Miles

Wood shed

I had gas fume problems before doing the v8 swap. My engine was carbed so I decided to eliminate as many fume exit points as possible. I eliminated the vapor tank and all of the hoses except for the top hose that I ran to the top fitting on the filler hose. No gas odor since then.

The long red line should not be capped. As the tank is filled air will be trapped in the top of the tank. Connect the long red hose to the fitting near the top of the filler hose to release air trapped in the top of the tank. This is ASSUMING that you have eliminated the vapor tank. There is a post with pictures showing which hoses to keep if you decide to eliminate more hoses. I have eliminated all of the other hoses and have no gas odor.

The best way to reduce loads on switches and wires is to install relays. A member here designed and sells through MSA relay kits for headlights and there are also relay kits for turn signals and running lights. Search here and at MSA. With relays the lights will be brighter and there will be less stress on switches. The member who makes the relay kits is named Dave and lives in Washington. Search in the VENDOR forum for relay kits. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic10l/12-4651

An electronic flasher costs less than $20. Please don't take this as a put down, but you should study some books on automotive electronics

For LED turn signal bulbs you don't need resistors. Use an electronic flasher unit availble at most parts stores. Been discussed here many times.

Anyone following California SB 350? It will give the California Air Resources Board the abilty to control gasoline use including monitoring individual gas use and rationing. I expect they will use this bill to get old inefficient cars off of Califonia roads as well.

Saginaw 4 speed. Just sold one to a circle track racer.

The v6 and v8 T5s have different spline counts on the input shafts.

If using a spacer, step up the thickness of the spacer in increments e.g., 1/8" 3/16" etc. until the wheel clears the caliper. Note that you will need to watch the length of the wheel studs - you may have to install longer studs depending on how thick the spacer(s) are. Again, try to post some pictures where the caliper and wheel are touching. The other option you have is to use a different caliper or go back to stock.

Camaro WC T5 with the T5 bell housing. Note that the T5 is tilted 15 degrees to the left

Try Johns Cars Inc. He sells a 280ZX swap kit. See: http://www.johnscars.com/zcar/zcar.html Also, Google "280ZX SBC 350" Transmission selection depends on how you will use the car. I prefer the T5 WC transmission for my daily drivers.

See if you can post a picture where the caliper and wheel are touching. I had the same problem with the S-8 calipers when I changed wheels. I was able to fix it with very minor grinding of the caliper using a Dremel grinder. The Dremel allowed taking very small bites of material. Even though my caliper was also touching the side of the wheel, I experimented with wheel spacers which eliminated the touching, but I considered the spacers a band-aid fix. After carefully examining where the caliper was touching the wheel I could see that the casting was thick enough at that point to allow grinding and ground off (skimming) a bit of metal. After taking off a small amount of material I would refit the wheel to check the interference. After several iterations of grinding and testing, the wheel went on without rubbing. Total material removed was less than 1mm. I then road tested the car and have had no problems. The key to fitment problems is to keep looking until you understand exactly what is obstructing the parts from fitting. Look for witness marks for where the wheel and caliper are touching. I used a small amount of paint on the caliper where I suspected rubbing was occurring and refit the wheel turning it to make a mark on the inside the wheel and rub the paint off of the caliper. This was very revealing. I could see that it was one spot on the caliper about 3 or 4 mm in diameter that was touching the wheel. Don't grind the wheel or the caliper until you can evaluate exactly what is causing the conflict. There may be other solutions than mine, or worst case, you will have to change wheels or calipers. Again, posting pictures will help.

Pictures?

Best advice!

72 240Z Front Toyota calipers with solid rotors and rear 240SX calipers. Axxis Ultimate brake pads. 280Z 8 inch booster with Wilwood 1 inch MC. The 280Z booster reduced pedal effort caused by the 1 inch MC. Brakes modulate well.

Suggest that you study what it takes to build a balanced and safe brake system before investing in a brake upgrade. At minimum, throwing a bunch of brake parts together like many vendors do, results in less performance than stock brakes and at worst are dangerous. The guy telling you to put a proportioning valve on the front brakes to balance rear brakes indicates that he has not worked out a balanced brake kit. Adding a proportioning valve to the front brakes creates a kluge (collection of non compatible parts forming a disgusting whole) to make his kits work. You can do some brake torque calculations with various front and rear caliper/rotor combinations and come up with a balanced design yourself or at least evaluate the available kits before you buy one. Master cylinder selection is based the caliper volume requirements, brake pedal travel, torque calculations, booster selection, your preferences for brake pedal feel and how the car will be driven and so on. So there is no best master cylinder - it always depends on other factors.

What shape is the 280Z in? That is, brakes, suspension (shocks, springs, bushings), engine, transmission etc.?

Have you read the Brake FAQs and the brake forum? All of your answers are there, in detail.

What booster are you using? I thought of doing the same thing, but was concerned that it would increase pedal effort or the brakes would have a wooden feel.

Nice!

Yes. Several options available. My solution was to use a -3 SS line with a 10mm x 1.0mm inverted flare on the hard line end and a -3 to 10mm x 1.0 inverted flare adapter on the brake end. See picture. Note adapter in brake caliper and hard line connection.

Go to any tire shop they usually have lug nuts for every application. The tire guy can advise you.

If the brake system has been opened and fluid was allowed to drain out then you should gravity bleed the whole system first to fill the lines and calipers. Or use a Motive power bleeder to force fluid through the dry system. Are the bleeders on the Maxima calipers pointing straight up? if not, the caliper has to be rotated so the bleeder is pointing up or some air may remain trapped. Be sure to block the piston so it cannot be blown out of the caliper and then have a helper push the brake pedal while you open and close the bleeder. If you do not block the piston while the caliper is off the rotor for bleeding the piston will be blown out and you will have a very bad day.

Why remove one pad? It is normal for pads to just skim the rotor. You need to develop a systematic plan. Until you are sure that you have the correct MC and it is installed perfectly along with the booster and push rod adjustments you are just wasting time trying to guess what the problems are.