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two 'lookers' not sold yet.

I've seen the clip 4 times with the Bose system to LOUD... its insane. Just watch that super fast right corner early on in the clip .. the tyres are skinny too!! Now i'm wondering where I might find a 3litre V12 to shoehorn into the Hornet, OR get me 3L and 300hp ... shouldn't be too hard. Adam.

I knew that header would get you in ... I always wondered if Nissan thought of these in the day when penning the Z. After all, the wheelbase is the same, and even the names on paper don't look all that much different... 240Z / 250GTO Turn up the volume, this is off the richter scale! http://www.petrolicious.com/driving-this-ferrari-gto-is-a-certain-kind-of-ecstasy Adam - The Brown Hornet -

As ever, you are a Gentleman Dimitri!

I have a set of genuine (OEM) 240Z headlight covers that I won't be using. The set includes two OEM plastic light covers, as well as the steel surrounds (I do not have screws). I bought these several years ago but now do not intend to use them. Don't have photos at the minute, but the set is complete, although if I was using them I'd look to have the rims re-chromed as there is some very minor pitting in one (from memory). They could very easily be used as is. These are genuine items, and I suspect will sell fast. Not overly sure on price, but from memory I paid ~$500 a few years back. Please PM me if interested. Photos attached.

I had heard you were like that Mike, this comment clearly proves it. Whatever blows your hair back I suppose!

Really great event Pete, and crew. Sorry for having to rush at 3/4 time as the Bride has little patience for my frivolities, at home with the three terrorists! The Hornet seems to be loosening up too, now its got 430miles on it from the rebuild. I did discover the reason for that horrid axle noise when I got home. Seems I have a dry out uni on the right side that appears to have missed out on a shot of grease when it was being re-installed. Supect I might need a new one!!! Thanks again Pete, can't wait to see that GTO getting finished. Cheers Adam

I'll fuel up the Hornet and take her for a run ... presuming the Wife allows me. Just spoke to the Great Jimmy Flett (MIA Engines) who told me he plans on making the pilgrimage too!!

Hi Mossy. Ok, on the suspension front I was speaking to Stew Wilkins the other day about a new tranny, as the one I have has the dreaded 3.3 first. ANYWAY, when I was speaking to him I asked him about adjusting heights etc, and he highly recommended a system he uses that utilises; 1) the OEM leg, 2) my existing yellow Koni's, and 3) king springs. What he does is remove the top perch, then cleans the tube and places a threaded sleeve over the actual strut cartridge (with nut for adjustment)then replaces the top strut perch with a custom one, and installs king springs that have flat tops and bases, thereby making you OEM strut into a quasi coil over. Whilst i've not agreed to doing this, I did ask him lots of questions about it as the benefits (that he described to me) are; 1) I can set my height to the optimimum level for what I am doing - ie driving hard, or taking the Bride on a long HWY cruise, 2) I can eventually corner balance my car... should the need arise, and 3) I can adjust spring rate. This to me is much better than an all out coil over kit as that departs totally from stock, and by all accounts, they are pretty hard edged for road use. It's just a thought, but certainly one I will consider before undertaking. Hope that helps Mossy. Adam

Very keen on the steering wheel please Adam

Ahhh yes, the GoPro incar footage .... think I remember hearing that request once before!! I don't have one, but a mate does so I will ask to borrow it before the next run up the hill (note hill name omitted). On another note, I've been looking for a 2.9 L26 box, which I've found and will graft into my existing jewel-like box that James did for me. Am also flirting with a 4.1/3 R180, and also need to do some reasonably meaningful suspension mods. Am just considering going for height adjustable top perches with threaded sleeves, using my Koni's (which I LOVE) and a set of King Springs. Might also stick in a set of adjustable control rod thingy's and a new set of front control arm bushes as the bushes in there now are precluding me from achieving any caster. There's also some camber tricks too, that i'me yet to learn about! Reckon's i'll be ready to have a proper run with Mossy and Gareth pretty soon.....!!! BTW ... Was speaking to Pete and George yesterday about getting together for a Sydney meet soon. If anyone's interested stick your hands up and lets talk. cheers

Wow, thanks George really appreciate those, they're by far the best I have. John (Sirpent) should be happy with my little fix ... Grabbed those stabiliser rods with a set of multi grips and removed them thereby returning the bonnet to very near OEM height. Reason for the photos is that George and I met up at PeterAllen's place to have a purve at the GTO. That will be nice in about three weeks when he has paint on! Cheers Adam.

James was telling me today that I should start to think about an all out 3.0 stroker motor!! He said he reckons it'll change my life!!! I've only had the Hornet out 6 times and now this!

To be clear, I am looking for the box with the 2.9 ratio first gear, as opposed to 3.3. Thanks folks Adam

Dare I ask folks.... I'm looking for a 71B short ratio box for my 240Z. I believe these were avail for 240z's and early 260Z's. I'm not after the 'ultra close ratio' but the 'close ratio'. Car needing help is the Brown Hornet... 2nd too short, so am looking for a close ratio box. Any condition considered. Will pay the right money for the right box. I currently have an as new 71B 260Z box. PM me if you have one? Cheers all Adam

ditto... Buy a GOOD ONE to start ... buying a bad one will change your life!!! A good one is a serious bit of kit .. Alan's one is the way to go. Adam

Took a good mate up the Old Pac Hwy VERY early yesterday. A couple of observations and comments, and I will get some footage in coming weeks as time permits. I was a little anxious as my mate only recently got rid of his GT3, so I expected him to trash the old Datto. To the contrary, he actually offered to buy the car off me on the way home!! Some thoughts from the drive; 1) Handling is excellent at a fast pace, but the front end needs more caster accoring to James, and about 3cm taken out of the front struts (having said this, I did not notice the car needed either of these things yesterday). Coming out of a 74 2.7 MFI Carrera, I was just amazed at how much BETTER the 240Z handles over that car. There is very little roll (unlike the Porsche), excellent weight distribution (unlike the Porsche) and lots of grip, and the steering whilst heavy at slower speeds was just perfect on the move (aided I think by the Compe whee's smaller diameter, hence faster steering effect). Whilst not really necessary, I expect handling to improve with better turn in (from the caster angle change) and with a 3cm lower front that will mean even less roll (not that I detected any even with the current setup). I can ABSOLUTELY recommend the Koni Yellow's and the Dunlop Star Specs .... amazing on both accounts. We firmed up the rear shock to 2/3rds on the way back, from 1/2 on the way (front set at 3/4) and it made another positive performance gain, without being hard or bumpy. 2) the MK63 brakes are as good as anything i've used and did not give me reason to question stopping power at all. I used them aggressively for a reasonable period of time, and can only say that mk63's with rear drums, in my opinion is all this car will ever need on the road. Turns out I have Ferodo race compound pads (as supplied by NZedder), and whilst they appeared hard at the start and not overly 'bitey' when I picked her up, they work perfectly and I see no reason to change anything. 3) the gap between 2nd and 3rd ratios is too wide. I thought that given the torque of the feisty 2.5L engine, 3rd gear was all I needed, but dropping back to 2nd had the revs sky high, so if I could, I'd go a very marginally taller 2nd cog to close out the differential between the two and assist with engine braking. With all the extra poke this car has, a taller 2nd I think will transform it. Its a rebuilt box from a 260Z and I will discuss this with James in the coming week. I thought 3 /4 and 5th cogs are perfect for my application, as is the 3.9:1 R180 diff. 4) the 45mm OER's and SWR headers work fantastically, and did treat up to the odd pop and loud crack on over-run, to the point that one sounded like a proper rifle shot right past our ears. I only wished they did it a bit more, but that's just selfishness 5) The car just LOVES the freeway (I mean REALLY loves it). I don't remember ever being on an open fwy before in a 240Z, but the Hornet just sits flat and gets on with its business in a very convincing manner. Its not overly loud or bumpy, and I suspect a 3 hour drive would be childs play. 110km/hr reads at 65 miles, so the 205/60/R15 tyres and wheels are not far off OEM size either. Had some moron that thought it was appropriate to sit literally on my tail in a white caprice, so I decided to see what would happen if I just buried my right foot to the floor from 70. I lifted my foot when the speedo read '95' but to be honest I REALLY just wanted to leave it there to see what she'd do, and to be honest I can very much imagine that it might have gone all the way to say 140+ such was the way the car was pulling even at 95. 6) I am totally smitten by this car ... the fact that my mate offered to buy it from me suggests he was too. There is still so many little things to do, including painting the console, installing carpet, getting front end geometry perfect, and ironing out some electrical gremlins, but thats the fun part. I do believe that the Brown Hornet is by far the best sports car i've ever owned, and that inlcludes a pretty long list of some fairly capable things. Stay posted... Adam

Haa funny that, I went for a burn Sunday morning and came inside after an hour or so and the Wife says; "you stink like petrol and oil" and I said; "yeah, nice smell isn't it". See how the suit smells tonight!

Well done Mossy, you'll be very happy with those. Drove the Hornet to work in the City early today and was dreading it a bit, with the suit on an all. Actually ended up humiliating a new Maloo Ute driver, assisted largely by the Koni's. Coming onto the Anzac bridge with a sharp and off camber left corner from Victoria Rd, the Hornet stuck like poo to a blanket, and that's without the front end set up correctly. Not harsh or bumpy either. Adam

Does anyone have a decent 240Z fuel / AMP gauge lying about looking for a great home?? Fried mine at the weekend so now I have no fuel meter whatsover. Its going into the Brown Hornet, so its going to a good home!! cheers Adam

Gareth, just my bit for what its worth. I dod a heck of a lot of research into matching length extractors, and firing order and so on, as used on many early lotus's and of course the magnificent GT40's, ie real spaghetti stuff. I ended up with SWR's extractors in ceramic coating, and followed Peter Mac's advise to go for magnaflow rear 2.5" muffler and mid resonator. The sound of my car is perfect in my view, ie a low down mumble on idle and then a seriously raucous shriek on wide open throttle. It really does sound good, and I can suggest that for the price (bought on Summit racing) the whole thing is worth considering. I had James make a 2.5" stainless pipe, with madrel bends, and it works a treat. Adam

Mossy, James was flat out when I took my car in, and I was anxious to get it registered ... close to five years is a bog part of anyone's life !!! Anyway, they ran out of time. I plan on shaking the car down a bit more and then will take her back for an oil change (has this funny royal purple something in it now) and then they will properly section the front to the same height as the rear, will change the front lower control arm bushes and set up the caster. James said it'll handle like a go-cart when done, and to be honest I just can't wait. Suspect once this is done I'll see who's up for a VERY LONG run in NSW. Your car is looking completely awesome Mossy, I like it just about as much as I like Gareth's, and Lurch's, and mine, and Billys, and Andrew's (in no order of course!) Cheers

+ 1 KONI YELLOW + King Springs Actually, Billy and my car are exactly the same in the setup except I have 1" sectioned rear end, and 1 coil cut from the top of the springs up front. We both have 205/60R15 Dunlop Direzza Starspecs, and both run zero offset 15X7" wheels, me Panasport Ultralights, and Billy has the Konig's. To be honest, aside from the fact that my car needs another 30mm out of the front and a change of front end bushes to allow for more caster, I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with the set-up of my car. I have nolathane front sway bar bushes and everything else is OEM. Having owned a 930 and 2.7 Carrera, and now the Brown hornet, I would not change a thing. Before that I had 205's and Clios, and seriously this 240Z is holding its own with the whole lot of them. I thought about a rear and front strut mount, but that is not a big requirement I feel. I have set my rear Koni's to half hard, and the fronts to 2/3rds hard (just a punt here) and my front tryes are at 34 psi cold, with rears at 33 cold. On another note, its James view that the best way to ruin a 240Z handling is by sticking a rear sway bar on it, so mine does not have one. I'm not sure what more one would want from a fast road setup in a 240z. Of course, the track is a very very different environment and I can't speak for that at all.

ALPINE GTA DRRROOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember seeing these side scoops for sale at one point in my build and seriously liked the look of them. I saw a 240Z with a silver bottom rail (like in the Miura above) with the rear scoops, which when complimented with the Miura style rear window luovre really tricked the mind into thinking about exactly what the car was. Have not seen the scoops for ages, but I do remember there was someone making them at one stage. Might be worth posting on one of the US Z sights?