Mike C

Not really your goal, but if you want Vortec heads and FI, the complete 96-98 Vortec 5.7 truck motor is the way to go. You should be able to get one complete meaning all wiring, accessories, and FI stuff for $800 at a dismantler. Not only do you get a little more displacement, you get the heads and hydraulic roller cam. The motors run sweet stock and would make a Z a screamer.

That's awesome Dan! Can't wait to see the numbers after you get ignition and carb issues straightened out.

Your damper and TDC may be fine. When you put the timing chain on, the marks could be off a tooth or so. Now you have to put 50 degrees in in order to make up for the skipped tooth. You may have to pull the timing cover.

Thanks, but one thing I like about my Z is that you can still do neat low-buck hop ups. Eventually I'll either buy a new one or find a junkyarder for what I want to spend. Keep us updated on your car. I think it's too cool and look forward to your posts.

Ringing or "tinging/ticking" noises are from the header. As noted, the drone is a combination of tubing diameter and muffling. My '84 Corvette droned badly @ 1400-1600 rpm with the stock exhaust. (factory tube headers into a single monolith cat, then back out into two pipes and into separate rear mounted mufflers. I went to a Dynomax exhaust that had a balance tube where the rear twin pipe started going back out. This I thought was odd since the exhaust was already "balanced" in the cat. It did wonders for the drone however. The best thing you can do is add pipe AFTER the muffler. This is very difficult with a rear mounted muffler and not having the VW beetle effect to your exhaust! Why don't you remove whatever tip you have and try a resonating tip? It is a cheap and easy trick if it works. BUT might be significantly detrimental to power but the very tip is where gases are the coolest and require the least diameter. You could even try a 2 1/2" muffler at the very rear instead of the 3" for the same reason. Beyond that, you may want to try a crossover of some sort closer to the engine.

Centerline makes a ton of different wheels that will fit without adapters. They had some even in their clearance section that were cheap cheap. I am happy with mine and I paid full price! (About $150 per wheel for 16x7) I know some guys got a set of 4 for $350 in 16's and about 390 in 17's.

sss510, I'd be interested in that LSD if the price were fair...

You are mixing trans. There is a Nissan 5 speed and a Borg Warner 5 speed. The Nissan 5 speed goes in really easy in a 240. The only thing a ZX 5 speed requires is a modified shift lever since it is at the wrong angle. If you use a 280Z 5 speed, not even that is required. Be careful, as the late 5 speed will make for anemic acceleration in a 3.36 geared 240 as it is designed to run with a 3.90 rear gear. The early 5 speed will work better, but is designed for a 3.54 rear gear. The T5 is a complete different story. It is longer and uses a larger output shaft spline. It requires redoing the rear trans mount and haveing a custom driveshaft manufactured. It does offer the best all around gear rations for an L6 IMO, however.

Not all trucks are slow, but not all Camaros are fast... Check out this little truck. 12.50's on the motor with 455 Poncho power and 11.60's with a 125 shot.

Do you mean spline count? Teeth are inside the tranny on the other end of the input and it will vary depending on the gear ratio of the trans you are talking about.

Just like any rear diff that is open, you WILL break it if you spin one tire exccessively. You will destroy the spider gears and the pinion pin (spider pinion). A high perf car requires a limited slip or a moderate throttle foot. If you break an R200 limited slip you are doing something you shouldn't...

It should fit in the housing, but I don't know what you will do for axles. The splines on the shafts are different to the best of my knowledge. I'm pretty sure they are all viscous LSD.

Be wary. It is cost prohibitively expensive to do that. The speed gears have bearings underneath them in a WC trans and use bushings in a non-WC. These gears are REALLY pricey. Most likely it was just rebuilt and they are running ATF in it would be my guess. If it is cheap, it is still not so bad a deal.

Quarter mile speed through the traps is calculated using two sensors. One before the finish line, and one after. The time elapsed between the two gives mile an hour. You cannot let out before the second light and get a good time, nor will your mph through the traps be accurate. Most likely your speedo is off anyhow, auto speedos are notorious inaccurate, especialy at speed. You should be more concerned with rpm and the general drag race guideline is you want to be at redline 100' BEFORE the finishline for fastest ET.

Sounds like he has a 280Z by his reference to the air flow valve, I assumed he meant the AFM.

http://www.motorbooks.com and do a search for Weber. They have a couple of books.

I bought a K&N universal cylinder element. 4" by 9" I believe with 3" clamp opening. The lid has a 1/4x 20 stud to attach to car. Cost was $35.

I had Eagle Talon sport seats, then got a set of Eclipse seats. Both from 90 models. With simple mods to the tracks, they bolt to the Nissan mounts without affecting the car. The Talon seats are the sport seats with adjustable lumbar and thigh support and moveable head support. They are virtually the same shape as the Z seats with excellent bolstering. Not a Momo, Corbeau, or Recaro mind you, but at $100 for the Talon seats and $50 for the Eclipse seats (what I paid at two different junkyards), you can afford to change your mind! Which is what I did. The only reason for the switch is I like the way the Eclipse seats looked better. If you are taller than me (6 foot even) head clearance might be an issue, however. If you are shorter, you will fit in the car MUCH better than with the stock seats.

The other guys are on the right track. Try lowering the float level in the rear bowl, most likely it is surging out of the vent and into the motor causing the bog. An offroaders trick is to put a piece of short hose from one bowl vent to the other, then at the peak of the hose, shave off about an inch wide strip opening up the hose to atmospere. Looks like a "U" with a flat bottom where it was shave, turned upside down.

Depends, as usual. The conclusion I came to was the Mallory dual point. The reasons: Pluses: $200 cheaper than the Unilite adjustable advance curve No vacuum advance, triples are notorious for not providing enough vac in one runner to fully activate said advance in Nissan distributor. Minuses: BUT, you have to deal with the points. I've done that in my 240's anyhow. Pertronix does make an Ignitor that will fit the dual point, but Crane and Mallor do not. I plan on removing one set of points from my Mallory and using the other to fire my Crane HI6 and MSD Blaster 2 coil.

Check this out: http://www.tomsdifferentials.com/cat24.htm It is an "add-on" upper control arm link for the rear suspension, this one is for 63-82, but something similar could be fabricated for C4 suspensions. If the half shaft breaks, this upper keeps the wheel stabilized. They say it is also NHRA legal for cars running faster than 10.99 except for stock eliminator. Also Scottie, they sell Dana 44 centers as well as all of the hard parts including a changeover kit that lets you use standard Dana 44 gear sets instead of the more limited gear sets of the Corvette Dana 44. For 63-79 they also have a modified Corvette center that uses all 12 bolt GM internals. Not cheap as you'll see! Also hardened stubs for both inner and outers.

Helm, Inc. sells GM service manuals. The JTR TPI/TBI swap manual is a good source for tips, but doesn't cover specific vehicles, they recommend buying the GM manual and i do as well. Not cheap at about $75 but well worth it if you are turning wrenches yourself. The 4.3 does use SBC mounts, they are just in a different location relative to the bellhousing, so JTR mounts will not work with modification.

255 hp. They run really well, and if you want an auto trans would be a good donor IMO.

Marine engines are a good source for high perf parts. I had a buddy who bought a "retired" 307 boat engine and it had a steel crank. So, there are some steel crank 307 out there, just not passenger car engines. The 307 was available in some 3/4 and 1 ton trucks circa 1968-1972 and they MIGHT be steel cranks. Small journal 4" bore blocks and the steel 3" stroke cranks are VERY easy to find around here. Just no demand for them. That is the easiest way to make a 302, but it should be balanced because the 283 counterweights are contoured for a significantly lighter piston than the 4" bore 302 piston. And forged 302 pistons are STUPID expensive, like L28 forged pistons. My own personal opinion for a "mild", daily driven V8 Z is a 92 235hp 305 TPI 5 speed motor and trans. Should easily push a Z into the low 13's and return nearly 30mpg. If you want auto, look at getting a 9C1 motor and trans. That is the 260hp iron head LT1, and no mods required to the hood latch! This discussion comes up over and over and over in many different iterations. Revability, short stroke vs. long stroke, displacement, etc. Bottom line is the bottom dollar, and the 350 you can make the most power per "cubic dollar" of any of the SBC, followed by the 327, then the 400 IME.

Not sure about the 4.6, but both McLeod and Lakewood make adapters for the 5.0 transmissions to Chevrolets. This month's Street Rodder has an article on adapting late model ODs or manual trans to older engines and lists several suppliers of adapters. Also Advance Adapters and Trans Dapt have adapters for Ford to Chevy, Advance is almost all trucks however. Just not sure if the 4.6 trans is the same as the 5.0 trans.