Fast Floridian's 240Z Track Build

[FastFloridian]

I Recently purchased a 1972 240Z. I have a Twin Turbo 370Z that I track occasionally, and that car is amazing, and I've done everything I wanted to do with it. I wanted a new project, and thought it would be great to build the OG Z, the 240Z. 240Zs in decent shape have gotten pretty expensive, so to fit with my budget/cash flow, I started looking at ones that needed some work and I found a purchased one right as Hurricane Milton was barreling towards us. I had to keep her outside during the hurricane, but she survived. 

 

My plan is to make a dedicated track car. I spent some time making by build list before I bought the car, and the more I dug in the more I wanted to do, and the more the build costs were going up. My timeframe is a realistic 1-2 years, so at least I can spread out the costs of parts over time. I'm mechanically inclined and did everything on my 370Z myself, but I'll be tackling a lot more on this build and will be learning a lot as I go. I've got my Dad helping too, so this will be a fun project together.

 

So this is what I have, 1972 Datsun 240Z that has already been modified for the track somewhat. It has a full rollcage, fuel cell and a Ford carbureted 302 motor. The car runs, but the brakes seem shot and the only gauge that works is the tachometer. Lots of wiring inside and for the motor are pretty shotty, so she needs a lot of TLC. Below are my plans so far, we'll see how far down the rabbit hole I go.

 

Purchased or Ordered So Far

Apex Track Attack Front Suspension Kit

Ztrix IMSA body kit with fender vents, custom front bumper and origin dash

ZPowerSteering Electric Steering Kit

Fuel Lines, filters and Pressure Regulator for a fuel return system

 

Planning to Order Soon (Black Friday Deals)

Big Brake Kit - Possibly 6 piston front and 4 piston rear

Holley Sniper 2 EFI kit

Holley EFI 12.3" Digital Guage and various sensors

Heads and Cams

 

Rest of Build

Apex Track Attack Rear

Wavetrac LSD

Rear Wing

Front Splitter

Wheels and Tires

 

 

 

[FastFloridian]

[FastFloridian]

I started the tear down last weekend, got the fluids drained, hood and bumper off and got the radiator out. I’m hoping to get the motor ready pull by next weekend and hopefully have the motor out by Thanksgiving.

 

 

[armorer]

Car has some uh, interesting body mods!

Always great to see another build starting.

[FastFloridian]

Got the fenders and cowl off, everything underneath looks pretty good, just a little surface rust. Header bolts were coming off pretty easy, I sprayed them with pb blaster a few times during the week, did the trick. A couple were hex bolts for some reason. Hopefully work on it a little bit tomorrow too, would like to get exhaust and headers off, and maybe the drive shaft. Ordered a few parts too, front strut brace, fender brace, master cylinder brace and a new steering rack from Apex. Hopefully my electric power steering kit will be ready to pick up next week.

Edited November 17, 2024 by FastFloridian

[FastFloridian]

Snuck out to the garage for a few minutes. Didn’t get much done, removed fan and shroud, and just planned out the next few steps. Got a good look how the fuel system was set up, I’m replacing everything, but at least I got a good look at the old set up, pump connections at fuel cell etc.

 

[FastFloridian]

Electric power steering kit was ready today. They are local, so I just picked it up.

 

[FastFloridian]

Just got an update from John on my bumper, almost done

 

[FastFloridian]

Ordered my first Black Friday deal, got the Holley sniper 2 and digital dash to make it EFI. Got some sensors too so I can read everything on the dash, AFR, rpm, speed, oil temp, oil pressure, fuel pressure, coolant temp and probably a few other things. Currently only tachometer and oil pressure work. Still need a fuel level sensor, but my fuel cell has the connections for it. Might get brakes and top end kit and maybe stuff to make oil cooler on Friday depending on the deals.
 

Ordered from EFI pro systems, they were super helpful and saved me a few bucs. I was leaning toward a more expensive system and unless I was using a power adder it didn’t really add anything, saved me $800. I heard they have good tech support for install trouble shooting too

[FastFloridian]

Got the rest of my Black Friday shopping done for the Z. I got a twisted wedge top end kit, rpm air gap intake, a steering wheel and quick release hub and some 6-Piston 370Z brakes. All good deals. Money is all spent time to build it.

 

 

[FastFloridian]

Got the headers and exhaust off. Header to exhaust bolts were a PIA, but finally got them. Driveshaft is next and then a few small things here and there and I should be ready to pull the engine.

 

[FastFloridian]

Lots of Black Friday goodies starting to roll in. These rotors and calipers are huge. Calipers are surprisingly light for their size, I can’t wait to get them on, but still a lot of work to do before that.

[FastFloridian]

[FastFloridian]

I’m thinking ahead/planning the rest of the car and one thing I hadn’t thought about was my parking brake. Going to the Apex rear end and 370Z wheel hubs and disk brakes I’d have to add back in a parking brake. Drum disk brakes on the 370Z are $800 each. I saw these mechanical caliper type from Wilwood online, only $400 for the set, and it looks like all I’d have to do is fab a bracket. Anyone else try these or have another idea for parking brake?

[FastFloridian]

I found a deal online, both calipers for $250, so went ahead and bought them. Not ready to work on the rear yet, but I’ll have time to think about and work on a bracket so I can install it at the same time as everything else on the rear.

[FastFloridian]

Got a garmin catalyst for Christmas from my wife 😁 I can’t wait to set this up, won’t be used on the 240Z for a while but I’m going to Sebring in January in my Tesla, so I’ll try it out then. Some more Black Friday goodies got here yesterday. Family is sick so can’t really get out to the car, but I might try and do a few things inside like mock up my dash a little, try and find a good place for my gauges and I want to have a clean place to mount the catalyst.

[FastFloridian]

So the Holley digital gauge display is bigger than I was thinking. I should be able to make something that sits in the dash nicely, not sure if it should sink into the dash or poke out. I’m thinking if it sank into the dash it would look pretty good. Eventually the dash will be black once I’m done.

[FastFloridian]

I got some updates from John at ZTrix on my fenders, almost done and looking good 😁

[FastFloridian]

Rear Quarters are done.