Stock Car Mafia's '78 280z LS2 Build

[RebekahsZ]

I stacked them.  I mounted the pump on the bottom of a flat plate, then I put a hose in a U up to the filter/regulator on the top side of the plate.  The whole plate is like 8" long and about 3 inches wide.

[Stock Car Mafia]

Do you recall what thickness it was?  I would assume probably 1/8".  I would love to stack the pre filter and pump but I would want the pump on the bottom.  So if I did put the pre filter on top, would it prime with a full tank of gas? 

[RebekahsZ]

I'm too tired to fight the site to post pics. I just shot some pics of my setup. Send me a text asking for the pics and I will send them to ya. 256-366-4685

[Stock Car Mafia]

Thanks for the pics!  I was able to apply a little of what your did for my mount.  

 

I used 1/8" x 3" steel for mounting a 2.5" T-bolt clamp from silicone intakes (#CLA000713) for the fuel pump.  I don't think I've mentioned before but I ended up buying a TRE 044 pump (same as Bosch 044) and got the metric to AN adapters from B&R Fittings for it.  If I'm not mistaken I used M6 bolts and nylon nuts for these clamps.  

 

 

 

I then used a 2" T-bolt clamp (CLA000700) and a 100 micron stainless steel fuel filter from Jegs (#555-15005).  I am using -8AN lines and fittings through this whole system.  The t-bolt clamps came with little isolation rubber pieces to go under the small brackets as well.  

 

 

I threw some 180 deg. fittings on each end to route a small hose.

 

 

I then cut down the 3 inch plate, ground off the pointy edges and centered the bracket on the lower rail of the cell.  I initially was going to weld this solid but figured it would be easier to bolt it in, for easy removal for servicing.  

 

 

 

 

I ran the outlet to the filter and called it good for the night.  I don't have AN wrenches to tighten the hose ends but its really not a big deal if you tighten them slowly with regular wrenches.  

 

 

[JoeK]

Good reading. You are jamming along with your build, looking good.

 

If you are still looking for good flares, I just received the Marugen Shoukai standard ZG fiberglass flares from Japan and they fit perfect on my 240z. I've never tried any of the other brands but was totally surprised by how well these sit on the stock fender. The dollar is strong now, and these were only $237 shipped to California, and took just 2 weeks to get. Ordered from RHDJapan, and they sent me lots of communications along the way.

[Stock Car Mafia]

Thanks Joe.  I've been watching your thread and boy, your car is going to be flawless when completed!  I've read a bit that they are the place to get flares from.  I will be grabbing a set here shortly especially with the cost shipped to my door.  

[Stock Car Mafia]

A little update from some work over the weekend.  I've had a BAFX bluetooth OBDII scanner for some time now and decided to play around with it in my bonneville.  I plan on using this initially when I start the car.  It seems like you can track most critical things and I am hoping I can get oil pressure to pop up for the LS2.

 

 

On another note, I got the wire harness pushed through the old EFI harness hole and set close to where the computer will be mounted.  I believe the hole is 1 3/4" and it definitely got pretty tight as I fed more stuff through.  I intend on routing the fuse block, power wire, and both fan ground leads under the dash to the passenger side of the car to be mounted and run to the battery through the firewall.  

 

 

 

 

I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to mount the gas pedal too.  For now, I just went with a static mount but down the road, it would be nice to make a pedal rack for adjustable pedal positions.  I used some 1/8" steel and cut it to the size of the LS2 pedal.  I placed the pedal close to the original position and then marked where to drill the 3 holes for the stock bolts.  

 

 

 

I then drilled 2 holes for the bolts that will secure the pedal to the bracket.  I used red loctite on the nuts as they will be used as spacers to clear the heads of the stock bolts.  

 

 

 

I took the same nuts and tack welded them on the lower portion of the bracket to give the pedal a good flat surface to rest on.  

 

 

I took two more nuts and secured the pedal to the plate and it sits nice and flush.

 

[Stock Car Mafia]

The other thing that I was able to do is run some more fuel line under the car.  I still am trying to think through the best way to get this accomplished but I plan on utilizing the 10mm fuel line bolts and holes and new fuel clamps.  I need to run a fuel line, return, and brake line down this side and on top of that a post pump filter as well.  Space will be tight...

 

 

There happened to be a nice little grommet in the frame for me to push the line through  The filter was mounted using a 2" T-bolt clamp and 2 holes were drilled through the floor pan.  It does hang 1/4" lower than the frame rail which concerns me.  The return line will be put through the unused clamp in the picture.  I am not sure where to route that return line past the diff and suspension yet.  I stopped here for the night as the next chunk of line will be connected to the fuel pressure regulator.  I want this mounted on the fire wall but I can't reach behind the dash/firewall to push bolts through.  Now may be a good time for me to pull the dash, get some gauges, and put them in!

 

[Stock Car Mafia]

And I am happy to say the original motor, tranny, EFI harness, and driveshaft found a new home yesterday!  A guy called me last week that was interested in a back up motor for his chump car that a couple buddies run up on the Brainerd road course.  They have a 1979 280ZX that it will be going in.  

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Stock Car Mafia

[Stock Car Mafia]

Where can you buy the Rota RB-X Hyper Black 17 x 9.5" -19 wheels in the US?  I am looking to buy these suckers...

[Stock Car Mafia]

Photobucket is acting quite strange as of late so I've been holding back on posting a bit.  

 

The dash was going to be removed to reach the firewall and mount the FPR on the passenger side.  I ordered a set of gauges for the car too.  I ended up going with the Autometer Carbon Fiber Ultra-Lites and placing a special order for black bezels (They are on the Phantom or Z series gauges).  I wanted a cleaner look that matched the black dash better.  Speedo, tach, oil pressure, water temp, and fuel level.

 

Pulling the dash was so darn easy compared to what I read.  The 4 screws to remove the metal trim was easy.  The 6 upper bolts were not that difficult with a swivel and several extensions.  The only tough one is the driver side bolt next the A post.  This may be a bear to get back in :/  There were just a couple connections and the lower bolts came out with ease.  

 

 

 

After the dash was removed the blower motor was still in the way so there were 3 more 10mm bolts that had to be removed.  This was just positioned out of the way to see the firewall.  There is a rubber mat and insulation back there as well.  I just pulled this way and made my marks of where the FPR would go and I got lucky and it cleared the seamsealed joint just above it.

 

 

My next worry was the lip of the blower motor vent fitting between the bolt and the top body.  

 

 

Again I got lucky and it fits between and we were able to tighten the blower motor bolts down with ease.  Earlier in the day I had played around with the alloy gray metallic I had picked out for the car/engine bay.  

 

 

 

And now with the FPR mounted, I can run the rest of my fuel line plumbing and get the fuel rails put on as well.  

 

 

With the dash removed, I can run the rest of my wiring for the engine harness/fuel pump and get the fan relays put together.  The driveshaft is coming back soon so I can start to dig in to what I am having issues with there....I really want to do more welding and get my exhaust finished 

 

I am starting to dream more of this thing running soon!

Edited January 19, 2017 by Stock Car Mafia

[Stock Car Mafia]

Wheels and RHDJapan flares are on order.  Now to decide on what kind of rubber to throw on them...

[bramagedained]

Heh, had I logged in a day earlier perhaps we could have tried to save on shipping.  I'm likely ordering a set of flares from RHDJapan tomorrow.

 

I still find it really funny that we both have more or less the same project planned, just starting from opposite ends.

[Stock Car Mafia]

Ha, well damn!  Since they have their posting in yen, I don't recall how much shipping was...My order has not been packaged yet, but would you be interested in splitting shipping if I contacted them to double the order?  

[JoeK]

Where did you en up finding the wheels?

[Stock Car Mafia]

I found them at Racinglab.com.  They only have them listed as "RB's" and I didn't want to post any false information but based on the pictures they have to be it.  I ordered the Hyper Blacks and I got 9.5" width for all four corners.  

 

I picked up 20 GReddy Gunmetal short lug nuts as well (#14401201).  These must be discontinued as they took a while to find for a decent price.  

 

The driver side O2 sensor was too short so I ordered 2, 12" extenstions from Current Performance.  The passenger side works but it tugs on the harness quite a bit and they were only $10 a pop and I'd rather pay for shipping once.

 

The 2 ft. remote clutch speedbleeder from Tick Performance came as well.  

 

A new Wilwood 1" MC is in the mail too.  The one I have would need a rebuild and I figured it was time.  

[bramagedained]

On mine anyway, I'm definitely changing the wheel studs up front.  With the RKRs I don't like how little thread engagement there is(it's actually probably fine).  But, it would also be easier to get lug nuts started with a longer stud.

 

I got mine from 18racing who is mostly an ebay seller.  I had them in about a week and they were willing to sell me a mixed set because of my two different bolt patterns.

[Stock Car Mafia]

I am waiting until they get here to see how little stud there is.  I'm hoping I don't have to push new ones in.  I haven't read about replacing studs but I would assume it is a work out.  

 

I'm hoping racinglabs are as responsive as 18racing is.  Time will tell!

[Stock Car Mafia]

A little update from yesterday.  The goal was to finish up the fuel plumbing.  I needed to put the Holley fuel rails on first so I could run the return line to the FPR.  I pulled the intake and cleaned it up a little bit.  There was a lot of dirt around the injector seats and the O-rings were pretty filthy as well.  While the intake was off, it gave me an opportunity to clean the head surface and the intake gaskets.   

 

 

 

The inital plan was to run the line from the tank to the driver side rail.  I was going to have the passenger side return to a 90 deg. fitting on the FPR.  There wasn't enough room between the fitting and the other hose end to make this happen, so I did the opposite and it still looks quite clean.

 

 

For the crossover line, I cut the length of the hose to match the contours of the intake.  Here I thought that would be ideal but I thought it looked too cheesy and stuck out too far.

 

 

 

This is a little blury but I cut off maybe a 1/4"-1/2" and I like the way the line sits now.  I am a little OCD but I prefer a clean look.

 

 

After that was done, I was able to run my return line.  The only reservation I have is I ran both lines under the rear sway bar, which will make the removal of that a little more complicated.  But hell, a project car is always up for improvments so I might address that later.

 

 

 

 

 

I left a little slack here and there for when the return line is routed through the new floor (whenever that happens to be).  The vent line was just run down the side.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Stock Car Mafia

[Stock Car Mafia]

After the valve covers dried, I had to get some photos of how the engine bay is looking.  I might be routing my engine harness today.