The Z Story: A discussion on rust and how to effectively burn money.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > The Z Story: A discussion on rust and how to effectively burn money.

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

HELLO THERE, I TOO HAVE AN S30 BUILD:

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3800377

poo poo, man, I'm glad there's more of us. Let's get a small army going on and terrify the populace!

If you have any questions, I will offer any and all answers I possibly can; I have ENTIRELY rebuilt my vehicle from the ground up, as I received it as a VERY stripped roller, and have re-done most everything on it that isn't the interior or electrics.

Also I know they're 'nice', but I feel you on not liking the G-Nose; aerodynamics aside it just makes the front of the car a little too big for me to be comfortably proportionate to the butt side.

Your car's generation split is '74-'76; source parts from these years. At very least your doors and gas tank will not match '77-'78s, but '76s are definitely FI cars.

Swap plans? Pie in the sky me, I'm loving rabid even seeing this thread.

Waffle House fucked around with this message at 16:49 on May 9, 2017

# ¿ May 9, 2017 16:46

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:27

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Lord of Garbagemen posted:

Swap plan is stated above its going to get an rb25 . Power goal is probably 400whp and torques after all is said and done. I originally thought rb26 for obvious reasons then saw the prices for them and said gently caress that the 2.5 will work just fine.

I read your entire thread front to back while i was deciding i wanted an s30. I will definitely be hitting you up for help.

Yep, if you're going RB, and those are your goals, the 25 will be juuuuust fine.

Unlike my 1JZ, the intake and exhaust sides are 'correct' for the Datsun, so you can keep your stock battery placement with no heat soak issues near the tray.

I have a friend on Facebook via the Ratsun/HybridZ community who's done the RB25 swap that I could put you in touch with as well for anything I can't speak to.

# ¿ May 9, 2017 18:58

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Lord of Garbagemen posted:

That would be awesome. I am pretty unfamiliar with jdm nissan powerplants. I know they have oil pump and cavitating issues that will need to be dealt with, but that is about the extent of my knowledge on the 25/26. What can the stock rb25 handle with said oiling issues corrected?

You'll be fine without building internals up to your 400hp power goal; I don't know much specifically about oil starvation on RBs, but as soon as I get home and on Facebook I'll verify with the dude that I can have you talk to him. For some inexplicable reason, CXRacing, Chinese eBay intercooler company, decided the S30 Z Car (and other Datsun products) was their baby, and now they offer kits for every possible swap:

Here's an S30-compatible oil pan and pickup tube:
https://www.amazon.com/CXRacing-Aluminum-Pickup-RB25-RB25DET/dp/B00FIXLZ4O

And here it is included with a full engine, trans, and mount kit:
https://www.amazon.com/CXRacing-RB2...CXRacing+Datsun

# ¿ May 9, 2017 21:47

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Is it me
Or do riveted flares look incredibly dumb.

Riveted Z-Grande Flares were popularized on/by the Datsun Z in its heyday. Personal matter of taste; I like the flares, but not the nose:

# ¿ May 9, 2017 22:45

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

you should also consider that the factory wheel for a 280z was 5.5" wide, so

# ¿ May 10, 2017 20:32

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

As a Banana Z owner, I approve of both of these yellow '77s. Here is a handy rust guide for anyone looking at Datsuns:

EvellSnoats posted:

Want me to take a look at this for you? About 40 miles from me. Tell me what to look for in terms of rust.

https://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/6096229400.html

That one looks nice imo

Lord of Garbagemen posted:

I'm not quite ready to look out of state yet. At lunch I went and looked at a 75 280 the thing only had 19,000 miles on it , zero rust . I told the seller the car was probably worth more but my max budget on a shell was 3,000. He said if it didn't drum up more interest he would sell to me. This weekend I am back up to Snohomish to look at another Craigslist ad (https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/6109948150.html).

The year is right, I can probably talk him down to 3k. As long as he has a clean title and minor rust , that could be a good car.

The rust holes around the wheel arches are from flares. You'll want to clean then bondo those ASAP unless you're putting flares back on. Wiring diagrams are very available if you feel like chasing down the gremlins.

# ¿ May 18, 2017 15:28

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

The frame rails are fine for sitting on. The diff is a fine jack point.

# ¿ May 23, 2017 19:42

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Lord of Garbagemen posted:

Sorry for not posting in a couple of weeks, wife has me doing a ton of home projects. Today however, there is an update (albeit a small one).

I was tooling around the hybridz forums and a bunch of those guys said they had good interactions with a jdm importer in Sacramento. I go to their website saw a thing, then did a thing:

Here is what I saw:

Here is what I did:

I am a bit anxious over buying an engine site unseen, and not talking to the guy in person. Hybridz guys all seemed to have good things to say about their experiences. And, he did send me video of him doing a compression check (I would upload but don't know where to file share mp4). Cylinder 1 settled at 210 psi, and 2-6 all settled at like 215 psi. It seems high but they were all similar so that is the most important part. No transmission or flywheel (both perfect for my goals).

It is not an rb26, but for $900 I can live with a rb25 instead.

For anyone familiar with rb's, I am about 80% certain that this one is a series 2 rb25 (fan blades and grey sensor connector underneath the intake are what I was looking at). I am going to redo all the gaskets (including head) at that point should I just pull out the crank and have the longer snout machined on and the tomei oil passage restrictors put in, or is the internet forums correct when they say that was more of a gen 1 rb25/26 problem?

RB25s are no slouch. This looks good; I am sure you noticed this, but I would like to point out some severed wiring pigtails that you may wish to track down and ensure are not related to the car turning over; they are most likely related to the donor car's ABS or another system that was not but a twinkle in someone's eyes when the Datsun Z was originally manufactured:

I *think* that the RB25 was only used in Skylines and Stageas, so....

http://paulr33.com/diagrams/engine-ecu.html

...looks like this is the wiring diagram resource you'll need!

# ¿ Jun 8, 2017 22:18

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

A largely rustless S30? You should buy a lottery ticket imo.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2017 16:44

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Lord of Garbagemen posted:

Its getting a tear down for at a minimum all the maintenance items (head gasket included) and address some of the oiling issues . I have been trying to decide if I will build it up, mostly cause I don't know and can't get a good answer as to what the factory internals are good for. The coils look good but I might just convert to GM ls2/lq9 coil packs.

TIL:

https://www.powerhouseracing.com/product/4858/phr-billet-lq9-coil-brackets-for-2jzgte-1jzgte

loving noted for my build, thank you for this.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2017 15:36

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

Roeben posted:

The old Z's have pretty much been my dream car since I first saw one roll up in my hometown. I live in Europe by the way, so you can imagine this was a pretty rare experience.

Loved them ever since.

How much documentation is there on these cars? How hard is it to work on them for someone who doesn't have much experience to work on them?

I've always dreamed of owning one for myself one day, but it'll have to be in good running condition or I'm afraid it'll be hopeless.
These things are expensive here though, they'll easily run over 23.000 eurobucks unless you get a rusty California import.

Hands down, the S30 Zed-car is one of the most well-loved and documented vehicles on the planet. Third party aftermarket is widely available, as are modernization solutions. FRP Automotive, seemingly defunct except for on Facebook, still makes Fiberglass replacement bodies, I believe. Here's some of the many enthusiast forums:

http://hybridz.org/
http://www.viczcar.com/
http://www.zcar.com/
http://www.zhome.com/
http://www.nicoclub.com/
http://community.ratsun.net/

# ¿ Jul 18, 2017 17:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:27

Waffle House: Oct 27, 2004; You follow the path
fitting into an infinite pattern.

Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild.

Now, in the quantum moment
before the closure
when all become one.

One moment left.
One point of space and time.

I know who you are.

You are Destiny.

slidebite posted:

It probably had a plug for the output which fell out. Why they would ship it wet in the first place

My 1JZ pullout was shipped wet. Japanese oil and gasoline smell different.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 19:39

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > The Z Story: A discussion on rust and how to effectively burn money.