labrat

What determines the strength of the radar is not necessarily related to the size of the car, but the radar cross section. Radar reflects most strongly off of metallic objects that are even multiples (or divisors) of the wavelenth. Such as 1/4 of the wavelength, etc. now, my idea was to build a radar reflector using thin aluminum sheets (like soda can) at exactly 1/4 of the wavelength of police band radar (not sure of frequency ATM) and hang it from a 6" string or wire from the tip of my antenna, and drill holes in it to make it bob around alot. Talk about erratic speed changes! And it would only need to be an inverse cube about 4" square or so. I definitely need to test this theory more... Bill Ex- electronic warfare systems technician USAF

Other people who actually use the jtr mounting method may be able to add something here, but from what I understand, you won't be able to use any of the above. Maybe the headers, if they are block hugger style, but that's about it. the setback plates interfere with the mechanical fuel pump, and the starter just won't fit ( i don't think so, anyway). If you're not autocrossing this thing, just use the plate mount you have. Just my $.02 Bill

It's a good thing you want to stick with stock type manifolds, cuz that's pretty much what you're limited too, as far as I have been able to determine. I did a 350 swap with in my 280ZX, and used a center dump ram's horn type manifold on the passenger side, and a rear dump manifold on the driver's side to clear my power steering gearbox. I have the recirculating ball type power steering, so YMMV. You may be able to get away with the center dump on that side too. Find a wrecking yard that will let you exchange parts, and keep swapping them out till you find a good one that you like. It also helps if the dipstick is on the passenger side, as the rear dump manifolds will block it off if it's on the driver's side. There is no milling required with this, or at least on mine there wasn't. Now, If i could just find headers that fit.... Btw, when you build your trans crossmember, be sure to put a "hump" in it where you want your exhaust to route under it, i just used flat stock, and i always scrape my pipe there, it's the lowest point on the car. My $.02 Bill

Damn, that would have been sweet!

Len, that reminds me of something funny i thought i would share. When I was stationed in Germany in the air force, my first sargent would always give us a briefing before we left base for the weekend. With the autobahns, no speed limit, and all of us owning 135+ MPH mercedes, his last word of advice before ending the meeting was always "NEVER GO FASTER THAN YOUR TIRES COST!" Bill

I have a nice shiny red powdercoated edelbrock 750 CFM carb if your interested... LOL! Seriously though, What to you need? I have LOTS of extra parts here, mostly the chebby side, though. If I don't have it, I'm sure I could get it pretty easily. Just let me know...

With a straight up mounting (no setback) with 350/TH350 trans in a 280 ZX, my driveshaft was exactly 27" long center to center, but that is 1/4 in too long, so figure 26 1/2 to 26 3/4. That would be really close to what I would need, but i would have to move the motor forward by 3/4 in (not that big a deal) or have it shortened. I don't know what shop quoted you 175.00 to shorten a steel driveshaft, but here it cost me 40.00, plus 30.00 to have it rebalanced. You could just squirt a tube of grease in it before the yokes are welded on instead of rebalancing and save 27.00, I hear it works fine. My dad does fabrication work on heavy duty mining equipment in WV, and thats what he does. Swears it eliminates vibration completely from the shaft and lasts for years. Bill

What kind of steering setup do you have? Rack or recirculating ball? If you have the recirculating ball (that's what I have) then headers are going to be a real pain! I broke down and used cast manifolds, but want to change this soon. These may work... Zigs street rods second ones down, for older street rods. I think the key is the reversed tubes out of the header flange. Bill

I just cut the ends off of the metal lines and used them to clamp rubber transmission line to. takes about 10 ft. and that's a job i'll never do again with the tranny in the car. I have almost ZERO clearance on that side. A regular chrome mr gasket dipstick worked fine with me, but once again, it's something that works much better before you drop the motor and trans in.. My $.02 Bill

Do a search for my member number, as i've documented my ZX swap with varying degrees of thoroughness. It's not too rough of a swap at all, and you will have way too much fun with the car when it's finished! I prefer the ZX's over the earlier models, gotta love that power steering, power windows, A/C, etc. Well, at least I still have power windows! The ZX's have a stiffer chassis, and I think the swap is easier except for some of the wiring. And you already have an r-200 in it! Bill

Alright, thanks guys! I knew that anyway, I was just hoping to get other opinions. Thanks for talking me out of doing it the wrong way! I might just get me some copper head gaskets, so that I can reuse them when it comes time to do the job again... Bill

Well, my other heads are just stock chevy truck (72cc chamber)smog heads on a 72 4 bolt block. They are in pretty good shape, they ran fine, i was just going with the vortecs for the power and compression increase. They will work fine with my 272* advertised duration cam, and the valves and seats are good, I'll just have to reuse them for now and then buy a new intake and swap them in a few weeks once I start my new job. I just got hired for a new job that starts the 16th, and I blew the motor on my motorcycle, so the Z has to get me back and forth for now with a minimum of investment. Once I pull a few checks, my buying spree will continue. I will do the job again in a few weeks, 2 months tops, so this is just a temporary stopgap measure. I definitely want to be able to use the vortecs, as i have a lot of money tied up in them. I bought the intake from a friend sight unseen and mailed from dallas to austin because he assured me it was compatible with the vortec heads. It aint. I lack 1/2 in of even lining the bolt holes up. I don't see how an intake can be made to fit both styles of heads, the bolt holes are WAY off. Like the bolt holes are drilled up higher in the head on the vortecs, closer to the valve springs. Anyway, thanks for the help! Bill

Ok, I just finished the rebuild on my 350 with new vortec heads, but i can't get my intake to fit. It was supposed to be compatible with both types of heads, but I guess not. the middle bolt holes are hogged out to allow this, but I don't even have bolt holes there in my heads, so I will have to swap the vortecs out for my old ones. Will the headgaskets have a chanvce in h#$* off sealing if I reuse them and just torque them down 10 lbs tighter? 70 ft/lbs to 80? Or do I have to bite the bullet and use new gaskets? I haven't run the motor, just bolted on the heads. Thanks guys! Bill

The cruise control computer gets feedback from the speedo to control your speed, so if you don't have the connections for the extra wires, the cruise isn't going to work. If it still has the stock fuel injection, you may also notice a lot hire idle (around 1500-1700 rpm) as the speedo feeds back into the BCDD as well to reduce emissions when you let off the throttle quickly.

If you want the best dollar per hp ratio and you're not a mechanic with a large garage and fabrication tools, go with a turbo swap. A 280 ZXT motor can be found at boneyards pretty cheap, make lots of power (one person on this board is shooting for 600HP!) and are much more...ummm... how to put this... Well mannered? I kinda wish I had gone this direction instead of the chevy swap, but i don't really regret it. 300 HP should be relatively easy to hit with a turbo, and it bolts right in. I'm having all kinds of problems I didn't even know could occur with my current chevy setup (like moving my motor 1/2 in forward to help reduce NASTY driveline vibrations). Anyway, it's something to think about... My $.02 Bill

Yeah, it happened to me too. Same solution as well. Used jb weld to glue a penny to the pedal. Worked great for 2+ years! Bill

Must have worked, all the links that were on google posted with his email address suddenly can't be displayed... At least he was a trooper about it when he was busted! Bill

Is there anyone out there running a 280 ZX with a vic jr. intake, and if so, how bad were the clearance problems re: carb and hood? This is just a temporary thing for me, i'm borrowing an intake to get this running, it's way off the rpm range of the rest of my motor, but that's life sometimes. I have seen one, and they are TALL! I was wondering if anyone knew how far this would stick up out of my hood? I just got a set of hood pins and plan on pinning my hood leaving the back open 1-2 inches (gonna put some urethane end link bushings on the pins to hold the hood up) for cooling reasons, but I think it may give me just enough (barely!) room for this intake without cutting a hole i might regret when i go back to a performer rpm. Just looking for some opinions out there... Bill

I don't know why, i don't actually have the manual, i was quoting a post I saw here. How hard was it to swap the system into a Z? Was there any major hassles? Bill

That would piss me off to no end! If I were Pete, I would register just to leave a choice comment or two... Bill

Just a quick question out there, I have a friend who's willing to trade my kickin stereo system for a complete TBI setup off of a late 80's f-body. Is there any way I can make this work without a ton of hassle on a 72 smallblock 350? I searched the forum, and didn't find much. Has anyone made this work, and how much trouble is it? I know the tbi swap manual from jtr says not to retrofit an older engine with the tbi system, but I would really like fuel injection, and the price is definitely right, so any ideas? Thanks guys! Bill

Get ya a pair of vortec heads. I picked some up off of ebay for 300 bux brand new... The 64cc chambers will bump your compression up, and they flow great out of the box. Just my $.02 Bill

Thanks!

I know this thread is a couple of days old, but... when I had my driveshaft fabricated ( I know, I'm supposed to use the neapco adapter, but this is what I did anyway...) The driveline shop replaced the ujoint in the datsun end of my driveshaft for 50 bux. ouch! But that's the only way to have it done, the ujoints themselves are special order parts... Bill

Hey guys, I just picked up a th350 from the boneyard (my old one was FRIED!) and it is a multipattern case from an 81 buick. My question is, has anyone ever seen a th350 with a tube sticking out of the top on the driver's side? It's bent at a 90* angle =, and i just wanna make sure it's an overflow before I forget to connect something up to it... I can just see it spewing fluid under pressure in my tunnel now. Bill