Phantom

Also - did I mention that I commuted with my '77Z which had the same engine as the 280ZX daily for 10 years and added over 160,000 km to the already 160,000km on the car. The commute was an average 50 km/day. It was more reliable than either of the new vehicles my wife had during that time. During that time fuel economy ranged from 10.7-13.1L/100km, depending on type of driving and weather.

I bought an '83ZX three weeks ago to use as my commuter while my '77Z is in the shop. It has 196,000 miles on it and runs like Swiss watch. It has the digital dash and everything works except the cruise control and the clock. The T-tops don't leak but there is a small gap between the drivers side window and the window seal at the back which is a bit annoying at speed. It also has a crack in the windshield but it is such that it won't get any worse and is not in line of vision. It has absolutely no rust. Car has a freshly rebuilt engine with new distributor, injectors, alternator, water pump, hoses, spark plug wires, etc. It also has new paint job, tires, and freshly rebuilt brakes including a new vacuum booster unit. I paid $2,600 for it and figure I can sell it for that in 4-5 months when mine gets out of the shop. It rides and handles a lot differently than the '77Z but I've gotten used to it and enjoy it as a daily driver. Did I mention that it has a great radio?

If you have a Discount Tire store in your area - they have the Center Line catalog and will custom order your wheels. I went through them when I got my 16x7 Trident II's. I got them for about $40/wheel less than MSA. I bought the tires from them at the same time so I have the added benefit of them being obligated to ensure that the set stays balanced. They've had to work hard on it a few times as the combination of lug-centric vs hub-centric wheels and Yokohama S306's are difficult to keep balanced.

Reading all these posts tells me I had better think things through VERY thoroghly before starting to weld things in place. Just engine location alone requires the following decisions and considerations. 1) Am I going to use power steering or not - tells me how many accessories I have to find a place to locate. 2) Need to set engine to allow exhaust to clear the steering member on the driver's side. 3) Need to allow for clearing the starter on the passenger side. 4) If using the stock A/C system I need to mount the engine far enough forward to allow for the A/C plumbing behind it. 5) Same consideration for the heater core plumbing/hoses. 6) Engine needs to sit low enough to clear hood/strut tower brace but not so low as to overly expose the oil pan. 7) How does this all affect the location of the transmission mount and shifter? don't want to have to reshape the tunnel too much or carve on the shifter opening in the tunnel or console. I've seen/heard of several different approaches to many of these problems. I see, however, that a creative solution to one might exascerbate one of the other problems. This is going to require some real head scratching - and I haven't even gotten to the gauges yet! Ideally there will be a way for the A/C compressor to mount on the drivers side with the alternator on the passenger side which will simplify plumbing a bit - really don't want A/C & heater core plumbing all routing down the same side. Also need to have space to keep the solenoid vacuum controls for the A/C controls inside the car. If it doesn't work, however, I'll find a workable alternative. Right now I'm looking at running an R-12 compatible compressor to reduce the variables of converting a 25 yr. old system. The higher pressures and smaller molecules of the 134a may be more than the connections in my copper piping can take without leaking like a sieve. enough for now.

What transmission and differential are you running? IE: What is your gearing?

I vote for the T-56. Using a newer one with the .50:1 overdrive 6th gear and a 3.7:1 R200 my car will be turning 1750 RPM at 70 mph - half the numbers above - means a lot longer engine life and a much quieter ride. Quick downshift to 4th and its at 3500 rpm and the car is gone like a shot.

OK guys - lets talk cooling. 1) Glycol raises your boiling point and lowers the freezing point BUT it is not as good of a heat transfer medium as water. In the case of glycol - more is not better. If you want a way to improve your cooling - that actually can save you money - only run the minimum amount of glycol you need to protect the motor. 2) Heat transfer is a direct function of temperature differential - ie: the difference in temperature between your radiator water and ambient air. As the air temperature goes up the difference decreases and the water temperature goes up proportionally until it again achieve equilibrium. That is why a 160° thermostat controls fine in the winter but once the air temperature goes above about 85-90° the water temperature starts to drift. The only way to affect that is to move more air or move more water with moving more air the more effective way to cool - or increase the exposure time to the air by getting a bigger radiator or having more rows. If the air temperature is 100° and the leaving water is 85° then the radiator has a 85° "approach". If you double the number of existing rows on the radiator you can get that down to about a 45°approach which means that you could run 160° on a day where the ambient is about 115°F. V-8 conversions have a lot of room in the nose for deep radiators. Adding rows is a standard industry solution. I have no idea why everyone is so hung up on single row or 2-row radiators - Give me a 4-row any day.

My'77Z - No side impact beams, no crumple zones, no air bags, doesn't even have bumpers & old Z's aren't known for having a lot of extra steel in them. I've driven it 101,000 miles over 10 years in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and haven't put a dent in it. Why - it has an extremely sophisticated accident avoidance system on board - me. I've learned to scan the traffic around me (including in the rear view mirror)and anticipate the screwy things other drivers do. I have avoided cleanly several incidents where my car would have been at least totaled and maybe even had a loss of life - mine. I'm not saying we don't need good safety equipment but it will never take the place of good driving habits - those devices just kicks in when the habits aren't there or someone gets stupid.

I actually saw a new one today - canary yellow with white top. Cute little thang. Driven by a woman - like a little ol' man - but still a neat looking little car.

Cyrus, How far forward of the firewall does your engine sit? Maichor's is less than 1/2". That may be the major difference.

Wow - Ross - I love those brake set-ups. Do you have a ballpark price for the front wheel set yet? Since I have a '77Z I assume that I would also have to change out to a ZX master cylinder and add an adjustable proportioning valve?

18" Wheels fit the as designed fender wells in the rear just fine but they needed to go to 17's in the front to fit them or the profile on the tires would have been too low. Compromise between the suspension engineers and the body stylists.

Plan is to do minmal competition but will be run year round - about 10,000 miles/year - all kinds of weather but no snow or salt. It will be a combination of city and highway driving - some of it at some short duration but very high speeds (100+). I do not want a system that is jaguaresque in that it requires more than minimal routine maintenance. I only have to check the fluid level of the brakes monthly and do more extensive work about once every 3 years or 30,000 miles now. I've heard good things about the Wilwoods and, obviously, the Brembos. How difficult is the conversion for each. I assume new master cylinder and brake proportioning valve, How involved are the mounts?

Ok guys. Which would be the better set-up (cost, installation, performance) on a V-8 Z with 16" wheels - Brembo's or Wilwoods? Anyone with first-hand experience? I feel it coming. Once I get the "Go" part of the car done I'm going to start thinking about the "Whoa".

Anyone logged onto the Sport Z Magazine website lately? www.sportzmagazine.com Evidently the next issue is going to be on Z's with V-8 conversions. Might be worth the subscription just to see what is said. Anyone on this board been contacted by them? Just curious who is about to be famous!?!?

Maichor!!! Good to see you logged in. I was hoping you'd pick up this string and pass on some of the good stuff we discussed last week. I was right about my crazy schedule last week. This week looks a bit better. How does your schedule look Wednesday or Friday afternoon? I'd like to try to get over as early as possible on one of those days if it works with your schedule. Let me know.

Thanks for the encouragement Pete. I've been mulling this whole thing over for about 5 years now and it's a bit nerve-wracking seeing my ride of ten years now gutted and vital organs sold off. I know I'll be flying high (low?) once it's done but the process is a bit daunting. I've been a project engineer for nearly 20 years now and I'm used to taking on some pretty heavy "opportunities to overcome" so I know I'll get there. I just hate all the unknowns that raise their ugly heads and aggravate things for a while. That's why I treat it like a chess game and try to think several moves ahead so I don't "fix" a problem now that causes another one later. I'd like to bring this thing in for no more than $12,000 but I've got a $1,000 in it already just in the rear end and body work - and, lke you said - now I'm getting to the fun part.

Not a lot this week. The tabs in the engine bay that hold all the little things associated with the L28 had their spot welds drilled out and they were removed. The car arrived at the body shop Friday afternoon so it is now under reconstruction in the engine bay area. Welding up the holes and grinding them clean today. Degrease the entire engine bay and clean up the miscellaneous paint damage, battery acid crap, etc. The ground effects on the front and a small ding in the leading edge of the hood are also getting repaired. Car should be ready for the trip back to the engine garage by the end of next week. Also got the old engine, transmission and R200 sold so that cash will cover the body work. Things are moving, albeit slowly, at least they're moving. No more deconstruction now. After this week it will be the slow installation, modification, etc. to get the new drivetrain in.

I'm looking at modifying my original Datsun 3-row radiator to a 4-row and running a pusher/puller fan combination. Anyone tried this? It definitely eliminates any mounting concerns but not sure about hose connections or having enough cooling.

No. Don't need the catalytic converter for the engine to run correctly. You will have to edit the ECM to allow for not having sensors before & after the cats but there is no mechanical reason to need them.

Zephram Ephram is Zephram's brother. Zephram couldn't have survived all those doodads in his normal state of sobriety - or lack thereof.

Is the owners name Ephram Cochran?

Catalytic converter is there to perform a chemical conversion on your exhaust stream - clean up the bad stuff that burning unleaded gas makes. It actually acts as a resonator as far as back pressure and exhaust note is concerned. Remove the cat and you get lower back pressure and a tad bit more high end HP (1). A properly done exhaust won't even notice its absence. As long as your V-8 is of pre-smog vintage the CA emissions inspectors won't even look twice. If you go with a newer, fuel injected version, they'll be looking for all the stuff that's supposed to go with it. Thats the nice thing about Texas. We just go by the car's age. By the way - sweet looking ride. Like the color. Are those 17" wheels and tires? They look bigger than the 16's I have on mine.

Guess that depends on your definition of older. I'm 54 so I'm a bit sensitive about that -especially when I see a 20 yr old with his hat on sidewise doing something looney in the left lane while he's talking on the cell phone and driving with his left foot up by the outside rear view mirror. And yes, I wear a ball cap in the winter to help insulate that thin spot that is developing up there. Just can't figure out where all that hair has gone - certaily not to my ears or nose!

OK - I can beat all of you. We were out to dinner one day after church and my son's girlfriend was with us along with a few other guys. During the conversation the subject of the moon and the sun came up and she commented that "Aren't they both the same?" When asked why she didn't realize they were two different objects her defense was that she "talked a lot in science class"! My younger son, dumbfounded, asked her, "What - do you just think the sun powers down at night?" Anyway - after that, whenever she called the house and the younger son answered the phone he'd tell his older brother: "Copernicus is on the phone", or "Plato is on the phone", or "It's Einstein!" By the way - the girl was 21. Not sure though if that was her age or IQ.