Danno74Z

Tim, I agree with you about the brevity of the LT1 story. One has to just laugh at the ease and speed at which the LT1 went together in the old Malibu. We all know that in real life its not that way. Also, the authors went the easy (most expensive) by ordering all new accessories and an engine harness from S & P. Nice to have a lot of greenbacks to play with. Nevertheless, I still get some ideas for my conversion. Danno74Z

FYI: Last week, I called JTR and the person I spoke to said that they had a "new" radiator in stock for the Z conversion. I was buying something else from them at the time and the radiator happened to come up in the conversation. I did not ask about the price but apparently a new radiator is available. Danno74Z

I just received the latest (May) copy of “Car Craft†and it has a lot of good articles this month. Two in particular that standout are one on fuel injection and the other on an LT1 swap into an old Malibu. I really like any engine swap articles but this one is somewhat unique since I am using the LT1 in my Z conversion and I haven’t seen an LT1 engine article in quite some time. Enjoy, Danno74Z

David, From what shop did you get the LSD and did they assure you it would work in the Z R200? Danno74Z

Aaron, Excellent idea!! This would work in a similar fashion to the JTR idea of running a cable around the front OEM rubber mount. From the pictures above, one can very easily put two bolts through the center of the mount (as you suggest) next to the existing one. This would help add rigidity to the mount (one could tighten the bolts a little) and also in the off chance of failure would support/contain the front of the differential from moving at all. Most transmission mounts probably have 100-200 lbs. on them so a little compression would probably be ok and still dampen vibrations. Naturally, one would still have the latitude to “fine tune†the differential nose for driveshaft angles. Danno74Z

Demidion, To my knowledge, Phantom Grip does not offer a conversion kit for the Z car differential. It would be nice if they did because the Quaife is a very expensive LSD. Hence the reason a lot of members are trying and using the Q45 diff. Let me know if I'm wrong on the Phantom Grip. Danno74Z

Pete, Thank you for the further explanation. Like I said, I really like this idea but I also like your idea of still using the front diff mount. I may also tinker around with some additional support. Perhaps overkill on my part but I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to new mechanical stuff. Danno74Z

Ross C can get them for you and I belive he had them on sale for $900,but that was about 6 months ago. http://www.modern-motorsports.com/ Danno74Z

Pete, I too really like this setup/idea. In looking at the design, I see a potential weakness in that there is only one relatively small bolt holding up the front of the differential and a spinning drive shaft. From the pictures on Tyler's site it "appears" that the OEM front differential mount does not support the front if of the differential anymore. I am probably wrong on this but can you add any additional information since you already have it installed. Thanks, Danno74Z

David, Very nice car!!! Danno74Z

Tim, You will definitely have to do some rewiring on the LT1 engine harness. I’m still working on structural modifications and the brakes, but this summer I plan on installing the engine and driveline. Over the past couple of years I have amassed a lot of information on the LT1 engine and T56 tranny. An expert on both I’m not, but I feel very confident I can pull the swap off with the help of HybridZ members. Below are just a few of the pages I have gathered that you should find useful in your conversion. At the moment I plan on leaving the engine stock. The 95 LT1 is rated at 285HP from the factory and on an episode of HorsepowerTV they dyno a stock 95 Camaro and it produced 210 at the wheels. This will be enough for me for a little while…. Very easy to increase this number significantly by the way with some easy mods! http://www.lt1350.com/products.htm Wire Harnesses http://www.wire-works.com/InstallLT1.htm Wire Harnesses http://www.hpsalvage.com/ Where I bought my Engine/Tranny http://www.helminc.com/helm/homepage.asp Wire Schematics – very important to the do-it-yourselfer http://www.fierolt1.com/index.shtml Everything you could ask about the LT1 engine. very cool site http://www.lt1.net/editor/ To reprogram your own LT1 ECM and eliminate VATS - '95 engines (Flash) Enjoy, Danno74Z

Tim, You can purchase the LT1 AC delete pulley from GM for around $30. Not sure about the PS pump but you might be able to use a smaller serpentine belt if you eliminate that small pulley. Danno74Z

Paul, I'm in the process of working on the my Z's front-end (rebuilding) and studying your pictures above, I noticed your tie rod ends with the spacers to eliminate bump steer - I like this!! Very helpful on lowered cars especially . "I made steel couplers with both a 9/16 and 5/8 tapped hole and threaded the tie rod (9/16) and the rod end(5/8) into it. As you can see in the last picture, the tie-rod is parallel to the A-arm, which is what you need to eliminate bump steer." Who makes the rod end you are using? I see you can fine-tune the adjustment by the use of the threaded bolt. Was this part of a kit that you retrofitted for your application? Can you add any additional information about this "eliminate bump steer part" that would be great. Thanks, Danno74Z PS Are there any HybridZ entrepreneurs making a similar part? Hint...Hint..

Racerx I ordered 1974 260Z bearings for my car and the dust shields for the 1986 turbo 300ZX hubs. All parts fit together just fine. I did a little checking for you and the bearings #'s and $$ are the same for either the 74 or the 86 bearings. I paid $8.20 for the front inner and $8.16 for the outer bearings. I went to Nissan for the dust shields and paid $7.50 each. I also changed out the caps with the o-rings for $8.00. Both were dented pretty bad and one was missing the o-ring -what the hell. Danno74Z

RacerX, Don't want to step on any toes here. The 5 lug hubs will fit on the existing spindle. The bearings are the same but the rear dust shield is different and should be replaced with a new one. I would also update the bearings. The five lug 300ZX hub has a different offset then the 4 lug hub. You can swap the two but be aware the wheel mounting point moves outward about 1". Your new rims need about 24mm of offset to counter this new mounting location. Danno74Z

I too purchased the tool and it worked beautiful on the pins and for under $40.00 you can't go wrong. Dan sent me instructions by email. Danno74Z

Hi John, Either Coleman Racing or SCCA can build you custom hats - be forewarned not cheap to have made as I already inquired. Danno74Z

Guys, One day I will build a 250 GTO - I take my hat off to you all. I have done a little research on the kits that are out there and I came across a guy who builds quite a few different rebody kits for the first Z. I have not personally seen his product but he is in the 1996 winter edition of the now defunk Z CAR Magazine (one of the few editions I actually received way back then). His name is Charles Punkett and the business is Punkett Automotive Design & Development, 9968 Cleary Street, Santee, CA 92071 (619) 258-2052. I did call him up about 2 months ago and he sent me his promotional package on all the rebodies he does. P-250-GTO Spyder 90.5" wheel base, also in a 94.5" wheel base, Ford Cobra Daytona Spyder 90.5" wheel base, Ferrari Daytoa Spyder 90.5" WB and the ford FIA Cobra 90.5" WB. He also has coupes in all the above models. Price for the 250 is $3100. He loved to talk about the Z car and his work and was quite knowledgeable. If someone in southern CA could check him out and report back that would be great. He claims his 250 rebody is very authentic looking (especially the longer WB one) and easy to build. Looking at the magazine pictures and the information he sent me I would have to agree. Danno74Z

Mike, I maybe way off but to me that sounds like low oil pressure with worn bearings. At idle or low speeds you hear the noise more readily but as speed/engine RPM goes up the pressure builds and the noise (knock) decreases. How many miles on the engine? MTC Danno74Z

Big Phil That is a great deal provided everything is in working order. Did you have the opportunity to see the engine run? Most fuel injected engines have a long life so 64K is about middle age - like me Danno74Z 95LT1 T56

BLKMGK, Mike C, Below is a picture of the brace both you guys are referring to. Dave Linfoot sells this piece and I too have it. This brace allows one to keep the fined aluminum cover. What I was trying to explain, but I guess unsuccessful was to eliminate the mustache bar by using the differential mount that comes with the LSD from the wrecking yard or at least it came on mine. The mount attaches to the two bolts on the cover and in addition, this mount has a horizontal flat steel plate with 4 holes that somehow bolts to a structural member on the 300ZX frame. I would like to utilize this piece on the first gen Z car. Perhaps nobody knows what I'm talking about or has never seen the 300zx differential mount. I need to find a 300zx and see how the differential is mounted, especially the rear part of the differential. Danno74Z

I posted this under a different forum on Friday but did not receive any responses so I will try here. I'm looking at an alternative mounting solution for my LSD. My R200 LSD came from the wreaking yard with the original 300ZX rear mount attached to the finned aluminum cover and is a very strong and well-built mount. With just a little effort it appears that one could use this rubber/steel mount and attach it to the structural member that the mustache bar now attaches. I was curious to see if any members tried doing this. Also, this would eliminate the mustache bar altogether! Datsun seems to have figured out how to mount the LSD R200 in the 300ZX and I would like to utilize this rear diff mounting system. Mike, Pete Blueoval? Thanks. Danno74Z

I'm looking at an alternative mounting solution for my LSD. My R200 LSD came from the wreaking yard with the original 300ZX rear mount attached to the finned aluminum cover. Very strong and a well built mount. With just a little effort it appears that one could use this rubber/steel mount and attach it to the structural member that the mustache bar now attaches. I was curious to see if any members tried doing this. Also, this would eliminate the mustache bar altogether! Datsun seems to have figured out how to mount the LSD R200 in the 300ZX and I would like to utilize this rear diff mounting system. Thanks. Danno74Z

This weekend I'm drilling/converting the 4-lug stub axle to 5 lugs. On the inner side of the stub axle there is a thin gauge metal shield that rests on the backside of the flange. The lug bolt heads sits on this shield. What is the purpose of this shield (perhaps I answered my own question) and can I toss it when I redrill the new holes? Has everybody kept this shield or just removed it? SCCA what is your opinion on this since you have done so many conversions? Thanks, Danno74Z

Thanks for the input. As Tony would say "You're Great"! Danno74Z