CobaltFire

Another quick update without pictures: Picked up a set of Enkei Compe 16x8 +0 wheels for a pretty good discount off of facebook and the Western Minilites are leaving today. Putting some 225/50r16 Potenza RE760's on the car next week (it'll have to sit in the air for a week or so). Working on the stub manifold for the Triumph throttle bodies. Those things were really a steal! 300cc injectors, fuel rail, TPS, MAP sensor, velocity stacks, and all three TB's in excellent condition for $85 (averaged) each! Building a stub manifold out of aluminum and then use some fuel filler hose with a 2" ID (same as the TB's) to link the TB's up to the stubs. That should be flexible enough to let me make the mild curves needed. Building a heat shield into the stub manifold, then wrapping each hose in some heat shield blanket material. Also building in some adjustable stays to hold the TB's at the end of the hoses so no droop. Using a standard K&N oval filter with a sandwich setup, basically like what on there now. Hoping to put some pictures of this up soon. Looking at seat options; I may just end up going stock for the moment but I need to find a set for a decent price. Could also use some input on the trigger wheel setup. I've seen the Hoke Performance one and that looks to be the best bet at this time. I'm intending to go MegaSquirt with LS Coils. Any input from the hive mind there?

I'll make sure to do so!

Quick note; forgot to take pictures! I'll update the main post once I get a few pictures. Took out everything in the interior minus the dashboard. TONS of speaker wire from what I'm told was a pretty big stereo in the 90's. The tear on the drivers floor is ~12" long, but once pushed back into place is maybe 1/4" wide. Not too bad. The passenger side has a hole the size of a quarter or maybe a little less. The section above the taillights is pretty much gone; maybe 40% of the metal remains. Spare tire well is BRIGHT orange with rust, but feels solid; going to blast it and see. The entire hatch area is covered in road grime or exhaust grime (or some combination), but it started coming off pretty well with dish soap and water, leaving us with a very nice original orange interior back there, aside from the areas that need repaired. I'm seeing the same up front as well, though it looks like there is more wear on the paint. We did a test soda blast of the passenger side rear lower wheel well in front of the wheel/behind the door, as that was very obviously rotten thru. That blaster worked like a charm, and we were even able to take down the paint coat by coat, revealing that the car was originally 918 Orange, then got repainted white, then repainted black over that. I ordered some throttle bodies off of a Triumph 675; we intend to build a stub manifold and attach those then run that via either MegaSquirt or Speeduino. I'm also going to LS coils. Sorry to the guys who like the classic stuff; I just don't know it. I priced out going to Jenvey's, and it's a possibility but it ended up being almost $1500 more compared to the Triumph TB's, best case. $85 each set shipped, came with 300cc injectors, TPS sensor, fuel rail, and trumpets. They also have a stepper IAC motor, which I may or may not be able to get running. They have an 83mm center to center, so they are VERY close to being straight shots on the outer ports (8mm offset on those) and only slightly worse on the center port (13.5mm). If anyone knows of an off the shelf stub manifold, or even a blank intake manifold flange, that I can buy reasonably, let me know. The cheapest I've found is $300 and I'd rather fab one than pay $300 for a flange.

So a quick update: The car is now housed in a friend's garage in San Diego, and it is WAY less rusted than we thought. I had a buyer for the Mikuni's, but they backed out after lowering their offer twice (to a low of $900 for everything). I also had a buyer for the wheels, but without the free cash from selling the Mikuni's I couldn't sell the wheels to put anything else on it! So where I stand now is that it's here, it's way more solid than we thought, and we are going to be cleaning it up and stripping the interior this weekend. I'd still LIKE to sell the induction system (I really prefer EFI), so I'll probably relist it for $1600 or so and see if anyone is interested. The transmission needs the shifter rebuilt, but everything seems to WORK: brakes, clutch, suspension, etc. All the body panels are straight, and the rust (at this time) seems to be limited to surface everywhere except the front rear lower quarters in front of the wheel wells, the aft bottom of the front fenders in front of the doors, the bottom of the doors themselves, and the panel above the tailights. The cabin floors are solid with one exception where my uncle (who was almost 400lbs) overstressed a seam and tore it a bit after it rusted. We will be welding that back together. I'm going to take pictures, then we are soda blasting it this weekend to see how bad those areas are. However, they all feel pretty solid, only two are for sure rusted thru. We intend to get the car back up and running over the next 90 days or so, budget willing. I'll be posting a full update to the main post this weekend with pictures of the car as it is and after some cleaning.

I did not, actually. It's been half-assedly listed for sale for a while now, but my heart isn't in it. I have what seems to be a possible fair offer on the induction system (Mikuni's, rebuild kits, K&N filters, velocity stacks, manifold, linkage), and I'm actually picking the car up and bringing it to SoCal this weekend to tear into it a bit and see if I can't Ratsun it out a little.

So after a very busy past few months I haven't made much progress. Life is getting too busy with my career and the new addition. Car is going to be put up for sale. As of now I think I'm going to part it out, unless I get a reasonable offer for everything. I'll post a for sale ad soon; I don't think I'm keeping anything as I don't have another Datsun for anything to go to.

Updated the main post.

Thanks for this, this is what I had understood. The intention is that if we need a transmission we will be using a 71C.

For anyone watching this topic, I have a question: Is there a bracket or something to support an airdam? There's NOTHING under there for this car, and I don't know these cars. If there is a bracket, is there anywhere I can get one?

I keep going back and forth, but that's what I'm considering at this point. Still in process of rebuilding the triples to start it up and see how it runs. I've never rebuilt carbs before, so it's slow going as I don't want to screw anything up.

That's what I understood to be the case.

So I've had a few inquiries about buying parts off of this car if I change directions and it's given me pause. I'm honestly not really attached to the drivetrain as it is, and would be fine with swapping it for something else. I'm just not familiar with the market. That said, I'm now looking into a reasonable price for selling off my current drivetrain and moving forward from there. My question to anyone reading this is this: Am I better off selling the drivetrain as a running one, or breaking it up and sending it on it's way that way? I'm not averse to pulling the head, cleaning it up, etc. to sell it. I also have no real idea what everything is worth. I know the Mikuni's can be pricey, but I've seen a pretty wide range of prices. I have NO IDEA what intake manifold is on it, and I can't find a picture anywhere of one like it. If anyone knows that would solve that mystery for me as well. Regarding what drivetrain I'd install, my current thought process says SR20DE (non-turbo). Reasonably cheap, light, fun, etc. There is also the Autech version that I'm quite interested in for about 2.5x the price, but it has all the goodies you'd want from the get go and is factory rated to 200HP with a 6 speed. If I could get anywhere around $3k for the drivetrain I'd seriously consider going for the Autech motor.

I understand that, and within a set range of error that's why I chose those sizes. I don't know that any 225/55r15 tires are even produced at this time, but there are 225/50's. Yet another reason I'm looking at 16's, I suppose. It's really frustrating because I've only seen the one classic style wheel in 16 that I like, or a TE37 if I want to update the look a bit.

While I'm working on my Z, I'm looking into what wheels I want. What's on it isn't bad (15x7 Shelby Minilites) but not really to my taste. That said, the new Work Equip 040's look amazing, but are only in 15" (at least for now). My second pick would be a set of 16" Work Meister CR-01's. A key factor in my decision at this point is the availability of tires in each size, hence the subject. From my research it seems that 15's in an appropriate size (205/60r15, 225/50r15) are either touring all seasons, track only tires, or classic reproductions that will do what I want but cost $300 each (Pirelli). If I go 16's I see a world of tires open up due to the appropriate sizes being used on air cooled Porsche's (through the 993) and BMW 3's (through the E46). Going to 17's gets even more selection, but I don't like the look on a Z. I'm not really looking to go above a 225/245 front/rear, and I haven't decided on staggered or square yet. Am I missing something, or is this the situation at this time?

That is interesting. The 71b 1/2 is similar to the (expensive) close ratio gear set that you can get for the 71c. It also lets you run deeper rear gears without throwing first away. I may have to rethink. The issue then is finding one in good condition for a reasonable price, but I'll start keeping my eyes open.