OlderThanMe

I just got a quote from the nissan dealership for an imported, rebuilt, redtop SR20DET with a manual tranny and all wiring and ECU and it is all about $2800. Then another $700-$800 for a vildini cradle and a custom driveshaft. That gets me a good~250 hp motor for $3500 and then with $1500 of upgrades I could be into the 400+ hp range.

I am guessing $700-$1000? maybe $1500

actually in that pic with the headlights on is the old wiring. They are about 30% brighter now with the new wiring.

check how the door includes part of the roof. I think this will be easier to get out of than a gull-wing setup. With a gullwing setup you can still smack your head on the door. (IMO)

You should have never said that 240ZR... lol!!!!

I would like to see Ford GT40 style doors on a really low Z...

I figure I can spend about 3k on a longblock and then another 2k for turbo stuff. I was putting some numbers together the other day and I can build a L6 for $2400 plus the turbo stuff and be good to make 400+ horsepower. I saw garrett's dyno vid and made me think...how much power do I want to make? Even if I built a turbo motor and drove it for a while on Sus and my current exhaust and when I have the cash I can go tubo. Big thing: I want something high revving, to use a consective turbocharger system that I'll build, and be able to make decent gas mileage on highway trips. If I build a high compression N/A motor I'll never get acceptable gas mileage. Those Toyota 1jz and 2jz motors look nice and can make insane amounts of power. I don't know how much they cost but I am guessing more than an imported SR20. Lets just say my budget for the drivetrain is $5k and if it is a different engine I need the tranny too. I would also like to be able to make 300hp with the ability to go bigger. I'll probably cut and notch the firewall so scoot an engine back since I need to cut out part of the firewall anyway. I can probably make 3k this summer unless there is a Z car shop out there that needs someone to TIG up some cylinder heads...that would be better so that I could use my Diploma in welding technology...

veritech...it was a term used in a now closed forum on here...by BRAAP describing an SR20...aye sonny... Ron Tyler: Actually if you go to Z***.com you will get that. I signed up there just to post about my aluminum dashboards and the first post on that thread was bashing me for wanting to possibly wanting to change the "work of art" dashboard that a Z already has...I said to the effect of "how does a cracked up piece of plastic and foam pass as a piece of art?" Thread got deleted in 24 hours when they probably found out that I am a HybridZ member.

we'll see. It won't be for long either...maybe a year... Maybe like that Zero paint job...

I am looking at my Z sitting in the garage and I am not rushed to get it running since I now have this red Frontier XE-V6 as a daily driver. I am looking at a few choices for a motor going into my Z. 1. Stay L6 but go turbonic. The good: I have an L26 motor which as valve reliefs cut into the block. The bad: Valve reliefs in the block means no O-ringing the block unless I do a wire off-round ring idea or something. F54 blocks are pretty hard to find around here. 2. SR20DET The bad: Expensive to get and I don't have any stuff for this motor The Good: Light weight, good aftermarket support, can make big power with motor work 3. Nissan V6 of some type: expensive, short length, HUGE power potential. 4. V8...not really attractive to me 5: other, make suggestion.

I had seen it on mullsane's corner and put some thought into it. During Engineering orientation class I made a quick sketch on some of my notes of a Z with the open fenders and liked it. I really like the stock 280Z turning signals on a mostly stock bodied Z with the MSA type 2 air dam... Anyway I am going to try and get a welder and fabrication tools and say heck with a motor for now.I don't know what I want to do... I'll pull out the black, tan, and green rattle cans and build a steel widebody before January...

You liking my open front fenders there V.?

My tie rods are definitely old and the steering is a little bit loose and when the car is sitting you can turn the wheel and there is a little noise and clunking and I have crawled under the car and pulled on the wheel and looked for where the play is. I have one ball joint that is dead and on the other side I have a dead tie rod end. Going down the road is a little loose but nowhere near as bad as yours. Good luck figuring out your problem!! Also do you think that with your ultra low backspace wheels could be putting extra stress on the steering rack?

all good points there Mom'sZ. Now that I have a daily driver I am planning on my Z being for the weekends and track days. I will be doing a full rollcage. The bottom of my aluminum dashboard is higher than the stock one just so that my knees would have more clearance in case of a wreck. I think I'll open up the door and weld a tube into the door instead of having that thin little C channel of sheet metal. It just makes me feel better than having a tin can door. I'll still do a low-ish door bar sort of like Mull's so that I can still get into the car. If I have to do a removable steering wheel then so be it. Safety is definitely important and I agree that harnesses without a rollcage can be very dangerous.

Well it is now in the driveway 2x4, crew cab, A/C, and red. It is the 2004 model so it is like new. The motor definitely has some low end uumph to it. I got th carfax on the car from the dealership and it was clean. I will probably be getting a good hitch for it so I can trailer my Z around to different shops and such. I am probably get a line-x spray-in bedliner put in since I will be using the bed a lot. I'll get some pictures up later. The engine bay looks like it just rolled off the production line. The truck already site nice and high so when I need to chenge the clutch it will be easy to pull the tranny. The 4x4 would have been nice but those are a little hard to find plus this one was in GREAT condition (like new). If I want to I can always put the 4x4 stuff on there in a few years. Not likely though since I will be building a motor for my Z..can't forget about that little car.

whyrualive: I am so glad to see another father/son project! I bought my Z a few years ago the day before I turned 16 with my own money. My dad has helped me with almost every system on the car. To get some ideas you should look at some of the worklogs in the miscellanious section. There are 3 good worklogs as of now. One by the member "Mull", one by me, and one more by Zowner read through them and you can get some ideas of what you want to do. Do a search for "worklog" and you will find them. Zowner's and Mull's worklogs have lots of bodywork in themso they might be more of a help than mine. I just started doing suspension and driveline mods before purchase (it sat for 5 years): 3 months later(running good): a few months ago (2.5 years later): and now (with no motor or tranny): just to give you and your son some inspiration. I have put a bunch of money into this car but it is worth it all. The car so soo fun to drive and you always have people asking you "what is it?". Also if your original dashboard is old and cracked otr you want something different I am making aluminium dashboards. Pics in my worklog and in the link in my Signature. Good luck guys!!!!

good luck with this setup. I'm probably going to be going with SR power sometime but I still will build an L2xET sometime and try to sell it one piece and get rid of all of my cool L6 stuff like this nice 11Lb. flywheel and clutch that have 700 miles on them...

It is pretty nice for a backyard buildup...

The HF helmet is good for light MIG and Stick as well as higher amperage TIG (above ~40amps) on steel or stainless. It is fine for TIG on Aluminium as well since the HF makes enough light with the constant high frequency that the helmet doesn't freak out and blind you.

yes... but most people think side-by-side turbos when they hear twin turbo...

I am going through college by cash only as to have no college debt...I am in $0 of debt now. That is why I am soo poor now. Plus my dad will be helping me out with the truck.

It is a 2004 model with 35k miles on it. It has a factory lift kit which is like 2 inches and bigger tires(245/75R15I think)...3.3 liter v6 and a 5 speed manual tranny. 4 door full cab,red, dark silver alloy wheels, 17-21mpg...Much better than the 12mpg I was getting with the worn out Explorer. I can get it for about 15 grand and not have to worry about my Z breaking down and not having transportation. I am really wanting to buy this truck. I don't know much about the 3.3L engine so I'll be looking at some Nissan truck forums to see what they think about that motor. It has really good low end torque which is good for driving around. Plus I'll be able to tote around motors and trannies without worrying about getting anyhting dirty. I would have gotten some pics but my camera died when I fell and broke my jaw and it went bouncing down the road two weeks ago.

same thing happened to me Phil...just ready to go to college and get my Z started with like 2 weeks to go and something went wrong in my motor...I was not a happy camper.

I thought of that but the problem you have is the smaller turbo would not spool until after the big one or just really late. I'll put up a little diagram of my idea.

they usually darken in 1/25,000th of a second...