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Went out for some Auto-x this weekend, and had a proper blast. Highly recommended for anyone here who still hasn't gone to try it. Enjoy a slow lap, some V8 noises and straight cut gearbox whine. I have a handful of things to think about and address moving forward, but overall I'm very happy with where this sits. Next up is OnGrid at the Ridge in late July for more testing, and maybe, just maaaaybe a little redemption.

Some of their stuff is good and some is hot garbage. Max the owner doesn't stand behind his product and has a tendency to try and blame "modifications" to your car as the reason. I have a lengthly (4 page) post on classic z car about my problems with his door assemblies. Resurrected Classics door problems I have their door weather strips and their fuel filler neck and the are excellent. My advice is no matter what you buy test fit as soon as it arrives and go from there. The doors were so bad that I ended up not using them. Max refuses to refund my money so I make sure to take the time to tell people about my experience. Do not trust what he says as he says whatever he needs to to get out of doing the right thing. Caveat Emptor with this guy for sure.

Hi HybridZ, its been a while. Took a long sabbatical from working on my S30 to finish college and get a job. For the last 6 or so months its been full steam ahead, the project is currently being rust repaired at a local body shop and I've been collecting parts as budget allows. The first piece major piece of hardware to arrived is the Viking Performance Shocks from the Apex Engineered Track Attack Front/Rear Suspension kit. I noticed that Apex’s website lacks details on shock and spring selection, so I’m documenting my findings here for others and to start a discussion on their choices. What's Included: Box as it arrives from Viking Performance Serial Numbers of each of the shocks (PN: C203) Viking Performance Shocks Link Part Numbers of Springs (600# & 700#) Initial Impressions: The car will be caged and used primarily/almost exclusively on track, so a stiffer setup is expected. However the spring rate selection still raises some concerns: The S30 chassis doesn’t benefit significantly from extremely high spring rates, even with a roll cage. The rear suspension uses inboard cantilevered shocks, which traditionally increase effective spring rate via the lever arm. This spring selection guide from Viking Performance indicates that the spring rate for a car with IRS and axle weights of ~1200-1400# is a lot lower than the supplied springs. I'm hypothesizing that the high rates were chosen to prevent the shocks, which are short to fit the Z’s narrow frame and tight packaging within the front wheel wells, from bottoming out. I’ve reached out to Apex Engineered to clarify the wheel rates for this setup and will update this thread when I hear back. Let me know if any of you have run this kit or high wheel rates.

Heat wave going on here +27 in the shade, had to test how hot this can go on normal driving. that small 10" fan goes on 87celsius and it can keep it cool in the city, second large CFM fan goes 92celsius. oil coolant pump goes on 85celsius and highest i saw was 92celsius, 96celsius goes coolant fan

Good post. I was frustrated for a long time with companies not sharing spring rates on these parts. FWIW, Viking is legit, lots of fast SCCA guys run those things with good results. IF those spring rates were chosen to prevent bottoming out of the shocks, that's pretty poor design. My guess is that the motion ratio of the bellcrank will be the limiting/bottoming out feature here, and that the conversion to pushrods has resulted in some high force multipliers. My guess would be Viking starting point is mounting in a "muscle car" front end, where the motion ratio is fairly low. I'll be interested to hear what the APEX guys say!

Got the front wildwood brakes installed today! A couple small quirks along the way on my install: First side I installed the rotor on the adapter ring to the hub wrong and the caliper didn't line up. It has two separate mating surfaces, one for a 240z and one for the later 280z hubs. Since I've replaced my 280z hubs with the T3 hubs, I failed to realize they're essentially a universal hub for early and late models which is why they had an extra shim ring of about 10mm to account for where the 280z mounting surface is. I took the ring off, so technically I had to install them where the 240z ones are, unless I wanted to run my rotor ring AND the hub spacer shim that they came with. Avoiding too many unnecessary pieces so I redid that side to mount on the 240z mating surface of the adapter and we were fine. Problem 2 - because I ordered the 280z brake kit, the included hardware also assumes you're still using stock 280z hubs. It's on and worked on my short drive, but I noticed in the picture where they're installed that the bolts don't go all the way out to the mating surface for the wheels. Quite a few threads left unengaged. It's probably safe for the time being, since I thought about the forces on those specific bolts and it's not really in or out since they're perpendicular to the rotational force applied by the brakes. I also didn't feel like I had particularly few threads engaged as I was bolting the rotor to the hub. Probably safe for casual driving, but it's a high priority fix right now to get the correct length bolts from T3 or locally. Better safe than sorry! Other than that I'm really happy. Bled the system with my new Motul brake fluid, which should cope much better with the heat off the turbo vs the cheap generic O'Reilly fluid I had before.

Also not a facebook user here, but speaking in generalities: 1. In 2025, I would think seriously about the value proposition of buying a Z. Some of us have been dabbling in this hobby/affliction for nearly 30 years, starting back when these cars were cheap, plentiful in junkyards, and blank-canvases for modification. And today? Completely different game. Hard to tinker with a 50 year old car, just as a tinkering-car. Even harder to get the performance out of it, that was the stuff of our dreams in the 1990s. 2. These cars are becoming expensive. Even woebegone projects are becoming expensive. For the less-familiar, it's a costly trap!

it can seem like the page is dying off.....but we actually get new members every day, and if you scroll to the bottom and look at the numbers, we get a lot of visits daily.

Broken photos and links is honestly one of the biggest detriments separate from the attention span and social media issues. Most forums barely make enough to sustain themselves so the self hosted photos are always quite small and it's a bit frustrating when you're trying to see something in detail. I've been thinking of hosting my photos elsewhere but a lot of places like imgur could end up suffering the same fate as photobucket someday. That being said I'm still regularly updating here and directing people here when I can. I'll say one last thing that's a praise of forums and makes me hate social media lately - AI accounts and scammers making the 50th shitty group called "S30 240z 260z 280z and 280zx lovers and owners group" with stolen photos from reputable people make me want to blow up some Facebook servers. Drives me insane. Every few days lately someone posts about how someone scammed them out of money from some group. If you're even remotely active online the accounts have so many red flags too, so it hurts to see.

I'm back! Sorry for the long delay on posts, family, work, and travel have sucked up time along with losing a laptop that had a large number of photos. I have restored most of the photos now and will try to catch back up. Polycarbonate windshield ready to mount, firewall extensions, and rear fender liner.

240Z RESTORATION PARTS IN THE USAI I found this video by Larry Chen about the relative new source of 240Z restoration parts. Their inventory covers body parts,interior plastic panels, grills,etc. If any one have tried their parts, please let us know concerning fit,quality,price and customer service. Their Website pic shows a 240z salvage yard so they might also sell used 240z parts. the company name is Resurrected Classics in Auburn, Georgia.

A few months ago I put on some 350# springs on the rear that I bought years ago and never got around to installing. I think these are close to the perfect rate. They hold the strut about in the center of travel with no preload on them. I also installed the TTT rear sway bar. That made a big difference. I should have done that 10 years ago. I kept reading people going back and forth saying no rear bar is better, and some saying a bar is better. A rear bar is definitely way better, at least on my car. I also did the anti venom mod on the T56, and it shifts much better.

Here's a pic of how the hatch is pulling on the seal no matter how well I try to tuck it in right. It pulled the center off the adhesive. I should be able to redo it and try to turn it farther to the front after I try the shims, but it's frustrating to say the least. That said, this is a huge step above how the previous one sat. In mostly happier news the spare tire fits incredibly well. Very happy with it and it all comes clean under the T3 cover. I bought the cover ages ago just to have even carpet in the back, but honestly could never put much weight in the back for fear that it would bend with nothing underneath. Only downside is the 280z tie down hardware doesn't seem to fit well with it. The way the lower piece is shaped raises the screw handle enough that it won't thread in. For now I flipped it and put the freebie shop rag I got at the car show between the wheel and hardware while I find an earlier style tie down that has covers the full hub opening.

They follow the curvature pretty well, but it's still getting pulled down a bit even after major adjustments. At this point I think the bigger issue is my hatch and the way it's fitted than the seal. It's dragging just the tiniest but in the center at the top. I know hatch shims would probably completely solve the problem, but my gap between the roofline and the hatch is already just slightly bigger than I want. Might test the skillard hatch shims that go between the hatch and hinge instead of the hinge and body and see how far off it is anyway. Tire for the spare was supposed to arrive yesterday but must have been held up. Should be here soon and I'll take it to get mounted and snap some pics for you. The spare looks so nice and Panasports are great quality. It's so nice that honestly I'm tempted to finally upgrade from my Rotas to the 16" Panasports that X Car Garage sells. Hadn't considered them much before but they look far nicer in person than I expected

I'd definitely talk with Viking as well. Back when I worked at a performance race shop, they were pretty helpful. Once you get parts in hand from Apex, or just generally more information, I'd call Viking up and see what's what.

I did this last night. It made a difference in the shifting, much smoother and easier. I didn't read the amazon listing, so the new packs of the Dorman 65277 only have 1 20mm washer, not 2, so I ran to the Honda dealership and got a Honda 94109-20000 washer. The Dorman is thinner and copper, the Honda is thicker and aluminum. They are both crush washers. I would say it made it 30-40% easier and smoother to shift. Cost about $10 and once my car was in the air took about 30 minutes because my cat was right in the way, so I had to drop the front of my exhaust to get my hand in there. I have V bands, so it was easy to do. The Corvette and Mustang crowd call it the anti venom mod.

Lots of small fixes the past week: Replaced the glovebox light and made sure it was all working well. Replaced the hatch inner and outer seals. My installation was better, but the Resurrected Classics seal also fit far better, especially the inner. The precision kit felt like it need to be stretched just slightly, but the RC held in place on it's own before adding weatherstrip adhesive and clamping down. The RC seal was pre-cut to provide clearanc for the hinge seals. When I first opened it it seems a bit ugly or poorly done, but after checking fitment it seems to be very well trimmed for correct clearance. Also added new oem style hinge shims when I reinstalled the hatch. The striker on the bottom was adjusted as well. Will need much more work to get the fitment right since the passenger side has a much bigger panel gap despite shoving it over as much as I could, but at least now I can comfortably open and close the hatch without dragging down the seals. Added the rubber stoppers for the door handles to prevent vibration and finally reattached the escutcheon / finisher plastic in the door cups. Looks much tidier and less noisy. Next step here will be to really clean up the door panels from the tiny splatters that I never cleaned from the lizardskin. O2 sensor cable routing was far improved by going through the body harness grommet in the firewall. It's in a safer position away from the driveshaft now. No longer running down the console. Wideband controller grounding was also fixed after I blew a fuse then repeatedly had it blow. Driveshaft was rebalanced. Seems a weight had knocked loose at some point. Was vibrating really horribly on my drive back from SLC with my brother. Replaced the diff pinion seal with a spare I had while the driveshaft was out. New OSG limited slip may not arrive in time for me to rebuild so I wanted to not have that leak in the meantime. Finally added the barb to the turbo intake as a vacuum source for the catch can. Hopefully this resolves any future oil leaking and premature seal and gasket failures. Adjusted the brake pedal travel. The brakes were already a huge upgrade and now it feels even better. Couldn't get it to the FSM's required height, but the suggested pedal height seems excessively tall, so I'll call it good now that the pedal and clutch are even heights and the stoppers are adjusted to make them less noisy. New hardware for the brakes is on the way from T3 and I'm getting some local help to wire up the new electric fans. Futofab HD stub axles arrived yesterday. Very well packaged. The axles should be arriving today, along with the new spare tire from Z Car Garage that will fit in the original spare tire compartment while still working with my new big brakes. More pics and updates to come soon...

Fourth of July 2025 Pearl Harbor Fireworks and Car Show- This Joint Military Forces Fourth of July Celebration was held at Pearl Harbor Naval Base. It consisted of Two County Western Bands , Big Fireworks display and Car Show. There were over Two Thousand People in attendance from 4PM -9Pm. My 240z won 1st Place Trophy in Classic Rod Catalogue, The Event ended with 15 minute Long Fireworks Display over Pearl Harbor. Next- Finishing Details on the 8.8 Conversion

Thanks for the welcome back, this car has certainly had a rollercoaster of a fate over the last 10 or so years of ownership. Excited to build it into the best version of itself (for me). Thanks for the info, seems like Viking is a non-hype brand that offers shocks that do shock things, which I can appreciate. AE is slow on CS communications but that's understandable given the size of their operation. That said, for a ~$9K suspension kit, a bit more transparency and technical detail on their website would go a long way. If I can find a shock with more travel for the same dimensions or when I blow these out I'll swap. JRi's builder series and some of their GM line looks like it would bolt right in, only 0.3" longer extended length which seems negligible in terms of fitment (PN: 100-511-300). I agree, it seems incredibly unwise if that were the case but it wouldn't be the first time I'd seen it. I've seen similar suspension choices in GTAC (cars riding on bump stops) but that's usually done purposefully to keep the aero platform working optimally and not appropriate for a package like this. Considering the shock travel is a mere 3.6", its safe to assume this is an extremely low motion ratio design. It feels like a missed opportunity to fully leverage the bell crank inboard design (traditionally speaking) but perhaps packaging constraints of the S30 chassis left little room for alternatives. I'm hoping the bottoming out feature will be at the upper A-arm which would allow me to mount a 3D printed polyurethane bump stop on top of it. Going to email AE for an update on the wheel rates and now information motion ratios, thanks for the idea.

Welcome back, Carlton...and congrats on the major life changes/accomplishments! Following, as I'm super interested to hear how about the installation and how you like it. Thanks for documenting the process! 👍

Part 2-More 240Z Restoration- Body Work is mostly done utilizing Oxygen Acetylene Gas Welding. This method of welding was mainly used to repair automotive body repair. I learned this method when I was 15 years old and used it until the 1970s when Mig Wire Welding came in. The Mig Welding is a much productive method as it applied the heat faster and welding with less heat distortion to surrounding metal. However, I still use this method in certain applications to this day. Notice- Use a Small Torch Flame and Thin 1/16" Brass Rod. More Bodywork to come-

DJHsuperZ I will notify company on Monday of availability Thank you for the inquiry Chip JDMPowerhouse

Update: I figured out why my RPMs were so low and the IAC wasn't adjusting its steps. My TPS in the Closed-Loop Idle PID Activation Settings, was set at 0.8. The actual TPS was 1.1 that day which meant that the CLI would never kick in when I was sitting in the car at idle. I re-calibrated it and decided to play it safe and set at 1.5. Today the car's CLI worked as intended. I am still dealing with wonky IAC which can be at steps 90 and barely allowing any air in. Also, I noticed that even if I select the MAT table to be used for reference, the ECU was still looking up the CLT settings. I posted this question on the msextra site, maybe it is a code glitch or this is how they designed it or I am missing another table. I might just use the CLT reference table and call it a day. I am posting the updated tune and the drive log. 2025-07-03_12.14.29-drive.mlg 2025-07-03-v104.msq

Thanks for Repairing my PassWord Problem. Is there anything that I need to do prevent this problem from occurring again? Toolman

06-28-2025. Putting the new turbo on. With the new turbo to manifold piece, I had to actually remove the intake manifold, put it all together, and then slide the manifold back on. It WORKED! Look at those HUGE ports! I haven't seen them in awhile! That's my Russ Racing prepped and shaved E31 head! I have it almost all assembled, I had to "slip" the top hose clamp up a bit to get a really good seal clamped down. Looks "different" but it is SNUG. I vacuum tested the new wastegate actuator......WAY too high (boost crack at 15 psi !!!) , so I put the older one on, and it boost cracks at only 2.5 psi.,....but I didn't port the turbine housing this time, so keeping that in mind, I think very little boost will be bleed off....enough to protect the engine, but it's going to pump quite a bit of air and fuel! (boost creep expected). The Skillard brake master cylinder heat shield I ordered came in, and is waiting me to custom mod as needed and install. Also went ahead and started clamping down the vacuum hoses to avoid any more hoses blowing off under boost. I have also added on a few pics of my intake ports if interested. Almost done! It is now HOT, have to keep stopping and wiping my face off. I think it was over 86! cheers! pics attached.

make sure you reinforce the sway bar mounts in the front.

I’m new to this platform so I don’t know anything, lol, appreciate the advice. I’ll add some bracing. I’m planning to run some big sticky tires up front, figured the assistance would be needed, this system has a dial to vary the level of assistance. We’ll see, can always switch back, I’ll hold onto the existing column for a bit just in case.

Got the steering column off and cleaned up a little bit. I’ll get the new electric power steering on soon, looks simple enough.

Yup prolly right ……part of my problem is car is at body shop across the ocean and they want me to solve this issue. Grrrrrrr. Until I can get back there and get eyes on it and give direction all I can do is research and use great resources like this forum. Thanks for the advice.

I don’t mess with Facebook/Instagram too much, just post occasionally, but I certainly don’t go there for technical info, that’s what the forums are for. Is there a way to get the forum hosted or accessed through an app? For example I access the370Z.com through the app Tapatalk and not the web.

Every single off the shelf airdam will leave the front of the tire exposed with ZGs, and they won't line up right where the fender meets the valance meets the flare. You're going to have to DIY it if you want that section to be perfect. You can start with an off the shelf fiberglass one, or take any of them and Jerry rig something if you don't want to make a whole airdam. It's a good idea aerodynamically to cover the front of the tire. Seen many people add a strip of aluminum to the back of the airdam to do this and bridge the gap to the flare at the same time. This is also a bit clunky looking but it is more functional. Dug around in my pics for a few minutes but couldn't find an example. I believe username Heavy85 (first name Cameron, can't remember his last name though) had something like this on his hillclimb 280Z if you want to dig some more. He crashed it maybe 10-12 years ago so there won't be current pics.

Thanks for that response . I know you are right about most dams needing slight mods to fit but the ones I have bought just cannot be altered to match the missing metal I took out of the fenders. Skillard has a whole dam and splitter combo that might work but its $750 before mod and paint. Here’s what I am after….. plus I have the 3 piece stock valance to work with if need be.

I had a conversation with one of my suppliers regarding the510realm https://the510realm.com/. He spoke with one of the site's admins and the traffic was still up, but content input had dropped. I think people are using message boards for research on topics more than supplying content. FB has turned into the place to post projects and i think this is driven by the instant gratification it provides, but retrieval of technical information on FB is horrid. It may be because MBs generally stay on topic while FB posts are ALL OVER THE PLACE with many of the posts adding zero value to the topic. If I'm looking for technical data and how-tos, MBs are the go to. If I want to sucked down the rabbit hole and see cats dancing in dresses, its FB all the way.

I guess the end of the story here is "be the change you want to see". Hype the forums, post on the forums, link to the forums etc. Viewership drives ad dollars which means things will stay solvent and remain online. In that vein, have we done a sticker fundraiser lately? I miss the old HybridZ forum header with the logo too. Can we bring that back?

pm'd you

Searchability, and the loss of a lot of photos because of imgur/photobucket policy changes have been hugely detrimental. Even back in the day, I would use Google to search HybridZ, rather than use the forum search tools. It's tough for sure. I think the forums that are thriving right now have had a strong social component, rather than just knowledge, and don't have a facebook/instagram equivalent.

Yep...on the very long list of things to do.

New to Z cars....man, I would buy a complete driving car, and buy the nicest one you can afford. You don't even know if the Z car bug is going to bite you or not. A project like this is for someone who has been a Dat-Head for a long time, has the room, the money to fund it, and wants a project to fix. The worst thing a guy can do is get a project car and tear it all to pieces. for 99% of the people out there, the project just becomes too big, too overwhelming. Fix things on a car a section at a time, and I would recommend buying a car that really doesn't need anything.....at the age of these cars, they will always need something as you go along.

Thanks for the links, saved me so much extra work. Here's the new layout, seems to operate smooth, clears everything. Hopefully I didn't miss anything important....

A single page is easy to do by just downloading the html from the menu. Doing the whole site you need to use some tools that will go through the whole directory and do each page individually for you. I haven't done it yet, so I haven't worked through it fully. If/when I do, I'll make a post so others can do the same.

Yeah the broken thread links stink. The pictures might be even worse. I always upload my photos to the site rather than link to a hosting service. Threads that are 20 years old still work great if the poster did that.

I have finally switched my focus to getting this car running again. This weekend I painted the engine block of the new replacement engine. I was hoping to get it in the car, but various things slowed down my progress. I thought I had a pilot bushing on hand, but couldn't find it. So, a trip to the store for that... Couldn't find the torque spec for the ARP flywheel bolts and wasted time looking for that. Little things like that eat time. Anyway, a few pics: With the back plate, flywheel, disc, and pressure plate now on, I am about ready to put the engine in. I think I will strip and repaint the motor mounts first. Then, I'll put the engine in and start the work to mount the oil tank for the dry sump. I will likely need to cut some of the inner fender well on the right side. I don't like going that route on my "early" Z, but I dislike blown motors more.

Ask one of the AI's and see what it says.

This is the most activity this thread has seen in years, ANOTHER WEEKEND UPDATE! Got the intake welded up, some gasketing on the radiator extractor, and got the car back on the ground. Also got a nut and bolt done on the car. I still need to bleed the brakes, and do a quick fluid check and I'll be in good shape for a few events!

You should really just post on FB because they love trolls and useless posting there

I have two heads in stock as I type this so the head can actually be purchased. I can't help that you can't afford it. That's a feature not a bug. For the very beginning my goal was to provide the components so that talented engine builders could make the decisions on the types of components they wanted to use. Based on what I've seen and taking the pricing of the relatively simple L6 head as the baseline I highly doubt it. I'm not really sure what I did to put a burr under your saddle but you remind me of the guy that starts a fight in the line to get into the club because he can't afford the cover charge. Just get out of line and go somewhere else.

I track my Ford powered 260Z. My personal experience is that transmission gearing is extremely important to getting the most fun on the track. In Florida, you will most likely be doing track days at Daytona and Sebring. Both tracks have very fast sections. Before doing track days, I autocrossed the car. In autocross, you only really need second gear if you have the right differential / tire height. I used Hoosier 275/35-15 tires and have a 3.36 rear end. With a 1.94 second gear in a T-5 and 6,500 rpm, 2nd gear was good for 73 mph. When I started doing track days, I needed all the gears. I had replaced the stock 1st through 4th with G-Force gears and shafts, but fifth gear was still stock. With that set-up, these were my gear ratios. 1st 2.95:1 2nd 1.94:1 3rd 1.33:1 4th 1:1 5th 0.59:1 Worked great until I needed 5th gear. that big a drop absolutely killed the fun (no acceleration in 5th). After my first time a Daytona, I changed 5th gear to 0.81:1. The .81 gear absolutely transformed the car. Now 5th gear is warp drive. The transmission that you show probably doesn't have a good selection of gear ratios, and probably won't hold much power. If it were me, I would get the new TKX with the close ratio rears. That transmission will handle the power and maximize you fun on track. If I didn't already have so much invested in my T5, I would get a TKX. This is the TKX I would get: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/TREMEC-TCET18084-TKX-Close-Ratio-5-Speed-Ford-Manual-Transmission,452007.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq-x1paVSDoNvgI38myLy79UBWXzZFW-QeQ4bK1_vWnSHM7bEEJ Gear Ratios 1st - 2.87, 2nd - 1.89, 3rd - 1.28, 4th - 1.00, 5th - 0.81

Excited to see your progress! Even though the KA24DE is a bit dated, I honestly think they remain heavily underrated. So many people moved away from them to the SR20, but the KA is (at least in my opinion) much more stout, and it's hard to turn down so much extra displacement. It would be my choice of affordable swap if I was in a 510 wagon which I've always wanted. Even the sohc version in my D21 has proven pretty great, though it's now relegated to farm truck in mexico with my parents. It's interesting that you didn't like the CD009, with how popular it is. Though I know most people have to swap shifters which affects how it feels a lot. I really liked the later JK in my G37s when I had that. Synchros were great, and the stock shifter felt "short enough" to not want to change anything. I hate short shifters and the notchiness, however. On my 71c trans I'm switching to the stock shifter housing and a nismo solid shifter. Throw will be a bit longer, but I want a slightly closer to stock feel and to not feel like I'm screwing up my synchros from a too-short and notchy shifter. Also, surprised you got such terrible mileage on the 2JZ. What was your rear end ratio? My L28ET gets me 22-23 highway mpg when I've done roadtrips and it's not even really particularly well tuned for it. I've been tempted to switch from my current 3.9 rear to a 3.7 - the 3.54 seems a bit too long for my taste, but I think just swapping to the 3.7 might get me to an easy 25mpg with better tuning.

I started typing a number of snarky responses and have settled on Wow what a shitty thing to say.

Here is the schematic, if anyone wants it....illustrates functionality in each of the key's positions: