NZeder's Datsun 260z Build Thread

[nzeder]

Right Steve suggested I start a build thread so here goes.

I have been a big Datsun Z fan for years, I have owned 7 over the last 20 years. I currently have 2 one is the first Datsun Z car I purchased when 21 years of age the other one is what this build thread is about (but if others want to see the road car/modified build I could also talk about that too)

Those that know me know that I don't spend a lot of time out in the shed working on my zeds no excuses really I need just pull finger and get them done.

I first got into racing a Datsun 240z after doing some club stuff with my road Datsun 260z (2 seater - same body shape as the 240z - most think of the 260z as the 2+2 but Nissan/Datsun did make them in 2 seater version also but they were produced in much smaller numbers that 240z so are actually a rarer car).

So I purchased a 1972 Datsun 240z that was already setup as track car - with a full cage (not strut to strut) but it was an Automatic - it was a good way to learn mind you as gear changes were few and far between and limited engine braking so you had to learn to brake with well the brakes alone.

Anyway fast forward a few years and a few other zed passed into and out of the garage I picked up a NZ New Jan 1974 Datsun 260z that was getting built up as a targa car.

This how it looked when I got it home.


The issues the car when purchased.
1. The cage was built in 2004/5 (purchase the car in 2011) and log book and homologation for the cage had not been applied for - however the cage builder had the details to get this sorted. I was very lucky that even though the rules had changed during this time the owner at the time insisted the main hoop be the large size has he thought he might take the car to Australia for a Targa event and CAMS required the larger hoop when NZ did not at the time.
2. Classic racing is what I want to do so a number of the mods done to the car needed to be undone to get to T&C compliant.
3. The cage was already painted and the cage builder could not find the photos he took back in 2004/5 as he had changed computers twice since then and one was forced after a crash - so the paint had to come off to get photos.
4. Some parts had gone missing during it time at the different shops (fabricator, panel/paint etc)

Right so some pictures of the car as it was in the fabricator shop (I knew of the car for years and knew the owner via info sharing of my zed car knowledge)

[nzeder]

another shot of it at home (well my parents place at the time of purchased, and still today it is at my retired parents house so Dad has something to do - ie do little jobs on the car to get it more together)


Some might notice the non standard engine between the struts - this car was fitted with a RB30DE hybrid engine made up from a Nissan/Holden RB30 bottom end and RB26 (GTR) cylinder head with the RB26 ITB setup - ECU was an Autronics unit. It was setup as NA with some amazing custom headers.

Brake were Wilwood front and rear and rims Genuine Minilites in 15x8 with 225/50/15

[nzeder]

First task was to sort out what was there and what was not.

Missing
windows regulators
windscreen and windscreen bright work
stock engine/gearbox

[nzeder]

The first task Dad I tackled was the missing windows regulators - now that was fun

Now as it is a early 260z the windows regulators are unique to the early 260z and none could be found on trademe, through member, Z Spares, or evilbay, alternatives need to be sort. I had some 240z regulators but it turns out the early 260z 2 seater doors might share the same window, lock/latch and window frame as the 240z the regulators are very different. The 260z items put the crank about 30mm further forward and the door does not have the stamped regulator protrusion like the 240z so they would not work. I also had some later 260z 2 seater/2+2 window regulators (the later 2 seaters use the same regulators as the 2+2). These mount to the glass via a different frame setup - however the scissor arms were the same size/location/arc. So the later 260z items were modified and new shower door rollers fitted on the ends replacing the later 260z mounting arms/tracks. Windows were finally sorted then 2 weeks later some early 260z regulators show up on trademe...bugger and they are still there too. Never mind door modified for later items now (new mounting holes drilled and one hole enlarged)

I will find a pic of the difference and post/update this post later.

[nzeder]

Next on the agenda was log book and cage homologation - so the paint was removed from the cage and photos taken, paper work completed by the cage builder and the application was send it.

About 2 weeks later all approved and good. So that was later 2011 - not a lot happened after that other than painting the cage again.

More to follow later on.

[nzeder]

The bumpers that came with the car were Datsun 240z times which some might not know mount differently on the rear of the Datsun 260z. The front was easy as they are the same, that went on with ease. The rear....well another issue that had to be addressed. As luck would have it I already had some 260z rear bumper brackets for the road car so these could be copied and the 240z rear bumper fitted......wrong....turns out the 240z rear bumper might look like a 260z 2 seater rear bumper but where the brackets mounts in a slightly different location to the 260z 2 seater bumper so the replica mounts had to be modified again....

Now we had windows fitted and working with later regulators, bumpers fitted, rear window in, towing hooks painted red and installed, gutter trim/bright work fitted - it is now starting to look more like a zed should. Also got the door locks sorted. Word of advice make sure when you assemble the locks the correct length screws go in the correct location who ever partly assembled the car did not know of check this and the door would open and close fine just not lock as one of the screws was too long and stop the lock rod from moving correctly.

With the original power train that came with the car sold some good old L Gata needed to be sourced given I have sold my last L28 to Karl aka limezed and 2 before that to Earl Cruickshank for his Silver Datsun 240z. I did however get a L28 F54/N42 combo with the car. So the head is going to be used on rebuild later and the F54 was swapped for another N42 head.

As I am trying to be true to period correctness with the car I wanted to use N42/N42 head and block combo's as the N42 block was first available in 1975 unlike the F54 that did not come about until 1981-82.

Another Datsun Z club member was moving away from L28 power plants so a road trip was in order to collect 2 x N42/N42 long blocks, one from Hamilton the other from Rotorua. One of these engines will be dropped in to the car from the get go and I will run with that until I rebuild another engine ready for a swap over. I also managed to secure another N42 block/bottom end to go with the head I picked from the F54 swap.

So once again my garage/storage area went from 3 x L28 to 0 then back to 3 x L28 again.

Next was carbs - I needed some triples and a triple intake manifold as all my others that I had from years gone past (back in the 90's) had moved on to grace the engine bays of other zeds (either ones I owned, or other Datsun Z club member cars). More $$ was spend on importing a Cannon intake manifold and a set of triple Mikuni 44phh the correct carbs listed on the sports option catalogue for the S30Z.

Here are some images of the carbs - another update later. (click on these little images to see them larger)


Next installment brakes.

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, this thread is awesome! Thanks heaps, I'm really enjoying the pics and info.

[librules]

Wow, this thread is awesome! Thanks heaps, I'm really enjoying the pics and info.

Here, here. As an eternal Zed fan (and having had one many moons ago) I look forward to the ongoing story.

Hopefully attached is a photo from a Japanese classic car show in Melbourne last weekend. Nice and clean.....

[nzeder]

I had a set of those EFI Hardware ITB that I was going to install on my other Datsun 260z - they have since moved on (needed more $$ for this project) so now they are in the engine bay of a Targa Datsun 240z here in NZ - here is pic of them when I had them mounted up to my RB26 intake manifold via some custom adaptors made - these will now be used to run the road car on triple DCOE type carbs - well Mikuni 40phh as the road car does not need 44/45mm carbs.

Again click on the small image to see the larger image

[nzeder]

Right I said I was going to talk about the brakes next - well I will get there but first some history on the racing of the Nissan/Datsun S30 that I already knew or found more out about long the way.

This part of the project took me a bit of time - most of that was looking over the books, magazines, interweb and emailing contacts all around the world to learn even more about what was used in period (I knew a good amount already but you can never know too much)

I already new the FIA homologation number for the Datsun 240z so a copy of this was sort. I also acquired as many parts catalogues as I could. Given the Datsun Z cars racing history it was obvious Nissan/Datsun had racing in mind when this car was designed/released to the market.

I know this is build thread but some might be interested to know of some of models sold in the home market of Japan.

When Nissan decided to export cars to other international markets they did not want to damage the Nissan brand if the take up in the foreign markets was not as expected. So they turned to their earlier name of Datsun for the export brand.

So while the Datsun 240z was sold international internal Nissan was marketing the Fairlady Z (based on the same S30 chassis platform). However the Nissan engineers decided they would take the S20 engine and install this into the Fairlady Z also. The S20 engine was like a BDA to a Ford Escort. After the merger between Prince and Nissan, Nissan acquired the Skyline brand. Prince had a strong focus on racing and some might recall the S54B aka Prince/Nissan Skyline GTB that raced locally here in NZ in the late 60's by Carlos Neate. A bit of info for those interested is that Prince when they decided to extend the length of the 4 cylinder Skyline to install the new G7 OHC 6 cylinder and go racing they wanted to produce large number Skyline GT-B with triple weber DOCE 18 carbs, 5spd and LSD in a few months to get the paper work in to the FIA ASAP for the coming 1964 season. However weber could supply the number of carbs required so the maximum was order and 100 cars were manufactured for homologation purposes. A total of 500 GT-B were produced during the production and most of those were exported to Australia and New Zealand (I would really love one of these but today they are hens teeth - if you know of one for sale let me know) - so where was I that's right the S20 engine

The Prince engineers developed the S20 engine which was based on the GR8 DOHC that was used on the Prince R380 LeManns type sports car. These new S20 engines were installed in the new Skyline KPGC10 GT-R in 1969 (and the first car globally to carry the GT-R badge) and also the Nissan Fairlady Z432 and Z432-R. Again due to supply issue webers were used on the first few runs of the S20 engines but then Nissan started to source the locally made Mikuni/Solex carburetors.

Here are pics of the GR8 Prince 1996cc DOHC 6 cylinder engine


And here is a pic of the S20 engine 1988cc DOHC 4 valve 6 cylinder engine


Here is an image of the engine bay of the factory produced Nissan Fairlady Z432


So the Prince Skyline Engineers were not happy that Nissan was installing their Skyline race engine into the S30 (chassis code for the Datsun 240z/260z/280z and Fairlady Z range of cars) as it was soon to compete against their GT-R on the track in the coming 1970 season. You see the Skyline GT-R was heading towards a track record that has not yet been matched by any marque/make in Japan. This record has made the first Skyline GT-R a legend in Japan (I would really love one of these but I don't have spare 150K to 200K to purchase one) 50 wins from 50 start.

Approximately 480 of the Z432 were build including a smaller number of Z432-R. The Z432-R were again a JDM model only and were sold to the general public - aimed at races teams. The Z432-R (internal code name PS30-SB - all Z432 had the chassis code PS30, Datsun 240z were HS30, 260z RS30 and the Fairlady Z was just a S30 - there is more to that but this is not the place) were built and sold as the homologation special with FRP bonnet, lexan windows, no heater, no clock, cut down loom and other parts Nissan wanted to homologate.

While these S20 power cars were racing around the track in Japan the like of Pete Brock (not the Ozzie but the American of Daytona Cobra fame) was heading up the BRE team and push the other marques around the tracks of America with the L24 power export S30 aka Datsun 240z. With BRE providing feedback to Japan and Japan starting to support the L Gata (L6 or L Gata = L20a, L24, L26, L28) engine in racing and rallying, Nissan start to see the potential of the non cross flow OHC 6 cylinder engine and soon the Prince engineers were left to focus on their S20 power Skylines while the Nissan team moved focus to the L Gata (I believe there was a bit of internal politics and competition between the recent merged companies)

In the UK an ex broadspeed cylinder head guy Spyke Anderson was busy building and racing an ex works Rally Datsun 240z. His company modifying Datsun Z cars was called SAMURI (the correct spelling was already a registered trademark) His own race car was nick named SAM - however after a big crash the car was reshelled and renamed BIG SAM. BIG SAM still exists today with a number of the ex-works parts still on the car. BIG SAM was raced by very young and then unknown Win Percy after he paid £50 a race to drive it in the 1974 BARC Modified Sportscar Championship they went out and won the three-litre class, beating Porsches and TVRs on the way. I discovered that BIG SAM was fitted with CAN-AM brakes during this era of racing.

Anyway here are some pics of BIG SAM - as it was in the 70s and as it is today

[nzeder]

also here are some other pics of the Datsun 240z/260z/280z racing in period spec (a number are in FIA GTS Group 4 spec aka how they entered Le Mans) - all these are genuine cars from the period as build in period





So brakes - I said I was going to talk about brakes.....ok next post this time

[nzeder]

During my research I found that Nissan had 4 pot calipers approved/homologated both front and rear with vented rotors front and rear. They also had approved/homologated solid rotors on the rear, drums on the rear, solid rotors on the front. It appeared that all combinations of these was used in period depending on the class or teams or budgets.

Nissan had 4 different brake packages available to customers in the USA - here are number of combinations used in period
1. The standard 2 pot Sumitomo calipers on non vented rotors up front and finned drums in the rear
2. 4 pot Sumitomo calipers up front in either vented or non vented setup, sliding caliper with solid rotor on the rear
3. 4 pot Sumitomo calipers up front and in the rear with vented rotors front and vented or solid rotors rear.
4. Lockheed 4 pots on vented rotors up front and Lockheed 2 pots on the rear with vented rotors
5. AirHeart/Hurst 4pots on vented rotors up front and AirHeart/Hurst 2 pots on the rear with vented rotors.

The 4 pots sumitomo calipers were listed on the sports option list which could be ordered with the car or after the car from the dealer network world wide - along with the LY cross flow head, triple mikuni carbs, extractors, larger/wider rims, race seat, LSD diffs, close ratio gear sets, suspension upgrades for circuit or rally, rally lights, electronic ignition, CDI ignition, rally clocks, bolt in cage, steering wheel, engine internal upgrades the list was very extensive. All these parts OEM from the factory.

Research showed 15" were used in period - this was determined via the brake rotor sizes that were offered. Given T&C rules allows for 1" over the factory spec rim which was 14" 15" rims is what the car was going to run and as luck had it the car was already fitted with 15x8" rims

The car was fitted with 12.2" Wilwood rotors and 4pot Wilwood calipers up front and 12.2" solid Wilwoods with 4 pots Wilwoods on the rear- these could have stayed on the car and would have saved me some $$ and time - but I decided to change them for a number of reasons.

[nzeder]

I will now explain the reasons for the change.

1. The front setup required the use of small 4-5mm spacer for the rims to clear the calipers
2. The rears needed some locating rings to ID the rotors on to the zed axles correctly
3. The rears were using a modified Ford 9" drum in hat setup for the hand brake and it was very very cramped for space - so much so that rear of the wheel studs had been taken to with a grinder to clear the shoes.

None of this I liked - sure all was ok and within safe engineering tolerances - however I did not like the idea.

So at the time I had not yet sold the RB30DE engine - it was still sitting between the struts. So I thought if I have a modern engine why not run more modern Wilwood Radial mounted calipers. So that is what I did. I purchased some radial mounted Wilwood calipers for the front and the rear, some new 11.75" rotors that would give me a little more rim clearance (the 12.2" did fit but no wheel weights could go inside the rims infact the tape informing one of that was rubbing on the caliper - too tight for my liking) Also all my research showed 11.75 was the size that was used in period.

So a lot more time saving $$ and ordering parts from the USA as the calipers I required were a non stocked item here in NZ. I ordered the rotors and hats at the same time.

I think had a local fabricator assist with the mounting brackets and machining of the hats to ID onto the hubs up front and axles on the rear.

They looked great - clearance was no longer an issue and no drum in hat on the rear - a hydraulic handbrake is going to be used.

It was at this point that I decided that the grid I was going to run in, as they would allow such a hybrid of modern and oldschool parts, was not for me - the driving standard was not ideal and having a car that would cost me over 20K to reshell when it got hit by one of these modern Japanese (classic - yeah right) Honda Civic or Toyota Collora's.

So with the help of some friends Ray was kind enough to let me sign up for his grid (even though I still don't have running car - I will still be attending as pit bitch for others still ) however this meant I needed to make some changes - remove the RB30 - easy it was not too far down the track with the fuel system still original and not EFI ready and sell of the Radial Mounted Wilwoods and start on the brakes again. So that is the path I took and why I have decided to ensure the car is T&C compliant 100%.

Right engine was sold to another Datsun Z Club member and the new brakes (never had fluid in them) were again sold to another Datsun Z Club member - they are now on one of my old 240z so they went to a good home

[nzeder]

During all this Wilwood brake change I also arranged a group buy for a number of Datsun Z club members of some special order 15x8 rims with a more + offset from the default 0 that suit the standard body work of the Datsun Z cars. 15x8 with a 0 offset do fit but some rolling of the rear lip/arch is required - no flare is required just a roll of the lip to ensure no rubbing. However a 15x8 +10 offset works without this rolling if using a 225/50/15.

So 10 sets of rims were order with me only have to commit to selling 6 sets and the importer was happy to sell the remaining 4 sets. I managed to pre sell 7 sets and another set was sold not long after they arrived in the country - I believe all of these have now been sold.

These rims are replicas of the sports options rims and are minilite style - I am sure if you have seen Ricky Datsun 240z at the track then you have seen the rims I arranged. But here are some pics anyway
Attachment 22861
Attachment 22862

Here are some pics of the Radial mounted Wilwood that are not on my old 240z that lives in Wellington now
Attachment 22863
Attachment 22864
Attachment 22865
Attachment 22866

[nzeder]

So now the path for the car was set - T&C, original L Gata engine, running correct sport option Mikuni triple 44phh carbs now I had to revisit the brakes....again.....this time I tried to source 100% period calipers.

I wanted a caliper that was available in period - no exception or a new caliper that was cast using the original period foundry. All my research lead to just two suppliers that could produce new stock. AP Racing that reproduce the Historic range of calipers which were the same spec/design as those offered by Datsun Competition USA on their options list. However at $1500 a caliper per corner they were out of my budget. I thought I managed to track down a set second hand in the UK and I was planning to collect and pay for them when I was in Europe on business at the beginning of this year - but that was not to be never heard from him once my travel plans were set.

I decided Wilwoods were off the table for the following reasons.

1. The current Superlites are made from new foundries and including newer technologies that make them stiffer than the early Superlite II calipers that were available from 1977/78 onwards once Wilwood came to be. I believe these original superlite II foundries were acquired by Wilwood from another company that was around pre 77/78 so that makes that style period correct.

2. I could not find anywhere that Wilwood still supply these calipers from the original foundries.

3. I am lead to believe that Wilwood GN III are still the same design as pre 77/78/pre Wilwood brand however 6 pots were never fitted to the Datsun Z cars so they were off the table also.

AirHeart/Hurst were off the table also as their calipers today are completely different design and again made using modern foundries/forging techniques

So with AP Racing Historic range out of my budget and Wilwood out due to foundry changes like the AirHeart/Hurst that lead me to the old JFZ calipers which I know were fitted to all manner of cars in the early 70's. I knew JFZ sold to another company in the 90's but I could not recall who it was.

So after a few google searches I found the answer I was looking for - JFZ was purchased by Sierra Racing Products. A few emails and a phone call to the owner of Sierra Racing products confirmed he still had the original foundries for the original JFZ mini GN (mini Grand National) and XL Series. The only difference was when he purchased the JFZ business it did not include the branding rights so he had to alter the branding on the castings. But I found what I was after - a period caliper that was originally manufactured pre 1975 to match the period the car is to now represent 1975 as I will install a L28 which was not homologated or sold to the general public until 1975 (however Nissan did sell a piston kit for the L26 engines from mid 73 to make them into L28)

The good thing is these calipers were in my budget. Here are some pics of what will be going on the car as they are 100% period correct having been cast from the original foundry.

[Shano]

Great thread Nzeder.

[nzeder]

Thanks Shano.

So now I had the calipers and I knew the fronts XL Series had the correct mount ear spacing as the 240z/260z struts 3.5" (88.9mm). For those that are interested the Sierra Racing Products XL Series share the same dimensions as the Old Superlite II calipers which I also believe is the same as the Bremtek Racing Calipers that were used on Porsches and other cars in the early 70's.

If you look at pictures of all 3 of the brand of calipers you can see how they are basically all the same design sharing the same piston sizing, pads and mounting spacing - so who copied who? I know Bremtek Racing and JFZ were around in the early 70's if not before and Wilwood was formed in mid 1978 going by their history on their web site.

Here are some pictures for comparison
Bremtek

Wilwood Suerlite II

JFZ XL Series + JFZ mini GN single


You can see how the Sierra XL Series is the same as the JFZ just branding is different.

[nzeder]

Calling Howard Wood or anyone else who has a Schedule K Sports/GT/Saloon car.

Given all the work I have done to find out what was used in period and I have a number of supporting documents - FIA papers, Sport Option Catalogs, articles etc should I look at applying for Schedule K on my COD for this car?

[Howard Wood]

Calling Howard Wood or anyone else who has a Schedule K Sports/GT/Saloon car.

Given all the work I have done to find out what was used in period and I have a number of supporting documents - FIA papers, Sport Option Catalogs, articles etc should I look at applying for Schedule K on my COD for this car?

Absolutely and in my experience it is not too difficult, easy in fact. As discussed, I can only advise on my experience with the '02. I built the car following to the letter a build sheet I drew up after obtaining Homologation papers, the FIA Group 2 regulations for 1973 (because you need to nominate the actual period/year the car represents), some info gathered on the net (Frank de Jong's "Touring Car History" http://touringcarracing.net was a good starting point) and the current sched K regulations (because there are some catch-alls in there not necessarily covered by the other documents).

When the car was ready for its paperwork I simply filled in the MSNZ form which basically outlined the modifications with supporting evidence from either of the above sources together with photos. MSNZ emailed me back over a few weeks with a couple of questions, I assume from their Historic Committee. With the application I included a quick (2 pages) overview of the race history of the model, the Homologation history (because in 1973 Ford and BMW were engaged in a furious homologation war between the works BDA Escorts and Alpina's 2002Tii to win the European Touring Car 2 litre class) and anything else I thought relevant.

Within a few weeks the application came back, honestly as simple as that. Frankly I found the roll cage certification process to be much harder, partly because the rules changed mid build and because a certain well known race preparer and MSNZ technical officer's advice turned out to be totally incorrect.

Rather than get involved in more detail here, I am happy to show you copies of my application and supporting documents.

[nzeder]

Perfect reply Howard - I have downloaded the correct FIA papers for the period in question in my case the 1975 FIA Appendix J regs for Group 3 & 4 much like your Group 1 & 2 options - in fact Group 4 references the Group 2 regs for all its allowable modifications just the fact it is for 2 seater, 2 door cars not 4 seater (be it two or four doors) aka Grand Touring Cars (Group 3 and 4) is Touring Car (Group 1 and 2).

I have all the info I need and I think I will apply for Schedule K - are you running this weekend? Anybody know how I see the entries list - I have signed on to the motorsportentry.com website and there is a section for entries but nothing shows up - I guess you have to register for the event - bit hard when your car is still in bits

Regards
Mike Lucas