Mike C

The 240 has vac as well. It is possible to not hook it up and to increase the length of the slot on the mechanical advance mechanism to allow more total advance without having to crank up the mechanical. Right now mine is 15 initial and 36 total advance.

Tax was $163 and shipping was $389. It's still almost half price after that. It's cheaper than Sears has the 185. It is a single phase machine. The ready to weld pak only comes that way. I've literally been looking nearly two years. It's a lot of money and I didn't want to scrimp. I'm stoked and need to get over to the welding shop to get an Argon bottle and some filler rods!

Everything I have read suggests ditching the vacuum. Not enough pulled from one runner with the triples. I just fired up my 2.9l motor with triple Del'Ortos on Monday. I tossed the stock distributor and went with the Mallory dual point. No vac advance and infinite adjustability to advance curve. If points prove troublesome, I'll pull one set and use the other to trigger an MSD.

I've been looking at TIGs for over a year. Can't make up my mind. Used? New? One of the 180 amp light duty jobs? Maybe a 250 amp? Air cooled or water? Wow, big price difference. Anyhow, searching Sears.com this morning, they have the Precision TIG 275 on clearance! Originally $3899, last week they were marked down to $2999. WIth shipping and tax, no better than any of the welder dealers who offered free shipping and no tax. This week they are marked down to $1599!!!!!! for the Ready-to-weld pack including the water cooled torch, torch cooler, cart, torch cover, foot pedal, and flowmeter. If you ever wanted a TIG, now is the time. Mine was $2150 tax and delivery to my door, or about half price! Same price as the ESAB air cooled without the foot amptrol.

You can get 33 spline axles for the 8.5 10 bolt as well. I don't think you can do 35's with 10 or 12 bolt can you? Dana 60 would do for 35's. But 30 spline aftermarket axles should be sufficient for any 2600# car. The Firebird rear I built used the 33 spline axles and spool. If you are going to buy all of that stuff anyhow, go for the big stuff. The S-10 axle I did, we narrowed the housing ourselves. We had aluminum pucks made about .003 smaller than the OD of the axle bearings and diff bearings. 1 1/4" hole in the middle and we used a 6' 1 1/4" steel bar as a pilot. With the diff pucks tightened down, made a heck of a jig. Total including the narrowed housing was around $1000 with Eaton posi, 30 spline axles and 3.73 gears. THe diff came from a junkyard. It was in a 74 Trans Am. It had the posi tag on it, but when we got it home discovered the 2.41 gears. We had hoped for 3.23 or 3.42 and would have used the stock diff to save even more $. 3800# truck ran 11 teens on the motor with a 427 small block on pump gas. 94 extended cab truck. You wouldn't believe the driveshaft! Probably 6 1/2' long.

The 8.5" 10 bolt is as strong as a 12 bolt. They have the same size pinion stem, and the fewer ring gear bolts are a larger diameter. They are also reverse thread so don't require lock washers. Late model ones are also 30 spline same as 12 bolt. The 7.5", 7 5/8" ring gear in the 82-02 Camaro's just aren't strong enough. They will hold up to the stock car-for awhile. They were also used in the S-10 trucks and weren't strong enough for the 2.8 V6. Just about every S10 Blazer you'll ever see has had both the 2.8l and the rear end replaced. Just look for the yellow paint! I've built several 8.5" 10 bolts. One in a low 10 second firebird had over 200 passes on the 4.11's before he decided on 3.70's. ANYTHING running in the 8 or 9 second range will need the gears replaced every year or so if they run it all the time. Some of the 7 second racers do gears several times a season. The soft, impact resistant race gears just don't last very long.

I think the input shaft on the Z31 trans is longer. If that is the case, it could be disassembled and turned down to fit. Anybody else?

Tim, Glad you still have your truck! My 70 GMC with the big block got 11 mpg. With a JET Stage II 750 Q-jet it now gets 13. I bought one for my Jimmy as well. Q Jet is best of both worlds, but $360 is a lot more than the Holleys. Drawback on my 70 is having to adapt the TH400 kickdown solenoid and mechanical throttle linkage to the cable type arm. Not a problem in your 71. The electric choke is worlds better than the OEM hot air choke as well.

The strength of the yoke is in the number splines and diameter of the Transmission output shaft. I don't know that you can get the same spline count with just a thicker wall. I'd be interested in hearing more about this mod and the whys.

I think if you wanted to do something like this, the best way to go about it would be to replace the entire steering column with a street-rod column. Integrating the wiring with different styles of switches could be daunting. The turn signal assembly on a GM column is much more integral than the Nissan switchgear.

The Cal-Mini unit is for the front of an Xterra. I contemplated using this diff, but it will require machine work for the snap rings that hold the stubs in. The Xterra stubs are held in differently than the RWD R200s. Nissan switched to 12mm ring gear bolts around 84. I have an 85 3.54 R200 from a 300ZXT in my 240 with the Precision Gear LSD I purchased from Reider Racing. Here is the link to the install that I posted on the board: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=94653&highlight=bearing+puller

Engine load helps to build boost in a turbo car. A higher numeric number reduces the load on the engine, making it spin easier. This can reduce boost. But it also multiplies torque. Without trying itin your car, it is hard to say exactly what will happen. When Nissan went to the T5 in the turbo cars they kept the 3.54. When they went to the NA 5 speed (late) they went to the 3.90. Bottom line is overall first gear ratio is about the same. So once again, "your mileage may vary" is the rule of thumb with this mod.

A zero offset 8" wheel would have 5" backspacing. A zero offset 7" rim has 4" backspacing.

A zero offset 8" wheel would have 5" backspacing. A zero offset 7" rim has 4" backspacing.

I don't know if peak numbers are sufficiently different, but the smoother more gradual bending of the runners in the RPM promote better mixture distribution and should provide better part throttle response. I like both of the intakes, but dyno and computer modeling have improved things significantly over Chevy's 1967 high rise intake (which in itself was a dramatic improvement over the L79 style intake.) If you already owned one I would say run it, but if you are buying, the RPM intake is a better all around package IMO.

I don't know of any changes. It also was called the Dominator II when I bought the first one I had. It is a good intake, but not as good as the Performer RPM which I believe is cheaper? That's how I would go.

There are a TON of things to look for. The 186 were one of the heads, there may have been others including 041. Even the 70 cars did NOT have angled plugs. No factory installed angle plugs on iron heads. The Norwood cars have an X code on the cowl tag that id's a Z/28. X77 or X44. The California cars do not. Before I spent any money on one of these cars, I would buy Jerry McNeish book on the 69 Z/28. Some of the things to look for, some are obvious some not: 12 bolt rear, 4 leaf rear springs NOT 5, Factory dual exhaust reinforcements on ddrivers side, deep groove pulleys, larger front sway bar (some people say this is a myth, but I have a factory 7/8 bar that came off a 69 and not the 11/16.), front power discs, Muncie aluminum case 4 speed, Hurst shifter with ROUND handle flattened where Hurst is stamped, 3/8 fuel line. GM aluminum intake with welch plug where oil filler tube went, Corvette valve covers, correct carb code on the Holley, etc. Literally a whole book of things different on one of these from a base car. Buy the book before spending $20k plus dollars.

Sure. Same way that the 1st GEN 300ZX LSD center can be swapped. The only thing that might need to be changed is the pinion yoke. I currently have an 85 300ZX 3.54 geared 12mm R200 in my car. I had to change the square yoke to the round one for crossmember clearance. Other than that, everything else is the same. If you get it from a CV equipped car, you will need the stub axles from the 1st gen R200.

The T5 gear ratios are almost identical to the early 4 speed. Which had very reasonable ratios even for the small 2.4 liter motor. The T5 has a deepest first gear of any of the 5 speeds and has nearly the best OD. For a driver, the 3.70 or 3.54 with the T5 are ideal. Much better than the NA 5 speed and the 3.90 IMO.

Why swap gears when you can swap the whole center? Gears can be done, but ideally you should have a pinion depth checker to make sure everything is spot on.

Good stuff! I guess it's not as dramatic with IRS, but solid axle cars ALWAYS wear the right rear faster than any other tire. IME, my Z's have as well, but not as dramatically as my V8 powered vehicles, but especially if I am hammering it off the line a bunch. (Which is my preferred driving style!)

Funny, every peg leg car I ever had possessed a bald right rear tire... Do you think this might have something to do with your driving style? That was my problem...

The T5 is not a hard trans to rebuild. Go to http://www.gearzone.net and they can get you parts. Same site is 5speeds.com I think. You can use a Mustang or Camaro factory service manual for overhaul specs. I would be tempted to try and find a used up Ford T5 and try and see just how different it is compared to the Nissan case. A brand new one can be had for $1200.

To the best of my knowledge, Trick Flows are about the only canted valve small block head. They were called Twisted Wedge. They used stock pistons. Are supposed to flow pretty well, but I had heard rumours of early failures.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who times his projects with a sundial