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[SMALL DISCLAIMER - VERY PICTURE HEAVY] Hello everyone, my name is Captainofthezea I figure now is a good time to actually put my project as a write up, as its been progressing since April 2019. (posts may be a touch choppy due to being previously posted through driftworks~! Thank you all for joining me on this journey! ~ We picked up a 260Z 2+2 1976 after getting sick of newer cars, (despite still owning two) The car was pretty good from around a metre away, however when up close it was definitely not in the best condition. From the worn down interior and the lack of carpet(these cars have zero sound deadening as it is) to the rust in certain common and uncommon areas. The car looked like it was resprayed prior although it also seemed like it was sandblasted. Motor is a L series 2.8L with 240z Carbs and a 5 speed rebuild manual transmission. So after the owner got literally spammed with around 200 odd messages, I managed to snag the offer! L28 power and SU's! Interior had a previously restored dash, however unfortunately for the rest of it...other than the wheel there wasn't much! Missing carpet and gearboot etc. Since the vehicle was a factory auto prior, it has been converted to manual with a 5 speed "??" gearbox fairly certain was a 280zx. Now since I had wanted one of these for so long and it was running and driving, I was torn as to what I wanted to do, should I refresh? Should I rotisserie? Should I do it on a budget? What is my budget? Should I stray away from the legendary L series? RB? JZ? yada..yada..yada.. endless! I inspected a lot of the car to get an idea as to how bad the rust was and came to the conclusion that it was going to be a touch worse than when I originally inspected the vehicle.

Hey Guys, Decided i would make a build thread of my RB30 260z 2+2. Im a 20 year old apprentice electrician and linesman, my first car was a Mazda mx5 and it is to still to date the best handling car i have ever driven. I have always wanted a Z car but the price tag was the only thing in my way of owning one, anyways i put up an add on gumtree one afternoon and around a week later i got a message from a guy on the south coast saying he had one. A few more messages later and we were on our way down from the Blue Mountains to a small town called Moruya with a car trailer. As usual there was a bit of rust in the car and interior looking like it had animals living in it but overall it was pretty clean and straight. $2,750 and 9 hours later i had my first Z First thing i started doing when i got it home was stripping out the interior and repairing the rust to get it blue slipped. While my repairs may not of looked 10/10 i thought they were pretty good for someone with no experience in panelbeating. Areas of rust that i fixed included inside the rear hatch, bottom dog legs on both side and the top of the front right quarter panel. While the paint looks pretty good, it has some bubbles coming through. At this point i decided that because i don’t have much money (being and apprentice and saving up for a house) i would just stick with the ratty theme of the car and embrace it. Hence the plates RAT50N. At last in Feb 2016 i got it blueslipped and on the road. As my brother is an apprentice mechanic and his bosses are kind enough to let us use the workshop we have access to hoists and other useful equipment Mechanically to get it sorted for a blue slip we replaced the front wheel bearings, a new lightweight flywheel, heavy duty clutch (had issues with getting this to work) new slave cylinder and tuned the carbies. (need help! this uploader is pretty stupid and won't allow me to upload any photos)

Hello other z nuts. I have a 1977 260z 2+2 which, after some work, has now been my daily driver a while. I am not keeping it stock but am making it more comfortable, reliable, economical etc a bit at a time. I've been driving it every day for nearly two years and have scored a rebuilt RB30 out of an R31 to go into it, along with both a manual box and a Jatco auto including computers for each. It is currently running a HM reconditioned (some time prior to 1992) L26 with twin SU's and a five speed manual and a 3.545. Before I ask let me say that I've been trawling the forums for some time and have found brief references to the following but nothing definitive or from someone who has actually done it so that's why I'm asking here - hopefully one of you has been as strange as me or worse. Questions: 1. Will the yoke off a stock 260z tailshaft fit either a manual (5 speed) or auto (4 speed jatco) box out of an r31 2. Am I likely to face length issues. e.g. will i need to have the tailshaft cut and pasted? 3. If I need the yoke off the R31 tailshaft is it likely to fit the 260z shaft or is there too big a difference in uni sizes? 4. I scored a Castlemaine Rod Shop set of engine mounts and there's this weird wishbone thing which others seem to say is for the transmission. Can anyone please explain it cause it seems unnecessary at this point - or is there a massive difference in the weight or fitment between gearboxes which the stock mounts wont cope with or cannot be adapted to fit? 5. I have the chance to fit a single downdraft intake manifold off an old GQ RB30 - has anyone run an RB30 Carby in a Z and had good results or is EFI always superior? 6. Am I likely to damage my R200 or the stock tailshaft by putting an NA RB30 in front of it? 7. Am I likely to have shifter placement issues with either the Manual or Auto on the RB30? 8. Will I need to change the shape of my trans tunnel to fit the gearbox, or to add holes to the firewall to have access to bell housing bolts? 9. If you or anyone you know has done this mod and thinks there's other stuff I may have missed (I know about the sump and pickup mods needed) please chip in. Bob.