Project THESEUS: A '74 260z

[EDM620]

13 hours ago, Racer X 69 said:

So, our friend Noll is a celebrity.

 

https://winnipegsun.com/car-culture/vintage-collectible/this-classic-datsun-260z-is-8-cars-welded-together

 

 

Good job!

Nice to see some recognition for what obviously was one heck of a learning curve. A hearty congratulations!  Curious why the Winnipeg Sun as it appears you reside in Ontario?

[Noll]

19 minutes ago, EDM620 said:

Nice to see some recognition for what obviously was one heck of a learning curve. A hearty congratulations!  Curious why the Winnipeg Sun as it appears you reside in Ontario?

 

Thanks!

 

And good question, not entirely sure. The article was done for driving.ca ( https://driving.ca/car-culture/vintage-collectible/this-classic-datsun-260z-is-8-cars-welded-together ); I assume whoever owns them owns the winnipeg sun and probably some other publications too so it's been cross-posted there as well. That's my best guess, anyway.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Noll

[EDM620]

3 minutes ago, Noll said:

 

Thanks!

 

And good question, not entirely sure. The article was done for driving.ca ( https://driving.ca/car-culture/vintage-collectible/this-classic-datsun-260z-is-8-cars-welded-together ); I assume whoever owns them owns the winnipeg sun and probably some other publications too so it's been cross-posted there as well. That's my best guess, anyway.

I also had mine featured in Driving.ca but don't know that it appeared in print anwhere

On the Road: 1976/86 Datsun/Nissan 620/720 | Driving

There was a follow-up article as well but I can't seem to locate it.

[Noll]

1 minute ago, EDM620 said:

I also had mine featured in Driving.ca but don't know that it appeared in print anywhere

On the Road: 1976/86 Datsun/Nissan 620/720 | Driving

There was a follow-up article as well but I can't seem to locate it.

 

Oh neat! To be fair the first knowledge I had of mine being posted anywhere other than driving.ca was racer x 69 posting the winnipeg link here haha, so who knows if it's anywhere else and if so where.

 

Also unrelated but if you happen to see any cheap kingcab 620's for sale in AB this year hit me up haha, kinda want to make one into a daily driver and when they do pop up in Ontario they're rusted to hell and the seller wants like 7k for a cab and frame and nothing else.

[Racer X 69]

On 3/20/2022 at 9:36 AM, Noll said:

 

Oh neat! To be fair the first knowledge I had of mine being posted anywhere other than driving.ca was racer x 69 posting the winnipeg link here haha, so who knows if it's anywhere else and if so where.

A friend of mine in Winterpeg sent me the article. He knows I live, eat, breathe and sleep Z cars, and is always sharing things like this.

 

 I immediately recognized the car, so shared it here.

[Noll]

Keeping going with improvements while I wait for the weather to warm up. Was tired of waking up with back pain the day after doing any long-ish drive in the Z due to the worn-out foam of the stock seats, so picked up a set of 04-05 WRX seats for a good price. Whipped up some basic brackets and got them in the car the other day, they fit in surprisingly well without having to do anything much - handbrake, door cards (if i had any) , seatbelts, etc all have clearance.

Way better side bolstering, generally more comfy, more adjustability, and I think they fit the look of the car well.

[powderfinger]

Looks great, those seats look like they sit pretty low. You've got me wondering if I could make them work in a 720. Probably wouldn't like bolstered seats in a 4x4 but they look comfy.

[Noll]

1 hour ago, powderfinger said:

Looks great, those seats look like they sit pretty low. You've got me wondering if I could make them work in a 720. Probably wouldn't like bolstered seats in a 4x4 but they look comfy.

 

Thanks! And yeah they do, the driver's seat actually sits lower than the pass. side thanks to the height adjust (front lever in last pic) which I have set all the way down. It's a nice little feature given me being tall and lanky.

[EDM620]

13 hours ago, powderfinger said:

You've got me wondering if I could make them work in a 720

If your 720 is KC you might be able, the seats in the old Datsuns were pretty thin in the backrest. I used seats from a Altima in my build and there's no way I could have fit them into a regular cab - and I'm not tall.

[Noll]

First drive of the season today 🙂 !

She took a little coaxing to get going (mostly because the gas in the float bowls evaporated if I had to guess) but after ~45 sec of cranking fired right up as usual. Slight misfire in the video below (because 6mo old gas and the car generally sitting) but that cleaned right up after the vid.

Took it for a ~20 min drive to top the tank with 91 and burn the old gas out of the lines. So glad to be back driving it, brings a smile to my face every single time.


 

 

[iceman510]

Woot!

[slowlearner]

Great stuff. What are your plans for the car now?

[Noll]

On 4/7/2022 at 10:23 PM, slowlearner said:

Great stuff. What are your plans for the car now?

 
Good question honestly. I have an AFR gauge that I need to get around to installing to I can finish dialing in the carbs, but other than that and eventually sourcing door cards etc, I can't think of a ton that needs doing in the short-term other than just driving the heck out of it. Been dead reliable so far, so as long as that continues the goal is just to put on the miles and enjoy the car.

I do plan to go EFI eventually, but that's $$$ and is unlikely to be a for a while yet.

[slowlearner]

Yeah, good on you. Driving it is the best reward for all the work you put in. Is there much paint on the back half of the car? It sort of looks like primer, but it's hard to tell.

 

EFI is good, but if the carbs are ok, then enjoy it with them. 😉 

[Noll]

10 hours ago, slowlearner said:

Yeah, good on you. Driving it is the best reward for all the work you put in. Is there much paint on the back half of the car? It sort of looks like primer, but it's hard to tell.

 

EFI is good, but if the carbs are ok, then enjoy it with them. 😉 

 

Thanks! Yeah, mostly trying to enjoy the car after all the work over the years. I'm definitely not done with changes/mods I'm sure, but at least for right now I am perfectly happy.

 

The rear is a bit of a mix - those replacement quarters were originally green, and paint was burnt/stripped off around the roof join, wheelarch, and rear area. I went over all of it (as well as the roof which I had done dent repair to and was also bare in spots) with the zinc weld-thru primer to make sure everything was protected from the elements (whereas self-etch primer may have absorbed moisture).

 

And yeah, there's no rush on the EFI conversion, but it would be nice to have eventually.

[Draker]

This is great to see! Congratulations!

[Noll]

45 minutes ago, Draker said:

This is great to see! Congratulations!

 

That it is, and thanks! It's still a bit surreal at times to actually be driving it after ~5 years from the beginning of this thread but man is it good 🙂 .

 

Took the Z on some errands today, been driving it as much as I possibly can now the weather is allowing.  I need to get around to improving the starter solenoid circuit as it is becoming a tad annoying to play "put the key to Crank 7 times before it turns over" when it's not playing ball. (it does always eventually start though).

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Noll

[Skib]

Very nice 👍

[Noll]

Haven't updated this in a while, mostly because there haven't really been any changes. Replaced the water pump and mechanical fuel pump this spring as the fuel pump started leaking after the winter hibernation and the water pump had been getting leakier and leakier last year (internal bearing starting to let go), but otherwise I've just been driving the heck out of it.

It's probably the most reliable car I own at this point haha.



Plans for this year other than putting more miles on it are a quieter exhaust (only a bit), and maybe carpet and door cards. Otherwise, zero issues to report 🙂 . I feel like I kinda let this thread die, but the build is done for now so i guess that's just the natural progression of things.
 

(oh and I did end up making the starter relay mentioned in my post last year, car has cranked first time every time since then)

[Noll]

Good car meet times last night, grabbed a few pics:

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I like the wheels.

[Rustbin]

It's nice to see this car again, reading your thread from the beginning gave me confidence for doing my build. I also enjoyed checking out your other projects. Thanks Noll.

[Noll]

23 hours ago, Rustbin said:

It's nice to see this car again, reading your thread from the beginning gave me confidence for doing my build. I also enjoyed checking out your other projects. Thanks Noll.

 

That's awesome to hear i could inspire you in some way haha 🙂 . It's been a fun build, and neat to look back on stuff now (god I knew nothing when i first got the car lol)

[Noll]

Car show today, managed to win a trophy which was neat - for Best Paint of all things haha. I guess they meant the "that's cool" aspect as opposed to actual paint quality but i'm definitely not complaining either way 🙂






Also (unrelatedly) got a really good deal on some tires for my subaru, so decided to see if i could fit them in the Z on the trip home instead of coming back in the volvo, and yep, turns out 4 27" tires will fit in a S30 lol

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Nice Rover!

 

I've got a '57 88 inch.