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Looking at it, they are very nice. I'm almost betting they're 16*8 front and 16*8.5 rears. The standard bodied car doesn't seem to be able to fit anything larger. Love that colour too. Cheers

last (with the green inspiration!!)

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Week 24... Nat's just about finished final blocking. The dark lines and patches on the Hornet this week show the remainder of the guide coat left after blocking. Interestingly, he found a couple of high spots that chamfered off nicely. Rear deck, roof and drivers side still needs more work, but it almost looks two tone with the roof a darker shade with guide coat still on. Engine is at build phase, with only the harmonic balancer now required. Transmission has been rebuilt and we can confirm its a later 260 item with brass syncro rings. Its been wet blasted and fully reassembled. We have not changed any ratios (noting its all pretty standard stuff), but may address this if we deem it necessary once done. James has a 240Z item that I could swap with him (for authenticity), but not sure of the merit in doing this. Block has been hot tanked, pistons made, flywheel seriously lightened (-2kg+), and rods drilled out for larger gudgeon pins. Still awaiting balancing of the above, once its bolted together. I can't wait to hear its shreaking, popping and farting once done. Exhaust will be 2.5" custom stainless with small hotdog and sports muffler. Wheels are a bigger decision than I thought. I know they'll be watanabe, just not sure if we go for RS type, or F8 (effectively the same wheel with less dish). Given the body remains standard, it'll be 7.5" front and likely 8" rear ... maybe 8.5" if i'm feeling lucky. Keeping 55 series tyres in keeping with that old school look. I've got the new seat covers and diamond vinyl kits ready to go in. Next stage is Nat finishes the blocking, re-primes, and does the stone guard underneath and inside (like NZeder). The outside is then hand sanded with 800 grit wet and dry and its into the booth for the paint. The method here is for 2 light coats, 2 heavier coats, and one final thin coat with more thinner, the purpose being to give a smoother finish. Not convinced I'll go for a clear coat yet. Checked out my suspension again today ... I think the springs are King brand with Koni inserts. Not sure, but we will confirm this when we get them apart. Nat's keen to make sure we get the height just right ... See the green 432 i'm using as a benchmark for the suspension settings. I'm actually getting pretty excited about this now ... enjoy. Adam

Not sure of the proper name for it, but we have lost the drivers side 'C' catch and striker that attaches to the body. The whole part is missing, including the 'C' and the base plate. Anyone got one, or know where I can find one?? We need it to get the body completed. Cheers Adam

more photos.. The last one is my favourite so far.

week 23... What a difference a week makes. This week the Hornet had been completely hand blocked and aligned and was sitting in two pac primer when I saw it. Must say, it really is starting to look good now! The purpose of priming is to check the lines, and Nat will again shape, guide coat, block, dry sand, wet sand and then re-prime in the coming week. To me it looks finished, but there remains quite some work to have her completed. Just ordering some final parts from the US and then it should be about done. Received my Kameari twin idler gear and adjustable cam sprocket and was pretty surprised by the quality. Now I have all the parts for the motor, so will get these to James to make a start on the build. Seeing NZeder's red 240 with those 16" wheels has made me pretty confused again .. do I go 15" or 16" wats? Decisions Decisions Enjoy Adam

You can see the masking tape on the sides that Nat is using as a guide for the blocking. The lines should be pretty straight when done on this.

Week 22... Was not planning on going to see the hornet today, but alas I did and Nat was actually blocking it when I was there. As far as I can see the alignment is 99% done, and straight with the only issue now being the drivers door skin, where the gaps are just too wide. Nat is planning on completing this, then we're ready to complete blocking and onto the stone guard. F&R bars are on, but given they both need straightening and chroming, I am considering buying a set of aftermarket stainless ones from Ebay. This is likely to be a cheaper and better option than repairing what we have, especially with the dollar where it is. I ordered the Kameari Twin Idler gear and fully adjustable cam sprocket as well, given strength of the currency. Am even tempted to grab the watanabes while the Yen is where it is. Cheers

This came with the Hornet and I don't plan to use it. Made from fibreglass, the shape is very similar to that used by BenZed on his car. Condition is very good. Currently painted in black primer. Located in Sydney. If you're interested make me an offer.

Thanks guys .. will need to do a bit of work on this, but i appreciate the feedback. From reading the web articles on venting, one can seriously increase the efficiency of even a standard front brake to race car standards with the correct air cooling. As i'm keeping the standard brakes for reasons of authenticity and weight, this I think will be the modification I can make.

I'll be running standard brakes all round on the Brown Hornet, albeit with upgraded pads, fluid and maybe braided lines if necessary. However, i'm wondering if anyone has or knows of a source for front brake cooling ducts that channel air to the disk surface for these cars. I've seen a very simple and effective design used on early 911 racers that literally looks like a sugar scoop with a pipe attached and directed at the calliper / disk. If anyone has such ducts, or knows a source for such i'd be interested in following up. Rgds Adam

Thanks Peter .. always wondered what they weighed out of the factory. I'll be avoiding use of all the tar underlay, tools and spare as well which might get me close.

Hi Guys, thanks for looking at the Hornet. Not sure I really want to say what this has cost me, but I'll make these few points. I am pretty fanatical about this car and its true what Garvice says, this really is not your average restoration. So far, Nat has done over 650 hours on the body, all documented, and i'd say there's plenty more to get it put back together (some of which I will help with). If you can get your labour at $30 per hour i'd jump at it, as most restorers up here are quite a bit more. I'm not a mechanic, nor an engineer, so if you can do much of it yourself, then this is a real bonus. I am genuinely very excited about my 240z project as my plan is to have it just the way it left the factory, albeit with some nice modest upgrades. I did not want to go turbo, as my last car had one and I still tremble at the thought of what trouble I could have got myself into, and even with that you cold boil an egg in the time it took to spool up! The spec for the hornet was to make a period correct light and nimble car with big naturally aspirated HP.... what I see as a real drivers or 'sports car'. Massive HP but with lots of weight was not something I wanted. Have a look at the Caterham R500 to see what has inspired me. My recipe is <1000kg and 250hp, which should do the job nicely. I really think that with all the Euro cars and even early Holdens and Fords having gone through the roof in recent years, I believe (as does Nat) that Japanese classics will follow. It might sound stupid, but I think I might get back what I put into this.. just have a look at what the japanese are paying for nice ones now! Anyway, I hope i'm right. Good luck with your project. Cheers Adam

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Week 21... Wow ... what a difference a week makes. This week we have a newly made passenger door, hung and aligned. I've got to say the quality of this stuff is really very impressive and Nat's only modestly happy at this point. The next move is to block the car to 'get some shape' into it. The drivers door still needs some gap alignment and moving about, but at least we have a car with all the panels on it now. The front bumper has been attached and fits nicely. Rear still needs some work. Rear hatch is in need of some persuasion to get the alignment 100%. Suspect a big mallet might be used here! Colour is finalised and we're both very happy with the choice we've made. Of course, still need to see the car with it applied to be certain. I'm playing catch up on the labour so things might slow down a bit in the coming few weeks. Suspect I'll go and pay James a visit in the coming weeks to see how the motor and tranny are coming along. Given we're rebuilding the tranny etc, am considering maybe a slightly lower diff ratio for those extremely fast getaways !! (need to do some more work on this idea). Note the 'parts' photos is some of the rust Nat has removed. This does not include floors x2, door skins x2, and quarter panel. Not bad for a 'totally rust free' car. Adam

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Week 20... Dropped off the F&R bars for alignment to the body today, and checked out more of the panel alignment Nat's been doing. All going very well, but some flimsy areas of certain panels are causing a few headaches. Discovered that one of the sugar-scoops appears to be after market as no way will it properly align, so this will be slightly altered for a perfect fit. Work has started on the door and removing the skin we discovered a home made side intrusion bar that was over a 1/4" thick which will not appear on the completed product. Rust does not appear to be as bad as we had expected, so this door looks to be coming on nicely. James is busily working on the motor with week, working on the crank and con-rods, particularly boring out the small ends for the 1mm oversized gudjeon pins. They've also started on the head, a job that is likely to consume half the labour bill on this build. We'll be repainting the block to OEM blue, and finishing the rocker cover in period style alloy finish. Have ruled out crinkle paint and high polish. Gearbox is being disassembled and rebuilt also and will also be finished in the same fashion as the rocker cover. Not entirely sure of the process, but I think a mild bead blast and mild hand polish sums it up. We mixed the final colour today and did some testing with it ... Not too dull, not too bright and period fashion is all i'll say. Its not red or silver, and the real bonus is my Wife even likes it. More next week. Adam

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Week 19... Following last week's filling and shaping, this week Nat has been doing more of the same, with the passenger fender and bonnet in these photos showing the meticulous detail in more clarity. Rear hatch is on and being aligned with factory seal, lock and side aligners. Car is still covered in polyester being prepared for final shaping as panel alignment is completed. I dropped off my fender mirrors for Nat to drill the holes for prior to final shaping and paint. Also dropped off the bonnet louvres for correct fit and finish. Spare wheel well has arrived, but is yet to be installed. Nat had three colours mixed to show me this week ... we've narrowed down to two, and will be sharpening these up further this week. Won't give away the final colour, but what I can say is the actual codes are proving difficult to find and we will be using German Glasurit two pac paint. We've decided to use the two passenger doors we have and new skin to make a new complete door. Should have some pics of this in coming weeks as Nat makes a start on it. Need to take the front and rear bars in next week to ensure alignment, and correct fit. Re-chroming is the next step. Will also have the new DatsunSpirit seat covers installed in coming weeks ready for installation on the factory seats. Check out the nice 105 alfa... I love these too! Cheers Adam

Thanks Gav Yes forgot to mention that I received my Iskanderian Stg3 Cam, springs, lash pads and retainers this week. The quality is genuinely right up there, and the lobes are big but not offensively so. Ben Zed is ordering me the Kameari twin idler and adjustable cam sprocket in the coming weeks, so then we will have everything needed. The pistons have arrived and are being modified to fit the E88 head also this week. Capacity will be upped to 2.5 litres giving me a slight advantage, although importantly L24 will remain on the block! I think 250hp should be achievable in NA form according to James, so I pretty excited by it. My 930 was 300hp , but weighed a good 350kg more, so I think pound for pound this little 240 should be enough to put a grim on my face! I REALLY NEED A PASSENGER DOOR !!! ANYONE ?? Cheers

final shots

Week 18... The body is being bolted together (still a 'one door' coupe) and the car has been coated in shaping material. Once the panels are fit correctly (which is proving quite problematic in places), the car will then be re-cut and shaped. I really never had any idea how much work and process goes into it all. As you can see from the pics, there is some filler being used to match up the pass side sugar scoop, as was done with the drivers side yesterday. Any residual high and low areas are also being treated this way. Seam filler will be applied to all seams to stop water penetration and to give a tidy 'factory' look. Nat received the new wheel well today and this will be installed in the coming days.

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