250 GTO - the enemy within!

[HealeyRick]

A well done replica can even fool an expert: Update: Ferrari 250 GTO Revealed as a Z? | The Smoking Tire

[PeterAllen]

Originally Posted by HealeyRick

A well done replica can even fool an expert:...

I think you mean a self-titled expert!

I don't pretend my car is a replica in any way, except perhaps overall appearance. It's merely a way of spending a lot of money and enjoying doing it.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Tenrocca]

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

Anything but gold wheels and your safe.

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

[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 !

[boxhead]

I doubt it will need to be re engineered as an ICV.
I am only guessing here, but would have thought that it would only need to be inspected by TAC for approval with larger motor, and with Peter fitting a different rear axle assy, that will need to be approved aswell.

This is the CR on Datsun Z body, retains the original turrent/roof.

[Donunder]

Thanks Box.
I hope Peter has a similar picture up on his workshop wall to keep the desire from flagging.
What a stunning car!

[Aussie Mike]

From what I've seen the most immediate differences from the original GTO is the length of the bonnet and the rear hatch. The GTO is longer in the hood or appears to be. It may also be the GTO is a bit shorter in the doors. The GTO doesn't have a rear hatch, just a small rectangular boot lid but I did see someone did a great conversion on the rear Datsun hatch area to make it look the same.





Gotta love the shape of that back end.

Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

Hi Peter,

Just looking at your pics again. Are you using the Commodore rear cover and it's one central rubber mount? I would be a little concerned about the strength of the whole thing if that were the case. The Commodore uses 4 bolt positions on top in conjunction with the one rear mount. Just using 2 at the front and one at the rear might put undue strain on that one rear mount. You might want to look at using a Falcon back cover with 2 mounts or check the later Nissan rear covers as some of them may have the same rear cover bolt pattern (Some of them use the same gear sets as the Commodore).

Cheers

[suthol]

Probably the easiest diff swap will be to the Hitachi R200 as used in the skyline, it is the same family as the R160 that the 240Z uses but hugely stronger and there are plenty of threads about swaps from the R160 up to the R200 for various Datsuns / Nissans.

For all those out there who love the NCOP the latest version ( VSB 14 v2 ) which has had input from all states and looks like being adopted by NSW sometime this year states that an engine swap other than an original OEM option deems the car to be an ICV, as does a change of track beyond a certain amount or a change in wheel base.

Regards
Dave King

[PeterAllen]

Guys - I could write the equivalent of War and Peace on the project - so far! I have had two articles published in the Australian "Custom Kit Car' over the last couple of years so some of you may be aware of it.

The mechanicals are more or less done and I'm just about to start on the bodywork. Mike, I have utilised the top mounts on the diff and if I have a photo I'll include it. [(edit) - attached. Still something of a work in progress]

Bodywise the 240Z is 100mm shorter in the wheelbase but the bigger issue is the waistline/firewall which is too high. I'm in the process of modifying fibreglass doors to give a more GTO height and profile.

My obsession is so bad I'm off to Pebble Beach next month for the Concours as there will be over 20 of the 36 GTOs ever made on display. I've never seen one in the flesh.