- 589
- United States
**UPDATE** 07/20/16
4 years later and the project is still alive and well! For those curious, I will be posting engine specs as soon as I get around to it.
**UPDATE** 02/17/16
The new engine is in the car and running! I am now at the tuning/break-in stages. Triple Weber DCOE Carbs are not for the faint of heart and requires a lot of time and patience. Should be fun!
**UPDATE** 02/14/15
As I mention again later into my post, I've decided to scratch the V12 idea and stick to the I6. The motor, however, is getting a complete overhaul. Nothing will be remained untouched.
This build has been changed and altered so many damn times that I'm not even going to bother updating the details just yet. Bare with me, here! I'll post updates as the build continues, but I might not always update the front page, so go to the last page for updates.
Here are some shots of the motor that is getting rebuilt:
Got the head cleaned up a bit:
MISCELLANEOUS:
The car has also, since, gotten upgraded brakes! They are custom, if you couldn't tell
I also got a new steering wheel! I prefer the classic wooden style with the Datsun horn pad.
I also got my Z on the dyno with the motor it currently has (A stock L28.) I was not disappointed.
This is my Fairlady Z (Video Link of short drive at bottom of page)
As of now, she is almost completely stock, except for:
- Lightweight Clutch + Flywheel Kit
- MSA Twice Pipes Exhaust
I'm currently in the progress of smoothing out the roundness of the car. I have taken off both the front and rear bumpers. This leaves some rather obvious shock filler holes which I am currently working on welding up.
My Plans for the Car:
Back when these little Z cars where on the drawing board, Datsun had a different plan set out for them. It's not a coincidence that the fuel tank is positioned and weighted in perfectly to counter the driver's weight, or that the engine bay is so large than I could creep under the car and stand right next to the engine. The rear quarter panels arching to allow flares and wider tires, the Pininfarina styling (thanks to Mr. Yoshihiko Matsuo) and the surprising racing performance of previous Datsuns (Like the Datsun 210 in Australia's grueling, 10,000-mile (16,100-km) Mobilgas Rally) are all valid proofs of one single thing: The Datsun Z was as much of a Japanese sports car as the Ferrari 250 GTO was an Italian sports car.
There was no way that Datsun was going to keep up with the European giants (Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar etc.) so they found a market for small, agile, reliable, hatchback sports cars in the US market. After all, for the price, there wasn't much to compete, and guess what? Datsun sold a ton of these little Fairladies (Which makes it a bit of a slut, really)
So what is my plan? Well, what if Datsun set out to make a Japanese car to rival the European Kings? That is the goal I am aiming for; To bring to life the Z Car that never got a chance.
So what does this mean? Well, for starters, I'm making it more round and bubbly, which means more curves and wider arches (Look at the 250 GTO for a reference) This also means that I can strap on some wider tires. Next, comes the fuel cell, which I will need if I want to set up a dual-exhaust system. The original plan was a V12, but after some further research and decision making, I've decided to keep the L28 (Inline-6) that the car runs on. Instead, the whole engine is being completely rebuilt from the ground up. Almost every single part of the motor is getting changed, making it a completely different beast.
Here's a video of me driving it for a little bit. Sorry 'bout the choppy camera work, haha. Stick around to about 15 seconds if you, like me, enjoy mean sounding, poppy engine sounds.
A little drive-by and short acceleration with the Z:
Anyway, that's the overall idea of it. I'll have more info on the car later on.
Thoughts?
4 years later and the project is still alive and well! For those curious, I will be posting engine specs as soon as I get around to it.
**UPDATE** 02/17/16
The new engine is in the car and running! I am now at the tuning/break-in stages. Triple Weber DCOE Carbs are not for the faint of heart and requires a lot of time and patience. Should be fun!
**UPDATE** 02/14/15
As I mention again later into my post, I've decided to scratch the V12 idea and stick to the I6. The motor, however, is getting a complete overhaul. Nothing will be remained untouched.
This build has been changed and altered so many damn times that I'm not even going to bother updating the details just yet. Bare with me, here! I'll post updates as the build continues, but I might not always update the front page, so go to the last page for updates.
Here are some shots of the motor that is getting rebuilt:
Got the head cleaned up a bit:
MISCELLANEOUS:
The car has also, since, gotten upgraded brakes! They are custom, if you couldn't tell
I also got a new steering wheel! I prefer the classic wooden style with the Datsun horn pad.
I also got my Z on the dyno with the motor it currently has (A stock L28.) I was not disappointed.
ORIGINAL POST
This is my Fairlady Z (Video Link of short drive at bottom of page)
As of now, she is almost completely stock, except for:
- Lightweight Clutch + Flywheel Kit
- MSA Twice Pipes Exhaust
I'm currently in the progress of smoothing out the roundness of the car. I have taken off both the front and rear bumpers. This leaves some rather obvious shock filler holes which I am currently working on welding up.
My Plans for the Car:
Back when these little Z cars where on the drawing board, Datsun had a different plan set out for them. It's not a coincidence that the fuel tank is positioned and weighted in perfectly to counter the driver's weight, or that the engine bay is so large than I could creep under the car and stand right next to the engine. The rear quarter panels arching to allow flares and wider tires, the Pininfarina styling (thanks to Mr. Yoshihiko Matsuo) and the surprising racing performance of previous Datsuns (Like the Datsun 210 in Australia's grueling, 10,000-mile (16,100-km) Mobilgas Rally) are all valid proofs of one single thing: The Datsun Z was as much of a Japanese sports car as the Ferrari 250 GTO was an Italian sports car.
There was no way that Datsun was going to keep up with the European giants (Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar etc.) so they found a market for small, agile, reliable, hatchback sports cars in the US market. After all, for the price, there wasn't much to compete, and guess what? Datsun sold a ton of these little Fairladies (Which makes it a bit of a slut, really)
So what is my plan? Well, what if Datsun set out to make a Japanese car to rival the European Kings? That is the goal I am aiming for; To bring to life the Z Car that never got a chance.
So what does this mean? Well, for starters, I'm making it more round and bubbly, which means more curves and wider arches (Look at the 250 GTO for a reference) This also means that I can strap on some wider tires. Next, comes the fuel cell, which I will need if I want to set up a dual-exhaust system. The original plan was a V12, but after some further research and decision making, I've decided to keep the L28 (Inline-6) that the car runs on. Instead, the whole engine is being completely rebuilt from the ground up. Almost every single part of the motor is getting changed, making it a completely different beast.
Here's a video of me driving it for a little bit. Sorry 'bout the choppy camera work, haha. Stick around to about 15 seconds if you, like me, enjoy mean sounding, poppy engine sounds.
A little drive-by and short acceleration with the Z:
Anyway, that's the overall idea of it. I'll have more info on the car later on.
Thoughts?
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