Chaparral2f

What is the difference between a 450SL and a 380SL? I ;haven't seen any discussion of them here. I think they're great looking little cars but I don't know much about them. What is your opinion? Oh yeah, one more question. Is there any rhyme or reason to the way Mercedes Id's their cars, or do they just have someone who grabs a handful of chrome letters and numbers and slaps them on the rear of the car as it rolls out the factory door??

It fried the points? When you changed the points did you get a new condensor? I've had them break down and do what you described.

It was an '84 NA, but latley it's what is commonly known as a garage queen. Its a 355 chevy with a mild summit cam, ported L98 Vette heads, Keith Black flattop pistons. Its carbed (750 carter) with a Vertex mag. In the future is Hillborn Injection, Jag front suspension, T-bird supercoupe rear. I'm ripping the engine back out today and have been thinking about going to a roller cam. What is your instillation like? Post some pics, I am really interested in what other people are doing to their Z31s. For a long time I felt like I was the only one with an early 300ZX on the board. Joe

i would probably have doen a big block but I had spent too much on my small block to start over. The only place where there is any clearance problem is with the headers and the steering rack. Here,are pics of my swap, and drawings of the motor mounts. [link]http://www.cardomain.com/my/edit_page?page_id=665777[/link] If there is any info I can help you with, just let me know.

The camo paint is a good idea, now it can be parked in the woods and never seen again!

Is there a chassis dyno in Oregon around Eugene? Every place I've been to in the Medford area says the closest ones are in Portland. That's 300 miles, and I would like to find one closer to home. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx Joe

Here's mine: Z31 radiator complete VG30 engine with ICU and harness Nissan 5 speed tranny new shaved door handle kit (never opened) hydraulic clutch master and slave cyls rear wiper motor Vertex mag, outside coil mag memory tach ac condessor,and lines ac compressor Chevy off road center bolt valve covers lots of th350 parts (clutches , steels, pump parts) Timing gears and chain for chevy Harley parts that I haven't looked at in years Tooling for a bridge port mill Don't even ask about the tool shed in the back yard

As usual, you've hit the nail on the head. I've been building hotrods since I was a kid, and learned most of the little bit I know from having to "just do it". I see a lot of people here that are learning the same way. IMO, this is a really good sign for the future of hotrodding. Now because of the almost half a century of technology advances, buying parts is easier, and in many cases cheaper that doing it yourself. For instance, many years ago I built a chevy six with three single carter carbs and a split exhaust. If I had been able to go out and buy an intake manifold and header I would have done it in a second. It would have been much easier, but at the same time I wouldn't have learned about welding cast iron. I still would rather go to a junk yard, than a parts store. A fast car is cool, but getting that Hemi to fit the Buick tranny is the challange, and that is the fun part of it all. Sir, I do not take being called a Gentleman ligthtly. After all, I've spent years becoming the old jerk that I am today!:)

This is probably a stupid suggestion, but have you checked with a bumper shop or chrome plater?

Those are great times, Congratulations!! Am i the only one who thinks there is something intrinsicly wrong with loosing a race by going too fast! What ever happened to "run what you brung"? Come to think of it, bracket racing is the reason I quit racing thirty years ago.

First let me say, I am not a big fan of the 350Z. I personally think it is a generic blob like the Audi, Lexus. But while digging around at the doctors office I came across the July Road and Track. There on the cover was a picture of the Chrysler Firepower. Now that is what a Z should look like IHMO. I can't post the pic because my scanner has taken a ... Well lets just say it shad a fatal caqse of diaharia. So what do you think? Is the Firepower a Z or what?

Coos Bay? No wonder you need the WD40. The throttle linkage is rusting up as we speak. here in Medford, things don't rust, they just melt into the asphault. On the ether hand, Congratulations!!!!! Isn't anything better than the first time it starts.

Looks like overkill to me. Maybe he should have the mustang guy do his heads;)

All that metal will just make the rings seat faster.

You aren't going to believe how much room you have when you get the vg30 out. I have a sbc in my Z31, and I think there is enough room for a big block. The 5.0 only weighs a little over 400lbs and my small block chevy is almost 100 lb heavier. With the small block and a th350, the weight distribution is really close to 50/50. so the 5.0 should do really well. of course if it were me, I would probably go with a 460, even though the weigh over 700 lbs. Besides, I hate turning corners.

Why rebuild it you ask? BECAUSE IT'S NEW ORLEANS! Sometimes there needs to be more considered than just dollars. I mean this isn't some third rate subdivision we're talking about here, it is the city that gave us jazz, and sent the Blues up the river to Chicago. New Orleans has been there since the revolution fer chrissakes. This is a city that has a soul and feel that is all its own. Tearing it down and moving it would IMHO be on a par with building a housing development on the Gettysburg battle field. I've managed to go to aomost every major city in every state in the lower 48, and beleive me, there ain't no place like the big easy. Just my two cents.

Mike, Get used to it. If the engine wouldn't start and my wife said I should let the air out of the spare tire, after 43 years of her totally uninformed suggestions, you'd find me draining the air out of the spare. i think its some kind of voodoo thing that wives pass from one generation to the next.

Thanks Aux. I saw that car on thenet a while ago and have been looking for it ever since. Here is another toro that I think is kind of cool http://www.geocities.com/chevadoracing/index.html

Gutted CRX + 455 Toronado engine, Wheel stad heaven.

Did anyone see the mythbusters where they tried to clean out a readymix truck with explosives? At the end of the show they decided to blow up the truck that was half full of cement, it was a neat blast, but it was the YELLOW truck that was half loaded. They blew up the white one. Wait, maybe it wasn't the yelloiw truck, it may have been the guys who were half loaded and they just forgot which truck to blow.

Wayne, That's the guage. now all I gotta do is find a 280Z instead of a ZX. Thanks a million, at least now I know what I'm looking for. Joe

I obviously haven't explained my problem very well, so here goes: I have a Z31. In the stock Z31 there are two openings in the dash for the volt meter and the oil pressure guage. The fuel and temp are (were) included in the instrument cluster with the speedo and tach. I removed the stock inst cluster and installed an autometer pro comp speedo and tach. I removed the stock Z31 oil press and volt meter and used combination guages like those from a 240Z where all four guages (Temp-Oil Pressure and Ampmeter-fuel) go into the two holes. However I can't find a combination with a volt meter instead of an ampmeter. I need to know if a 280 Z has a voltmeter-fuel guage combo. All I have found in local junk yards are 280ZXs and they all have three holes in the dash one for the volt meter and one for the oil pressure. the third is a clock. The 280ZX fuel and temp are in the instrument cluster like a Z31. I'll post some pics of my inst cluster when I find them. thanx, joe

All the 280s I have seen don't have combination guages (oil-amp / temp-fuel) I have no problem wiring them up, just finding a voltmeter in combo. Since I don't know much about earlier Zs it could be that the ones I have seen are all ZXs. Would that make a difference?

Is there any year that a voltmeter was used in combination guages? The ones I have have an ampmeter, and I've never seen a voltmeter in a combo guauge. The next time I have to pull the dash I would like to replace the ampmeter with a voltmeter. Thanx joe

Gawd, did you see the pink one with the german captions? Now that is a sin