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Wow, that's like something out of a Rube Goldberg cartoon! Great progress you're making....keep the updates coming!! 👍

I like the external slave cylinder. You may have to clearance the driveshaft tunnel a bit, and it will create another obstacle to routing headers. I'm using a Tilton hydraulic throw-out bearing. Works great and doesn't take up space in the driveshaft tunnel. The downside is that if it leaks then you have to remove the transmission to fix it...

Got a few goodies today, first I found a cool bracket that can allow me to use a hydraulic set up for the clutch, it’ll let me get rid of the weird mechanical set up someone rigged up. Second was an impulse buy, while getting the turn signal/light switch and relay they had this emergency power stop button and solenoid.

More work on the 4200 today. cleaned up the rest of the block and head, and then pulled the oil pan and cam cover. NO SLUDGE. very clean inside. I got the outside of the cam cover clean enough to at least get started on the modifications I will do to it (add an alloy oil fill to the back, add a breather port, shave off 2 original ports, cut off unnecessary brackets, weld up the original oil fill hole and probably lower it a bit as it is very tall . To fit under a Z car hood it has to be chopped about an inch......although a small rectangular hole in the hood with the polished cover sticking up can be made to look really cool. Yeah I had an adaptor snap on me, the crank bolt is SO tight, I will probably need heat and PB blaster and smack it a few times to shock the treads to get it off. I need to clean behind it and it needs to be cleaned up and painted.......I wonder if the heat will ruin it? Before I called it a day, my AR5 transmission arrived.....in need of a rebuild, the pilot shaft has wiggle room. pics follow:

on Youtube, you can see the 280Z a guy is building right now. actually fits very well! (3) Red Hot Channel - YouTube

Very nice. will be cool to see how tight it is in the engine bay!

The vacuum log from has reappeared ! I added back the lines I took off before ZCON. 2 x .250 lines merging into a 3/8 line to a remote stepper valve . Kind of got it working today . The biggest must is to have it close all the way . You can’t afford to loose any vacuum with the ITBS .

Is there any pictures showing the 1979 to 1986 Jeep CJ7 master cylinder with swapped pushrod from the Datsun 240Z clutch master cylinder installed in a Datsun 240Z? https://x.com/i/grok/share/CZVSqy9yUiQEwFV9TZpEACANa

Got the complete rear end dropped today.

Ford trucks with the 400 engine would be a good source also.

My turbo header from Forever Fabrication for my 4200 build came in today. Top notch craftsmanship as expected:

09-27-2025 More 4200 stuff. I stripped off all the unnecessary junk and was able to get one side of the engine cleaned up. I didn't worry about the oil pan as it is going to junk pile soon. Progress....sometime slow but moving forward. Pics show the cleaning in stages on that side. I got the springs into the external wastegate, and it shows a crack pressure of 8 psi and wide open at 12 psi. Not too bad.

Good evening Picked up my shaft Wednesday. Out of the garage for the first time in two years. First test run was very gentle as there are a lot of things to keep track of, not only engine. Today i have driven the car and made some log with HPTuners and it is a bit rich. Cheers Christian

oil pan:

So I went ahead and bought one off of eBay and it showed up the other day. It is a 2006, which is the 2nd of 3 variants. It has larger ports and larger valves than the 2002-2005 models. I have ordered a few of the high dollar pieces needed so far, my T shaped oil pan made by Forever Fabrication has arrived and I have it in silver engine enamel, within a few days my turbo header from the same shop will be here and I am awaiting the intake flange, runners from DMZ and plenum from eBay I will use to put together and have welded, then have the welds sanded smooth and either polished or powder coated. I picked up another S30 engine crossmember which I will use, strapped tot eh bottom of the engine and measured from my Z car to fashion the motor mounts. An Aisin AR5 5 speed is also on the way, and my Turbo is here, I ordered a T76 with T4 flange off of eBay, along with a Tial knockoff external wastegate. A chromoly 17.1 lbs flywheel from Atlas Industries is on order. Cool stuff!

My custom made 3d printed aero hood latches are mounted.

Yes, still working on then, just have not posted anything. Bought some expensive components that take time to recover from. A blank PAMS head, that I then designed and has DelWest make me titanium intake valves, Inconel mnemonic stainless steel exhaust valves, also MoldStar 90 seats and guides. Had it assembled, and ports cleaned up for some nice flow numbers. Also purchased a Nismo 6 Speed Trans that was also strengthened and modified by HPI in Japan. I take some progress pics soon.

Turbo oil feed line, block adapter, turbo drain. I really have no clue how much for this. I know they dont come up for sale much especially with the block adapter. It may be slightly tweaked but its really close to original shape. Will package on a bog enough box. $150 plus shipping?

Oil cooler assembly. Includes everything from the block adapte, all four oil lines and the oil cooler and banjo bolts. $250 obo plus shipping. I flushed it out in my parts washer. Hoses and adapter where dirty but i cleaned them up. Does not appear to have any leaks.

It's been a busy few weeks, but I've recently started back in on the fuel system. Still waiting on some AN fittings to arrive but I think I'll do a -10 SS hardline with a 45 or 90 degree bend directed into the side of the surge tank for the return. The fuel sender arrangement should also work well, having been integrated as part of the surge tank mounting and also top hat connectors. Also, one thing I was not expecting is how expensive submersible fuel safe nylon line is and I suspect it will still need to be replaced every few years. Most of the turbo/wastegate SS fittings and hardline stock have also arrived so I'll be starting back in on that over the fall/winter along with completing the external oil pickup conversion.

So after doing a valve adjustment my ITBS did sync up better . I guess I will have to keep an eye on that. I took out most of the injector trims and my afrs between the banks paired up better -especially at light cruise . I also worked out linkage issues I was having. You get no instructions with this kit and there was adjustments that I could have done better like the main rod-the only rod-to bellcrank. I didnt have it pulling the linkage in a straight line. Also found the linkage on the side of the ITB loose . This caused the linkage to rub against the body of the ITB. I got all this sorted right before ZCON . It was 4.5 hours to Nashville on smooth highway. 80 mph is where she likes to cruise . AFR's were around 15 on flat ground. No issues on the round trip. Got some great compliments from Peter Brock on my airbox . Cold idle is still 650rpm and about 800rpm when hot . AFRs at idle are normally around 13.1 Now to move on to IAC . I gave up on it right before I left .

Car is getting some tail tonight!

It's been a hot minute since I have posted. Our oldest is in 7th grade and now have two additional rugrats in the family! One of my best friends and I started renting an astrophotography shed in New Mexico since 2020. We've both put a lot of time in to making that a real life long hobby. Otherwise I also spend the summer months playing in the yard with my reel mower. Since 2017, I've been just enjoying the car and logging miles. We are approaching 10,000 miles since the build. The last 2 years the car has mostly been idle as the kids and career have come first. The fuel pump had gone out again and just recently decided it was time to dig in and get a taste of what I have been missing out for a while....working on the car. I took out the passenger interior, seat, and back hatch area to get access to the fuel pump relay and wiring. Going to rerun a dedicated 10 gauge wire back to the TRE fuel pump as I believe I was getting too large or a voltage drop on the lower gauge wire, stressing the pump out. I noticed the rear differential also leaks some diff fluid, so that will have to be addressed at some point as well. I have all my "Build Book" 3 ring binders from the past that I have gone through. I am fricken blown away by how much I documented and kept an active To Do list. I think it is time to blow off the dust and put together my phase 2. Although building will a longer process now.

Got a little bit of time in the garage today. Got most of the front brake plumbing done, just waiting on the lines I ordered for the master cylinders. Also ordered this steering column mounted lights/turn signal switch and relay set. Will help with the wiring as I’ve tossed everything out.

Yep. the 5 cylinder hasn't caught up yet to the six. the six cylinder 4200 is REALLY taking off now. I have one I am putting together, and possibly put into another Z at some point. It will be turbocharged, etc. you start with 291 horsepower and 270+ torque, and then go up from there. weight is 350 lbs. They are a beast.