Sparky

I have the same question and look forward to the answer, Looks real good! And as far as the S12 stuff goes, If I could ever find one reasonably priced I would snatch it up and buy some of those bump steet spacers from you! guess I wont have to worry about you selling out of them though thanks for stepping up and making some kick arse Z car parts. -S

Stick with it Stony! it can be a tough and frustrating road dealing with this kind of crap...we spend so long without something that we forget how it really makes us feel. From the pictures it seems like you are so close to finishing, would be a shame to through in your hat now! (I admit that my own selfesh ways are at play here, I want to see what that thing can do!) p.s. My car spent four years in paint jail and the Arse didnt even touch it. That is until I left a rather unpleasent note on his door telling him I would pick it up in five days, two days later he called and told me it was painted and to "get this thing our of my shop." after four years of nothing he painted my car in two days. what a jerk.

what about JCwhitney? last time I checked that was the cheapest place I found for automotive wire.

That information I do not know for sure. My initial thought is that yes, the tranny will fit just fine when you use the Z car bracket BUT it may be a different gear ratio. Now since i'm not 100 percent sure, I probably wouldnt listen to me. I think if you search Zcar.com you will find your answer (if you believe the tech info on that site)

For those that might be looking: http://dallas.craigslist.org/pts/330100804.html

looking real good! I Love the WRX.....shame what they're planning for the new one

No, It will not fit as is. The maxima is a front sump W code block, the oil pick up is in the front along with the dip stick. The W code blocks and F/N code blocks have the same oil passages with the exception of the oil pickup location. If you use the W code block you will have to drill out the remainder of the oil pickup so that you can use the rear pickup location thats cast into the block. You will also have to fill in the front pickup, drill out the dipstick location and fill the old one on that as well. Considering the almost free nature of L24-L28 NA blocks, I wouldnt consider it unless its new rebuild.

Not bad at all! I always love to see others scratch built projects... check out http://www.Dpcars.net and the Dp1 project. It takes a bit of back tracking to get to the beginning but it is well worth it. He starts with an idea and a napkin sketch! Be sure to have plenty of free time available to view the site there is a ton of info and it might just suck you in!

wow, We are driving 30+ YO cars with 30+ YO wiring, I know from first hand experience that it is a damn wise idea to carry a fire extinguisher with you at all times, securely mounted within reach of the drivers arm WHILE strapped into the seat belt. Saying your going to have a false sense of security becuase you have a fire extinguisher is one of the most absurd things I've heard on this forum. Injectors leak, fuel lines rupture, short circuits happen....They happen while your sitting in a line at the bank. Not only that, but it happens to others too, I'd liked to think that If I'm helping a stranded motorist and the car catches on fire I might have a chance to put it out before it becomes a total loss. Now the roll bar comment is another matter, You said so your self further down in your post that the street is an uncontrolled enviroment and you never know thats going to happen. Right on...thats what a roll bar isn't such a bad idea (properly designed of course) When I drive my Z I am on the defensive, being a Texas driver I am consistantly surrounded by SUVs and country boys in duellys blasting rap music, They cannot see me, they cannot hear me (even with my airhorns) I would much rather have some kind of supllemental crash and roll over protection than rely on the aforementioned 30+ YO comprimised body shell should I not be able to avoid every idiotic move. As a conscience drive of a small sports car I think its imparitve that we take some kind of proactive approach to our safety while we frolic amongst the savages on our nations highways. We do this by properly installing new belts or harnesses, adding roll bars, making our cars handle and brake better and installing other types of safety equipment. I couldnt agree more with the above, It's ok to have roll bars, its ok to have fire extinguishers, its ok to have four-five point harnesses, but its not ok to drive like an arse on public roadways. A responsible driver will learn the limits of his or her car in a controlled environment, leaving the agressive driving off the streets. As a machine operator we must always remember that by taking the wheel of any vehicle we are talking the lives of others around us into our own hands. happy motoring!

Woh Scotty! Your flying on this swap, excellent jorb!

Bimmer.org for forums, or terrysaytherauto.com for good tech write ups, great service, and good deals on parts. In your search, a helpful bit of info to know is that the internal chassis code on that model is E36. Its a great car, be aware that the interiors on those can be troublesome so treat her right and try to keep her covered as much as possible. Check craigslist for good used bimmer parts, especially the Dallas list. Once drove a E36 328is across the country and loved every minute of it (until I almost got a ticket for way fast in a way slow zone ). Anywho, lots of bimmer fans on this board so I wouldnt expect any poop tossing. enjoy your new ride!

Bang up job fellas! Wish I could have been there to help out and watch it all go down, what an incredible effort! I've been on the fence with regards to my next round of mods and this initial bit of insight has been the catalyst I needed to get the ball rolling as soon as my plane hits the ground in a few weeks.

too bad that its just Pay per view at first. I was hoping that it would make it to theatres. my car is already orange and loud, I hope that I won't receive too much unwanted attention...but at the same time am very excited about the possiblilty of the series continuing and maybe even spawning a new video game series for the US market.

Wtf!

Nice find! you lucky SOB! I've been on the look out for an early roadster for about four years now...some day!!!!!

1. No 2. Yes

nice job Phil, your car as really been coming along nicely in the last year.

I'm in Arezzo currently but make regular trips to Sienna and Firenze, after all, its as easy as hopping on a train. As far as the cost of a NA RB goes, I would have no real clue. From what I've gathered during my research in order to satisfy my own personal curiostiy on such things its not cheap. I would hate to mention a ridiculously high number and scare you off, or to mention a stupidly low number and unlease a high $ surprise later on. I know that the boys down under have been doing it for years and doing it very well so I would start there. Also, lately there have been a few threads on NA RB30s, and what it takes to make good power with them so a few searches here might answer some of your initial questions. It is easy to see from a purely technical point that the RB is superior to the L6. More air=more power and its dead sexy to boot.

when you say your building a professional grade garage will it be for business or pleasure? Honestly, I do love the L6 but if I had some cash to spend I would build a NA RB30DE with triple throttle body injection and high compression running E85. Of course this is a bit of a personal preference as the high strung NA L6 is getting a bit tired. While I'm not raggin on the L6 at all, as I know its a can be a powerful performer, but its not exciting visually exciting to me. Now a DOHC NA RB series would blow me away if I saw that under the hood of a subtly modified 240Z. good luck with your project, you have some tough decisions to make (wish I was in your shoes!)

I vote for driving it. Pack some essential hand tools with a few days worth of clothes and hop on it. I regularly drove my 240Z back and forth across Texas in all kinds of weather with 0 problems and I drove the heck out of that car two times a month at the local AutoX, by far the most reliable car I've ever owned (that is of course until I threw a turbo and FI on it ) When your get there you should change the fluids and belt(s) and maybe buy a spare alternator and starter at a national chain parts store. If you dont use them take them back when you get back home.

That is the coil ignitor and the car will not run without it. P.S. Keep up the awesome work, reading all those comments on that other site you posted reminds me of just how arrogant and ignorant people can be. I think the engine choice is fantastic and it would be killer with a set of downdrafts or a huge turbo hanging of the side.

well, since the housing is aluminum you could take it to a local trophy shop or engraving shop and have some nice labeling engraved in the cover. the aluminum will shine through the black paint and look very nice. You might have to take a cover that has been cut out but not bent into shape though as most engravers tables are flat and wont accept odd shaped pieces. or you could remove each breakers button and label them A, B, C etc and then create a sticker guide and but it on the glove box door. of course you could do the same in illustrator and create a graphic represntation sticker. lots of options. I personally like 1 the best, but it more that likely means that you have to start over again and create a new case. I was going to use those circuit breakers on my project when I found a heaping pile of them at the EAA fly in last year but even the prices for used ones was a little steep for me at the time (that and I didnt have a list of what I needed and didnt want to come home short one or two.) is there a good (affordable) online source for those?

Looking real good there cygnus, they compliment your car very well. I'm really excited about the new crop of wheels for old skool imports that we are seeing now...Looks like I will be purchasing a set of the new 16" Rota RB's when I get back into the states, hopefully they will work as well visually with my car as the sportmax wheels work with yours. good choice.

Wow! Glad to see his winter project is working out nicely! That car was a handful with the old motor, cant even imagine what its going to be like when the new motor is broken in. Hey Phil, pass on a what's up to Chris for me and let him know that I will be ready for that tuning session when I get back from Italy in june! Would be cool to have a BBQ with the DaFW turbo Zed crew....we can get six or seven turbo Z's doing burnouts down your street simultaneously...I'm sure that would go over really well

Ok, well the wire marked "coil" should be attached to the positive side of your ignition coil, this wire gives power to the coil. the starter draws high amps directly from the battery whenever you start your car. the starter is triggered using 12 volts from your ignition switch. most cars have a heavy gauge feed directly from the battery to the large terminal on the starter, and then a smaller gauge wire from that same terminal goes back into the car and powers everything else, think of the large terminal on the starter as just another battery terminal. It should have a constant twelve volts. naturally if you want to keep the wiring clean and make it look good you will try and run the least amount of extra wires from the large terminal on the starter and just run them off directly off the battery. The wire thats marked "battery" that is near your alternator is the feed from the alternator that charges your battery, depending on what type of alternator you have (one wire, two wire, three wire) determines where this wire will connect, refer to your alternator wiring schematic for those connections. The exciter is simply 12 volts that kick starts the alternator into charge mode....on a one wire alternator you will not need this. if you do have a one wire alternator you will simply hook up the wire that says 'battery" up and thats it The ignition switch is another story...do you have a multi meter? if so switch it to continuity mode (this means that if you touch the two probes together it should zero itself out..meaning they have made a connection.) test your ignition switches contacts by placing the probe on one contact and the other on another contact..turn the key into position until you have continuity...this will tell you what the switch does. IF you have the original plug with some of the old wires attached it will help greatly..the large red/white wire is the power feed into the switch and the black/yellow wire is for the starter. my notes and photos are a few thousand miles away from me right now, but you really don't need them. with a decent digital multi-meter and some time it will become clear.