Sirpent

You didnt mention the capacity LOL If you had said an V6 then it may have been a blown 3.8L And which geographic chapter would you represent LOL ? Are you going to make us play tag again LMAO

NICE ! This is what I was planning also but to incorporate the strut towers as well with a 15 degree slant on the front face so the seats reclined wouldnt hit the upper edge. I want to store a dry cell battery ECU and all the fuse relay systems in it and then enclose some speakers also. Well done looks good and practicle.

Well if anyone knows you do David Well, all going well, I hope to hear that its all ready for pick up by the shipping agents in the next 2 weeks. From there its in the hands of the Gods I guess.................. And I think you are right, epic as far as fabrication design and modification work and thats why I appreciate the work you have done so much. I just want to see it hanging from a block and tackle in the bay for the first time, thats the first target at the moment LOL

Way to go Adam, Looks great ! Im glad to know its found a good home in the end, otherwise it probably would have sat another 20 years in my storage boxes. I am picking up the hazard toggle switch tomorrow and you should have it by Monday as I got an express bag for it this morning. Cheers John

Dimitri you are spot on. I have been speaking to Pete Lurch and david off line over the past 2 weeks and have decided I will construct and add a bolt on sub-frame along the entire car from engine bay to rear diff and use pick up locations on that sub frame for additional mounting of the engine and trans due to the fact that this is an extremely short set up compared to an L6 and the engine cradle in a C32 actually uses multiple rather than dual engine mounts. Would like to see a very rigid chassis set up behind that torque which was a concern from the start when I started to contenplate the transplant. Cheers John

Thanks Buddy, Yup, twin screw IHI supercharger that sits top centre above the heads with teflon coated blades running dual intercoolers and water cooled heat exchanger. Weight distribution will be a big advantage and overall its a very compact package. heres another view without the engine intake shroud. Cheers John

It's taken a long time to reply and thats due to a lot of personal circumstances and also a very hard long think about the dirsection of the Zed. But this morning all has finally fallen into place and Im ready for the big announcement although it may still be a bit premature, however i think everyone will appreciate my excitement when they read what Im about to undertake. I have watched some great builds come together, Kato's M3, Kyle's XR6 turbo, Pete's race car, V8 conversions so many to contenplate, and finally I think I have come up with one just as unique and most probably the first ever of its kind. I have been negotiating with a number of suppliers OS now for a few months and finally did the final deal with one this morning over the phone. Hopefully in a matter of the next few months, withstanding hurricanes cyclones and tsunami's I will have sitting in my garage an AMG 3.2L Intercooled supercharged V6 with 5 speed triptonic Speedshift AMG box, associated wiring looms ECU's and crossmembers. Some facts about the motor and trans are as follows. Displacement cc : 3199 Bore x stroke mm : 89.9 x 84.0 Compression ratio : 9.0 : 1 Power output at rpm : 349 HP / 260 kW at 6100 rpm Max. torque at rpm : 332 lbs-ft / 450 Nm at 4400 rpm 0–100 km/h s : 4.6 seconds based on a 1650 kg C32 sedan 1/4 mile time : 13.0 based on a 1650 kg C32 sedan Maximum speed (ECU limited) 186 Mph / 300 Kph Transmission : 5-speed automatic with AMG SpeedShift function 1st - 3.59:1 2nd - 2.19:1 3rd - 1.41:1 4th - 1.00:1 5th - 0.83:1 Looking forward to the months ahead, and glad hopefully of becoming a member of the Forums Bavarian chapter along side David. Cheers John

Simon yes, yes, yes and no longer after this morning Thanks Pete, but I dont compare to the great one !

Simon Think we need to track down Benny and get you some medication, TO CHEAP !

OK, Have sorted out my new direction as far as drive train so these are now for sale, carbs, manifold and extractors, as complete kit $1300.00 PM or email me Cheers John

Hey Stephen, Welcome, however there has been a lot of angst on here of late regarding ppl joining just to flog things. Try an intro first. John

Pete, Im trying to arrange just that as you write, just waiting for him to get back to me. Cheers John

Phantom, Your historical points are all correct, the Button plan however went much further than just the superficial cost of motor vehicles, what Button uncovered was correct, the main point being that Australian infrastructure within the manufacturing sectors, not only the automotive sector had steadily declined from a high point in the 60's to a basket case in 1984. The catch phrase of 1984 became rationalisation, it reverberated right down from the boardrooms of corporate Australia to the shop floor, the inevitable was that by 1989 Australia was heading for Keatings Banana republic recession, the one we had to have as he coined. Whats does this have to do with the price of a motor vehicle, well we should also take into account that the average wage back in 1988, GDP and overall cost of goods be they locally produced or imported which where all over the shop relative to each other. Lets do a small comparison here going back even before Button and which illustrates why it got to a banana state in 1989. In 1982, the average weekly wage was $317.16 and a XE Ford falcon GL sedan in hermitage with power steering and aircon options in an auto cost $23,000. In 2010, the average weekly wage was approximately $1243.10, A new FG XT Falcon with all the XE features PLUS PLUS PLUS $40,290. Now some imported vehicles were reasonably priced looking in retrospect, however you have to look at it with respect to the average wage of 1982. The 2010 average weekly wage is 380% higher than 1982 levels, however average Joe Blogs Falcon is less than 50% higher, and what are you actually getting as far as bang for buck in comparison. I'm am not of the left wing political persuasion, however Button was right and both sides of politics knew it, if Australia hadn't been dragged by the neck kicking and screaming and threatening to revolt as you illustrated, the motor industry would have perished in this country last decade if not sooner, look what happened in NZ, All the majors pulled the plug, .Australians were becoming savvy in what they expected for their hard earned dollar, and today's FG falcon wouldn't have been half the car if at all had it not been for the thumb screws put upon it. But it wasn't just the auto industry, it was the case across the board, how do I know this, well first I lived through it, and secondly I completed a degree in Industrial Design at Prahran Institute one of only 2 institutions in Vic with only 80 entry level places per year, I worked towards getting into auto design, finished my course and started looking for work, there wasn't any, I even spoke to then Ford Australia President Bill Dix and he told me to ring him the following Monday, all I wanted to do was work in the clay modelling department, for NOTHING, well luck wasn't on my side, he was replaced as President on the Friday, and my dream died. At that stage all Aussie design work was either done by a few very lucky Aussie's who went OS to work on new models or design teams were flown in to work on new scope's, trying to crack into Ford or Holden was impossible. Whats changed, Australian designers and engineers working for the big 2 are now extremely respected, just look at Holdens work for parent GM, and don't discount Ford, the only reason Falcon isn't in the U.S. is because it was just to good, Ford U.S. had nothing like it and the Ford Crown Victoria which supplied U.S. police forces was at risk, and that meant heavy job loses, so Falcon after proving itself in Turbo version tests over there and blowing away Police buyers and Ford management was as still born proposition, what they didn't think about was Holden and it's Statesman, RWD Holden with a Chev, now Ford is in panic mode in the U.S. ! I digress, so, We still have a motor industry here, and a damn good one, never ever underestimate a Commodore or Falcon, if you remember Holdens advertising campaign, "VE Holdens Billion Dollar Baby" you'd think that's how much VE cost to develop, NOP, try $600 Mil, and FG around $500 Mil, so where did the Holden Execs blow the other $400 Mil you ask, well it went to tooling for Holdens export cars to the U.S. and U.A.E. and it wasn't Holdens money, it was GM"s U.S.A. that's why all the cars were badged as Chevy Lumina's, now imagine if FORD U.S.A. had kicked bucks in for tooling of the FG also, Hmmmmmmmmmm think falcon would have also become a world car, and maybe that's what Jack Nassar was hoping back in 1999 with AU before he totally F*cked it up in the final design sign off and then went global with Ford U.S.A.'s $13 Billion surplus buying up Jag Volvo and the rest. The moral of this story, world manufacturing has become leaner and cheaper, Toyota's concept to roll out time is down to less than 18 months, Ford and Holden still work on a 5 year scale, but what you get for the money is still well worth it, if Buttons plan hadn't been adopted, we wouldn't have a Ford nor Holden here period, well maybe but they would be pushing FWD V8's in our faces imported from OS, and if you want to compare apples with apples, well drive a Vette and then a HSV or a Ford GT and a Mustang GT. And finally, the cost of imported cars is also dictated to productions costs, we are after all a RHD country along with Britian, Japan, NZ, South Africa, Hong Kong from memory and ? Um ! and all you need to look at is what happened in the UK over the past few years where RHD vehicles sat around for months in yards devaluing unsold because the market was dead and then ask yourself, did Benz BMW Audi etc really think that the return on investment was worth it, OH hang on Australia, now that's where we can sell them ! Sorry that wasn't meant to be sarcastic. Anyhow, I will just slowly turn around and leave and you canall take aim with the knives. John

Thanks Rev, I know its a hard and somewhat greay area, but i think we honestly do need a tech corner, and I would probably say that the best way to run it would be that until each tech topic was closed, another one couldnt be posted, that way there would be continuity to the thread. But this seems to get more complex as we discuss it, so Im bowing out from this point and we can open the floor for comments from the forum. Cheers John

I see your point and agree with you Simon, Peter Mac, David, Dimitri, and yes even Lurch all have some fantastic input and invaluable info, so maybe a tech page dedicated to some of the more qualified crew, and if I missed anyone I apologise. I guess what I was originally getting at was that Gordon apart from his technical nous also has a historical perspective and with the right questions I bet it would make for some great reading and also save it in a way for posterity, not that we are expecting Gordon to disappear any time soon don't get me wrong. Food for thought anyhow. Cheers John

Hi all, Recieved another PM from Gordon Dobie this evening, he was online for a short time, he wrote as follows.......... Hi Sirpent Yes it is me, not "some wize arse playing a joke". I have noticed a large number of questions re: Z engine mods and on the forum page. The answers to a lot of these questions can be found on the Tech page of my website at <www.datperform.com>. Although I am retired I am still able to provide Z owners with any information that may be helpful. Gordon Dobie In light of what Gordon posted and assuming there must be a number of members that may be asking questions of him via PM, I think it may be a good idea if we set up a page for Gordon where only questions can be posted, not general chatter where Gordon may have a chance to read them and respond, this way the questions posed which may be of interest to many members and the responses which Im sure would be equally as interesting can be shared by all. Do I see a show of hands or +1's to this and do the mods feel it would be appropriate? Cheers John

Sorry buddy should have read a bit harder. Stupid suggestion, why not just run a cord along the paremeter and then match the length to an off the shelf replacement?

The airconditioning belt utilises an idler pulley / tensioner, there is no adjustment done by manipulating the compressor as is the case with the alt. Any L6 or even L series period Datsun has these items, I would suggest checking some wrecking yards for 240/260/280 series motors that ran aircon.

Damn this is a hot topic. Interesting about the point raised regarding previous body repairs, and subsequent comments about the extent that a Zed should be maintained at. I know this is going to rattle a few cages, but, a friend of mine once said to me, you can afford to buy a Benz but can you afford to maintain it?, if you cant your better off with a more realistic car. He was a Benz dealer, and the irony he is that he was killed just over a year ago in a stupid roadside incident involving a wheel coming off a passing trucks dog trailer that struck him as he stood next to his car in the emergency lane calling a tow truck for a clients car that had broken down on the Westgate freeway, a 10,000,000 to 1 chance, yet it happened and guess what, the truck was unroadworthy. Rev, Scoota, Peter are all correct, if you drive one of these classics drive it not only for the love of the experience but for the love of the car, driving a safety hazard is just plain idiotic, committing to repairs that are substandard and may cause an inspector to query a vehicles structural validity speaks for itself if what has been stated here is correct. Right now I could cut corners and get my Z back on the road in a matter of weeks, but I know it will be 18 months at the earliest that that will happen and its not due to not having time but more so the money I have to invest in it to get it right. There are some damn great builds and results on this forum, inspirational as a matter of fact, but there are also a few seemingly dodgy cars, don't even bother pasting that last line as a quote in a reply, I wont bite, we do what we can on our cars but sometimes we can do that Little extra and we don't and that's where we come undone. I have some mates who think that Z owners and their cars cant be considered as being part of the classic car community as we present our vehicles like roughnecks, at this stage I would have to agree. OK let me just turn around and you can all start throwing them knives and hitting the "-" karma button.

Do a search on the net, GOOGLE, but I did read some time ago, I believe on Ebay that a Honda civic motor was a direct replacement. EDIT: found it http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DYY7USmD0lwJ:www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D20863+240Z+heater+motor+civic&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au&source=www.google.com.au

Quickly made up this dimensional drawing in case someone needed to fabricate some up. Cheers John 20619_adf9016048fa0ffc97f0dee65bb0a8ccbebc8d58.pdf

Guys, they are all interchangeable, there is no difference in the mounting points at all, Id suggest just getting them made up by a machine shop, I can supply a diagram with measurements. Cheers John

Just earth it to a sound posi near the battery with a quality strap, dont think you have to run an earth all the way back to the block Stivva

Stivva Just looked at the wiring diagram I have and I cant see any pitstops as you put it. Just make sure that you run a solid earh strap to the body from the new battery location. If you are running fuel injection seperate lines will have to be run via fusable links directly to the ECU. If this info is incorrect can someone please butt in and correct me. Cheers John

David you know what im going to say ! But again, beautiful.............