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1978 DATSUN 260Z ++OR++ FERRARI 250 GTO?


CHATZ

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Pictures to come of the rust. The only bit that current really has my head spinning is i think the sills could do with replacing so amy have to take a very sharp cutting disk to the bottom of the kit. replace the sills and bond the bottom back on? time will tell what the best option is. Good feedback on the acid dipping though. We have found the same on the Austin Healey. Got one dipped and then painted in 'Old English White' then 4 months down the line the bottom of the doors started going slightly brown!!!


 


There is a company in Nottingham (England) called 'Pro Strip though and there system is much less aggressive. You can dip Alloy in it....... But me thinks the FRP wouldnt like it!


 


Before the depressing pictures of the rust lets have a nice picture.


 


Found out my old man has a bunch of original Boranni Wires. One set of original 250 GTO currently fitted to his 3.8 E-Type series 1 (centres have been changed to Jag splines but i am currently in the process of convincing him to put the Jag back to standard and giving me the wheels for this little GTO of mine?


 


If not i have come across more Boranni wheels. Not GTO but still would look great on the car. What do you guys think???


 


IMG_4747_zpsn4pxho20.jpg


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In a way (although its a lot of work) I prefer it this way. a car that hasnt been messed with or worked on by someone who doesnt know what they were doing and then you have to go about fixing their mistakes. 


 


We have a welding platform ramp for perfect height welding, a bench jig to keep the chassis true while the welding is being done.  And i am looking forward to bringing this old classic back to life. 


 


What i would really appreciate is any advise on where to source the best parts from? Floors? Sills? box sections? any part i may need to get the job going. 

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Would you consider sourcing a better chassis then move your glass parts over? I bet the rust is why the car was parked when you found it. Great car to park in front of shop as an interest piece, not a great car to try to rustore. Maybe put a great paint job on it, tint windows super dark, put wheels and tires on it then drop it super low so nobody can look underneath it. Make trailer for it and take it to shows, but never take it off the trailer? Probably fastest way to enjoy this car. It's a shame it is in such bad shape but it might be equally shameful for you to spend a lot of time and money on it. I don't think you should crush it, but you might want to step back a bit and think hard about what you are getting yourself into.

Edited by RebekahsZ
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And just a small question for you more advanced guys on here. How come the pictures i put on only come up in a very small Icon? you have to click on the individual image to make it the intended size?

 

You're not doing anything wrong, that's just how it's set up here. Really annoying though, IMO. Hate it. You can put more than one pic in a post though.

 

As for the rust, uh, yikes! It sounds like you have experience doing rust repair, and the tools to do it, but that's going to be difficult to repair no matter what. And I bet there's plenty more still uncovered. Even considering the Z's rarity in the UK, I would still consider doing a chassis swap if I were you.

Edited by rturbo 930
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Oliver, I honestly think persevering with that 260Z will be a waste of time and energy. The further you go the more rust you are going to find. Are you sure that car hasn't been for a swim or is that typical of UK cars on salt covered roads?

 

You might pick up some home-grown advice by joining here - http://zclub.net/

 

Give this plan some consideration:

 

- Strip, prep and sell the mechanical components.

- Cut up the shell to retreive the GTO fibreglass sections - see here

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/pictures/258/1294/OM+Sportscars_Scorpion+GTZ

- As 'Craig Duncan' and 'Speedracer' suggest, buy a 240/260 that needs some work (particularly panel work) - getting harder and harder to find in the UK.

- Now start a GTO built from scratch, it's the only way you can be sure of the integrity of the shell.

 

Plan B.

Sell what you have and put it down to experience.

Edited by Boy from Oz
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  • 5 weeks later...

I would not hesitate to transfer the fiberglass body to a New Donor Car. I have seen Z's with complete new tube front ed nd and suspension. That's an option.

 

Mine was built in 1990 on a 73 240z. It came with a 283 SBC. I knew I wanted a V8, and bought a donor already done. ArizonaZ, which is like Alpha. Big hood.

 

In 92/93 my daughters were born. I drove about 300-600 miles a year.

Then Zero miles for last 5-6 years.

I parked it 1/2on driveway and 1/2 on dirt. ..slight uneven...and it but a slight twist pressure. That caused the top Bond to separate.

(I used marine epoxy). Water got in there and I now have rust.

Could peel it back, reglass it.

 

I would not hesitate to cut the body off !!!!! (no time tho :)

Reverse engineer use an installation a manual.

 

Lol, I'm going to sell my body kit, FREE Delivery, comes with a 1973 240z. No trailer needed

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yeah thats a good call. Soda blast seems to get the best results and will give me some nice bare metal to weld to. 


 


Quick question for anyone out there. Brake servo. Can you buy them? I can see Wilwood and OEM master cylinders on ebay but servos??? Its a part i would like to source.


 


And last. I have just picked up a 1993 6.0LTR Jaguar XJS V12 engine. 


it came with a steal crank OEM, 


 


All alloy engine, With a light weigh fly wheel. some IDF down draft throttle bodies and a nice tubular stainless exhaust manifold I think this engine could do well in the bay of a 260z/GTO!


 


Also we plan to rebuild the engine so a gas flowed head and blue printed bottom end. 

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I'm showing a bunch of them on ebay.uk, they are all in the USA, but many show free postage. I searched   280z "brake booster"

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=280z%20%22brake%20booster%22&ssPageName=GSTL

 

There's also a couple at rockauto.com and a few at car-part.com

 

The V12 is heavier than the L engines but it sure does look pretty.

Edited by Chris Duncan
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  • 3 weeks later...

Little update. I went to collect the 6.0 jaguar V12 engine the other day. 


 


so after a little research (correct me if i am wrong and these are estimate figures i have grabbed off the net) but the L26 engine weighs around 460 lbs and the V12 is 600 lbs. I am going down the route of a tubular manifold, a small high torque starter, a small high output alternator, IDF ITB throttle boddies from someone like Jenvey, and a super light fly wheel from TTV Racing. The engine will be built by my old mans restoration company all in house and will be blue printed for Harmonics.


 


I should be able to strip some serious weight from the engine, without the use of a great big ai-con pump and no power steering. 


 


The engine will provide between 360 and 400 bhp, and hopefully with some good development in front end weight saving, plus i am going to run with a GTO like interior (i.e NO INTERIOR) I am confident that the offset of weight over power increase should be in my favour. Cant wait to get started and have this car screaming down Silverstone Hanger Strait sometime in the future. 


 


Hopefully good times ahead, but a lot of hard work also. 


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