretched 2 seater. What initiated this thread was an enquiry I had about a 250 GTO kit I am selling on eBay. Someone asked if it would fit a 2+2 and I said "no". However, I then started to think, (something I frequently do AFTER I have spoken!) considering there are body modifications required to fit the kit, although minimal, whether a 2+2 could in fact be adapted. As I stated before, it's a hypothetical. A suggestion about the roof. If you were to cut out or unpick the existing roof of a car you are restoring I'm sure there are plenty of sheetmetal shops with an English Wheel that could make up a copy. PS. The kit I am now fitting does away with the hatch and also has a fibreglass roof which sits over the original metal roof.

Thanks John. If I have read you correctly you are referring to grafting a 2 seater rear onto a 2+2 front. Though some of the steps would be similar I was trying to ascertain how a 2+2 itself might be modified to a 2 seater wheelbase, shell shape, etc. Purely hypothetical. If someone has a photo of a 2+2 shell in the area behind the front seats I would be interested to have a look. Thanks.

I've had a bit of a web search but I can't find any discussion on this. I guess the USA is probably the only place where someone might try it but they have plenty of 2 seaters anyway and seem more interested in making them RHD. Is it merely a 'cut - trim - shut' requirement? I think the doors are longer and might also have to be trimmed or 240z doors fitted. Just curious.

I don't have any dramas shaping Polycarbonate for headlight covers! You would probably require a industrial oven to warm a sheet the size of the rear window.

Tim - Did you prep the inside of the rails or are you going to spray something in afterwards?

Many thanks. Mine is buried under 5 years of spares and 'that-might-come-in-handy' items.

I wonder if someone could post the height and width of a 240Z 2-seater hatch window. Thanks.

I notice there is no reference to drugs nor rock and roll. I would suggest members establish 'zphotos' bona fides before they release any details of their car or its location. Over to you 'zphotos'.