Alf

just this past weekend i dropped my tank and removed the factory in tank electric pump in my z31 becuase it couldn't keep up with my engine. i made a new sump out of 3/8 line but there is about a six inch section of 5/16 line thats part of the sump. i'm still running with the stock line, 5/16 i think. i was wandering the same thing Redz85 was. om my system i am now using a mechanical pump with a return, is this a good setup? should i have just gone with a mechanical dead head setup? or will the pump just not return if it doesn't need to? here is my modified sump

nice looking car, got any engine pics?

i was going to mention the new turbocharged solstice, i'm sure that car is a blast. as said earlier i have also heard that poly or solid engine mounts in the SRT get rid of the wheel hop. if you reach the point where you can't stand the FWD anymore, just hack up a 9" and throw it in the rear, this is hybrid z you know, haha. i like the SRT4 but they drive from the wrong wheels, a rear drive version would be amazing. needless to say i've seen multiple SRT's running in the high to mid 12's in the quarter, the car deffinetally has potential. good luck on whatever you decide, and remember GM is bringing back the camaro, just something to think about.

If i have read your post correctly you said you have a 300zx with a 350 chevy small block? whatever it is post some pics we all want to see it. the 350 chevy has huge potential as a power performer and is the most "hot-rodded" engine in the small block family. as for the 350 turbo hydromatic 350 transmission, it should be able to stand up to what the engine can dish out. besides the TH400 is heavier which is no good, they ain't cheep either. if you decide to keep the chevy engine but want to go manual, i can help you through the swap. i have a 85 300zx with a small block chevy and a three speed stick shift. anyway, welcome to Hybridz(the best z car site on the web), and good luck with your new toy

i have that exact regulator, worked good. right now im in the process of changing to a mechanical fuel pump so im not using it anymore. its only been on my car for less than a year, ill sell it for $40 if your interested.

come on man get some pics of the mounts. i'm sure everyone wants to see them, i want to see how a ford mounts in a z31. looks good, fits nice.

great example, and wise words. i live by that saying.

first off here is a very very brief explanation of the swap and most of the required modifications. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=104866 if that doesnt give you enough information, let me know and i will detail it or write a new one. to tell you the truth it was a fairly easy swap. i have never done a project like this before and i did it pretty quickly and it went quite smoothly. there is only a small amout of fab. work and it isnt even that hard: motor mounts, tranny mount, crossmember, driveshaft, just to name a few. i completed mine with zero help from anyone,(i did this before i joined Hybridz) i happened to see a z31 with a v8 in it at South Mountain Dragway when i went up for the GM nationals at Carlisle, but i only looked at it for five minutes or so. it will be much easier to do it with pictures of a completed swap. the electrical aspect was simple because i went carbureted. cost wise my project was dirt cheap, the car was given to me, so was the engine and tranny, so i wanted to see how cheap i could build it for, and it came out well below $2000. it all depends on where you get your parts from and how far you want to take it. if you want to build a 400rwhp sbc then figure about 3 to 4 thousand just for that motor. i used a bone stock 305 and a half worn out 3spd stick, they wern't the best parts but they were free. the big expenses come in the specialty parts like: hydraulic throwout bearing and braided lines-$225, custom driveshaft with replaseable U-joints-$210, electric fan -$80, inline rad fill-$25,custom exhaust-$275. and beleive me there are many more nickel and dime parts along the way that add up quick. you may be able to do it for $3000 if you get the engine and trans for less than $1000 which would most likely be a stock unit, and maybe 200rwhp. i went small block because i contain absolutely no knowledge about nissan engines nor have i had any experience with turbocharged gasoline engines. i know sbc's like the back of my hand and i am basically just a chevy guy that had a free japanese sports car thrown in my lap, so what does a chevy guy do? puts a small block in it of course. plus the car had cought on fire a long time ago and i could only get it to run on four cylinders so i just pulled out that melted mess and started from scratch. if i had the expectations you have(350-400rwhp) i would stay turbo v6. the hard part is done, the engine is in the car. and you can mod. it in stages and not have your car sitting in a garage for 4 or 5 months. i don't know anything about the nissan turbo v6's but 3 grand will probly do alot of things with it. plus just think about the fuel mileage, my 355 in my 69 camaro has about 340rwhp and i get around 10mpg, i think a turbo v6 would get much better fuel milleage at the same power level. not to mention my camaro is just plane uncivilized, it would not be a good daily driver.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108065 check this out if you havn't already, just some pics of my 85 300zx v8. if you have any questions about the v8 swap go ahead and ask ill try and clear things up for you.

so i changed the engine over to run with a mechanical pump and pull through the in tank electric pump. the car runs, and i can notice a differene with the way it pulls past 5 grand easilly, but it stalls after i run it past say 4 thousand rpms. i think the problem is the electric pump dragging the mechanical pump down and causing a pumping loss. i temporarilly set it up to run with both pumps untill i run it out of gas and can drop the tank, i think it should work perfectly then after i do some carb tuning. things are looking up.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108065

http://www.myspace.com/31097634

well im gonna give it a shot and see if it will pull through the efi pump. ill let you know how it goes.

well im glad to see your using a different setup and im not just going crazy. im still using the stock line, what size is stock 5/16? my engine is pretty mild(around 250hp) so i would think thats enough. i also read that the stock pump cannot suport that much power, 300hp maybe. anyway, im pretty sure thats my problem, ill post the results after i swap it around. also, did you remove the in-tank pump? alot of people are telling me the mechanical pump will pull right through the elctric pump, is this true?

hey chaparral, what are you using for the fuel system? i set mine up to run off of the stock nissan in tank efi pump with a regulator, and it doesn't work that great. ive always had a problem with the way the engines ive had in this car ran and i think its a fuel delivery problem. past 4 grand and it just about turns off. i plan to go mechanical. got any ideas, what did you go with?

the scoop in its former life test fit on first cuts and bends side skirts added three completed peices the final assembly on the car thats pretty much it, it wasnt hard to fab, but i dont have any measurements or anything like that saved. i put a screen in the scoop after i installed a new engine and radiator. enjoy.

Hey Chaparral, did you ever do anything about your cooling problems? i built an air dam, and it works great, i could post pics.

hood clearance is a problem for me too. i have about a half inch between the oil pan and the rack(should have made the engine sit lower) i had to put on some tiny little air cleaner and space my hood up. i dont know much about cf hoods, but i do know i saw a fiberglass cowl induction for $350 at the z store, thats what i plan on getting.

haha, i'm glad you like the SS symbol, i had it laying around so i figured i would throw it on. the distributor really wasn't as big a deal as i thought it was going to be, but if you wanted to use an HEI or a big MSD Ford style cap it would be a problem. with my manual transmission i have the engine back as far as i could get it without lowering it more and screwing up my pinion angle, the bellhousing sits about 1/8" away from the firewall/tunnel. all i had to do for the distributor was trim the flat spot where the two pannels join, it was simple.

nice pics, its cool to see how different people reach the same goal in different ways. the small block really fits nice in the z31, im surprised you don't see more of them converted. do you have any hood clearance problems? did you have to trim the firewall for the distributor?

haha, i dont know where i was. what do yours look like? post some pics if you can. thanks for all the compliments guys, i could probably post some more pics if you want.

pass. side mount drivers side mount modified tranny crossmember and custom rubber mount pic of mounted tranny