Documenting the journey, '69 240z & 71 240Z + others

Restores, Revamps and Repairs
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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Documenting the journey, '69 240z & 71 240Z + others

Post by SR240Z » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:52 am

After debating for quite sometime weather or not to start a build thread of my own, I have finally found the time to do it. Maybe it was the many hours of reading many other members threads that put me off.. The attention to detail and thread writing skills is very admirable to say the least..

For me, my love affair with 240z’ started years ago while watching dads friends Valiant Charger at Pukekohe when a little red Datsun (Hugh Peppers) caught my eye. Just so happened that dad was one step ahead of me and shortly after that meeting dad had acquired a 1971 240z. Originally from the states it had been converted to RHD and was essentially a streetcar with a mild l28 (bored to 3l) with a half cage.
Over the next few years dad competitively raced the car at Auckland and Taupo events, predominately in the leisure tine series and Auckland car club racing saloon classes. The car was by no means a show car and was often referred to by dad as a 40ft car but for us it served its purpose and was reliable and therefore pretty addictive. As dad was funding my karting, the budget for the z was well not really existent however over the years the car was slowly refined into a bit more of race car. With our karting background our focus was on getting the most out of the handling and driver than chasing Hp plus our budget didn’t allow for it. Dad spent hours optimising the handling of the car and through this was able to beat some pretty expensive and fast cars and consistently lap Pukekohe in 1m9s - not bad for a road car I thought. Some of the cars we were beating had suspension packages that were worth more than our car!

In around 2006 the amazing run we had out of the car ended with and engine failure, due to work commitments dad parked the car up and we started to play with a new toy which had been acquired – Lola T91-50. Sadly to this day, the car remains where it was parked awaiting some TLC.

Fast forwarding a few years, we both had acquired some more 240zs and this is where my story begins. Through a divorce (not mine) I had the opportunity to purchase a tidy 1971 240z. It had been owned for 19 years and had been looked after well with a recent engine refresh and paint job, missing the majority of the interior, while it wasn’t perfect (what 40 year old cars are?) it was a good starting point. Finally I had bought my dream car.

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We quickly started on the suspension and brakes, I was unsure as to the direction of the car so we opted to rebuild the suspension and not go down the coil over route at this stage. We spent quite some time trying different spring combinations to get the right ride height

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in the end a compromise was met..
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We also had some Hilux calipers lying around so we threw them on for a starter and a bump steer kit from the states. I quickly ditched the wheels the car came with for some smaller 15” Rewinds in charcoal as I was chasing a more period (?) look. Around the same time dad picked up a 1969 240z which went through a similar process.


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From here on we were saving for a house and the build took a backseat, I guess one thing that was good about this was that because I had no money to spend on the car I would jump at the chance to drive her and I clocked up a few kms and only did what I could afford.

One day at the pub I found this...

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and then..

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so the tank came out and was painted and a new filler neck put in

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The arrival of our first again mean that the focus on the car had once again taken a back seat but didn't mean that she was forgotten, straight ended and fitted the front bumper

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"dad its too high and you need some flares"

Mean while dads car started to come along, wheels suspension brakes, electric fans
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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Post by SR240Z » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:59 am

A shift to Perth for me and the family meant that I had to leave my z, motorsport and z building experiences with dad for a while, one upside of this is slightly going mad from not spending time with your car.

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few grand spent on parts from the states - should be enough to complete the interior although white door cards and seats will remain for a little while. Next purchase will complete the interior and will include some bumpers

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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Post by SR240Z » Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:06 am

A quick trip home to NZ only to discover a blown head gasket.. dad got onto it after I left and replaced some of the perished hoses with some of the new ones from the states. all of this has left me wondering if I should pursue an RB30/26 N/A build

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Gearbox will need attention as its jumping out of OD, rear main seal needs replacing also..Been searching a lot online and still undecided what to do, its drivable again so that's the main thing. Need to sort out electric fan - excuse the messy bay, needs a clean

During my trip home I was able to start sound deadening but didn't get to far with family catch ups etc.

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Dad is working on a new LSD diff for me (Subaru) with CV instead of the universals along with adapting an RB20 box to the L series so should be a little more robust

Few nice days so got a chance to snap some pics before heading back to Perth, may not be back from Xmas so it maybe a good 6-7months before I see her again.

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us2
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Location: Weymouth by the sea.Auckland.Don't dream it ,be there

Post by us2 » Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:00 am

Very nice looking car.
!972 240z
Retirement is great. Growing old sucks.

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nzeder
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Post by nzeder » Mon Sep 16, 2013 10:25 am

Looks great.

So that white race 240z/shell I spy is that ex Greg Gillespie car?
76 RS30 260z
70 Mini Cooper S (replica)
Previous
73 RS30 260z track
70 HS30-00016 240z
72 HS30 240z 2.8 track
71 HS30 240z 3.2 road/track
79 HS130 280zx
82 HS130 280zx T top
2x 73 KP710 160JSSS
74 KB210 120Y Coupe
71 510 1600 Deluxe

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Pedey
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Post by Pedey » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:02 pm

Really nice build, good work!

BRONZEE
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Post by BRONZEE » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:18 pm

nzeder wrote:Looks great.

So that white race 240z/shell I spy is that ex Greg Gillespie car?
It is. You missed out on the discussions at tech night on Thursday.
Next - Z Club events:
= Check out events page here or our Z Club NZ Facebook page.

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nzeder
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Post by nzeder » Mon Sep 16, 2013 12:54 pm

BRONZEE wrote:
nzeder wrote:Looks great.

So that white race 240z/shell I spy is that ex Greg Gillespie car?
It is. You missed out on the discussions at tech night on Thursday.
More important things to do like working on a going race car ;) make sure Ricky gets to the track and racing :D

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Michael
Posts: 61
Location: Miramar, Wellington, NZ

Post by Michael » Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:09 pm

What is the wheel/tyre combo on your Dads car?
I like that look A Lot.
Michael
---------
1973 240Z (running)
1957 Austin A35 (in bits)

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ZMAD
Posts: 657
Location: Tauranga

Post by ZMAD » Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:20 pm

The window tints, orange/red paint and wheels look great. Poly bushes are of course more harsh than rubber hence the more vibration.
All Nissans are racecars.

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nustad
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Post by nustad » Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:24 pm

Great to see more z stories flow - and nice to meet you guys at the tech night. If the Lola is still in the house would love some info on that too. All your cars are looking great - nice work!
72 240z plus bits

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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Post by SR240Z » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:07 am

Michael wrote:What is the wheel/tyre combo on your Dads car?
I like that look A Lot.
Hi Michael, they are 16" Konig rewinds - same as mine however they have a much straighter spoke than mine. They were on my car first up but I wanted to drop an inch and try the red & black look. I wanted Watanabe's but couldn't bring myself to cutting up gaurds at the time and watanabes are not quite the same without flares so I went for the rewinds.
Last edited by SR240Z on Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Post by SR240Z » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:13 am

nustad wrote:Great to see more z stories flow - and nice to meet you guys at the tech night. If the Lola is still in the house would love some info on that too. All your cars are looking great - nice work!
Thanks for that, positive feedback is new to me on her, most people don't know what they are looking at!

The truly gorgeous Lola;

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Lola T91-50 (F4000 with Mugen v8 originally) before Lola mounted 3.8 Buick in England for Gibson Motorsport. Mark Skaife wont the Australian Drivers Championship in it in 1993 from what we know.

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SR240Z
Posts: 190
Location: Auckland

Post by SR240Z » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:30 am

I am doing a lot of web browsing (missing the car a fair bit I think) so ill post up some links when I get a chance of interesting blogs that I come across along the way.

Starting to piece together another order from the states which should finish off the interior and exterior maybe some headers along the way. Only problems is I have to wait so long to work on her - planning on taking a few months off when we return to NZ to work on the car and maybe be a stay at home dad instead of working 80 hours a week *dreams are free*

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Baker93
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Post by Baker93 » Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:45 am

Hi

Now that's a race car ! Shame about the motor but a great piece of local history. Have you driven it. They are a blast !

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