Samfa12

I reckon our paint is almost identical.

Its been a while but I've slowly been refining and growing my zed. Here are a few updates modwise. Front disc upgrade (silvermine stage 4) Rear disc conversion MSD distributor, coil and leads Streetfire MSD ignition box Twin shrouded thermo fans New front shocks Other than that I've been loving it to bits and just taking care of the old girl. Gotta thank my cousin Charlie (has that nice rb26 260z that's on here) for the brakes. Keep it in the family aye. On another note, my father recently bought a 260z 2-seater with a chev 350. We love our v8 zeds haha. Photos when I figure out how to upload them on mobile.

I'm moving to Broken Hill and have 2 options; Store the car with my parents for the years that I'll be out there, or Sell the car with the plans of doing one again later in life. I'm not sure what to do but I wouldn't say no 25 - 30k you know. Any suggestions? Anybody know anybody who is looking for a restored z with an engineered 5 litre? Best to email me directly - samsmall1267@gmail.com

Hi Peter, Sorry about the lack of material, I honestly was just too excited about working on it and I didn't know when enough was enough to make a post! Hi, thanks for the advice! The video is post tune, and I agree it does need some sort of work done to get it running "just right" my plan was to save up for the MSD ignition system and then get Adam at ACM in Bathurst to give it a real tune. The tune he did was more of a carby clean, get the mixtures right prelim tune with the intention of giving it a more thorough tune after radiator (which has been done) and ignition. Adam specialises in Rochester 4-barrel carbs (which is what we have) in particular and I have heard from multiple sources that he is the man. Was thinking about extractors and roller rockers but I think that with the ignition and proper tune it will be plenty quick for me (it already is). Haha.. yeah.. passenger.. Thanks for the feedback guys, I hope to see some of you at some get-togethers in the future Sam.

I apologise for the lack of material lately, BUT WE FINISHED HER!! Well.. I wouldn't claim that it is FINISHED, however she is registered and I'm driving her most days. So what did we do? Paint got sprayed the whitest white you will ever see, and it is lovely. Reassembly took a few weeks, we wanted to make sure it was as good as we could get it (some large panel gaps still, but that's expected ) After it was put together there were a few hiccups with Blueslip, mainly the guy not wanting to accept my engineering certificate, but a few phone calls to the RTA by me later and a week of waiting to re-book the vehicle and that was sorted! Blueslip - check, Greenslip- check, rego - check! Now the fun starts, as with any build you find many.. annoyances. The first and foremost was in the way of an alarming read on my newly wired temp gauge. Begin ducting, acid flushing, double thermo fanning etc.. gauge is still reading high (around 250f after a short drive). So we order a PWR aluminium 4 core beast of a cooling unit, put the thermostat back in, blah blah blah, temperature is now being visually regulated by the thermostat (it's lowering when the thermo is open, raising when it's closed) all is sweet, we are happy.. turns out the gauge just reads high :/ oh well, it doesn't hurt to have overkill in the cooling department I guess, now we just never have to worry about it. The suspension is quite loose so we ordered a full bushing set and are getting that fitted today (no hoist and no time to do it ourselves) We got a full engine tune by Adam Cope and it pulls like a freaking BEAST, my gosh. AND THE SOUND!! We took the dicky piece of pipe off the back and got a twin 2.25" into 3" into sport muffler and it sounds (and flows) amazing! (Done by Bathurst Mufflers) We put a 60amp 280zx Alternator on and got rid of the 40amp stock alternator - got it all wired up by Brett at Sparks and Spanners, he's definitely the man for the job. Also we are struggling to get the tacho to read with the new Dizzy (which is next on the list of things to replace BTW, want MSD everything) any suggestions? Link to new videos!

Oops, Here's that pic of the car in undercoat! -Sam

It has been a little while since the last post, however things with the 240z have been coming along swimmingly! Dad and I spent a good 4 days on the body of the car preparing it to go to the shop for a splash of paint. We bit the bullet and decided to spend the money and get it done by professionals. I called a few places in town and decided that Rise Again Smash Repair would be the best choice for us in Bathurst (http://www.riseagainsmashrepairs.com.au/). Zac, the proprietor of the business took the time to come out to our house and have a look at the car and has since got it into undercoat (theres a pic!) and should as of now be spraying it in arctic white in the booth . Very excited! As far as the mechanical side of things goes, about all we can update on is that most of the wiring gremlins have been sorted out and we have since purchased a refurb 60 amp alternator with inbuilt regulator (I think from a 280zx), with accompanying wiring harness adjustment clip, thing. We got that delivered to us from California while the car was with Zac so we have not fitted it yet, though I'll be sure to update you all on how that goes! All that's left after paint is refit, exhaust, tune and blue slip! Then the fun begins. We have interior to do, tinting, sound system, an LSD at some point etc. Everything is coming together! Thanks for reading

..and the others

The weather has been cold and thus the going has been slow on the old Datsun. We have not been able to paint due to -5 degree weather so we have done a few other things! This includes a home made battery box and Cold air induction system. Check it out!

Great thank you, that is exactly what I wanted to know. As far as room for a centre muffler goes, I looked.. You're dead right haha no space. That's OK though, Just a rear muffler will do fine.. I don't want to get rid of ALL the noise after all.

WE ARE UP TO PAINT! To be more specific, we are up to primer.. The body work is done, and all of the small parts, one of the door sills and the rear hatch are primed and ready to go.. The only problem is that here in Bathurst it is bloody cold ALL of the time.. not perfect painting weather. In the mean time we have been designing an exhaust system that will promote that lovely V8 burble and promote power whilst losing all of the drone. We were thinking of body hugging extractors (4-1) which a twin 2.25" stainless system with twin centre mufflers and connecting at the back into one hi-flow muffler then exhaust tip. Is anybody practiced in the art of exhausts? Does this sound like a good system? I know it's hard to imagine.. Should the exhaust meet up in an H pattern closer to the beginning of the system? I've heard this promotes torque. I'm sure that the blokes at the fabrication centre will help in this. Another point! We got our wheels! They are Volk racing 17" running 215 front and 235 rear. I nice upgrade from the 224 all round that was rubbing on the front guard. Thanks for the patience, we are on the home stretch! Sam.

Hey Guys. Bit of an update. Our strut bracing has arrived from the states! It's beautiful we have also got lots of little bits and pieces for the wiring side of things (which we decided to leave until last because we don't get it). We bought some finned alloy rear drums so that we can do away with the heavy and inefficient iron ones and are focusing on the painting! I made a short video, so have a watch and let me know what you think Sam.

Hey Guys, So in the past few weeks my father and I have put the 308 back in! The engine bay is now (was) a very nice white that should match the exterior colour. The engine runs perfectly (despite a new electronic distributor to replace the old points system) without a tune, though that will definitely be on the cards in the future. The exhaust system we are unsure about, though it looks like a good one. we are pretty sure that it is running stock 308 headers, but then runs into a straight through system that has no muffler at the back. The idea is to rig up one of the hot dogs that used to be on my sv6, because at the moment just holding it up to the exhaust, we can tell that it makes it sound AWESOME. much deeper growl than with no mufflers. The electronic system is causing us problems, and we have not got the first clue what to do with it. we have a wiring diagram and are following it best we can. It's just a rats nest and we have decided to talk to some auto electricians and find out who is interested in coming out to the house and working on it with us. I have found an auto electrician in Bathurst who claims to do call-outs and will talk to him this week sometime. Other than that everything is on track. Last week we fitted the electronic thermo fan and today we bled the brake and clutch systems, serviced the front brakes and oiled the transmission. Now we are just waiting on the strut bracing to arrive and are sorting out this bloody wiring. THEN painting, interior and registration. Wish us luck! Sam.

Hi there, His name is "Carlos Casmiri" and he has a website - www.sportsclassic.com.au Sam.

So! Over the past few weeks (other than working) I have been prepping the Z for paint. The engine bay is all primed, all the little front and rear pieces are primed, the body is 80% sanded (mainly little fiddly bits left) and things are coming along nicely (pics tomorrow if I get time). For Christmas I got my father a 16" electric radiator fan so that we can do away with the large, noisy, mechanical clunker that is standard on the 308, and I just a rather cheap (though brand new) electronic ignition system for the heart so that we can delete the ancient points system and get some real tuning going on (when the time comes). All in all I am getting very ancy and excited about the project, thought more than anything (and I know this is always the case) I just want to drive it! Let me know what you guys think about the project. I am getting stressed a little bit over the whole strut bracing thing as the eBay ones from California look really good, though they wont get back to me about shipping cost, and I'm worried about Clarence between the carby/CAI set up and the strut brace. are any of you guys running under bonnet CAI setups with your v8 Zs? have you had any issues with strut bracing if so? Thanks for all of the suppost crew this part here, the supportive and ever-excited community is part of the reason that I really dig the car scene. Cheers. Sam.

Oh OK, I read that the 308 produces (stock) 430NM, which would make sense because it is a 5.0L engine.. all in all though that's the engine that we got with it and that is the engine that it is engineered for so I doubt I'll be putting any other engine in soon lol, and if I did it would likely be a worked LS2 or LS3 haha.

Haha. How about it what? Is that what you are running in you Z? I am not looking to change the engine, plus I'm pretty sure that the 308 produces more torque and similar power at less RPM.. It probably weighs a bit more than the Nissan v8 though

Those Struts look amazing! Pity they arn't available.. and shipping would be another cost. still, they look worth it. Ill keep checking back and be sure to take photos if I can somehow get them..

Oh sorry, I meant that it produces the 340NM at 2600 RPM, it produces the 195KW at 6500RPM, my bad.

Hey, sorry I should have been more explicit in my statement. I understand how diff's work, I meant that the rear only has as much grip as the tyre with the least amount of grip. My SV6 came with an open diff and I put an LSD in from an SS. I am quoting factory specs. My 08 Model SV6 is said to produce 195KW at the flywheel at 6500rpm. Ah I have met Adam a few times in regards to tuning the SS and the SV6 (deciding t0 spend the money on the 240 instead). Thank you everybody for the fantastic information. My father and I have acquired all but one or two of the parts needed to restore the body of the Monster, and now it is only a matter of time (sanding, priming and painting) and then we will put the engine back in and get her a blue slip. After this I will be interested getting a dyno to see power output and then fiddling with custom exhaust and CAI. We are thinking a twin exhaust system (maybe duel 2.25") but this all depends on the research that we do and the people that we talk too. Question. What are your opinions on strut bracing, front and back. There is room with the v8 as the intake sits behind the strut tower. Is it necessary? I would think that an old car would have less chassis strength than it did new..

Yeah I know what you mean, I am 21 and am used to power to weight of cars like the SS (270kw - 530NM ~ 1750kg) and my SV6 (195kw - 340NM ~ 1720kg) and I do not really know what to expect from this car/ engine because I have never driven an older V8 and don't know how they go. We have been looking into Pacemaker extractors, though are not overly worried about mods until the car has been painted and registered, then we will look into things like CAI, exhaust, etc. Did Bathurst Muffler, and Hi Tek both turn you away? Question. The car has an open differential. Should this be fixed by putting an LSD in? Do you guys think that an LSD is necessary? I don't like the idea of all that torque and lack of weight being run through one rear wheel..

The previous owner stated that he had trouble turning it over after short drives and found that the battery was boiling and failing due to excess heat from the engine. He had the battery moved to in front of the radiator and since then had zero issues with it, we just don't like the idea of a battery being so far out in front and will probably look into either moving it to the standard position of the back with a large Lithium or gel battery depending on budget. As for being worried about a rear end collision and sparks near the petrol tank, I'm not too worried about that because if we do it correctly then it should not be an issue. BMW's, and even the VE Commodores have their battery located in the rear to open up the front with more room and have a better weight balance between front and rear, and with the 308 up front the car is about 30kg more heavy in the nose than stock, so if we move the battery to the rear it "should" even that out. On a side note, the car has a full Peder's tuned suspension setup at all four corners that have been designed with the engine in mind.. And yes I found out that it was Carlos Casmiri and his fantastic family that helped us out massively, they are all super helpful and helped us find some awesome parts (the steering wheel being our favourite). Question! - What is a good power output and torque output for the 240Z to be making? We are not sure of exact performance of this engine and the stock power is around the 180kw - 400NM mark. This has then been played with as I mentioned prior with a mild cam, flat top race pistons, standard carby (we assume - it is only four barrel, I originally thought that it was bigger but now I'm not so sure) and standard exhaust manifold - Not real way to tell from that but does anybody have any idea on what the 308's generally make after mods?

Already done

We had thought about this, it is around 7 years out of registration, however we do have all of the old rego slips as well as the original engineers certificate so all should be good The year is 1973 (my bad i thought it was a 72), built in January and the number is 100644 I think that's the right info.. it's what's on the compliance plate.

SO! Last week my parents drove their car down to Wauchope, NSW to pick up the Monster. With nothing but a car trailer and a few pieces of rope they made the journey home to Bathurst at 80km/h averaging 16L per 100k (sometimes 22 up hills) which is a fair difference from the norm (usually averages around 9.5l/100 on the highway - 2010 manual SS). All went well and everything arrived safely with no damage to either car (other than an overworked fuel pump ). Since then my mum has made contact with a gentleman from Richmond, NSW, who is apparently known as the "Z Man" (if you are on this forum then make yourself known) and yesterday travelled there to pick up a bonnet, some badges and some front panels as replacements for the ones that had been damaged prior to us owning it. I got home yesterday from my 2 week holiday in NZ and this morning my father and I removed the radiator, the front panels and the engine so that we can start getting ready to sand, prime and paint (once the panels are all off). While this is happening we will service the engine and check all of the anchor points. In the previous photo, the Monster has a big duck-tail wing. We have removed said wing and front splitter in favour of the original panels. For clarification, when the 308 went in, the previous owner did not cut any part of the body and reused the engine mounts as well as the alternator, this allows us to leave all of the original wiring unchanged and (hopefully) problems will be avoided. A few things that have created a bit of concern are the battery placement, the original spot would be fine, but the engine creates too much heat and destroys the battery after a short drive. the previous owner had the battery way out in front of the radiator though we think that this would impair turn-in and balance and have decided that moving the battery to the cargo area would be best. Does anybody have any thoughts in this? is it common? we know how to do it and in our minds it makes sense though I figure if I ask then we will know for sure. Here are some photos P.S. I'd say we will join the BLCC ffor sure if can be careful enough not to stack it.