New Zealand Datsun Club

Sorry, my Ford reference was a bit tongue in cheek because of your employer. Interesting know what you have used though as if the 240Z doesn't sell then a rewire could well be on the cards.

My apologies Mike - when I read my post back it did seem a bit blunt which it wasn't supposed to be! I actually did look into using some older model stuff at work but still found it wasn't going to integrate that well. There's just too many circuits which would remain unused in my application, and due to this they are physically quite big - so the 90's Nissan stuff was more suited. Most modern cars have an integrated interior fuse box with the body systems control module. Let me know if you need any more info if you plan to go through with a rewire.

That Arizona Z Car stuff looks great. It would certainly be something I will look at if I keep the 240 and decide to do anything else to the suspension. At the moment my thoughts are to make it softer rather than harder though, must be something to do with age!

I've read many interesting topics on HybridZ about the AZC stuff - some people have differing opinions with the design, but I haven't seen any problems even on extremely serious racecars running slicks. Techno Toy also make there own rear arms as well these days. I imagine my car will be pretty uncomfortable on the road too - thankfully I won't be using it as my daily driver!

No apologies needed Craig.

Have you had the wheel alignment done on your car yet? The reason I am asking is that I tried some offset bushes in my front arms to get some more negative camber but found that I ran out of enough thread on the steering arms to then adjust the toe correctly. Have you found that and if so how did you get around it? I've been looking at adjustable strut tops to achieve more negative but the tops I have tried also raised the front too much.

I've also got the Techno Toy front tension rods but haven't been able to run as much castor as I want as I end up with the wheels hitting the front of the guards once past about half lock. That said the car does handle really well on the track so I'm not too upset that I can adjust any more.

Awesome ride, and looks so standard and tidy, great choice.

Have you had the wheel alignment done on your car yet? The reason I am asking is that I tried some offset bushes in my front arms to get some more negative camber but found that I ran out of enough thread on the steering arms to then adjust the toe correctly. Have you found that and if so how did you get around it? I've been looking at adjustable strut tops to achieve more negative but the tops I have tried also raised the front too much.

I haven't done the wheel alignment yet, but after fitting in my steering rack I was anticipating to have the same problems with steering tie rod end length. I'm not too sure yet how much camber I will get while maintaining a safe amount of thread for the tie rod and toe. I have heard that you may be able to use 280Z ones as they are longer, but I haven't looked into that in any detail yet. I've also seen people on HybridZ make their own adjustable setups where they modify the steering knuckle as well.

Stewart Wilkins Motorsport appear to sell an adjustable setup on their website, but it's around $AU1600!

I still need to do some more research to work out the best method if I want more camber than what is achievable with what I currently have. I've seen a few people cut out the strut mounting points on the body and weld in camber plates, or there are the kmac strut tops: http://www.k-mac.com.au/. But as you mentioned these will lift the ride height - but that could be great excuse to go for adjustable platforms.


Have you done anything in regards to eliminating bumpsteer? Having not driven my car as of yet I have not experienced it, but from what I have read it's a common tendency for Z models. The best method appears to be redrill the LCA pivot point about 10mm higher on the crossmember (rather than the addition of bump steer spacers).

That's interesting to know about the castor issue.

It safe to say you know how to modify a Datsun, well done!

Im not sure i could have brought myself to start playing with the 240z, but its lush now!

dash looks mint...loving the whole look...

Nice one Craig. Looks like a sweet zed you have there and you should be a very happy with the result.

I've been pretty busy with work since my last post, so progress has been fairly slow. Here's a bit of an update of what I've been working on.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I've been looking at front facing plenum options to simplify and shorten the piping and generally just tidy up the engine bay.

Before


After



There's still a few final details to get sorted - new throttle body setup, new piping etc.

I've also been gradually working on the interior. By taking advantage of the US dollar rates I've been buying some parts in from the US.




After much searching, I was also able to source a badge for the rear tailgate.


I still have a few more things to complete before the certification process. Once that's all finished I'll be going to the turbo pictured below.

Looking good Craig, I am sure you are looking forward to having it all running. Since you last posted I have been down the K-Mac adjustable front strut tops path. Tried to get away with adding coil overs to my standard struts but not enough travel so ended up shortening the struts and changing to Koni shocks. I can still only get about 2 degrees negative with the strut tops so looks like a bottom arm mod is needed to get more.

Have also added Techno Toy Tuning adjustable rear arms and so now can set up the suspension as I like - not that my times around Manfeild have improved because of that. Might have to modify the driver next!

That's a big snail! Wow what a difference the front facing plenum makes, I like this conversion look forward to hearing how it goes.
Keep us posted.