Z-TARD

If it works, there should be a picture of my 240 below with new 17" wheels. The rear wheel isnt installed yet, just sitting in front of the stock wheels..... http://pic2.picturetrail.com/VOL26/930218/inbox/t-17139.jpg

Went to the junkyard today, fully prepared to pull stub axles (or so I thought). I was under the impression that a few good tugs would be enough to pop the stubs and rear bearings out. I used a scratch built pulling adapter cosisting of a 6" flange with 4 slots for studs and a 3/8" stainless u-bend in the center for placing a pry bar into, and for attaching a slide hammer. The axle nuts actually came off very easily by wedging a breaker bar and socket on them, and using the pry bar through the adapter to gain enough leverage to break them free. I didnt even have to grind out the staked in portion of the nuts. After sliding off the companion flange I connected the slide hammer and began hammering the living piss out of them, to no avail. Is there some other trick I'm missing here? I'm sure I was using enough force, because I broke the chain that connects the hammer to the pulling adapter Any help would be appreciated.

I hate Yahoo.....

Ok, maybe it will work this time..... Neverending Z Project

OK, that didnt work. I'll try again and see if I can figure out what I did wrong.

Finally got some pics posted of my car. Still a work in progress, and slow progress at that. Mike Neverending Z Project

If anyone is interested, there is an ad in the San Diego auto trader from last week for molds and tooling to make cobra daytona and ferrari gto bodies for $10,000. (I dont know if this includes the molds for both, or if they are $10,000 each) The ad specifically says that the bodies are designed for datsun 240, 260, and 280 series cars. The phone number is (619)448-1335. Hope this helps.

Since I already have the kit, I'm going to go ahead and use it anyway and see what happens. The upper spring perches are fairly cheesy, they appear to be made out of urethane. I'll fabricate some steel cups to reinforce them. I'm having the machine work on the lower adjusting tubes done by a friend of mine for $00.00. I may end up getting new springs for them though, wont know for sure until I get them mounted up. I'm also swapping out my front hubs with 87 300zx hubs using 12" toyota supra rotors and mazda rx-7 4 piston calipers. So I should have enough to keep me busy for a while, havent even started on the rear suspension yet.

I seem to remember reading in one of David Vizards engine books that an engine loses up to 1/3 of the heat it creates through its exhaust. That would make senses to me since you are overheating on the highway, where your engine is running at higher rpm and creating more exhaust.

Ever considered using the independant rear from a '91 or later T-Bird? I'm pretty sure that it uses a standard ford 8.8 differential, so finding posi or new gear ratios would be fairly easy. Its also bolted into its own seperate frame, or cage, much like the jag rear end. It might not be too difficult (relatively speaking) to fab mounting points on the underside of the Z to attach it to. Or you could just use the diff by itself without the rest of the t-bird suspension. This is also the same diff and suspension used in the new SVT Cobras, so it should be able to handle some decent HP levels. Anyway, just my $0.02 worth.

I also get the red "X", but I went to the link on your post and was able to see the picture. Looks pretty good , and its probably easier than pulling one off of a Maxima. I'll probably end up fabricating one similar to it in the near future.

My friend just picked up a posi rear end out of an 82 XJ-6 at Pick a Part for $180.00. I briefly thought of using one in my Z, but it weighs almost as much as my car does....

Found a set of $149.99 coilovers at Pep Boys in the "Fast and Furious" section (right next to the flourescent license plate holders...). They're made by APC, and are supposed to fit on Hondas and Acuras. The threaded spring perch tubes need to be bored out by about .040" to fit on my 240's struts. Other than that they should bolt right on. I'm not sure about the rates for the springs that come in the kit, although they seem VERY stiff. I'll let you guys know how the install goes, would be nice to have a cheap source for coilover kits.

I had planned on putting a Jag V-12 into my Z, but after measuring everything out several times discovered that it was too tall to fit because of its 60 degree layout. The BMW engine in the picture looks like it may have the same problem. Also try to find a definitive figure on engine weight, the Jag V-12 is also mostly alloy and comes in at over 600 pounds....I can measure my engine bay and post the dimensions on monday if it will help. Good luck on your swap.

ZROSSA, For MIG welding, you should be pushing into the weld area (hand over top of what you have already welded) There are a few ways to gett flatter beads: 1) turn your argon purge gas up, it can flatten the weld just by the extra pressure. If you have too much argon flowing through your gas cup, it will begin sucking oxygen in with it, a venturi effect similar to a carburator sucking in gasoline- This is a bad thing. You may want to find an argon gauge with a flow-meter built into it. It should flow at about 15-20 CFH (Cubic Feet/Hour) You can also flatten your welds by turning up your amperage, although if you are welding on sheetmetal you are very limited on how high you can go. As you turn your amps up, you will probably notice that you will need to turn up you feed rate for the wire as well to keep it from spattering (pidgeon $hit) all over the place. Another way is to manipulate the mig gun from side to side as you progress forward, spreading the weld out over a wider area.The best way by far however, is to take a step away from the mig welder, request permission from your signifigant other, and go out and buy a TIG machine....

Has anyone had any success retro-fitting post'87 style hydraulic roller lifters into a pre'87 block? It looks as thought it should be a fairly simple swap. Should only have to drill and tap 3 holes in the lifter valley to take the retainer plate for the keepers. Is there a difference between cams produced for oem style rollers and aftermarket style rollers? The difference in price (Summitt) between aftermarket and oem style hydraulic roller lifters is about $100, I bought the keepers and retainer plate from a junkyard for $7. The math seems to work out in my favor so far...Any information or advice would be appreciated.

The block is also a high nickel casting, it has the 010 and 020 cast behind the flexplate. At .060 it would be a 412, even better. If it does end up being to thin to use, I'll probably use the crank out of it to make a 383. Either way, not bad for $168.

Finally found a small block 400 last week. It has already been bored .040 over stock, although the cylinder walls feel like they may be thick enough to go to .060. How thin can the cylinder walls be before my engine becomes a pipe bomb? Is this engine destined to become a really heavy paperweight?

I'm currently on the Oldendorf (DD-972)aka Old-and-broke. Hopefully I'll be eligible for shore duty after this, sea duty sucks.I'm an HT, so my days consist mostly of unclogging toilets and running fire drills Anyway, I found a 327 out of a 68 Impala at the junkyard last week, if its still there this weekend I'm going to pull it. If nothing else, it will be slightly unique, as I havent seen too many 327's in Z's before. Hopefully this will turn out better than my failed "Jag V-12 into not quite large enough Datsun Z" project....

Recently watched the removal of a gas turbine generator from the Spruance class destroyer that I'm stationed on. It looked about the right size to fit in a Z, might have to hammer out the transmission tunnel a bit, and add lots of insulation.......

Cubic inches will probably always be the cheapest way to get more horespower, throw a turbo on top of that and prepare to rupture your adrenaline gland. Anything much over 200 HP or so will require frame reinforcement though, at least if you ever want to open your doors again....As light as these cars are, I'm guessing that anything over about 500 HP would be a waste, reducing your tires to molten globs of smelly pooh. Probably the easiest swap to do would be the standard domestic (Chevy, Ford,or Dodge) V-8 with a 4 barrel carb. This will give you anywhere from 200 to 400+ HP depending on what equipment you use, and will only be a little heavier than the stock I-6 engine.

I tried to find the number in my SBC parts interchange manual, but it doesnt match anything listed in there. There should be another number at the rear of the block just behind the cylinder head on the drivers side of the engine. It should be a 7 digit number and will most likely have a large "GM" cast right above it. If you can give me that number I should be able to find it in the book.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just take the tranny out of the camaro and leave the 305. The Caddy engine sounds really cool, I've always thought it would be cool to put one in the bed of a 47 Studabaker truck with the transaxle from an el dorado to make it mid engine. How much bigger is the 500 than a SBC? Will it bolt up to a 700R4 without modification? I originally planned on shoehorning a Jag 5.3 litre V-12 into my Z, but proper use of a tape measure kind of killed that project, oh well. So I'm looking for an easy conversion at this point, I think 350 with 700R4/T-5/T-56 will probably fit the bill. I just need to find a good parts car to canibalize. What is your opinion of the newer (1987 and up) SBC?

Went window shopping at the junkyard last week, looking for 350's, but all I have been able to find is mid 80's 305 engines Has anyone been able to use these with good results? I know that most bolt on performance items for 350's will work on them, but will the shorter crank throw pose any serious performance issues? I'm looking to build an engine with about 370-400 HP. Can this be achieved using the stock 305 crank?

I didnt think about that, bummer. I've re-thunk it and decided to make the box out of aluminum instead. I'll have to make some sort of frame out of angle iron and weld it to the car, then bolt the aluminum box to that frame. Probably make an aluminum battery box too for mounting the battery in the rear.