1972 240Z VQ35DE + 6spd, caged, flares, STI diff, Wilwood brakes, coilovers, etc

1972 Datsun Z-Series Additional Info:

I am selling my ’72 240z street legal race car. Many pictures are after the description. This car is powered by the VQ35DE+6spd transmission from a 2003 350z (35k miles on donor). Please read the blog and entire ad below to get all the details and really absorb what this car has had done to it. No inexperienced drivers please. This car has no traction control, it can get you into trouble very quickly if not careful. It is a custom car and sold AS IS. No warranty expressed or implied. Ive owned it for 7 years and has been very reliable throughout my ownership, but I simply don’t drive it anymore. I fire it up once a month to get fluids moving and charge the battery, but I drove it about 5 times last year, only to car shows, so I think its time for a new home. I put 0 miles in the ad because i am not sure how many miles are on it. i have the factory speedo buried somewhere and since the VQ swap the speedo has not been recording mileage. i can find the original speedo and provide it if wanted.

I think the easiest place to start is with the following build blog, where you will find most build related details. I haven’t added anything in a few years, but the majority of the build is there:

www.vq240z.weebly.com

here is a casual drive video I made a few years ago, but the car is fundamentally the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb4onzYaq28

Since the build blog I have made several improvements, please see the parts list and current pics to see all of what has changed. I raced it in NASA TT3 for the 2013 season and have about 20 track days under its belt with zero failures. It is a fun car on track, 2346lbs w/o driver, 233whp (at 4500ft elevation), and reliable. After one season of tracking it, I decided to move to Spec350z and retire the 240z to street use. The 350z is much more expendable in my mind than the S30 is. The S30 is quickly becoming a valued classic, especially the 240z.

I think I would like to separate by category to cover all the parts and modifications that have been done.

BODY:

*started with a clean title California donor car, the donor itself was pricey.

*POR 15 on all parts of the suspension, gloss black, see blog

*KBS Rustseal on engine bay

*all factory glass/windows currently in use

*replaced both sheet metal doglegs with new metal due to rust

*original floor pans with a few minor patches

*Mckinney upper camber plates all four corners

*coated most of the INSIDES of rocker panels, dog legs, wheel arches, etc with eastwood rust converter to prevent any rust from spreading from areas I couldn’t see

*complete clean and strip of interior and painted with KBS gray along with engine bay

*custom cage (1.5”x.120) fabrication from a local cage builder, per NASA spec. added much bracing elsewhere on rocker panels, etc. see build blog for all cage pics.

*motor mounts welded on and stitch welded engine bay

*BAD DOG front and rear frame rail reinforcement kit welded on over existing perfect condition frame rails

*front sway bar reinforcement plates welded in

*KBS sealed most of the underside of the body, took care of any undercoating that was missing

*MSA headlight covers and wheel flares

*MSA BRE front air dam and rear wing

*MSA fiberglass rear bumper

Overall I wanted the body to be functional, clean, and coated to prevent rust. This was more important than the paint being cosmetically perfect. It needs a good respray, I had vinyl decals I recently removed that took some of the paint with it. Along with that, It has some dings, scrapes, and many chips. It tends to look better in pictures than in person, it is white so its forgiving. My strategy with this restoration was to work inside to outside, the last item being the paint job. At the time, I decided I would not paint it due to the finish being acceptable to me as a race car, but now that it is more of a street car, I would want to get it painted. It was painted in the 90’s and its ready for another high quality respray.

All the extra triangulation reinforcement has made the car feel amazing. Body weight is 2346lb with no driver and half tank of fuel with almost a perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

ENGINE/Drivetrain:

*2003 350z engine/transmission, pulled with 35k miles. Completely stock other than UPREV custom tune (with 4 hrs dyno time), Kinetix intake manifold, intake, and custom exhaust built by myself to include v banded sections, a y-pipe, 2.5” prior to y pipe and 3” piping after, and a Borla XR-1 muffler. The exhaust is aging, and I regret not doing it in SS, I did it in 16 gauge mild steel and painted it, but SS would have been better. There is always the option to get the current exhaust coated to clean it up instead of building a new one.

*much deletion of EVAP equipment as well as the factory oil “cooler” (replaced with setrab), no Power steering, no AC, no heater, no blower. Factory manual fresh air duct valves are still intact and working.

*SETRAB 25 row oil cooler with MOCAL sandwich plate with 180 degree thermostat, -10 SS lines/fittings

*Factory modified radiator, works great and never gets close to overheating. I would probably replace with a pretty aluminum one eventually, the stock one doesn’t look as good, plus it is heavy.

*Ford Taurus electric fan running off factory fan signal from ECU to turn on at ~210F

*custom transmission mount and driveshaft

*JWT lightweight flywheel

*Exedy clutch disk, new throw out bearing, pilot bushing, Z1 shift fork pivot ball, 2004+ upgraded shift fork

*new clutch master/slave cylinder/SS hard line

*”RT” diff mount

*Subaru STI R180 clutch pack rear LSD

* Beta Motorsports diff output shafts to work with stock half shafts and STI differential

* 280z stub axles

*redline MT90 in tranny, Motul rear diff fluid

*Completely custom fuel scavenge/return system using ATL “black box” with high HP fuel pump, flap doors to prevent starvation, aeromotive regulator and SS delivery and return. I used the factory fuel supply hard line as the return path for the fuel. Rollover valve installed in the vent of the fuel tank in the cabin.

The engine/driveline feels great, never had a problem with any parts of it, no fuel starvation at any level on track. The Subaru STI LSD is the perfect combination for this engine. It dyno’d 233 rwhp at 4500 ft elevation. I run 5w-30 mobil 1 in the engine and I have many race miles on it and has never skipped a beat. The good thing is these engines are super cheap to source and repair.

SUSPENSION/BRAKES:

*Mckinney Motorsports S13 full coilover kit

*Arizona Z car front wildwood 4 piston brake setup

*Modern motorsports rear disk brake conversion

*Front wildwood pads with centric street performance rear pads

*ChaseBays Brake booster eliminator with Wilwood master cylinder (I still have the stock booster)

*JEGS brake proportioning valve

*Full -3 SS brake lines ran to every corner using Pegasus racing parts.

*Techno Toy Tuning tension rods

*Techno Toy Tuning Lower rear control arms

*Suspension Techniques rear sway bar

*MSA front sway bar

*every bushing replaced with urethane versions

*brake ducts run from front air dam to brake backing plates, clamped onto 3” exhaust pipe fitting, works great, ZERO fade on the hottest of days. Right now I have the duct hoses off since it has been a street car.

Ive been trying out different brake combinations on this car. one thing you must learn is the brakes on this car have always felt abnormally hard, even with the booster. There still could be some troubleshooting done there and more experimentation with pad compounds, etc but that is up to the new owner. I will include all parts I have experimented with to try to get the feel I like but I am still not happy with how they feel.

INTERIOR/ELECTRONICS:

*factory modified 350z ECU harness, deleted (removed pins in connectors) down to only what I needed for the 240z, simplified A LOT. Rewrapped and simplified 240z body harness only to keep essentials. Has working brake lights, headlights, running lights, reverse lights, and horn.

*Utilizing factory NATS (Nissan anti theft system) with all BCM, IPDM, key, ignition, NATS antenna, and ECU. I have a notebook with all diagrams and markups for troubleshooting future issues. Its been 7 years so I may not remember it all.

*MSA upgraded headlight and parking light harness in order to get a brighter light and no wire overheating.

*MSA updated fuse block to accept more modern mini fuses.

*stock dash (with dash cap) trimmed to fit around roll cage

*Autometer sport comp gauges (speedo, Tach with shift light, coolant temp, oil temp, oil pressure, fuel level, and battery voltage). Speedo does not have the magnetic pickup wired yet, so speedo does not work currently.

*Ultrashield 5pt harnesses

*Aluminum collars to prevent side to side movement of shoulder harnesses.

*“Planted” side mounts hold the seats to the factory reinforced seat mount provisions.

*Sparco Sprint 2014 version seats

*Tomei steering wheel

*NRG hub and NRG v2.5 quick release in carbon fiber, also have the regular hub non quick release.

*fire extinguisher for basic fire management.

*new carpet kit with vinyl panels and plastic panels

The interior is very basic but it does the job. Its actually relatively comfy, I would really want to get some new door panels made to adapt around the cage, the ones that are in there are poorly modified and drivers side was destroyed from having to break in the driver door lock from the inside…new door panels are a must, luckily ive seen a lot of aluminum options as of late since these cars have skyrocketed in popularity. Also, the glue that holds down the new vinyl panels is starting to lift and parts of them need to be redone.

You have to be a thinner guy to squeeze in and out of the car, the quick release steering wheel helps, but it’s a tight fit. You definitely feel as if you are driving a race car when driving this. Seating position is not adjustable with a slider, but can always be modified. I am 5’11” 175lbs, a pretty average size person.

WHEELS/TIRES:

* 17x9.5 -13 Rota RBX with Hankook RS3 tires. Tread is fine and will last a few more years depending on what you do with it.

FLAWS:

Flaws are relative, but if I were to keep it I would: recalibrate fuel level gauge, get new door panels made, get some of the vinyl panels refitted, wire up the speedo pickup, get a new exhaust made out of SS, and maybe a paint job sometime down the road. This is the type of car you want to work on and play with, so I’m sure the new owner will find small things to work on.

CONCLUSION:

Overall there is nothing more to say other than the car is an absolute blast to drive and own. It is purpose built for having fun on a nice day. It is a toy, not a daily driver. Its bumpy, loud, and your wife/girlfriend will probably not like riding In it. if you don’t know how to work on cars or do not like tinkering, please get something else.

I get more attention in this car than I do when I drive my Ferrari. It actually gets annoying sometimes with how many people want to race you or chat about how they haven’t seen one in 30 years.

Here are the PICS: