or....

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Midget is close. It's an Austin Healey 3000, just need to check the car over once the time comes.

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

nice.

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Well it came with a 2.9l straight 6 so I would imagine the conversion shouldn't be too crazy.

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Nope. Motor in the car is supposedly shot, and parts are expensive and tough to find. Swapping over to a (slightly)more modern motor and transmission seems like a no brainer

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

Sounds like a plan. My motor is coming out...

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Have the motor and carbs out of the orange rustbucket. Probably just going to toss a 5 speed behind it and call it a day.

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

awesome. so what year is the Austin?

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

I approve.


As much as I hate to say this, keep it original looking as possible and DEFINITELY keep the hardwood trim in the interior.

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-Chris

It's a '64 MKIII. Car is owned by a friend of the family who picked it up and never got around to it, currently in a shed unreachable until the snow thaws a bit. Supposedly the body/frame are in solid, straight shape and it is more or less complete. Still need to check it out and make sure it is worth starting on.

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

Can't seem to upload an image...???

Carl, try transferring your image to your Desktop (facepage) then entering it from there. Sometimes works for me. Certain web photos are Read-Only and won't transfer.

If this is a real Healey (not a kit or replica) be advised it will be Positive ground, with the battery in the trunk. If it had the popular 1970s wiring "upgrade" (Boo!) it has dual wires run to every light and switch.

If it's Negative ground, it was a replica like a Fake Snake Cobra, which are titled as "1964" cars. I'm suspicious of this photo, because those side vents stopped in the late 1950s. And this exact photo is available online under AH archives. Also some trim pieces aren't authentic for a real AH BJ7 or BJ8, but the missing bumpers, louvered hood and Recaro seats prove it's been messed with anyway. I suspect this is not a photo of the actual car you intend to buy, and you chose a Replicar as an example.

The original of this car had an OHV straight 6 w/twin SUs (Trips as an unwise option), a 4spd box and (most of them) overdrive. HP was the same as the 2.4Z; in fact the Z would give you one more horse. The old cast iron AH engines were massive and heavy, so you might save weight with the swap. You would need to change the differential & gearbox, 'cause the AH and Datsun engines were opposite rotation.

I owned many of these as a teenager. Always wanted to put a Buick Grand National Turbo V6 in one! But the early AHs suffered from incurable cockpit heat, even with the 2.5L 4cyl. So a turbo is probably not a good idea unless you wanted to deliver hot pizza in it.

OH! I forgot to measure the L24 for you ystrdy Sorry ~ I'll do that today.

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1970 240Z

Here's a (pretty bad) walk-around video of what the real '64 MKIII 2+2 looks like when restored:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvjJWjF7ZAc

Not all of them had jump seats. Most were OTS.

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1970 240Z

Frank, current plan's involve gutting the wiring and going with something like a Painless universal kit. I don't think I have the patience or required masochistic quality to deal with 50 year old British wiring. Likewise, the current plan is to stuff a 4/5 speed Datsun box to keep things simple. Haven't figured out what is in the card for the rear end yet, but it seems that swapping in a narrowed Mazda/Ford/Chevy unit is fairly common. Like I mentioned, power isn't really my concern. The basis for swapping in the Datsun motor is all about reliability and cost, just doing a half-hour of digging convinced me that rebuilding a Healey motor would be an expensive exercise in frustration. Mostly just looking to get it cleaned up as a relatively solid nice weather car.

I actually haven't posted a photo yet, I think you are talking about one of Mike's? Like I said, until some thaw happens it is entombed in a shed. Yet another reason to hope for some sun

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

Frank,

Not to be barking orders or anything, but I think the most important dimensions (besides overall length and width etc.) you need to measure from looking at that video are going to be (in my opinion):

Back of engine to shifter hole/gear lever
Center of engine or manifold side to inlet end of carbs

It looks like lengthwise the engine itself will fit no problem at all, but there's an awful shortage of room where the carbs are at. It might be tricky to fit a set of triples in there (should that be the path chosen). Even the doubles on that car look pretty cramped for room, so there's definitely no room for the 240z airbox. The shifter hole also seems pretty close to the dash too. The engine looks pretty close to both the firewall and the radiator, so unless some low profile electric fan is used on the rad, not too much room for play forward and back either.

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-Chris