EF Ian

lalit0 - What size are your wheels? I'm only running 6" wide wheels with 205 tyres and I reckon they would hit the rear arch, are your arches modified at all?

The problem seems to have been sorted, I haven't done a long drive, as in on a motorway, but driving about town for 25 mins with and revving her out a few times and I didn't have any problems. I think it may well have been a dirty filter as the one I took off was filthy. The filter I have on is in the bay and clear and I can see its getting dirty already. Defintly some dirt in the fuel tank, I think it may need replaced, I stripped all the paint of it this week and found loads of rust spots, managed to get most of it back to clean metal but I'm sure it probably won't last. My carbs have filters so it can't be sucking in any dirt. The temperature is fine, if anything I'd say its running too cold, but I'm guessing the old guages aren't that accurate anyway. The intake manifold still gets roasting but that can't be any differnt than any other L series, its just the bad design, on my Civics engine I've made sure the intake manifold stays as cool as possible so its quite the opposite to the Z's one. Guess that another reason why it makes 122hp per litre and the L26 only makes 63hp per litre.

Thanks for the nice comments guys, glad you like it. Its in pretty good condition although there are a few issues I've found, the petrol tank had some rust so I stripped it back and repainted it today, I also found a small amount of rust (about a 1cm circle on the drivers door inner low down where the paint had somehow lifted a bit and allowed moisture in so I ground that back to bare metal and painted it. It doesn't look as good as it should, but its better than rust and I can make it look better some other time. I've also noticed than in some places underneath its just had underseal spayed onto bare metal which in my experience isn't good enouth, its a bit loose in some places so I'm going to chip it all off, primer it, paint it and then underseal it, the way it should have been done in the first place. I spend most of the year working away from home so this is going to be a very slow project. Ruesty Bomb - I think you mean RHD? The proper side to drive on, lol wrcbonk - Good advice, I'm so happy with it as it is that I will be leaving it standard for a while as I;m enjoying it enouth as it is, if that changes than I'll start the more extreme mods. I rather like the L series so I'm thinking a better manifold and a triple carb setup might be good calls.

The way I resolved the problem was to just shift into neutral and roll, therefore less heat from the exhaust manifold and still good airflow through the bay. I however don't think this is the problem as I did 186 miles to the boat and it drove fine the whole way, I also did about 20 miles at the other side fine before this problem started.

Manifold heatsheild is now on, yeah, it still has the stock cast manifold. I've fitted the heatshield, changed the fuel filter (which was filthy) filled her up with fuel so I'll have to take her on a long run to see if the problem still exists. Next step is cleaning out the carbs, if its still happening after that then I guess its probably ignition related.

Its was on the road but not driven much, done less than 1k in a year. The wiring looks fine and I can't see anything that damaged. I'm going to change the fuel filter and clean the carbs out and see if that helps, if not then I'll change the dizzy and se if that solves it. It had triple dellortos on it but the stock carbs were put back on it before I bought it because the dells needed re jetted and balanced so getting it home on them would have sucked. How much difference does the manifold heatshield make? because it doesn't have one and the carbs get really hot. Can you heatwrap a cast manifold? Heres some photos of her: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/105890-my-first-z-car-260z/

Just bought my first Datsun and I'm really happy with it so thought I'd post some photos. I've still got loads to learn about these cars so I'm sure this forum will be a huge help. 1979 Datsun 260Z Shes in great condition, only 28480 miles on her when I bought it although its not far of 29k now. She was built in 1978 but only first registered in 1979 and going by the chassis number she was one of the the last to be imported from Japan to the UK. Theres few photos with my Civic in them also, shes a 1991 Civic running a 243hp B20. It drives beautifully, its had new bushes all round and with the low miles on the chassis it still feels really tight so its a joy to drive. I have real big plans for her involving seam welding, cageing, hugely uprated suspension and brakes and an engine swap, I like the idea of a V10 because I love them but failing that I'd like an RB26DETT. For now though the first mods will be: Paint the brake calipers and drums Polish up the lips on the wheels Give the engine bay a good clean Clean out the carbs Do something with the rocker cover Give her a full detail, I've already done the inside but the outside still needs done After that lot I'll be fitting a bigger better airdam and a rear spoiler follwed by a good coilover setup with adjustable camber plates welded in as shes definitly too high at the moment. Then I'll have to fit the arch flares before I can fit my new wheels other wise they won't fit. Photos Sorry for the amount but I couldn't decide which to put up.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll clean the fuel filters and clean the carbs and see if that helps. It can't be a problem with the fuel lines as they are new, the tank seems in very good condition so I don't think there would be much rust in it but I suppose its a possibity.

Engine is standard apart from a 280ZX Distributor and coil.

I've been up for 25 hours now so this might not make sense. I know its not the correct placed to really be posting this but I can't post in the other sections. I bought a lovely 260Z today, did 180 miles to the ferry perfectly, ran like a dream and was really nice to drive, getting off the ferry at the other side I'd done about 30 out of 170 miles I had to do to get homw when I started having problems. Basically I would be driving along in 5th gear (or any gear) and it would start to run badly and loose power, it would have died out had I not taken it out of gear, the first time it happened the rev needle was jumping about and the voltage meter was a bit too so I'm thinking its an ignition problem. It is intermitent, the only way I could get it running properly again was to take it out of gear and let it idle for as long as I could or pull over and let it idle for a while, after doing so it usually ran ok for a bit before starting up again. Also going up hills seemed to set it off far more than anything else. It wasn't much fun having to do such a big distance when I had to keep slowing down or stopping, I was just lucky it was after 2am so there was next to no traffic, I was really worried I wouldn't make it home in my new baby. I'd really appreciate any help or advice anyone can offer. Its been a mixed start to Z ownership for me, loved the car and had a great drive but now I'm really worried about it.

Nice parts. I reckon that colour will look great. Good choice

Good work so far, will be good to see more.

Any Updates on this?

Thanks for the info, want to learn as much as I can. The car looks as good as I've seen, the guy has decided to keep it for a while longer however I'm going to look at it when I'm home next (I work away from home) and I'll check it out properly before buying it. It was restored when the previous owner had it so hopefully whoever did it did a good job on it. If it turns out to be good I'd really love to buy it and get it how I want it. Good to hear that the body parts should be mostly interchangeable, also good that the driveability and handling are good although I plan to massively improve the suspension, chassis and brakes anyway.

Thanks for the replys, I'm glad to hear that I'll be able to get the front end looking how I want. If I get the car I'd want to go for a front airdam like the one below so hopefully I could get it to fit. http://www.zcarsource.com/uimages/product_photos/bodyparts/3124.jpg In Europe the 260Z was in production untill 1978, I think the one I'm looking at must have been made in 1978 but only first registered in 1979. I've got no photos of underneath, but heres one from inside the rear hatch:

Glad to have seen this thread, not everyone on here is in America, I'm from Northern Ireland and will definitly consider using some of your parts in my future Z build. I really like the look of the carbon bonnet and would save me ordering one from America. Can you tell any diifference beetween stock metal wings and doors and your FRP ones? I'd like to make my project as light as possible but not at the expense of aesthetics. Just out of interest how much is the complete shell?

Is it possible to fit an earlier bumper/indicators to a Late 260Z? I don't like the indicators in the centre, I want them under the headlights like on the earlier models so I'd like to know if I can change this. From this look: To This:

I'm really considering buying a late 260z (1979)I really wanted a 240Z but I'm hoping I can still do everything I want on a 260Z, I'll just have to spend longer looking for the correct parts to fit it. However the one thing I don't like about it is the front, I want my indicators to be under the headlights, not in the middle of the bumper. I want my front end to look the example below so I was wondering if its possible to convert my front end so that it looks like that, is it possible to run a 240Z buper/airdam/indicators on a late 260Z? This is really the only thing putting me off the car so would be great to know what I can do about it, I tried having a look on the forum but I'm still new to here so not so good at finding the info I want. Also as this is a very late 260Z does that mean it will be as heavy as a 280Z or will it be the same as earlier 260Z's? I don't want it to weight any more than 1100kg when I'm done. Heres a few more photos of my prospective buy: Any help very appreciated.

Love the wheels.

I didn't see the SR20DET mentioned on here, surely that must be a pretty good engine for this, its small and light and can mount nice and close to the bulhead.

With me living in the UK I am wondering how the arches hold up to rust after having the flares fitted. It won't be driven much in the wet if I can help it but the cold and damp air could still get to it. I am most concerned about the arch where it gets cut and welded and the area where the bolts for holding the flares on go. Is it possible to get it sealed up properly against water and moisture? Has anyone experienced any rust issues.

Great Work so far BMW Make great engines, I plan to use their S85 5L V10 in a future project

Nice work, I lookd forward to seeing this progress. Can't wait to get started on a Z project of my own.

Hows this coming along, its one of my fav projects. From looking at your photos its going to look awesome.

I love it, this is the swap I want to do once I get a 240. How much power does it put down? Any idea of your 1/4 mile time? Have you got any flyby or external videos of it?