Phantom

Tim, Man - what a project you have going! I looked at your website. I envy you the time & space to do that kind of detail work. That is going to be a really sweet ride once you finish it up.

As of today the only remaining issues on the car are speedometer calibration (it works) and figuring out why the brake warning light is on. Engine runs great & cool. Drivetrain seems solid - but time will tell. Horns work AC works All the stock gauges; speedo, tach, oil press, water temp, voltmeter & gas gauge work Windshield washers work Seatbelt warning light is now the "check engine" light Cashier's check is cut and in my pocket Expect #20, first impressions, next week.

Came up alongside a '94 Indy Pacecar Mustang Cobra convertible this morning on the way to work. Compared to my stock NA '83Zx there was no comparison and the smirk on his face when he jumped out in front of me told me he knew it too. Enter the evil thought. The next time I see him, and there will be a next time, I'll be driving my red '77 280Z with the LS1 / T56 combo. Plan is to come along side in third and nail it. I figure the screeching tires and fishtailing car alongside him should be enough to require a change in clothing. Man, am I looking forward to next week!!

I still remember when I took the oil bath air cleaner off my '49 Cadillac and replaced it with a piece of oil soaked panty-hose and then replaced the 4' long muffler with a Smittys glass pack. Took my gas mileage from 6.5 to 11! My other "racer" mods were to remove the sun visor from the front, take off the 20 lb full chrome hubcaps, and put STP in the airplane style shocks that car had. That old 331ci, 160 HP V-8 would move the 4,200 lb car pretty good in second gear from 20 to 50 (It had a 4-spd hydramatic). Had a guy in a Hurst Olds want to race me once. I just pointed to the Orage styrofoam ball on my radio antenna with the blue "76" (Union 76 Gas Station) and told him that was what I did in the quarter and he didn't need to waste his time. Later -when I got my '70 'Cuda I actually put stainless steel mudflaps on it. Why? Because they were functional and "socially acceptable" at the time. Now I've got a Z car with a Chevy V-8 in it. Just remember the basic rules. Is it in reasonably good taste even if it's not your taste, and is it well done. If so - admire it. I remember standing in my driveway a few months ago admiring an AMC Eagle the pizza delivery guy was driving. They are quite rare now and this one was in excellent, original, condition. Kid was beside himself to think that someone actually thought his old 4wd station wagon was cool.

Maybe this is a stupid question but if you edited the LS1 ECM and removed all the not-essential-for-a-Z stuff so that it gave no error signal for them being missing would they ever know the difference?

Nope - Using Freeze 12 in the AC. It's an envirofriendly version of R-12. costs less and cools better. Yes, using original coils inside & outside. AC works now. Oops - forgot to install carbon canister. Also need to install speedometer drive, mount the ECM, and install a heat shield on passengers side to protect some wiring from the header. UPS is being very "friendly and cooperative". Parts are still lost but they're being "friendly and cooperative".

Really sweet looking ride and obviously a lot of work in it! Are those Center Line wheels? What size & offset are you running? Where did you get the tinted headlight covers? I'm contemplating them but haven't convinced myself to go that way yet.

You can also try http://www.junkyarddog.com

I hate AC fittings. JC worked all day yesterday trying to finesse an AC fitting into behaving. Finally last night had to get ugly with it, drill it out, tap it and then it went together. Whole day wasted basically due to one fitting. Sooooo - today it's once again - charge the AC, mount the ECM, put the hood back on and road test the differential. On top of that - the strut tower braces are firmly lost by UPS. I called Top End Racing this morning to let them know I had emailed the details to them yesterday and to get them to initiate the trace on the parts. Oh - and it just keeps getting better - now UPS is saying that the parts never got on the truck from California. Then the girl tries to give me a number to call that has a one digit area code - DUH!!! AAAARG! The anguish of it all. So close yet so far. I feel like I'm caught in the step halfway each time syndrome where you never really get there.

The last AC part arrived yesterday. Plan is to final assemble AC today, charge the system with refrigerant & function & leak test it. Then put hood back on and run the car some to see if relocation of differential has had a positive effect on the wheel hop problem. Assuming that the AC system works & doesn't leak and that the differential doesn't tear out of the car tonight I should pick it up tomorrow. Strut tower braces made it from California to Mesquite, TX in 3 days but they arrived there last Thursday and still not have delivered. Sent an email to UPS asking "WHEN?" Assuming I get them and car this week I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

What do you do for the two gauges that get lost when converting over to Autometer? I know one could go into the clock hole but what about the other. With two of the Datsun gauges being split gauges, including the clock there are five gauges in three holes. So, after the clock, which gauge do you go without - or where do you move it to? I seriously considered all new gauges when starting my project because of the problems with the tachometer and speedometer/odometer. After a while it just got to be too much of a mental exercise so I stayed with all the stock Datsun and have made them work.

The article on the ubermensch site is very good. Pretty plain english and the math isn't quite third semester calculus. It pretty well supports what everyone has put together in so many words.

I've had an '83Zx for about 10 months now while my '77Z has been Hybridizing. Did an oil and filter change tonight along with a new fuel filter and some new NGK V-groove plugs. Old plugs were white so it's obviously running a bit lean. I'll have to keep an eye on it - maybe needs a new 02 sensor also. Anyway - took it for a test run. Dumped it at about 3,000 RPM, laid down a double black stripe about 10' long, grabbed another foot or so in second and then shut down at 65 in less than an eighth. The old beast still has it at 205,000 miles.

Fort Worth guy is actually in Plano - a Dallas suburb. His name is Craig Taylor of Taylor Race engineering Inc. web site: http://www.taylor-race.com

I was talking with Craig Taylor of Taylor Race Engineering a few weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. He indicated he could swap any standard R200 ring and pinion set into the 3.7 R200. That would include the 3.54 or the 3.36. Contact him at: craig@taylor-race.com. His website is http://www.taylor-race.com

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Correction guys - The 280ZX may not suffer from exhaust fumes but the 280Z certainly does!

No - it will have to be recored with additional rows - at least 4.

Things I didn't know that I've found out. If you either recore the stock Z radiator or get one with exactly the same dimensions the fan shroud and fans for a '98 or '99 Z28 will fit up beautifully with minor trimming. There are two fans and they are three speed. If you use them with the LS1 harness they connect up like in the Z28 and are controlled by the ECM and car stays nice & cool - so far.

Amazing, my '77 280 with the motorport aero package & 83ZX 5-spd and R200, less the original crash bumpers, 1/2 tank of gas weighed in at 2,800 lbs on a certified truck scale. Amazing the difference in wights!

Might want to look at the '87-89 3.70:1 R200 LSD out of the turbo cars those years. It's a much easier conversion. Check with Ross at http://www.Modern-motorsports.com about brake / wheel hub upgrades.

That's the same one I posted over on the Chevy forum - right?

Cody - why don't you just keep checking with Jerry for a 3.7:1 R200 LSD? He will get one eventually.

Austin, Sent you a photo direct email of that differential in my '77 280Z. Don't know how much help it will be but it's on it's way.

I know a guy here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth are that is a Quaiffe rep and works a lot with SCCA. Let me find his card and get that info to you so you can get a competive quote going here. He'll do the conversion for you too if you want it. He'll also change out your ring and pinion to a different ratio if that's what you want.