Has anyone ever seen a s30 cut in half?

[drwharton85]

I am wanting to make my 240z a wide body. I dont like to many of the kits so i was thinking about cutting the car in half. From front to rear down the middle and widen it about 3" then widen the fenders about 1". So what does everyone think will this work with the proper reinforcement.

[280Zone]

Almost anything is possible.

 

It sounds like you might want to start with a wider car though.

[alexdeprat]

Hey! Smokey Yunick fabricated a 7/8 scale 1967 Chevelle for Curtis Turner to race in the 1967 Daytona 500. I say Do it, anything is possible with the motivation and the right tools. http://www.smokeyyunick.com/

Alex

[drwharton85]

280zone,

What do you mean start with a wider car?

[280Zone]

LOL, something like a Corvette, then mod the body to look like a Z.

 

Just saying it sounds like an extreme amount of work.

[drwharton85]

well i already have the Z and have put quite a few hours into ripping it apart. Now i am just in the design stage of how i want it to look. Everytime i see a different body kit it gets me thinking. I want it to have a more exotic look but still look like a Z.

[CalifaThugz]

Sounds like a whole lot of work. Doing it so you can run wider wheels and keeping stock body? You're going to have to Make new Motor Mounts, Tranny Mount. Mount from and rear subframe again, cut into the rear wheel wells and fronts... Tranny Tunnel will be too fat. New windshield and hatch window. Bumper you'll need to extend the bumpers and front air dam if any. Dash board,

 

Its better to make your fenders the way you want them then to cut a car in half.

[drwharton85]

i am already planing on new engine,transmission, front and rear suspesion, lots of cutting and welding. This will be a totally custom z.

[240zchevyv8]

thats a lot of work like the last chap says you would have to redesign everything bonnet, rear hatch fuel tank mounts , spare tyre well windshield, the list would be endless and not to mention getting all the panels to re-align up again plus what would it be worth afterwards obviously to you it would be priceless and unique, but that is sometimes a bad thing because if you ever wanted to sell the car maybe no one would want it because it was way to radical and different id think long and hard before starting this (unless your a millionair with no worries about a 10k of zed) good look anyway

[RB26powered74zcar]

Do a search on this member> Vintage-TechZ < Vinnie is in the process I believe....

[AK-Z]

Some things that are apparent to me would be;

1. glass. custom glass can get expensive.

2. tranny and engine mounts. more specifically the tranny tunnel.

3. roof line curves.

4. half shafts.

5. and dash/interior.

 

If you have the time and money, I say go for it

[Daeron]

Why not chop the top and make it a roadster? Without doing that, this seems like a waste of time and money to me.. I REALLY hate to pass such a judgment on an idea here, and I do not do it lightly, but think about this.

 

If you add 3 inches to the center, what will your windshield look like? You cannot do this without totally altering the curve of the windshield so that the curve is slightly flatter. This means, you have to fully rebuild the windshield channel. I do not even know how you would go about getting a customized windshield designed and built, but it would have to be exorbitant.

 

The only way this would be remotely practical is to roadsterize the vehicle, and use a custom dashboard. In the end, it would be FAR FAR cheaper to simply scratchbuild a tubeframe vehicle, or get a tubeframe V8 car and throw a Datsun styled fiberglass body on it.

 

To me, the simplest way to get what you are going for would involve a trick I saw in an old hotrod magazine. These guys were allegedly the first to put a big block into an S30, and what they did in the rear at least was simple. They took a pair of rear quarter body panels, and welded them to the existing body panels, gapped out about 2 inches, and simply faired them in. The doors were recessed, but this could be remedied.. you could actually theoretically just do this along the entire side of the car, from the windowline down at least. The front end would be an interesting job, but if you ARE loaded and perfectly willing to drop a total of say, 50 grand into this project, then tube frame the front and get custom fiberglass work done based on the shape of the original Z. This frees you up to put any engine you could possibly imagine under that hood... Heck, why not go crazy and get a Merlin engine, or something out of a tank, and go SERIOUSLY hog wild. Turbo-charged? Turbine-POWERED!

[kiwi303]

Turbo-charged? Turbine-POWERED!

 

 

Hmm... maybe a turbine from a Fletcher topdresser

[bjhines]

[Careless]

[ragefear]

wow.... good luck with that! I see it as one of those projects that never gets done... Why not just make your own widebody for it?

[Daeron]

 

Awww, don't cry.. the car was already destroyed, look at the passenger side rear quarter, and the spare tire well.

 

I've seen a Zcar cut up that was far better off than that wreck.. it was just rusted. Someone 86'd a beautiful 75 coupe here a few weeks back and took pictures... it was sad. That picture is sad, but only because the car was dead.. not because someone chopped it up. THAT is informative, turning lemons into lemonade.

[amorfin]

 

Does something like this not do it for you?

 

http://www.viczcar.com/Zcar-News/Darius-Datsun-240z-with-Supercharged-Chevy-Gets-a-Makeover.html

[geezer]

Yeah, that would be different. Bench seat, four in the front.

[zdmz]

I have always liked the wide bodies but thought the cab looks too narrow for really wide flares. Widening the whole car would be a neat solution to that.

Too much work for me to get into but I would like to see one done.

How about chopping the top while you are at it???? Though with it being widened it may look like the top was chopped when done?!?!?!?!

If you are going to do a complete new suspension anyway maybe you could make it wide enough to fit an un-narrowed corvette suspension.

With the glass, you may try to find a windshield that is close and fit the width around the glass. Otherwise you may end up with really wide pillars or some goofy looking windshield insallation. I think the windshield would be the biggest problem.