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Hello fellow enthusiasts! A family man from Norway here. I got into full-size cars late in life and have been part of the vintage Porsche scene here in Oslo, Norway for around a decade. A project I recently completed is a 5-year nuts-and-bolts bare metal restomod of a 1985 Porsche 944. But now I got myself a 1973 Datsun 240Z. For a long time, I've been Japan curious. Dreaming of visiting the country. Enjoying Japanese cuisine, Studio Ghibli films, various Asian art, the Initial D anime, and following Larry Chen and other Asian car culture YouTube channels. But being in my fifties I am not identifying with huge turbos, vivid car liveries or oversized exhausts. Eventually landing on an older icon. The 240Z. I am a self-taught car restorer and mechanic. And everything I know I've learned from online web forums and old static web pages. I am establishing this thread on Hybridz as I feel a desire to give back and contribute to the continued hub of knowledge and insight in car culture in general, and to the Z-car community in particular. I want to share a full journey, that is readable as a full story. I find that the continuity is harder to do properly on Instagram, FB or similar. But I am planning on sharing updates both here and on Instagram. The car I am now the owner of was first registered in Switzerland in June 1974 and has all the features of what is described as a "Final European Spec". I do not have any written documentation on the Swiss registration. But I -do- have what looks like an original dealer sticker in the rear windshield. And the letters "SWI" written with a crayon on the glovebox mount bracket. The car has lived in the Netherlands since 2001. And now it has moved to Norway. I have little written documentation on the cars life, but the dealer told me it has been sitting for several years, before it now was put on the market. Tires were like hockey-pucks, hoses are dry, bushings are worn, shocks are shot, seatbelts are missing, and there are some rust issues. The car is now red, and the original color is orange 918. But the car is what I describe as "complete". Most the original components are there, apart from the front lip. And it has not been "wrenched to death". I am really looking forward to a long journey with this car. Here are a few images of the car when it was delivered to me. And from today's visit to have the car approved and registered into the Norwegian vehicle registry systems.

looks like a great starting platform for whatever direction you decide to go with it.

Welcome! Always great to have a new member and another project. What kind of modifications are you planning?

Did I see you putting anti-seize on your spark plugs? YOU HEATHEN lol Looks great so far. I am impressed how low the atlas ended up sitting. Though too bad the hood still needed modification ( I am guessing it is the length versus the point where the hood slopes down faster? That's what I kept running into when I was sizing swap options. A few people doing other swaps pulled their engines into the cabin, but... I kind of want to minimize cutting. That chrome paint did a really good job.

Long week number like 200 but happy with the my progress. Made a tweak to a color based off a cadillac cts5 v blackwing. Its a bit more "copper" tone of orange than I was picturing with the modifications but I am very happy with it. As soon as I started pulling the masked off areas and was seeing the contrast with the grey I loved it. Did get some fisheye on one door so I'll have to fix and respray that at some point and a couple sags/runs in the clear to sand out, but I can make some serious progress on the build now. did get the engine stripped down as well. Bearings, rings, valve springs and a gasket kit have been ordered to freshen it up. but otherwise everything measured out good and seems like a good starting point.

Hi everybody, long time for updates. Been quite busy with kids and a very nasty divorce going on. The good news is my garage and cars are still intact and I am still making progress, although very slowly. Car is very close to track testing. I decided to have a new pair of steering arms machined to match the front geometry. I will post more when they are finished. In the interim, I took the time to catch up on some side projects I wanted to do. With the advancement of AI, some of the projects I considered impossible a couple years ago have turned out to be quite easy now and very inexpensive. Based on Arduino technology, I have integrated a motion sensor into my data acquisition system. I use a Race Technology DL1 Club box which is limited to 8 analog sensor inputs, but can decode an almost unlimited amount of CAN signals. So I built a circuit that decodes the motion sensor and outputs a CAN signal. I now have 3-axis roll, pitch, and yaw angles along with speeds and acceleration live data. It will all be packaged in a small box that mounts in the car. Next is a infrared tire temperature monitor. A 16x4 temperature array sensor once again combined with Arduino and CAN output board. I am trying to package this as small as possible so it can be mounted on brackets roughly 4" above the tire. Again real time data of inner, middle, and outer tire temps while driving. Hopefully saves a lot of time when dialing in the camber and pressures. More to come...........

03-25-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: I got some of the fittings in I need for my crankcase pressure to catch can to intake setup. Also tall of my carbon fiber panels have been cut, final polishing on roof section then ready to ship to me and bond them on! Then make the borders shiny!

Congratulations on your new purchase, and welcome to the forum! The car looks like a really clean original example -- interested to see how it unfolds as the project progresses. Thanks so much for sharing; and I hope you enjoy your Z-car as much as we do ours!! 😜

Thx! I don't really know at this point. I do enjoy restomod builds. But I am not sure where this 240z is going. Firstly I think I am going to get the car roadworthy and drive it a bit. And see where that takes me. I just received a large box of parts, mostly related to cooling, fuel, vacuum and brakes. All rubber hoses are dry and brittle. And there are small drips on the floor, under all areas where there are fluids in the car And I need seatbelts. The tires are replaced already. The import and approval process is going smoothly. From the road authorities I have now received a confirmation that the car is formally imported and entered into the Norwegian registry systems. For now linked to the VIN only. Next step is to get insurance and register the car to me, and getting the Norwegian registration number. The process is much simpler when transfering cars within the EEA (European Economic Area) system, than from US or Asia. As the EEA states are aligned and following the same processes and regulations. Hopefully I can have the first little test drives on the road within days.

Ill take a set of the doors if your selling. I have me a custom cf wide body but its very subtle. everything will be painted too.

I heard back from APEX and they are making and sending me a new set of arms that is correct. Not sure what happened but mistakes happen. Not ideal for timeline since I need to roll the car out of the shop next week so I'll have MacGyver the stock arms back on with mismatched hardware to make it a roller for now.

Got all the suspension bits unboxed and layed out. Have a combination of APEX and techno toys. Choose parts based on what I liked the designs features of and the car came with most of the techno rear bits. I am currently working with APEX to find out why the mounting points on the rear control arms are 1/2" shorter than the stock ones so they aren't a bolt in deal with the techno drop brackets. I actually don't think they would work with a stock setup either so assuming there is a defect so well see what they say. I can modify them if needed but for $500 id rather not have to so well see. Machined a ridiculous set of caliper brackets. I was talking with a local motorcycle racer and he said hed had some large pieces of titanium hed donate if i wanted to make my brackets from Ti. So a little redesign and a good amount of machine time later we have these ridiculous caliper brackets for the wilwoods.

What intake gaskets do you intend to use? I like the FelPro 1262S3 or 1250S3 depending on the intake part size. The S3 version of the gaskets are much more durable than the standard Felpro gaskets. I also apply a really thin smear of Right Stuff RTV around the water jackets when I install the gaskets and lower intake.

finished stripping and cleaning the underside and inner wheel wells and sprayed with some raptor liner. The raptor liner is popular around the youtube builds and I can see why. sprayed nice, covered nice, cured up nice and looks great. Taping up the fresh paint was a pain but came out great.

Thanks. Interior is gonna be, black carpet in the front half. (unsure on door panels based off what will fit) Rear half will be a combination of the semi gloss charcoal grey that the cage is and some black with the raw aluminum bead rolled panels around the cell. May carpet the wheel tubs for a more "finished" look. The color goes real well with gray/black.

Always an inspiration Mark! A lot of what you do is well out of my abilities, but seeing your project still being refined after so many years keeps me motivated on mine.

That has got to be the best balance of Form and Function of a Datsun that i have EVER Seen!! Absolutely amazing!!

if anyone's still tracking this build I have what might be a last update since the car is mostly done (lol is it ever done?). I finally cad-designed the front fenders and then had a local shop 3D print the parts, then took that to a bodyshop to integrate into the existing fender part and paint it. After that I overlayed the inside walls of it with carbon fiber for added stiffness and protection. I also cut the lower part of the rear fenders and put in a horizontal cf winglet to better extract air. Overall I think it looks great and the resulting new parts helps downforce a ton by extracting air from the wheel wells.

Just from those photos, I'd say you've got an R180. The 200 has a much more "bulbous" carrier case and rear cover. This video does an quick and dirty job illustrating the differences and distinctions: https://www.google.com/search?q=identifying+r200+vs+r180+with+pictures&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=b960a84cc5c43ab2&ei=haU1afOCFb_m5NoPmuGuoAY&ved=0ahUKEwiz2Zen7auRAxU_M1kFHZqwC2QQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=identifying+r200+vs+r180+with+pictures&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiJmlkZW50aWZ5aW5nIHIyMDAgdnMgcjE4MCB3aXRoIHBpY3R1cmVzMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKsCSOYbUNoGWOUZcAF4AJABAJgBdKAB5wqqAQQxMS40uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIPoAKQC8ICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAgUQIRifBZgDAIgGAZAGApIHAzcuOKAH0zGyBwM2Lji4B4ELwgcIMC4yLjEyLjHIBz2ACAA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1284de3c,vid:s3egG-klPBg,st:1151 For a more detailed and in-depth discussion of the technical differences between differentials, see this Pinned post here: Just as an FYI -- you have posted in the "FAQs" section, which is typically reserved for posts of an informational/educational nature. Kind of like a repository, or library, of technical information. I would suggest moving this thread to the "Drivetrain" section down below: https://forums.hybridz.org/forum/11-drivetrain/. These sub-forums are intended for open and freeflowing discussions. You can move the thread yourself; or I can do it for you, if you prefer. Your choice. LMK if you need any help. Hope this answers your question. Cheers.

3 years later... took ages to find a good painter willing to take on the project. These days insurance jobs with small panel fixes seem to be more profitable. Luckily I found someone willing to do it in the summer months of this year while the insurance workload is reduced. Prepping... Overall quite happy with the result. Couldn't contain myself and started puzzling together the undercarriage the first chance I got. Pulled lines in the trans tunnel and assembled the suspension component. On the wheel first the first time since 2017!

YES SIR CARBON DOORS IN THE WORKS

It has been a while... no real excuses more than waiting for the body to be completed. The car was recently taken off the table and put into the lift to fix the remaining structural items. This is mainly the rear of the floor and the floor supports with extensions back to the rear axle. Rockers + inner / outer wheel wells replaced + rear beaver panel (think that is what it is called). Same exercise on the right hand side. Rust had found its way into the quarters at the hatch close area (both sides). This was cut out and replaced. Floors have also been replaced extending up a bit on the foot well firewall - there were small rust damages, almost like Morse code, along the transition edge. I decided to replace the frame rails (completely shot) and the radiator support. Floor supports remain to be installed together with the frame rail reinforcements. The car had a or some front ding(s) at some point in its life - evident by the massaged areas on both right and left side shown earlier in the thread (sand blasting section). The right side was worse though, but decided to get the package to replace it all at once. In terms of body repairs and improvements the list is slowly coming to an end and the expectation is that the car is back in my garage early this summer. In the meantime I worked a bit on the engine and gearbox situation. I have two five speed gearboxes that came with the car. One has been in storage for a very long time and has damage at the end seal area towards the drive shaft. The one that was installed in the car cannot keep 5th gear and pops out under load (allegedly). Through some research I'm inclined to believe the bolt that holds the 5th gear in place has come loose (if someone has another idea let me know). Anyway, my plan is to install a 240SX gearbox in the car to get a bit more up to date equipment in this respect. I managed to source a used rather low mileage FS5W71C gearbox from a salvage yard - from my car I have 2 old FS5C/W71B gearboxes from which I can use the bell housing. I intend to follow the instruction posted by Steve Heimsoth on zhome.com. I also need to source a new early 240z driveshaft - anyone have a spare one laying around or know someone that does? Should be the early FS5C/W71A style driveshaft which is about 5cm shorter than the later FS5C/W71B gearboxes. FS5W71C as it arrived. After a bit of soda blasting. The 71B bell housing which will be machined to fit the 71C gearbox. That's it for now - it has been a dormant period now for quite some years. I'm hoping that I can pick up the pace as the car returns home.

So... Another session of holiday and car tinkering is almost over.. Oh well, I tried to be productive. I've been trying to sort out someone willing to do the body metal repair work, but the availability in South of Sweden seems to be very scarce! Best offer I got so far is to start working on the car earliest this Autumn. Worst case I'll have to extend the search a bit farther, but I'd like to keep it close buy and with people known in the area. Luckily I can spend the time sorting out other stuff not directly related to the body. To be productive I decided to work a bit on the seating solution. In the end I have chosen to keep the Cobra seats (Paddy Hopkirk) that came with the car rather than buying new seats. Probably I would come off a bit cheaper buying new ones, but I really like the idea of having them specially made buy the local guy in Town. He has pretty free reins but will take inspiration from the original seats. Quite excited to see what he comes up with! In addition I worked on collecting and prepping all items that I want going to blasting and powder coat. I've broken down all of it to its basic Components and sealed off any sensitive areas like e.g. the bearing housings in the struts. Hopefully it can go out to the shop within a few weeks. This is the latest Picture I have, but since this was taken everything has been further stripped down. Found the front differential mount is cracked in the one of the plates.. Not sure if it was hit somehow because it looks like it has got a dent close to the source of the crack. Is this weld repair worthy, or a must scrap and replace? I was pondering whether to send the complete differential for blasting and powder coat as well. In the end I decided against it due to risk of sand entering the seals. I'm also not keen on breaking the diff into pieces and I'd rather have it assembled as I don't think there is any issues with it. Instead I went at it with a wire Wheel and a can of paint. With the car I got two differentials, one R180 installed and a loose R200. I had no idea what the ratios were so Before choosing which diff to use in the car I opened them up. - R180 - R200 - R180 - 3.9 - R200 - 3.54 Plan is to go with the R200 as I like the aspect of reducing crusing rpm slightly. Previous owner stated the RPM at 90 km/h is 3000 which he thought was a bit too high (I have a euro spec 5 speed) and I tend to agree with him. After a few hours of wire wheel work it went from this to this After first coat of paint (hammerite). Until next time.