Phantom

Oops - been down with the flu - sorry about opening the door on the 4-lug thing. The number of lugs required is related to weight and the amount of torque actually being transferred through the tires to the ground. Light car & lots of torque OK - heavy car and lots of torque maybe not ok - heavy car on skinny tires that smoke a lot 4 lugs probably ok. Your engine work is impressive. My car has a totally stock '98 LS1 putting about 325 HP to the rear wheels and I know I'm having some issues as RebekahsZ is. All of us have broken and upgraded a lot of stuff on our cars, always finding the next weak link in the car. By spending time on all the system specific forums (engine, drivetrain, suspension, braking, etc) you should be able to get most, if not all, your questions answered. There are some very knowledgable guys here - in both education and experience - so someone will be able to help. We may get a bit "abrupt" sometimes because we all see too many young guys that basically "don't know what they don't know" that ask the same questions without searching and/or insist on doing something we all know has been tried and failed miserably. We'll challenge things we see and hear but it's usually meant in a sincere effort to save someone some time and $$$ - or real embarrassment if the car unravels in front of friends. As long as you know that everything in this car - including the unibody - was designed for about 150 RWHP with a bit of safety factor and plan accordingly you'll be fine. Enjoy your project and keep us posted. Bill

Wow -1,000 RWHP. You're right - tires aren't going to handle anywhere near that. I doubt if the R230 or its half-shafts will either. My sons is only rated at 700 HP. You're going to have to put some serious engineering into that drivetrain - and yes - you better plan on 5-lug wheels rather than 4-lug or you'll see your wheels passing you as you're sliding on your butt down the road. Not a happy situation.

Sorry - your reference to needing massive tires led me to think massive flares also. I guess knowing what you're really talking about for horsepower would better define it. My son has a 240 with the R230 set-up in the back with cryogenically hardened half-shafts. He's also running the Reaction Research wide body kit that can handle a 305-315mm width tire. He currently is running 275/40-17's in the back on 17x9.5" wheels. His engine is putting about 375 HP to the rear wheels and he lights them up with little effort because the car is so light and the BFG's are all weather and just don't have the traction of something like a Dunlop Direzza. The sizing of wheels and tires has been beaten to death so many times on this forum that it's a bit frustrating. The maximum wheel width is a function of the look you want. If you're going for the low-rider look you could have a wheel 3-4" wider than the tire. If you are going for a more conventional look then you'll want a wheel thats anywhere from the same width of the tire to maybe 2" narrower. I run 225/50-16's on 7" wide rims. If I want to go to 245's I'll need to get another set of wider wheels. For starters you'll be able to get the measurement from the mounting face of hub back to the suspension which will give you the maximum you can go in that direction. From there you just need to determine how wide a tire/wheel combination you want to run and that will determine the offset and how wide your flares will have to be. Obviously if a flare can handle a 305-315 width tire then it can also handle an 11-12" wide wheel - IF the offset is right and the flared fender is done correctly. You have to do the work to get the actual measurements on your car to know what you can do. The front will be different from the rear. You also need to measure both sides because they may not be the same. That happens with 40 year old cars.

The lack of additional information is giving me gray hair. Obviously you are planning some massive flares if you are planning wheels/tires that wide. Are you also looking at moving the suspension more inboard and tubbing the back of the car? If you don't, at some point the extension of the wheel centerline beyond the stock location is going to put significant cantilevered loading on the wheel bearings. It will also affect the performance of the springs and the shocks. On top of that, If your "RWHP is going to require a massive tire" then you better re-evaluate the differential hyou will be running and the half-shafts attached to them. You also better plan on going to a 5-lug wheel instead of a 4-lug. I smell a forest fire in the making here so I hope you're thinking this through.

Mine has two 6.5" in the doors, a 1" done tweeter in each 'A' pillar, two 5.25" in the stock locations in the side panels behind the seats, and the 10" subwoofer in the rear side panel. It's all powered by a 4-channel 500 watt Alpine amp with half the power going to the subwoofer. It will drive you out of the cabin or deafen you if you turn it all the way up. Love it.

The headliner is black Katskin leather and the 'A' pillars are also wrapped in leather because of the mods done in the A pillar plastic to mount the tweeters from the front speakers. The 10" subwoofer in the back is a ported fiberglassed box custom built for that spot and covered in leather. The only non leather surface in the car is the liner in the spare tire well. It is black naugahyde. I have a picture of it somewhere if you have interest. I also modified the back deck so that it hinges up in the front to give access to the wells behind the seats that used to have doors to them in the 240's. I originally used them for storage but now one has the CD changer in it and the other has the cross-overs and the capacitor for the sound system in it. The amplifier is a 500 Watt Alpine unit and it is plenty of that small space. If I had it to do over I would probably mount it across from the subwoofer rather in the middle. It occupies a lot of storage space but it does look cool sitting there. Like I said before - the guy doing the upholstery whined a lot about how stiff the house carpet was but he got it done. It did a lot to make the car quieter inside but it also added weight and reduced the width of the area where the gas pedal is. If you have 12D's like me then you would need to wear slim shoes to not get tangled up in the brake when working the throttle. It doesn't give me any problems now but it was an issue I didn't think about when opting for the dynamat and the thick carpet. Hey - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. You could make it identical for all I care. It's your car and having it the way you want it for your personal tastes is what it is all about. Have fun.

Some pictures of my interior to give you a few ideas.

For $17k that paint & body work had better be perfect. Go over it with a magnifying glass when they finally give it back to you. You should have the nicest S30 on the planet when you're done. You planing on pitting a full leather interior in it too? Don't let them convince you that you have to go with an "automotive" grade carpet either. I put a thick pile house carpet in mine. It was a bear for the upholstery guy but he did it and it's beautiful.

You can find cars still in reasonable shape - no rust in critical areas in the dryer areas of the US. Just keep looking. If you're not in a big hurry you'll come across one. Too bad you don't have the LM4 instead of the LM7. The weight savings would be nice. Interestingly - I'm going to be in the Vancouver area this next Tuesday and Wesnesday nights, May 6 & 7. Up there for some business.

I was headed out of my driveway yesterday when I rolled across a rough spot that I normally avoid because I'd get a "thump" that sounded like one of the rear struts wasn't bolted down tightly on the top. I had checked them a few times and both were tight so it had me perplexed. Yesterday there was no "thump". Now I have another audible tell-tale of loose differential mounting bolts. Two worrisome noises with one cure. Now I only have one loose nut in the car rather than three.

I took my car to a shop in Arlington, TX. They tore the car apart - removed all the glass, doors, hatch & hood. Sanded the body down, repaired the small amount of rust they found, took care of a bunch of small hail dents, installed the MSA Aero II 4-piece ground effects kit and painted the car Cadillac Eldorado pearl red with a white racing stripe. They did it in 5 weeks for $2,500. But that was in 1997.

Too much money for a body that is suspect. Keep looking for another car to put your drivetrain in. You should be able to get a decent, running, S30 for around $2,500.

The sway bar in my photos is the bar that came with the car in 1977. It has been there with the original 4-sod/3.54:1 R200, then an '83ZX 5-spd/3.90:1 R200, and now with the T56/3.70:1 R200 LSD. I have never had any interference issues. Even with the installation of the Techno Toys Eibach/Koni set-up it still clears everything. Looking at the photos and the car it should be able to handle a bar 3/8" bigger in diameter without getting into the drivetrain or the exhaust. I used a round to oval to round exhaust section on the passenger side which allowed me to go under the rear cross member rather than notching it for another exhaust. This should pretty much set it up for a standard replacement with an ST unit. My car won't be going any lower. I'm at the edge of dragging my exhaust on some of the higher speed bumps and ridges in gravel driveways now. On another note - when we jacked the car Wednesday I was surprised to see the front wheel come off the ground while jacking the rear. The new springs and shocks really keep the tires in check. My friend, Bob, probably commented a half-dozenb times about how rigid the car is. He was impressed with that and the torque-tube design of the drivetrain. He even noted the drive-shaft loop in the front.

jhm/m1ghtymaxXx - I will probably go with the stock location then. My car is as low as I'm comfortable with for daily driving and I also don't want to have to deal with the clearance issues with the finned cover on the R200 LSD and the modified cross brace crossing across the back of it.

Gary, My bar is in the stock location and runs on the front side of the differential rather than the back side. See photos. In that position I don't see any issues with running the ST sway bar spec'd for the 280, do you?

Yeah - know what you're talking about - mine is a piece machined out of aluminum and moves out and around the fins. Someone was making them 10 years ago when I did my conversion so I picked one up cheap.

Well, for mine it was about $35k with full Katskin leather interior and an Alpine sound system. I figure I could get about $12-15k for it today so I'll be keeping it for another 22 years.

OK. I was thinking that but I had seen so many posts about issues guys were having clearing the fins on the finned R200's that I had second thoughts. Yes, the bar is the original 1977 bar. In that case, With what I saw and the fact that they are built to replace the stock units I should have no issues with the installation of the Suspension Techniques bars. Interestingly, when I talked with my son, DarthZ, about his '73 240Z with an R230 in the back - his is mounted the same way.

I had never really paid any attention but when the LS!/T56 conversion was done on my car in 2003/4 the rear sway bar was reinstalled running toward the front of the car rather than around the back of the finned cover of the R200. I got a few photos for anyone that is interested. Anyone see any reason why this won't work as well as the "normal" way of doing it?

Turns out it was the bolts holding the R200 to the mustache bar. Both were loose enough that the lock washers would turn by hand. Tightened them up and the noise is gone.

RebekahsZ - Did the same test you did. T56 in 1st gear, passenger rear wheel off the ground and drivers side on the ground, R200 LSD with u-joint halfshafts. Watch the valve stem closely. Total rotational movement less than 1". Something is definitely not what it should be in yours with that much difference. Real reason we were jacking the car was to find the source of a low speed, low load vibration/rattle in the rear end. Turns out that both the bolts holding the R200 to the mustache bar were loose enough to be able to turn the lock washers by hand. Oops. Tightened them up good and noise is no more. Happy camper here. IMG_4019.MOV

You can get basically the same car in Seattle for $12K.

Except for the turn signals it looks like a series 1 240Z. Didn't the Eurospec Z's also have the louvered hoods in 77 & 78? This one doesn't. I think it's a 240 that's been custom built.

I have VIN 1779 1970 240Z at the place right now. I'm in the process of getting it running so I can get a clear title for it. At that point it will be up for sale. Once I get that done I'll know what I have invested in it and I'll post it along with photos and a price. This car has a dealer added AC and sunroof and, other than just being old and neglected, is all original except for the wheels.

So what was the turnout like? I was thinking about attending this year until I heard it was a shortened venue due to the ZCCA annual in San Diego.