Project "Down under" 240Z - (RB25det)

bigh

Club Member
Hi all, I thought it was about time I started a thread on my car that is currently in a container, heading from Adelaide to the UK.

Before we get to the 240, and as a bit of back ground, at the beginning of this year I sold my Wide Arch 300ZX. After 1o years of ownership it was a difficult decision to reach, but once I had written the sales advert, the excitement of the next car/project set in.

Spooky.... The new owner of the 300 also owns two 240Z, one of which was built by MZR.
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Having no real hankering for the next car/project, I toyed with going back to TVR, maybe a kit car, Holden, or even something more modern like a Lexus ISF.

One evening in a pub discussing the 'next car' with my son, he asked me if I had considered a 240Z. He has always liked the 240Z, ever since seeing them at shows that we had attended over the years, and even when he was looking for his 2nd car, he fancied one, but couldn't afford one at 19 years of age. After lots more discussions,, (and visits to the pub) we decided we would jointly take the plunge into 240z ownership.

We both wanted a RHD 240, soon after realising that any UK RHD cars were very thin on the ground (literally) or finished projects, were out of our budget.

One evening I came across a couple of For Sale adverts on an Australian owners club site, for two 240Z in various states of finish. After many emails and photos between the two owners, we decided to go with a '72 model, that was being sold by a guy who had the car for 8/9 years, but just didn't have the time to finish the car off.

Having never imported a car before, the process at first was a little daunting, what was more worrying however, was how the hell would we carry out the financial side of things, with no intermediary.

So here it is........... be kind guys.

This first photo is, before she went to primer with the PO owner, about 2010.

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The car has been in primer for many years, and has been stored in the garage all of the time. There was some rust on the sill, which has been badly repaired sometime ago. There are many more photos, including the floor from the inside. The floor was stripped bare by the previous owner and treated and the protected with POR15. But we haven't seen the underside of the vehicle.:EXTRAeek:

We have taken a huge risk that the car isn't a rusty nightmare underneath, as neither of us can weld, so the first thing we will be doing is getting the car in the air and having a good look at it.

It has a RB25DET engine, which isn't running. RB20DET gearbox, but it's not connected to the diff. Rear brakes are 28o, fronts have been swapped with Toyota units. Fuel tank isn't fitted, and the RB was running before the swap, but has never been commisioned. Rear hatch has had the lock barrel removed and filled in, as the PO owner was going to fit solenoids to everything.

It also comes with a myriad of new parts, for the engine, water pump, new coil packs, door rubbers, light units etc.

As for future plans, once we know what we have let ourselves in for. We want to add a turbo running on a Haltech ECU, with flared arches. I couldn't resist Sekioking Wats. that he had for sale the other month, so the black wheels will be going sometime.

Anyway that's it for now, I am sure I will have plenty of questions in the coming months/years!

I will update the thread with more photos of the underside, when she arrives at the beginning of July.
Fingers crossed.
 

hallie

Club Member
Welcome to 240z ownership! It can be an expensive game!

Be interesting to see the pics when it arrives.

Boot lock and rear bumper mounts have all been smoothed over.

What wheels are on it now?
 

Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Well done coordinating getting one shipped over and it already has the RB engine you were after! Looks like the one that was on Auszcar?

Certainly a few bits that will need welding (wheel well etc.) but hopefully from Aus you're not dealing with rust everywhere.

What's the plan for the aftermarket sunroof - keeping it or putting it back to stock?
 

bigh

Club Member
Well done coordinating getting one shipped over and it already has the RB engine you were after! Looks like the one that was on Auszcar?

Certainly a few bits that will need welding (wheel well etc.) but hopefully from Aus you're not dealing with rust everywhere.

What's the plan for the aftermarket sunroof - keeping it or putting it back to stock?

Thanks Mr T. Indeed it was the car on the Auszcar site.

I’ll certainly be taking any advice from the forum, on any rust removal/new panels. Like I say just hope there isn’t too much of it.

Eventually yes, the sunroof will go. As much as I enjoyed the open air motoring with the targas, on the 300, I am not a fan of the roof in a 240.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Looks a great project to have bought. One or two things, but then that's what a project is! Lots of info and advice on here from those that have been down the road you're at the start of. What TVR did you previously have out of interest?
 

bigh

Club Member
Looks a great project to have bought. One or two things, but then that's what a project is! Lots of info and advice on here from those that have been down the road you're at the start of. What TVR did you previously have out of interest?

Previously had a Cerebra, which tbh I regret selling to this day. My brother bought an old Tuscan at the end of last year, and was I tempted to go back to the dark side.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Previously had a *Cerebra* , which tbh I regret selling to this day. My brother bought an old Tuscan at the end of last year, and was I tempted to go back to the dark side.

the thinking man's TVR?
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
I never quite had the cajonies to get into Cerbera ownership ... the servicing and running costs I just couldn't justify. Hope the ride was worth it! Was yours a V8 or a straight six?

I had a Chimaera for two years and loved every minute. The old Rover 3.9 didn't stress me out as much as running a Cerbera would have!
 

Robbie J

Club Member
I never quite had the cajonies to get into Cerbera ownership ... the servicing and running costs I just couldn't justify. Hope the ride was worth it! Was yours a V8 or a straight six?

I had a Chimaera for two years and loved every minute. The old Rover 3.9 didn't stress me out as much as running a Cerbera would have!

One year I was camping at Le Mans (2008) I took my R35GTR for the first time and in Houx camping was the TVR owners club, every morning they would start all their cars. I asked one why and they told me just so we know they work to give us as much time to fix them before the drive home on Monday... yes 2 flatbeds dragged 2 cars out on Monday... they sound great and look cool but have electrics from kids toy kit
 

bigh

Club Member
I never quite had the cajonies to get into Cerbera ownership ... the servicing and running costs I just couldn't justify. Hope the ride was worth it! Was yours a V8 or a straight six?

I had a Chimaera for two years and loved every minute. The old Rover 3.9 didn't stress me out as much as running a Cerbera would have!

The handling & noise was great, especially once it was decatted. I had the V8 AJP, a fantastic engine for the car. The car was absolute dream to own, a truly stunning British GT tourer. I was very lucky as the car was very well finished from the factory, as the owner knew Peter Wheeler. So sure, although I did suffer from the initial paranoia, that I would breakdown, on every other journey, or once I got back home, I would notice things had dropped off from the car, that was never the case, and never had to call upon a recovery service.
 

bigh

Club Member
One year I was camping at Le Mans (2008) I took my R35GTR for the first time and in Houx camping was the TVR owners club, every morning they would start all their cars. I asked one why and they told me just so we know they work to give us as much time to fix them before the drive home on Monday... yes 2 flatbeds dragged 2 cars out on Monday... they sound great and look cool but have electrics from kids toy kit

yes the electrics, are not their strong point! For the money you were/are getting Supercar performance for a reasonable price, but they are highly stressed engines etc, and you need to have a good specialist nearby, to keep on top of the little 'foibles' :smash:
 

bigh

Club Member
Welcome to 240z ownership! It can be an expensive game!

Be interesting to see the pics when it arrives.

Boot lock and rear bumper mounts have all been smoothed over.

What wheels are on it now?

I think they are ROTA'S Hallie.
 

bigh

Club Member
Whilst still furloughed I have spent some time clearing/preparing the garage. Still need to take a trip to the tip, when its not so busy.
Having painted the garage floor several time over the years, I decide to buy some heavy duty garage floor tiles, and found these on line, at a very good price.

Also treated myself to a set of 'Quickjacks' which turned out to be really useful for my son to service his new car....

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Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
So what's the plan when it first arrives? Strip down and sandblast? Pack it straight off to the welder for the fabrication work?
 

bigh

Club Member
So what's the plan when it first arrives? Strip down and sandblast? Pack it straight off to the welder for the fabrication work?

Certainly will be given a good look over, and strip everything back to see what we have at first. If it is worse than we anticipate, (riddled with rust,) then yes I think we will be having it blasted for peace of mind. If theres very little rust then, then we will strip and prep as much as we can, prior to any welding that requires doing.

If the bodywork isn't too bad, then we may look at getting the drivetrain sorted sooner, it has the standard 240 prop but needs to be shortened to fit the diff and the RB20 G/Box. However I have been reading up on the RB forums, and the RB20 Box is a bit of weak unit, especially third gear, which can fail with higher BHP cars. So, it may be prudent to swap it out for something now, that will be stronger. Maybe a CD009, (350z) or an RB box. Either of these will no doubt require different mounting brackets for the box/trans. tunnel, plus the CD009 requires 14mm removed from the bell housing, (which speaking to Hallie on here) is a nightmare to source, a firm that can carry this out. CD009 needs an adapter plated to marry to the RB, and a special bracket to help relocate the gearstick, further forward in the opening on the transmission tunnel. So plenty of faffing about.

As we bought the WATs recently, the rear needs to retain the 4 bolt stud pattern, so I recently bought a R200 & shafts/wheel hubs for a 180/240SX, to upgrade that side of things.

Oh yes, and the sunroof will definitely be going, my son has apparently found someone who can weld in a replacement section. Fingers crossed on that I think.
 

Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Oh yes, and the sunroof will definitely be going, my son has apparently found someone who can weld in a replacement section. Fingers crossed on that I think.

You might want to avoid the patch approach - to quote one of the previous replies on this topic:

I'm afraid that it isn't that simple to cut a section of the roof to 'weld up' a sunroof aperture.

Guys who have done this in the past have cut a flat section to match the hole; welded in and fillered-up, then painted over.
Looks alright for about three weeks, then the cracks start to appear, closely followed by the bubbles, and then it looks a real mess. It's the negative vacuum from the airflow running over the roof of a Z, that tries to pull it upwards, and so it flexes up & down all the time. Hence the filler cracks, and ruins the whole damn job. I'm sure that there are several dozen Z Owners ( and ex-Owners) who could tell you the sad tale.

The only way to resolve the sunroof issue ( and it is an effective solution ), is to drill out the spot welds around the perimeter of a decent roof - plenty of decent s/hand ones around if you ask; then do the same to remove the existing sunroof skin, and weld in.
It is an easier job to do than you would think, and only the same amount of work as the 'welding up the hole' idea.
The only slight complication is that you will need to do a bit of 'Lead Loading' to the rear join just below the tailgate hinges. This is relatively easy to do even for a Novice, as it is simply soldering with a Blowtorch & scraper.

This way, if you do a proper job, it will last as long as the car itself; and, as a result, the Z will be worth a lot more in terms of Market Value, let alone the improved looks.

There's a roof skin for sale on the forum now: https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/roof-cut.26923/#post-309842 you might want to investigate.
 
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