DREW RBZ Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 (edited) Hello everyone. I am starting a build page for my new project. For those who dont know me my last car was a 1970 Datsun 240z powered by an RB26DETT motor. Unfortunately the car was written off in an accident in late 2010. I managed to salvage the entire drivetrain, the majority of the suspension, the Porsche braking system and the interior from the wreck. I then began a search for a clean 240z chassis for the rebuild. I managed to find an immaculate 1972 chassis down South and travelled down to pick it up in early 2011. The car had absolutely ZERO rust and had been in dry storage since the 1990's. Once back home I stripped the chassis down to the last nut and bolt, removed all factory undercoating and sent it off to get blasted and a coat of epoxy primer inside an out. The plan for the car is to build it for the street and show with the occasional track day. The car will be flared, the chassis strengthened throughout (The built RB26 motor that is going into the car put down 540 horsepower at the wheels at 17psi)and a street friendly cage added. September 2011 - Car is stripped and loaded onto trailer to get blasted and coat of epoxy primer. Back from sandblasting and a coat of epoxy primer inside and out. The vast majority of this build is being undertaken by a good friend of mine Paul BARBER. Paul has built quite a few high end cars (drag,show, street and track)and is an absolutely incredible fabricator/welder. The paint will be done by a local body/paint shop "Daves Auto Body" run by the Meehan family. They did my last car and they did a fantastic job. I havent decided on wheels and tires yet but they will be WIDE!! Here are a couple of options I am pondering. There are a few guys on here with the CCW Classics and they look very very nice. The Weld RTS-S71 are fairly new offerings and they apepar to be nicely built, quite light and are a nice deep dish 5 spoke..I like this look as well. Weld RTS-S71 black chrome centre.. CCW classics... View of rear left of car. Stock fender cut out, inner and outer fended welded together, fittings for fender flare screws welded in. Photo from inside of hatch of steel section welded in to mate inner and outer fenders once stock material cut out for flares Test fitting front flare prior to cutting. Will be moving it up slightly. Test fitting rear...looking good. Paul will be stretching the bottom part of the existing original fender to match the lines of the flare. Pics will be posted when this is completed. Passenger side flares fitted...Will be moving the front flare up a little bit. Driver side flares fitted...Will be moving front flare up a little bit. Edited October 21, 2011 by DREW RBZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitz17 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Neat work! Looking forward to seeing this beast's progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Sorry to hear of the old Z's demise. Got any pics of it? Don't think I've ever seen you post any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 As per request here are a couple of pictures of my previous RBZ - 1970 240z - Written off September 2010. Engine bay - dynoed at 540rwhp at 17psi. Pic of the car leaving the bodyshop... I dont have the heart to post a pic of the car after meeting a concrete wall...so I will just leave it with good memories.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 (edited) Now onto what we are doing to strenghen the chassis. The decision was to completely remove the stock frame rails and weld in 1x3" .120 wall steel rails. In the photos you will see that the rail is welded right into the floor where the old rail was..protrudes 1/2 inch on each side of the floor of the vehicle. The rail continues on and is welded to the subframe. In addition an additional section of steel goes off at a 90degree angle from the frame rail and is welded to front and rear of the rocker. Close up of front right frame rail with section going to rocker and start of 2.5x2.5 wall steel going to front of car (where TC rod connects). Sorry for poor explanation here...hope the photo is self-explanatory. Close up of driver side floor - Frame rail and tie in to rocker. Rail then continues forward of the firewall area as 2.5x2.5 .120 wall steel. More detail of chassis strengthening at front of car. Stock seat brackets removed and new lowered sections welded in. Aluminum recaro seat brackets will be affixed to these new sections. Seats are Recaro Pole SPG's Edited October 21, 2011 by DREW RBZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 (edited) Now...onto some cage work...Car will be primarily street driven but will be used for the odd "friendly" track day. Tubing used is dom seamless 1 1/2" .120 wall. Close up of rear of hatch. Tubing welded to 6x6" 1/8 steel plate. Under the plate is the rear subframe. Cagework viewed through passenger side of car. Still to be added is tubing along the side of the door..will be relatively low down to provide easy access in and out of the car. Yes... what you see in the middle is the meth tank for the methanol injection...vented to outside of car. This is not 100% meth..it is a 50/50mix..from what I understand not much different than having windshield washer fluid in the car...discuss??? Also in the photo is a custom titanium strut tower bar by Rick Wong. Tubing behind driver seat...welded to 1/8" 6x6" steel plate. Under the plate is the subframe. View of tubing from rear of vehicle. Tubing welds behind seat area Edited October 22, 2011 by DREW RBZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Now onto the aluminum fuel cell. Paul cut the spare tire holder and stock floor out of hatch area. Square steel tubing used for the support for cell and added rigidity to the rear of the car. New steel welded into floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snailed Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 That is the most rust free 240z I have ever seen pictures of. Very nice find. I guess for the street it doesn't matter but I'm pretty sure that main hoop won't pass tech for any racing class with so many degrees of bend in it. And holy crap that's a lot of water/meth to carry around. And yes winter mixes for washer fluid are 40 to 50% meth so it's the same thing less the blue coloring. I wouldn't think twice about it and I wouldn't bother with a vent either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Some more progress... cage work Rear subframe connectors Welding/cleaning up tunnel...will be carpeted and custom aluminum console/switch panel fabricated: Paul and I unloading the RB powerplant ready for fitting...More than one use for a backhoe! Motor put down 540rwhp at 17psi at Almasi Tuning in Montreal, Quebec. Fully built; HKS step 2 cams, 2860r -5 turbos,external peterson oil pump, tomei downpipes, 750cc injectors, methanol injection. Paul stretched the rear stock quarter at the bottom to flow nicely with the flare. NEXT UP...set the motor and tranny in the car, set the proper angle; fabricate custom transmission mounts and install driveshaft loop. Stay tuned!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss240 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Really coming along nicely. Can't wait to see it completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Transmission mount and Driveshaft loop...Driveline angles set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Into the trailer and off to the bodyshop. Shop is going to start the car at the end of the week. I am going to be going with a gunmetal colour. Here is one of the cars that I am using as inspiration. I do not know who the owner of this car is...would love to know more about it if anyone can chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline240z Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Hey andrew, will you be using the oil cooler? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline240z Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Hi Andrew Can you get the part number off the bell housing for me, need to put a 300zxtt trany together to fit the rb block. Thanks Rick PM back at wong218@shaw.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74BeastZ Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Car is beautiful man. Awesome attention to detail on the strengthening of the chassis. I will be in that process at some point. Keep up the great work!! Whats your expected weight of the car when done?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Good work so far, will be good to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) Its been a while since my last update. The car has been in the bodyshop and is now block primered in preparation for paint. The entire underside of the vehicle was also done and will also be painted body colour...it is as nice as the topside of the car! This was a very time consuming process to say the least. View of the front of the car without urethane airdam affixed. Driver side view...the rear BAMF wide flare is bolted up in this photo...they have been slightly modified to fit perfectly. In addition the front and rear lower part of the quarter panel has been stretched slightly and beat into shape to mate nicely with the flare and to carry the line of the flare seamlessly. View of the rear of the car. Dual strengthened exhaust cutouts and custom sheetmetal spoiler. Passenger side view without flares bolted up. Rear passenger side view without flare bolted up. View of the underside of the car. Zeddfinding floor pans were added as they are less flimsy than stock..Custom 1x3" rectangular .120 wall tubing was used for frame rail strengthening. Crossmembers and other chassis strengthening also completed as described earlier in post. Entire underside will be painted bodycolour. Interior floor, hatch area and tunnel will be sprayed with sound deadener product and Fatmat extreme will be used sparingly inside vehicle on firewall, doors and other selected areas. Rollcage will be painted body colour. Now...as for bodycolour...here is what has been chosen from one of my all time favourite cars..: The paint code is Nissan KAC...it is known as titanium grey or alternatively as desert shadow metallic. Edited March 6, 2012 by DREW RBZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 I realize that i am late with the thanks but appreciate the encouragement and nice comments sent my way. I am not sure of a few variables at this time in order to respond to questions as to final weight etc...have to wait until it is all done. As for weight...I would imagine that there will be some added poundage as a result of sound deadening and some of the cage work/chassis stiffening. This will primarily be a street car so I am looking for it to be a bit quieter and civilized than a "race car". In the meantime I took a shot of some of the goodies that I have recently accumulated that will be going on the car. I will be using the coilover suspension and braking system from my last car however will be adding front and rear Techno Toy Tuning adjustable control arms and adjustable T/C rods, some Arizona Zcar aluminum bling bling and some checkered flag racing 5 lug chromoly hubs. More pics will follow as I get the bits and pieces sorted and cleaned up before starting the build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Nice parts. I reckon that colour will look great. Good choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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