essdeezee

I second the driving lights idea!

a little late here, but the wire wheel/cup with an angle grinder is my favorite for removing paint. The drill method works, but I prefer the ergonomics of the angle grinder. Quick tip from my experience. Cheap angle grinders are your friend! Go buy three from harbor freight when they're on sale. Outfit one with a cutting wheel. Outfit the second with a grinding wheel. Outfit the third with a wire wheel/cup. Saves a pile of time when fabricating stuff. Also look around for a deal on makita, milwaukee, or dewalt 4"ers They sometimes come in a 2 pack for $75-90. But then again, you can just get the harbor freight ones for $15 each on sale.

get to reading! he's posted plenty! search username 1 fast z

Good start of a plan, as I see it. However, in previous threads I had seen concern from some of the experienced members about using circuit breakers in place of fuses. If they are popping regularly, something is wrong with your components or wiring design. I'm about to embark on some rewiring of my own, and according to my research, fuses are in order. I'm planning (at this point) on spending some time perusing the junkyards for a suitable fuse/power distribution/relay block for the main harness. Last trip, I saw a nice setup in a mid nineties Mercury station wagon. Plenty of circuits, and spots for 5-6 relays (IIRC, Pics in a week or two), and a nifty clean looking OEM plastic cover for the whole shebang. In addition, I'll be running my driving lights and electric fan from a separate maxi-fuse distribution block off the alternator feed (CS 144, thanks KTM!). The fuse block is available at your local Wal-Mart for 10 bucks and comes with 2x40A maxi fuses. Nearby, you should be able to find a kit with 50 and 100A fuses for like 4-5 bucks (Check the car stereo area for this stuff). I feel strongly that a properly engineered setup should rarely blow fuses, and thus breakers are at best a waste of money, but more likely, a potential fire hazard. That being said, good luck and keep us posted!

Full agreement on the B.B. King thing tony! I live in San Diego, and James Brown was scheduled to be coming through in the summer of 2006. I would've needed to make some difficult schedule adjustments to make it, but it would have been possible. But, I checked his schedule and saw he would be back in spring 2007. Figured it would be fine to wait 6-8 months. I was wrong. I very much regret it. I immediately jumped to get tickets to BB's next show here in early 2007. I still have a few artists on my list of Must-See's. Getting to them as I can.

@thnikkamax Just picked up a 6-1 Header and mandrel bent 2.5" exhaust to a dynomax superturbo. Sounds heavenly, but with one caveat. It has a supremely nasty drone under load from 2000-2500. If I pull the exhaust again (which will happen as soon as I snag a 5 speed) I'm going to stick some sort of resonator in the transmission tunnel area. The current solution is to only be in that RPM range once per time I run up through the gears Good luck!

Well, Daeron, the upgrades just got pushed back a bit. It's (non-negotiable) carb rebuild time. Thanks for the advice and good wishes!

I DD my '71 as long as it's not broken. Couple nights ago, I had something go bad in the float bowl of the rear SU. Serious overflowage! I guess that just moved the ztherapy rebuild kit up on the priorities list. Back in my Civic hatch for a day or two, and I'm seriously motivated to get the z fixed. Economy sucks. On another note, I love having off-roader friends with trailers I can borrow!

@Daeron- My primary reason for going to rear discs was the "easy" button, and the differential in price for rebuild of stock vs 240sx. My rears are in bad shape now, and I'm probably going to end up spending a good chunk of cash just to bring them up to snuff. I do plan on upgrading the fronts eventually, but if I'm going to spend money, why not spend a bit more and go disc. @rztmartini- the reason for the 240sx 5 speed is the difficulty I've had in locating a good zx one locally. SX trannies are all over. @83ZXER- Forgot those in the post. Have them on our '94 Miata and they really helped with brake feel!

@nismoed- I see the point, but after reading jmortensen's advice and re-evaluating my power and use goals, I think I'm going to end up with the longnose and Z31T CVs. Thanks also rudypoo. @phantom- at this point, I'm not really planning on heavy open-track lapping quite yet. If I do end up going that direction, I'm sure I'll end up with a setup similar to yours.

I just got one from Rock Auto for about $120, will be $90 after I return the core. Good service, quick shipping.

In my usual perusal of SD craigslist, I ran across this. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/tls/655314265.html I'd be snapping it up myself, but I just picked up a slightly larger one. No, it's not mine- I'd just love to see a Z guy snag it! I'm sure it'll be gone tomorrow morning, but worth a shot! GO GO GO! Fix that rust!

@jmortensen- I had planned on going with the shortnose because of the greater number and easier availability of LSD options. From what I have read, it seems that by the time you find yourself a good longnose LSD, you've spent almost the same amount as converting. Again, I welcome suggestions and correction! So, would you recommend a longnose with Z31 300ZX CV's as an alternative?

Keep the eyes open on the CL. Keep cash handy and your schedule flexible! I just picked up my first welder, a 4 year old Hobart 170(175? Need to get home and look) MIG in great shape ready to weld for $200. The tank was ~3/4 full and the guy let me have his extra welding supplies (full 11lb roll of .030 radnor wire, 1lb .030 flux core, 1/2 roll .023 Radnor wire) . I had to drive an hour at 5:30 AM to get it, but I can't complain.

Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance The phrase I do my best to live by. I have a tentative plan, but before I start JY'ing and stockpiling parts, I'm looking for some input from people who have gone these routes before. I've been reading forums for the past year and a half or so. Working on getting the Z to a reliable DD at the moment (in the flogging to find weak points stage). Mostly, I'm looking to see if I'm missing anything! So please don't be shy, let me have it if I'm misguided. What I've got: I have a '71 240z, all stock at this point. Goals: Eventual goal is to build a streetable screamer. Regular use at autox, spirited mountain driving, and daily use on San Diego streets. Occasional/rare use for the drags. I'm still flexible on the powertrain, but the goal is looking like about 350 HP/TQ to the wheels. I'm looking to make this thing solid. Not necessarily bulletproof, but a touch of overkill never (well, rarely) hurts. I really don't want to be looking in my rearview looking for parts that the Z chewed up and spit out. I prefer to do a project correctly the first time with a minimum of troubleshooting and tinkering, so I read and plan and read and plan and finally DO. So, here's the plan at this point!- Energy Suspension Master Poly Bushing Kit (Black Graphite Impregnated?) Sectioned Struts W/Illuminas GC Coilovers 175/200 Rate F/R Springs Suspension Techniques Swaybar Kit Stock front calipers/solid rotors/Porterfield pads 240SX Rear Disc Conversion (MM) Shortnose R200 (Q45) Infinity Q45 CV's MM R230/R200 Swap Package Ron Tyler Front Diffy Mount Redrilled R200 Mustache Bar 280 Stub axles 240SX 5speed Custom Driveshaft Not really looking for engine suggestions at this point, I have my options pretty well defined, just haven't chosen yet. So, If you've read this far, what do you think?

hey, thanks for all the great responses. the answer to my question was actually found in the links that jmortenson posted about jamie t's custom strut setup. I appreciate the help guys - mark

@Pop- I apologize for the rhetoric. I guess it was laid on a bit thick. But, now you're getting what my question was about! The heart of it is half-shaft length, and whether there were any possibilities of using a shorter half shaft and the stock lower control arm to keep track width near stock, while taking advantage of z32 bits. Thats why I stated that track width wouldnt be an issue with the setup I was envisioning and I was asking about angles. I guess I wasnt really clear. I had assumed you understood that I was speaking of shortening half-shafts, and hence, potentially different angles than the z32 half-shafts would encounter in a stock configuration. @260DET- I agree with you on the idea of using entire sub-assemblies that were designed to work together. However, the level of fabrication required seems to be a touch out of my depth at the moment. thats why I was seeking a slightly different solution, where I wouldnt have to do serious fabrication, just the attaching of the hub/rotor/caliper assembly to both the strut and the lower control arm. This would keep me from having to screw with strange problems with camber and toe because I'll have a setup that is the same design as stock, just with different bits. so, i guess, now that we've got the rest out of the way..... Is it possible(or more accurately, reasonable) to shorten the stock z32 half-shafts enough to make this possible? if not, could other bits, like porsche 930 CV's with adapters make this fit?

I dont mean to sound picky or condescending, but I'd prefer that the post was at least completely read before replies were sent. I have no intentions of drag racing this project, in fact I specified that it was a street/autox build. 260DET- I wasn't planning on swapping the entire rear end. If you had read my post, at the end of the fourth paragraph, you would have seen the question that I was asking, which was: is it reasonable to swap the r200 in, and attach the hub/rotor/caliper to the stock lower control arm and connect the two with some combination of adapters, stub axles, and CV's ? In this case, track width wouldn't be an issue Pop N Wood- you make a good point about my assumptions, however, I want to go to a rear disc setup and 5 lug hubs anyway, so I figured that going to one OEM assembly could simplify matters rather more effectively than the combination of the CV conversion, a 5 lug hub conversion and whatever brakes are available at that point. One of my big questions is: provided the hub/rotor/caliper can be attached to the stock lower control arm, would shortening the distance between the hub and differential cause a problem for any CV because of the angles involved? Thanks again

Hey guys I’ve got a ‘71 240 and plan to go with an ls1/t56 combo up front and I want to have a setup out back that can handle that sort of power for street and autocross use. I also would like to improve the braking at the same time, and I favor the idea of using oem nissan stuff over other possible choices. And before the usual question is asked, yes, I am well acquainted with the search function and have used it extensively. Handling an ls1’s torque output is going to require something stouter than my stock rear end and U joints. A r200 with a CV conversion seems to be one way to do it, but that would leave me with my sad old drums handling the braking. To deal with that issue, I could go with any one of the rear disc conversions, such as the 280zx rotor and 200sx caliper with maxima brackets, or possibly the z31 rotor/s14 caliper/ MM bracket. But by that point, I’ve already replaced practically everything back there. Those setups seem to have worked for others in the past. However it seems like quite a hodgepodge of parts. This brings me to my question: Is there a currently known way to deal my issues in one step, such as using the r200 from an z32 with corresponding mustache bar as well as the 5 lug hubs, rotors and calipers from the z32, and connecting the things with some permutation of CV’s? Essentially, attaching the package to the stock lower control arm and finding a cv/stub axle/adaptor/whatever setup that would allow it to connect to the r200. I know that anything is possible given enough time, money, and fabrication skill, but I would like to know if this is a worthwhile avenue of research. I am rather budget minded, so this sort of setup would allow me to either acquire the pieces over time, or buy the whole rear end out of some z32, if I found the opportunity. I plan on doing this before the engine swap because it is a more affordable step, and one that I will be able to enjoy as I save for the swap. Should I never quite make it to the ls1/t56 swap, the proposed rear end would probably be able to hold up to any sort of beating a L series motor could dish out anyway, and I would have been able to go to 5 lug hubs and great big OEM Nissan disc brakes. If you’ve made it this far, thank you, if you have constructive input, well, even more thanks! Mark Spies - San Diego, Ca.