gene_w

How's this? Gene

Well, you could start by emailing the guy who makes the mount...alsil: zcar@netdojo.com Gene

Not really necessary on most setups. The stock ford 5.0 computer works great and is very flexible. It will handle all but the most drastic changes just fine. Gene

No longer available as far as I know, but you can find a picture of it here: http://www.arizonazcar.com/decks.html Gene

Your paint does not necessarily need to be 'flexible'. You can buy additives that make the paint work. Any reasonable paint shop will carry an additive to make the paint flexible. Lots of shops use this on newer cars' bumper covers, etc. Gene

I, personally, am converting my car to 5 on 4.5", like the Fords & Dodges. This will allow me to use a set of 90's 300zx wheels. The Turbo models used 16x7.5 on the front and 16x8.5 on the rear. The non-turbos used 16x7.5 all around. You might consider this as an option. They can be had for a pretty good price on ebay. Gene

Ummm....I don't think that would be my first choice of bolt pattern. I guess it's possible, but probably more trouble than you think. I know that the rear end can't be drilled out big enough to do 4.75" and still have any metal left to hold the lugs. a 4.5" circle puts at least one of the lugs right at the edge. It's hard to go too big and keep the stock rear-end. 'Course you could always throw a chevy rear-end in there, either a standard axle or 'vette IRS. I guess one solution would be to first convert your car to 5x4.5 (drill the rears and replace front hubs with 300zx hubs) to get you to 5 lugs and then use bolt-on spacers to covert the 4.5" to 4.75".Maybe the front 300zx hub could be drilled for 4.75, but I don't know. Gene

Yup. Externally, it's hard to tell a 289 from a 302. Oil filter is still in the same place. Remote oil filter kits are inexpensive and a nice solution to this problem. That way you can put the filter wherever you want it. Gene

The biggest reason we have a hard time finding wheels is backspacing. Most wheels have much more backspacing than will bolt onto a Z. The bolt pattern is fairly common. It is 4x4.5 or 4x114.3, depending on whether measuring metric or standard. If you don't mind using spacers, then you've got a very large selection out there. Most people seem to be afraid of the idea of putting a set of spacers in there and that severely limits what's available to them. I have not actually run spacers myself, but plan to as soon as I find a new set of wheels I like. As for types of spacers, there are for the most part two types. The first is the slip-on spacers. These require longer wheel studs to be pressed in and then they just slip on between the wheel and hub to make up the difference in backspacing. Your bolt pattern stays the same, only backspacing changes. The other type of spacer is the bolt-on. It goes onto your original lugs with a set of lug nuts and then provides a new set of lugs to bolt your wheels to. You can either keep the same bolt pattern or change it up a bit. I believe Ross's spacers change the bolt pattern to 4x100 (don't quote me on that!)which will handle most honda wheels. Gene

7" wheel maybe? Gene

Oh, yeah...forgot to post their website. http://www.diamondracingwheels.com/ As far as offset & lug pattern, every wheel is made to your specs. I recall that they offer most of their wheels with offsets & lug patterns that match the Z's. Gene

You might also try Diamond Racing Wheels. Their wheels are pretty inexpensive and are very light. They have the D-hole design that you're speaking of. They don't have much on their website, but you can get a free catalog from them. I've got one around here somewhere. If I can find it, I'll post prices here. Gene

To my knowledge, there is only one oil pressure sensor on the 5.0 EFI engines and it goes to the guage on the dash and not the computer. Maybe Frank280z is right in his idea of the gas washing down the cylinders. I can see how dry cylinders can cause excess friction, causing the pistons to swell and the engine to stop. I had an old 2-stroke boat that used to do that when the oil injection started messing up. Gene

Now that is something I would love to see! One problem I forsee is cam selection. You might not find much in the way of performance cams(I would love to be proved wrong!). At least as far as they kind of performance you need in a Z. Most of the cams for the triton v10 are probably targeted more towards bottom-end torque, as is necessary in larger pickups hauling heavy loads. If you do decide to do it, keep us all updated! Gene

A 393 is a stroked 351W. You can buy the crank from Summit. I think you just use the crank and 302 pistons (302 pistons are not as tall). Supposedly just bolts right in from what I hear. Gene

SWEET! Gene

I also have lowering springs on my '75 280z that have play when at full travel on the suspension. I was concerned when I installed them that there would be problems and noise when driving. I am happy to say that I worried for nothing. I have not heard any strange noises, even coming over a hill at significant speeds. Seems the struts do a good job of preventing the suspension from stretching out all the way when driving. One issue you might have, however, is bottoming out of the suspension. I have this problem. One solution, which I plan to do soon, is sectioning the struts. If you take out 1.5-2" of the struts and install shorter cartridges, you get back that amount of travel that you lost by lowering. An additional benefit of sectioning is the looseness of the springs goes away as the overall travel of the suspension has been decreased. Gene

Oh, yeah. One more thing. When you hook the ohm-meter up to the guage, make sure to disconnect the wire from the sensor or the guage circuit could throw off your readings. Gene

Are you sure it's not just flaky wiring/guage? If you are using an electric guage you might try using an ohm-meter on the oil pressure sensor to see if the measurement changes there when the engine heats up or not. Your engine and oil pump might be just fine. Gene

Whupps...I just re-read your message. You were asking about negative offset...I was thinking positive. If you want negative offset, you're SOL unless you want to flare your fenders and widen your overall stance. Gene

Adaptors will do it. http://www.modern-motorsports.com/products/wheel%20adaptor%20zto%20h.htm Gene

So how much did he charge you for the mount? And how long did it take him to get it to you? I'm looking to do a 302 conversion fairly soon and if it's worth it to save me the hassle, I might just buy a pre-made mount. If Alsil read this: Do you have dimensions/plans/Autocad for the mount available? Thanks Gene

Sounds like it might be time for you to give in and do a Corvette IRS like Scottie-GNZ did(check out his site). You could probably mount the shock/spring differently than he did so you can move the tires in quite a bit. I would imagine you could fit a pretty fat tire in if done right. Gene

I'm also not quite sure what you're trying to describe. Maybe you could provide a bit better explanation. I would be careful as far as changing the suspension geometry too much unless you have a real good idea what you're doing. Lots of planning and research went into the original setup. One thing you might consider to gain a little bit more room is the addition of a coilover setup. These have a smaller diameter spring that allows you to tuck your tires a little bit farther in. Another option would be to add flares to your fenders to let the tires stick out a bit more. As an extreme measure, you could make your own fenders and quarters out of fiberglass and run any size tire you want. Terry Oxandale made his own and shows that you can fit 17x11 wheels with 315/35ZR17 tires. Gene

The 280ZX rotors might bolt up, but they won't work with the stock calipers because the ZX rotors were vented and Z rotors were not. If you're looking to upgrade your brakes, you might consider the 280ZX calipers with 80's 300ZX rotors. The 4-lug rotors will bolt up to your hub. They do require a little bit of machining of the outer edge of the rotors because the diameter is slightly too big. Take a look at Terry Oxandale's (blueovalz) writeup at http://www.zhome.com/rnt/FordPower/BrakeUpdate.html . Gene