jamo240

Righto lads A few parts need to go as a result of my conversion: 1. R33 Skyline Brake booster, master cylinder and pedal box assembly 2. R33 Skyline Clutch master cylinder and pedal box assembly 3. R33 Skyline standard turbocharger assm 4. Corbeau GT8 racing seat...fair condition, but would be great if you want a race seat 5. 240Z 3 core copper brass radiator...good functional condition, but a tidy up would make it spot on...core is fine as are tanks 6. R33 Skyline radiator assembly in good condition 7. UniMig 180Amp mig welder...works quite OK, fine for panels and up to 8mm construction work. Best with mild steel wire (vs Alum or stainless) 8. ZR200 sump and pickup for RB conversion into S30 chassis. Feel free to respond here, PM or call me at 0425 786 388 if you're interested! Cheers Jamo

Hey Dimitri....how about some bull horns to go on the bonnet of your Z???

Thanks Dimitri....I was pretty sure you'd have the parts to help our US mate out...given he's from Texas though...make sure you get something cowboy from him!!!!!

Hey Datsunfreak....I converted my 240 to power steering, so do have the one that came out in good condition if you get stuck. Hopefully one of the guys with a spare one will come through, as I generally keep one of everything in case i ever need it...but I could be talked out of it if you're in a fix. I would of course want a flashy pair of boots or a cowboy hat for my trouble!

Reddat sells them (Ebay). I have found the small ones fit really well, whereas the large ones he sells are a bit loose. Cheers

Chaps I think you guys are making this harder than it is. Our US friend has a Japanese RHD car, so needs a RHD part, which we have access to. So.....why don't one of you guys who has one, just send it at cost plus a bit for your efforts and help him out. That's a much better solution than trying to modify a US one to fit a JDM car.

Well it just so happens I have a spare set of R33 braces under my bench, so we just might have to fix you up. Give me a shout when you're around Melbourne and we'll sort it. Cheers Jamo

Good idea Dave...the more familiar he is, the better. The guy i used is Paul Bottomley. You can reach him at Roaring Forties...he will arrange a time to come and look at the car at your place. The way you are doing yours should be no problem...he just may need the body guy to certify the quality of the rust repairs, but otherwise you'll be fine. CHeers Jamo

No problem Shane...I just put it back on its wheels, so can't get under for a pic right now. I will have it in the air again soon though, so will take some pics for you. In a nutshell, the patrol sump will accept the standard R33 skyline braces with no mods. If you increase the volume of your sump via a custom bowl, you just have to make sure you dont foul the brackets...it's not hard...there is enough room forward of them. In my case, the 'wings' of the bowl are in the vicinity of the braces, but I mitred the wings off to clear the braces. CHeers Jamo

Hey Kato Yes...it's getting exciting...fantastic to be doing all the tidy up work and getting ready to start it. I am not in a big hurry...it'll be done when it's right! Happy to take you for first run...won't be far off now. Yours looks great too, so I'll be happy to TIG that exhaust up for you a bit further down the track, and be an early joy rider too! CHeers Jamo

Hey SCO...the accelerator return spring is tailored to suit the specific 240Z application...while you could try to get something else to work, suggest you try to source an original one either thru the community or throught someone like reddat in the USA (on ebay). CHeers Jamo

Hey Scando I used the factory brackets (beaming braces), with my custom sump, but modified to fit the brackets....it can be done even with a rear bowl sump. Mine has the larger volume added, and is around 9 litres, and still can accomodate the brackets...let me know if you want some photos. Cheers Jamo

Well boys, it's been a while since my last post. Lots of tidy up work has been done and the car is looking pretty good. Redline Shockproof oil went into the gearbox today, along with priming the power steering pump prior to cranking the whole lot over. The engineer has done his first inspection and is happy with it all, so just wants to see it now for a brake performance test and then will write up my ticket to legality. I have yet to make a stainless steel battery tray and modified hold down set, but that's a quick job, so no big deal. Finally, there's a bit of wiring to tidy up and then the mechanical stuff is finished. I will then give it a tune, and give it to a mate to retrim the seats and door trims. Should be all sorted in time for spring! Cheers Jamo

Good idea! I did my seals a while back and had the same issue..just made up a replacement stainless steel bracket and tigged it in...I can't imagine why Datsun made the original bracket in mild steel!

Hey Dat240. Check out my thread on building a sump in the engine section of the forum and you'll get an idea on how to do it. Cheers Jamo

Hey Chaps Having worked in engineering at Holden for many years, and knowing the work done at OEM's to validate and certify production parts, this is the reason VASS's encourage the use of proven OEM parts. While errors do occur in OEM parts, they are far less frequent than the creations individuals doing it themselves come up with! The risks are lower for all concerned, and the path to approval is far cheaper. You certainly can custom engineer systems, and conduct your own 3D CAD modelling and FEA and submit the results to Vicroads for acceptance, but this is expensive and beyond the realm of most modifiers. You can also ignore the obligation to engineer your car and run the risk of being charged with very serious offences in the event of an accident, as well as voiding your insurance when you need it most. That's when you will profoundly regret taking shortcuts. I worked in the VASS domain a few years back, and the modifications some people do (and think are safe) is unbelievable...that is why Vicroads put out seemingly draconian restrictions...they are a catch-all to deal with the knuckleheads. In a nutshell, Vicroads don't want you welding, drilling or machining brake components, nor deviating from the design intent of the parts you are using. That said, some latitude can be applied through your VASS engineer to Vicroads. My suggestion is you contact Paul Bottomley at Roaring Forties in Campbellfield. He is a very practical engineer where mods are concerned and can guide you to sensible outcomes for your modifications that will achieve the outcome you want, keep Vicroads happy and not cost you a bomb. Cheers Jamo

Hey Mick The fuel pump and ECU wiring is very straight forward...I can help you with that when you're ready. I'll take some pic's of mine to help show you how I did it. Cheers Jamo

Hey Mick I am almost finished wiring my RB into my 240Z, so can help you with the wiring if you need it. I also consider 10mm clearance to the firewall is a bit tight for a road car. I aim for 20mm minimum where possible...not saying it WILL touch, but that is very close. Cheers Jamo

The 280ZX SII rack and pinion power steering is a rear mount rack (sits behind the steering axis of the front wheels). The 260Z has a front mounted rack (sits in front of the steering axis). This means that if you install a 280 ZX rack into a 260Z in the front mount position, when you turn left the car will go right and vice-versa. It is impractical to install a rack in the rear position in a 240/260Z without relocating the steering arms as well. I don't know why you would do that. There are better options for power steering on S30's. Cheers Jamo

MaygZ...in case you still can't conceptualise it, think of it this way.... Imagine you had a pad that covered the entire area of the brake rotor (like aircraft brakes do), but was still only applied to the rotor with the equivalent force of a single piston...the force applied to the pad over this large area would be very low, and hence the brake would not provide any greater braking force than a conventional pad. But, the pad wear would be extremely low due to the low application force per unit area. Now, imagine you placed an array of pistons all the way around the rotor, so a great deal more clamping force was applied to the pad...this would result in a much increased braking force, and of course increased wear...you can see that the coefficient of friction does not change, but the clamping force does, and hence the brake capacity goes up. Aircraft brakes are configured this way...they have an annular array of pistons around the brake rotors, and run a series of linings and rotors (like a multilplate clutch), and this is how they get such high braking efforts without over-heating...by effectively reducing the power density of the system. Jamo

Hey Lars...front brakes are ok for road driving. If you are going on the track though, you need vented and perhaps larger brakes. I have Porsche GT3 brakes on my car, and lordy it stops. Jamo

Hey Tai Check out my thread on power steering if you want to see how to do it. Rob at Robco engineering could do your X-member and rack mod if you're using the Subaru rack. Cheers Jamo

Hey MaygZ...the other lads have done a pretty good job of explaining it, but I will add the formula.... The formula for braking force (F) is given by: coeficient of friction (u) x clamping force (N). F = uN. Braking force is the tangential force of retardation that the brakes create...this can then be translated into a torque figure for the purposes of determining whether the braking torque is sufficient to stop a tyre (lock up), and then a braking power figure (by introducing rpm) if you want to determine the power the brakes are dissipating at any given speed....we won't worry about all that for now. u is the coefficient of friction, and is a function of the surface characteristics of the material. Brake pads are commonly in the 0.3-0.5 range. Note that u has no units...it is a constant, and therefore applies regardless of area. In the context of your finger vs hand comparison, we would assume that u for skin is the same whether we are talking about your finger or your whole hand! N is the force in Newtons applied by the pads on the brake rotor surface. In the case of brake pads, the force is applied via the piston, so if the area of the pad is larger, the force being applied to it is identical via the piston, so the force it applies to the rotor is identical, just spread out over a larger area. It is the force component to the equation that takes into account the area of the pad (it's an inverse relationship...greater area = lower force). So, using our formula, if we assume u = 0.4, and we applied say 800kgf to the pad via the piston, this would be the equivalent of 800 x 9.81N = 7,845N. Now F = uN, so F = 0.4 x 7,845 = 3,138N, or 318kg force in a tangential direction. To convert this to a braking torque, we can take the radial distance the force is being applied from the centre of rotation (let's assume 150mm), then the torque in Nm is 3,138 x 0.15m = 470Nm. While there are a number of factors that interact and effect real world braking performance, hopefully this helps you understand why the pad area does not relate to braking force. It relates to power dissipation, pad heating, wear rates, tapering and stuff like that. Cheers Jamo

Wow...swap my 240 for a 2+2 with a blown head gasket???.....so I get a repair job, a couple of un-useable rear seats and a lamentable roof line.... Bozo...I appreciate your motivation, and agree with your reasoning for wanting a 2 seater, but I think you may need to re-think the merits of your offer! Perhaps you should just sell your 2+2=5 and buy a 240?? Duck! Incoming!! Jamo

Yes Dimitri...that is what it does, but blended gases are used as active gases to take part in the welding process as well as shield it...they do both jobs at the same time. Purely inert gases (argon, helium) are used as a straight shield. Cheers