260Z Hybrid Restomod

Mark N

Club Member
Thanks Jake, it's been a long time in the planning!
Just trying to bring it's timeless design into the 21st century!
 

Mark N

Club Member
Cheers John! They did a great job on the panels,
I just have to get the dash and the rear strut housings done now.
For the dash I was planning to split it, top leather and Alcantara bottom!
 

Mark N

Club Member
Thanks Paul!
I have to admit that my mind is almost blown with the electrics!
Trying to trace wires on the service manual schematics and then make sense of it is not the easiest!
It was the part that I was dreading most, I'm much more comfortable with the mechanical and the fabrication parts of the project.
Slowly getting there though!
 

Mark N

Club Member
No, it's an actual original paper copy, courtesy of the previous owner.
I have been using a PDF copy of the wiring schematics but it is still the same maze of black lines!
 

Mark N

Club Member
Thanks!
Cobra did a great job with the seats.
I would highly recommend their 'Signature' service which is available on most of their range (including historic) if you want something specific and/or unique!
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Those seats look incredible, love the detailing and finish on them! :bow:

This will certainly be an awesome and unique car when its all finished and on the road :thumbs:
 
The leather on the panels looks really nice and neat.

There's not going to be many/any cars around like yours!

As a side note, you know your centre console has different weaves and directions :)
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
I 2nd everyone's comments on your build, "epic build".

Intensely waiting for the video of a spirited drive along the Cyprus landscape.

Keep the pics coming!!!!!
 

Mark N

Club Member
As a side note, you know your centre console has different weaves and directions :)

Yeah, I know but I'm not too bothered about it...............yet! :)
I cut the gauge panel from a separate sheet before I received the console.
There are few uneven bits on the rest of the console but there isn't really that much choice in carbon for the 260Z/280Z!
Palm Composites used to make one for the 240Z and I believe Topstage still do.
 

Mark N

Club Member
I got back from work a few days ago and I've been plodding away with the wiring.
Since I'm adding quite a lot of electrical components to the car I decided to install a second fuse box so that I don't overload the 38 year old original one.
A third fuse/relay box that is part of the Wiring Specialties Datsun RB26 swap loom will also be fitted once I finalize where I'm going to mount the Link G4+.

I made a new passenger side kick panel from 3mm plywood and wrapped it in some leather grained vinyl as the original panel was fairly flimsy.
The new fuse box will be part of the ACC circuit with it's own separate relay which will be powered directly from the battery.



There is plenty of room for it below the AC unit and there is decent access for changing fuses.
The contours of the floor and inner sills should keep feet away from it too!



All of the auxilliary loom has been covered in nylon braid with heat shrinked ends and I've made separate plugged mini looms for any parts that may need to be removed in the future.



The Painless Phantom Key unit which controls the keyless entry and push button start is located in the passenger storage bin.



I'm not bothered about losing the storage space as I was planning on mounting a fire extinguisher to the top of that lid so that it is easily at hand.
 

Mark N

Club Member
I took a break from the wiring for the last couple of days!
Firstly because I'm waiting on parts to relocate the battery and secondly because it was so tedious!
So I decided to crack on with the front suspension as removing the front wings would help me later when I drill the holes in the doors to run the wires to the windows and locks.
All of the old suspension came off no problem, I believe the previous owner had done a suspension overhaul so I didn't have to contend with anything bolted together 30 odd years ago.
As I wasn't planning on re-using any of the old suspension, I took the whole lot out in one piece apart from the tie rod ends which I split later.
I used the T3 bolt in camber plates which required the cutting of strut top to allow camber adjustments.
I'm using their strut braces too so I used one of the brackets as a template.
This also means that the plates are mounted underneath the strut tops.
One problem I did run into while fitting the plates was that although the plates have bolt slots instead of holes the bolts have to go to the outside of the slots to clear the gold coloured adjusting adapter.
The only other thing that caused a little ball ache was drilling out the steering knuckles for the T3 tie rod ends.
The first one I did seemed to be really hard and take forever despite using a slow speed on the pedestal drill and plenty oil. The second one drilled out no problem.
I had taken the precaution of buying a spare set of knuckles in case the drilling turned out badly which luckily it didn't!
After that it was just a case of bolting all the new bits together, keeping everything as close to original dimensions until I can get an alignment done! :D





I still have to get a couple of brake lines made up as the ones from T3 are different connections which is no big deal as my mate is the local HEL dealer.
The only other thing I need is a couple of boots for the inner tie rod ends which have perished.
 
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moggy240

Insurance Valuations Officer
Staff member
Club Member
I like the alloy hubs,the wheels stud's look really long though
 

Mark N

Club Member
God, that's impressive. Especially the wiring.

I wanted to try and do a decent job on the wiring after seeing the alarm install that I removed.
To be fair they had soldered most of the splices but had just wrapped everything up in electrical tape after that. I have been coming across empty female bullet connectors all over the original loom.
I bought a load of multi-coloured wire for making the auxiliary loom and made up a schematic for future reference.

 
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