Welcome to Part 3 of this build blog! If you haven’t read Part Two or Part One, you should definitely give those a look first. There’s lots of stuff to see in this build process, and is worth looking at! This part of the blog will have a particular focus on body work. As with any custom build, getting the body perfectly straight and everything gapped nicely can be one of the more painstaking jobs. It’s not what one would call a ‘sexy’ job by any stretch, but it can make or break the end result of a build like this.
With that said, there are still a few loose ends in the mechanical and fabrication department to tie up, so you may see some images showing that sprinkled into the gallery here and there. Without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff!
We’re back with part two! If you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely go back and check out part one first! In part two we continue with fabrication work, stitch welding, exhaust fab, and we’ll get started on finalizing the engine!
This tank will need to be modifiied for fuel injection……and it needs a bit of TLC as well
There’s no shortage of work to do on this one! There are always unique challenges when it comes to adding modern technology to a classic car, and this 240Z is no different. Some things can be chalked up to experience, but every now and then you’ll find a surprise that needs to be dealt with! Let’s have a look!
This one has been a long time coming! COVID lockdowns feel like a whole lifetime ago, and yet that is where this build got its start! Of course, the state of the world at the time made building a custom car a little more challenging; whether it was delays on parts, some vendors being locked down, and others that never reopened. Thankfully, we were able to keep pushing, continue making progress, and now it’s complete!
Let’s roll the clock back a bit though, and see how this all got started. This Z was actually originally purchased in 2018 as a parts donor for another Z that we were building at the time. We were in need of a clean, original gas tank among other things, and this car fit the bill. It wasn’t the cleanest 240, by any stretch, but the parts that we needed were in tip-top shape.
As much as this car started as a parts donor with us, it was still clean enough that it absolutely had a future build waiting for it. Fast forward to 2021, and we were ready to start digging away at this thing! Obviously we’d need to do some bodywork. The car may not have been completely rotten, but the Southern US sun had literally baked some of the paint right off the car, which had caused some surface rust to form in various areas. And of course, like many Datsun 240Zs out there that are still alive, this one had been in a minor collision or two.
So, what was the plan with this one? Put simply: we wanted to build the ultimate driver’s 240Z, while maintaining street drivability, and a pinch of custom comfort. Sounds easy, right? This build would be anything but. When all was said and done however, we feel that we accomplished our goal! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here though, the first thing was to strip the car, and get rid of anything that we didn’t need (which was a lot). Once that’s done, it was onto some metal work! Let’s dig in!
Another day, another Datsun 240Z getting engine swapped! We went a little bit of a different direction with this one, compared to some of our previous builds. For starters, we left the body original, for the most part. It might be something we look at in the future, but for now it’ll be a bit more of a low key build.
The power plant of choice is a VQ37VHR, sourced from an Infiniti G37 coupe. It’ll clearly be much better suited to this car. Along with the motor swap, we did a few performance upgrades to make sure this thing can handle and stop well along with its newly added power.
Without any further ado, check out the gallery below!
Donor car! Gotta get that VQ from somewhere!
White vinyl seats. At one time these were probably really classy.
Time to get this tired old boat anchor outta here!
We might be leaving the body raw, but the engine bay had to look nice with the new swap!
Normally, we would fix this. Sleeper status, though!
What’s up, readers! We’re back with another Rocket Bunny 240Z! This one is a bit of a different project though, as it’s got a fiberglass molded rear end already attached. It’s certainly an effective way of getting rid of all the rust back there!
Nonetheless, there’ll be a few holes to fill and a few patches to be made! Without further ado, lets jump in!
These pre-fabbed frame rails are awesome! Every classic car should have these!
Another one in the books! This car is being completed off-site, so we hope to have finished photos when it is 100% completed! So far though, it’s lookin’ pretty darn good! Stay tuned for the next one!
We’ve worked on a few Datsun Z cars over the years, but this one is by far the most powerful. This car came to us with a storied racing pedigree under its belt as a contender in various autocross series. As with any race car, there’s always room for improvement, and that was the task we were given!
Classic race cars!
There is a lot of stuff jammed in there, that’ll need tidying
Often a byproduct of messy engine bay wiring….
…is messy under-dash wiring.
Inside the glovebox is not the greatest place for an oil pressure gauge, so we’ll move that
Loom those loose wires!
Too many things fighting for one piece of real estate
Hearing your driveline rub and scrape things is not the most reassuring thing in a race car
We’ve always been firm believers that one of the best ways to start off with a clean old Japanese car for a proper build is to go down south of the border (like, really south) to find them. California, Oregon, and Texas have some real gems if you’re willing to do the legwork of shipping a car around.
Such was the case for this next one, a 1972 Datsun 510 which appears to have spent most of it’s life somewhere in sunny California. It even has a Cal Polysticker in the back window to prove it.
From a distance, things aren’t looking too bad! A little rough around the edges, but overall pretty good, right? I mean, at least it isn’t rusty, right? That last part is definitely true, from a rust standpoint this car is immaculate compared to a 510 that would’ve lived up here. If you had read the title on your way in here though, you know there’s a bit more to it. See, if you look a bit closer, and the light hits it just right…
It may be a bit difficult to see, but this vehicle is absolutely covered in little dents. Even the trunk lid didn’t escape the brutal onslaught of what appears to have been a toddler going to town with a small hammer. Let’s get this thing to the bodyshop!
Once the dents are hammered out, a thin skim of body filler gives a smooth finish
It seems that over the years we’ve developed something of a reputation for doing some pretty crazy, wild stuff. It’s almost refreshing to be presented with an opportunity to take a classic car that’s already in pretty good shape, and tidy it up a bit to make for a nice and clean little cruiser. Mind you, this is Cyrious Garageworks after all, it wouldn’t be proper if we didn’t hit it with something unique. This time around we’re moving a bit further down the line of Datsun Z cars, with a very clean Datsun 280z going under the knife.
Some classic cars can be deceiving in that they look clean on the outside, but are actually hiding some pretty serious issues underneath layers of bondo, or hidden under carpets on the floor. Fortunately, this was not one of those cars.
This particular 280Z spent most of its life to this point in British Columbia, and appears to have been well looked after. In addition to that, the car was thoroughly oil sprayed, most likely on an annual basis. As much as the oil spray tends to make things look very messy, it did wonders in keeping this car in a really clean, original condition!
This car won’t ever be seeing salty roads for the rest of its life, so the oil spray is not really needed any longer. And really, it looks pretty awful. It’s about time we reveal the shiny clean metal that was being so carefully protected!
Along with that, something needed to be done about those silly bumpers which take away so much from what is an otherwise great looking car. Really, it’s not a Cyrious build if we don’t modify something. Along with that will be a few other odds and ends that will really rejuvenate this old 280Z!
Let’s get to it!
Speaking of rejuvenation, this brown carpet…
…was originally black.
The front interior is in great shape, not much to do here!
Yup, something needs to be done about these!
Hints of oil spray were on almost every panel. They were thorough!
Much of the metal is well preserved, but these reservoir lids didn’t get the memo.
It’s been quite some time since we last wrote about this build, and we’ve got lots of pictures to show for it! When we left off, metal work was still well under way, so let’s pick right up where we were! (Oh, and make sure to check out the first part as well if you haven’t followed this one from the start!)
We’re beginning to see more 240z builds come through the doors here at Cyrious Garageworks, which is great! They’re wonderful cars, so it’s really cool to know that there are lots of folks out there who want to keep the original Z Cars alive. The best thing about the 240z builds that have come through our shop is that not one of them is exactly the same as another. Each build is unique to their owner’s tastes, and really just proves how versatile this chassis can be. Bob Attrell approached us to do the fabrication work on his 240z race car build, and we were happy to oblige. The vehicle had some questionable fabrication work done to it already, so we needed to clean things up, finish the restoration, and get a solid road racing roll cage built in.
Questionable fab work indeed. What is there to say other than “Get out the cutting wheel”?
