ShaggyZ

Seems like someone looked into that but it was a no-go.

I've got a '89 Merkur XR4Ti with the Ford 2.3 Turbo. Take a look around http://www.turboford.net to read about the Volvo head conversion about 3 guys I'm aware of have done successfully. The Volvo 740 head (I think that's right) is the head they use and do some oil galley mods to create the DOHC 2.3L turbo-4 that turbo actually had ready to go for the following year's XR4Ti's and, I think, a continuance of the Mustang SVO. For some sad and funny reasons, Ford scrapped the SVO and the DOHC with it. Of course, a number of guys are making plenty of power with the SOHC so the others don't see it to be worth it other than bling factor... and it is.

That's the first I've heard of this. Where did you get this information?

You're probably right, but that head snap is hardly an indication of power. My friend's EVO IX MR smoked a 6.0 GTO on a roll from 40-130 and all he has is big turbo, big FMIC, exhaust, turbo, stand alone engine management and stock internal except for the cam; the GTO had various bolt-ons and a 120 shot of N20. The EVO also has seen 12.05 at 120+mph. The EVO can give you the head-snap you want but it'll make it stick as it continues to launch hard.

Your information seems a little off. I'm not aware of anyone on turboford with 1100HP and certainly not running it at the drags all the time. The accepted average HP guys on turboford are getting out of their stock bottoms is probably closer to 300HP. The speed Rick Byrnes hit was 208mph one-way: http://www.merkurencyclopedia.com/Merkur_misc/Byrnes_1998.html There are some guys running 30psi, yes, but that's mostly because the intake tract is so restrictive. Also, what are the many high performance heads available now that we don't need the Volvo head anymore? The Volvo conversion is very new and only within the past year or two have there been any recorded successful implementations (Phil Marshal is of note). There are aluminum cylinder heads available from Rapido Group and Esslinger but their daily driver reliability is lacking and there's also the dual-plug conversion which really isn't worth the trouble. Boport has been getting great flow out of them recently, however. There is a lot of performance to be had out of these motors though. There are also more cars that came with these engines than the L-series.

I was thinking of VQ versus RB, not L28. The V6 makes for a more complicated engine bay with two of everything and I bet those turbos are gonna be fun to get to. Nissan could have easily updated the RB motor to a stout aluminum block and fancy (not just beefy) bottom end including similar tactics to bottom end efficiency like Mitsubishi's EVO IX oil squirters/piston design.

Without the goofy paint job and wing and with some decent wheels and ride height, it might actually be kinda cool.... but it's not.

I see a blend of 350Z, Audi TT, Scion Tc. In my opinion, the only good thing about the V6 is the f/r weight ratio.

Being a turboford guy myself, I considered this swap - parts are cheap and fairly readily available thanks to the internet. However, I figured since I'm gonna have to do custom install anyways, might as well go with a more capable motor - 4G63. There are a few guys around who have converted the turbo Fourd to DOHC using the Volvo 240 head. Check out http://www.turboford.net - great site with a lot of really smart hicks... for real.

Best route is to get a R154 transmission from the MKIII turbo Supras and mount it using a 1JZ bellhousing. Look around for specifics, but all the info is on this site. Look in the Toyota L6 sub-forum of the 6 Cylinder forum here.

Chrome? The bumpers are stock style, to my knowledge, and I think the wheels are just polished CCW's. Otherwise, you're free to have your own tastes

Easy fix that's been done a lot. There's an evergrowing RWD 4G63 community and each project either welds a new flange in front, does their own intake or buys pre-fabbed intakes for these apps. I believe the turbo intakes have tapered plenums (maybe NA's are the same) so simply welding a flange on front isn't good. I don't intend to do it this way.

FYI - the specs I've seen on those shows them to be quite a bit heavier than the 002's

On my Merkur, I went out the side but angled it down toward the ground at about 45° down. It's not bad with a 3" exhaust (Ultraflo and a cat) when I go by walls and I like being able to look out my side-view mirror and see the exhaust coming out (not much to see, hopefully). I also like seeing what it blows onto the street when it's idling (rich exhaust) and blowing leaves or dirt to the side of the road.

I second that. They're super cheap, sound great, and they'll last as long as most people will stick with the same exhaust (or even same car). They're not quite as pretty as the Borla, but they're under your car and you can paint them some color if you feel like anyway. Some guy on turboford.net ran a flow test a year ago on several mufflers and straight pipe and found the Ultraflow flowed better than a straight pipe. It had something to do with vacuum being created somewhere on the other side end of the muffler. Of course, I'm sure of two things: 1) most straight-throughs will do the same and 2.) the placement of the muffler as the last piece in the exhaust is the only reason it created this vacuum. Incidently, after hearing a very quiet 350WHP 300ZXTT at the last Z-meeting, I think I've resolved to run two oval 3" Ultraflows in series for my next setup. I MIGHT piece in the 2nd muffler so I can unbolt it and put in a "test pipe" instead in case I decide I like more sound sometimes.

This kinda thing makes you wonder about the spirit world and crap, doesn't it? In my dream, your wife's hair was a medium/darkish brown... wavy, almost curly, if I recall. Of course, from a purely statistical standpoint, that's a pretty likely possibility. If I got this wrong, does it debunk my entire dream?

It'll help you to not think of it as a motorcycle thing. It's just another engine. If all your cooling stuff seems in order, then look to fuel and ignition issues. I think those motors have throttle position sensors and something could be wrong with it. However, I would use distilled water and vinegar to make sure you clean out the cooling system very well, too. That's all I got right now.

I'm not big into wheelies, but maybe so. And I'll show you how to wear a hole in your left glove at 75mph in a 40mph left curve. That's more my style. Are there any turns in Wax.?

Yikes! I'm right with you guys. It was a pretty wacked out dream and I'm amazed I remembered so much detail. I must be some sort of seer because I have no reason to know the things (motorcycle cop stuff) that were in that dream. Now I HAVE to head north sometime to meet Phil. Maybe I'll come up for one of the Z meets or other vehicular exploits. I can bring the bike or the Z. Trust me... I'm quite normal-ish, Josh

Dynamite! That is a groovy car. I would want to keep it original, but then, I find something unique about each car I get so I don't wanna molest them. I'm tired of doing that and I buy these cars to make them fast. So that's what I TRY to do now. My opinion - do a few simple, classy mods to it such as lowering it, poly bushings, and performance plug wires (that type of thing), and MAYBE a quiet, better peforming exhaust and leave it at that. You've already done some of these, so ROCK!! Great find!

Just woke up and thought you guys would get a kick out of this. I don't think any disclaimers are necessary... well, they probably are but I'm not making any. So I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming.... I'm driving in my blue '77 280Z and I'm getting onto Hwy 183 here in Austin and I'm looking to the traffic I'll be merging with - everyone is moving at the speed limit of 65mph but there's a couple cars blocking off two of the three lanes - looks like they had a break down and are working on their cars right there. I thought that strange but continued to accelerate through the onramp, where the road curves right and up. I take one more look to my left to ensure I'm clear and when I look back ahead, I see there are traffic cones guiding everyone into the center lane and an orange speed zone of 5mph!! I think this was all for those broke-down vehicles but it didn't start until after them. So I hammer the brakes thinking I'll just slow down while going into the speed zone until I notice a motorcycle cop shooting me with laser. I thought I was already going slow enough because 20mph on a large highway after going 65-70 FEELS like 5mph. I looked at my speedo and hammered the brakes again; but it was too late, the cop was after me and he pulled me over. Cop walks up to my car, takes off his helmet and glasses and, wouldn't you know it, it's big-phil of HybridZ and YouTube fame! (In my dream, I decided it all made sense because in one of his videos, I thought I'd seen a black Dodge pickup which must have been his Texas Highway Patrol truck.) I think he somehow also knew I was from HybridZ, but he chose to give me a ticket in spite of my legit story that I was paying attention to traffic I'd merge with and couldn't see the speed zone ahead. I think I told big-phil I was being safer by going over the speed limit to merge with traffic than obeying the 5mph speed zone (which I also argued was absurdly slow) and he agreed but gave me the ticket anyway. I think at some point we were at big-phil's house during this meeting... it's a dream. So at his house, we continued talking about it and he said it would be fine because I can just take defensive driving for it; I told him I was gonna fight it because I had just taken defensive driving for another ticket only a few months before. Plus, I was certain I would get out of it. I think he agreed but wouldn't let me out of it still! Somehow, I end up in a ski boat with Phil and we're on some lake in a small city near the Texas hill country. Some woman who is apparently his wife is standing on the water in those floating miniature kayaks - one on each foot and she's just kinda standing there and waving us off. She was in a night gown Phil gasses it and we're off leaving his wife in our wake. A bumper sticker, one that says "SMILE" in yellow and red, flies off the boat over my head and lands in the water a little ways in front of his wife who picks it up... Phil's favorite bumper sticker (in the dream). She just smiles and shakes her head like a loving wife does. Next thing I know, we're coming up to land and Phil JUMPS the boat into the air somehow over trees and jumps again over a little cabin and I commented, "that was pretty good, dude, especially considering how big and heavy this boat is." Of course, it wasn't a big deal otherwise. Now we're off the boat and running around in the hill country (there are lots of trees there for those that don't know). We come up to a 8' tall property fence (kinda like a wildlife fence) and decide to climb it. As soon as we do, there's a park ranger of sorts that drives up and tries to stop us. Phil jumps back over the fence as the ranger runs after him; then the ranger comes after me. I climbed on his SUV and jumped over the fence from there. He radioed us in but Phil and I eluded them somehow. And that's the last thing I remember.

Not that it's any kind of bragging really, but he lives in Austin, where I live, and I've seen and heard it in person. It's amazing. What's more, is that it's actually driven and raced. It's more than just pretty (yes, I realize it's not for everyone but it's exotic and I dig it) It's been in for a lot of work in the past month or two getting a decent exhaust put on it to replace the chain link fence-post pipe used before. It seems like the other things were engine and suspension tweaks but I don't recall for sure.

Am I missing somewhere the information about 5 lug rear disc brake options? I've searched this thread and most of HybridZ and am trying to piece together bits of info. One thing that help me out a great deal to know is if the 4-lug solid rear disc 300ZX rotors and the the 5-lug rear 300ZX rear rotors are the same offset and diameter. I already have a disc brake conversion but it has a 4-lug non-vented, cross-drilled 300ZX rear rotor (11", I think).

You'll have better luck and less antagonizing if you post this in the right section. Try Nissan L6

I remember this car. Are there more pictures and details elsewhere? The wheels are particularly interesting.