Project RBZ - RB26 Swapped 240Z

[Garaculas]

I know this sounds sensible..... a massive gearbox, a bigger diff and a 3" pipe.... thats a lot to go in a small space, if you tuck the pipe up, its got to come down a long way to go around the diff etc.

Just a thought.

Absolutely, he’s just being helpful and might as well make any space we can because as you say it’s going to be quite tight.

We are using the same gearbox, are you going with the Mckinney mounts, or fabricating from scratch?

I’m not 100% sure yet to be fair. I’m unlikely to make my own as haven’t welded in a long time, and need to buy a new welder, but have been looking at the McKinney mounts and the CX racing mounts. Tempted by the CX kit as they have a nice baffled sump kit for the swap and might save on some of the US fee’s if I get multiple bits from one source.

That’s a nice wedge Robbie!

 

[Garaculas]

Updates coming through from the fabricator today as he’s made a start and replaced what will be the drivers side floor and chassis rail.





The welds aren’t ground down yet but it’s flush fitted so will look factory when all cleaned up and painted. He’s also putting it up in some snaps on his Instagram so quite nice to see my little Z getting worked on




Really happy with the quality of the work so far and whenever we talk on the phone he’s really keyed in to what we’re trying to achieve. He made the comment yesterday that the way these cars are there’s a lot of space between the firewall and the strut towers so once the cage is in we’re going to have a look at options to try and stiffen that up. I also said how I’m a fan of classic race cars, that don’t look like they have a cage from most angles untill you peer into the cabin, so he’s going to tuck the cage into the car as much as possible. This will also help my lanky frame get in and out easier and lessen the chance of me bumping the ol’ noggin

 

[peter_s]

What a project. Really enjoyed the posts!

 

[Garaculas]

After just over a month at the fabricators the car is now home! Absolutely over the moon with the quality of the work and gives me a great starting point to build the car from.

The work that’s been done is new floors, chassis rails and chassis rail extensions (panels supplied by Woody). Bespoke weld in strut to strut roll cage, replacement roof skin, new seat mounts and a had a couple of bits tidied up from previous owners.

Firstly here are a few shots from the outside.

 

[Garaculas]

Here’s how the roof looks



Cage extensions through from the front hoop to the front struts



The new floors and seat mountings

 

[Garaculas]

A few shots of the cage from the inside



All work was carried out my Mark at Huxley Motorsport and as I mentioned honestly could not be happier with it. I was worried that being 6ft 5 I’d have real problems hitting my head on the cage but Mark kept this in mind whilst making the cage and it’s resulted in no chance of me hitting it without a helmet on so that’s a great result.

Once the car is going on track I’ll be getting a couple of sections of the FIA padding that will keep me safe with a helmet on.

Now the car is home the first job is to clean the cage down thoroughly and give all the new metal a coat of primer to keep it from rusting. Then it’s going to be a case of get the house finished and then maybe the little Z will get some more attention!

 

[Pondo]

I’ve learnt that the house is never finished so to quietly continue with the Datsun.......looks ace, no holes in the roof or floors is always good

 

[Rushingphil]

Looking really good mate

 

[Rob Gaskin]

That looks very comprehensive, safe and strong. Shell should be a lot stiffer. Bit heavy though?

Side bars are very reassuring.

 

[Jay.]

Looking good Ed

 

[Garaculas]

Cheers guys

That looks very comprehensive, safe and strong. Shell should be a lot stiffer. Bit heavy though?

Side bars are very reassuring.

Thanks Rob! Agreed and i think the weight is a fair trade off for the safety and stiffness. He's used smaller diameter pipe where he can to keep weight down (where the FIA allows) and hopefully the RB26 will be more than up to the task of moving the extra weight! I was thinking that the extra weight might actually come in handy when we're looking at ~500hp in a 1 ton car?

 

[yellowz]

Learning question. Why are some of the welds not complete as in the picture and on the strut towers?

 

[Garaculas]

Learning question. Why are some of the welds not complete as in the picture and on the strut towers?

View attachment 41710

These are stitch welds and generally used to stop heat distortion whilst welding thin panels. The ones in the engine bay are partly to tidy up a previous owner's botch job and partly to add some strength around the strut towers since the new cage now pushes against them. The ones on the underside, like you've highlighted are just to stop the thin panels warping whilst they are being welded to the car. Any gaps between the welds should be covered up and filled when i come to underseal the car shortly.

 

[yellowz]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Ian]

Thats a really nice cage. She is definitely a lot stiffer now.

 

[bigh]

Nice work indeed, loving the updates.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Cheers guys



Thanks Rob! Agreed and i think the weight is a fair trade off for the safety and stiffness. He's used smaller diameter pipe where he can to keep weight down (where the FIA allows) and hopefully the RB26 will be more than up to the task of moving the extra weight! I was thinking that the extra weight might actually come in handy when we're looking at ~500hp in a 1 ton car?

Weight is your enemy on track. But a GTR copes ok.

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Weight is your enemy on track. But a GTR copes ok.

weight in the wrong place is the enemy(now days).

with a big engine/big gearbox/cage, i'd say 1200kg?

 

[Garaculas]

weight in the wrong place is the enemy(now days).

with a big engine/big gearbox/cage, i'd say 1200kg?

Yeah I would imagine so but the main aim of the cage is safety as I've seen how these things come off in an accident and don’t want to have images of crumpled tin cans every time I open the taps. Not to mention the amount of chassis flex on my car prior to the cage was quite bad. Not the kind of thing you want with an RB whaling away!

You quite rightly list the heavy hitters but I’ll save a little with newer parts such as seats, fuel tank, heaters, battery etc. I don’t think the cage weighs particularly more than any other and we’ve been sensible with what we’ve done rather than making elaborate door bars, gusseting the life out of everything and adding an additional harness rail.

I’m sure with appropriate wheels/tyres, good quality suspension components and a proper geo setup we’ll be cooking on gas

 

[Alphabettispaghetti]

Yeah I would imagine so but the main aim of the cage is safety as I've seen how these things come off in an accident and don’t want to have images of crumpled tin cans every time I open the taps. Not to mention the amount of chassis flex on my car prior to the cage was quite bad. Not the kind of thing you want with an RB whaling away!

You quite rightly list the heavy hitters but I’ll save a little with newer parts such as seats, fuel tank, heaters, battery etc. I don’t think the cage weighs particularly more than any other and we’ve been sensible with what we’ve done rather than making elaborate door bars, gusseting the life out of everything and adding an additional harness rail.

I’m sure with appropriate wheels/tyres, good quality suspension components and a proper geo setup we’ll be cooking on gas

Don't get me wrong, i'm sure it'll be a weapon. I think with all that torque its the right thing to cage it and tie it all together. I bet you could measure the twist/torque pull on most of these chassis when running such torque.