Phantom

When I first upsized my wheels & tires I had a stock suspension on my '77 280Z so I bought some 16x7 Centerline wheels with 0 offset and put some 225/50-16 tires on them. They fit and that is what I'm still running 17 years later even though I now have coil-overs. In retrospect a +5 offset might have been slightly better but the 0 worked on my car with a totally stock suspension and body. You might, however, look at going to 17" wheels and running a 225/40-17 tire. That will be almost exactly the same diameter as a 195/70-14 tire and you will find more availability in 17" tires and wheels than in 16's. You will sacrifice some in ride but not too much compared to the 16's.

Do it, do it! Then tell us all how it works out.

Yup, head down to Texas Motorplex in Ennis and then up to Motorsport Ranch in Cresson - or vice-versa. That'll definitely make a case for fully adjustable struts and/or LCA's.

Just go to a local locksmith. He can probably rekey your existing stuff to match. That's what I did - but then that was probably 15 years ago. Maybe they can't do it any more.

I used to live in Horseheads, NY and I know that area of NY and PA. I find it hard to believe that any vehicle could survive over 35 years in that environment with only "slight" rust. Take Seattlejesters comments to heart and check it over more carefully. Look at the battery tray area, Check the bottoms of the door sills Check both rear quarter panels and around the gas cap area Lift the hatch and look at the trailing edge of the hatch and the sill area where it meets the body lift the carpet on both sides and check the floorboards under the carpet Look at the frame rails under the car - If they have any holes in them at all just pass unless you think you can part the car out and come out ahead This is a 280Z body but,as NewZed said, someone has removed the 280 bumpers and installed 240Z bumpers and for some reason removed the fuel injected engine and installed a carburated one. That makes me doubt the 50k miles claim as a moderately maintained L28 is good for over 200K miles. To quote Ricky Ricardo, "Lucy, you have some splainin' to do."

Crap! I missed this. When was it and how do I find out about the one next year?

We had one that was a near twin to that one for sale here in Yakima, WA about 2 years ago for $7K and I thought that was steep. It would be nice to see the value of these cars going up since I have a couple but it would really slow down new enthusiasts looking for a relatively inexpensive fun ride.

So did you ever solve the problem? If so, please let us know what it was and what you did to fix it.

I left Texas several years ago and moved to Yakima, WA. Regular roads in the mountains are a lot more fun than what I usually dealt with in the DFW area. I ran once at Motorsport Ranch near Cresson when the Porsche club was using it. Opened their eyes a bit when I really got on it.

I went with the Techno Toy Tuning Eibach springs with Koni adjustable struts. I told them I wanted to be able to maintain my stock ride height. What they sent me allowed me to do that - or lower the car as much as 2". I stuck with the stock height and I'm glad I did. My dual exhausts have too many issues at stock height. 2" lower and it would be track only for the car.

Hard to believe when we met up in north Dallas about 9 years ago that you would be running an LS motor. Nice.

Fuel cell vs stock tank can most easily be answered by budget and what your long term plans are for the car. I have a '77 280Z (fuel injected from the factory) and I am still running the original tank and fuel lines and I've upgraded to an LS1 V-8 - just put in a higher pressure/higher volume pump. If you're going to stick with a carburated L28 then just clean and treat the tank and continue on. Brakes - again depends on what your plans are. If you are just going to use it as a daily driver then stock brakes are fine. If you see yourself yielding to the temptation of canyon carving on those wonderful curvy Montana roads then you may want to consider upgrading to larger vented rotors in the front and 4-piston calipers. Willwoods work great. I modified my rear brakes to using 300ZX rotors with 240SX calipers to effect a minor upgrade and still retain the e-brake function. It does require going to a larger master cylinder and installing an adjustable proportioning valve. Suspension - again - for daily driving and stock wheels/tires a refreshed stock suspension is fine. I ran Texas Motor Speedway with the european spec springs and some KYB non-adjustable struts. Competition worthy - no - but definitely got me around the track. If you're thinking you'll be hitting some high speeds and will want more rubber under you then start with coil overs which will give you a bit more room under the stock fenders. You could run 245/40-17's on all four corners and that would be plenty if you invest in good tires. If you want massive rubber then you're going to have to plan on some kind of flares in addition to the coil-overs. In my mind the coil overs are the best bang for the buck - you don't have to modify the body and you can get serious rubber on the car plus you get better springs & struts. Camber plates give you the option of full adjustability on all four corners if you ever intend to seriously compete the car. Mine is mostly a daily driver but I've done my share of "spirited" driving and I don't have camber plates or adjustable LCA's. If you're seriously considering speeds in excess of 105 then I strongly recommend some kind of front and rear spoilers. A stock Z starts getting unstable at speeds over 105. I installed an MSA system and I know mine is solid to 130 now - probably more - but i've never gone any faster. I think if you start with some seam welding, welding in a set of Bad Dog frame rails and taking care of any rust or other body damage and you'll be well on your way. I too am 6'4" and kept my stock seats. I'm fine until I don a helmet and then my head is cranked over to one side. If you're going to be the primary driver then find a way to lower the seats by about an inch. It will also help your thighs clear the steering wheel a bit better) I have a 4-pt roll bar in my car. It adds to structural rigidity (especially if you weld a tab into your roof that can bolt to the bar. It is my concession to improving survivability if something goes horribly wrong.

Don't know about dirty dingo but the "broken kitty" name is derived from JCI's main business which is the repair of old Jaguars and converting them to SBC's with 350 trannies.

Sure it's not the hatch defroster switch? My '77 had it's antenna actuated by the radio from the factory. Does the switch lock into both of its positions or do you have to hold it in one of them?

Broken kitty.com is John's Cars (JCI) in Dallas. He developed the first "kit" for installing LS style motors in S30's. Motor mounts are solid. Mine have been good for 10 years now. He really knows his stuff but can be a bit brusque.

Hmm - My '77 280Z with an LS1 & T56 along with sound deadening and a full leather interior with sound system weighs an even 3,000 lbs. My '83 280ZX NA with a 5-spd manual weighed 2,830 lbs. If you do the truck scales right they can also give you front and rear axle weights as well as total weight. It would be sweet to have corner weights with and without me in the car but I don't know anyone in my area with them except the local 1/2 mile oval track. Hmmm.

More than welcome. Glad you found the problem and it was an easy fix.

Dang - that is a purty motor!

I hit the track right after doing the LS1/T56 conversion. The car weighed 2830 lbs., 1400 nose and 1430 tail. It had a fresh but essentially stock suspension and the brakes were only slightly upgraded. It still had the drums in the rear but I had the Toyota 4x4 calipers in the front on the 10" solid rotors. I was running brand new, freshly bedded, performance pads on the front. They were 50% gone by the end of the day. I really hadn't learned how to performance brake properly so I had smoke roiling out of the front fenders 20 minutes into the first session. I voluntarily took the car in only to see the black flag out for me if I had tried one more lap. Once they cooled down I was able to go out and run the last three sessions but had to really watch things. The real culprit for the brakes was the 110 degree turn coming into the infield off the back straight - sharp turn while decelerating from about 110-120 down to 30 MPH for the sharp turn. Missing the turn meant plowing into a concrete abutment which was not an option for me in my pretty red Z. Anyway - learned how to conserve my brakes and still be relatively competitive. Right after that I upgraded to the 240SX caliper son the 300ZX rotors in the rear and 4 piston Willwoods on 12.2" vented rotors in the front. Brakes still aren't right but what I have now sure would have been better than what I had then. I've also upgraded to the TTT Eibach coil overs with Koni adjustable struts for the suspension. Still have some work to do there too. Z brakes were pretty decent for a 25 - 2600 Lb car back in the day but the higher speeds attainable on that track with the V8 and the extra weight of the 280 just pushed them beyond their, and my, capabilities. Had I just been running the infield track where I was only bleeding 20-30 MPH off going into a corner I probably would have been fine but that first one with the 80 MPH drop really heated them up and they just couldn't recover.

Here's my experience. Broke a halfshaft U-joint on the 1-2 shift at the track. Tore the brake line, e-brake line and brake caliper out of the car. About $800 worth of damage. It was a greasable u-joint. Do NOT run greasable u-joints if you're running high HP - only run the solid type. They are significantly stronger. FWIW - I've found that my 325 RWHP through a 3.70 R200 Posi works well with street tires that have a 160 tread wear rating. The cheapest and least painful way to ensure survival of your drivetrain is for the tires to be the weak link. Better to have them go up in smoke than to scatter parts on the track or highway. Lot less embarrassing too. I've found it limits my first gear a bit but then it holds from 2nd gear on. Any more HP and either the tires really smoke or something mechanical breaks.

Air filter vs water - I actually got hit by snow slush one time where it came all the way past the radiator and drowned the air cleaner on my 340 Cuda. Had to remove the filter element to get home and then hit a puddle a mile from home that drowned the engine. Fortunately it didn't hydrolock and I was able to start it ok later. I currently have my filter behind the radiator on the drivers side but I would prefer the colder air in front of the radiator. I did a studly in college that showed a 100 degree intake air temperature difference is worth about 5% in HP. If I move mine to in front of the radiator I will probably build a shield in front of it or maybe even an inlet that can generate some inlet pressure with speed - although the same college study showed that the "ram" effect didn't become effective until speeds in excess of 90 MPH.

That is the only time in 50 years of driving that I've done that intentionally. Evidently the car can be heard some distance away so I've probably done it accidently many times.

Panoz had a driving school there when I did it. You might check and see if the school is still there or if someone else is doing it. They are the ones that periodically offer a "driver education day" which allowed some enthusiastic folks access to the track for a day. http://www.texasworldspeedway.com/programs/pds.html

Smoked my brakes 20 minutes into the first session and then had to learn how to drive the remaining sessions with reduced braking. Got really frustrating every time I got a chance to pass the Lotus but realized I didn't have the brakes to slow down after I got past him.