luseboy

If you really want to get rid of it all, take out everything under the dash, and buy a universal heater from summit/jegs/vintage air. You'll probably have to replace the little heater/ac control panel on the dash. This is what I am doing. You may be able to still use the stock stuff, but just the heater components. I do not know which is which or how to go about doing that, this, along with the fact that I doubt my stock stuff still works, has made me decide to go with a summit unit.

My boss brought it in to me at work. He was pretty impressed, and wide-eyed when I told him the current cost of the os giken head haha.

This is interesting to think about... I'd always been under the impression that rotor size had a bigger effect on the braking power. I mean the sort of leverage difference seems pretty substantial. Most of my brake experience comes from hydraulic disk brakes on mountain bikes. I work at a bike shop and used to be really into riding. With bikes, you can choose your rotor size usually. I used to think that bigger rotors= more power. But now that I think about it, the rotor size made a bigger difference on the feel than the actual power. Larger rotors wouldn't lock up as easily, and didn't get as hot. The more powerful brakes tended to have larger pistons (or 4 pistons) and a larger master cylinder. So I guess I already knew this but hadn't really pieced it together in my head. I guess the next question is what other factors between the two affect brake power. I had read that the s13 set up is more powerful than the s130 set up... but I can't remember who wrote that. Has anyone used both systems? If so, was one better than the other? Obviously the 280zx brakes will have more clearance (due to the smaller rotor), but power is really the most important issue here. I really hope I can fit those mustang brakes under the wheels, that would be awesome haha. I haven't really heard of anyone not being able to fit 15's over their silver mines. Has this happened to anyone on here? Are there any other rear brake options that'd work well?

Well sounds to me like the s13 brakes are more powerful... If the rotor is bigger... seems like that's more important than the piston size. I could be wrong on that though. The s13 brake set up would end up being only marginally less expensive than the silver mine kit, and finding the calipers could be tough. But I guess if I had to, I could do that. I'm more set on wheels than brakes, and chances are I'll get bored of them after a while anyways, especially if they don't fit the silver mine brakes. I will just order the wheels when the time comes, measure up, and decide then. Unless anyone else is going through the same thing as me? Anyways we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

You know you own a datsun when you decide to sell your early 2000's german hatchback, worth roughly twice the price of a good restored Z, to fund your project, and you can't come up with a single reason not to.

Is there anything wrong with using chemical strippers (besides the fumes)? I have gotten my engine bay mostly stripped with aircraft stripper in an aerosol. I think brushing it on is better, but there's so many hard to reach areas in the engine bay that I chose to buy the aerosol. It basically bubbles the paint off, but you'd probably still want to use one of those stripper pads, as it doesn't seem to get every little piece, and leaves some residue. I'd say you should give it a quick sand before primer gets put down too, just to be sure that none of the residue is left over. I can't see anything wrong with using a chemical stripper. Anyone? Oh and I've had good luck with a sharp wood working chisel on the undercoating. Used the same chisel for the tar crap in the interior. Make sure it isn't a really nice one, you won't be able to use it for woodworking ever again.

I guess I could run camber plates, but I like the idea of running LCA's instead. I don't want to have to trim away any sheetmetal, or weld in camber plates. Plus the fronts would allow me to increase caster, when accompanied by adjustable t/c rods. It was my understanding that the LCA's could handle -2* pretty easily (I'd be using the techno toy tuning arms, and this is according to them). They also would allow me toe adjustability and wheel position adjustability in the rear end. I guess I mainly just wonder how bad the s13's really are. Is it such a bad bias that the rears never really would do much, or is it just slightly not enough? I know I'd want slightly more front bias anyways, but I'm wondering if this is even possible with the s13's, or if it is way too weak to have any noticeable usage. As I understand it, most people have been using 280zx rear disks, but the s13's are supposedly more powerful. How come I don't hear complaints about the s130 brakes? I know I could stick with the stock brakes, but idk I really like disk brakes. I was told that I need 13.6" at the tallest point of the caliper (right where the hub mounting surface is). The wheels are 15's as I said, and step down to 11.4 inches in the middle. Here's a pic of a 15x8 et0 from the back. . I'd be using a 15x8 et -5, and however much spacer I'd need to get the right fitment with the Zg flares. Judging by other people's set ups, I'll probably end up with about 25mm of spacers (equivalent to a -30 offset). I know there's no way to know for sure, but I just want to know if other people think it will fit? I can't decide if it will. I am willing to shave some material off the brake caliper if need be (assuming that's safe?). I guess I won't really get any concrete answers out of this, but I'd really like a second opinion. Edan from silver mine said most of his customers were able to fit 15's with a 1/4 inch spacer in the rear. What do you guys think? I guess I'm just going to have to install the ZG flares, get the wheels, and measure everything before I can figure out what I have room for. Neither rota or silver mine take returns... Sorry for the novel

Hey, So I want to do a rear disk conversion on my car before I finish the resto-mod, but I can't decide what I want to do. I have planned already on getting the silvermine stage 4 front brakes (vented toyo 4x4 4 piston set), and was thinking of doing their stage 4 rear conversion. The trouble is, the wheels I'm set on (rota aleica's) only come in 15's, and I'm not so sure they'll play nice with the rear brakes, as peopls have complained of fitment issues with 15's, and the center of these wheels really steps down. I will be using ZG flares, so I can run a big spacer in the rear, but I'm also going to be running about -2 degrees of rear camber, by means of adjustable LCA's. I have read that the s13 rear brakes don't have enough bite to be used with the toyo front's, but how bad is it? Would I notice on my primarily street-driven Z? I will post a picture of the back of the wheels when I'm on my computer (at school right now). I guess I'm just trying to figure out if the rear brakes are as wimpy as I have heard...

I always refer back to this: http://datsunzgarage.com/engine/. For an L28et, your best combo is going to be an F54 block w/ dished pistons, and a P90 head (stay away from the p90a). 280zx turbos came from the factory with this combo. Make sure you don't get a P79 head or a block with flat top pistons if your doing a turbo. The exhaust liners in the P79 have been known to break off with the higher heat and pressures of a turbo, which means little chunks of metal would try to run through your turbine... not exactly a good thing. Also flat tops have been known to cause too high of a CR for turbo, resulting in detonation. There may be a way to fix that and still run the higher CR, but I haven't seen it. Seems like most of the guys who are running high psi's are running dished pistons.

Here is what I was talking about but couldn't find before. This is what I will be using when I replace all my hardline. http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/82030/10002/-1?parentProductId=763974

Seems like mcmaster carr would carry something like that. I'm pretty sure summit and jegs sell universal hardline insulators/mounts as well, you'll probably just have to get something like that.

Thanks for the heads up! If I change my mind about the G nose, I'll get in touch with him!

haha well maybe I've just been searching in the wrong places, but the only ones I've found are well over $40, I bought one off ebay for $40, but it had a $20 shipping charge, and it was in horrible, un-usable shape when it arrived. The G nose will be more expensive, but it's my favorite look, and it's not THAT much more, unless I went with an oem G nose, then it would cost thousands of dollars more lol.

Man it's a shame that car isn't pre 75, that thing looks so clean! I assume you know that california doesn't like exhaust modding, however, as long as you keep a cat, and it's not too loud, they usually don't make too much of a fuss. That said though, they don't like headers at all, so make sure if you put one in that it isn't all polished or pretty. I don't know how it is for cars of this era, but I know for newer cars anyways, they not only do the sniffer test, but also a visual, so basically you want to keep it looking as stock as possible under the hood to not raise any suspicion. Now you can swap in a newer engine, possibly even an L28et, so long as it's a nissan/datsun engine, and you keep all the emissions stuff from that engine. I don't know what they'd think of adding a turbo motor over a N/A motor, but I imagine they wouldn't like that very much. I'm almost positive they wouldn't like you putting in a carbureted engine.

Well I decided that I really don't like any of the air dams other than the G nose which is available right now. If I were to use another air dam, I'd need to buy new headlight buckets, among other things, which add up. Looking at it from that perspective, the G nose will only cost a few hundred more after hinges, all said and done, and to me, it's worth it because I'll never wish I had a G nose, since I'll already have what I wanted. I honestly like the look of the Z force one the best. We'll see what happens with the dive planes and front splitter, but I will be mounting some HID fog lights in the grill area, which I also haven't seen done. Anyways it's a ways off, if it ever happens. If I do go for it, I'll for sure post pictures here. I'll probably fab some cardboard dive planes too, just to see how it looks. Unless someone else who has a G nose wants to .

Brass is a pretty soft metal, especially compared to the steel shifter as beermanpete said. I use a brass mallet on my strut tubes to free up gland nuts, and it doesn't leave a mark on the tube. I noticed that they list an aluminum bushing as well. Aluminum is a little stiffer than brass, yes? Would that give a better feel than the brass? I'm sure these wouldn't wear out the assembly either...

Is this worth doing even if your stock bushings are ok? Does it make shifting feel better? Any idea if this would work with a truck shifter?

Oh jeez... I'm really screwing this thread up

Well I was planning on a custom splitter as well... And as I said, I'm not really that interested in the aerodynamics of it at this time, as my Z will be a canyon runner and possibly an occasional auto-X car. So I won't be racing or anything. I just realized that canards and drive planes are the same thing, I wasn't aware of that name for them haha. Well looking at it more, it doesn't even look like there's a good place to put them anyways. I think it would look pretty ridiculous anyways, but the front splitter might look ok, I'll have to make one out of cardboard when I get my Z lookin pretty, and see what it looks like. I'm still interested to see a Z with canards/drive planes/ whatever you call it, if anyone's happened to see one?

I mean I know this is a totally subjective thread, but I was just trying to see if anyone had done this. I can't really decide if it'd look good. I love the look on some cars (a lot!), but others it just doesn't work. I'm airing on the side of it looking stupid... but who knows? Maybe it'd look cool. I guess I was just trying to see if anyone had seen this somewhere, I searched and didn't come up with anything really. And I do realize that the g nose chin spoiler thing would probably work better with these pieces, but I'm not a huge fan of that look, and was thinking a normal G nose would look nice with a little splitter, it's not like it'd be that hard to make, I'll probably end up making one out of cardboard and painting it black to see how it looks, but my car is nowhere near done, and in fact, I don't even have a G nose yet anyways, so I can't really see it in the flesh, but in my head it looks cool . However, the drive planes... those I'm still not really able to visualize...

Hey, I was just looking at msa's sight and saw the drive planes they sell. I plan to get the Z-force productions G-nose for my car and was trying to picture how that'd look. For the life of me I can't figure out if it'd look cool or awful. I also plan to make a custom front splitter for my car. I only ask this for the shear case of looks, I don't expect any aerodynamic benefits, nor does that come into play much when my car will be primarily street driven. Has anyone seen this done? Or is anyone good with photoshop?

Just a few off my computer... surprised I didn't see any of these on here. I know everyone's seen this one, it's a huge inspiration to my car. Always loved how this one came out... These are the wheels I want, they look great here! I think this is a member on here? I love this car Love this front splitter, and the air dam looks great here! This car is so clean Really awesome interior Awesome illustration For some reason or another, all these cars have come across well to me.

I've been planning on getting one of these since before I even had my Z. Definitely the best looking spoiler for Z cars, from what I've seen anyways...

Honestly, buying a Z car for 2k without it needing a bunch of work is highly unlikely. Have you thought about a 280zx? They have far less rust problems than the early Z's. Not as cool, but pretty similar... And since they aren't a classic, people aren't as interested in them, so you can get a nice one for cheap! Z cars are really one of those things where you either gotta spend $10K+ on one, or you're faced with a lot of work ahead of you. If you're stuck on a 240z (haha as I was), it'd be best to buy a little mig/wire feed welder and some scrap metal and just practice a little, welding isn't hard and you can pick it up pretty quickly. I had been welding for about 3 or 4 months, and I felt comfortable enough to weld my sectioned struts together. I think you're either just going to have to get a 280 z(x), or live with the fact that you'll have to weld and do some work to it before it'll really be roadworthy. Then again, you may get lucky and find one for 2k that doesn't need anything. It's certainley possible, but I'm pretty sure it won't happen. Anyways I wish you the best with finding one, they are great cars. And very very fun to drive... or so I've heard haha I've never driven one

If you're planning on getting an L28, why even worry about this engine? For #4, you might be able to peek down the spark plug holes in the head and see if the pistons are flattops or dished. These pistons aren't that dished, so it might be hard to tell depending on how much you can see, and obviously, you'll need a flashlight. I wouldn't concern myself with what rods/crank it has, so long as it runs with no knock, burning oil, etc, I'd just leave the engine alone for now, I mean you're planning on getting an L28 anyways... Not sure why you want to keep the E31, most guys sell these things as a longblock, I bought mine in running condition for $100, a F54 w/ flattops and a P79 head. The ZX heads have bigger valves, and the P90 is suposed to flow the best out of all of them. The only thing you could re-use out of the L24/26 engine that would make sense from a performance standpoint is the cam, as long as it's in good shape, and the accompanying rocker arms. Read up: http://datsunzgarage.com/engine/