OlderThanMe

I can't buy anything else right now. I go back to school in 2 weeks. That is why I put it here...

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/car/389863561.html A whole 280Z with a Gnose and whale tail for $650! Just in case someone may be interested.

Not really. I do need 6 more roundtop SU carbs that don't work. also some velocity stacks?? I probably will end up just making my own ITB's to be cleaner looking. I'm also going to use some standoff injectors pointing down the throats of each runner. sort of like THIS: (sorry Ron...) Thanks! I'l keep y'all updated!

Looks like you had a blast! I know about being on the water in the cold!!! I was in sailing class on a 26 foot catamaran and it as 42 degrees outside! That and add water spray and wind. That is the kind of retreat I want to go on! Nice fish too.

Just as a side note... In my reading I have found that someone has put LS1 pistons and some re-sized chevy rods into a VH45DE making it a 5.3 liter without grinding the crank. Had to install new dry liners... HMM... I'll probably end up with only a 1-2mm overbore and forged slugs. Boost can make me enough power to be mucho happy either way. I also believe that the CAS that is busted can be saved. It is just the connector that broke. I'll just pull it apart and solder on some wires. That is unless there is another Q that ends up at the yard. Trying to come up with something for the tag... 450ZQ? I think I'll have "Loudmouth_Z" painted (or powdercoated) on the black sidepipe in a dark grey color. That would be a nice touch. I was thinking of possibly leaving the auto trans. I don't think it will fit though. Having an auto trans in a Z is sort of like kissing your sister anyway...

I'd like around 500-600 hosepower when I'm done. I'm going to rebuild the engine and maybe do a small overbore. I'm going to design some lower compression pistons in Solidworks and order some forged ones. I'm probably going to go down to 9:1 CR. I want to get it to 20PSI of boost so that should be around 600hp? Probably going to run meth injection as well as an air/water IC. And yes this is going into my early 260Z. I have thought about doing a front mount but I think I'll mount it right next to the firewall above the engine. The turbine side will be facing the passenger side fender. I'll run a 4" exhaust through where the batery normally sits to a single sidepipe. I'm going to cut out the rocker panel and have it curve inward to mount the sidepipe further up from the ground. Sort of like this old sketch of a turbo OHV V8 I did except with a sidepipe. (btw the turbo compressor is backwards...lol) If the turbo doesn't clear the hood I'll just add a bulge. Probably an eclipse style hood bulge. I'll be pulling air in from the cowl with a WRX style scoop.

I have the VH45, but it is a big hunk of aluminum!! The first thought when I got home was: How is THIS thing going to fit in THIS little car? LOL Will be crazy fast one day... after the second bathroom scale..

A couple reasons. 6 bolt mains (2 are horizontal tying the main caps into the side of the block) DOHC 4.5 liters (just what I was looking for) All aluminum block and heads, Already makes nearly 300hp in stock N/A form They sound way cool.

Jon, Yes from a Q45. Hmm.. The top of the engine looked identical to a Z32 VG30DE. Just let me know when you want the flywheel. It has 1500 miles on it. (trade for a Z32 flywheel?? ) The plan right now is to find a nice Z32 tranny to use and use the mazworx $475 adapter. IF I find a good T56 for under $500 I'll try to use that. Not much of a chance on that though. SSSHHHHH!! How cool would it be to have 8 SU carbs hollowed out to be throttle bodies?? I already have 2 carbs and ebay has them for about $30 a pair. Oh Cool! Enought that I should be able to resell the transmission and possibly cover the whole cost...

1993 Infinity VH45DE 278hp The plan is to build a set of turbo headers and then run an exhaust off of that to get it running N/A. Once it is running on the standalone then I'll boost it. (HX40 or HX50?) I'll probably be installing the motor late next summer. It is sitting in a corner of my garage awaiting it's new home. The only MAJOR thing that is wrong is that the right CAS is busted and the coils and TB are gone. I am planning on ditching the intake anyway though. I got to the yard at 9am and had it in the back of my truck by noon. I had to disconnect everything and then have a forklift lift it out (with seatbelts...) I wonder if you can turn the headers to face forward.. The whole package with a 30day warranty on the engine was a pretty good price. There is a VG30DE also at the same yard (in an infinity I30). I was soo tempted...lol BTW ALL of my L6 stuff is up for sale. I have a set of BRAND new Stainless steel mounting bolts, pan bolts, and pretty almost everyhting else on an L6. The bolts cost me about $150 for all of them. Including some new tranny crossmember bolts.(only ones not stainless). My Spec 11Lb Flywheel, Stage2+ clutch, and some other stuff are all available when I pull it all out. I also have an 87mm bore L28 block...

It would be cool if it had more body pieces with it like the headlight covers and rear louvers. It may be impossible to get replacement parts. It looks like the windshield is a stock VW one with the wiper mechanism so that would be cheap to fix. It would be fun to drop a 300hp turboed aircooled VW motor in it...

Mazworx You have to send them your tranny bellhousing to have it machined. Good price IMO. I don't see how you can use an adapter and not machine the bellhousing. If you stack it inbetween the tranny and engine the input shaft of the tranny won't go into the flywheel. I would shudder at thinking of using a spacer under the flywheel to make the difference up. I'm going to buy that exact adapter sometime. I may even drive down there to get it done.

I just saw this ad on here about welding on cast iron. http://www.muggyweld.com/castiron.html It provides a much more ductile weld so that it won't crack under extreme heat/size changes. I have seen several members on here that have welded on their cast iron manifolds with a MIG welder and had no cracking but that is a little risky. I'd prefer to do three, 120 degree, SMAW welds that are way more ductile to prevent cracking. This electrode looks like the best option out there for welding on cast iron. (only for SMAW and Stick which are both the same process but different names.) You can often find an old guy with a welder in the garage that can stick weld for you if you don't know how. It is a bit harder than MIG is because you have to control the angles of the electrode more precisely or you will dig out metal on one side of the weld and leave build-up where you don't want it on the other side. I have never welded on cast iron but we were tought that if we ever had to weld it that we should put mild steel studs into the cast iron before welding to help the weld hold on when the cast iron expands. That adds a LOT of labor to the process. Video HERE Hopefully this helps those of you that don't have much edumacation in welding. (I have a degree in welding and joining technology FWIW) O.T.M.

How about I get dressed, go down to the JY, and pull a VH45? In fact I think I'll go do that RIGHT NOW. Now all I need is a second bathroom scale...

Maybe you could buy a tubing adapter? Or you could use some duct tape.

I'd put a 2.0 4G63 DSM motor in a Z... Better option than an SR20 IMO for the aftermarket, big power, and there are about 5 of them in every junkyard. Just need it to adapt to a RWD tranny...(has been done for a Z)

I had just turned 15 years old when I saw my neighbor push this blue car out of his garage. I could hear him fire it up from anywhere in my house. He only drove it around the neighborhood about once a month and that was it. Found this pic of it... It had a 350 chevy with a 3 speed. I believe it was the scarab kit. It was called the "Zette" since it had a chevy motor and corvette seats with a black interior and Nardi steering wheel. The car was the early Miata Blue and had a nice pinstripe down the side. My Neighbor wanted $7500 for the car and that was way out of my budget. Thus began my search for a cheap early Z car that I could fix up and drive. A couple weeks later my Mom found an old sportscar sitting in the back of someone's driveway with kids toys all over it. After 5 months I had saved up $2000 and made an offer to the owner at which his wife was ecstatic for the money. The day before I turned 16 I paid in full for the car and towed it home the 1 scary mile with a rope. I bought the car on November 15, 2003 and fired up the engine for the first time on Christmas day. I drove it around the neighborhood on the old tires that had the steel bands coming out of them hoping that the car would not explode. I drove the car for 11,000 miles in 2 years going to a technical college to get a degree in Welding and Joining Technology. I did that during the last 2 years of highschool (homeschool) so I graduated from highschool and a 2 year college at the same time. I am now in a 4 year college going for a degree in Mech. Engineering but the Z is no longer a daily driver. It is being built as a track day car that I can take on trips to the mountains and car shows. I will never sell my Z car. I will always have it no matter if the only original thing left is the roof. Now I'm starting a VH45DE swap with it's auto tranny and will be controling it with a wolf V500 EMS ("best" for the price and what it can do) from our own Rontyler. ITB's, Big turbo, fuel cell, and a bunch of other expensive go-fast junk... Z FOREVER!!

Only if you put big-rig gas in the tank. I think it will work. It should raise UR HP by about 250hp when U use the highly volitle truck gas.

OTM brings COLOR!!! Unfortunately it is at an odd angle which makes the rear camber look all off. I promise this is the last sketch from this perspective!!! Also the headlight buckets are way different from stock on purpose...if you were wondering.

VH45DE 4.5 liters, DOHC, 278hp stock, revs to 6,900RPMs, 6 bolt mains, and they are available at the local yards pretty cheap. They make about 450 boosted hp on stock internals at 10:1CR. Someone was also talking about downsizing the rod journals just a little and modifying some SBC rods to fit... That opens up almost infinite and cheap piston options. Sounds really good too! OTM

Picking up my new motor in the morning. VH45DE(T) and will mate it to a Z32 transmission. The T56 is a better choice but with an early 260Z I won't have a lot of space in the tranny tunnel. A Z32 tranny is about 1/5 the cost of a T56 and the adapter is available from Mazworks in FL to mate the tranny and motor without having to stack a flywheel and flexplate (don't trust it). A local yard near my school has a Z32 tranny for $200 that I may pick up or I may wait for one in known good condition. I'm planning on mounting an HX40 or HX50W right next to the firewall and use a DSM hood bulge to help the hood to clear the turbo. Something like a WRX hood scoop will be mounted on the driver's sidecowl as the air intake Exhaust will be a 4"-5" pipe running out where the battery normally sits and down to a single sidepipe on the passenger side. I am sketching a rendering of what the car will look like when done. Just some ideas put together... I really like the front fenders.

"Torque is not needed for sports cars. its needed for lazy shifters, highway cruisers and for towing heavy stuff. HP is the only thing that matters for sports cars." (!!!!!!!!!!!) I think that is 100% wrong. LOL. My little mild-ish L26 made some pretty good torque for 2800-6500 RPMs. Makes it more fun to drive to have a WIDE torque range rather than one from 6000-8000. Held my own against a Turbo Neon (SRT4) and a yellow C5 (couldn't drive) and had both by half a car. I'm going V8 for even more TORQUE...

So the engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear end (just diff and axles???) only weigh 700 Lbs? An early 260 *SHOULD* be the same as a late 240. The only big differences between the late 240 and early 260 is the crank, rods, pistons, carbs, dash, electric fuel pump, and taillights. Not much else changed from the late 240 to early 260 AFAIK.

Here is a pic I got at ZdayZ in 2006... He said the car cooled better. He didn't mention any aero differences...

Deals gap is way fun! I'm actually going right up to that area tomorrow but in my Frontier...The Z is In-op since the flywheel problems... Went about 6 runs on the Dragon with the 944T back at Zdayz 07 and each time we would get to the end the car would be blazing hot from being in boost half the time. The tires were also VERY sticky... Having all 4 tires squealing in a heavy 944 at 13psi can be quite scary at first but really fun after a few runs!