# RB26DETT Powered Datsun 240Z - Project and Install Pics



## bishopsrock (May 31, 2006)

Thanks for your interest everyone. Believe it or not, I thought that nobody on this forum would be interested in my swap but amazingly it seems that some people are!!!

In the first section of this, i'm going to explain how I came to buy my 240z and what led me to the RB26 conversion - so if your not interested just skip this bit.

A few years ago I hit 40 and decided that it was about time I had a midlife crisis. I looked at the different midlife crisis cars - Aston Martin (8 mpg) Ferrari (8 mpg) Mazaratti (8mpg) etc. At the end of it I was left with the good old 911 at 26 mpg, reasonable servicing costs and just about 4 seats. I very very nearly got one but for people telling me things like 'nice car but no one will ever let you out' and 'nice car but no one will ever let you in' and my mates pleading with me not to get one because it was a 'wan*kers car'. I had the vision of me driving away waving at my mates and them waving back with Wan*king gestures. I just couldn't shift that mental picture from my mind!!! Out of pure frustration I looked back to my childhood and thought about the cars that impressed me then. I remembered the 240z and its space age styling of the interior. It looked fast both on the inside and on the outside. In the very early 1970s it was massively different to anything else on the road. I got some pictures and fell in love for a second time - but this time I COULD afford one!

After doing a bit of research I found that the UK cars, no matter how good they looked, were essentially all former rustbuckets with a load of new panels welded on. I discovered though that America had a good supply of mint cars although many 240s in the states were just as bad as the UK ones. After lots of research, transatlantic phone calls, emailed photos and a load of risk I finally drove down to Thamesport to collect my car. Here she is:












Can't you just feel the love???



















This is the car that I fell in love with and actually bought. I got it from a dentist named Bob who lived in Bakersfield, Calafornia. It absolutely met my expectation in terms of condition and quality. It was built in November 1972 which was handy as it meant I qualified for free road tax! The first thing I did was drive it to a coach builders in Bolton and got them to fill it with 12 litres of waxoil. Can you believe that I wouldn't swap it for anything.



















So, I drove it around for a year and despite all the love - these pics are showing what would be the cause of a big fall out with my car. It was left hand drive and my work parking entry panel was on the right, so was the McDonalds coffee window as was the new M6 toll. In truth, it was the M6 toll that finally cracked me. I found Z rally expert Lawrence Evans at Star Motorsport in Coalville. He was the best person in the Country to do my RHD conversion. We did a deal and I went off to find a donor car with a RHD bulkhead, dashboard, loom, steering etc. Heres what I bought as the donor car - don't laugh - much:










When I stripped it (if you can believe this) I found the condition to be much worse than it looked.



















http://www.imagebam.com/image/5e1e264756130[IMG]

[IMG]http://www.imagebam.com/image/5853234756140










Yes, this is how most of the UK 240s ended up. Still it had all the bits I needed and at least the plastic dashboard wasn't rusty.

In December 2005 I went for one last blast around town in my mint American 240z and then started the painful job of taking a perfectly good running car to bits.




























My pride and joy started to look down at heel and like a worthless wreck - what had I done?

Next Installment - The professionals get involved |


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Pics not working mate, make sure you have [/IMG]at the end.


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## Rain (Apr 8, 2006)

er, use image shack or allyoucanupload.webshots.com to host pics, as they work more consistently. 

otherwise nice project, i want to do one like it myself too!


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## bishopsrock (May 31, 2006)

*Images not working*

Thanks - I know but my editing time ran out. Im on the images trail and with a little help from the administrator - I will get them fixed soon.

Thanks

Andy


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## bishopsrock (May 31, 2006)

Thanks for your interest everyone. Believe it or not, I thought that nobody on this forum would be interested in my swap but amazingly it seems that some people are!!!

In the first section of this, i'm going to explain how I came to buy my 240z and what led me to the RB26 conversion - so if your not interested just skip this bit.

A few years ago I hit 40 and decided that it was about time I had a midlife crisis. I looked at the different midlife crisis cars - Aston Martin (8 mpg) Ferrari (8 mpg) Mazaratti (8mpg) etc. At the end of it I was left with the good old 911 at 26 mpg, reasonable servicing costs and just about 4 seats. I very very nearly got one but for people telling me things like 'nice car but no one will ever let you out' and 'nice car but no one will ever let you in' and my mates pleading with me not to get one because it was a 'wan*kers car'. I had the vision of me driving away waving at my mates and them waving back with Wan*king gestures. I just couldn't shift that mental picture from my mind!!! Out of pure frustration I looked back to my childhood and thought about the cars that impressed me then. I remembered the 240z and its space age styling of the interior. It looked fast both on the inside and on the outside. In the very early 1970s it was massively different to anything else on the road. I got some pictures and fell in love for a second time - but this time I COULD afford one!

After doing a bit of research I found that the UK cars, no matter how good they looked, were essentially all former rustbuckets with a load of new panels welded on. I discovered though that America had a good supply of mint cars although many 240s in the states were just as bad as the UK ones. After lots of research, transatlantic phone calls, emailed photos and a load of risk I finally drove down to Thamesport to collect my car. Here she is:



















Can't you just feel the love???










This is the car that I fell in love with and actually bought. I got it from a dentist named Bob who lived in Bakersfield, Calafornia. It absolutely met my expectation in terms of condition and quality. It was built in November 1972 which was handy as it meant I qualified for free road tax! The first thing I did was drive it to a coach builders in Bolton and got them to fill it with 12 litres of waxoil. Can you believe that I wouldn't swap it for anything.



















So, I drove it around for a year and despite all the love - these pics are showing what would be the cause of a big fall out with my car. It was left hand drive and my work parking entry panel was on the right, so was the McDonalds coffee window as was the new M6 toll. In truth, it was the M6 toll that finally cracked me. I found Z rally expert Lawrence Evans at Star Motorsport in Coalville. He was the best person in the Country to do my RHD conversion. We did a deal and I went off to find a donor car with a RHD bulkhead, dashboard, loom, steering etc. Heres what I bought as the donor car - don't laugh - much:










When I stripped it (if you can believe this) I found the condition to be much worse than it looked.





































Yes, this is how most of the UK 240s ended up. Still it had all the bits I needed and at least the plastic dashboard wasn't rusty.

In December 2005 I went for one last blast around town in my mint American 240z and then started the painful job of taking a perfectly good running car to bits.



















My pride and joy started to look down at heel and like a worthless wreck - what had I done?










Next Installment - The professionals get involved |


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## Butuz (Jan 9, 2005)

Awesome - 240z is on the list of things to do for me for sure 

Butuz


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## hodgie (Oct 23, 2003)

Im really looking forward to more instalments. I love the 240Z i remember seeing them in the 70`s and they were probably the coolest cars on the road.
:bowdown1:


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

bishopsrock said:


> Thanks for your interest everyone. Believe it or not, I thought that nobody on this forum would be interested in my swap but amazingly it seems that some people are!!!



The RB26 is an iconic engine.. putitng it into another iconic car will only make us sit up and pay attention. Kudos on a great project!

mook


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## driftboy (Jan 14, 2006)

more, more, more..... this is exellent....


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

Great project, not heard good things about Star Motorsport though


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Ive seen this in the flesh and it looks awesome


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## Ian C (Jun 3, 2003)

Class - keep it coming!


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## Pud237 (Apr 7, 2008)

What a brilliant conversion to do. Love the 240Z, reminds me of a Ferrari 250 GTO :thumbsup:


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## nismoman (Jul 13, 2004)

just wished i,d never sold the two i had now


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## nustad (May 17, 2005)

*Excellent*

Great to see and keep the updates coming.

I am lucky to have a 240z and a GTR and while tempted to drop an RB in the Z I haven't had the nuts to do it (or funds...)

Looking forward to seeing your project evolve.


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## gtroc (Jan 7, 2008)

*240z*

was bidding on a red 1972 240z this morning.
unfortunatly my bid was not high enough to win the bidding.

lovely cars tho.


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## blue34 (Jul 28, 2005)

I didn't realise so many people had or have had 240Z's had mine for years...

I run triple webbers - goes well enough but needs lowering for track.. an RB fit is going to be fun...I'll keep a keen eye on your thread!


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## SteveC (Jul 2, 2001)

cool this is on my to do list


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## bishopsrock (May 31, 2006)

Hey thanks for all the interest - its really surprised me 

I'm now well motivated to do the next installment! - although time is tight because i'm still trying to finish the car - I will try to update my thread over the next few days.

Cheers everyone.

Andy


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## henkneec (May 4, 2008)

*Rb26 Datsun*

Im also doing the Rb26 swap on my datsun , so far I just have been fixing rust spots and getting the car ready for the transplant. I found a fairly good body that just needed some rust patches here and there but luckly nothing to major. I have the motor thats going in sorted out and now I just have to get oil pan and gear box. Good luck and keep us posted. :thumbsup: 

Jay


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## JonR32GTR (Jan 10, 2007)

Some pics of a norwegian 240z with RB26DETT :thumbsup: 

It has also brembo brakes from a GTR and Nismo wheels!


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## Nick MW (Aug 15, 2003)

Exactly the project I had always wanted to be brave enough to enter but as you can see from the avatar, I opted for the easy route for the time being. I will watch the development with great interest. Good luck


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## NBM33 (Jan 15, 2006)

They are just fantastic... Iconic


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## englishrodder (Jun 28, 2006)

Great transplant idea, always loved the early Z cars.


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## neilo (Nov 17, 2004)

Excellent mate will be watching this as\ I would love to do this myself.

Neil


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## rb20det (Jun 18, 2009)

what happend with this tread??

The red one is my car


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## olah.inc (Mar 11, 2009)

what?


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