P**s (yellow) poor project !

[SeanDezart]

P**s yellow project !

Once upon a time, someone famous in the Club imported a US 240Z.....just about the time I decided to have a running 240 again and made the painful but inevitable decision not to re-restore my green/silver Z !

Here is my car before the restoration in 1989 (with me in shorts and just before leaving Holland in 1997, 6 years after the restoration and always having had to park the car outside - yes, I did tow the Trabant - no that is NOT me but the owner of the Trabbie !

And the ex-US car !

 

[ZHead]

I love the green one - have seen quite a few pics of it now.

Is the brown one the basis for your current DJ project car (p*ss yellow) ? What stage is it at now ? It must surely be nearly finished, what is left to do ? There is always something holding up a build or causing delay but you must be so close to the end now you must be itching to get the car out on the road.

 

[DJZ 60]

The Yellow One's never going to be finished,& the Green one was 'finished'
so he sold it.....So I suggest,Sean buy's a yellow & Green Z,& buy a bigger pair of shorts!.................................... DJZ 60.

 

[SeanDezart]

The bronze Z is the basis for the DJ project car and is now yellow after being resprayed twice (more time taken up as it waited 6 months before being accepted into the first spray booth). Paint and finish problems made us decide to re-do it !

The car made an excellent base as a rust-free donor car except that the thugs who loaded it into the container used a fork-lift truck, causing unnecessary damage that had to be repaired (more time and money) !

Note also the orginal floor pans, chassis rails and 'non-cut out bulkhead' ;-) !

Also time consuming but worth it were my requests for some body-work alterations in order to purify the cars' already flowing lines !

There have been some innovations along the line which have taken days to try, remove, refit, re-try etc until Dave is satisfied. The man is a perfectionist but won't do more detail than necessary - time is money after all !

Yeah, I'm itching and I've been itching, as you mentioned elsewhere, for three times as long as you and the cream no longer has an effect

 

[SeanDezart]

DJ, why should I want it finished - this thread could go on and on and on and on.......

Also, I'll have to pay for it and right now .......

The green one still lives and is gonna be ressurected this year but in another colour by......someone else, boom, boom !

A Z did die to do mine, though it was such a sad car, it was a mercy killing !

 

[ZHead]

The car made an excellent base as a rust-free donor car except that the thugs who loaded it into the container used a fork-lift truck, causing unnecessary damage that had to be repaired (more time and money) !

Ditto - the morons loaded it into a container with a fork lift and put dents in the chassis rails and floor

Note also the orginal floor pans, chassis rails and 'non-cut out bulkhead' ;-) !

Replacing floors and chassis rails in mine to add strength, there was nothing wrong with the originals but thicker metal and longer rails has to help.

The car looks to be in good shape - what is left to do to finish it ?

 

[Russ]

Yeh that car looks like a great base, it's a shame you don't see many 240s like that in right hooker format.

If anyone bumps into a pre 73 240 body/rolling shell/project car in that condition ring me!

I have a magazine somewhere with the green one on the front cover I'm sure, was that when it was your car Sean or afterwards?

 

[datsun dave]

Russ just have a look at www.ebay.com and buy one from were its hot mine came from Arizona car never seen a drop of water apart from when it was washed it will cost you around 500 pounds to ship + vat @ 5% plus landing cost here then convert it over to RHD very easy to do. (P.M. me your number will talk you through it)

 

[ZHead]

Well worth the talk Russ - mine was brought in by Laurence that way and a totally prepared shell (I mean TOTALLY) including all panels and conversion to RHD probably worked out considerably cheaper than fixing up a rough old UK shell. The RHD conversion could have been done much cheaper again by doing the "plate over" style of conversion, saving even more money.

 

[datsun dave]

sean where is the power steering from (what car) nice conversion

 

[Russ]

Sorry for thread hijack Sean.

I'm sure you two are both absolutely right, and I know of an excellent plate for no money with great reg. However if I spent all that time building the car I'd hate someone to find out, tell the dvla, they'll insist the paint on the bulkhead is removed and then my car crushed I know the likelyhood of them being interested is slim to nill, but who know's what the future holds. I'd like to rescue a British car and I have a good bodyshop who'll let me do most of the work anyway. They're going to make me some Spirit Garage style arches for starters

Back to Sean, and btw it's more like Créme Anglais which I think is a fitting name for it considering where the work is done.

 

[datsun dave]

Why cut out the bulk head swop all the numbers over ,keep the original USA number then get it registered over here with the DVLA its all done legal, over 60% of a converted car must be the ORIGINAL car not just the bulk head swoped with the UK numbers can not see the point. DVLA will know whats going on, car impounded inspected asking where other car came from etc etc how do they know its not been stolen ? & been cloned
When i registered my USA 240z import had to take all my paper work into them
Original USA log book
Import Paper work
VAT payed on the car
Letter from the Z club
New reg fee
24hr later got a age related H 1970 plate its that simple and keeped the cars original stamped numbers that have been there for 36 years

 

[ZHead]

sean where is the power steering from (what car) nice conversion

Wouldn't be a Vauxhall would it Sean ?

 

[SKiddell]

Motor assisted power steering systems are commercially available for about £1200 new- all in (I was quoted recently). Rather than use a parasitic pump to pressurise hydraulics, the motor system "senses" steering wheel movement/rate then applies power assistance direct to the steering column, the advantage is that if the system fails then you still have a direct mechanical link through to the rack, and the "feel" is supposed to be better than conventional power steering systems -- been around for a while, particularly on certain Vauxhalls (which can be used as doners)

 

[Russ]

Dave, now that is a hole different kettle of fish and I hadn't even considered it. I could use the registration from the other car "vin plate" I know of then? Declare the "vin plate" scrapped and transfer plate to my legal US car? What's the catch? Insurance? Coversion never going to be quite right? It would be a hybrid Z so little of the original car would remain anyway.

 

[Russ]

You can have the power steering out of my Vauxhall for £2500, I'll deliver as well. Comes with a steering wheel and all sorts of bits attached.

 

[SeanDezart]

Why cut out the bulk head swop all the numbers over ,keep the original USA number then get it registered over here with the DVLA its all done legal, over 60% of a converted car must be the ORIGINAL car not just the bulk head swoped with the UK numbers can not see the point. DVLA will know whats going on, car impounded inspected asking where other car came from etc etc how do they know its not been stolen ? & been cloned
When i registered my USA 240z import had to take all my paper work into them
Original USA log book
Import Paper work
VAT payed on the car
Letter from the Z club
New reg fee
24hr later got a age related H 1970 plate its that simple and keeped the cars original stamped numbers that have been there for 36 years

Except that you have an HLS30 VIN number on a RHD car ! Don't you think that MIGHT end up badly if ever the car gets looked at very closely ?

Otherwise, good idea !

The power steering system consists of an electrically assisted sensor (as Skiddy quoted), a pump, reservoir and rack.

As stated, it has a MUCH better feel than classic power steering, is progressive and as stated, if the system fails, it aint a security issue

No point doing something, putting stuff on if it doesn't improve the car - right ?

The electric system is Griffin in origin, the pump and reservoir available from any corner motorsport store and the rack is a Nissan part !

Russ, no problem for the thread hijack - I think you should seriously consider doing a US car but know who is sourcing the car for you over there, who will transport it and hopefully that'll be the person who loads it too - heed my tale and that of Zhead) !
Alternatively, we could discuss the yellow 240 in the classifieds, I'd drop the price for someone I know ! And it IS clean - I have photos of underneath !

Sales pitch over with - what steering are you going for Zhead ?

 

[zeeman1972]

Ahh electro hydraulic then, very neat!

 

[ZHead]

The electric system is Griffin in origin, the pump and reservoir available from any corner motorsport store and the rack is a Nissan part !

Sales pitch over with - what steering are you going for Zhead ?

You asked me that once before and I told you.......and then it appeared on your car Will be very similar to yours, small, light, cheap in the grand scheme of things and should make a big difference. I do not know which components are being used, have left that to Laurence, we just agreed the what, how and why. As well as the power steering I am having a quick rack fitted.

Griffin make the electrical system but what model was it originally fitted to ?

With the electric power steering, your Z will have quite a different feel to a standard one so does it "spoil the character" or as I suspect "upgrade and improve the character" ? It should feel more positive and dynamic, much more modern I would have thought.

 

[SeanDezart]

You asked me that once before and I told you.......and then it appeared on your car

Griffin make the electrical system but what model was it originally fitted to ?

With the electric power steering, your Z will have quite a different feel to a standard one so does it "spoil the character" or as I suspect "upgrade and improve the character" ? It should feel more positive and dynamic, much more modern I would have thought.

I know it will "upgrade and improve the character"...will "feel more positive and dynamic, much more modern" and before anyone says "arrh, but that'll change the character of the car - that's the whole point, I don't want a bumpy, creaky old Z. And I want it to be comfortable, efficient and purposeful (with a L series engine ;-)

You asked me that once before and I told you.......and then it appeared on your car

careful Zhead, either Lawrence and Dave had the idea at the same time, independently and it was applied to my car first (remember what you said elsewhere about my car taking 3x longer than yours ?) or it was indeed copied......When I asked you what you were doing about steering, mine was already in the car !

Can't rightly remember the model but most of the range is a bit corse.

I hope that my rack will pay off - it is a '91 part !