Phantom

I borrowed a flat deck trailer from a friend to take my Z to an event a fair distance away and discovered a few things: 1) The ramps are too short so the break-over at the bottom got into my air dam and the bottom hung up on the break-over at the top. 2) Adjusting for that I set the trailer ramps on top of some regular car ramps and tried again. The problem here was that the angle iron "treads" on the ramps were so far apart my tires wanted to stay nestled down between them so it took a bit of power to push the tires up out of the pockets. Unfortunately, that was enough that the rear wheels shot the car ramps out from under the trailer ramps and down came the Z. Fortunately, there was minimal damage and some judicious jacking got things back in order and the car off the ramps. That experience told me that I'd never try using a flat deck trailer again. Yes - I've had several suggestions on how I could do things to make it work but one bad experience was enough for me. A couple days ago I started the search for a trailer so that I could trailer the Z places so that my wife could go with me. The two of us fit fine in the car but there just is not enough room for all the "stuff" we need to take with us. Thus the search for a trailer so I could use my Suburban as the hauler plus have it carry all the other items we wanted to take with us. Long story short I found a nearby trailer store that was running a special on a 7,000 lb tilt-deck trailer 16' long. Went in, liked what i saw and, after checking around a bit about the manufacturer, bought it. Hooked it up and headed home on the interstate. Oops - at 60 MPH everything was fine but by 65 MPH the trailer was seriously whipping the back end of the Suburban around and cars behind me were backing off. Slowed it down to a stable 60 and took the next opportunity to turn around and return it to the dealer. He said that was the last one on his lot (it was on sale) but that he'd get me another one the next day. He called me later that night. It turns out that it is difficult to properly balance a 16' tilt deck trailer to get enough tongue weight to keep it tracking straight (no problem at 18' or more) and this manufacturer had not done it right. There is now a recall on those trailers. Ouch. The dealer felt so badly about it that he got me a 10,000 lb 16 footer and for the same price as the lighter unit. It is far superior in construction and details to the first one and tracked fine at 70 MPH. Now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to keep the Z on it now that I can actually get it up there.

Audi RS5

Anyone on this site installed the independent rear suspension out of an '04-06 GTO on their S30? It's made to handle an LS2 making 420+ HP so I would think it could be pretty applicable here.

N3RB - If your 280Z is still pretty stock and unmolested you should be able to lift the carpet behind the passenger seat and see the leads to your fuel pump. There should be bullet connectors there where the pump leads are connected to the wiring harness. That would be a fairly easy place to reach from the driver's seat but not too obvious location for a cut-off switch. I've thought about doing it many times but just never bothered.

So - what is going under the hood?

Before you do anything you should try to decide exactly where you want to end up with the car, and the parts, modifications, etc. that will be necessary to get there. Then take some time to put them in order of priority and incorporate that into a plan to fully inspect and repair any damage to the car including rust. This is where your family members can be helpful. Some questions to ask are: Which engine, transmission, differential do I want? Do I want to upgrade the brakes and, if so, which brakes? Do I want to upgrade the suspension and, if so, which upgrades? Do I want to do modifications to the body and, if so, what mods and how will they incorporate into rust repair. Do I want to upgrade the wheels and tires? 4 lug or 5 lug wheels? What size? How will that affect the body repairs/modifications? What are your plans for the interior? There are a lot more but this would be a start. It is really really REALLY important to have plan.

About 4 years ago I bought a Dapper HID headlight kit thorough Motorsport Auto. I didn't know it was Dapper until it arrived and I saw the packaging or I would have purchased it directly. The kit sat in my garage for nearly two years before I had an opportunity to get it installed. I actually had to have a shop do it because my time has been eaten up with so many things the Z had really been neglected. Anyway, the shop did what appeared to be a good job with the install but the headlights didn't work properly. I contacted Dapper and we went through a bunch of troubleshooting only to finally discover that it was a self-inflicted wound. I had downloaded the instructions off the Dapper website that were specific to the S30 but didn't realize that the wiring on a 240Z (used for the instructions) is different on a 280Z so the headlight plug wires got placed in the wrong position. Once I figured that out and put the wires into the correct 280Z position the lights worked great! About three weeks ago, however, they suddenly just quit working. They worked - and then they didn't work. The first thing I checked was the fuses. I checked the fuses in the headlight circuit in the car fusebox - both were good. I checked the fuses in the HID headlight power circuit - they both were good. At that point I contacted Ben at Dapper who had patiently endured my endless questions when I had the first problem. He asked me to check the voltage at the ballast and when I first checked it I got 0.065 VDC. Then I realized that I wasn't getting a good ground on my Fluke meter. When I redid it i got 6.96 VDC - a long way from 12 volts. Ben then asked me to try to follow the circuit upstream to see where the voltage loss occurred. I checked at the fuses and I had 7.5 VDC, and then at the power source block and again 7.5 VDC. The power wire went into a wiring loom that covered my stereo system power wires and never reappeared. I called the shop where the work had been done and they did a Sergeant Shultz on me as the work had been done a year ago. I didn't have any spare wire laying around to I clamped one end of my red side jumper cable to the positive terminal of the battery and then to the power source block. Measured that with the Fluke and I had 13.46 VDC (Lithium battery). Hit the light switch on the car and - Viola! - I had headlights. Quick trip to O'Reilly's for some wire ends and some 10 gauge wire and I had a new wire running from the battery to the power block and the headlights work better than ever. Still don't know how the one wire was losing power between the battery and the headlight power block but that is no longer an issue - until I have conversation with the shop that originally did the work. Thanks again to Ben at Dapper Lighting for hanging in there with me.

David, The non Nissan specific shows will be the best. The hot rod crowd will really appreciate your car. I take mine to them and get a lot of compliments even though it's getting pretty road weary.

You'll have to replumb. Front to rear brakes, rear to front brakes.

At the track you are right but he'll use it the whole time he's driving to the track!

I have the the 3.70:1 LSD in mine with a T56 and 24.9" diameter 225/50-16 tires. That being said: at 60 MPH in 6th (.50:1) the engine turns 1,500 RPM in 5th (.75:1) 2,250 RPM in 4th (1:1) 3,000 RPM A 4L60E with the 3.70:1 would essentially cruise at 2,250 RPM at 60 MPH A set-up with the same size tires but a 3.54:1 R200 would see: at 60 MPH in 6th (.50:1) the engine turns 1,435 RPM in 5th (.75:1) 2,152 RPM in 4th (.50:1) 2,870 RPM Bottom line. No matter what tire or transmission you're using the 3.54 will reduce RPM at any given speed by 4.3% over a 3.70. You can accomplish the same thing by upping your tire diameter by 1", as long as it will fit in your fender.

You may have a couple issues. The original 280Z master cylinder is designed to work with drum brakes in the rear. Your tear disks will continually drag if you don't change it out. Research it on this forum. Secondly, the disc brakes have larger Pistons so use more fluid that the stock disk/drum set-up. You need to at least upgrade to the 15/16" master cylinder used on the 79-81 280ZX. It is slightly larger so will push more fluid and is designed to work with disk brakes in the rear. Sigh - more to do in your future.

Oops - sorry for the miscommunication. I wasn't thinking you had a digital dash. What I meant was that both your speedometer and your tachometer get an electronic signal input vs. being cable driven. You're correct in that it is probably fairly simple but I haven't seen anything on the web that gives the electrical how-to.

The Z31 LSD R200 had a 3.70:1 ratio. Interestingly the Z32tt had a 3.69:1 R230 while the NA version had an R200 with about a 4:10:1 ratio. The S130 NA had a 3.90:1 R300 while the 280Z manual had a 3.54:1 R200.. If I remember right the S130 turbo had a 3.54:1 R200.

Well - I was able to keep them on my 280Z so you should be able to do it on your Z31. You have electronic speedometer and tachometer, correct? contact Dakota Digital and maybe APT instruments and see if they can modify them to take the GM inputs. It should be fairly simple for them. If JCI can convert an S30 tach to take an LS1 input I don't see why these guys can't help you out.

My feeble goals -More than 2x current HP -Same or better mileage -Lighter curb weight/better distribution -More reliable -AC You've been at this awhile but I'd like to comment on the goals - NOT feeble - good solid goals. When I did my LS1 conversion those were my same goals. My car gained 30 lbs - all on the rear wheels but I had an LS1 vs an L33 and a T56 vs the TK0600. My flywheel HP went from 170 to 390 with a stock motor. From 145 to 325 at the wheels. My mileage stayed the same as the L28, the car had AC which works fine, and has had no major issues in the 39K miles and 13 years I've had the LS1 in it. The curb weight went from 1400/1400 front/rear to 1400/1430. Just know that between 2/3 & 3/4 of the drivers weight or anything else done in the cabin area goes to the rear wheels.

OK - so I'm going to relate a story just to show how screwed up I can get when I'm dealing with electrical stuff. Hope you get a good laugh at my expense. Sooo.....in my third post on this thread I told the saga of the implosion of my 14 year old Braille battery. Interestingly, sitting on the bench, it seems to be holding about 12.1volts. Not good, but definitely better than 8 volts. So the new Braille battery arrived with the special battery tender required for Lithium batteries, the top post to GM side mount adapters and a battery hold down that it turns out I didn't actually need. When it arrived I checked it with my Fluke meter and it read 13.51 volts. That definitely confirmed Brailles statement about the Lithium batteries running a higher voltage. I then proceed to carefully attach the cable adapters to the battery making sure the positive marked one went with the positive terminal, etc. So far, so good. Those adapters probably weigh a quarter of what the battery weighs. Stout units. I then reworked my battery tray to ensure the hold down would hook in properly and then installed the battery. That's where things got interesting. Because of the location of the new mounts (higher than original), I had to "stretch" the positive cable a bit to reach it. In the process, unnoticed by me, the connector in the cable slid back down the polymer cap and I ended up not making a connection on that terminal. Continuing obliviously along I connected the negative cable and tightened it up using an adjustable wrench. Remember what mechanics say about adjustable wrenches? That thought crossed through my mind but I proceeded anyway. I finished it up and slid into the car to fire it off for the first time. Turned the key and ---nothing, absolutely nothing. Got back out of the car and started inspecting the battery. Checked it again at 13.51 volts but, when I pulled on the positive cable I felt it move within the polymer cap. Unbolted the positive cable again, checked it out, and realized what had happened with the connector so I pushed it back up into the cap where it belonged and got the bolt going properly thorough it and bolted it back to the battery. Of course, while tightening the terminal bolt down again, I accidentally grounded the wrench out to the car body with a mighty flash and the smell of ozone. I knew to be more careful but I wasn't. I surely was after that, though. Now, with a good positive connection, I got back into the car and slowly turned the key. Got to the accessory position and the fuel pump started and built up to pressure and shut off - sounding good so far. Then I twisted ti to start and got a "click" but nothing else. Superlative deleted!! Tried that a few more times and things got progressively worse until even the fuel pump didn't fire off. So now I'm thinking that something either happened to the ECU or another component when I drove the car on 8 volts when the Optima imploded or when I grounded out the positive terminal. Hands in the air in surrender I called the auto electric shop about 3 miles from the house, explained the issue, and asked them if they felt comfortable chasing down the problem on a hybridized car. Yup, no problem. Now I just needed to get it there which meant a tow and working with the tow truck driver to not bugger up the car when he transported it. I had also read in the Braille literature that I was NOT to try to jump start the car with a Lithium battery in it and I could just see that happening at the auto electric shop. In addition, I had the gauges off to APT and dash parts were laying all over the inside of my car. I decided to wait on the trip to the shop until I could put the dash back together. FWIW - APT did a great job on the gauges. Checked them all out, repaired the voltmeter, and recalibrated the fuel gauge. Oil pressure gauge is good so it's either the wiring or the sender - again. Ok - rabbit trail aside and back to the original story. I made a week long trip to Seattle just after the gauges arrived to help my younger son out, procrastinated another 4 days away, and then finally went out to face the music with the car this morning. Oh - one other thing - my older son, DarthZ, had taken a look at my installation and mentioned to me that he thought my negative (ground) cable was loose. Remember my comment earlier about the adjustable wrench? I was using it on a very small and soft bolt head and stopped tightening just as it started to try to round the head off. Coming to my senses I got a proper sized socket and attempted to tighten it further - and it tightened further - a lot further. Anyway, I'm back out at the car so I take the new battery tender off, set it aside, and slide back into the car to try one more time before calling the tow truck. Turning the switch to accessory the fuel pump fired off normally which was a good start. When I went to the start position I didn't get the click I'd gotten before. Instead, the engine fired right off, idled at 2,000 for about 5 seconds and then dropped back to the normal low idle. Oh wow! My car is alive again and nothing seems to be broken or operating improperly. I took it for a drive. The engine was smooth and very responsive, the voltmeter was working correctly, and the speedometer and tachometer as well as the lights were working properly too. Nothing but good news. Since I'm not certain when I'll be driving the car next I hooked the Braille tender back up and plugged it in and, since it's a 'smart' tender, it gave me a reading that says my brand new battery is "severely depleted". Another expletive deleted. I unplug the tender, allow it to reset, and plug it back in again. Same result. While I'm standing there, once more in panic mode, I decide to do something that I know I can do that will at least accomplish something. I then started to untangle the old battery tender - the one for lead-acid batteries - from the new one with the intent of stowing it away in a cabinet when I noticed something. Yet another expletive deleted. I had hooked up the terminal clamps from the old tender to the battery and the clamps from the new tender were hanging inside a cardboard box on top of my roll-around cart. Mentally smacking myself in the forehead repeatedly i pulled off the wrong clamps, hooked up the right ones, and the readings went to wonderful and I entered the euphoria zone again. You think maybe I should have let my son install the battery for me since he saw my problem right away and I could have saved myself a lot of anguish? You're probably right except he wasn't able to get his '71 Chevy 3/4 ton to start on Monday morning to go to work so had to have his wife take him and pick him up. Once he got home and started troubleshooting the connectors at the starter, the wiring, etc. he noticed that the gear selector wasn't in park. He put it in park and the truck fired right up. No problems. Guess it runs in the family. Couple photos of the new Braille GU1R.

Got a call from APT Instruments today and the gauges I sent them are repaired. They recalibrated a couple and replaced a broken spring on the voltmeter. They are headed back today. Good news is that there was nothing wrong with the oil pressure gauge so the bad news is that it's either the sender, which I just replaced a year ago, or the wiring has a short in it somewhere.. They gave me a tutorial on how to trouble shoot the wiring so should be able to resolve it pretty quickly. Good folks. Reasonably priced and quick turn-around as they just got the gauges Friday.

Wow - I just can't imagine buying a battery that lasts only maybe 3 years - unless it's for a purpose built race car. I bought the Optima back in 2002 because I'd heard they last a long time. Fortunately it was before they changed ownership and it lasted almost 14 years. I'm in the process of replacing the lead-acid battery in my Suburban. It's a 2002 and it's second battery is getting too weak after almost 9 years. It was an Autolite. I'm replacing it with a 7 year warranty battery that I fully expect to get 7-8 years out of. I'm investing in the Braille for my LS1 280Z because i figure it will probably be the last battery I'll have to buy for it. I've had the car for 24 years now. Pulled the Optima out of it yesterday and took a shot of the original stock 1977 battery tray. A little dirt but not bad for 39 years of service. First time I've seen it since 2002. May have to do something about the funk in the upper left-hand corner though.

We'll find out next week when everything arrives. In the meantime I need to go ahead and get the Optima out of the car.

After going back and forth with Oscar De Leon at Advanced Battery Systems who is the Braille West Coast distributor several times I put a Braille GU1R Lithium battery on order today - along with a lithium specific battery tender, a side mount post adapter kit and a battery hold down kit. "In for a penny, in for a pound".

Well, I guess it's like Texas Hold 'em - I'm "all in" for the Braille GU1R Lithium battery complete with side mount kit, hold down kit, and a battery tender designed for lithium batteries.

Might check with Dapper and see where they are in the development of their own LED lights. I have their HID and am pleased with them. Then, again, my goal was to significantly improve over the stock lighting.

Soooo......Any idea when you might actually get this baby on the road? You are missing out on so much fun.