rturbo 930

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.

You don't have a chassis to check fitment? I'm really not trying to give you a hard time, but usually when people ask for guinea pigs for a new product, that means that the product fits, and now they want people to run them to work out bugs. I appreciate that you're bringing a new product in here, but it sounds like you haven't checked to see if it's going to fit at all. I also have other concerns about the change in strut angle, ie, will it cause a change in handling, and if it's going to put a weird load on the top mount. Again, not a suspension expert, so those concerns may be unfounded. This too. Unless you plan to pay for all of this, you're asking a lot. Need a little more legwork from you.

Right, but the strut doesn't really have much room to go inboard, which means the hub must go out. I guess I need to see it on the car for it to make sense.

Well I'm definitely not a suspension expert, so someone help me out with this. since the strut tube is now some 2-3" offset, wouldn't this result in the wheel being pushed out the same amount, as well as needing longer control arms? I'm not understanding how this is going to work, unless I'm missing something obvious.

Does it need to be totally stock to pass TUV? I'm noticing you even included all the heat shields on the exhaust. You would think the country containing the autobahn and the Nurburgring would be a little more lenient on car mods.

As far as I know... Benchmark's parts are full carbon, and weigh very little. Seibon's products, based on what little I've found, don't seem to be as light. I don't think they're full carbon. I'm not sure about Retrospec, but I've heard mixed reviews regarding quality. Not sure where they come in as far as weight goes. I've never heard anything bad about Benchmark's products. Not surprising since that was John C's product previously. They would be my choice, and will be when I get to that point in my project.

500whp (meaning closer to 600 at the crank) in a car that weighs around 2500lbs is a lot of power (less than 5lbs per HP), and far more than most people need, or can handle. Yes, it is that much. Additionally, at that power level, you'll need to upgrade the driveline and reinforce the chassis.

http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/117055-betamotorsports-composite-parts/

Lol, "only" 500whp. You know that's a shitload of power, right? The subtle Z kit adds 1" per side, and you can get some pretty big (275) tires under the stock fenders. If you put the effort in, you could probably get a 295 or 305 under the subtle Z fenders. Since you like the classic Z look, I'd probably go with what Nelsonian said regarding ZG flares, G nose, etc. Marugen Shoukai sells two different rear ZG flares, one of which is wider. The wider of the two should accommodate anything you would want to put under it. The option you haven't mentioned here is the IMSA kit. I'm not a huge fan, I think it messes with the proportions of the car, but it isn't common, and you won't be running out of space for tires.

Lots of people on here have bought from him, as far as I know he has a good reputation.

Pretty cool, is that a new product from Wilwood? Previously you had to get a separate ebrake caliper, never really liked that idea. Will the lever on the caliper interfere with the wheels at all?

I forget if I've already said this, but I think this may end up being among the very nicest of S30s on the planet when it's done. I bet all those little pieces are adding up fast though. This is why I'll never do a proper restoration haha.

Do you have a really quiet exhaust installed? I don't know if it's just me, but I've never heard an NA L28 that sounds like that. Almost sounds like it's not running right.

I agree with what Madkaw said. I've read on here that the rear panel available is apparently flat side to side, while the original is curved. No good. Your rear panel isn't that bad anyway. I would think a decent body guy could hammer that out, and custom make whatever is needed for the exhaust cutout. Is blending the new paint with the old an option vs repainting the whole rear end? I wouldn't think it would be too hard with your color. But then again, I know nothing about painting.

There's a donate tab in the top navigation bar toward the right. As for the complaint, honestly I think you're being too sensitive. It's a canned response that most likely came with the forum software. Who cares? It serves a purpose to let you know that your user status changed, and that's it. Besides, it's the correct word to use. When you donate, you upgraded to another user group with more privileges, and after a year, you are demoted back to the standard user group. Lighten up.

Looks good... and identical to your old car haha. What's the color?

It's 115 blue metallic.

I don't think I would have had the heart to cut that car up. Nevertheless, it looks like you know what you're doing, and I already like where it's going. Clever little body mounting system you came up with there.

I will never understand people who think they have any business sitting/standing on other people's cars. As I expect you were, I'd be absolutely livid. I think you're very lucky to have not only found her, but that she is also being reasonable about it. That seems rare today. The fact that it popped out going over a bump is very funny, but also fortunate! Doesn't look like it'll be too hard to fix, but I've heard stories about getting a roof straight on a Z.