mpramsey

Well your to be congradulated for taking on this effort. It would not bother me one bit if you were being compensated for it too. It takes alot to make such happen. Thanks!

Thanks, this is exactly what I am looking for as to what to expect.

Well I looked for an appropriate place to post this picture and did not see one. I selected what I thought best. More pictures at: http://www.autoblog.com/photos/ferrari-ff-geneva-2011/#3928289

When I attempted to pull mine the first time I purchased a puller device for the job. Being my first attempt at doing such I was not so smart and put an heavy duty torque monster air impact on it. The all thread on the puller failed and my impact was launced across the garage. Luckly I was not in line with it. The pin did not budge. The second attempt with a much larger puller got it out!

I probably should have just said 1998-2002 F-Body which included the Camaro and TransAM. I utilized the F-Body steering shaft because it was all plug and play when you have the entire F-Body car wiring harness. Same for the F-Body fuel tank. It just took a while to figure out what all that wiring harness did. I liked the option of in the future adding Airbags, ABS and Traction control too. Im all wired for it.

The accesory mounts were a nightmare to figure out. I originally planned on a drive by wire setup but the throttle body actuator presented all types of clearance issues. I knew I would utilize JCI's AC compressor and mount. It just so happened that John designed his mount allowing for a PS unit. So the drivers side mount was set. I then had to find a high side passengers side Alt mount. I found it at carshopinc. It was not cheap but it is high quality and worked perfectly. It included the altenator, bracket, tensioner, and bolts. All that left me with was an idler pully where the altenator typically mounts on the F-Body which is down low drivers side. Just the perfect location to interfere with the Subaru PS rack. I purchased an F-Body altnator bracket off ebay and took a dremel cutting head to it. I then mounted an idler pulley on it. That just left the accessory belt which took about three purchases to get right. The Subaru PS Rack was a challange. I rotated it more vertical to avoid the JCI mount by modifying the round portion that the Datsun rack sits in with the rectangular mount that I purchased for the Suabaru PS rack. That left me with rerouting the steering linkages. I utilized a TransAM steering coulum and it has a Double D steering coupler. I modified it and then purchased a vibration isolator, two fixed bearings, and three splined ujoints to route the steering linkages along the top of the frame rail and down to the Subaru splined shaft. This took considerable trial effort and lots of choice words! It all turned out great with no play in the steering feel.

Yes I plan to have it Dyno Tuned. I purchased the PCM from a tuning shop. I sent him all the build specifictions that I could dig up and he sent me a custom programmed PCM (since I did not have one) tuned and ready to go. That is far from being Dyno Tuned but it did get me up and running. The engine started first turn of the key which I was pretty amazed considering I had purchased the TransAM steering column without the Body Control Module aka BCM. This was a hard learned lesson in itself. The BCM reads the ignition key resistance and then enables the starter circuit. There are multiple key resistors and BCM's. The PCM then has to obtain a password from the PCM to keep the fuel pump running. I plan to to turn VATS back on now.

Well I started the restoration 5 years ago. I should finish it this year. The LS1 came out of a 2002 Corvette. I disassembled the engine had it machined and then I rebuilt it. The engine build has: Patriot Stage II Heads, Yella Terra UltraLites Rockers, Thunder Racing Cam (I forget the specs its been too long), FAST Fuel Injectors, Rails, and 90mm Intake, 90mm Throttle Body. Other mechanical includes: JCI - Engine Mounts, AC compressor / AC Bracket, Block Hugger Headers, Driveshaft, Subaru - WRX Power Steering unit, 2002 TransAm - Steering Column, Modern Motorsports - Extreme Brake package, Rear Control Arms, 5 lug hubs, Stub Axles. 300ZX TT CV joints, Power Brute LSD. Advanced Design - Double Adjustible inserts, Coil over assemblies, 2002 TransAM Fuel Tank Electrical: Entire wiring harness (under hood, chasis, engine) from a 2002 TransAM. AC: Vintage Air Compact unit.

This is my recently completed LS1 Swap.

I have my 78 280Z completely stripped of at least two prior coats of paint. I have sanded the entire car and it is almost ready for primer and paint. I dont have a paint shop selected as of yet. I am a bit nervous talking to the paint shops as I have not done any car painting and am not quite sure what to expect from a cost standpoint. As simple as it may seem and as I almost embarassed to ask but what type of questions should I ask these paint shops to determine if they will provide me a quality paint job? I have selected my paint color and it is a BMW Atlantis Blue Metallic. I would think that stripping old paint and sanding is the majority of the work involved with a new paint job. What could I expect to pay to have my 280Z primed and painted?

Well I dont have them mounted yet but this is what will be going on my 78 280Z. A set of Volk GT-P which are 18x9 with +12 offset on all 4. I plan to mount Nitto 275/35/18 Rear and 255/40/18 Fronts.

I found another video while looking for those wheels.

I received the IGO8 Nav Software on a mini SD card. I placed it in a Mini SD to SD card adapter and plugged it in the Nav Unit SD Slot. I edited two .ini files (one on the Nav Unit and one on the IGO8 SD card) and now the IGO8 software runs perfectly. The Nav unit is fantastic and has North American maps. It has numerous features,including a nice speedometer dial, and turned out better than I hoped for. I will get (more detailed) additional pictures when I permanently install the unit in the guage pod.

I rewired my entire 280Z with the wiring harness from a 2002 Trans AM. After spending 20 or so hours identifying all the circuits, I installed all the engine compartment harness relays/fuses on the drivers side, mounted either side of the strut tower. The interior fuse block is mounter under the steering column. The PCM is installed under hood and the Body Control Module is under dash passenger side.

It has a 3.5" Diagonal anti glare screen with light sensor for dimming. I do agree though about having a really bright display shining in ones eyes. I will just have to try it and see how it all works out. I did buy the IGO8 2010 Nav program off EBAY. It is installed on a Mini SD card. All I should have to do is place it in an SD card adapter and plug it in the GPS SD slot. My other guage pod will have a GTECH Pro EGS http://www.gtechpro.com/egs.html mounted in it. I rewired for my LSX swap with an entire car wiring harness from a 2002 TransAM so most of the wires I need are easy to splice into. I will snap some photos today of both guage pods.

This guy will have what you need: http://stores.ebay.com/Auto-Wiring-Solutions

Well I recieved the GPS unit and used a very simple method (three screen taps) to access the factory menu. This allowed me to boot to widows CE 5.0 which is the OS for the GPS unit. I am considering both TOMTOM and IGO8 (I go myway) navigation software. From what I read the IG08 nav software operates directly from an SD Card. This would appear to make it a very simple procedure. That being to access the windows CE 5.0 registry and then point the startup file to that of the IGO8 executable residing on the SD card. My problem now seems to be that of finding a preloaded IGO8 SD card. They do exist though. I am still looking for it. I will see about getting a picture of the unit installed in the guage pod just to show the fit.

This topic got me to thinking. Why not just replace the speedometer gauge with not only a GPS Guage but a GPS Navigation Unit. Most navigation units display velocity too. So I started looking and wondering if a round GPS Navigation unit was to be had. After considerably searching I found a round GPS Navigation unit. It is a Blaupunkt TravelPilot Lucca 3.5. You can view one at this site: http://www.navigadget.com/index.php/2007/11/03/blaupunkt-travelpilot-lucca-35-edition. It has been on the market for a few years. There is one major problem that being there are no maps for the USA. The maps are all Europe based. Well I did more research and found out that the operating system for this GPS unit is windows CE 5.0. It just so happens that TOMTOM navigation software runs on CE 5.0 and the unit can successfully run TOMTOM Navigator with USA Map base. So I ordered one of these units from EBAY in the UK for $125 delivered and have it installed in the gauge pod. It is an absolute perfect fit. Now all I have to do is find the TOMTOM navigator software and install it. I will update further as to my GPS hacking abilities.

Im not sure where I originally came across this picture but I sure did like it. It may very well be a Hybrid Z members car.

I have a Z06 Clutch on my LSx swap and a 15/16 Tilton Master. I was very concerned about getting my earls adapter tight enough prior to bolting the T56 up to the engine and then mounting the engine in the car. I was worried that the fitting would leak and then I would have to pull it all out. When I bled my Master/Slave I inserted a flexible camera extension (you can get one at Home Depot, or Lowes) and then looked at the LCD screen while working the clutch pedal. You could see the Slave engaging/disengauging the clutch. You might go and get you one of the cameras and do the same. It has come in handy numerous times during my build.

The ANDROID operating system appears to be a "killer app" as I think the tech nerds would refer to. I came across an ANDROID app for my DROID 2 phone the other day. It is called Torque and utilizes a Bluetooth to ODBII adapter to communicate with the ANDROID based program. Just google two words: Torque ANDROID and you will find the program. The Bluetooth adapter is called KIWI Bluetooth adapter.

It took a long while but my 1978 280Z LSX Engine Swap is very near completion.

I need a Brake pedal clevis and pin for my 1978 280Z LS1 swap project. I managed to "misplace" my original. So if you have a spare, and want to sell it, please let me know. thanks