primaz

The Z car's have one of the best suspensions for handling out there and with improvements like a quality adjustable coil over setup they are great to race. Just with the common suspension upgrades for the McPherson strut Nissan setup, which is what Frank Leary's Giant killer Z car basically used that dominated racing and was national champion 8 years straight. It is a great design and with minor upgrades it will out handle most everything out there. You can get many upgraded parts to give you more unlimited suspension adjustment from Techno Toys, Arizona Z car, and if you really want to get fancy check out Apex engineering options, www.apexengineered.com/store/c3/240z.html

I have two of the Datsun competition trans in our two mild street cars and love them. One tip I recommend is to get the parts cytogenetically treated to increase the strength.

Great Build! I thought that 260's were only in 1974? I thought that the year yours is a 1978 isn't that a 280 not a 260Z?

for a street car these few pics should give you an idea of what I have on my two street cars and I feel that this is ideal for chases stiffness without the wasted space and issues bars for a street car. I can jack the car up with a jack stand and have three wheels off the ground; it give me the stiffness of my crazy Primadonna Z car with a 9 point cage so for street use I think this is ideal. If you worry about rolling the car you can add a basic hoop but no need to do the rest of the roll bar work for street as that just becomes a pain for anyone else you give a ride to, as they will not like the bars interfering with easy entry in the car, etc. Believe me very few women want to ride in a car that is too caged. This boxing of the frame rails goes from the front all the way to the rear sub frame and is boxed inside as well. It follows the factory fake rails and give is true strength of a framed car or a Z with a cage without the bars in the way for a street car. Unless you really want to compete for a track I think this is way better.

FYI, Having had a Z with his one of his mild cams, I can tell you that virtually all of his cams provided a very smooth power band. They were definitely worth the price. I think the only issue now is that a cam is one part and an engine needs to have the right porting work to really match the cam as well as the rest of the components. I am sure that if those really are Don's cam they have the potential to be way better than any other cam on the market. One note his very high lift cam more used for 3.2 liter high HP engines worked great but he had issues finding a valve spring that could last; if he lived a bit longer he would likely have solved that but it did not work out that way. It is sad to see his great work was not being passed on as he definitely created engines with way more horsepower than others like Rebello and Don's engines were bullet proof. I have drove cars with Rebello 3 liters and Don's 2.8's were way faster. Andy Hengesteg in Oregon has one of Don's 2.8 engines that will blow the doors off V8's and he did learn Don's porting work but he does not have the machinery or knowledge to do the bottom end. If you really want to recreate one of Don's engines I would have Andy build the head with the full porting work he learned from Don and have him advise you on which cam and then you need to figure out how to do the bottom end. Andy might have some input on that as well?

I have them on two of my 240z's and love them. I also used their relay so that when I am on high beam all 5 LED elements are on and that is incredible vision! They also look cool with circle of LED's on the perimeter. I did a lot of searches and read all of the LED reviews especially the Jeep and off road as our headlights on the Z car is the same as Jeeps and 911's. The Vision X LED is the best rated in the marketplace. I also have them on my 1963 Jag and they are well worth the money. Also these use so much less AMP's than stock...

I have two 240Z's both running 16 x 8" CCW's with 16" / 245 / 45 series tires, both cars have coilovers and rolled fenders with no problems. It is best to get one of those measuring tools or go to a shop with one to get the right offset for your specific suspension. You should try to measure it so you do not need to add a spacer.

we are about a month from completing the final assembly but here are some pics

I do not have a 280 but several 240's and I am in the process of completing my wife's 240z. I rolled the fenders to ensure no issues with tire rub which is a good thing to do especially running 245's. Her car has CCW's 16x8's with 245 on all four corners with no flares needed. I went with the standard BC coil overs but upgraded the springs to their Swift spring option as I have read many feel those springs are a better ride. I just finished our Mini Cooper 2003 S with BC coil overs with Swift springs and the handling is very good. For the Mini we had to soften the settings almost to the softest setting for street driving but it works well. I personally think with a 17" rim that the standard BC's would give it a good stance but again I have no experience with a 280? My other 240Z is an older build on the suspension, with Ground Control coil overs, 16x8 rims with 245's, rolled fenders, no flares, and that Z is about 4 to 4.5" off the ground so it is fairly low; it is a street car and that is about as long as you want to go as I have to angle every driveway or speed bump to clear. The BC's are great as you can adjust the camber, etc. easily and you do not need to weld in camber plates and are well made.

I know it is expensive but in my opinion the best is to go to "Just Dashes" and have them refurbish it; they redo the dash better than factory with a high quality thicker material that will last. I used to have a dash cover and they never look perfect and to me if you go through all the trouble to remove it to attempt a repair you might as well do it right as the cracks will come back and then you have all that hassle and labor to remove it and reinstall it again. http://www.justdashes.com/?s=datsun+240z

For LED's you need to replace the entire light assembly NOT just a bulb. I have used this on one of my 240Z's and my Jaguar 3.8s and they work GREAT! https://headlightrevolution.com/vision-x-pair-of-7-round-vortex-led-headlight-w-low-high-halo/ It is a little expensive but I think they are worth it. They are very bright with a very even wide light beam and they use such a fraction of the AMPS a conventional headlight would use. They also have a lifetime guarantee.

Datsun Spirit makes great engines and I recommend both fully built engines from them as well as their parts they sell for those willing to try to DIY. I have two of their engines, a Stage II mild engine for my wife and a 3.0 liter bottom end which uses a DL Potter ported head and Datsun Spirit cam. I think they are the best Datsun builders now that Don Potter has passed.

Can you push your budget and get the coil overs now? The reason is that a coil over conversion will greatly increase the cavity for wheels. I am running 16" 245 40's on all four corners on two of our 240Z's on a stock body with no flares. I just upgraded my wife's 240Z with the Arizona big brake kit with the larger master they recommend. On that 240Z I went with BC Racing coil overs which do not require you to weld in camber plates and are fully adjustable at a very reasonable price. To me I would go with coil overs first, then rims/tires, then brakes last.

FYI, Borla has decided to put these air horns back into production; I have just ordered four as I have two (2) 240Z's to use them on. Contact garryp@borla.com

Richard, I really think you should see if there a local Z club or try to find some local Z owners via this forum that has a 3.0 240Z and go for a ride. The straight 6 of the 240Z bored to a 3.0 liter with triples will pull like a V8 and then you will be impressed with the car's handling and how it will just kick ass over the majority of the cars on the road. All you would need to do is spend some money on the motor, suspension which might be around 10K or so. There are many V8 Z owners on the forum and you can build up the rear end to handle big HP. Like I said the Arizona Z rear end conversion and the Techno Toys should handle that HP. https:/technotoytuning.com/nissan/240z/complete-r200-r230-rear-end-conversion-z-car The Techno toy set up claims it can handle 1000 HP and I have talked to Arizona Zcar and their rear end conversion they were confident up to around 700 HP. Also for a Z car you do not do mini tubs for wide tires, you get custom offset rims and with mild flares you can then stuff 315's for example. You do this along with upgrading the rear end to handle the HP. You are butchering a great suspension if you mini tub it and go to straight axels. That is just plain crazy. The reason why I say this is that you clearly have never driven a true high performance Z car and I think you assume that a V8 would be great but to me that is not ideal if you change the rear end to solid axel as that would be a kin to taking a big block El Camino or 67 Camaro and doing a 3 foot lift and trying to turn those muscle cars into a 4x4 off road vehicle.

Richard, The Z car is an incredible car and one of the key things is the suspension and handling is part of the key to it's successful racing heritage. You can build them into big HP supercars but as others have said the cost is often much more in time and money than typical American cars but in the end you get a car that will kick their ass on a road course and street. To me it is a waste to turn a super handling car into a solid axel car that handles like crap. You can use your welding skills as the rear quarters and the top and bottom of the front windshield were lead welded. This is a non frame car so it is unibody design so for big HP you could use your welding skills to eliminate the lead and make those seams strong. Also I have added custom frame rails to make the chassis strong that looks like stock from a far but to a more in the know Z owner you notice that is has been modified. That is where your welding will definitely be valuable as that requires a lot of welding. There are good kits from Arizona Z car and Techno Toys that changes the rear end mounts to handle Q45 and other stronger rear ends for big HP and if you go crazy then you might either add to those cryogenic treatments or go for big bucks and go for Jerico and other road race rear ends. You DO NOT want to loose four wheel independent suspension of the Z so the bigger the HP the more the costs can scare you but it will be worth it. You do not need to go that high of an HP to get these cars to out perform many others. HP in the 300-450 will be very quick on a car that is so light. Sure you can build them for 700 to 1000 HP but you better have the money to build it right so you keep the car a great handling machine and if you go with that HP these cars will be one of the fastest on the street and able to beat most super cars. FYI, I own the Primadonna Z car as well as two other Z cars. I have a more street 240Z with a 3 liter Datsun Spirit engine, coil overs, etc. that is pretty darn quick and handles like it is on rails and that did not need 700 HP but more like the 300's. Also most Z cars do not have the aero dynamics to fully use over 700 unless you do even more body mods. The Primadonna is stable at high speeds and will be back on the street eventually with a 750-1000 HP RIPS racing straight 6 and will be ready to take down most supercars but it will take some years as that build is not for the faint of heart...as that will be a over 200 mph street storming monster

He unlikely has permission but I doubt his wife has the resources to stop him. Don was a great engine builder but poor business person and his wife never new how much all the part he left to her were worth and I heard most were sold at a bargain. Don created way more horsepower than all other engine builders in Datsun's' thru his custom cams but also thru his custom porting. He ported the head so that it created an ideal flow and twisting which enabled great power but with a very smooth power band and not the typical rough idle of hot rod cams. Don did get over 276 HP on 2.8 engines. In fact I know one friend with a DL Potter 2.8 and that car is over that HP and consistently will beat most V8 cars. Again Don built the fastest Datsun engines so what most of you have seen in other builders 3 liters is often what he got out of a 2.8. Don built a lot of winning autocross cars where they had to keep stock induction so the HP was via all his internal tricks that made them always faster. Don's engines even the 3 + liter motors ran great often with smaller 40-44 side drafts and did not need as much fuel as other engines. If he is replicating Don's cam it is well worth the cost. One thing I know is that on his more aggressive cams you need to find a super strong valve spring as that was one of the areas of weakness, you might want to change the springs periodically to avoid an issue. I am not sure if anyone can recreate his engines as so much was in his porting and unless you can copy that porting work you might only have part of it? Right now there are not many great builder that can get that much power from all engine with no fancy induction as Don did; right now I think Datsun Spirit is the next best option. Also 12.1 on the street seems a little high but 11 to 1 is doable. Also if you do not know the way he ideally set the timing, etc. you might have to play around with it a lot to get it to ideal power.

Don Potter was the best Datsun engine builder and unfortunately he passed away. He build Frank Leary's Z car the beat the Datsun race team for many years winning national championships. He build the highest horsepower, reliable Datsun engines period with many of his cars to this day holding track records at Road Atlanta, etc.. He was an expert mechanical engineer, machinist, race car repair/engine builder. He had his own cam grinding machine and fabricated every part in his engines. During his life many people wanted to copy his cams as they provided great power thru a wide range and were very streatable cams. HIs motors put others like Rebello racing to shame.

I found out that the Motorsport Auto velocity stacks are too tall but I did a bit more research and found out whom made the ones that I was hoping to buy from www.datsunzgarage.com, they used TWM Induction which was bought out by Boral Induction. I am waiting for them to get back to me to see if they will make custom velocity stacks that are the same specs, 44 mm, 38 mm tall, and 88 mm. I will let you folks know if they will make that custom size as that is the same one datsunzgarage had created that will fit into the stock 240z air box if modified.

I used to use the HID ones found at Motor Sport but they were not that bright nor reliable. I have since upgraded to the Vision X 7" round LED headlights and those are the best headlight in my opinion. They are super bright, have the round halo ring built in and I recommend to get their optional relay so that all five elements can be on when in high beam mode.

I tried to cut and paste the link but for some reason this site is not letting me do that so I attempted to type it manually; when I check the link it did not work so I printed the Motor Sport page and edited my original posting including that PDF, see above http:///www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/PFFC/07/11-3014 Motor Sport shows them as listed as Air Horn, 70-72 240Z S.U. carbureators

I want to keep the stock air box and found this great site showing Le Mans 240Z velocity stacks where they show you can modify the stock box to be able to use those full radius velocity stacks. They do not have any phone nor does it appear I can buy them from that site but the Motor sport air horns appear to look the same? Will those air horns work as the Z Car Garage Engineering site shows? Here is the Z Car Garage Engineering url on the velocity stacks http://datsungarge.com/catalog/z.htm I attached their 6 page instructions on how to modify the stock air box to accept the full radius Le Mans velocity stacks which look the same as the Motor Sport Auto air horns? I hope someone can tell me if the Motor Sport air horns will work if I follow the same modifications shown on the attached instruction sheet? Thanks in advance, I am trying to initially set up my new 240Z engine to see how fast you can make a 240Z using stock induction. The engine is a 3 Liter Datsun Spirit bottom end with a DL Potter head using the Datsun Spirit cam. I have the stock SU intake ported to match the head as well as the cast iron exhaust ported to match the head which then feeds to a custom stainless exhaust Don Potter helped design before he died. For some reason I cannot paste URL's so I saved the Motor Sport page as an PDF attachement velocity stack mod to stock air box_mod2013.pdf zstore airhorn.pdf