1/12 Datsun 240ZG

I started this one a few months ago after being "dared" by an Aussie friend on a US board. Thought you guys might like to see it too.

I bought the kit back in the seventies but never got around to it. When I started I realised why. This thing is huge!

The distinctive feature of the ZG is the long nose and wheel arch flares. Here's a good shot of the real thing:



And here's the kit. The box measures 59cm x 40cm. Five hundred parts!


Here's the basic engine assembly. Parts breakdown is amazing - that distributor has four parts, thermostat housing is two parts, fuel pump two parts, and the carbies have five parts each. Spark plugs are separate pieces. Leads are provided.





Here's a five piece carby.


Here's the engine and gearbox assembly with carbies attached. The gear lever actually moves forward and back, and side to side.

Looking through the instruction manual (20 pages long) I notice that the pedals are sprung, the steering wheel turns the front wheels through a working rack and pinion assembly, the suspension works (ball joints and all), and all the universal joints in the drivetrain work as well.

Looks as though you found a really huge ruler... that moter looks real youve done a great job so far Ill be following along as you build I hoping too see more thanks for postin pics
Bud Ellis Kustoms

kustoms wrote:Looks as though you found a really huge ruler... that moter looks real youve done a great job so far Ill be following along as you build I hoping too see more thanks for postin pics
Bud Ellis Kustoms

Thanks. Trouble is, the kit is SO BIG that when I get to the body I'll have to clear everything off the bench (which takes time...) to have enough space to work on it. So I probably only work on it once a week when I've got half a day or so free. The rest of the time I build smaller stuff. 1/25 looks tiny after working on this!

that one cool build in the making.

Nice work Farmer, gunna look great seeing yours and Stumps when you both finish them

Yeah, I just found out after I posted that Stump's on here too. He's posting his progress under Large Scale, while mine's on the bench here.

Mine's gonna be an imaginary Tokyo Motor Show car - specially finished and trimmed, not just a regular production one. I'll use a non-production colour, and metal-finish some parts that might have been painted; stuff like that. I don't mind making some mods, but making my own wheels and tyres is not for me!

For my next trick I'll be making the underbonnet fuel lines from brass rod and strip. They're prominent on the real thing, but Tamiya omitted them. That's what's held me up. I'm not used to working in brass, and I don't want to mess this up. Look for more progress hopefully later this week.

Hey Farmer, nice to see you here mate.
The Datto is looking great so far.....s'pecially that motor. Can't wait to see how the fuel lines come out mate.

cheers
Greg

Gee Stump I hope you set the gap on those plugs.
Man you are crazy!!! the detail and craftsmanship, love your work.
Cheers

Sensational workmanship so far Stump. Does it have an oil dipstick?

Shoey wrote:Gee Stump I hope you set the gap on those plugs.
Man you are crazy!!! the detail and craftsmanship, love your work.
Cheers

Shoey, there's TWO of us guys building these things now!

I keep having a go at Stump, asking him if he's finished machining the straight-cut gears for the gearbox, or if he can set the caster, camber and toe-in of his front end, since he made some of it adjustable.

Mine's more "out of the box", as I don't have the time or the facilities to do some of the "extreme modelling" he's up to. But the cold weather's coming already, so I can see I'm gonna have to lay some paint before winter sets in. Either that, or lay the kit up and get back to it when the weather warms up.

But this kit is so good that anyone could build a great model out of the box. We just want to go a bit further - in different directions!

Farmer wrote:

Shoey wrote:Gee Stump I hope you set the gap on those plugs.
Man you are crazy!!! the detail and craftsmanship, love your work.
Cheers

Shoey, there's TWO of us guys building these things now!

We just want to go a bit further - in different directions!

Hey peter, I guess it's not hard to get two good looking guys like us mixed up......
How's the motor and fuel lines coming along mate ?
I must try and get some paint on mine soon too....already getting down to 3C of a morning, but at least the days are still nice...

cheers
Greg

It's been a busy week, but I just put the fuel lines on last night. Yep, At Last! Man it was tricky getting the bends just right, then making sure the outlets were lined up right with the carbs, and the inlet with the fuel pump. And all the brackets in the right places. I'll show some pics later today.

Aaah, good stuff Peter. I'll look forward to seeing your pics..

I commend you on going the "stock" route too mate....I think it was probably those fuel lines which steered me towards the triples....
You see, I can make them in any shape, without the need to conform to reality...My "cheats" way of doing it....

Good luck mate, I know this one is gonna be a winner...
cheers
Greg

OK Stump, you said fuel lines? Here ya go.

They're a bit messy here. This was the rough job before I cleaned them up.



The lines are made out of brass rod, bent to shape according to internet photos and a shop manual from the local library. They're held in place by brackets cut and bent from strip brass, with the lines epoxied in place and to the cam cover.





They're actually supposed to be steel not brass, but I thought the brass made for a better visual contrast against all the alloy-finished parts.

Now for the rubber hoses from the fuel rails to the carbies, vacuum line from distributor to manifold, and other such "fun".

Unfortunately the manual had to go back to the library last week. Hope I don't need it again soon!

http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html here you go mate give this linc a look at it should help you out! your computor can be your libary hahahahahha
Bud Ellis Kustoms

Thanks Bud. That's a great help.

I think there's a lot there I'll never need to know! But it certainly gives some good views of the parts I will be doing. Useful since somebody put a hold on the library's manual so I couldn't reborrow it.

BTW, mine is going to be the "rest-of-the-world" model without all the US emissions plumbing. That's how we got them here. Those factory manuals at that site show it just how I want to build it.