My Datsun Fairlady Z (Rebuilding a Japanese Classic)

Cool build.👍

Is this a 1975 280z or will it need to be smogged here in California? I didn't see the cars year mentioned anywhere and was wondering about that.
 
playnthru
Cool build.👍

Is this a 1975 280z or will it need to be smogged here in California? I didn't see the cars year mentioned anywhere and was wondering about that.
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My car is a '77
Yes, it falls under one of California's many laws to limit petrol-heads like us, (Hence "Commiefornia" under my username.)

One thing I haven't mentioned yet, mainly because I've been focusing on the engine build lately, is that the permanent resting place of the new motor won't be in my '77 Z. I'm planning on purchasing an older 240z in the future. I will be keeping my blue 280Z cosmetically stock for the time being. The 240, however, will be rebuilt from the ground up to fit the bill of an old racer for the road, like the 250 GTO's and Shelby's of the 60's. Basically, a fantasy homologation car.

Eventually, I wanted to put a modern motor into my 280 and start a new project where, in contrast to what will be the vintage racer Z (the 240,) I'll turn the 280 into a modern sports car. Modern suspension, drive-train, re-do the interior with some updates, etc. In essence, make it a custom, modern Z car with the classic Z car foundation.

It's just a little psychological snack I've been nibbling on lately. We'll see how it all turns out.
 
To get an idea of what I mean by re-building a classic into a modern car, check out these guys at Retrobuilt: http://www.retrobuilt.com/

EDIT: Updated link

Here's an example of one of their builds.

Exterior:

mump-1104-01-o%2bretrobuilt-mustang-mach-1-conversions%2bconverted-mustang.jpg



INTERIOR:

mump_1104_09_o%2bretrobuilt_mustang_mach_1_conversions%2bstock_interior.jpg



Although, I'm not a huge fan of the blue wheels, haha
 
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I never really liked the classic style body on the new chassis. It looks disproportionate and plain wrong.
 
TheCrazySwede
Eventually, I wanted to put a modern motor into my 280 and start a new project where, in contrast to what will be the vintage racer Z (the 240,) I'll turn the 280 into a modern sports car. Modern suspension, drive-train, re-do the interior with some updates, etc. In essence, make it a custom, modern Z car with the classic Z car foundation.

It's just a little psychological snack I've been nibbling on lately. We'll see how it all turns out.
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Beautiful car! I highly recommend upgrading older cars with modern parts. Especially replacing your older interior with new modern interior. Makes the older cars so much more comfortable and enjoyable to drive. Especially if you have power seats, power lumbar. Its known as a "pro touring" build. My 69 Camaro actually has a fairly long list of modern upgrades.

I installed 4th gen Trans Am interior into my 69 Camaro many years ago (you can see pics in my sig). In fact I was named on several car forums years ago as the "pioneer" of the 4th gen interior into an older 69 Camaro. Some of my parts actually made it into Sema and on Hot Rod television. I installed the dash, console, front seats, rear seats, all seat belts, and 6 speed transmission all from a 4th gen TA. Spent many years helping others perform the same interior upgrade into their cars. Now MANY people do it and its quite common. Overall its fairly easy to upgrade older cars with new interiors. Even if you just start with the seats and console, that is very easy and well worth the upgrade.

Really looking forward to seeing how your build turns out.
 
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CAMAROBOY69
Beautiful car!
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Thanks, bud!

CAMAROBOY69
I installed 4th gen Trans Am interior into my 69 Camaro many years ago (you can see pics in my sig).

Really looking forward to seeing how your build turns out.
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Wow, absolutely love the car! That's exactly the type of restoration I'm talking about.
Looks like a super sweet ride! 👍

In the future, I wanted my two Z's to contrast each other.

The 240Z will be the vintage racer, (Fuel-Cell, this motor that is being built, stiffer ride, 6-2 coated headers leading to 4" exhaust, etc.)

The 280Z will be the modern sports car (Modern interior, modern lights, comfortable ride, modern engine - not sure which one yet - sound system, electronic looks, AC and heater, etc.)

In essence, there'll be two Z's, both Datsuns, but each bred for a different purpose. One for the city, the other for the hills.

....for now, though, I gotta concentrate on my $10,000+ powertrain...
 
TheCrazySwede
Wow, absolutely love the car! That's exactly the type of restoration I'm talking about.
Looks like a super sweet ride! 👍
...
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Thank you for the compliments. I would also recommend converting all your lights inside and outside to LED/SMD. That's a fairly easy, inexpensive, fix and makes a huge difference. Not only much brighter and cleaner looking but it wont pull as much energy from your alternator. They also last much longer. My ENTIRE car is LED/SMD. There are so many upgrades you can perform to make your car much more modern.

And wow $10,000 for the powertrain should get you an incredible foundation for that much. I don't think I even have anywhere near $10,000 into my powertrain. Actually I know I don't since mine is more of a budget build. So you will be able to do a lot with that much money. Really looking forward to this build.
 
Quick Update!

Had to sell my carbs (Triple Weber 45DCOE w/ Kameari Manifold) :(
The lady's car gave out, so I sold my babies to buy her a new ride...

Any-who, here's another pic of the block w/ the new low-end setup, including the weight of each piston w/rod

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Here's another look at the pistons and rods, themselves:

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Got the top-end sittin' on it

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Here she is as of now. Had a friend paint the valve cover. Looks good, no? :)

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Now all she needs are the carbs w/ intake, the ignition system and all remaining accessories. I'm in the process of getting ready to move to another city, so money spent on toys will have to wait :/​
 
Been a while since I updated anything, so I figured I'd post some pics.

Not much has changed, but I have acquired a new Racing Radiator! :)

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Here's some some bonus pics;

Been raining quite a lot in California...

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And it has been pretty chilly in the mornings!

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Happy New Year, everyone!​
 
Ok, here's a few updates:

The old, red valve cover had some issues with threading for the oil filler cap, so I had to replace it. I can always repaint this one.

Here's how the stock engine looked:

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This is how the new motor looks (without intake/exhaust manifold):

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Stock EFI Setup:

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The new Triple Carb'ed Setup (My hands were oily, so it made the lens dirty):

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Lubricating the Camshaft Lobes. Gotta be careful not to pour oil over the Cam Towers as that will subsequently cause oil drip from the passenger side of the engine.

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Here's the engine being primed with oil. Again, my oily hands made the lens dirty!

​
 
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Alright, so the engine is alive, but is running pretty rough. Here comes the fun part - tuning triple DCOE Weber carburetors! :D

The Webers I currently have don't have big enough jets for my engine setup, so it does run lean.

Current setup:

Main Jet: 115 (Waaay too small!)
Emulsion Tube: F11
Air Corrector: 170
Idle Jets: 55F9

Cold Starting with a super rough idle (Before tuning)



After a bit of tuning (But I still need bigger jets. Car bogs when it shifts to the main circuits)

​
 
I made this little diagram for those who are curious about how DCOE Weber Carbs get tuned. Each one of these suckers have different tune-able measurements. These are just for one carb - I have three :)

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Once I've found the right combination of parts, I have to tune the mixture of each carb and make sure they all work in perfect harmony. Should be fun!​
 
Tuning these carbs is a handful - but it's stuff made of petrol-head dreams! The tune that came with my carbs was way too lean, so I'm just playing around with different tunes right now. Just wish parts were cheaper!

A. What the Carbs came with / B. What I'm trying out

40DCOE Italian Weber Carburetors Tipo 151

A. Choke: 28 / Mains: 115 / Air: 170 / Emulsion: F11 / Idle: 45F9

B. Choke: 34 / Mains: 145 / Air: 175 / Emulsion: F11 / Idle: 55F9

I also got some racing velocity stacks and those mesh lookin' air filters. She'll look great and perform much better with those!

​
 
Nice progress. Engine looks great. Have you decided if you are still going to install modern interior into your car? We discussed that almost exactly a year ago.
 
Team THRT Drift
:embarrassed::embarrassed::embarrassed:


Looks BEAUTIFUL!!!
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Thanks bud! It's really rewarding seeing all the hard work and research coming together. It was exactly a year ago from now when I started the Triple Weber Straight Six build, so it's been a long time coming :)

I'll keep updating this thread until the build is done. This is just the engine - the rest is yet to come!
 
TheCrazySwede
Thanks bud! It's really rewarding seeing all the hard work and research coming together. It was exactly a year ago from now when I started the Triple Weber Straight Six build, so it's been a long time coming :)

I'll keep updating this thread until the build is done. This is just the engine - the rest is yet to come!
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Look forward to it!
 

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