1973 Datsun 240Z Chump Car World Series Project

jsausley

jsausley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
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Location
Burlington, NC, United States
Car(s)
'16 Audi S5, '14 CC R-Line, '12 Ariel Atom 3
During the spring, a friend and I decided to start on a new project to get a car up to race spec for the Chump Car World Series. You might be familiar with this racing series, but if not, I'll tell you a bit about it. It's very similar to the 24 Hours of LeMons series in that in that it is an endurance race with long-term reliability for a cheap price in mind. $500 car, at least four drivers, balls of steel and hairbrained ideas.

We went through about four or five different possible car ideas before we settled on one. Nissan 240SX, Toyota Celica, Chevrolet Chevelle (four-door), Chevrolet Vega... in the end, this is what we got:

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This is a 1973 Datsun 240Z equipped with the L24 2.4L straight-six engine and a 4-speed transmission. The specs are quite conducive to a Chump Car race. It's a cheap, simple car. It doesn't weigh much (2360 pounds in stock format). It's rear-wheel drive. It has a reliable power plant capable of producing a solid amount of power (In stock format, the engine produced 150 HP. We hope to squeeze out 200HP from its engine after the rebuild.). Overall, a perfect solution.

In this thread, I hope to keep an organized log of the rebuild and preparation for this race car. So far, we've made progress, but there is still much, much to do.

Here's your proof picture:

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Here's the theme. This is the GOAL, and what we want the car to look like by the end of the year. "Team Faillady Racing":

Spoilered for your protection:

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Picture dump time!

This selection of pictures were taken BEFORE we started any work on the car:

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It's got some junk in the trunk.

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Mmm. POWERRRRRRRRRR!

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We'll definitely need more rubber!

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Not the stock radio.

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In the past few days we've been working on lightening the car and prepping it. Of course, being a racing car, all of the unnecessary bits have to come out.

So far we've removed the dash panel, the console, all of the air conditioning and heater parts, pulled the engine and disconnected all unnecessary bits such as the rear antenna, radio and so on. All of the windows (rear, door and quarter) had to come out as well. Now we've got a really lightweight shell. Without the engine, it's probably tipping the scales at about 1500 lbs.

The goal is to have it at about 2000 lbs when everything is said and done.. we'll see.

Here are some "in progress" work pictures:

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Box of parts!

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If you got it for $500 it was a steal. They have become even more popular lately and many will hate to see it if it gets destroyed.

Good luck.
 
A few more in progress pics:

http://img12.imageshack.**/img12/9930/dscn1498800x600.jpg

http://img855.imageshack.**/img855/7180/dscn1499800x600.jpg

http://img806.imageshack.**/img806/5970/dscn1496800x600.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.**/img8/5968/dscn1497800x600.jpg

The car is now fully stripped. The next steps involve bringing to our other garage where we'll begin the slow process of putting it back together... including all of the new items. We have to find a proper LSD-equipped rear end, start on the suspension and brake upgrades, the transmission (including clutch) and engine rebuild (or replacement? also considering an L28 from a 280Z). Going to be a long process from here on!
 
A bit of a shame really. That's a pretty decent car. I've always wanted to buy one for a project car.
 
TomCat said:
A bit of a shame really. That's a pretty decent car. I've always wanted to buy one for a project car.
Click to expand...

It is, really. When we got the car back to the garage the first time and started working on taking bits off, we noticed how nice it really was. It's part of the reason why we're really taking no shortcuts in this car. We want to do it right, and hopefully it will prove to be a great example of what a 240Z can be, even if it's going into the Chump circuit. The thing that makes me feel good about what we're doing is the fact that the car will be seeing a lot more excitement than it ever would have if it had sat in a barn for another 20 years like it has the past 20 years of its life. At least it will be used for what it was designed for - sporting.

I've always been a Z-car fan. My first car was a 1991 300ZX non-turbo, 5-speed. I've already enjoyed working on this 240 so much that I've pretty much decided to buy another after this is all said and done, and restore it for a driver's car.
 
That is looking far too ambitious and successful for a car even remotely connected to FG or TG. :p

Good luck! :thumbup:
 
jsausley said:
It is, really. When we got the car back to the garage the first time and started working on taking bits off, we noticed how nice it really was. It's part of the reason why we're really taking no shortcuts in this car. We want to do it right, and hopefully it will prove to be a great example of what a 240Z can be, even if it's going into the Chump circuit. The thing that makes me feel good about what we're doing is the fact that the car will be seeing a lot more excitement than it ever would have if it had sat in a barn for another 20 years like it has the past 20 years of its life. At least it will be used for what it was designed for - sporting.

I've always been a Z-car fan. My first car was a 1991 300ZX non-turbo, 5-speed. I've already enjoyed working on this 240 so much that I've pretty much decided to buy another after this is all said and done, and restore it for a driver's car.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I like old race cars, but only when they're kept running and alive. With things like LeMons and Chump Car, it feels like the cars get driven into the ground until they're so ruined, they're only good for recycling into soup cans. It would be cool to see a car like this kept around and in good shape for racing for many years. And dare I say, restored at some point in the future, but that seems like a pipe dream for most of these cars in these banger style racing events. But either way, good luck, have fun, and I hope you guys are successful.
 
Aw HELL yeah! I love these cars.

This car looks like it'll be a total blast at ChumpCar. You don't happen to need a terrible clutch-eating n00b driver with no money, do you? :lol: (Srsly, good luck.)
 
jsausley said:
This is in the plans, though tentative for now, and restored in a "vintage racing car" manner moreso than a street car.
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One way or another, this car will be pushed to its absolute limits before it goes out and there is nothing wrong with that. Far better than a slow death from rust or lack of maintenance. And I assume all those decent interior bits are going to be sold off to people doing their own restorations. I'm sure you guys will make Paul Newman proud. :lol:
 
ninjacoco said:
Aw HELL yeah! I love these cars.

This car looks like it'll be a total blast at ChumpCar. You don't happen to need a terrible clutch-eating n00b driver with no money, do you? :lol: (Srsly, good luck.)
Click to expand...

Haha, we've got two of those already... Gotta get them some practice before the race! We could probably use a few more girls though, to make our pit area look like less of a sausage fest. :p

@Tigger - thanks for the comments. That's the hope. We've already sold off a lot of the interior, yeah. I've had the pleasure of meeting a few Z enthusiasts who were glad to take the parts off of our hands for their own projects and also provide insight into the modification processes.

Project updates:

We purchased a 5-speed transmission at the Charlotte Auto Fair a few weeks back. It looks to be in good shape. This transmission came out of a 1987-89 300ZX Turbo, and should prove to be a good option for us. We also found an L28 engine (that's the 2.8L straight-6 out of a 1978 280Z) out of a car with a tad over 130,000 miles. It already made the trip to a machine shop for the rebuild and upgrade process. Finally, we purchased an R200 CLSD rear end out of a 1987 300ZX Turbo from California. It's on our way to us now, and once that comes in we'll have all of the drivetrain ready to go.

The next steps involve building the rollcage, buying the racing seat and getting the car prepped for bodywork (there are a few rust spots) and the painting process. After all that is done, we'll still need to rewire for the new engine, upgrade the suspension and brakes and prepare the car for the process of putting the rebuilt engine back in. I'm hearing two to three weeks on the rebuild from the machine shop, and who knows how long it will take the rest, but hopefully it will be moving again soon.
 
It's like Christmas!

Here are some goodies:

http://img607.imageshack.**/img607/9306/engine1.jpg

L28 (2.8L inline-6) out of a 1978 Datsun 280ZX. This is a fuel-injected engine but the fuel-injection system is going to be replaced with SU carburetors for the sake of added power and simplicity (the EFI systems tend to be restrictive and are, of course, less customizable).

http://img41.imageshack.**/img41/5742/engine2q.jpg

The other side! This engine has been at the machine shop for the rebuild for about two weeks.

http://img825.imageshack.**/img825/4308/drivetrain.jpg

Here's most of the new drivetrain. This is the transmission and rear end (R200 with limited-slip) from two different 1987 300ZX Turbos. Also in the picture is the drive shaft (upper right) and the moustache bar, which is a necessary part in installing the R200 LSD.

This is the FS5R30A transmission from a 1987 300ZX Turbo (Z31). These are known for being very strong and capable of handling far more power than we will be putting down in our 240Z.

http://img822.imageshack.**/img822/9839/differential.jpg

If you know anything about Nissans, you'll know that this finned differential cover pictured here is the telltale that this is a hard-to-find R200 limited-slip differential out of a 1987-89 Nissan 300ZX Turbo. This differential was only offered in the cars of that year, and is a clutch-type limited-slip. It is a coveted item for 240/260/280Z restoration projects, and also finds its way into 240SX drifting cars quite often. After near a dozen trips and phone calls to junkyards and places around here turned up nothing (apart from a couple of turbo cars that had already been picked through), I had to order this puppy from a Z-car enthusiast in California that happened to have two on hand. Unfortunately, it wasn't cheap. Far from it, actually.

The Datsun will be on its way to a professional welding shop on Monday of next week for the roll cage installation. We're not about to try that ourselves. After that, it will come back as we begin to work on finding suspension parts and brakes for the next stage of the build. I hope to have more pictures soon!
 
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