78 RB26 260Z

[EF Ian]

I wasn't happy with my stamped engine plaque so I got one fully custom made by laser engraving:

 

 

 

 

 

Looks way better:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got a new mascot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got my plastic tail light chrome trim surrounds re-chromed, they aren't perfect but much better than what was there, I've got 2 spare sets now so I'll send the best away to a different company and hope I get a better job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was hating my rusty rear bumper bolts, so I've changed them to titanium ones, 12g vs 32g, only saved 80 grams overall, but hey, I guess every little helps, if I changed every bolt on the car to titanium I'm sure it would save a couple of kg, but I'm not a millionaire so that won't be happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd been running Hawk HP+ pads which were working great, but they were very dusty and it was destroying my wheels so I've changed my pads to Pagid RS29's, so far they seem just as good, they are still dusty but not as bad as the Hawks and the dust seems less corrosive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a nice model of an S30, even has a similar intercooler to mine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tail light panel was looking a bit tired so time for a refresh:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1 tuff z]

I too was running the Hawk HP+ and found them extremely dusty & corrosive.  Switched this season to Raybestos ST-43.  Significantly less dust, easy to modulate, less pedal effort nearing max braking and easy on the rotors with minimal pad wear!

[EF Ian]

I'm lucky to have some great driving roads where I live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Won car of the show at a recent show:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changed the location of my front plate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got an external mic for my GoPro so I tried it out, it was too close to the exhaust so once its hard on boost I was getting some distortion, next time I'll have it further from the exhaust:

 

Low Boost Run:

 

 

 

 

Took her to the drift track but it turns out my sump baffling isn't adequate and I was experiencing starvation about 1/4 way through the corners so I called it day but through a few circles first:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've made plans to upgrade my baffling massively and will be suing these rubber flaps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I removed my bumpers for re-chroming and I quite like the bumper-less look at the rear:

 

 

 

 

 

I've got a new stroage location for my cars so I can keep them both in air chambers:

 

 

 

 

 

I received my custom overflow tank from Pro Alloy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning a few things, will be upgrading to adjustable rear arms soon, oil sump upgrade, get boost by gear working for first gear takeoff. I'm also looking to run wider rear wheels, I'm thinking I can run 8.5" wheels with 245 tyres and I'm looking to use Watanabe wheels and will be taking he extra space from the inside, will end up close to the coilover but should be do-able.

[Greeko]

That is probably the most impressive resto mods I have ever seen! Good show man..wow!

I hate to ask what the bits and pieces totaled up to...but wow she looks great!

[torynich]

What brand are your front air dam and rear wing?

[boosted300]

Wow, some really juicy content here...

 

Absolutely gorgeous build brother, way to go!

[EF Ian]

18 hours ago, torynich said:

What brand are your front air dam and rear wing?

Not sure on exact brand, but they both came from MSA and I am happy with both of them if you are thinking about them. 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, boosted300 said:

Wow, some really juicy content here...

 

Absolutely gorgeous build brother, way to go!

Thank-you very much fellow RB-Z brother.

 

 

 

 

Hope to get this thread updated this week.

[primaz]

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?

[EF Ian]

Thanks.

 

 

14 minutes ago, primaz said:

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?

Only in America.

 

In the UK we got the 260Z up to 78 (actuallty after 78 but they stopped making them in 78, I think the last were sold in 79 which is when mine was bought), because we didn't have all the power sapping emissions shit on the L26 it made around 160hp so we never needed a 280Z which was not released here.

[EF Ian]

Just a few updates since I've not added anything here in a while.

 

 

My Custom Blueprint, ordered this in A3 size but it was so nice I had to order another in size A2, good news is I can now have one in my hall and one in my Garage. Plan to get one for my Civic also so I can have them on the garage wall behind where the cars live.

 

 

 

 

 

Changed some rubbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overflow tank fits perfectly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Received some lovely parts from T3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the hubs won't fit without spacers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitted them to find they leave the disc sitting about 8mm further out than the stock hubs so I had to remove them again. T3 have now sent me a spacer which should leave the discs sitting correctly. Not sure if I will use them yet though as its seems that almost no wheels will fit them without a spacer, does anybody know if they will fit Watanabes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T3 sent the spacers to me, I had asked for new bearings also because I had to fit the first new set back into my old hubs, I had expected to pay for these but they sent everything for free, I'm always happy with their customer service, top quality parts and great customer service. 

 

 

 

Working on a carbon fibre splitter

 

 

 

 

 

Got myself a VBOX, yet to try it out properly but will post results once I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided my washer bottle was letting my bay down, so I decided to have a nicer one made to my specs:

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't cheap but its a work of engineering art and respect of the skill levels required to make it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upgraded my carbon wrapped taillight panels to real ones, didn't want the shiny look so went for satin finish. They look good but the mounting tabs for the lights are really really weak and half broke off so I am thinking I am planning to real carbon skin my stock ones if I can't repair the tabs with some Sikaflex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by EF Ian

[EF Ian]

Some random Photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some interior shots courtesy of Speedhunters: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had a great day driving about with some mates in out jap cars, shooting some video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKPQeYRkjYU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EF Ian]

Then this happened. 

 

 

Someone old lady pulled out in front of me in a 60mph limit, I had no chance of stopping in time. Then she claimed it was my fault later on, I didn't want to loose my no claims and wanted the car repaired properly so I took her to court and Won of course, but it took over a year since the accident. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its not that bad but still is about £10,000 of damage, the airdam, bumper, bonnet, headlight bucket, headlight case, headlight, headlight cover, wing, indicator front, indicator side, grill, diffuser plate and two wheels where they touched the kerb are all damaged, as is part of the inner panel meaning the engine will have to be removed to straighten and repair.

 

 

 

So, the car hasn't been on the road in over a year,  between breaking my fibula and tibia wakeboarding to getting my first house and my Job commitments I just haven't had time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In good news however I bought my first house, and it has the all important triple garage, so I now have somewhere to store and work on my cars. That was the main reason for going with this house tbh, petrol head prioritys. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The garage isn't much inside at the moment, but I have big plans for it, once the Datsun is sorted again it will be my next project before I can start another car project. Plan to extend the two right side bays longer to allow room for cabinets and benches with room to work on a car all round while it is on a scissor lift which will be recessed into the floor. Walls will be painted, floor will be tiled, insulation added to the roof, the two left bays will get a loft for storage and I'll fit flat led lighting panels recessed into the ceiling throughout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got most of the parts needed to fix the Datsun now, I decided I would try and cut some weight

 

So I got Marugen Shoukai FRP wings, amazing quality and only weigh 2.15kg each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted a carbon fibre Bonnet, but nearly all available are actually fibreglass with a cosmetic skin of carbon. I wanted full dry carbon. Only two options I could see were Topstage Composites and Restored.JP. I went for the restored one, it weighs 5.7kg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside will stay carbon, topside will be body colour.

 

 

 

 

Skillard full length grill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided recently that I would go all out, so the whole car is going back to bare metal, only rust is a few spots in the floor plans, this will be repaired along with some more seam welding in the rear, some minor mods in the engine bay and I will be extending the frame rails to join the rear sub-frame. Currently trying to decide if I want to add a half cage or not.

 

 

Stripping in progress. The sound deadening was a pain to remove, even with dry ice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plan to re make the interior wiring while building her up again. Work should be commencing when I am on leave in July. So can't wait to drive her again.

 

 

 

 

My sump needs better baffling and the flange isn't flat so I plan to either start from scratch or cut off the flange and re make the current one with a new flange, wings and an improved trap door setup. This will be done while the engine is out the car for the body work.

 

Got some RB26 flanges ready to go.

 

Edited April 18, 2018 by EF Ian

[boosted300]

Wow...thats quite an update! 

 

So much to absorb...

 

Awesome washer bottle...

 

I got sick to my stomach seeing the damage to your car...

 

But most importantly...congratulations on your house! That's a tremendous milestone! 

[EF Ian]

10 hours ago, boosted300 said:

Wow...thats quite an update! 

 

So much to absorb...

 

Awesome washer bottle..

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, boosted300 said:

I got sick to my stomach seeing the damage to your car...

Not as sick as I felt I'm sure. I was meant to be heading to the Biggest Jap car show in the UK the next day and I'd got a space on the Top 20 arena, so gutted I didn't make it, had the ferry and B&B's booked and a friend arranged to come other with me, properly gutting.

 

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, boosted300 said:

But most importantly...congratulations on your house! That's a tremendous milestone! 

Thanks, its nice to have your own place, and I'm super happy to now have somewhere my own to work on the cars inside, no more lying on wet ground in the rain for me.

 

 

 

 

[EF Ian]

Not been an update in a while, so here it goes:

 

 

 

Car is pretty much ready to go, just got to drop the diff and thats all thats left to take off with still leaving it a rolling shell:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carbon hood fits well (it wont be staying that colour)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decided on which shop to use for the work. Its heading over to Restoshack as I believe they will do a great job on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by EF Ian

[EF Ian]

The car is with Restoshack and work is underway, currently waiting on it getting blasted and unfortunately the blaster can't do it until Mid August. Before that happens mounts will be made for the rotisserie, anything needing shaved in the engine bay will be removed, and underneath the underseal will all be scraped off.

 

 

 

On her way to England

 

 

 

 

At the other side:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some part updates:

 

Got a wiper motor from a Honda Civic to refurb, this should be a decent upgrade to the original motor, not that I plan to need the wipers much.

 

 

 

 

 

Converted my gauge wiring harness to a quick disconnect autosport bulkhead connector and added an oil temperature sensor as I stupidly forgot to include one originally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will be refurbing and using a finned diff cover to make sure my OS Giken CLSD doesn't get too hot.

 

 

 

 

The intercooler will be converted to Vibrant HD clamps

 

 

 

 

Will be upgrading the drop mounts and dog bone to these billet units. It does annoy me that the caps are black so I will be changing them to gunmetal grey, at the moment I am thinking that all the suspension parts underneath will go gunmetal grey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have sound deadening ready for the rebuild:

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by EF Ian

[EF Ian]

Stripdown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EF Ian]

Stripped and mounted to a trolley:



Most of this lot won't be going back on. It will look a whole lot nice afterwards. Finned diff, adjustable arms, billet drop mounts and dogbone and the moustache bar and driveshafts will be refreshed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test fitting the super light wings, these things way nothing, I want to reinforce them a bit so they will end up slightly heavier but will still be a decent weight saving over stock, coupled with the dry carbon bonnet and that should save about 16kg from the front end, possibly more.

 

 

 

 

 

And one thing I messed up on during engine bay resto, didn't remove the bonnet hinge mounts and this was underneath. You learn from your mistake, not making any mistakes like that this time, everything has come off.

 

 

[EF Ian]

 

I will be re-making my rear interior wiring harness and tidying up the front one.

 

Trying to decide if its worth the huge amount of money to upgrade to a PDM such as the ECU Master PMU 16. Does anyone have advice/opinions on this?

[Nelsonian]

Looking forward to seeing this build progress. I know how much of a stickler for detail you are and can very much relate.

I had my finned diff cover "Vapor Blasted"  and it came out looking almost as fresh as new as opposed to traditional media blasting that would leave a more dulled finish. Before and after pics for a visual.