rturbo 930

That's some tidy looking tube frame work.

That's good to hear, and is inline with what I've read. I got the MSA kit around 9 years ago about the time I bought the car. I think I'll probably sell it and get another kit from vintage rubber.

http://www.vintagerubber.com/datsun.aspx From what I've read, these guys make a quality product.

I have 72 and 76 four speeds. Are these worth anything, or should I just steal the bellhousings off them and scrap them? I checked a little while ago, and I saw a few going for $300+ on ebay, but that seems silly. No telling if they actually sell. What about L24 stuff? It's from a 72. Doesn't turn over. Aside from the head, what parts are worth anything? Crank? Rods? I don't think they're the 9mm rods, and if they were I'd keep them. Oil pump? I'm keeping the valve cover.

The C6 Corvette is about 10 inches wider, and if you narrow the rear suspension by that much, or even enough to fit under an S30 with fender flares, you'll probably mess up the geometry. And I doubt you could do it without gutting the back half and making a tube chassis. Also, the Corvette uses a transaxle, not just a normal differential. The fact that you're asking any of these questions at all tells me you don't have the knowledge or skill. If you want Corvette suspension and engine, buy a Corvette.

Have you given any consideration to a BMW V12? There's also this option: http://jalopnik.com/5336153/1971-datsun-240z-v12-for-9800 http://jalopnik.com/5071584/how-about-a-v12-powered-datsun-240z http://www.oocities.org/dotdotdot@rogers.com/

Awww. Man, that really sucks. Time to make it a display piece? How many people are on the waiting list? Is there really that much demand? Not knocking the product obviously, but knowing how cheap Datsun owners are, and what this sort of thing costs, figured it would be just a few people buying. Great that there's a demand though.

Agreed, dark grey goes very well against silver.

I generally agree, having done that and regretted it, but I have a comments. 1) Yes, do this. I was 16 when I took my car apart, and my dad tried to warn me. I didn't listen. I said I'd remember. I did get a little plastic organizer, and separated the bolts, but didn't label. I have no idea what goes where, and it's going to be a disaster putting my car back together. 2) I'm glad you mentioned this. People think stainless is automatically better because it doesn't rust. Well, stainless does corrode under certain conditions, and for reasons you mentioned, it is not necessarily better than a steel bolt. If you need a replacement bolt, get a good quality steel bolt. 3) Why do you say that? Unless it is rusted, damaged, or was clearly overtorqued (When the bolt is visibly stretched to the naked eye, it's been overtorqued, haha. I replaced that one), I don't see why the bolt would be bad. I see people replacing bolts on restorations for no reason, and I don't get it. If the coating has worn off, they can be replated pretty easily. I could understand replacing suspension bolts for good measure, but otherwise I don't see the point. That said, it would be a good idea to chase all the threads on the captive nuts on the car. 4) In his case, it looks like he needs rockers. I would prioritize having those done since they're a major structural component. 5) Everyone says sandblasting, but what they usually mean is media blasting. Lots of different media choices, and you're right, it's important to choose the right one for the job, and to avoid warping the metal. Having your car in a thousand pieces with a thousand things on the to do list before it's roadworthy is certainly discouraging, but since I'm already down that rabbit hole, I look at it as an opportunity to make it exactly what I want, and to fix everything and be done with it rather than constantly be chasing things down. Also, a note to the OP, I would leave your first post alone and just post updates as separate (new) posts. No one's gonna be looking at your first post once they're past that point in the thread.

Looks clean, and tasteful. I like that it isn't overdone with huge power numbers, and massive tires under ZG flares. Nothing against ZG flares, but it seems like everyone and their mother flares their Z these days (I blame Instagram), so it's nice to see relatively narrow wheels with tires that fit correctly and stock fenders. I would think though that since he went to the trouble to tell us how tidy the engine bay is, that he would include more than only one teaser shot of it. So, what changes are you making?

I'd stick with the N42.

If you swap the plug and wire to another cylinder, does the problem move with it? That should at least rule that out. Any chance it could be the distributor? I'm inexperienced with these things so I might not be of much help here.

Tabco is the main supplier of patch panels (rockers, doglegs, lower quarters, etc.), and as far as I know (could be wrong), Charlie is not associated with Tabco. I believe he makes the floors though, and probably the rear panel too, I'm guessing, based on the metal used. Tabco panels have some kind of coating on them, and don't get surface rust. Yes, the bumper support structure on the 280Z gets in the way of the exhaust cutout, so it is lower on the later cars. If you want just the cutout, I would suggest either making your own, or going to a fab shop. You aren't likely to find just that piece, but it should be a fairly simple one to make.

It should have the bumper indents at the rear for the small bumper as well. Early 260Z is most similar to the 240Z, and late 260Z is most similar to the 280Z. The 240Z weatherstrip kit is most likely what you need, unless there's a difference between the two models that I'm not aware of.

I don't agree with what he says regarding aftermarket and transmission choices. I'm sure the 2JZ aftermarket is larger, but I wouldn't say the L series aftermarket is lacking. Transmission choices? Well, the L has the NA 5 speed, BW ZXT 5 speed, 240sx 5 speed, Z31/2 5 speed, and now the Z33 6 speed. Non-ZXT BW T5 has also been done once or twice, as has the T56. That's a pretty healthy selection. I get the feeling he doesn't know much about the L28. That said, if you want easy, big power, and don't mind the weight, a 2JZ is hard to argue with. A guy I follow on Instagram dropped in a 2JZ, and made 550whp. I don't think it took him more than a month to do the swap. It's fast.

Is your 260Z an early or late model? Late models have huge crash bumpers like a 280Z.

9.8 if I'm not mistaken. Close to that, anyway.

Because I'm curious, and it looks like you've got it handy, do you think you could give us a weight on the 350Z trans (no adapter or starter)? A six speed would be nice, but I'm also trying to keep weight down. Thanks.

That's not a big budget. Actually, for that budget, triple carbs and headers would probably take up half of it. One other thing is that you are also somewhat limited by your head, which should be an N47, which has exhaust port liners in it. You can remove them, but from what I've read, the resulting port shape/flow is not ideal, and it's actually not a good idea. You can still have some work done on it though, and see improvement. If you can buy another head with work done already that might save you some money. For that budget, with a focus on power, I would do megasquirt, some head work, a cam, exhaust (minus headers), and a really good tune, and see what that gets you. Beyond that, try to strip some weight off the car. You're at somewhat of a disadvantage there since you have a late 280Z which is heavier and harder to strip weight from. Removing bumpers and AC (if it has it) would be a good start, and a lightweight, free flowing exhaust too. Get rid of all the excess emissions stuff in the engine bay that you won't be using.

You can hit 200 pretty easily. A good tune and just a few basic mods should get you there. 250hp will take more effort. Some good headwork and a cam, plus tune, I'd say would get you in the ballpark. What's your budget?

Well, I haven't driven a Z with that much power or even close to it, but my gut feeling is yes, that is entirely too much power. It's a light car, and 600hp is a lot of power, period. As I said earlier, I don't see the point in having much more than 400hp in a Z. It doesn't have any kind of driving aids, or modern suspension designed to make use of that power, and it has a short wheel base. I think a lot of people building high HP Zs are either looking for straight line performance, or they're doing it for bragging rights. I don't believe that any of these people are capable of taking a Z with that much power around a track and actually using the power and potential it has. IMO, for a car that is built for twisty roads, 300-400hp at the crank, and make it light with a great suspension and brake setup. Less impressive acceleration, but will likely be overall more fun and manageable to drive in the mountains. Also depends on if you're willing to flare the car. If you want to keep the stock body and limit tire width, you may want to consider restricting power to what you can put down to the road.

One thing I think you should consider is weight. the 2JZ is a HEAVY motor. The RB I believe is heavier than the L, but lighter than the 2JZ. RB will be hardest to find, and find parts for, while the 2JZ is easy to find, and make impressive numbers very easily. The L series will be the lightest, and least powerful, but, if this matters to you, will also be period correct, and most fitting for the car. I personally don't see the point in more than about 500 crank HP in a Z unless you're drag racing, and the L series is capable of that with some work.

If it's genuinely 83k miles and not 183k, then I would recommend you leave the bottom end alone. It has plenty of life left. I would consider that low miles for an L series. Also worth mentioning, in some cases, the stock exhaust manifold may actually make more power than the headers. I'll have to dig up the thread where this is discussed. Headers do sound better though if you want to sacrifice a few HP. I would. Here's the thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/102748-build-after-24-years/ I don't know what your budget is, but another option for you is ITBs. Jenvey makes ITBs that bolt on in the place of DCOE carbs. They look pretty good, sound great, and of course there's the benefit of fuel injection. Expensive though, and on a low power build may not be worth doing.

How many miles on it? If it has relatively low miles, I would pass on rings and bearings. I've heard some people say that the new bearings aren't actually as good as the old ones in terms of quality - may or may not be true. The L series is a durable motor though. Since you want reliability over power, I'm not sure why you'd switch to triple carbs from EFI. Seems kind of counterintuitive. Depending what kind of power you'd like, it might be better to get MegaSquirt, and get a really good tune on a stockish motor.

Bump.