ablahblah wrote:
-Swap the rear end & replace the drums with discs.
Since you have a '67 you can swap the later 1800 rear end in, or if you're handy with a welder you can do what has been done a few times and install a 240 rear. If you had a '66 doing something custom would be your only option. Either way you'll need to swap the front hubs to go with the later 5x108 bolt pattern, front brakes need to get swapped too. You could also do something custom with a rear end that has a 5x114.3 bolt pattern (like a late model Ford Explorer or Mustang), which would technically allow you to keep your front brakes but in reality the rear brakes will be far too strong for your stock fronts, and you'll need to upgrade them anyway.
The cheapest option, believe it or not, is to pay the money for the stock stuff. Upgrading will balance money against your willingness to figure stuff out and build stuff on your own. On my 123 I'm looking at using 2nd gen RX-7 front brake rotors and 240 or RX-7 calipers in front, and a set of drums in the rear from either a Jeep or a Ford Ranger, either will work with the stock shoes/parking brake cable, etc. Some work is required for both ends, and I won't be developing "kits" or even a complete working solution until I get the car closer to being on the road, a few years from now. Because I have the tools, I can pull this stuff off for the cost of one stock replacement rear drum, but that won't be the case for everyone.
ablahblah wrote:
-Swap the tranny,
Same deal applies here - your M41 works and if you don't like the paddle you can go with a button and relay such as the later 240/740 style. I've also gone so far as to install a clutch pedal switch which interrupts the relay's ground and kicks the OD out when you give the clutch pedal a stab. Works very nicely and is another safeguard against having OD engaged before you grab reverse, which kills things. Your B18 (or just about any B20) will not harm an M41. Screw on a T-handle with a nitrous/line lock button and wire up the relay with the clutch pedal switch, and you've got a pretty slick solution for rapid engagement/disengagement without having to wave your hands about looking for the paddle.
ablahblah wrote:
-Rewire the car.
That's your deal. Dale is in the middle of installing a "painless style" kit with new fuse box holding modern fuses, tons of circuits, coded wires, etc. A daunting task, probably more so than just cleaning up your wiring harness, and unless you're trying to hide a bunch of things or add other circuits, or upgrade certain circuits, you probably don't need more than stock. The #1 thing I'd do is to defeat the stock unobtanium main fuse with something more modern, preferably an auto-reset circuit breaker.
ablahblah wrote:
-Something with the engine & carbs, more power + fix the leaks.
More power is easy. Craig's got that B18 on his floor, as he said, and I believe he's given the head a once-over. Add your choice of camshaft and it's a solid base for a 50% upgrade to your car. Talk to Rhys about the more modern HIF-6 carbs but be prepared to play with needles to get exactly what you like. For similar money you can probably score a set of DCOE-40s, but your success there is completely up to your willingness to tune. I've owned a Datsun 240z with triple DCOEs and after playing with it some I got it to behave very nicely, cold or warm. Not a winter car, though...
ablahblah wrote:
-The radiator is a bit funky.
Again, your deal. You can get something built by a place like City Wide, if you like. I had them build up the rad for my V8 240 and they installed a 3 row core with 5/8" tubes, and it worked... okay. It kept the car cool enough but I never got to drive it in hot climates before I ditched the project. I prefer a viscous coupled belt-driven fan and I had no room for anything but the slimmest electric fan, and the shroud I built helped out a lot but it still wasn't optimal. Dale's using a retrofitted 740 aluminium rad and Craig's got a full custom jobbie, both work fine but both use electric fans and no belt drive. E-fans always sound to me like they're struggling to cool the engine and are switching on and off all the time to do so, while a belt-drive fan just quietly and constantly goes about it's business. That gives the subliminal impression, to me anyway, that the E-fan equipped car is having "troubles" staying cool.