1971 Datsun 240Z Restomod - LS1 5.7L V8, 6-Speed - 350bhp

1971 Datsun 240Z - 5.7L LS1 & T56 6-Speed Gearbox - Extremely high specification, fully modernised, reliable & usable restomod classic car - Headline figures - 350bhp / 350 ft lb / 1050kg / 30+ mpg 

Please see video for a detailed walk around, inside look, start up & rev etc. Or search the numberplate ‘WWU 390J' on YouTube.  

https://youtu.be/YLjQQ-J4LxA

And for further detailed photos of various aspects of the car which I wasn't able to fit within the ad, please see the following album which I will update with new pictures as they are taken. 

https://imgur.com/a/lidOHhG

(If either of these links don't work in app, copy and paste into your browser). 

General Introduction - 

There's obviously a lot to say to do this car justice and I love detail in a car advert, so make yourself a cup of tea and settle in.

Sourced and imported by myself from the USA 3-4 years ago from an established old hand on the ‘HybridZ' forum who owned the car for ~20 years, much of which were with this swapped power-train. Family life had taken over and I had the opportunity to buy. After an incredibly stressful, drawn-out & expensive process importing the car into the U.K. I have spent the last few years with the car as a rolling restoration turning it into what you see now - Where essentially every component of the car has been significantly upgraded and modernised to form my idea of the perfect sports car; with classic car looks, sensations & involvement, but with modern performance, robustness & reliability.  

I have genuinely never experienced a car get such universal praise & attention from such a broad demographic of people, which holds its own irrespective of the surrounding environment & company. Whether you are in the posh car park at Goodwood Revival, in a McDonalds drive-through, or in the outside lane of the M5 - People will be clambering to take photographs or give a thumbs-up. 

On this theme, pre-covid I was approached by MotorPunk magazine who wanted to write a feature about the car & its story. If this is something the new owner wants to pursue I will put you into contact.

At 330bhp / tonne (R8 V10 Plus / R35 GTR territory) it is obviously extremely fast - But it also remains easy & friendly to drive with no concerns over being stuck in stand-still traffic on a hot day, or an entire journey spent overtaking traffic in the outside lane of the motorway, loping along at 1800rpm and doing >30mpg. 

There are no turbos suddenly spooling to catch you out, just an incredibly progressive, consistent & predicable surge of power which builds as the revs climb, where seemingly each gear pulls just as hard as the last. I let friends and family members drive it with zero concern or need for a stern pre-flight briefing - Unless actively provoked, it drives just like any other car.  

This car follows an extremely well trodden & proven ‘paint by numbers' path of building a high performance restomod 240Z, where every component has been upgraded to easily handle the increased power-output. While consumables / spares remain easy & cheap to source as they are OEM. I have spared no expense in fitting the best components to this car, if you assume as a rough average each line entry is about £500-1000 landed with shipping & duty you are (unfortunately and rather soberingly for me), probably not far off what's been spent to get it to this standard. Detailed as below:

Drivetrain - 

Engine - All aluminium 5.7L LS1, as found in C5 Corvette / Z28 Camero. Extremely under-stressed & reliable (even more so in this car) 350bhp / 350ft lbs. Capable of much more if you should ever be mad enough to want it. The LS1 weighs less than the L28 Datsun Z engine it replaced & resides almost entirely behind the front axle. Engine has spent most of its life in this car hence suspected low mileage - When it first arrived I removed sump / end caps & top end for inspection & everything is immaculate. (Have video).

Engine Loom: For reliability / robustness I have completely replaced the engine loom with a brand new Wiring Specialities LS1 PRO stand-alone engine wiring harness connecting to the OEM ECU. 

(As an aside, being a modern engine - The loom includes an OBD2 port, so if it ever goes wrong (it won't) you can plug a dongle in, and use an app on your phone to tell you exactly what needs attention. The novelty of being able to do this in a classic car still hasn't worn off on me.)

Gearbox - T56 6-Speed to which I've then upgraded with the fantastic MGW-shifter & bronze bushings to really give a nice shift quality. Also handmade wooden shift knob made from recycled skateboards. (I might keep this if I'm honest as I'm quite attached to it). 

Rear End - 3.54 R200 200SX ‘long nose' differential, professionally rebuilt and fitted with a Quaife locking differential. Driveshafts upgraded with 280ZX Turbo CV driveshafts. Differential secured by Technoversions upper differential mount bracket kit. Although this kit eliminates the need for the standard differential mount below, I ensured to source & fit a genuine Nissan bottom mount also to go above and beyond. 

Fuelling - Car has had the common Camaro plastic fuel tank upgrade fitted which is fantastic both from a safety standpoint, but also is original OEM tank / fuel pump for this engine. I have replaced all fuel lines with Teflon braided hose & AN fittings for reliability & longevity. 

Driveline parts are available in the UK (as we had the Vauxhall Monaro, which shares the engine / gearbox). However I use Rockauto in the USA, as it's just V8 Chevrolet Camero. Massive selection, parts are dirt cheap and come in a matter of days. 

Chassis(Almost everything from here on out can be assumed as having less than a few thousand miles on) - Lots of shiny parts from the Techno Toy Tuning & Apex Engineered catalogue - The 2 biggest names in restomod Datsun components, have a Google to familiarise yourself. 

Interior / Misc (again, everything here is essentially brand new) -

General Condition -

As I hope you can see from the pictures the car presents extremely well and always gets comments along the same lines. However this is a 50 year old car, and it isn't going to be perfect. There is of course scope to make it perfect if that's the new owners priority. But understand at 50 years old it has had paintwork / touchups, previous metal-work to the floor pans, chassis legs & engine bay - While it's unlikely to win a concours d'elegance, it's probably stronger and more solid than it ever was originally and presents very well. 

Here linked is a detailed video walk around & start up for a more in-depth look at the car. 

https://youtu.be/YLjQQ-J4LxA

I am planning to get the car up on a ramp in the near future to get a further exhaust hanger added to the car, will use this opportunity to take photos of underside show condition & show-off all the trick suspension components etc and add the link to this description.

I have no idea of the mileage on the car, but ultimately irrelevant as almost everything is new / been replaced. Drive-train has spent most of its life in this car, so is also suspected to be very low mileage - Which condition & oil-analysis confirms. 

Previous owner had car resprayed in Ford Grabber Blue (hard to picture accurately and do the colour justice over photos - Google it for examples). Believe it's the same colour as MZR Roadsports did one of their original cars in. Only hint of original colour (red) I have found is behind the quarter light interior panels.

I have a huge amount of parts / spares which I will include with the car. Including several big ticket items - Larger heater core, AC compressor, standard suspension arms etc etc. 

I also have a highly desirable complete RHD conversion set which is up for discussion if the new buyer should want it. Otherwise I will plan to sell separately as the RHD Datsun items are only getting more and more sought-after. 

Motivation for sale - 

My original goal was to take this car on a road-trip across Europe, as we both recently celebrated a big birthday - However Covid obviously put a stop to that. I had also been amassing parts in order to take this car to the 'next level' (RHD conversion bits, power steering, air conditioning components etc), however frustratingly the rented workshop I had fell through and cannot be replaced. Combined with generally having less time, unfortunately being an 'all or nothing' type personality and as the car is in such good form, it feels like a good time to let it be used & enjoyed by a new owner.

(I also probably have far too many cars for someone that works from home).

Please understand I am under no pressure / rush to sell - Prices in general for resto-modded cars exempt from so much of the anti-car regulation are only going up, 240Z's especially so. This is not some low quality hacked/spliced in engine swap in an otherwise tired & rough Z car.

While the good weather continues, and money is yet to exchange hands - I will be continuing to enjoy this car, trips to Caffeine and Machine, Bicester Heritage, Goodwood etc and the weekly supermarket trip. 

Shipping - 

As I imported this myself, it's only fair to open it up to others. Happy to help & facilitate the export of this car in any way I can. However everything must be 100% by the book, via Escrow with money confirmed as in my account before the car is picked up. 

For a serious buyer - Happy to give test drives for as long as you desire as there is some fantastic scenery and roads around here.. Also happy to give ‘virtual' test drives/walk arounds over FaceTime to any overseas buyers etc. 

Please take the time to fully read and understand this ad, however if you still have any questions please get in touch. 

Please make contact over text / Whatsapp first, as I may not be able to field a call out of the blue - 

07807 357440

Many thanks, 

Ryan 

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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