markrolston@mac.com

It's mine. What's up? BTW- I'm days away from a new posting to catalog some nice updates to the car. markrolston@mac.com http://web.mac.com/markrolston/NewSite/Z-car.html

Thanks. It's been built up so slowly I've had a long time to study the car's proportions. The wheels are something that I think make such a huge difference. It had 16's on it years ago and the scale of the flares and body seemed so different. I literally built the flares to sit exactly how I wanted over those wheels. The fit is not a coincedence Right now, with the body in good shape I'm trying to refine the motor. It's pretty but it does not have the low end torque i want on the track. i'm moving to the RB30 block in a few months. The next step is to try and refine the drivetrain. It's stout but it's brutish loud. It's a grand experiment to see if I can built up a 38 year old car to have the looks, handling and even some of the subtlelty of a modern sports car- mostly NHV issues. ,mark

In March a photographer for Super Street, John Roper, found me and asked if they could do a feature on my car. In any case, the feature came out this month in the June issue of Super Street. They get some of the story wrong (who's gonna know anyway) and it's not the most technical magazine. Still, I can't complain- the pics are great and it's cool to see my own car in print. http://www.superstreetonline.com/featuredvehicles/130_0706_1971_datsun_240_z/ As for the car, I've had the chance to race it several times (pics here: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/F9A3FBDD-543F-4C7D-8C5C-AEABB2A4A20D.html) and the oil pressure issue is not critical anymore but it's still not bulletproof. This summer Chris and I will install a dry sump setup along with replacing the bottom-end with an RB30 block and a lightened crank. The car has massive top-end HP but I miss the low-end torque on the track. I'll post pics as we get the surgery underway.

yes- it's a tow mount. I have a 4' x 4' trailer for the race slicks and tools.

Video Clips? try these: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/EBB778E8-9207-40EA-B7EE-507E1FCB1821.html http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/0D6E575A-E65E-435E-A127-EC18E4F71405.html http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/6454E8F8-99EE-4146-B638-F1AB50B36109.html

http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-car.html http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/Z-Blog.html =)

The brake master cylinder is from a 280ZX Turbo, the clutch m/cyl is stock. Both work just fine. The transmission is from a Z32 turbo. http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/AD523964-F7D8-4279-9AD1-28940051078B.html

Video? not clear but there's some video on my site: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-car.html and in a couple of days (after this wierd Austin freeze) I'll post new pics and vid of the custom carbon fibre hood and new boze wheels.

For everyone interested in a oil pan baffle setup- here are some pics of how I addressed the issue with the right hand turn starvation. I can't say yet it fixes the problem.. Pics are here: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/11E9DA33-B5D5-4ED7-882D-01E3BFCB3247.html There are also many other pics of the motor being put back together. Enjoy...

yes that was a miata- a fast one. turbocharged and a better driver. I just couldn't catch him. I'm still learning how to drive this new setup with the new overpowered motor. My first day out I was slower around the track than with my 200HP L28 BTW- I modded my oil pan to address the right-hand turn issues that folks identified. I have before and after pics of the oil pan coming soon. give me a day or 2. The car's at the paint shop getting a new carbon fiber hood with custom vents. The existing hood had rough jigsaw cut vents- not so nice.

I've considered a dry sump setup and continue to look at the option. If someone actually knows what it takes (more than hearsay) please advise. I'll do it eventually if it's reasonable.

Thanks for the info about the oiling issue. That video is turning out useful. I'll take a look at the oil pan and see what I can do about the baffling. We did quite a bit of work on it to avoid this the first time around- apparently not enough. I'll post pics soon.

I also replied to Stony's comment about this- yes the pump was failing. It did fail. It split in two. ouch. anyway the oil pan has several nice baffles. That wasn't the problem I don't think. It was likely the pump itself not keeping up. But you certainly should baffle it. I don't know what times I was making. The video is all cut up since it's normally 25min long. Honestly it was the first time at the track with the RB motor and I'm sure I was slower than I was with my race prepped L28. I was fast in that because I knew the setup well. This new setup is so powerful I'll need to get used to the setup. The power is also more of an on/off switch than the L28. Tricky to drive hard.

Wow, Some of you really watched that video closely. Yes, the oil pressure was going all over the place and my oil pump did go out during that run. I shut off the engine immediately and was able to save the motor except for the main bearings. The accusump may have been priceless in saving the motor as well. I now have a HKS oil pump in there hopefully to keep the pressure up. We'll find out this feb when I get the car back out there.

The wheels are all four 10.5 x 18s from Complete Custom Wheels. The backspacing is 5" and the tires are Hoosier wets.

The fellow in Austin who sells them (Brian Kennedy of Dyno Dynamics) is also the one who tuned the car. He does know how to use it more or less but he's the ONLY one I've met who does. I like options.

ah- many questions... 1. engine management- an Autronic SM4- nice, lots of knobs but nobody in the states seems to know how to use it to it's fullest. Too rare. 2. The motor is sitting straight up. The custom intake runners and a custom Shifter make this possible. It was mostly an aestetic decision. But it seems fine all around. 3. Custom oil pan. That was a pain. Took a few tries to get rid of leaks. Should have bought one from mckinneymotorsports. 4. post details? many pics and story is available here: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/Z-Blog.html and here: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Engine%20Rebuild.html 5. Yup- the radiator and intercooler are both mounted back. Better weight distribution. Cools fine. 6. custom exaust system. all the way back.

It's mostly a track car but it manages to slip through state inspection so it's street legal. It's overall a reasonable car on the street but like so many Z's it stinks to hell of fuel. I'm planning on working on the fuel map to try and help this a bit. 1k injectors need alot of attention. My big to-do is the rear-end. It has the ZX CV solution but there's something still wrong about it. Too much clunk and bang. I'm hoping Dave at Arizona Z car finish his long-promised custom rear-end.

The engine mounts are custom and the street flares might be MSA's- I don't recall. They've been modified past any point of recognition though.

I've browsed this forum for years. It was pictures of Stony's RB build up that made the idea so compelling. Last year, on Oct 23, 2005, I broke my race-prepped L28. I had been kicking around the idea of building an RB26 "some day" but this provided the needed excuse. I'm finished now and happy to show the car to everyone. A project like this isn't for the faint of heart (or wallet). Read the story on my site: http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-Blog/Z-Blog.html http://web.mac.com/markrolston/iWeb/Site/Z-car.html