Building a Z-Car, but it's not a Camaro!
 

Hi, I'm new to this forum, my friend and member here glassman turned me on to this site, so I thought I'd start a thread on my build.

I'm building a 1973 Datsun 240Z!

This is the humble beginnings of the project. The car is generally straight and has only minor rust.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/.../PIF_ZCar1.jpg

For those of you who don't know much about these cars, the stock 240Z has a 2.4L straight six, 4sp, and independent rear suspension. These cars have a rich racing heritage in SCCA competition with the likes of Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) and Bob Sharp Racing in the 70's and early 80's. They also have a long history of SB Chevy conversions dating back to the 70's.

I'll be doing a LS/T56 conversion on this one. This is a multi year project, the build will progress as my funds allow. The goal right now is to have the LS swap done by the end of the year.

I'll post more as work progresses!

can't wait. i have always loved these cars. My buddy in HS had a nice 71 Scarab. Super fast.

You can get a nice engine set back with the LS.

Welcome. :thumbsup:

Looking forward to seeing your build. :cool:

I'm looking forward to this! I bought a 73 new for $4,200. At the time I couldn't believe it. Raced 3 years at Lime Rock. Still would like to get another. Keep us posted please! And welcome!!

Sound's like a Cool project.I love these car's W/a GTO body kit.

They now make a wide flare kit for these cars too. :idea:

Very nice project and welcome. You will find a small army of guys on this forum with a wealth of knowledge. Looking forward to seeing this one come together

Awesome project, light car, good handling, and with a few mods it should be a rocket that handles.

And it is a pre-1976 vehicle, so no smog inspection requirements here in the Golden State. Nice starting point.:thumbsup:

How much of a weight change do you expect by removing the iron in line 6 and replacing with the LS engine? As I recall the SBC swaps in the past made the car a bit more heavy, but the weight was more central to the car so to wasn't a big sacrifice, as it helped transfer some weight toward the rear. Do you have a target weight after the car is done?

Also there's a lot of room up front in the engine bay. Any chance your gonna use a turbo or pro-charger with all that real estate in front of the engine?

Have you seen the yellow Z-car at the Good Guys events in Pleasanton? I think he's running a SBC, with a cage and other mods.

Nice project and welcome to the forum.

I have wanted one of these for some time. I like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4UmvhC3TqM

And the wide body version after he re-built it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujEhJNBnq9M

I like this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeJggBCEjBE

Hi, my name is mike and I would like to assist in the assembly of your time machine:drive:

All fun aside (well not really cause this is going to be fun) I am really looking forward to be a part of this. Car will be built in livermore country.

looking forward to this build, I love early Z cars.

My next build here will be the same drivetrain + an early Z.

So will follow this... :-)

Best regards from Sweden.

My weight goal on this project is as close to the original weight of the car as possible. The stock 240Z is a little less than 2400 Lbs. Installing a SBC adds about 125 Lbs. From what I'm learning, the aluminum LS is quite a bit lighter than the SBC (correct me if I'm wrong), so it may be a wash when I replace the six.

My main concern is LB/Horsepower. With a cam, headers and an ECU remap, I should be able to get 450HP out of an LS1, maybe more (again, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm still learning!). If I can keep the weight down to around 2600 Lbs, that comes out to 5.78 Lb/HP, which is fantastic for a fast street car. If I can get 500HP, it will be better still. To get this kind of power to weight ratio in Gen 1/Gen 2 Camaro requires 650+HP.

As for a Pro-charger/Turbo, I don't think it's worth the cost. It will generate a massive amount of extra heat under the hood, and some major drivetrain work will be needed to handle the power, all of which adds up to big expense. The target power to weight ratio will be be just about right for the street.

This car is intended to be a fast street car that can be tracked, rather than a track car that can be used on the street. I want to be able to hop in it and use it on my 30 mile commute with no worries.

Hey Mike! I'm so looking forward to having you work on this project with me! It should be a fun little project!

You can easily get over 500 flywheel HP with a head/cam LS1. See this link, for instance:

http://www.airflowresearch.com/ls1_dyno.php

That's still a pretty mild head/cam combo, idles like a stocker. I ran that exact combo in a '71 Camaro for several years - it embarrassed its share of late model sports cars on the road course before it blew up (oiling problem).

Mark, did you guys get that car delivered to colorado? i stopped by last weekend and noticed Josh had moved the trailer as well...I will be back in on Sunday, we r in LA for lady Pamela's bday....

Btw, AFR's are the way too go, that what i'm installing into the Camaro if the LS doesnt come this year....