BRAAP

Plate now sits in my tool box...

Ok, I’ve made a decision that was very VERY difficult to make! I have officially pulled the plug on my Z-32 LSx conversion. My particular Z-32 is too nice to chop up, (in my eyes any how). I will continue to contribute to this thread and help others pursuing this conversion as best I can. I still have the Z-32 mock up mule and don’t have any plans to get rid of it any time soon and still have the LS1 mock up block and an extra LS1 intake as well. If you guys want a particular scenario mocked up with the parts I have on hand, just ask and I’ll make an effort to mock that up and take all the pics I can. As such, being as I want my daily driver to have more torque, my uber clean, Pearl Green Z-32 is now up for sale. I could just keep it and tolerate its stock N/A performance, but cant justify it. I have this male craving to Hybrid a daily driver chassis with an LSx! I’ll post a classifieds ad in a few days time. Moving on.... ...My next car/project/daily driver WILL get an LSx, as such I will continue my research and acquisition of all parts “LSx”. With my Z-32 up for sale, I’m on the look out for a new LSx compatible chassis. Thank you Shaggy for all the Z-31 samples. Those examples are stunning, but I think I want to turn my attention down a different path. Again, I do thank you. After seeing how nicely the LSx fits in the deep cavernous 350-Z engine bay in a recent thread posted up elsewhere, that has sparked some interest in doing a G35 coupe LSx car. I would like a 4 seater, though if the right deal on a the right 2 seater came along, aka 350-Z or Honda S-2000 with blown power-train, I might consider that, (clean body and interior). The other option on the table is, (cough... cough...) the BMW E-36. A 4 door ’95-’99 M3 manual trans car as the recipient of my LSx and T-56 pretty much fills the role in the performance handling department with the ability to haul 4 adults. LSx firmly roots it acceleration performance and fits in the E36 engine bay with much ease. Granted, a sedan or even a 4 seat coupe doesn’t have the driveway sex appeal the Z-32 or other 2 seat sports car has but if an extra person/child wants to go into town, I don’t have leave the toy at home and take the truck so all can go along… The other Bimmer 3 series cars, (323, 325, 328) could also work especially at a much lower entry fee, applying the money saved vs the M3 to the suspension goodies.

Crash, You are quite welcome, I am glad this has been of help. I will continue to offer as much info as I can, just as I have been even though I'm pulling the plug on my particular project. Details to follow shortly.

Sometimes, you can loosen up the grid that holds the wiping surface and shift it far enough the wipers are wiping on a fresh surface area and that will "sometimes" fix an erratic AFM. It doesn't really have much movement, but some times just enough... Another trick for emergency use on an AFM that is known bad (I do not condone this method on a good AFM as I am not aware of the long term affects of this procedure), electrical contact cleaner or 99% rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab brushed lightly across the offending section of the wiping surface may help as well. Beng as it is arledy toast, those options are cheaprer than another AFM and probably worth the effort in case it gets you a few more months driving...

Crash, Yeah that port is convenient for he brake booster, being right there and so close. Not sure if this helps, but here are a few shots of my mock up LS1 intake. My thinking is it might easier and less hassle to remove the vacuum port at the rear of the intake than I would be modify the firewall at that location and the goodies that lie on the other side of the firewall in that location. The rear. That plug assy does float in the back of the manifold. Feels as if it is sealed by O-ring and is either push locked or twit locked to the manifold. At some point I will look into this a little more and may try to remove one.; Here is the front of the manifold. One port on either side of the plenum entrance and one on the TB itself.

Exactly! In moving the engine back 3”-3 ½” inches, you’ll solve lots of little issues, F-body shifter will exit in the stock location, etc etc etc… That McLeod Bell-housing should help tremendously in reducing the amount of cutting that will be required to the firewall/trans tunnel entrance. Something else that may help is the big vacuum port on the back of the LS1 intakes, (circled in MAGENTA) can be removed and that hole plugged which would eliminate the need to notch the firewall above the bell housing to clear that, (GREEN arrow)! You will need to find a vacuum source for the MAP sensor which is no biggee as there are 2 other vacuum ports, possibly three off the front and T/B combined. Worst case scenario, the big vacuum port goes to a vacuum reservoir. Something you will have deal with is the heater lines. Being as you are into the firewall and will have the dash out, this should not be a problem whatsoever. Just penetrate the firewall of the heater lines in location closer tot the passenger fender out of the way of the cylinder head. Making the decision to the cut the firewall is good one I that it makes this conversion SOOOOoooo much more realistic. I’m just not willing to do that with this particular car.

Crash, You are on the right track in wanting to get the engine further back. Getting the engine further rearward in the car solves so many of these issues. Doing so though will require cutting of the firewall to some degree or another, (depends on how far you are moving the engine rearward.) To gain a better understanding of how much, go back to the first page of this thread and spend some time in post #3 and post #4, (all posts are numbered at the top of each post, right hand side) With the engine in the position I have outlined in post #3 and #4, the GTO shifter assy in the same location as the stock Z-32. If you move the engine back 2"-3" from what I have outlined, that puts the GTO shifter too far rearward, buy that same amount, making the and standard F-body shifter with a 1" dog leg much easier and better fitting. (My commensts recently of having to move the engine even further forward yet would mean the even with the GTO shifter arrangement is still about 1 1/2"-2" too far forward!) Here is the shifter info from post #3...

The reason for the earlier AFM is because the early cars have a switch in the AFM itself that controls the fuel pump. The newer AFM's that switch was deleted and that switch became integral in the oil pressure sender, (safety reasons for say if you got in accident, the car flipped over and the engine died due to oil starvation etc, the fuel pump wouldn’t continue to pump gas feeding a possible fire!) In short, if you install a newer AFM in an older car, the fuel pump wont even turn on other while cranking. Of course you could by pass that and manually control the fuel pump but you wouldn’t have that built in safety feature, i.e. I do not recommend or condone that you by pass or alter the built in safety measure of the fuel pump control.

Yeah yeah I saw this! Went and looked at the pics of the build project and DAAY-NG that engine bay is deep! unlike its predecessor the Z-32, the 350-Z swallows the LS1 with no clearance issues... It is frustrating that I had choose the least swap friendly of all the Z cars, though I am glad to see that the 350-Z and LSx is such wonderful, almost bolt in, marriage of car and power-plant. Now if I could only find someone that wants to trade me their blown motored 350-Z straight up for my uber clean running Z-32?...

I agree. Not bad, but something is weird about. I think it might be the height of the fenders above the open wheel arch especially compared to the wheel size. A bit thick/tall. Sorta like the first gen. Hyundai Tiburon...

I apologize if I mislead. The exhaust has nothing to do with me possibly scrapping this project. As mentioned, the exhaust can be worked out with custom headers which would be better for performance any how. The reason is, to meet my goal, unmolested firewall/underdash, daily driver LSx powered Z32, retaing all the niceties it came with from Nissan and still remain a sports car, is going to be huge engineering excersise, not just an engine swap. I dropped crossmember which is a no no unless the car is only a straight liner, it's not, it's a sportscar so suspension geometry is impotant. That means raising the engine 3/4" from where I have it currently, which means it needs go forward approx 1"-1 1/2" which also means an altered hood to clear the throttle body. Also means the radiator now has to sit in the space ahead of the core support and leaves little to no room for intake plumbing due to the engine crowding the core support, shift lever ends up 5-6" forward of the stock location, engine mass is higher and more foward in the car, and the list goes on.... In short, there is no real clean way to make this happen without some big compromise. Small compromise are fine but not ones that take huge chunks out of the goal.

Crash, It just so happens by sheer coincidence, this is approx same locoation as the stock VG30DE sits, i.e. the bellhousing mating surface. To move the engine back any further will require cutting the firewall or lowering the engine. This mounting location already has the rack/crossmember lowered 3/4" which is 3/4 " too much.

This is with engine sitting in the least compromising position as depicted in post #3, first page in this thread. It wont go back any further without cutting the firewall.

LS2 C6 Vette Exhaust manifolds… This one is for CRASH, knowing he has been patiently waiting the LS2 manifold update, (previous post was purely a teaser to torment CRASH… Surprised he wasn't screaming for the details yet... ) Outlets are 2 3/8” for both, with a cool header flange gasket. Note the recess in the header pipe flange. Not sure if the Vette pipe flange will be needed or just a flat flange. They seem to be for the most part symmetrical like the other Vette manifolds. Fitment in the Z-32 looks pretty good. The CTS-V manifolds are a better fit, but these Vette LS2 manifolds are a close second place and look like can be made to work. The biggest issue is the driver side and getting the down pipe to clear the steering shaft and hydraulic lines. Down pipe to be an immediate offset towards the block should be enough. LS2 Vette exhaust manifold mock up; Passenger side; Driver side;

I had no sooner posted the CTS-V info when Fed-Ex dropped off the Vette LS2 manifolds.. Got them unboxed, took a few pics, measured the outlet, quick and dirty mock up in the Z-32 mock up mule…

Caddy CTS-V LS6 exhaust manifolds arrived today. Interesting manifolds these are. The outlets are 2 different sizes. Driver side is 2 3/8” opening, passenger is 2 5/8”?!?! On the driver side, there is quite a bit of material in the casting around the header pipe flange to open up the one side that is fed by the front 3 cylinders therefore balancing the outlet dimension a bit. It is quite clear GM spent more time and attention on Vette exhaust manifolds. It'll be interesting to see the LS2 Vette manifolds when they arrive later this week. Now on to the really cool part. These manifolds fit the Z-32 LSx with the engine sitting in this position PERFECTLY! (If you are moving your back, forward, up or down from the this location, no guarantee these will fit this nice). Here be the pics, Cadillac CTS-V LS6 exhaust manifolds; Parallax in the pic, actual measurement is 2 5/8" ID, not 2 9/16" as depicted Here is the fitment in the mock up Z-32; Driver side; Clears the steering shaft. Passenger side; Sorry about the blurred shot. It fits perfectly!

Shaggy, Thank you for the inspiration. You nailed my ideal Z-31 perfectly! WOWZERS! I’ll be honest. I’m VERY torn right now. I LOVE my Z-32… but…

Short and sweet versions is this; That $#&*’n rack & pinion is making it VERY difficult to hit my intended target with the Z-32. That target being N/A LSx powered capable of tickling the 12 second barrier at the strip in N/A trim, quiet, unmolested, i.e. all factory systems in tact and functional such as climate control, ABS, yadda yadda yadda. As close to a factory offered LSx powered Z-32 as possible. That means no cutting the firewall, no altering the suspension geometry to any great deal etc. I love this car with its drop dead gorgeous sex appeal, spirited handling traits, and it’s a Z, but being a HybridZ guy, spoiled rotten with a low 12 second daily driver HybridZ in the past?... At this point, I am looking into the possibility of converting it to a front steer rack, (rack that is in front of the front axle line just like the S-30 cars). That would mean possibly making the forward facing T/C rods, rearward facing. Altering/custom fabbed cross member for the new rack, (possibly a BMW rack as they are front steer and known for their quality of “feel/feedback”). With the steering knuckles cast in the spindle I would have to swap the spindles left for right. With the caster, it looks as though the steering knuckle ball joint would end up even higher in the car resulting in a rack that would need to be higher as well to keep steering and suspension geometry changes and bump steer to a minimum! Raising the rack higher in the car only compounds the problem I’m running into now, even further, i.e. the future of this project isn’t looking good. Sorry guys. Granted, if I would just succumb to gutting the dash side of the firewall, cutting the firewall to locate the engine properly, and then dealing with whatever systems end up being deleted because they no longer fit under the dash, this would be much easier. I’m not 25 years old any more. Those are not compromises I’m willing to make in my daily driver. Regardless of the outcome, the LSx is the power-plant of my future daily driver and I will continue with my LSx research and engine build. Hmmm....

Ok… I am pretty sure there is no doubt that I probably for sure should have my head examined… Future of this particular project is looking a little bleak at the moment. Nothing to do with the car, but everything to do with my future daily driver plans. Every time I start thinking, I always get into this sort of trouble…

Shagster, Face it. You're an open mouth breather, and that’s ok! There's a delicate corneal inversion procedure that may help. A multi-opti-pupil-optomy. But, in order to keep from damaging the eye sockets, they've got to go in through the rectum. It's not all bad. Everyone has some sort of physical and/or physiological issues. Take RTz for instance and his inability to sit in any vehicle without gracing the glass with his tongue?!?! I’ve come to the point in my life that I can publicly discuss my issue. Constantly getting the crap kicked out of me because women, (mostly attractive ones), single, married, etc, are so attracted to me that their significant others are overcome with raging jealously. It is a curse really, my cross to carry.

As far as I am aware, there are 2 different AFM mounting plate's (I'm assuming that is what you are referring to). One style for AFMs that have 3 mounting bolts, the other has 4 bolts.

Have a wonderful and happy 47th Birthday Pete… Take care, Paul

Apparently WOLF EMS is getting serious with their V-500 being the sole EMS used in the Aquila SR1 race car, Danish racing series... Hmmm... Aquila home page Aquila for sale/pics. All pics courtesy of Racecarsdirect.com

Happy 25th Birthday ClivE… An LSx and a Turbo L-6 S-30 in the garage before the age of 30… Definitely ahead of the curve… Have a wonderful Birthday, Paul