Boy from Oz

I think I must have too much time on my hands but I'm considering polishing the new C6 oil pan before installing it. Am I creating a long term maintenance problem for myself?

Thanks, a couple of photos would be appreciated.

Good thought but I might pass on that one! Here is something I spotted from England. It would have to be beefed up a bit for an LS1 and a similar leg made for the transmission, but the basic concept looks highly practical.

Yep, that's the kind of frame I'm after. Nothing too fancy as I'm hoping for a short use - famous last words!

Hope to have a donor car soon and wondered if anyone has come up with a simple to make out-of-car cradle for the LS1/T56 combination. Something that I could utilise in between removal from the donor and installation in the Zed. Any dimensions and photos would help.

I'm guessing it's to do with the starter motor clearance or the like, but can someone tell me why the mounts are not symmetrical? I actually have the JCI mounts but no LS1 at this stage.

chelle - I was interested in the comments in your article (well done) about brakes and 15" wheels. I am just soooo close to placing an order with Dave at Arizona Z as I believe his set up will fit under the 15" Daytons. Have you considered Dave's set up? I have exchanged e-mails with him and with Dayton and researched and researched (i.e procastinated) brake options and I had convinced myself they will fit. Dayton have a template on their web site to assist with wheel selection and the measurements I came up with are: 1 front spacing f 110 r 180 2 rear spacing f 125 r 130 3 caliper clearance f 12 r 12 4 caliper height f 170 r 170 5 hub diameter f 80 r 70 6 hub height f 100 r 100 7 hub clearance f 65 r 70 These are a combination of measurements Dave offered and I measured off my car. Don't under any circumstance take them as absolutely accurate. Regarding the parking brake - I had intended to also mount a Wilwood parking brake seperate to the main rear caliper, as per the attached photo, by machining my own mounting bracket. Unfortunately I now believe that Wilwood have stopped manufacturing the stand-alone parking brake in favour of their integrated parking brake/floating caliper, which by the way will not fit under 15" rims. I have sent several e-mails to Wilwood over the pass few weeks to seek information on availability of the stand-alone parking brake but they have failed to respond! If you have any information on the unsuitability or otherwise of the Arizona Z setup I would very much appreciate your input.

Speedracer, here is your chance! http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Genuine-F1-Ferrari-V12-Motor-No-037_W0QQitemZ160144057035QQihZ006QQcategoryZ46125QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know there is a another thread just on this topic but I think this thread is now the repository of all things 250 GTO. Anyway, I was trying to track down some fittings and came across these. Go to http://www.usedferraris.net/ then click on "handles & locks".

The hats are available from Wilwood. See item 170-1754 www.wilwood.org/racerpricelist.pdf It's a relatively small market down here and the Oz suppliers have limited stock so they need to special order it themselves. Being a small market they charge premium prices and also have the freight cost. All up they are even more expensive. I'll chase up the US suppliers mentioned - thanks. Any additional sources would be appreciated.

I did some pricing and decided to go with the Arizona Z 240Z race brake setup. Unfortunate Dave will only airfreight to Australia at a cost of $325 (that's a comment by the way, not a critercism). I can have the mounting brackets made down here but does anyone know of reliable Wilwood suppliers in the US I could contact for the hats, rotors and calipers? West Coast if possible. Hopefully they will quote cheaper Pacific freight prices.

Anybody have any suggestions on where I might find rear reflectors. They would need to be about 3.25" (75-80mm) wide but the height can be no more than 1" (25mm) as I have limited space once I mount the tail lights. I would also be looking to have the chrome trim. When I see the prices I'm glad the OEM won't fit. mudjr12 - looking at those indicators they appear to have a white backing gasket. I'm not sure how that would look on the car. The 250 GTO teardrop indicators were also use on some early 70s Lancia Fulvias, you might try looking there. I recently picked up a set on the Italian e-bay, also some Veglia gauges and a Nardi wheel. I had no trouble at all in receiving all the items. I used one of those free language translation web sites and/or asked some bilingual friends for help.

Someone has just pointed this out to me. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1975-Datsun-260Z-Unfinished-Project_W0QQitemZ330137667381QQihZ014QQcategoryZ102220QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem If someone on this board buys it can they contact me - it would be great to have some company during my own build. I spotted this model on e-Bay a few days ago. Interesting spider shape. I'm not sure if it's based on an actual vehicle. I recall something about a member of ZZ Tops having a Ferrari 250 converted into a GTO spider configuration. I must say I like the pre-Kamm tail.

Could someone confirm that I have got this right? The oil pans fitted to 98-02 F-body LS1s are shallower than the standard LS1s and, the standard LS2 pans are even more shallower than the F-Body pans. So, I should be ordering (as per the list above) standard LS2 items which will all fit an LS1 block? Thanks.

I'll second that. From what I can tell, Con, Zerrari, chelle, Moggy (UK) and myself are all presently chasing the headlight cover trims. 'Here comes trouble' resorted to making his own and I must say they look okay from the photos. I have been in contact with Oliver from OM Sportscars in the UK but after some initial hope I have not had a further response. Likewise with John Washington at Reaction Research. The chap here in Oz who made them has died - more than a little inconsiderate of him if you ask me! As far as I know the covers are available. As for the door locks, I got them through the Honda Civic site mentioned in an earlier thread. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=96738 You might try contacting Civic Car Club/s in the UK.

These front 225/70 R15 and rear 265/70 R15 Avons ; http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/content/en/tyre_specs/ranger.pdf should give 27" and 29" rolling diameters according to this; http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html. Looks and grip are something you will have to figure out. Speed - Ian and I raced at the same time (30+ years ago) and I renewed my acquaintance with him last year when I started this project. He will be building my fuel cell and doing the wiring so I would prefer to distance myself from any business dealing you two may have. If you have any Pommie mates out here I suggest you liaise with them or there are independent assessors who will undertake a technical inspection and write a report for you (money well spent). I would be happy to send you some links to their sites. Sorry, but I hope you appreciate the conflict of interest I would have. Sometimes it's a bit of a bugger being a ethicist by profession. I'll PM you on this.

Thanks. I assume dimension 'C' is from the face of the bellhousing to the rear mount point. I should be able to track down some dimensions of the LS1 blocks and do the sums.

I have just received my LS1 T56 JCI kit including a 280Z crossmember. Although my car is a 4/73 240Z the rails are in rather poor condition (speed humps. etc) and I am going to fit deeper rails which will facilitate the 280Z type mounting. I am trying to circumvent the need to install the engine and gearbox to identify the crossmember mounting points as I would like to construct the new rails with full rail-width tube inserts for the crossmember while the shell in on the rotisserie. I am proposing to use the bottom edge of the firewall as a datum reference and identify the distance to the middle of the crossmember width. See photo. If two or three could provide this dimension and there is some comsistency then this would be of benefit to others doing this installation. You must have a 240Z but it doesn't matter if you have the 'thru-the-floor' bolting style. Perhaps the measurement of both sides could also help.

'chelle' once again, thanks - your blood is worth bottling (err...I hope that's not a colloquialism and that you're familiar with that phrase, it's a compliment anyway). I'm thinking of modifying my Alpha One nose to more your configuration (your car's, that is) and just assessing what is involved. Interesting point, I had assumed the shape came from Eagle Engineering not wanting to make it too Ferrari'ish but while researching the various original nose shapes and pattens I noticed that 250GTO #3589GT has a very similar shape to the Alpha One. The car belonged to the Victoria High School in Texas from 1964-72 for engineering student to practice on and that's possibly where the car got that nose shape and where the Alpha One got it's pattern or inspiration. Just a guess.

Upon inspection there was no damage to the engine mounts at all. It sold for $4,600AUS ($3,800US) but I didn't buy it.

Thanks for the comment. By 'passenger side' I assume you meant driver's side (it's RHD). I'm buying the whole car for reasons stated in the first post and selling the unused bits. I don't think its had too bad a hit head-on, in fact none at all so the issues you raised may not be there but I will certainly look. It's at a salvage auction so you don't get to start the engine. You are right about the tranny though but the impact is hopefully nearer the two-piece tailshaft which should have absorbed the impact. These cars are basically half GTO-half pickup. There are literally tens of thousands of them down here. Ford make them as well. http://www.v8utes.com.au/

Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Ute Despite there being plenty of them around, V8s are well treasure down here and usually well looked after. It would be hard to find one cheap enough to justify just using the engine and gearbox. This one only has 20k miles on it. In buying just the engine and gearbox from a Wreckers (salvage yard) you are probably buying them from a wrecked vehicle anyway, plus, the advantages of having a whole donor car are well documented on this site, i.e. it comes with all the little attachments that not only match but can also add up to significant additional cost.

I'm thinking about buying this as a donor car for my 240Z/LS1 project. I am concerned about possible stress cracks in the crankcase/block around the engine mounts as a result of the impact/s. Are there common crack/fracture points I should be looking for? Thanks

Smash - 'Shannons' would be the only consistent place in terms of completed cars and they only have one every 18-24 months. In fact I don't have contact with any other GTO owners/builders in Oz but I sure would like to. If any are out there please join HybridZ and send me a private message. I know that Ian from http://www.classicrevival.com.au/ would consider offers for his own car but it's not a V8 - some Toyota powerplant. Here are some photos of the Shannon's car. 'chelle' - can you tell me the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the nose grill opening on your car? IDs and ODs of the dress rim if possible, thanks. Can someone explain the the term 'goat'? I thought it was just Duke's reference to his own car but it seems to have wider application.

If you plan on having it registered the first thing you have to do is visit the DOTARS site and see what you need to comply with. Then take your plans to an Authorising Engineer and obtain an 'in-principle' agreement. It can be done (vehicle mods generally I mean, not necessarily this one) but take your time and think the project through in the first place. It is no good spending time, effort and money for something that will never get registered; e-bay is chock-a-block with examples of projects that will never be registered. Good luck.