Driving Impressions of a V8Zcar...

[Mikelly]

Jim McNemar was gracious enough last evening to allow me to drive his rolling masterpiece. This car is something I cannot convey the beauty of in words. JIm has spent about $40,000 in the last year on parts alone, not including the labor to transform this car into one of the most impressive Datsun Zcars in the world. The cost mentioned above doesn't include the 18 year old body work or paint... The exterior of the car has held up well for that long, and still looks amazing, even with the green antifreeze spray from the little mishap that found his car on my car trailer.

 

This car reminded me of why I sat out in 1997 to build a V8 Datsun Zcar. The noise, the mechanics, the sounds, the gutteral and visceral feel of so much horsepower in such a small package... This car is the king of the jungle, and to be rivalled only by a few cars who'se price tags reach the cubic meters in depth of cost.

 

I drove this car a total of two miles and it kept me awake ALL NIGHT thinking about that two miles. I can not convey the feeling, the impact, or the impression left upon me. The car is increadibly stiff, due to the cage, the frame rails, the suspension, and the 300# and 250# springs installed. I'd leave it as is forever more, as it is the cats azz, suspension wise.

The car is built to chase track titles, and with a little tuning it will achieve it... But the car itself is a rolling masterpiece of every part that is the best, and available to purchase and install on a Datsun 240Z.

 

The precise steering, the brake feel as you applied pressure to the massive 13 inch brake setup, the shifting of the transmission, and the sounds... Oh those sounds... I terrorized the neighbors for about 10 minutes and it was glorious. The sound of the 3 inch pipes, and the tires screaming under protest of the clutch play... It was simply amazing...

 

The stats:

 

1973 Datsun 240Z converted to scarab BY scarab in 1977.

This car has a custom set of flares at four corners and no seems for fenders, headlight buckets, or spoilers... There are NO seams until you look at the hood and the windshield cowl, or the doors. The bodywork is masterpiece in motion.

 

The car is painted in a Sykens Red. It surprisingly matches the 2004 350Z perfectly. We painted the chromoly cage welded into the car the same color.

Jim also had the floor pans and frame rails re-done to insure the car would be strong enough for the duty of supporting a 350 Chevy small block with the best of the best isntalled. The motor has an Eagle Forged rotating assembly installed into a four bolt main block. The assembly is internal balanced and is bolted to a set of custom aluminum heads with big valves and a custom roller valve train. The oiling system is a canton road race pan cut to clear the S&S headers, a canton accusump, an System one oil filter system, and all the windage/ oil scrapers you can assemble on a motor.

 

The fuel system consists of a Holley system Commander 950 Wideband FI setup, along with a Fuel Safe fuel cell, specifically designed for EFI.

 

The tranny is a Custom Gforce, employing a Lakewood bellhousing, Centerforce DF clutch kit, and a Howle Hydraulic clutch kit.

The rear diff is a custom Quaife unit with 3.70 gears, and MML custom axles.

 

The suspension is MML coil overs, rear brakes, front brakes, and Jamie Taylor Hubs. We're using my front control arms/ TC rods along with AZC rear control arms and camber plates. The car is on rails when driving it. We are rolling the car on CCW wheels in Z06 size... 18X11 rear and 17X9 fronts.

 

The interior is fairly stripped with custom Sparco seats, Corbeau harnesses, Custom autometer gages, and some unique switches to control some of the equipment...

 

This car stirs the soul...Like None I've experienced.

 

Like an idiot, I did not take CURRENT pics of the car, but you can see pics here: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z Click on the red Zcar folder.

 

Mike

[auxilary]

and pictures?

[v8dats]

wow thanks mike

major wood!