karl

I have designed but not yet implemented a similar setup for my Triumph TR6. The reason is for packaging. It's almost impossible to install coilovers in the rear with any kind of reasonable suspension travel as there is no room. So sometimes it is out of necessity and not the need for bling.

I have a complete 1970 radio with black mounting plate and it has the clear dial plate, it's missing one black plastic dial. Give me a call if interested. Karl 225-405-0047

Well my car is a series 1 built Dec 1970 with a perfect body, zero rust. I don't think It hurts the cars value to cut a hole there that can be easily repaired in the future. I see that your putting a 2J in your car, you'll need fender flares to put enough rubber on the ground to control the car at all, trust me, I've got a 7M with sticky tires and they are constantly spinning, ha ha. I have no fume problems at all and I have two holes in my rear hatch clear through to the interior where my vents belong, I'm making my own out of stainless steel at the moment. You must also go under the car and seal any and all seams in overlaping metal that you can find. Good luck with the swap.

OK I'll post a video as soon as I fix the hesitation problem, I wouldn't want to post a lame vid. Here are a couple pictures. I fabricated a vacuum block out of stainless steel scrap. I will connect to the rear of the manifold. The fitting with the plastic end is for my blitz boost controller.

OK I'll work on a video as soon as I solve the hesitation problem, I wouldn't want the video to be lame. I have friends that know how to post videos on Youtube because I am clueless. Here is another picture of the car and a vacuum block that I fabricated yesterday out of stainless steel, It will attach to the rear of the manifold. The fitting with the plastic end on it goes to my Blitz boost controller. IMG]httIMG]http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr262/Karltritr6/Datsun3541.jpg[/img]p://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr262/Karltritr6/Datsun3551

Engine upgrades! new radiator, fan and some plumbing. Took the car out with new 57 trim turbo and 550cc injectors, this thing is stupid fast when boost kicks in. I do not know why people give this engine such a hard time. I was going 60 mph and went to pass a guy, boost came on and I was laying down two black stripes while passing him. When I turn off the boost controller the car is as easy to drive as an econo box

Get a test light from auto store, they are cheap, put the clip on a known good ground source and touch your wires with test light, if it lights up you have power so this means you don't have a good ground.

Thanks timbo1jz, your project is also looking very nice. Check out my shift knob, I hand machined it out of a solid peice of titanium. You can also see my cam position cover that my good friend Darren machined for me on his CNC. My future plan for the engine is to fabricate a foward facing manifold and relocate the coils so I can use the better looking NA valve covers and clean up the IC piping.

These are some pictures of my car I took the other day.

PanzerAce, It's hard to say how much $, it depends on you're fab skills and access to a machine shop. I would say $10,000 easy if you do all the work not including the price of the car and several thousand more if you pay other people to do some of the work. Machine shops and fabrication shops are very, very expensive. I just paid $600 for a radiator and fan and my bumpers are still at the chrome shop. It all just starts adding up rather quickly. You know you bought the motor but it needs a HD clutch,TO bearing etc. $675. metal HG $250, ARP studs $150, custom all stainless down pipe $300, custom fule lines, pumps $$, custom stainless steel surge tank $$$, fasteners and fittings of all kinds that you haven't even thought of yet $$, drive shaft $400, altenator, starter, you get the point and thats just part of putting in the motor and trans. You can always save money by using cheap parts, hoses, metals, fasteners and that list can go on and on, but then you end up with a car that does not meet your expectations or is down right dangerous. My car performes exactly as I hoped it would. This process took a lot of planning, thought, fabrication and I still went over my $7500 build budget. You should also start with the best car you can afford to buy. The only body parts I bought were the headlight buckets and a used front bumper. I wouldn't call it a poor mans build at this level, but maybe it is compaired to others. I would say if youre going to be putting down 350 hp to the wheels in a 2300lb car like mine take my advice and do it right even if it takes a while.

I finally got the car put back together and have been test driving for two days now. Paint took a lot longer then expected, with the 5 knee surgeries and 2 major back operations with enough titanium rods, screws cages and even a computer implanted back there im not as fast as I used to be!!. I painted the car myself, it was my first paint job. It turned out very good I think and so do most others. It's wimbledon white not bright white like my engine bay. I've upgraded the engine a bit, I've added 550 RC injectors, lexus AFM and a 57 trim turbo. Now its been awhile since i've driven something fast, i've been driving my F250 for ten months as the datsun has been in rebuild jail, WOW the car is very fast. With the super stiff frame, power steering, mazda control arms, sound deadening and coil overs the car is nothing like it was before, it's much better. No squeaks, rattles or groans. The radiator will not keep it cool in traffic so I orderd a Flex-A-lite Black Magic 3300cfm shrouded fan and an aluminum 3 core rad., hope it works because Baton Rouge traffic is a bear. The body seal kit I obtained from Motor sport Auto was ok but the door seals are a little difficult. Im not complaining, im glad there is something avalible, they just don't seal that well. I'll post a pic in a day or two. I've been doing this stuff for 25 years and this site inspired me to do another even with my busted up body, just a little bit every day even if it's just sanding part of a door and the next thing you know it's done. Thank you Hybridz and members for all the great info, be careful and god bless you all.

Hi Jeff, I have to disagree with most on this subject. The z car unibody is a very simple disign and can be hacked and modified with great success. I rebuilt the entire front frame on my 240 with 3" .120 square tubing, not because I had to but because I wanted the extra safety and stiffness with a 7mgte turbo going in. It has made a huge improvement in the way the car feels. If you have a welder,chop saw and hand grinder you can fix that car yourself. You have another z car to take measurments from to know what your starting with. I think you can do it with the help of some people on this site. Good luck Karl

Hi Timbo, very nice build. I used two Dynomax mufflers on my 7mgte. I put one in the middle and one on the end with very good results, nice low tone at idle and no droning in the interior of the car going down the road.

You can probably get a $1000 for the dash alone

I finished my 7m swap into my 71z recently and have been driving the car for a few weeks now. I also have a few friends that have been running the 7m for 8-10 years with the head mod and around 354-400whp with no problems. I have done a lot of suspension mods along with power steering and frame work. The car has been a total joy to drive with enough power to put a big smile on my face. It will easily out run my friends 2007 wrx sti. The long stroke makes for nice low end torque. The engine in my car has 80,000 miles on it and has never had a blown head gasket. I've been building and restoring cars since I was 15, i'm 42 now, all motors have flaws. This engine can be bought for cheap and has a very strong transmission that just bolts on, no fabrication like with some of the other engines. It fits easily with good weight distribution. Yes I know what fast is, I've had a yamaha r6,r1,125 shifter kart and IMO it is fast enough to have fun with and drive daily. I respect what Clifton has to say, but this engine gets really bad press that it doesn't deserve. Karl

It's not drivable at the moment because the front brakes won't work. I orderd a 1979 master cylinder to replace my original. It sat for 7 months during the fab work and swap, think it went bad as it was giving me trouble before. The swap took longer than expected. Now it's time to get it ready for paint, hopefully no more than a month for that. Clifton was a big help in the wiring department, Thank you. Oh, going to paint it some type of white. Thanks for posting pictures Clifton. I did not know about the 1.5 meg thing, I'll try again.

I don't know how to put pictures here. I tried photobucket and imageshack but neither would work. If an admin sees this thread, maybe they could add them? If not you could find them in the album. Thanks Karl

I have just about finished my 7mgte swap. I have put pictures in the album section as I am unable to put them in other forums. If anyone knows how to put them in this form I would appreciate it. My car is a 240z built in DEC. of 1970, I have installed a 1990 7mgte with lots of mods to the frame and suspension. I cut out the original front frame and built my own from the front to the rear for more stiffness and to support the motor with mounts on the frame rails, I live in Baton Rouge LA. and our roads are awful. The only custom work I did to the motor was the intake ic piping and my own stainless steel divorced downpipe,so far. I installed mazda miata power steering and mazda Rx7 front control arms, why you might ask "because I had them in my garage of course". Ground control coilovers with sectioned struts, illumina shocks, GC camber plates and ST sway bars. I made my own mounts for the Q45 rear install, I also machined my own flanges for the 280z stub axles and welded them with inconel to make me feel better. For brakes I'm using 280zx disc on the rear and thye toyota set up on the front. Wheels: Rota RB 16x8 -10 with 5mm spacer in rear and 8mm in front. Tires: 225-50-16 Falken Azenis RT-615 all around. I hope you can find the pictures, thank you Karl