Daeron

GTS..?? They're Supra rims, if thats what GTS means then yah. At this point (I am just staggering in at 8 AM, burp) I cannot think what GTS might mean. BUT, they are supra rims, 14x7".

I would look into simply getting custom springs for it... Any off-road, truck, or wheeler shop should be able to help you with a set of springs that would have the ride height and characteristics you want. If you plan on making any substantial changes to the car (ie engine swap, extra steel for roll cage or whatever, significant weight change things) then do those first, before getting the springs made.... ...BUT.. Look at those tires. Look at them. Throw some 80 series sidewalls on the car and you will be AMAZED how tall it sits. Stock suspension, 80 series freebie tires I got from a friend when I was in a jam:

I prefer searching "9300 shiftpoint":shock: It may not be the number you have on the title of that vid, but I know I have searched at 9200, 9300, and 9400 and found it easily using any of those terms

....... They DID!! Where do you think the tree-fiddy came from?!!? what they NEED is a 2400 pound, 2 liter, 200 horse roadster. If they had any GUMPTION they could've come out with it in 2000 and beaten the S2000 to the punch. *pause while I lament the Fair Lady That Could Have Been....* ..But back to reality now, the new Beetle came out, the PT Cruiser came out, and then Nissan's North American design team drew up the "240Z concept" that evolved directly into our VQ Powered, loved-and-hated 350Z. Then the Charger was released, then the new Mustang, the Challenger is trickling out onto the roadways (I saw one in a driveway the other day and almost made a mess in my pants, hands down best resurrection of a car EVER, PM me for some year old shots of a couple of the first unibodies coming off the line) and weren't we going to get a new Camaro a la Transformers??? My point is, not too many corporate executives feel too rambunctious about jumping onto the bandwagon of "hot new retro styled cars." It is a risk, because it costs money, and ALOT of it, to set up manufacture for a fully redesigned or new vehicle. Nissan has already taken this risk once, reviving a vehicle line that they had discontinued because of slumping sales. You cannot expect them to be eager to do it again, especially when the vehicle we speak of reviving is remembered chiefly as "THE poor man's sports car." The sales of any "new 240Z" would suffer if it were not priced low, and so in the end you want to ask a stoic company's board of directors (Japanese and French) to gamble a huge sum of money on a car that cannot be sold for anything more than 30-35K per unit. I hate to rain on the parade, but like I said, we HAVE to keep in mind the fact that nissan already DID Revive the Z!!!!!!!!

six bucks a can is expensive? sea foam is a godsend to the shadetree mechanic, it is unconscionable that it took us so long to have a product like this cheaply available for retail sale.

One thing that I can tell your experience has brought about in you, Tony, is a particular regard for the nuances and specific meanings to words in English, as used by english speakers! When speaking in a highly technical forum, nuances and "semantics" are HIGHLY relevant, and it is growing difficult to find native speakers of English with an adequate command over their own thoughts and their own (our own) language to assign the proper words to given thoughts, and the proper thoughts to given words. This issue is the very core of the concept of "shallow" or "superficial." English is a very subtle language, when it comes to precision of intended thought. Why else would the USA be run by a galloping gaggle of lawyers? Without thorough and rigid definition of vocabulary terms, using the language makes it very easy to get mentally lazy and that is the beginning of a VERY slippery slope that ends in senility and adult incontinence products. (Thanks, Oops I Crapped My Pants!) I have no point to make on-topic, or even to OZ.. I simply never fail to applaud the Forces of Semanticism And Specific Definition.

meh, it never hurts to confirm a "duh."

I can't call it "mine" but between my uncle, my old man, and my brothers we have around 30 L6 heads or so as well. We have other L4 heads, too, but if I am not mistaken they are all bolted down to blocks It'll probably take me a couple weeks because of my housing situation right now, but I'll go ahead and do that cut and paste job. The photos are really the critical part; once they get posted somewhere with the descriptions of the heads that have already been penned, I think we might see a slight surge in the understanding levels among the lower echelons and newbies here.. When I was first really coming into my own in terms of L-6 knowledge, I know I cursed the lack of photos on the diverse "Head Description Page"s I was using for research; I suspect actually SEEING things like a closed, high quench combustion chamber as opposed to the open chamber might help many understand some of the more subtle differences betwixt the two.

I pretty much meant that there are aerodynamic issues going on that can prevent air from even wanting to go INTO the grill opening. You may not be experiencing any of them with your vehicle, the way the front end is set up; then again, you may. I wanted to alert you to the deep deep complexities that are involved in this subject. Keeping a hi-powered Z cool has frequently been an issue for people over the last 35+ years, and things were brought to light in the aerodynamic testing sessions sponsored by various board members last summer that indicate that quite often, and for a couple of different reasons, air simply does not flow through the radiator well. IF you should continue to have higher than desired running temperatures (after fixing the fan, and after tuning the spark and fuel to a point where you are somewhat happy with it) then some patient reading is in order. Like I said, I don't know what valance/front spoiler you have, tire size, etc.. if your car is essentially stock ride height, wheel size, etc, then the issue is largely negated (i THINK) so don't panic over it.. but if time goes by and the heat persists, research this issue before scrapping your recored radiator.

bah, my parents' place, about 15-20 miles away from where I'm at now. I've been renting a room from a guy, and he's pretty much losing his house, soooo... no more room, heh. LONG story. even compared to this one.

You don't need a new radiator. If yours has been re-cored, then it is sufficient. I was going to say, before reading the "doh" above, that you DO need to make sure you are flowing adequate air through that radiator, though. Not just regarding the fan, but also the air flowing into the opening of the grill. How much have you read about the front aerodynamic issues with the S30? It *can* become an issue to ensure you flow enough air THROUGH the radiator and not around it. If your fan fix does not fully solve your problem, you need to do some more research into this subject before chucking your radiator for an aluminum one. The subject is very subtle and I cannot recall enough of the finer details to review it for you off the top of my head, but I can point you towards the threads where it is discussed if you want.

That is one of the heads that this thread lacks at this point. I went through it all about a week ago, and most everything else is in there as far as photos of stock or near stock pieces. It seems to suffer some from disorganization though. One of the more confusing issues (as is seen here) is the subtle differences in E88 castings, and even I am left somewhat mystified on that subject after looking through the thread. (I have seen literally dozens of E88s, and there have been times when I sat and studied the different chambers side by side a LITTLE bit, but I still need to look at photos to provide myself a mental reference of which is which) Would any of the original authors and photographers involved take offense if I were to spend some time, plagiarize some other people's words, and type up a single, clear, concise post with pictures and complete text descriptions (I am thinking rip off 1 fast Z's post largely for the descriptions and include any photos of any head posted yet..) Would a "re-post" of all that to make it one clear picture at this point be superfluous waste of bandwidth, or valuable improvement to the thread as a reference source? I wouldn't have a problem with letting it simply get copied back into the initial post on this thread if that is deemed wisest.. I am almost trying to get a mini wiki mentality started on this subject. Katayama knows we've got enough subtle variations to spawn internet misinformation for the next eon or so.....

making anything new costs money. continuing the 350Z untouched, with a few options deleted to cut weight and luxury value, as well as cost, is the cheapest way to a new "poor man's sportscar" wearing Nissan Z-car livery.

It all comes down to this, with emphasis added to the two important points. and that is the wisest advice ever given by a car guy. I look at tires in the exact same light I look fishing line. These things are the definition of "by the book" selection. "What am I trying to do, with what equipment, and how do I want it to perform?" Given the answers to those questions, there is a precise numerical designation for your selection. Using my 7 foot medium light baitcaster with an Ambassadeur 5500 on it, I opt for 12# test in high wind or low lure/target fish weight conditions, and opt up to 14# test if I plan on bait fishing or potentially meeting up with a tarpon. Tire size should be decided based on A: desired outside circumference B sub1: Desired tread section width Bsub2: wheel width C: wheel diameter (for sidewall sizing considerations) then D: tread compound. Will the tires work? Frequently. However, there is only a narrow range proper selection given the wheel size. Anyone who doesn't understand why would do well to learn more about it, because it is a fairly simple topic. The reason I made the fishing analogy above is because there are more similarities.. My fishing line is a thin bit of plastic that connects me and my expensive tackle, to the fish I so desire. It is the weakest link, and it is in fact tiny; so it needs to be sized appropriately and used in the right manner. The four little contact patches underneath your car, transferring all of your power and control, are equally tiny bits of rubber. Every effort should be made to maximize their performance, or you might lose contact not with some stinky fish... but with the asphalt. That can leave you in very close contact with cement, or other tires, or orange barrels, or other vehicles... depending on venue. It is a risk not worth taking ignorantly. If you take it, you should be fully aware of what you are doing. for the record, at this point a post like this is no longer directed AT the OP of this thread; its more for anyone who might be reading it through for the first time and failing to understand Mikelly's warnings.

Its not MY rear end.. It was my Dad's and actually this car has been cut up into pieces and scrapped since this photo was taken.

Just got my connection back, so this is a quick response off the top of my head.. I did alot of reading on the subject on wikipedia, as well as checking a couple of links found thru google. From what I understand, there were numerous revisions to the 90* V6 that was the original GNX engine, and the more modern buick 3800 (at least, the engine in my landlord's 92 FWD regal that says 3800 on the cover) is a direct descendant of that, and while crankshafts/heads might not be swappable, and blocks from a FWD car might not go into a RWD car.. the engine is substantially the same in terms of bore spacing, crank design, etc. There ARE radical differences (later engines got higher deck height I know, and longer rods than the original-- thanks for mentioning your long rods BTW, that WAS one of my key questions about the motor) but my understanding of what I read was that a real linear "sameness" existed between the older and newer "regal engines" despite significant changes, and that this sameness set them apart from the multitude of 60* V6s out there. Now, (again, according to wiki, )the 4.3, and the 3.1L engine in my buddy's 95 Lumina (also from late 3rd gen F-bodies), and numerous other V6s including a 3.8 liter, are incarnations of the gen II (or revision II, i remember the roman numeral for sure) 60* V6, which was a WHOLLY wholly different engine. At least, this is how I had come away from my study.. I am not a child of the bowtie. I'm not too keen on American engines TBH; not a statement of opinion, more a statement of experience and knowledge level. I was frankly surprised to learn how many of these machines are still OHV!! Would you say that I have formed a fairly accurate mental picture about these engines and how they relate, for a jap car guy who didn't know squat about em until a month ago???

Well, the cover I had on it got shredded by the hystericane that just blew thru.. but that hardly counts as an update. (any time the newbies get all panicky about a storm lower than category 2, and I see multiple people filling multiple gas cans, it qualifies as a "hystericane." I spent this hystericane flying a kite. ) I am going to need to inflate the tires to move the car in the next couple of weeks, because I appear to be moving within the next month. Fun times. Believe me, when anything happens the thread'll get bumped

what Nissan OUGHT to do with the 350 Z is leave it bloody well alone, if anything CHEAPEN it up a bit, and let it sit as is, unchanged, and drop the price. They NEED a CHEAP sports car, and they have for 20 years. The 350Z has to have paid for its tooling already, so leave it more or less alone, yank the fancy crap out of it, and drop the tag. If someone who wants a Nissan wants to spend a chunk of change, they can buy a GT-R. The motor out of the mini cooper has a HUGE aftermarket parts supply. Same with VW motors. NUMBERS are the key to making a vehicle cheap, and if a car company were to commit to their customer base enough to MANUFACTURE the products that breed loyalty, then the customers will follow them. Look what happened to honda because of the Civic, and that wasn't even that worthy an automobile (speaking strictly from performance POV; I love the civic as an automobile for its combination of numbers, reliability, and economy) bah, probably nobody cares. i'll shutup now.

I am curious why you seem to presume that a stroked out L series would have to be carubureted AND naturally aspirated... a stroked low boost L series running TEC3 should be a BREEZE to get to 300 horses. I would also bet that you should be able to get the head and the block for under the prices you listed. Swap out your $1500 carbs for a set of ITBs (say, Accurate Injection units, thats right about what they cost) and then get a turbo and manifold (there is a group buy in the works for a turbo manifold BTW) and you are set. Or you could simply stick with a stock L28ET bottom end, with some nice pistons and maybe an overbore to 88 or 89 mm if you want. 89mm bore gives you 2.949 liters on a 280 crank, 2.88 liters for an 88mm bore.

Okay, thanks for the corrections and education.. You state that "The Buick Stage II and the GN motor have different lineage than the 3800." When I said 3800 I intended to MEAN "the grand national motor," and while I understand the differences between the actual GNX motor and the later variants.. what motor do YOU think of when I say Buick 3800? The later, Rivera motor that was mentioned above? As I said, I was astounded to see how much complexity and development was involved in a simple study on "the grand national motor." The only comprehensive source I could find that was relatively simple to read (ie, not having to read the entire content of a GM forum to really grok what I am looking for.) You wouldn't happen to have a handy link to a page outlining the different incarnations, and delineating what would essentially be different motors, would you? Also, VERY intersting to hear about your comparison on the VG to VQ... I *knew* there was a reason I still loved that motor an awful lot for one that I have never owned.

Brian, that was a great response to jeff's wee rebuttal. Your initial comment DID come off as a little sarcastic, and please keep in mind that JeffP has taken a BARRAGE of "I call BS" on his dyno numbers, so a touch of sensitivity on his part regarding this is certainly excusable. I think this is a demonstration of the second half of the phrase "A little knowledge is dangerous.. and so is alot." You guys both do know alot, so each can seem to the other as if they have a bit of "know it all" in their makeup, when in fact its just a mis-judgment of tone. Black and white text has no voice to it, so it is easy to read sarcasm or pride where only jest and confidence are intended. The difficult part lies in making the tone more abundantly clear in any posts here. On a side note, I have to remember that "blowing out the fire" bit for when my nephew gets a few more years on him. Tony, I am sure your kid was fascinated by the discovery of such a possibility

They are all interchangeable.. I prefer the gear reduction starters (as do most, to the best of my knowledge) but its only for the sound of it. Any S30 or S130 starter should fit.

You are right, I need to investigate the SHO 6 cylinder.... My overall original motivation was seeing if there was a common base of comparison between the VQ (as much boost as it is seeing these days) and the buick motor. How similar to the old 90* V6 is this CTS motor??

If you take two reds and a yellow, and use one red with a dual filament bulb for brake/tail and the other as a tail light, and the yellow as a turn signal, then I would be all about using lights straight off of a school bus

Enzo??