Boy from Oz

You're laughin'. Good luck with the revamp.

Is it registered? Do you have the original engineering approval? If so, you want to think seriously about not letting the rego lapse. If it's unregistered make sure you know all the registration requirements. If you do things right it can be registered but make sure you don't spend time and money and then get knocked back for rego. You should get familiar with some of this information to set yourself on the right track. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx and have a chat with an approving engineer early. Not just any engineer but one who is authorised to approve modifications.

EvilC - That's very encouraging to someone like me in the very early stages, thanks. Just thought I would past on details of my LS1 cost. In January I purchased an 04 built 80,000klm (50,000mls) wreck for $5200AUS ($4836US). I spent no more than 40 hours, on and off over a few weeks, to strip the car of undamaged bits. Last Sunday night 17 items went for $2250 ($2093US) on eBay. As a result I end up with motor, MM6, drive-by-wire loom, prop shaft, 3.46 LSD diff and 4 CVs, air conditioner, brake and clutch master cylinders and even the pedals, all of which I hope to fit to my Z, all for $2950AUS ($2743US).

Supportive of your torso maybe but they do not appear to be supportive of your head and neck. I worked in road safety research in the 70s and analysed many medical and autopsy reports related to neck injuries. People may tend to forget what a significant factor headrests have been in reducing neck injuries. Without headrests a fairly light rearend impact can cause severe neck and spinal injuries. If it is a show car by all means fit vintage seat but if you intend to drive it regularly I would recommend you seriously consider seats with headrests. Perhaps those styles with a removable headrest that can be fitted for driving. Ayrton Senna, and many others, died from the mass of their head and helmet ripping their head from the top of their spinal column. These are extreme cases but any spinal injury is serious. Sorry to be so grim about this but those low-back seats really give me the creeps. espeery - That is the Nardi steering wheel I have and I managed to track down a Ferrari horn button for it in Belgium. If you send me a PM I'll give you the details. Love your dash.

Here, this will help. Click on Vehicle Standards Bulletin VSB10 - Importing Vehicles to Australia. Basically if vehicles are over 30 years old there is no problem. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/importing.aspx I'm not too sure we would want someone back who makes such ill-informed decisions! Come to think on it and knowing the Aussie sense of humor, I think he was probably 'having a lend of you'.

Make sure you are using the 260Z hubs and not the 240Z ones

I watched an R380 in an endurance race in Australia around 65-68. The same race was won one year by a Ferrari 250LM. I thought how similar in appearance the two were. It was the era when rear-engined car were taking over in motorsport. Anyway, I wondered if there were any replica 250LMs about that might get you started and here is what I found. http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/kitcar/kitcar_details.php?284 Looks more like a R380 than a 250LM if you ask me. If I can find a photo of the R380 that raced in Oz I'll post it. (ed) Shows how age can muddle things. I've tracked down a couple of photos. It turns out that a Mk3 R380 raced here in Oct 1969. http://www.autopics.com.au/cache/list-319public__0-1.html

My apologies if the intent of my reply was a bit obscure. All I was trying to say was, if a particular LCA arm design was being limited by a resultant alteration in the location of the strut top (as mentionrd is some posts) then here was a way to move the top of the strut back to the OEM position, i.e by repositioning the strut tube's location on the bearing housing. Whilst my particular misalignment will be caused by an extended LCA the same technique could be applied to misalignment caused by alteration to the toe-in.

I am planning on increasing the rear track by 100mm overall (50mm per side) by extending the OEM transverse link (LCA). This post is not exactly about that however. What I want to say is that to address the issue of subsequent strut misalignment I will be removing the strut tube entirely from the bearing housing and reboring the housing to an angle which will allow the top of the strut to locate back at its original position and maintain zero camber. I will probably need to insert a thin sleeve to ensure the strut tube is a snug fit before re-welding.

As my name suggest I'm also from Oz, and I'm doing a RHD LS1/t56 swap. z240au is a trailblazer with this RHD build and has been extremely helpful. One aspect you need to keep in mind is the registration requirements. You cannot run a supercharger LS1 legally in this country, in fact, the normally aspirated 5.7ltr is the absolute limit. I spent a considerable amout of time researching and obtaining an in-principle agreement with an Approving Engineer before spending time and money on this project and it may be in your interest to do the same - you are on the right track with HybridZ. Here is a sample of what is involved: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx See NCOP3 Section LA Engines 3 Feb 2006, and that's just for starters. You'll need upgraded brakes and a rear end for registration. I don't want to scare you off, rather, I'm just providing some information. I have just this week purchased a wrecked VZ Ute ($5200) for a donor car. Apart from the engine and gearbox I am also proposing to install the diff, shortened tailshaft and air-conditioning system. I was someway down the track of fitting a GM diff when I discovered the need to know the gearbox inclination angle before the diff itself could be correctly positioned, hence the recent purchase of the Ute. It's big issues like this that you can come across if you start to deviate from what is a standard swap. You really need to sit down and work the whole thing through from bumper to bumper before you start. If you send me a private message with your e-mail I can send you some of the documentation I have prepared.

I agree with Zerrari that there is no substitute for quality and I think John's background information will let each of us make an informed choice. Foam - I'm wondering if there is an alternative to expanding spray foam. I suspect that it has little shear strength and with the vibrations of driving I doubt that it actually retains a bond between the metal of the car and fibreglass panels. What is this process supposed to achieve? Does is provide strength or rigidity, or is sound deadening process, or both? I'm wondering if a more flexible material might not be better. Would, for example, firm seat sponge/foam adhered in place to the metal and compressed when the fibreglass is applied, or stuffed in afterwards, achieve the aim. Even fibreglass roofing insulation material. Any thoughts?

Re: Straight from the horse's mouth ... John, thank you very, very, very much. And Dan, thanks for contacting John.

Dan - Did those other kits have a lip that was removed after fitting or were they supplied with just a straight edge? If they weren't supplied with a lip them perhaps the 250 GTO kit has a unique fitting technique, if they were supplied with a lip then the fitting technique could be universal. I would be good to get a definitive answer from John Washington.

Dan - If you are going to make comments based on your experience, knowledge and commonsense please feel free to 'butt in' whenever you like. Thanks, that all looks very practical. I wonder if it is possible that someone in the States could contact John Washington and ask him how the kits were designed to be fitted around the doors? It's a bit difficult to figure out for those of us who buy secondhand uncompleted kits. Although we haven't paid directly for that information the more people who see completed kits the more chance there is to expand the market for kits.

Could you please explain this process. I had assumed (dangerous thing to do I know) that the foam used would be an expanding type applied to the cavity after the rear panel was fitted. Thanks. Regarding the valences under the doors, see post #97+, they may assist.

I am also interested in how people attached the rear panel at the door openings. As you can see from one photo my panel presently includes a significant amount of fibreglass representing the door opening. It appears to me I need to remove the hatched area to make it all work - unlike the bloody idiot* who previously owned this car and tried to modify the entire door opening with a 10lb hammer to make the panel fit and allow the door to close. I have been advised I need to lightly hammer the edge of the opening back about 5mm and attach the trimmed fibreglass panel. This look easier said than done as there would be a fair bit of strength in that folded edge. My shell has also been hammered above the rear taillights to enable the panel to move forward and attach to the door opening but that may not be necessary if the 5mm modification is done. Alternatively, I have also been advised to trim the fibreglass right back until there is no lip into the door opening, negating the issue of door clearance completely. I guess you run the risk of having the edge completely made of body filler and I wonder how durable that would be. I would appreciate comments from experienced players on this one. * I really shouldn't have called him a bloody idiot when a 'total bloody idiot' would be more appropriate. When he dismantled the car he threw all the bolts and nuts into one bucket and then lost the bucket!

Thanks for the clearly important advice - polycarbonate is the way I will to go.

Thanks for all the responses. It seems pretty clear from the replies, and from other web research, that toughened/tempered glass cannot be cut to the degree I require. The good news for me is that acrylic and polycarbonate windows (not windscreens) can be used in pre-1994 vehicles in this country. Can anyone advise (a) what is the difference between acrylic and polycarbonate and ( which is preferable? One web comment states: Acrylic is more brittle and is harder than polycarbonate. As a result, Acrylic resists scratches better and needs to be handled more carefully when cutting and drilling. Polycarbonate is much more impact resistant (will absorb more kinetic energy before shattering). One of the results of this physical property is polycarbonate is less prone to cracking when being machined.

I'm doing one of those 250 GTO conversions. I think the 50mm extra roof line really adds to the final appearance. I don't want to go to the sliding glass setup for security and functionality reasons. I guess I could make up a complete replacement (less the 50mm) out of perspex but I'm not sure how that would go for registration.

I want to trim about 50mm off the top of the door glass. I assume they are made of toughened glass. What technique can be used? Are there alternative approaches to achieving the same outcome of smaller windows? Thanks.

If you mean the epoxy primer, you may be right. This is what one web site states: “The use of weld-through primer is being hotly debated throughout the industry, but some manufacturers, such as DaimlerChrysler, are starting to make statements against its use in certain applications,†he states. “The concern is the integrity of the weld, which is weakened if weld-through primer is present. Porosity in the weld nugget can result, causing zinc evaporation and burn off at the weld site. These conditions make the sheet metal vulnerable to corrosion because it is not protected adequately.†As an alternative, Olson prefers epoxy primer, which burns off at the weld site like weld-through primers, but provides better corrosion protection qualities. “Epoxies stick to bare metal with a minimum of preparation and provide the kind of corrosion protection that comes closest to the OEM e-coat,†he adds. “They performed far better in salt and corrosion tests conducted by I-CAR. http://www.search-autoparts.com/searchautoparts/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=148443