Zubtle 74' 260z. Better...Faster...Stronger.

[Zubtle]

The best part of a new car build. Starting its build thread!

 

You can find my intro over in the new members section and the story about my 74 260 and the 76 280 parts car I have. 

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/123714-double-trouble-my-new-zs/

 

So, my 74 260z. I just started demo last night. Finally getting enough room in the new garage for the project as it was full of boxes from moving in a month ago.

 

Plans will change a million times over the next few years for sure, but these are my main points and what I'm pretty sure will happen.

 

* Fully strip the car down to the shell and restore. 

* Strengthen the shell where needed. Research to be done on where. Do it right the first time as I'll never want to flip her upside down again. 

* I'm looking at a VQ swapp. VQ35 or 37. 

* 6 speed to pair up of course. 

* Full susp upgrade, rear disc, stiff and agile.

* New paint and layout of course. 

* Fully custom interior. Function, light, but sexy. 

* Built for agility and experience. Daily driver reliability, but mostly a weekend car and track fun. I refuse to build a straight line car. 

 

Build purpose? To put a smile on my face and enjoy the project with my boys and wife. 

 

Now what I have always dreamed of is a Rb26 build, yeah like everyone else, but I just can't get over the weight. The reason I LOVE the 240z is because of the ride experience due to driver placement, that loooong nose that can accommodate nearly any dream engine, and the car is LIGHT. So sexy and light. A buddy of mine spent years dropping every engine Nissan made into a 240sx, and after he finally had his RB25 dream monster, he hated the freight train he felt he bolted to the front of the car. So heavy. He then went VQ. 

 

So I'm sticking to light. Light everything. Plus, you can get a VQ any day of the week for next to nothing. Even here in Alaska I am sure I could source a VQ out of our limited junk yards. Of course I'll be looking for one out of a G35-37 or 350z-370z paired with a 6 speed. 

 

I have owned both a 2006 350Z and 2009 370z 6 speeds. Moderate performance upgrades on both. 

 

Not sure on if to go Vq37 though, even if that one was my favorite. May be too much of a tech cookie to bite off for a guy who needs to learn along the way. I guess the reason why I want the VQ35HR and the VQ37 are just that I love that dual intake soooo much. The intake on the VQ35(350z) always looked like some human organ that got stepped on. And the intake out the back always left so much piping in the engine bay. 

 

 

Pics to come. Finally started demo last night with yanking off the wipers and cowl. Cleaned up the doo doo accumulated under it. No rust up in there though. 

 

Off we go. 

 

 

[MREDDLE]

In for progress.... Good Luck, Gods Speed.

[Zubtle]

So I think I have decided on a color for the car ultimately, as well as the complimenting colors in the interior. I really like the color of the 40th anniversary 370z. That graphite with the slate purple pearl. As well as minimal red highlights in the interior. Graphite wheels. 

 

Made a mean looking car. I saw one in person back in 2010 in the show room. Subtle. 

 

Anyway, I spent most of the weekend getting the other half of my garage unpacked and moved into the house. It's getting cold outside, so I'd like to start the day with the Audi in the garage, and not frozen outside. Plus, of course, I'll have a full garage to work on the Z. I'll boot the Audi out when I need to let the sparks fly. 

 

Picked up a 10 drawer tool workbench over the weekend and peg board. Now I can finally move in all the Craftsman tools to a home. Ordered a air tool set from Eastwood and that's on the way. Should help greatly with the demo and rust removal. 

 

I did get the wiper cowl off though. Luckily just the cover had rust. Under it was nasty, but no cancer. I'll yank the cowl off the 280 parts car and use that for the build. 

[Zubtle]

Victory! I now finally have a usable garage. Now to grab some bins from my local hardware giant so I can store the parts coming off the 260. 

[Zubtle]

Stripping down the front end. Luckily, no real rust uncovered. Just dirty.

 

What I knew of, the rust around the battery tray, turned out to be the tray and rusted out the inner fender wall against the foot plate. All good areas the weld in new panels without it being too technical. 

 

[Zubtle]

Well, I have stripped down most of the front and have began work on the interior. 

 

Seriously think the carpet pad is made out of recycled cats..

 

After some poking around, there was enough surface rust to thin the floor pans that I will definitely be replacing them. They are pretty decent, but I can jam a hole through with a screwdriver with not too much effort in the thinner areas after grinding off the rust. So, I'll get some front to back Bad Dog rails, and get some nice thick floor pans to weld in. Do it right the first time. 

 

I have spent that last few weeks talking myself into a RB26 for this build, but I think I regained my sanity last night and am going back to the VQ35HR or 37. Just thinking out loud, I think the only reason I want the RB26 is for the cool factor, and it's kind 2.6 translates to 260z still...i'm a dork. It is such a beautiful engine just to look at, and we all know the numbers it puts down. 

 

But, it's so darn heavy, it cost 3x as much just to start with. Then the performance parts I'll want for it are just that, GT-R prices...Where the VQ is 300HP NA out of the box for the most part, any part can be had from any junkyard/local auto parts store. 

 

But I do love the RB...

 

So I will leave it to the engine gods to decide. If I can find a great price from one of you guys/other enthusiasts for a RB26 over the next year, I'll go for it, if not, I'll grab a $1k VQ locally or on eBay.