Mike C

You have to remove the entire assembly. Then use a spring compressor to compress springs and remove the retainer nut on the strut bearing. After the spring is off, remove the big nut and pull the cartridge out. I have Suspension Techniques springs I got from Summit for about $100. I have KYB struts but don't recommed them. I'd try the cheap Tokicos, but the Tokico Illumina adjustables are the correct way to go, but $175 each!!!! If you want big tires in the back, might as well do coilovers now and get it over with.

I'm sure it could be done, but be careful. Especially if you have stock brakes. If it is an older Celica back when they were light it would be more likely. Don't you have a buddy with a truck? You can rent one of those $20 a day trailers with the tall sides (so you can't put a car on it, but you can a small car and "Dukes of Hazzard" out the window) FYI, I've got a complete trailer hitch setup for a big bumper Z that came off a '78 parts car I scrapped. Yours for $40 plus shipping. This would be really cool if somebody had a pair of standup jetskis or a single sitdown.

Well, they are in and I have parted with $550 of my hard earned dollars. The only application they had was the 12mm. I am going to try and get some bushings for my 10mm ring gear and bolts, but if that doesn't pan out I'll just pony up the $ for a 12mm 3.90 diff. I'll try to post some pics of the setup when I get it done. Should be here in 3 business days they said. This gives on the option of running either 10 or 12mm ring gear bolts if the bushings pan out. This is the same LSD in the motorsport catalog for $750, but not as cheap as most guys running the 300 diff.

Ignition timing is the place to start. Actually second place. First is make sure that the carburetor is opening all the way. A 400+ hp motor at 1/3 throttle is only a 130hp motor. Get a dial back light at sears and check initial and total advance as well as where it comes in. I run my motor at 40 degrees total timing (those antique combustion chambers really like lots of spark lead) If that all checks out, you may have to tear into it and degree the cam to make sure it is installed correctly and that it is ground correctly. Hopefully someone in your area can give you a hand. I would be happy to 'twere I closer.

This subject has been discussed ad nauseum in the Driveline section, check it out over there.

I think it is too much gear unless you have a track only car that will pull 7800 rpm.

JTR manual says the 280zx swap sucks because of the smaller rotor, but they are not talking about the 4 lug 300zx rotor turned down like Terry (Blueovalz) is talking about. This seems to be the best bang for the buck, especially if you have a 240 with the correct scalloped hubs. $60 for new rotors, $50 for a new ZX master and a set of used 280zx calipers for $25 (That's what I paid) Near 11" rotors and vented to boot, with change back from $150.

Haven't heard anything yet. I'd like to be able to LSD as I do everything else on the rear, but who knows?

They were both 3.70 rears, but the LSD was a running change in '87. Not ALL '87 trubos had LSD, but ALL 88-89 did. If they don't say in the ad it is, it might not be. $300 for an open r200 is a poking IMO.

It's a great setup! I'm going to get his CV conversion set up as well as soon as I get the blankety blank hubs off my parts car. I painted my caliper brackets with Eastwood Chassis Black the day I got them. I'm going to mask off the rotors and paint with Eastwood Disc Brake caliper paint on the "hats". I can't wait to get the whole rear done as the stock 240 stubs are clanking like nobody's business!

I bought my 16x7 4" backspacing wheels from Summit. It looks like Centerline has discontinued them, but they still have some nice wheels and I think mine were only $156 bucks each vs. the $259 that Motorsport (?!!) wants for Centerlines.

For the NA 2.8 I'd go 3.90 with the late 5 speed (more OD) for the turbo, 3.54 to make boost. The 3.54 should be OK for the LS1 6 speed combo as well. You might want 3.36, but they are rare (r200, common r180) and expensive. Higher numeric gears make wheelspin easier, but they also make it easier to modulate the wheelspin.

Hey DAW, I may have another set of the Suspension Techniques risers. My parts 240 (73) has a factory 280 rear bar, BUT at some point in time it had the ST setup and the risers are still there. If you aren't in a hurry (I've gotta do a roof on my house ASAP) and might be interested, let me know.

Also make sure that you haven't uncovered too much of the idle transition slot because your primary throttle blades are cracked too much. This is the trouble Pete was having with his car, not enough airflow at idle so the idle had to be turned up which caused the mixture to be too rich.

Admittedly carbs appear less complex than FI, but if you check out the post on "Triples, take me to school" you'll see how complicated they can be. Also more expensive vs. a conversion with OEM parts from your donor. Here is my recommendation for what it is worth... Buy a nice 280zx turbo that you can drive, then spend your time and money learning to do basic auto repair and maintenance. Get it painted and add some nice wheels and tunes. After a couple of years when you have learned a ton, buy a 240 and swap your already paid for and learned turbo driveline into it. Now, if you don't like my advice, here's some more. The 3.1 L motor will set you back at least $4k to get it together not including nearly $2k more for carbs. The 50's are too big. (Once again see post referenced above) The 3.1 is super cool, just not the best spot to learn IMO. Good luck regardless.

MSD sells a manual for installing their units on a bunch of different applications. I would imagine you could extrapolate some of the HEI/Duraspark info where you can bypass the module completely and just use the magnetic pickup to fire the 6A is what I would try and do.

You can "map" the ignition curve if you have a remote tachometer and a dial-back light or timing tape. I bought a Mallory dual point because I want a distributor that is un-worn and has an adjustable advance curve beyond just setting initial timing. I also wanted one WITHOUT vac advance for my triple Del"Lortos because I have heard the triple manifolds don't provide enough vac signal for full advance. I will get my L28 running with the dual points then switch to just one set of the points triggering a Crane HI6 I have lying around. If the point trigger proves unreliable or maintenance intensive I'm going to put a Pertronix Ignitor in the Mallory. I have single points on mine now. I burned up my Ignitor while doing a compression check and it was out of warranty. I had good luck with the Ignitor on my last 240, over 7 years of use when I sold the car.

Man, I only THOUGHT I was the eBay guru My wife would be if I bought her an Exploder, though.

I think that's the right idea Pete. If you check out the mags long term tests on new vehicles, they make more power and get better fuel economy as they approach the 10-15k mile range, I think their rings even take awhile to get their best seal. They just have better seals to begin with, but not as high performance of parts, so your longevity should be better...

You may have to use an R200 rubber mount from a 75-78 car as well. That I don't remember on mine as to which I used. My r200 was from a 78 and my car a 72. All I changed was mustache bar and diff and MAYBE the front mount, I just can't recall. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a new one however...

What you are really doing is bypassing the ignition switch wiring. That way you don't have the current/voltage loss since you are "switching" the GM solenoid with a 1" long 10ga wire. Since the current demands of the GM starter are higher when it is hot, the full 12v makes a BIG difference. The Ford solenoid just cuts current from the batt cable to the GM solenoid when deactivated, and supplies batt power when activated.

Now that you have the gear reduction mini starter, you should be able to eliminated the external solenoid. I had heat soak probs on both my trucks and replaced the crappy GM starters with CVR Nippondenso gear reduction starters. No problem now no matter how hot they get.

I had a good friend who used to run front Goodyear Eagles from a Winston cup car on his car. 26 10.5 I believe they were. They hooked up great ~ 11.0's on a 3500# Trans Am. I ran some too for awhile. They hooked up fine on my low powered car (13.40's) and they have NONE of the "wiggle" that drag race tires do.

Just stick with the 355 combo I outlined above with the forged flat tops. ~9.5:1 so you can run pump gas. Race motors on nitrous use up to 15:1 compression, but obviously the fuel cost would kill you on a driver!

The battery connects to the Ford solenoid. The switched side of the Ford solenoid connects to the GM starter with a batt cable. The start post of the GM starter is hardwired to the big terminal on the GM starter with a 10 ga wire or so. Then connect your OEM start wire to the start post of the Ford solenoid. You aren's really bypassing the GM solenoid, just making sure it gets full batt voltage when you turn the key.