Zetsaz

Well... As expected, I've called on two separate occasions and both times the machine shop has told me they haven't gotten to it yet despite calling a day or two after they told me it'd be ready. It's "top of the list" right now and will be done "Monday or Tuesday" but I'm not counting on it haha. As soon as I get the bellhousing back and cleaned up the transmission is going in for an inspection and rebuild from a local shop I've trusted before with the transmission in my hardbody

Mild update: Finally making progress after the summer hiatus. The return to in person instruction at my job kept me busy at the tail end of summer into the start off fall, so the car has been sitting on Jack stands for a bit. Finally dropped the transmission and pulled off the bellhousing for the 240sx transmission upgrade. Local shop is taking care of the machining. Transmission crossmember and new driveshaft are both ready to go but I think I'll have the transmission inspected and possibly rebuilt just to save future headache. Some pictures to come when I get the bellhousing back next week and start putting things together

Yeah, the RB can go to 3.4 but MZR seems pretty keen on keeping NA for the purist perspective on past builds. I follow Peter McDonnell and he's also pointed out that it's probably easier to build a high HP L Series than an RB. Considering his builds, I wouldn't doubt it. There's always the chance they're sticking with the L series and using diesel blocks like Rebello has done. Was just curious!

@Derek out of curiousity, is one of your buyers MZR Roadsports in the UK? Was looking more at their 50th anniversary build since they recently did the full reveal of the first one they built. Went to their site and noticed their "Evolution" package comes with a DOHC head. Is that yours? I know the OS Giken head is an option for those high dollar builds, but I can't imagine them going with it when there's a better cost option around.

Info you need is on this handy chart in the link. It's available elsewhere I think but this was the first place I found it. Short answer - yes. Long answer - Even without a vin you can tell by some structural changes that are easily noticeable. Top seatbell mounting point changed after '75 just after the first year of the 280, earlier cars had it mounted to the B pillars, later cars had it mounted on the strut towers, the taillights changed to the later style for the 260z, the 240z had a shorter radiater and accompanying shorter (not as low to the ground) lower radiator support. later models had taller rear strut towers which are noticeably different. The late (77/78) 280z had a completely different rear deck that was sort of an elevated platform and used a space saver instead of full sized spare. Even within the 240z models, in 73 they moved to the bulkier bumper mounts that made the bumper stick out more instead of relatively flush like the earliest models. Hope that helps. If you post pics I'm sure most people here could tell unless there have been extensive exterior and interior mods. https://jdm-car-parts.com/blogs/news/vin-verification-of-us-datsun-240z-260z-280z-280zx

They're just rota rkr wheels

I'll check it out. Was kind of just planning on throwing it in the back of my Infiniti haha. I travel very light. At worst I think I'd just have to take the bellhousing off and carry it in the back seat on a tarp and some padding. Won't even necessarily need the bellhousing but I can give it to a friend who had his damaged from a bad road that probably fractured in the intense heat up there last week. If he doesn't want it I'll probably just toss the gearset with tail housing and bearing cover/fork in the trunk on a tarp. I already know an fs5 gearset fits back there with plenty of room to spare from when I redid the front bearings on my hardbody truck but have never had to load the bellhousing.

Update, got the transmission! $200 seems like an awful good deal even if I end up having to rebuild. People are asking way too much these days. It shifts well and I'll be de greasing and power washing to clean it up. Will have to figure out a way to carry it up to Washington with me, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Included an ISR short shifter and my understanding is the SR20 trans had better synchros on 2nd (and 3rd?) as well as a bigger shift fork and a reverse synchro like the late 240sx transmissions which were an improvement over the earlier KA transmissions.

First part is a window roller. If you look straight down your door with the window rolled down you'll notice there are actually two places you can install them. Some people add a second one on each door which apparently helps keep the window in at speeds and makes it eeasier to roll. It didn't fix my issues but I'm fairly certain my roller and scissor assemblies need to be adjusted. The new reproduction ones don't slot in as nicely as oem. I found they're somehow both tougher to fit in, and slide around more once they're on... require some bending and tweaking. https://zcardepot.com/products/window-glass-roller-bumper-guide-240z-260z-280z?_pos=1&_sid=bd124a1a7&_ss=r Second part is a door end rubber seal https://zcardepot.com/collections/door/products/door-end-rubber-seals-b-pillar-pair-240z-260z-280z

I may have just lucked out on an SR20 transmission here in Utah... will confirm on Saturday. My trans was never going to hold the power and was actually getting close to rebuild time as it was so I'm pretty excited.

Might just be that it's too much compressor. I don't know enough about turbo sizing though, so I was sticking with what I had which has been mostly proven to reliably suit my goals. I'm a little surprised your power falls off that early though. We'll see what happens once it gets going. Just got the swing gate sent to me and it looks really well made. Check that link for some pictures. Gonna aim for about 11psi as my base boost and just leave it at that until other stuff gets sorted before worrying about a boost controller and trying to push it much. I'm slightly injector limited right now anyway.

The restoration program dimensions in this PDF might be helpful, but I'm not sure anyone has a CAD file of the whole thing ready to go. 240ZRestorationprogram (1).pdf

Currently in Utah, but opted to not drive the Datsun and take a break for a while. Lots of changes recently. -Switched to a Mishimoto radiator after my radiator developed a leak and I didn't feel like just patching mine up. -Installed the Turbo block and got the base timing set and a couple short test drives to tweak the VE map with my old NA parts -Bolted the AC condenser. Top of it bolts straight to the radiator core support at two points, and bottom used a single bent bracket I made that bolts to the center then to original front valence brace. -Installed a proper Aeromotive FPR and ran a proper return since my base fuel pressure was much higher than ideal. Used the blockoff for the in-tank regulator I was using before. -Committed to the internally regulated turbo I got with the block (Fairly certain it's a T3/T04e .63ar 57 trim) -After chatting with Godzilla Raceworks about my goals, I decided to stay internally gated and bought a 5 bolt "ultimate internal wastegate valve" from ATP that should flow much better than a stock internal wastegate and transitions into a 3in v-band. That, a new actuator, and bracket for the larger compressor housing cost me less than just a new internal wastegate, never mind the cost of the external wastegate mods. Hoping it's a good compromise of performance/cost/packaging for my use. Unfortunately something about changing the block and the new mounts changed my driveshaft angle enough to get some serious vibrations. Thought the clutch wasn't centered at first, but the noise is only under load and not really noticeable vibrations when free revving to the same rpm. Also need to roll the rear driver arch slightly more. Rubbing a lot while driving right now, or it's some kind of CV noise when the load is that direction. Another thing to inspect. Burned out slightly after all that and not really in the mood to work on it in all this heat, so I'll be back at it sometime in August, hopefully finishing turbo stuff, AC lines, electric fans, and maybe even an upgraded transmission.

I was alright getting the compressor and bracket (didn't get the hoses), but honestly for cost saving if you're trying to save every penny it'd be cheaper to get the same compressor elsewhere. Unless you're sticking with a stock system, there's no point to using their hoses

OHHHHHH.... My mistake, it was Nostalgic Air, I don't know why I wrote Vintage Air. Edited the other post for clarity.

... I thought you knew, you were the one who directed me to them haha. They're the only ones that make a bolt in, and for the L24 guys it has provisions for the smog pump and bracket. Unfortunately that means the included belts are too short and the other is too long. Yeah, I'm kinda pinned between putting the fresh block in and dealing with sluggishness while turbo stuff gets done, or just dealing with like half a quart of oil every few hundred miles and running my engine for the rest of the summer. Both aren't fun despite being completely usable as a cruiser.

AC compressor and bracket arrived. Picked these up from (EDIT: Nostalgic Air, not Vintage Air). Their prices are going up and I'm hoping they start offering just the bracket but honestly I think if you have even mild fabrication abilities you can make the bracket for less money. I'm a bit burned out though so I wanted something "off the shelf" and just chopped a bit of the top off that's normally for bolting on the 240z smog pump. Currently it's on the turbo engine. Big debate right now is rebuilding the T3/T04e turbo I have with it, or running it NA temporarily while I wait on manifold mods for an external wastegate to be done. Only reason I'm not considering just waiting is I'll be traveling with the car to be with family most of the summer and I can't get the parts done before I leave... But my current engine, despite running great is burning a lot of oil. Might need new rings Currently leaning towards just dealing with the lower compression and slight sluggishness so it's at least in the bay. Exhaust manifold and intercooler are easy enough to swap in later.

Cylinders 5 and 6 tended to run hotter than the rest. Poor coolant flow through the head. The head cooling mod taps into 5 and 6 above the intake runners and feeds them coolant from the thermostat housing where it's coldest. There are a variety of ways to do it that you can read about. The new JeffP head gasket made by Cometic that you can buy from Zcardepot now is also supposed to help.

Well folks... I think I might have scored with the engine I got. Managed to get in touch with the original owner and got a build spreadsheet. Lots done. -Reground cam, roughly 480 lift (will have to pull up specs when I'm home) -Dual heavy duty valve springs -Port matched and smoothed intake ports -OEM solid lifters -New rings, rehoned block (checked honing marks with a borescope to ensure no damage) -Cylinder head cooling mod on 5 and 6 already done -New timing kit from Japan -Other refresh work, and I'm assuming a valve job at one point. Sadly, the turbo needs to be replaced or rebuilt and I'll still need boost control and intercooler, so the expensive stuff will still add up, BUT since my engine is burning excessive oil, I'm tempted to just pay up for turbo/intercooler stuff and get this thing in already and run it gently and do the transmission later

Front control arms still aren't done because I've been slightly burned out on car work. Finishing them up this weekend and ordering remaining AC parts though. Also... That hardbody I picked up years ago is a champ. Picked up this "free to me" engine last night in exchange for some spare parts. Guy seems to have changed directions and mostly just wanted it out of the way. Some pieces seem questionable, but a lot of it looks pretty good and it already has the common head cooling mod for cylinders 5 and 6. Since mine is running okay aside from some oil burning, I'll be building this really slowly and properly. Spending my money on finishing the AC and a trans upgrade before this goes in. Now I won't have to put the car out for a long time, just whatever it takes to swap in the two blocks.

Ahh! Forgot about the recent bug. Yeah, has to be manually fixed by a moderator as was mentioned. It's unfortunate 😕

You need to be a donating member to post in that section.

Front control arms arrived with the accompanying tension control rods. Won't have weird issue with the stock ones affecting my spring rate now and will finally correct the front passenger caster. Steering rack has some issues, I think I may inspect and replace bearing (if I can even find the right parts) and regrease, since I have to realign now anyway. There's a chance I've come across a basically free turbo engine too... we'll see what I can use off it. Not sure I even want to run it, but at worst it's spare parts I can part out and make some money. Main concern is still my transmission not being able to hold much, but the trans costs are the issue with literally any option I go with 😕 Basically flywheel back is my biggest cost no matter what I do with my power options, and no one choice is notably cheaper than another.

I don't think anyone's saying don't be critical. The other thread just got locked for going off topic, don't make this one go the same direction or get thrown it in the shed, you should know nothing here gets deleted short of users editing their own posts or broken links/images. @Joe0690, @Ben280 is your go-to for how some of the parts perform if you want to ask someone with genuine experience with the products in hard use. Unfortunately I think I've only seen one install of the full track attack kit from Hell-Z and have seen no updates in a year at least. Most Datsun folks just don't have the money to run it, and I think if you look at comments from @JMortensen you'll note the real world benefit of the kit is questionable, or at least unproven. FWIW, I'm happy with the rear arms and I'm currently waiting on the fronts so I can dial in my front caster, but I'm also pretty much entirely spirited street use and cruising on those parts.

Where are the mods? This thread has moved beyond the scope of the 8.8 subframe specifically. Those who want to discuss reviews of Apex in general should start another thread. I think we've gotten off track. Let's keep it to comments about the practicality or viability of the kit as an option, or current thoughts based on recent experience with it.