Mike C

http://expressauto.zoovy.com/product/8456 don't know the height on this one, it's polished aluminum, exits straight for SBC/BBC, BUT, it only cost $25. Here is another one, http://www.midfloridamotorsportsperformance.com/level.itml/icOid/10 and it's in your state, also $25. #s6009 and it looks lower than that first one, but it might be just the angle and it is actually same component.

300hp is a no-brainer with a 350. For a budget motor, have the machine work done and get an engine kit from www.northernautoparts.com their high-perf 350 kit with hyperutectic pistons is $299 with everything including your choice of Crane Energizer cams. Your only extra expense will be a set of appropriate valve springs. I like the 278 for a mild street motor in a light car up to 6k rpm, 272 if 5500 is good enough. Whatever you do, do NOT get the 284 cam, just too big for your stock heads and IMO, just a POS, and the only energizer not on 110 degree centers. I ran one for awhile and so did my buddy and neither made the power they should have. I would go with the Weiand Stealth intake as it flows almost as well as the RPM, but it is lower for hood clearance. If you have the stock Q-jet, that should be sufficient for 350 hp. Hook it all up with a set of block hugger headers and 2 1/4" into a Flowmaster 2 1/4" dual to 3" y-pipe and run 3" out the back with a Walker 3" turbo muffler. If this is too loud, also use a Walker turbo tube in the tunnel. Another choice that will cost a couple of ponies is after the Flowmaster Y, do 3" back near the diff then install a 3 to 2 1/2" reducer and buy a pair of 2 1/2" 90 deg mandrel bends to run into a 2 1/2" muffler. This should be only slightly more restrictive at 350hp, but a lot quieter. The Chevrolet '69 Z/28 air cleaner will give you another 1/2" of hood clearance with a 3" filter compared to aftermarket air cleaners. It is just expensive at $90 for top, base, and paper filter.

Awesome! I'm not a huge Centerline fan, either, but I have enough sets you'd think I was the spokesperson. Man, I thought I got a good deal at $600! Check out the Tire Rack or discount tire direct for some shoes. I got my 205 55HR 16 Dunlop D60 for $58 apiece. IMO, 205 55 16 is the perfect size. Almost same height as stock and no clearance issues and you can rotate tires if you drive it much.

Want (relative) big power cheap? Get an N42 head (75-76 280 with square ports and small chamber) and a junkyard F54 shortblock with flat top pistons. N42 and the current N47 head on your buddies 2.8 are same chamber size. On a mild motor, the exhaust liner round port head isn't much different powerwise than a different head. Compression makes a big difference in an L motor, thus the flat top shortblock. Only other way to get more power then is a cam swap, and all of a sudden, its not a "budget" project anymore.

Do a google search for gear ratio rpm calculator and plug in your info. Some you have to know trans ratio while some have a drop box to choose from. Then you can enter your gear ratio (3.36-3.54-3.90) and trans specs along with tire height and that will get you really close.

I have heard same story. I have NOT verified it yet..., but if it is true, should increase the number of T5 available for V8 swaps! (But it might require a scattershield with Ford pattern and adapter pilot bearing for GM applications, and same problems exist trying to adapt it to an L6) If you get the code from a T5, a metal tag on older diffs, or a bar coded sticker (Will end in 3 digits like 003 for a Nissan T5, or 070, 068, 084 etc. for other cars. www.gearzone.net has a T5 decoder, just type in the 3 digits and it will tell you year and whether WC or not.)

Tim, you start looking more and more like me everyday! My wife likes the Z, fortunately! Man, I wish I could score a turbo ZX for peanuts like that. They bring big bucks around here. You go boy! (FWIW, just leave the turbo car alone, get it running well, do a few simple mods and enjoy driving it. Stock cars are SO much easier to work on time wise, and spend your real fab time doing just one swap-your 240 with the V8.)

Transmissions are torque ratings are kind of strange. The WC T5 is rated at 330 lb ft, but that is a continuous load for a 24 hour period. What kills the transmissions are shock loads. Speed shifting and clutch dumps with sticky tires. If you drive it like you own it and not like a teenager, a good T5 will last a long time. If it is already worn out, that's a different story. Check out www.gearzone.net and learn all about T5s.

Was the WC you got rid of and the one in your Mustang the same? WC boxes should have paper cone synchros and not brass synchronizer rings. WC boxes also have roller bearings on the speed gears while non-WC boxes have bushings. Non-WC boxes also have needle bearings on the countershaft while the WC boxes have tapered roller bearings. The non-WC Mustang box had a 3.25 (Or something close by...) while the WC boxes have the same 2.95 first gear that all of the GM V8 T5s had, whether WC or not. The Nissan will use the Mustang shifter, but the GM is COMPLETELY different, almost a square mounting plate rather than the rectangle.

The input shaft is also different on the Mustang trans. If it is too long, it might be able to be shortened and have the splines turned dowm so that it fits the Nissan pilot bearing. You cannot use the Nissan input shaft on the Ford trans becasue the gear ratio is different. The Nissan is a 3.5 first gear and all WC trans are 2.95. You could always open up the Nissan bellhousing to fit the Ford bearing retainer, but you will then have to worry about throwout bearing adaptation, best bet then would be a hydraulic throwout bearing and elliminate the sleeve and to bearing and fork that Nissan uses. I like the gear ratios of the T5, almost the same as the early 4 speed which works great in a mild cammed L6. If you are building a road racer and need close ratio and cannot afford the NIsmo trans, run the 82-83. If you are building a drag racer, use the early 4 speed, and if you are building a street car, the T5 is the way to go IMO to get a decent first gear and decent OD with either the 3.54 or 3.70 LSD. The T5 can also be used with the 3.90 without too many rpms on the highway, but with the 3.5 first gear, really doesn't need them. Funny, but in V8 land, the T5 is known as a smooth shifting easy to live with manual trans. If you have one, replace the blankety blank Nissan shifter with an aftermarket one with adjustable stops and a bolt on shifter handle. It changes the entire personality of the trans, making shifts like a rifle bolt.

I usually charge between $5 and $8 sq ft. I'm just a hobbyist, so to speak, so usually doing small cash jobs for friends. Most I ever did was 300 sq ft. A lot of people think I am too expensive, but once they get the bill totaling removal, prep, and finishing, I would have bee a LOT cheaper.

Most likely a pinion bearing and it will tear it up if you keep driving it. It should be torn down and inspected for any failed/worn componest. .010 is not unusaly backlash in a used diff, nor is it extreme. Polished gear teeth is normal in a used diff as well.

Just a heads-up, www.motorbooks.com has the Honsowetz book "How to Modify your Nissan & Datsun OHC engine on a 50% clearance sale for anybody who doesn't have it. Item # 109511AE normally $19.95 on sale for $9.98. It's a pretty good book if you havent't seen it.

Chicago Electric is basically a Harbor Freight brand. It is assembled overseas somewhere and is cheap. The are NOT related to Chicago Pneumatic, but IMO, they are trying to take advantage of that name recognition. For a DIY user doing just one house, they are probably more than sufficient. I borrowed one of the little Harbor Freight wet cut saws (The $50 one) and it makes pretty good cuts, but the blade was not very high quality. It was worth $50,however. I did not use it to make crosscuts, but just trim cuts, corners, etc. I use a manual scribe cutter for full tile cross cuts, which ALSO cost $50. As noted, if your buddy keeps borrowing your MK saw, he needs a better one. Porter Cable also makes a decent wet cut saw. Check out Tool Crib of the North, AKA Amazon.com (I've been doing business with them since before they were affiliated with Amazon, I've been quite happy.) I done enough tile that my next job I'm gonig to $ up the cash for either the MK or Porter Cable saws.

The beauty of the clutch LSD is it is rebuildable. So even if it is wornout (they still function better than an open diff IME) I don't know how much clutches are, but $100 should get you close to getting all of the parts.

Yea, It pretty much is a TX thing. Once you get out of the city limits, pretty much every house has a BBQ on wheels. And in town there's a baby one in every back yard! I have a big Xmas party every year and feed about 50 people. It will easily hold 2 briskets, 2 turkeys and about 10lbs of raw Elgin Hot Sausage all spread out. You could cram more if you wanted, but that's plenty!

Isn't the viscous LSD 30 spline also? That's what makes it a hard install in an early R200. If that is the case, at least for the 240SX, you can get halfshafts/stubs from a VLSD equipped car.

Just the NUTS, not the bolts. Replacing the bolts can distort the bore of the rod. The bolts can be re-used, but the nuts cannot. (Should not at least, but it is done.) Hopefully someone else will pipe-in on the feasability of rebuilding the PM rods. Darn new-fangled stuf...

If you are not running over 6500 rpm, I would just replace the nuts when you reassemble the motor. If you are going to be running high RPM a lot, you should buy aftermarket rods and at that point I would go 6" as well. But then since you have to buy pistons and rods, might as well go for the 3.75" stroke crank... See where this gets you, don't ya'? (Deeper and deeper in debt!) Also, Scoggin Dickey has the COMP roller lifters for factory roller equipped motors for $179. And they have a part # HT-2148 OEM replacement '87 and up roller lifter for $7.50 each whether that's right or not I don't know...

The lifters should be fine with only 103k on them. 12551705 is the part # for the ZZ4 lifters which I THINK are the same as LT1 lifters, but you should check. Jim Pace has them for $234.80, but I haven't priced them in a while, so that may be the new rate. Jegs sells GM Performance parts as well. I'm not sure that the PM rods can be reconditioned. Anybody? The caps are "cracked" when the rod is made. Literally broken apart, and then the ridges and valleys fit back together. I don't know that the mating surfaces can be ground smooth and then resized. Check with your machine shop. You may just want to use rods as-is, just replace the rod bolt nuts. EDIT: Scoggin Dickey,http://www.SDPC2000.com has the lifter kit for $199.

JC Whitney has Phantom Grip LSD in their new catalog.

The GM roller lifters can be had from any GM Performance Parts dealer, I think they are $169 a set. Summit has Comp lifters for the factory roller cams for $199 a set last time I looked.

Yes, tappets are lifters. Tappet is the technical, official name, but they are know universally as lifters nowadays.

They do not fit. YOu have to get some stubs from a 75-78 car equipeed with an R200. Actually, you should be able to use the stubs from a u-joint half shaft equipped ZX as well. (I THINK!) One is longer than the other, so wherever you get them, confirm which is which.

The Comp 280 Magnum is a hydraulic flat tappet. It is a good cam for what you are trying to do. The solid will make more power, but you will need to check and adjust the valve lash regularly, which may be something you don't want to undertake as you are having someone else install the cam. The hydraulic will be much less work, but the trade off is slightly less power depending on the flow of your heads. If you are going to drive the car quite a bit, I would get the hydraulic lifter cam.