RPMS

Classic Car absolutely ROCKS! I've got about a dozen issues from five or six years ago that I still leaf through from time to time. I subscribe to Car & Driver, Motor Trend, and Motorcyclist, although some of them lapse from time to time. Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc. are great if you're just starting out, but for someone who's not new to the hot rod scene, they usually don't offer much. When I do get suckered into buying a hot rod mag, I usually turn to the PAW ad pages in the back before I read any of the articles.

SHEEEEEIT! Let's see... Coilovers, fender flares all around, motor transplant, new wheels, doors and seats, turn it into a convertible... IT CAN BE SAVED! A perfect Hybrid candidate. Wow.

Hello, Zach! You don't have to cut through the tunnel, you just remove the mounts. They're spot welded to the tunnel on the inside. Easiest way is with a pneumatic chisel - 5 minutes per side. The chisel cost me $9.00 at Harbor Freight. If you don't have access to compressed air, I guess you could use a cold chisel and a hammer. Be careful though - the tunnel is made of thin metal that's fairly easy to punch through. Go for the 5-speed, if possible. It not only preserves the nature of the car (IMHO) but the TH350 isn't an overdrive tranny. With the rear end gears the Datsuns came with, that has you spinning something like 3,000 rpm at 60 mph. Fine for an MR-2, but it stinks in a hybrid Z. It tells you 99.5% of what you need to know. My book is an earlier generation one, and it didn't say much about wiring the neutral/reverse switch. Other than that, it's pretty comprehensive. It's like a cookbook that tells you how to make a vanilla cake. After you know how to do that, you can teach yourself how to do chocolate, strawberry, fruit fillings, whatever. JTR tells you the basics of how to do the swap. Most folks on this list go beyond the basics, though. That's what HybridZ is for. Keep that thick skin of yours, and you'll get along quite well here! The basic unwritten rule of the board is to try hard to not offend anyone, and try equally hard (if not harder) to not take offense. You're off to an excellent start!

Destroked 400 block with AFR heads http://airflowresearch.com/articles/article03/A3-P1.htm and Edelbrock 4D fuel injection. http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mpfi_systems.html You didn't ask, but I'd mate it to a T56 6-speed tranny and run it through an R200 differential in an early 240Z for lighter weight. As long as you didn't drive like an ass, I don't think it'd break. This combo should put out 415 hp and 435 ft/lbs on 87 octane gasoline. It's just my opinion, but I have a hard time imagining it would be easy to hook up anything over 400 hp. Anything more than that seems excessive. Cost? Probably in the neighborhood of $10,000 to finish it out. The engine is about 2/3 that, and I'm thinking that by the time you get through nickel and diming yourself to death (coil, distributor, accessories, balancer, etc. etc. etc. ) you'll be about at that point. What do y'all think?

Sounds like a very good deal, especially if the bodywork is in halfway decent condition. I've always been leery of widebody kits - Many, many people don't bother putting them on right and they crack at the seams. Good luck! Be sure to tell us what it looks like in person!

Also (and I'm not saying this to be a jerk - I'm dead serious) it helps when you use punctuation, spell out "ur" words, use meaningful subject lines and form complete sentences. People in life will often not take you seriously if you don't express yourself well, and this forum is no different. I'm not saying we're hung up on grammer - heck, some of our most respected members have "communication issues" Just do your best and you'll do okay. A further hint - don't use the "search" function on the index page, because it often doesn't work. Search within the forums, and you'll get much better results. Most of the problems you'll run into have been solved years ago by other people. I agree with the others, by the way - get the JTR book and read it several times cover to cover. They've made all the common mistakes already, and it's well worth the fifty bucks to avoid duplicating them. I'm using their crossmember mount, and it's very well built. Welcome to the group! (what's your name, anyway?)

I think the best way to learn to drive like that would be to put the skinniest tires you can find on stock rims and practice every day for a year or two. You can do a lot of throttle steering with a lightweight car on skinny tires that you can't do with a heavier, higher powered car. Or at least, it's much easier to control.

There's a regulating body for auto mechanics??? Tell me about this. And why is it illegal to charge for services rendered on your own time? People in this country are WAY too litigious, IMHO.

I almost thought it was a Subtle Z kit, but I see it has no fender lips. Custom, methinks?

ROFLOL!! That's got to be one of the best things I've seen EVER! Definitely worth saving...

Take a look at your avatar picture and say that again. Isn't that a picture of a Florida resident after her latest facelift? Scott

I sat in one of the 2005 Mustangs at the Texas state fair, and was struck by several things: 1) It's smaller than the photos suggest. Maybe it's the fact that the lines are similar to the 1972 fastback, but I expected it to be much bigger. Looks good on the outside. 2) The interior looks cheap in real life. Lots of painted plastic masquerading as metal, and the auxillary gauges between the speedo and tack are awfully darned small. They did the gauges in retro numbers that look cool! Just like in my friend's '66. 3) Still a 5-speed? They must be joking! Heck, Tiburons come with a 6-speed, for the love of Pete. Just a few thoughts, having very little to do with the thread.

Well.... That isn't quite WHY it happened, but a F Up of such impressive magnitude is always worthy of recognition! Check here for the real story: http://www.cargolaw.com/2000nightmare_n.w._brakes.html There's also a lot of other links to cargo disasters on that page. Enjoy!

Mike, you've just lived my worst nightmare. Worse even than finding that I'm in the middle of third period English wearing nothing but underwear.

As long as we're on the subject, I used the stock shifter with my 700R4, and it's a pain in the butt to get adjusted right. I still have trouble getting it to go into Park. Like PROJECTRB, I'd like to go with a different shifter that works better but I don't want something that looks like it just came out of a NASCAR cockpit. It's a cool look, just not what I'm going for. Any suggestions for a low-key aftermarket shifter would be greatly appreciated. I kind of like the Cheetah, but they don't make a 4-speed version. Thanks,

Howdy, Guys! I'm running a 700R4 with the stock Datsun shifter. Per JTR, I've got a neutral safety switch from a late S10 truck. Anyone know where I can get a wiring harness that will plug into the safety switch? It's one of the last things I need before my car can be a real driver, and I'm itching. I'd prefer not to have to resort to an aftermarket shifter because most of 'em look decidedly un-factory, and that clashes with what I want to do with the car. Thanks! Scott

With all the blocks running around out there, is there any reason you're stuck on this one? Unless it's free, I'd look elsewhere. Up until last week, I had a perfectly good block sitting in my backyard. Surely there are others you could find.

How did you manage to pay less than $4k for that thing? Was there a dead body in it, or something?

Put some Z content on there. That improves ANY website! You've got some really great military photos on there. I love the stealth bomber pics, especially the one glamour shot where it's angled on the runway. VERY nice! I'd love to have a job where I could pose aircraft for publicity shots like that. Shove some more Z content on there and it'll be perfect!

Sorry, this might clear up any lingering confusion...

You want the shifter, too? Next thing you know, you'll want it to have wiring.

There are some pretty good jokes on there. Kept me busy for 45 minutes at work! It's a slooooow day today.

You want my advice? Spend $30 on some POR-50 for the engine bay, flush out the brake and clutch hydraulics, and clean out the fuel system. Stick the engine back in, paint the whole car with a single color of primer, and make a trip to the junkyard for all the cheap little parts you need. Don't listen to any of the hosers who are telling you it's a basket case - You're not all that far away from having a fun car! It may be a while before you're completely finished with it, but the great thing about these cars is that they're so simple, they're perfectly happy to still run with half their parts on the garage floor. Get it running safely, then enjoy it! Seat covers and a good cleaning can make a world of difference in how confident you feel about the car. So what BMW did you come out of?

GROUP HUG! RCNSC - Don't throw up your arms and walk away like an irritated teenager, because it proves your detractor's point. You DID make some inflamatory statements which usually would have flown under the radar screens, but this time did not. Just say, "I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I just got excited" and be done with it. We've supported you FAR more often than we've castigated you, so get over it. Oh, and you're absolutely right that the newer generation M3 is an impressive car, but it's proving to be nowhere near as durable as the e36 or e30 M3's. The more you complicate something, the easier it is to screw it up. HS30-H - picking on spelling, especially when the issue is a missed keystroke, isn't cricket (to borrow a phrase!). You're right on as far as Top Gear is concerned. They're big entertainment, but they're definitely not in it for the long-term testing. Playing with a car is one thing, living with it is another entirely. And yes, specialty-built cars shouldn't be lumped in with mass market offerings. A Corvette will never be able to compete with a Noble GT in certain areas, and vice versa. Z-tard - They SHOULD be complaining about a harsh ride and a plastic interior. Ride in a previous generation (e36) M3 and see what's possible to do with a suspension. Chevrolet has had a few years to perfect the suspension in this current generation Corvette, and it's still harsher than it NEEDS to be. The one I rode in seemed pretty nice, but it could have been improved a bit to soak up larger bumps with less impact. As far as the plastic issue is concerned, the issue is not that the interior has plastic in it. It's that it LOOKS like plastic. Sit down in a German car and be amazed by how good their plastic looks. Plastic in American cars (the Chrysler 300M springs to mind) looks pitiful in comparison. You can see mold marks, for crying out loud! How cheap is THAT? Same materials, different philosophies. Just my .02.

Okay, I can't resist. My writer's guide says that it's proper to use numerals instead of spelling out the number only when it gets up to triple digits. Instead of "2-3", it's proper to write "two to three". Don't you hate it when someone corrects your post on being correct? Oh, my favorite common mistake is when someone asks about adjusting their breaks. How many times have they looked at repair manuals, internet posts, brake pad boxes and printed advertisements, and they haven't noticed that they're not spelling it correctly? Morans.