Mike C

LOL! Thanks Terry. I'll order some 280zx steel brake lines. If they don't fit, ther's always ebay!

I had a buddy who had one. For the life of me I can't remember who made it! It was someone you wouldn't expect like Summers Brothers or Pete Jackson. Damn brain... He was going to build a roadracer and relocate the motor back underneath the firewall.

Great thing about gear ratios without chaning tire is it is simple math. 3.70 are 10% more gear than 3.36 (1o% more rpm) while 3.54 are only 5% more, thus a 5% increase in rpm. And for Balford's car, that's 2850 instead of 3000, which can be significant depending on the cam in your car.

You said it Cruez. Sofa King We Todd It.

I still want to figure out a way to not mod the hood latch with the SBC. I think you can go magnetic pickup crank trigger and use a "timing" computer from MSD or Mallory that has an electronic advance built into it.

Unless you just want "the Look", stay with a single 750dp. I'd say the Victor Jr will have a better torque and hp curve. The 450 holleys are a mechanical secondary carb with a single accelerator pump designed specifically for dual carb installations. The 390 doesn't meter real well "out-of-the-box". The other carbs will all require more set up time for a dual carb application than the 450's IMO.

2.8l is 2.8l right? I like to refer to the GM 2.8 as a grenade with the pin out. It may not go off right now, but sooner or later, BOOM! Get yourself a low mileage NISSAN 2.8 powered car and not only will you not have to fab the exhausts, motor mounts, etc., but it will be smoother than the GM 60 v6, make better torque and horsepower and will last eons in comparison. Sell your 2.8 to somebody with an S10 Blazer who blew theirs up. Or just score a $500 4x4 Blazer and put the 2.8 in there and have the cheap driver! (There are oodles of S10 Blazers around because of the GM 2.8s ability to break crankshafts...)

I bought one of the LT1 carb intakes for my '96 SS motor. I'll use it until I have the $ for my DFI and then put all the FI stuff on my convertible. Then the plan is to put it on the '95 cop car motor I have and put it in the Z! It comes with a plug for the distributor hole so it looks like you can keep the "opticrap" but still run the carb? That would be nice actually so I would not have to mod the hood latch. I'll find out eventually, I guess...

I am doing the front brake upgrade to 300zx vented rotors and 280zx calipers. What brake lines should I use for this swap? Terry, I checked your write up on zhome again but there was no mention of flex lines. Am I to assume that my existing braided stainless 240 lines will work? Any other bits of advice to offer other than what was written up by Terry?

That's typical of a modified valve body in a muscle car trans. It just holds in gear until you want it to shift. It is a manual/auto valve body. A full manual valve body means that regardless of rpm, the trans will be in whatever gear you put the shifter in. You can actually start off in 3rd gear if you aren't careful which is hard on the trans. It will NEVER shift on its own. The manual auto valve body gives you the option of manual up-shift control (it will put itself back in low gear automatically at say a stop sign)or fully automatic control, ie just leave the shifter in D and go.

Yes it will bolt up to the 350. Yes it is longer and will require a shorter driveshaft but uses the same output shaft spline so your yoke is OK. The rear mount is further back and will require relocating the trans crossmember. Some 700's have mechanical speedometers that should hook right up to what you have now. Others are electriconic speedos. The newer megashifters work with either 3 or 4 speed autos, not sure about yours. You cannot use your TH350 torque converter and must get one for a th700r4. You will have to get a torque converter lock up switch. Easiest way to do that is to get one that locks up the converter only in OD. You will also need a connection to the brake pedal that unlocks the converter when you hit the brake. I believe the cooler lines need to be slightly longer, but don't recall for sure.

LT1. I'm not sure what year 350 you are looking at, but the fuel injected LT1 makes great power and is super driveable. Rumor has it the iron heads (I am assuming yours are at this price) out flow the aluminum ones. No distributor means no hood latch mods to put it in an early Z, not sure on the ZX. If the LT1 is worn out and the other motor isn't, well... obviously get the better motor. All LT1s were roller cam motors, once again not sure on the 350 you mention. Everything else being equal, LT1 is more motor for the money IMO. It also should have the GM gear reduction starter to avoid hot start problems.

I think a '73-'81 Camaro shifter with the Shiftworks gate conversion would be a good choice. This shifter has internal gates when you push it sideways and forward it only moves forward one gear. It has a chrome stick with a black knob with a push button on top. Also found in Vegas and possibly Novas with buckets and Monzas as well. I would expect you could get one from a bone yard for about $20 and the shiftworks detent (I THINK they make them for this shifter, but maybe not...) for my '69 Camaro stirrup style shifter was $60 but it even came with a new silk screened shift indicator as well as the gates and brackets.

Motorsport Auto (MSA) or your local Nissan dealer. The Nismo LSD is made by Tokigi Fuji who also makes the Reider Racing diff AND the Cal-Mini diff, and most likely the '87-'89 turbo LSD as well. I think the real choices are Tokigi Fuji or Quaiffe, but price and availability are inversely proportionate it seems...

Interesting. Let us know what you find! I am going to put a T5 in my 240 as well, but it won't be a bolt in... You must have a '73 240 that has the same style crossmember as the newer cars. The '72 and earlier crossmember threads into a captive nut in the crossmember mount instead of using the nut and bolt with the bushings like those two mounts in your photo.

I've investigated this significantly and here is what I have found/believe: 300zxT LSD comes with gears and housing for $500-$750 Nissan Motorsports LSD $750 Quaiffe $1195 Reider Racing $525 IF they ever get more... And POSSIBLY CalMini makes an LSD for the FRONT of a Frontier/Xterra that looks like will work. It is "cheap" at $449 and the way to go IMO IF you can confirm for sure it bolts in.12mm steel tube with a 1mm wall thickness will make a suitable sleeve for the 10mm bolt in the 12mm hole of any of the other LSD you choose to swap into an existing 10mm r200. IMO, the Corvette rear is not a good choice for a powerful car because the half shaft is actually the 4th "link" of the 4 link suspension! This means if you break a half shaft you may crash... NHRA outlawed the 'vette IRAS and the Jag IRS for cars running quicker than 11.0 because of this. I still believe a reinforced front mount, urethane mustache bar bushing, the ZXT half shafts and some sort of LSD in the r200 is the best choice. After all no one appears to break the r200 LSD or gear set. It all boils down to price. Scottie got big brakes as well as 3.0 gears and LSD with his swap. This would have been big bucks to upgrade all of those things on the r200.

A CJ7 has a 93" wheelbase while the '72 Blazer is 104" The axle width on an "early" CJ-7 (pre 1980)is 50.5". The rear axle in the Blazer is 63" wide. A Datsun has a 91" wheelbase and is 61" wide, so it seems the Jeep frame is darn near perfect after fabbing mounts to attach the Datsun unibody structure to.

Not my cup of tea per se, BUT... why go for the '72 Blazer other than you have it? I would go for an S10 Blazer Chassis, Jeep or Scout which will be much closer to the wheelbase and length needed. All the time you spent modifying the frame can be spent on other aspects of the buildup.

IMO, it's WAY cheaper to build another 355 rather than go for the 400. Advantage 400 for torque, but since the 355 is more comfortable up higher, hp is pretty much a wash with same cylinder heads and cam. Not only do you have the cost of a 400 rebuilder which is usually priced at a premium to the 355, parts are higher. Pistons are about the same as the entire 350 rebuild kit in some cases! Added expenses come with having to use the 400 flexplate and damper which you will have to pony up for if you don't already have them. The 355 is also more comfortable cruising at a higher rpm than the 400 which may be important depending on your trans/gearing. 355 with its 5.7 rod has a better rod/stroke ratio as well. Anecdotal, I had an 84 'vetter for awhile. It went around corners like a train and made tons of low speed torque. It just flat quit at 4200 rpm. Not good in a sportscar IMO. I like the 6000 rpm power spread much better that my Z has and think you will be happier with the slightly more rev happy motor ~500rpm or so.

I was already cool, but I help the bike! I like plain leathers also, but ended up with an AGV Rage jacket that is white/red/black. It is the vented chest "summer" jacket. It's just WAY too hot in TX to wear a black jacket in the summer

I assume you mean tie rod end? If the nut is tight, all of the wear should be in the tie rod end, none in the tapered hole of the steering arm.Any auto parts store should have tie rod ends. I think I got my last set from www.northernautoparts.com

That Fiero fan looks exactly like the electric fan from my '86 Trans Am TPI donor car but with a different shroud. The TA fan works great for you guys who have the Camaro radiator and use the GM upper radiator bracket. The later cars (88-92, maybe 87)have dual fans that work REALLY well.

LOL! Sounds like my Camaro convertible project! Went from carb to tune port to LT1 and it's still apart! The easiest, albeit not cheapest, solution is to run a Corvette accessory drive.

If it is externally balanced and 153 teeth, it should work fine for your 400. Steel flywheels are usually about $200 for an internally balanced once, so $260 isn't outrageous. Typically, SBC steel flywheels are 30#. Seems pretty crazy that a 12 1/2" flywheel would be 40#... do some more investigating and you can turn some others up I'm sure.

If money is no object, just get a Reher-Morrison Super 468. Credit card and it's on the boat! If memory serves, they run about $10k US and make 800 hp on the motor. Add a 300 shot of N20 and you'll be in the 8's with a 3000# car. Scoggin Dickey has a 540 ci motor that will get you going as well...