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*Finally getting around to documenting my build. Will continue to update the text as I go. Happy to answer any questions. Feel free to also follow along on instagram for more frequent updates. I fell in love with the S30 chassis at around the age of 13 and tried to buy one or two as my first car. Unfortunately, being from the north east, anything I could afford had rust holes in structural areas you could put your hand through. After watching the price trend over the last few years, I decided I better act before I missed the boat. -Purchased sight unseen in October, 2018 from another member here. -The car started it's life in California, was shipped to Florida by the P.O., and then I shipped it back to California. I was living in Germany at the time, so the plan was to store it with my family and make trips to work on it whenever I found the time. -I purchased it as a roller since I'd always planned to do a swap anyway. It came with a lot of T3 and AZC suspension bits already in place, most of which I sold.

I'm still planning on sticking an RB26 in this so thought a build thread would be a good idea. The first few posts are just copied: 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.

Hi If anyone on here has previous experience or has undertaken such a project I would be grateful for their advice and help in the following. I am building a street able and possibly a light competition car. Something to have fun with. What I imagine is a high revving, very responsive engine with uprated brakes and suspension and a stiffened chassis. I am looking for around 180 to 200 wheel horsepower. The type of car that is not stupidly quick, but something that you can rev out and enjoy pushing through the bends and enjoy through the whole rev range. Not an all out track car with all the power at the top end. I have built a few projects my self and am looking to build the engine myself. At the moment I have my 280z with the stock L28 engine with stock EFI system. I have got it running but don't like the way the engine performs. It seems to have a bit of torque but is sluggish/lazy. It is not a free revving, spirited engine. This could be because it has lost its performance as its old and has an out dated EFI system but from what I have read the L28 is a long stroke engine so not high revving and responsive. This has led me to consider, from what I can see are the 3 options. I want to keep the car naturally aspirated. 1. Rebuild my L28 and increase compressing as from research its a low compression motor. Also add triple Webbers and some cylinder head work (CAM etc.) I am not to hopeful as from what I can tell the L28 is a long stroke engine so even after this work it wont be high revving and will not be very responsive. Also the stock 5 speed gearbox does not seem great for this application. 2. Source an RB25DE as I want to keep the car naturally aspirated. From my research these engines rev higher and make about 150 wheel horsepower. So with this engine I may get away with a simple refresh and possibly some cylinder head work, cams etc to squeeze a bit more power out of it. I will need new mounts, prop shaft, wiring loom etc. 3. Source an RB26 and turn it into a naturally aspirated engine just like Sung Kang's build. This seems to be the more expensive option rather than the RB25. I have done some research and it seems in order to raise the compression of the RB26 I would need to install high compression pistons and stronger rods, change the CAMS, New springs and possibly port and polish the head. I would want to produce an engine that has performance through the rev range though and not all at the top end. I will also need a wiring harness kit, new sump to fit the S30 chassis, ECU and prop shaft made. I calculated this all to cost, including the purchase of the engine and gearbox (RB25 gearbox) to be about £7k if I build it my self. So if anyone has any experience in this it would be great to hear their opinion and what they have done. Many thanks Paul

Gather around folks I'm building my dream car. Some may know me here, some may not. I've been building nissans for 15 years now. My last personal build started in 2009 on this forum but I stopped documenting after 2011. I just sold my entire setup to my best friend, which I also sold my 2nd 240z too. So I'm starting to document a new chapter in my build. I tore down my black car and we are completely rebuilding my friends orange one better than ever. The original setup was amazing, never let me down. R34 NEO motor, GT35R, Tein coilovers with edfc, clsd, axles, wilwoods.... etc. This brings us to my new build and it's current state on my rotisserie waiting to get massacred. I'll post some photos and get this ball rolling Donor car was an ever so gracious R33 GTR Vpec, 90% of parts came from the same car. I will be grafting front and rear sub frames into my Z chassis, including the AWD system, Brembos, suspensions (tein), Axles, Diff, etc from the GTR... I've even gone ahead and gotten the GTR pedel set and Master so she should feel as GTR as possible from inside. Steering column, steering rack all modern and hydraulic (and left hand drive ) I've collected 90% of the bizarre hardware associated with the awd system too. Also will be doing GTR gauges, chassis strengthening, new wiring, wheels, so on and so forth.... My old car was quite the track beast, I intend to make this one deadlier than ever. More so I just love building so I'm doing it Grab some popcorn, this ones going to take a minute!

Hey everybody! So eight months ago I bought my dream car for my dream project. It’s a 1974 Datsun 260Z, but it’s no ordinary 260z. Here goes the story. One night I was just browsing Craigslist, looking for a possible candidate for a special build. I came upon an ad that had few words and no pictures at all - pretty much just his name and phone number. The next day I gave him a call to get a little more info on the car, and he told me the story of how he bought it from a friend 10 years ago. His friend was at a gas station and accidentally tapped a pole - literally tapped, only leaving a small dent in the fender. He didn’t want to get it fixed so he sold it to his friend (the guy I bought it from). Right after receiving it he started to take the front end apart to do a V6 engine swap, but he blew his back out right as he got things apart. So for the past 10 years it has been sitting on jack stands in a shipping container, untouched. The car has (I kid you not) ZERO rust on the body. The only spot that will need attention is a circle on the passenger floorboard, no bigger than my fist. He decided to sell it due to medical bills and the such, and EVERYTHING he has goes with it. That includes a full 280z parts car, new weatherstripping, full interior, extra dashes, disk brake kits, bushings, g-nose, etc. etc. I went up there a few weeks later with a trailer and dug the car out from where it had sat for so long. I brought the car home, cleaned all of the rat turds out of it, then pushed it into the garage. That pretty much brings us up to date... I had done a few things like starting to pull the original motor apart, but nothing significant. For the most part the car has just been collecting dust for 8 months while I worked on other projects I had gotten myself into. One thing I forgot to mention is that the car is VIN #49. I know that collectability-wise the 240z is the most sought after, but it feels pretty special to have one of the first 50 cars sent to the US from a one year car. That brings me to the struggle of not knowing where to take this build - completely stock, lightly modified, or balls to the wall nuts. I'm still not 100% sure where I want to go with it but I think it'll be in the "lightly modified" range. In the end I think somewhere around 300hp would be perfect for this car and chassis. If some of you think that's still a bit much, I was originally considering around 800hp! So now you're really caught up on the project. Below is a video I made for my YouTube channel of me going over the car and explaining the project a bit. If you'd like to see video updates of the car subscribe to the channel! I'll try to update this thread but I primarily post on YouTube. Also, if you'd like to please share the video with all your car friends! I'm really trying to grow my channel and need all the eyes and support I can get. If you made it to the end, thanks for reading and enjoy the video! -Austin P.S. If you have a better project name than "The Datsun Build" than please let me know

Okay guys I have a 1993 NA z32 and obviously that isn’t fun enough so I want to swap engines but don’t know which would be easier and more practical to do the RB25 or the RB26 or should I just take it the easy way out and go VG30DETT?

I've just spent some length of time trying to figure out the engine/transmission fitment issues I'm having at the moment and have hit a bit of a wall so I'm hoping someone on here can spot where I'm going wrong. Car is a US spec '71 240z, engine is a BNR34 RB26, transmission is from an R33 GTST (RB25), engine and gearbox mounts are from McKinney Motorsport. I fitted the McKinney engine mounts to the engine, then the McKinney gearbox poly mount to the gearbox, then bolted the engine & transmission together. I lowered the whole assembly into the car, and using an engine leveler I got it sitting roughly square and level in the car. I found though that I couldn't get the engine to clear the bonnet latch bracket. I thought it must have been something to do with a clearance issue; it kind of felt like the engine needed to go backwards for the mounts to sit on the subframe but it couldn't quite get "under" the bonnet latch bracket as the engine clashed with it. I struggled with this for a while so tried a different approach. I unbolted the subrame from the car and lowered the engine down to get the rear of the engine sort of under the bonnet latch bracket. I then bolted the subrame onto the engine and bolted the gearbox mount to the poly bush. This seemed to work pretty well as it was much easier to get the engine into roughly the right place. I then lifted the whole lot back up again so that the gearbox mount lined up perfectly with the bolt holes in the chassis, but somehow the problem with the bonnet latch bracket remained, it STILL clashed with the engine. I can't seem to figure out what's going wrong here? You can see from the pictures that the following all seem to be correct: The gearbox is pretty central in the transmission tunnel. The engine is pretty central in the engine bay. The engine mounts are adjusted so that the engine would be in its forward most position. The engine/gearbox mounts all seem to be fitted correctly. But somehow, the RBs breather still seems to be butted up hard against the latch bracket. It's odd, because the only way for the engine to clear the bracket would be to either move the engine forward or downward. I can't see that this is possible though because its position along the length of the car is somewhat fixed by the gearbox mount and it can't really go any further forward anyway without the front pullyeys hitting the anti-roll bar, that means the engine can only really go down and away from it. However, this isn't possible either. You can see from the pictures that the engine is fixed to the subframe, but the subrame isn't bolted to the chassis. This is because it can't come up any higher because of how hard the breather is butted against the bracket. I've tried everything. All the bolts are done up finger tight so that the whole assembly can be "jiggled" around to try and get it to line up right but it doesn't. Can anyone suggest where I may be going wrong? Any help would be much appreciate, I've been really struggling with this for hours!

Hey guys been a member on here for a while but haven't been very active. Anyway for a little background, I live in Barbados in the Caribbean which is a pretty small island. Despite the obvious benefits of living on a tropical island like all year good weather and lovely beaches, our duties on vehicles here are crazy (over 200+%) and also there are serious restrictions on vehicle importation for instance nothing older than 4 years which automatically rules out any s30 Zs. However I have always wanted one of these cars so I was left with the only legal option of importing a shell or basic chassis and building a car from scratch. I spent some time scouring the net for just that and finally found a 280z in pretty good condition and the owner was willing to strip it to the point I wanted. He had done a basic restoration a few years back to the point of primer but it was too rough a job for my purpose so I decided a full strip down from the ground up was in order and at the same time I would modify to suit. One of the issues I faced was that there were no other driving Zs on the road and just a couple S30 shells lying around and since the body came missing most parts I would have to educate myself thoroughly on the workings of the car. Also because of the unreliable work ethic of many persons available I decided that for the fun and general experience of it I would undertake the restoration and modification almost exclusively along with a good friend. This naturally required somewhere to work and the tools to get the job done, so my first order, even before I had the car was to start getting the tools I didn't already have. It's been an on and off 3 year project so far and still not done. The car in it's original state when I first got it. Looked decent from far but far from great... Of course after stripping some rust issues were found but all in all was pretty good. After the rust areas were dealt with the next plan was to convert the car from LHD to RHD since that is the side of the road we drive on here. Finding donor parts prooved to be a bit of an issue so we eventually decided that the only real way was to fabricate everything from scratch. So we made up a couple templates and pulled out our spot weld remover bit and got to work. The next step was getting everything stripped down to metal and epoxy coated. Best way for this would be a rotisserie so that was our next project, building one. Then the fun could begin... After hearing alot of horror stories about 'professional' sandblasting services I decided to blast the car myself with a small blaster from eastwood and some glass. It was NOT fun. But the results were rewarding.

After finally taking delivery of my 1972 240z from America, it's now appropriate to start a build thread! After being contacted by a fellow forum member with an unfinished project on his hands, money was sent over the interwebs and a few months later, the car arrived in the UK ready for collection. The car was a half finished RB26 swapped top end track car. It stood with the long block sat in the car, and a full Arizona Z Car track package installed. The underside of the car had been shotblasted & a half cage welded in. Most Z parts were included, however would need restoring/replacnig and generally rebuilding. The car from the seller Unknowing what to expect, we turned up with a trailer and loaded her on. The car was pretty much as expected, other than the weather had taken its toll and unforunately most untreated surfaces had succumed to quite a bit of surface rust. It looked a bit sorry for itself, but a quick test with some scotchbright does indicate its very light surface rust only and should come off without too much effort. There was also no steering rack connected which made loading the interesting! The bonnet (hood), windscreen (windshield) and boot lid (trunk/tail gate?) were all strapped down with duct tape which we didn't trust to hold on the motorway. This was not your knock-off chinese crap, obviously soviet-spec adhesives were used in this stuff as it kindly ripped off a majority of the paint when removed! Tucked up in the garage after a long day The intent for this car will be a track/race orientated build whilst retaining road legal status. Wish me luck

Hi All, Well I am finally getting close to building another Z. Now that the prices have risen 10 fold or so, I figure I'll spend my money... LOL. This would be my 4th Z car. So, I am looking into doing a complete build on an S30, probably a 76-78, as I just cant justifying tearing up a 240 now that the values are through the roof. I am looking at a complete build, engine, tranny, suspension, brakes, etc, etc. I am thinking about a few different motor configurations. Ideally I would like to see RWHP in the 375 to 425 area, and torque somewhat commensurate with those numbers. I have thought about a NA motor, but not so sure I will see those numbers from an NA motor. As I hate turbo lag, but love the top end of a turbo, I was pondering a twin scroll type of a set up. My budget is in the $15K to $20k area for the motor. As many of you on this site have much more experience in this area than I do I would love to get some input from you as to what your thoughts are on this project and which way would you go, NA 3.2 motor, slightly built RB series motor, single twin scroll or twin turbo? Also, if I decide to go RB who is a good RB engine builder out there, I am in the Washington state area. I should add that I am not looking for a drag car, but something more like a solid GT car that can also handle some light track day fun. Thank you in advance for your input.

Hey all, Long time lurker, first-time poster. I am currently in the process of building an early 240z with a rb26 in it. I have just finished rebuilding my motor and mating it to the rb25 gearbox so I am in the process of getting it all mounted up in place. I am using the CXracing mount kit. I would have gone the McKinney kit but unfortunately here in Australia the dollar was low at the time of ordering so this was the only affordable one. Anyway, I have got the engine mounted up and am having trouble getting the gearbox up in the tunnel as the speedo sensor is interfering with the ears. I'm not sure the best way to go about fixing this issue. I have seen plenty of pics of peoples mods of notching out the bracket with the other style of tunnel mounting but I can't see any solutions that utilise the cx mounts I have. Has anyone come across and solved this problem at all? I have uploaded 2 pics of the interference, and also one of the mounts that I have that attaches between the ears. I have already tried just moving the engine forwards but the mounts are already set such that the engine is as far forward as possible. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Hey Forum, I would like to share my project . Before three years I was planning to do AWD 240z. Bought 240z 72 without engine and gtr32 half cut , Skyline R32 - GTR , Engine RB 26 - Manual 4WD. After long search found out very costly with less potential benefits build. Here is my progress so far. Started installing rb26 engine with rb25 gearbox rb25 oil pan cut and fabricate metal adapter then welded it on oil pan

I want to try to do an engine swap in my 280z, hopefully to a vr38dett from a nissan gtr.. Does anyone know if this is possible? The engine is a 3.8 v6 if you didnt know. I havent seen anything about anyone trying it before. If that doesnt work, id do an rb26(i6), or an ls1(v8). Opinions:thoughts/knowledge is appreciated.

I need help getting dimensions for a few parts of an RB20. I currently don't have one or have the current funding to buy one. So I need help to get the following dimensions: cylinder head intake ports, cylinder head valves, cylinder head intake manifold bolt pattern, cylinder placement on block, and spark plug placement on cylinder head. I know I just need to get my hands on one but thats not to easy in the USA. This is so I can make a basic 3D soildworks model to run some solidworks simulations for both of my current projects. Any help is greatly appreciated thank you.

Hey guys and gals, wanted to update you on some new Raw Brokerage goodies: Our new billet merge collector manifolds are everything our traditional manifolds are plus more. Made out of one piece 304 stainless steel billet leaves no room for error with runner transition into the turbo. These manifolds allow you to continue to retain both power steering and A/C and clear up to 4" downpipes on both LHD and RHD chassis. Good for those with 240sx RB swaps and upgraded Skyline chassis'. For more details: http://www.rawbrokerage.com/raw-brokerage-billet-twin-scroll-top-mount-turbo-manifold-rb20-rb25-rb26/ We'll have a S30Z specific model made if there is enough interest. Let me know. Thanks for your continued Raw Brokerage support. Together we can continue to create and provide bigger and badder RB20 RB25 RB26 and RB30 parts for the community of enthusiasts!

I am looking to buy a 240z RB26. 90%-100% complete car, engine issues must be already worked out ~400 HP looking to spend between 20-30k This has been my life long dream. Grew up with four different ones as a kid, have owned two myself Currently I have a '73 240z with N42 block and P90 Head 3 45DCOE Webbers with custom linkage and a cold air intake Electric fuel pump with fuel pressure regulator Steel braided fuel lines Ceramic headers 2.5" exhaust all the way to the resonator and Magnaflow muffler Aluminum radiator with electric fan 280z rearend 1" front sway bar with polyurathane bushings in front Stiffer springs all around and slightly lower ride height Perportioning valve Toyota 4 piston calipers and 280z Discs in front 240sx calipers and 280z discs in the rear Konig Imagine 17" wheels Recent platinum metallic grey paint Shaved markers H4 headlight conversion BRE Spoiler and License plate front air dam Wiring and weather stripping all redone No interior installed, full roll cage waiting installation Tired of projects, I want more

I'm trying to decide whether or not to build this car up with a rb26dett, l28et, or leave it stock. I have all three motors in my garage. I know that I'm asking on a forum that is all about modifications but all of the paperwork I received with it makes it a tougher decision for me. So, what do you guys think?

I was thinking of buying some ebay dump pipes for my 240z rb26 project, was wondering if anyone is or has attempted running these on their cars? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Skyline-R32-R33-R34-GTR-RB26DETT-Turbo-Dump-Pipes-Turbo-Outlet-Elbow-/230925199262?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item35c436e79e Its hard to tell from the pictures if these are going to take up much more space than the oem dumps, there is not a lot of extra room between the dumps and the steering shaft as is. The ebay post says that they are for rhd cars only but I don't think that means a lot to hybrid z members lol. Any opinions would be appreciated. -kevin

I have been searching for an rb25 rwd tranny locally (in canada) to use in my rb26 240z swap and have found nothing but rediculiously high prices, one guy quoted me $1800 for just tranny lol. There are currently a few trannys on ebay for about $700 + probably $200 shipping that i could buy but its also a bit high. There is a local guy out here that Iv been talking to that says he could take my awd tranny and cut off the transfer case and weld it up to make it a rwd only application for $250. I did a bit of research and it seems like its been done before and works. Would like to ask you guys if once the transfer case is cut off are there any major differences in this tranny and the rb25 one, specificly in size, weight and length? I bought a complete car to get the engine from and Iv test drove it many times down the back alley lol, and the tranny shifts properly so atleast i know everything is already working. Are there any reasons why i shouldn't go this route that i havnt thought of?