250 GTO - the enemy within!

[COBRANIP]

Regarding those unhappy people that would rather spend time raining on your parade rather than simply going to a different thread........

I say.......follow your bliss.

[csx4910]

No matter how sexy the lines of a cobra are, if anyone says they wouldn't trade their cobra in a heartbeat for a Ferrari 250 gto are either lying or need their head examined. Both cars have to be in the top 10 of sexiest cars to own on everyones list. If you can make it look close to the origial with the lines, more power to you! The datsun conversions turn out a whole lot nicer than teh ones that try to use the Fiero as a base car. Now that was an ugly car!

[Aussie Mike]

I had to cut and box one of the chassis X members to fit the front mount in. The falcon diff mounts of the side of the pinion section.



I then made a plate to weld in to support the front of the diff. This also braced the section I had cut out. The front mounts use urethane bushes but If I did it again I'd probably solid mount it.



The back mount was easy because the Holden and Ford centers used the same bolt pattern for the back cover so I just reused the Ford Cover. The only problem was the Holden has the fill point in the back cover where as the Ford has the fill point in the diff housing. I machined the back cover to add a fill plug and put an access port in the chassis.



I have to drop the fuel tank to change the diff oil but at least I don't have to pull the center out.

Cheers

[Philm]

Good Luck Peter, enjoy yourself.

Lucky you didn't start the thread with, "do these gold wheels look good on my Datsun GTO"

Phil

[PeterAllen]

Mike - I really envy you chaps having such access to the mechanicals. Unfortunately with the unibody I have a great deal of trouble getting access to the diff, etc. I did at least initially install it while it was on the rotisserie but now it's a real pain. The front mount for my diff has restricted scope but I feel confident it will work. It still needs some bracing.

[PeterAllen]

Thought you might be interested is this.

I'm trying to use as many donor components as I can... I don't want to be stuck at Wheelabarrowback with a broken specialist component. I'm utilizing the GM in-tank pump and turned up an adaptor which was welded to the aluminium tank. All work quite well.

[Aussie Mike]

Rather than having that hoop mounting off the bottom of those brackets and then going up and over the diff why not have a plate going straight across the top between those two bolt in plates? It would be a lot simpler and probably a lot stronger. Just a suggestion.

Cheers

[Ant]

Good luck to you with your project, there was a 250GTO lookalike here in NZ, I spotted it at Ruapuna Park raceway just outside Christchurch, quite a good effort. The moral of the story is not to spend too much money on any kit car or project as it is definitely difficult to get it back, only time and inflation can help there.

Its more important to engineer your project nicely and have it finished properly in all areas. Progress pictures keep them coming!

[PeterAllen]

Mike - I'm not quite with you. Are you suggestion a solid mount?

I have rubber mounts between the hoop and the tunnel brackets - call me a wuss but it's for touring not racing. The big issue is the two front mounting bolts on the diff, which you have used, are set some way back and are much higher than the original diff bracket bolts on the tunnel. The rest of the shell is so light and weak I need to use original mounting points. There's a real cantilever problem with any design.

[Tenrocca]

Huhhh....what....did someone say gold wheels????

Anything but gold wheels and your safe.

Now.......Back to holidays.......Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[suthol]

Originally Posted by PeterAllen

Mike - I'm not quite with you. Are you suggestion a solid mount?

I have rubber mounts between the hoop and the tunnel brackets - call me a wuss but it's for touring not racing. The big issue is the two front mounting bolts on the diff, which you have used, are set some way back and are much higher than the original diff bracket bolts on the tunnel. The rest of the shell is so light and weak I need to use original mounting points. There's a real cantilever problem with any design.

G'day Peter,

Given that what you are doing is an ICV you will run the gauntlet that is the NSW RTA and there is no way a solid mounted diff will get through the drive by noise test as described in the ADRs.

[750hp]

LS = great engine. Z = competent chassis. 250 = classic shape.

Good combination!

[Rob. Smith]

Man the GTO / 240Z conversion was the first thing I wanted to build (after a mustang rebuild and my Datsun 1600 build) I couldn't find a decent 240Z. Then I got the Cobra bug. Decent Zeds are so hard to find now and it'd probably be better to restore them now. I looked long and hard at this 'kit' and it is one of the best conversions in the world ! ALAS when I was looking there was no restriction on horsepower increase ( 20% ??? crap) and the Ford 302 was the perfect. Do your best and make others green !

[Rob. Smith]

Originally Posted by racco

I have some experience on this, you can copy a cobra and have an identical copy of the real car( same feel, look, power and enjoyment). The ferrari is impossible to copy with a datsun, you will need a ferrari250 gte donor and about 300k for the rebuild.
I don't want to be a wet blanket, but stick to the cobra copies

Hey racco show us some pics of your Cobra replica !

[Rob. Smith]

Originally Posted by Gav

Who are you to tell this guy what to do?

There are loads of cars about that I think look crap, but that is just my opinion. If no positive can come from your comments keep them to yourself.

The Datto' conversion looks great, it will be a rocket with the LS transplant!
Have you thought to join a club as your car is based on a racecar from the same period as the cobra?
I am sure plenty of us look forward to following your build.

Gav

Good Onya Gav, well said. Remember the celica / Ferrari conversion ??? That WAS a piece of crap..this GTO jobby is nice.