bjhines

I doubt very seriously you will get 30K... I have seen some really nice stock drivetrain Zs going for 10k with show quality bodywork... The 30k cars have a lot more work into them than yours.... Willwood Brakes, custom suspension, chassis reinforcement, exotic engines, TKO transmission, show quality paint and body... It sounds to me that yours is basicly a bone stock Z with fender flares... it is at least 15K and 1 year away from having the builup that would fetch $30K as a complete race car.

More pics... details??

I hear that.. I know when it has had enough... the gear oil smell is unmistakable... especially when it starts puking it all over the exhaust... I get a lot of wheelspin on shorter tracks... VIR south course, Roebling Road, and Rockingham are my worst for overheating the diff... I run an open diff NON LSD... 3.54 ratio... I must say that I used to never have any glaring issues before I swapped in BRAND NEW R180... I should have broken it in first... It is getting better the last few events... The first event it got so hot it whined after about 20 minutes of run time... I refilled it every session and ran a few shorter sessions at a slower pace to work on new lines... I only get 160HP on a roller dyno... but that is with toe in, negative camber, and sticky tires... It is probably a little higher but I am sure I am running the rear end to it's limits... The new race car is getting the cooler and it is an R200 Nismo LSD with a 3.54 ratio for the V8...

Weight and weight distribution are the most important factors in determining how well a sports car performs... look at the weights of the cars available... I would feel better classifying a Honda FIT as a sports car than a 300ZXTT... I guarantee the FIT could be made faster than the 300ZX for less money... with more reliability and FAAAARRRRR LOWER operating costs...

Keep in mind that they (300ZXTT) do not hold together on a road track.... that is a drag racer pony car... the smaller sports cars will dance around you... and then they will laugh as the towtruck brings your smoking hulk in to pit.... Our club lost 3 of them last year.... the owners have moved on to Miatas, E36 BMWs, and E30 BMWs... one of the owners has a 240Z.. but he is not mechanicly inclined enough to run it on track... the BMW E36 M-COUPE was the ticket for him... I like the BMW sedans.. they are the best choice for a double duty Street/Track car... but they are still not a sports car... oddly enough the E-36 M-COUPE and the antique 240Z fall into the same street prepared class... even with all of the HIGH$$$$$$$$$ advantages the BMW has.. they do not win against the 240Z easily...

I have no idea... You have a lot of interesting contacts on this board and others... fell free to repost those tag pictures anywhere you like... when you find him.. tell me how much he wants for them...

You don't ever have to explain yourself to a police officer... tell him to shut up and start writing or get out of the way....

That is funny about the cops... I ride around town all the time on slicks.. There is very little stock about my engine and intake.. and I would have never given a thought to a cop asking about my engine??? good lord... they are not mechanical engineers.. I would have told him to shut up and start writing a ticket... I would hand him his ass in court... Or hand the ticket ot my lawyer if I didn't have the time for fun... That is harassment.. and the officer will get reprimanded if he keeps it up...

OK... J Mortenson wanted to know who made the fenders... Here ya go... Perfect Plastics INC. Gary Stephenson... 12-28-1982

Thanks for the comments.. I too am unsure about the sideskirts... The Z has a beautiful profile with tucked sides... all of these panels will be fitted and then painted OFF THE CAR... the rivet nuts will be installed and painted with the body... when it is complete I have the choice to mount the skirts or not as I see fit.. all of the body will be painted without any of this fiberglass attached... One more reason I am not cutting the flares to fit the skirts.. I plan on insetting the rivet nuts so they will blend in with the painted body if they are not used... But.. this is a track car... and judging from the damage my current 240Z suffers on track.. I am trying to minimize debris impacts on the sides of the car... as well as improve aerodynamics... The ZG flares are a must to fit 10" wide wheels on a car with cut struts and coilovers... The car I am converting is nearly PERFECT... I caught a lot of flak about cutting it up and making a race car out of it... I responded by asking WHO WANT's TO BUY IT??? It was partially disassembled and is missing most of it's interior... It was blue with a white interior which is impossible to find.. and ugly as sin... The engine was shot... etc. etc. etc..... No one would buy it for even $3000.. which is simply not enough to convince me to start my project with a rusted out beater... I would rather work with a pristine $3000 car than one that will take a lot more effort to repair in the first place... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Current Track 240Z... The fact is.. I have another wonderful 240Z.. It is set up for B-street prepared track use.. Triple Webers, fresh engine, rebuilt tranny, brand NEW R180 differential, 3 sets of 15x7" wheels with race tires, very little rust that has not already been addressed, decent black paint job nice front end... I have ALL OF THE ORIGINAL PARTS... all of them.. in good condition(seats too)... although I have removed them from the car... it could easily be converted back to stock form.... and no one want's to give me enough to part with it... I want 7K... I would take less... but I have gotten ZERO reasonable OFFERS.... I even have video and track event times for several years.. It runs an easy 1:30 at Roebling... I have vids of it passing all kinds of expensive hardware.. I get comments from other instructors who drive it that it handles marvelously... yet it seems that it is just not worth what I have in it for parts alone.. much less all of the extensive labor... regardless that it is a proven winner.... I do not doubt that there is SOMEONE out there who want's it for 7K... if that person is you.. PM me... Here it is when I first got it years ago... out of a barn no less....

LOL.. I am enjoying this thread!!!!! I must say that people may not recognize the 240Z as much as it's success would warrant... But.. if you look at historical accounts of the evolution of the vehicles we drive AND the makers of those machines... The Datsun 240Z holds a pivotal position in both regards... ask anyone who knows this rich history of the machines and the manufacturers... "What is the most defining, possibly best all around SPORTS CAR of all time???" and 8 out of 10 will say "The Datsun 240Z"... This was/is a double edged sword... It seems that prior to the introduction of the 240Z there were a lot of players in the "sports car" market... small, spartan, quick little 2 seaters were being produced by manufacturers all over the world... some were indeed expensive... but there were a lot of choices competing in the same class... Then came Datsun... the 240Z set a new bar in sports car performance and accessability.. they also created a car with unparalled reliability for the money... they made them cheap, they printed them like newspapers, and they cleaned up the competition on the track.... within 5 years they were pretty much the only sports car available... most of hte European makers were bankrupted by the quick little Datsun... Ferrari was thought to be quite mad to build small cars around a V12 powerplant in the 1950s... But that is where the definition of a "Sports car" begins to diverge between SuperCar and SportsCar.... Ferrari wanted to build an exclusive car... He wanted to beat the big automakers at the pinnacle of performance engineering... He was successful to a point that has made his name one of the most well recognized in the automotive world... but He never competed with them in profitability or corporate viability... Ferrari and all the other supercar makers have pigeonholed themselves into producing ONLY SUPERCARS... They cannot afford to produce a large number of cheap cars.. they cannot compete with the big automakers in this area.. their names would have faded long ago if they had ever geared themselves towards large numbers of cheap cars... They are not real... they are the stuff of dreams... You could strap a rocket motor on it and send it to the MOON... but it is not a sports car...

LOL... To anyone who asks me "what is that"?.. I respond with.. "It is a Tokyo Ferrari"...

ok... I'll keep it less sensational... I edited the previous posts... Keep in mind that even a stripped down Z28 is still NOT A SPORTS CAR... it is a pony car. There is a problem with defining the term "sports car"... I will leave it to history... Lets put it all in perspective.... The 240Z was the definition of the term "sports car".. it was/is still the best, most popular, most recognized, most sold, most successful, most well respected Sports Car EVER IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN ENDEVOR... PERIOD! If your definition strays too far from the BASELINE set by the Datsun 240Z.. then you need to get some history and experience in here to back it up... In fact... the only thing that the 240Z failed to do that many other sports cars accomplished... was... It was never offered in a convertable....

We have a winner... A LAMBO IS NOT A SPORTS CAR!!!! it is a SUPERCAR... totally different market.. totally different price range, totally fantasy... I am discussing REAL CARS.... not dream cars... back to the REAL WORLD.. not the MTV version... About the Domestics.. Ford and GM especially... They already rebadge imports for most of their passenger car lineup... They WILL STOP MAKING PASSENGER CARS ENTIRELY WITHIN 10 YEARS.. they will still be around.. but the only things they will actually produce will be commercial vehicles... the rest will be rebadged imports... AND!!!!!!! it seems to me that a world in which 16 year old girls determine the design and performance of the automobile industry products IS A SCARY PLACE TO LIVE!!!!!

I am not dead set on having a 6 cylinder engine... A small inline 6 would be nice to set it apart frmo the Hondas... but whatever they do IT MUST BE LIGHT!!!! Nissan has not made a sports car since 1978... Ferrari has not made a sports car since the mid 1970s either... they moved into the Supercar market LONG AGO... I like sports cars... and I have had very little to look at since the 1970s.. in fact the Miata is a total throwback to the Golden Era of sports cars... I owned 2 first gen MR2s.. I don't like them.. .they dont drive very well IMHO... but they ARE SPORTS CARS... I owned a Fiero for a short time.. It too was a sports car but execution was HORRIBLE... I am stuck on front engine rear drive for the rest of my life... I have tried all combinations and I am most at home in the front engine rear drive layout... I owned a C4 Corvette and HATED IT... terrible handling.. SCARY to drive fast... Nissan made a gamble on the 240Z a long time ago... no one thought the general public wanted a small spartan sports car when they first introduced the S-30.... But Low and behold... it MADE the Japaneese auto industry... Their problem now is that the people who are running Nissan are NOT passionate about cars... and they have made the assumption that Americans are NOT PASSIONATE about cars either... I want to slap the marketing lady who is putting the Skyline badge on the "general purpose" chassis they call the G35, 350Z, etc... I guarantee she has never seen an engine in real life... and she probably drives a mustang...

Lets talk about some things that don't belong on a sports car... besides sharing it's chassis with a luxury sedan.... Power windows, Power locks, Power mirrors, Power trunk release, Heated mirrors Tilt steering(simple is ok), rear window wiper, excess noise insulation, lighted vanity mirrors, Homelink crap, Power seats, Heated seats, Oversized stereo system, Tire pressure monitoring system(WTF lazy bastards), Power steering must make it hard for you noodle armed ninnies to feel a flat... Illuminated steering wheel-mounted audio controls, I could see the argument that you can't reach the passenger door from the driver's seat, but if the damn car was not such a big boat you could reach the passenger side window crank.... the same would apply to the passenger side power mirror... Power seats for a sports car are rediculous... sports cars are personal things.. letting someone else drive your sports car is like sharing your toothbrush... you might do it for your wife... but with some reservation...

Drop horsepower and displacement... lighten the drivetrain... R230 diff weighs nearly 50 pounds more than the R160 diff lighten and simplify the suspension... mount undercarraige more firmly with fewer parts (subframes) reduce track width and wheelbase... use more resins and plastics for bodywork and floor... use thin guage/ stuctural foam reinforced frame pieces... reduce bling factor... That should get them a car in league with the new Lotus Elise and Exige... they could gain some creds by offering a competition version with NO AC, No radio, No power door crap, and an integral (SCCA tech) roll bar with racing harness... Oddly enough.. Nissan (Datsun) put the final nail in the European sports car imports to the USA... only the biggest European manufacturers were able to survive the introdution of a truly awesome Japanese sports car... Will Nissan ever wake up and reintroduce a true sports car??? About the domestics... I think GM would reintroduce the "retro" Camaro if they really thought they would survive the next 10 years... And Ford... this just in... Ford is falling apart... Even if 16y.o. girls were buying Mustangs fast enough to keep Ford in the passenger car market... The MUSTANG has NEVER been a "sports caR" it is the definition of the "Pony car"... Sports cars are light,... modestly powered, quick, nimble, and BY DEFINITION small, personal cars...

The whole name game Nissan is playing with their models is naive... Someone in marketing has thummed all of the possible "brands" that Nissan owns and put a $$$ value on the names alone... then they looked at the lineup and played "pin the tail on the pony" with nametags... the thing is... the person who did this thinks Nissan's first sports car was a 240"ZX"... they have only seen pictures of Skylines... and they have never opened the hood of a car they own... Stupid marketing that is literally INSULTING to those of us who actually give a 4uck about cars... especially the ones we own.... We are literally reaching a point that they are gonna make boxes with 4 wheels... paint one green and call it a "luxury car"... paint one red and call it a "sports car"... paint another grey and call it a "family car"...

I just don't understand why Nissan keeps making pony cars... the market has been saturated with them since before the Z car line ever came to the USA... It seems to me that they built a REAL SPORTS CAR with the 1970-78 S-30 models... with fantastic success... and then they started trying to take the Pony car Mustang/Camaro market share with later models... WTF... Rednecks don't buy Japaneese cars.. it is as simple as that.. why on Earth did they waste their time... The Z line sank immeadiately into boring humdrum with the introduction of the first ZX... I keep reminding people in my club that "ZX" is NOT A Z... and the 350Z is the fattest queen of the Japonyes "ZX"s... I just cannot respect a $30,000 sports car that MY street prepared Datsun 240Z can lap twice in a 30 minute session... even with all that "Nismo" ching bling every 350Z owner sticks on... And to put the icing on the cake... Our local club has had 3 devastating engine failures on 3 different mid1990s Turbo 300ZXs on track... those things SUCK BALLS... I can see them as ricer drag queen racers... sure guys say they are gettgin 400HP on the dyno... but that is good for all of 10 seconds... try running one on track... even at stock boost... they literally FALL APART... er... BLOW APART... That has to be the heaviest piece of crap Nissan ever squeezed out of it's bunghole and tried to polish up as a "sports car"... GET WITH THE PROGRAM NISSAN!!!! make another god damn SPORTS CAR... and quit insulting me with these damn pony cars... Ford is dying quickly.. the Mustang is doomed along with Ford... GM can't give cars away anymore... The Camerror/Trandamn are getting ready to be history along with EVERY DAMN PASSENGER car GM makes... hell they just rebadge Japaneese cars for most of them now anyway...

Hi There!!!!!! how did the headwork ocme out??? is it running????

Haaa... I have been looking forward to another ORIGINAL Z recreation since they announced the 350Z... The 350Z is a carbon copy of the 280ZX if you ask me... Fat, ugly, overweight, and de-tuned to "old man" and "Fiero Girl" standards.... not even close to a sports car... in fact.. the all pourpose chassis the 350Z shares with it's Luxury car twin really drove the last nail in it's coffin for me... There is no way I would be caught dead in such a posure car like a 350Z... In fact... the day I buy a 350Z is the day I wear a white suit with Reeboks, spiked hair and start putting rainbow stickers on the rear window... If Nissan wanted to make another car like the 240Z they need to take a close look at the Lotus Exige and beat it for less money...

You guys might have noticed that I am just layering these things on top of one another... there is a reason for this... I plan on having to replace some of this bodywork in the future... especially as I get used to driving this new high performance beast... I have seen custom bodywork disentigrate when it comes into contact with tirewalls... I plan on making easy repairs... every single piece is going to be bolted using rivet nuts and SS 1/4-20 screws...

front fender flares are mounted.... again I am mouting them on top of the side skirts... so there are some gaps to deal with... but not bad... This image shows the relative mounting height... notice the highest point is slightly forward compared to the original fender lip profile.. I think this will work well with added caster on a lowered car... The flares overlap the skirts... I do not see any need to cut anything to make them fit better here.. I am using the VWbug fender welting to fill gaps... ... more to come...

Whew... that is some NNNAAAAAAAASSSSTYYYY welding on the frame reinforcements.. I would be embarassed to take a pic of that and post it... The pics look great though...

I mounted the rear ZG flares on top of the side skirts... They are mounted with the top edge 3.75" up from the original lips... this should give me plenty of clearance for 16x10" wheels on a lowered track car... The front edge overlaps the side skirt... I am using the rivet nuts install method with VW bug fender welting to fill gaps and give it a finnished look... but the fit is not bad at all... ...