Mike's 240K to GTR Replica Build Part I
So next race day - off again with my new diff ratio and we had decided to lower the car a few inches as well
However did not really get much of a chance to find out how the diff went as first lap of practice I lost 2nd gear, there was a strannge whirrying sound. No worries most said sounded like a shift rod had come off.
Hmmm - no
Those bits look important
So rebuilt an early Datsun Skyline shortnose 71C box with a L6 bell housing (thanks Andy for the box).
You can see below the old 71B vs the 71C in this picture and the internals are so much bigger and stronger. Did not quite fit as the was about 20-30mm diff in the rear gearbox mount, but other than that it bolted up. The L6 bell housing needed a minor bit of machining to fit the 71C internals.
We also Tig welded front housing, helicoiled 2x damaged threads. fitted new bearing Kit H/Duty and synchros rings and fitted input shaft dog set, 3rd/4th selector fork, 3rd/4th selector keys, 3rd/4th outer shift hub, 1st/2nd selector fork.
However did not really get much of a chance to find out how the diff went as first lap of practice I lost 2nd gear, there was a strannge whirrying sound. No worries most said sounded like a shift rod had come off.
Hmmm - no
Those bits look important
So rebuilt an early Datsun Skyline shortnose 71C box with a L6 bell housing (thanks Andy for the box).
You can see below the old 71B vs the 71C in this picture and the internals are so much bigger and stronger. Did not quite fit as the was about 20-30mm diff in the rear gearbox mount, but other than that it bolted up. The L6 bell housing needed a minor bit of machining to fit the 71C internals.
We also Tig welded front housing, helicoiled 2x damaged threads. fitted new bearing Kit H/Duty and synchros rings and fitted input shaft dog set, 3rd/4th selector fork, 3rd/4th selector keys, 3rd/4th outer shift hub, 1st/2nd selector fork.
Last edited by mikec(nz) on Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
So the good news is the car has been behaving so gave it some new boots
Ordered some Wantanabe 15 x 9.5" for the back to fill out the guards. Now I wont bore you with all the dramas of getting that right (miscommunication resulted in wrong hole spacing) and it seems Wantanabe are quite difficult to deal with and I was not 100% happy with the quality of the wheels as the material seems weak as my wheel nuts seem to be wearing into it. So thanks to arrow wheels we got steel inserts, corrected stud spacing and them painted to all match.
Also fitted Hoosier cross ply race tyres for that 'old school - period correct look"
Much better stance and look now. Running 245/45 x 15 hoosiers all round on 8.5 x 15 rims front and 9.5 x 15 rims rear.
The Wantanabe centre caps did not fit the rears and kept falling out the fronts so we made our own.
Ordered some Wantanabe 15 x 9.5" for the back to fill out the guards. Now I wont bore you with all the dramas of getting that right (miscommunication resulted in wrong hole spacing) and it seems Wantanabe are quite difficult to deal with and I was not 100% happy with the quality of the wheels as the material seems weak as my wheel nuts seem to be wearing into it. So thanks to arrow wheels we got steel inserts, corrected stud spacing and them painted to all match.
Also fitted Hoosier cross ply race tyres for that 'old school - period correct look"
Much better stance and look now. Running 245/45 x 15 hoosiers all round on 8.5 x 15 rims front and 9.5 x 15 rims rear.
The Wantanabe centre caps did not fit the rears and kept falling out the fronts so we made our own.
The car has always been unhappy on cool down lap, as the heat soak from the manifolds often causes it to stall. So Dale from Coastline Automotive fabricated me a new heat shield.
So this is what Bob Sharp did with the 240Z back in the day
So I suppose that makes it a period correct part
We got an alumium one folded up and HPC coated (thanks high performance coatings Akld)
Coated the underside with heat resistant material (the headers are already wrapped in cloth)
And the finished result
Took all to the track and she ran perfectly (well almost it seems the engine may be a getting a bit tired after 30+ hours racing - so next job ......)
well actually next job is a few guages - will post that shortly when finished.
But if anyone has a mint L28 block/heads would be interested.
So this is what Bob Sharp did with the 240Z back in the day
So I suppose that makes it a period correct part
We got an alumium one folded up and HPC coated (thanks high performance coatings Akld)
Coated the underside with heat resistant material (the headers are already wrapped in cloth)
And the finished result
Took all to the track and she ran perfectly (well almost it seems the engine may be a getting a bit tired after 30+ hours racing - so next job ......)
well actually next job is a few guages - will post that shortly when finished.
But if anyone has a mint L28 block/heads would be interested.
Last edited by mikec(nz) on Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well I have always struggled with the gauges on the 240K, especially since fitting the MSD the rev counter never seems to work. We ran a tach adapter but it kept blowing. The guages on the stock dash are recessed and hard to read, so decided to get Dale of Coastline Automotive to redo them.
Tried to keep the old fashioned style and the GTR Style aluminium look for the dash.
Got the gauages from summit (yes unfortunately imperial but could not find what I wanted in metric) but still with that ol' skool look - the Traditional Chome mechanical/analogue range. Wiring was done by Tauranga Auto electric and was very tidy and professional.
I think it came out alright and except for a slight tweak needed to get it right(rev counter was set for V8 not V6) she runs sweet. Has all indicators, high beam, massive low oil pressure light and horn button. The speedo is still wildly optimistic due to the 4.44 diff ratio but dont seem to be able to find the correct sensor.
Slightly larger steering wheel got fitted so can see all the guages - but don't worry Don still kept the Datsun button
Tried to keep the old fashioned style and the GTR Style aluminium look for the dash.
Got the gauages from summit (yes unfortunately imperial but could not find what I wanted in metric) but still with that ol' skool look - the Traditional Chome mechanical/analogue range. Wiring was done by Tauranga Auto electric and was very tidy and professional.
I think it came out alright and except for a slight tweak needed to get it right(rev counter was set for V8 not V6) she runs sweet. Has all indicators, high beam, massive low oil pressure light and horn button. The speedo is still wildly optimistic due to the 4.44 diff ratio but dont seem to be able to find the correct sensor.
Slightly larger steering wheel got fitted so can see all the guages - but don't worry Don still kept the Datsun button
Last edited by mikec(nz) on Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.