Phantom

Personal experience was that my tunnel was as hot with the '83 5-spd as it was with the '77 4-spd. that I had in the car. It was also hot with the T56 which has synthetic fluid in it. Cure was a new, tightly screwed down tunnel seal and some serious insulation along the tunnel. Makes things cooler and also quieter. Are you changing over to a 3.90:1 R200 when you put the '82 5-spd in? If not you'll notice that the car will be more sluggish than with the '78 5-spd. THe '82 tranny has lower numerically 1st & 2nd gear ratios. 3rd & 4th are the same but I would seriously opt for the 3.90 R200.

Adam, If you're getting a lot of heat coming up around the gearshift lever then the tunnel seal is either missing or torn. It's amazing how much heat that seal keeps out. A new seal along with a little insulation on the tunnel goes a long way to keeping the car cooler. Another area that can really help is an addtional 1/4" of insulation above the headliner. The roof is a real radiator too. Third area is the firewall. Make sure all the penetrations are sealed. If you do all that you'll get another 5 -10 degrees worth of outside temperature that your AC can handle.

Met up with the DFW chapter of the G35 Club last night at Posado's Cafe in Bedford, TX. What a great bunch of guys! They would fit in with this group with no problem. One has a twin-turbo'd G that's dynoed at 438 RWHP and their president, Robert (King of all doodads & bling automotive) Lignelli, has a show car that is unbelievable. We ended up at a Car Toys store where he is having a 15" flatscreen installed in the underside of his trunk lid! I nicknamed another of the guys "curb-feeler" His tires & wheels have a lot of road rash from him using them to 'feel' his way. Lot's of good humored discussion. They even thought the LS1 Z was way cool and were quite surprised when I told them hybrid cars weren't well received by mainstream Z owners. They just didn't understand the 'purist' point of view. Like I said - I really like these guys! As I was leaving I showed them all a key - told them it was an ancient way of getting into a car. One of them immediately ran to the front of mine and started making motions like he was hand-cranking my engine to life. Like I said - I really like these guys!

Big-Phil - Fuse problem is probably related to a binding problem or the motor in the blower going bad. I've never had mine blow in the 13 years I've had the car. It's not the heat - it's something with the blower.

Every valve, because of its design has a pressure loss across it. An adjustable valve has an adjustable pressure loss. Best comparison would maybe be a globe valve on a water system. There actually is flow in the system that results in the brake pads pressing against the rotor. Like electricity, fluid takes the path of least resistance. If you increase the resistance to flow(pressure drop acoss a valve) then there will be less fluid flow in that direction and more in another. That results in less pad movement on that leg and more on another. In other words, the brakes with the proportioning valve can be made to move less and therefore clamp less tightly on their repsective rotors versus the brakes on the line without the proportioning valve.

Let us know all the gory details when you do. This might finally resolve one of the big concerns with the Gen 1 Z's!

David, Have you had a chance to install the blower yet? If so: 1) What specifically did you have to do to install it? 2) What is your impression of the amount of air it moves? 3) Were you able to maintain the 4-speed function of the stock AC lever? I'm still using the one that came with the car (28 years old now) and it is good for up to about 100 degrees. After that the whole system just gets overwhelmed. It used to only be good to about 90 degrees but it is amazing what 100 lbs of insulation in a car can do.

Ol' school Smith & Wesson double-action .45 revolver baby:rockon: No way to load it backwards!

Dan, That thought had also crossed my mind - but then I'd have to come up with another 4-pt. strut tower brace as mine is non-adjustable. Ahhh - the domino effect - always there.

Hmm - LS1 with T56 - instant response, gobs of torque, T56 - no notching with Hurst shifter, 19-20 mpg commuting to work, V8 rumble, Willwood brakes - lock-em up anytime I want, routinely eat SRT-4's. And I would want one why?

Spot, I'll probably have to cut it off. In the meantime I'm going to make sure the remaining two are locked down tight and keep driving. I got some of the correct nuts today so at least my oopsie won't stick out like a sore thumb until I get it fixed.

My 280Z is now an even 3,000 lbs with a full tank of gas - 1440 on the nose & 1560 on the tail. We won't talk about how heavy it is with me in it.

Yeah - I wouldn't be too keen about driving them on the street regularly. Obviously ok for track use and probably to and from the track if you're not trailering the car.

Congrats man - I still remember mine and it was over two years ago now. I lstill ook forward to the ride every day.

Are you just rebuilding the car or are you planning major changes too? Other than wheels I haven't seen any indications of departure from stock. That will affect the replies you get. I seriously doubt if you'll need to rebuild the differential. They are awesome. If, by some chance yours turned out to be bad, I'd just get another one from a salvage yard. It most likely would be fine and it would be less expensive than rebuilding one. If you're planning on major changes to the car - body kit, engine/transmission transplant/ supension or brake upgrade then you need to figure it all out now before you go much further so you don't have a bunch of "do-overs". Surf, surf, surf this site.

Since I am tall and have a roll bar in my car I can confirm that you are 100% more likely to hit steel with your head if rear ended than without a roll bar. It is about 3" behind my head and if I were to get hit hard from behind my head would be snapped back into the roll bar. If it wasn't there I would just have a severe case of whiplash instead of that AND a serious concussion. Hits from other directions can be argued but not one from the rear - unless you are under about 5'10".

That corresponds pretty closely with my experience. My car - with and EFI L28 with AC, 5-spd, and 3.90 R200 wieghed 2800 lbs. Pulled the drivetrain and replaced it with an LS1 with AC, T56, and a 3.70 LSD R200 and it weighed 2830. Net gain of 30 lbs over original. My best guess is that the LS1 is about 25 lbs lighter than the L28, the T56 is about 50 lbs heavier than the Nissan T-5, and the LSD r200 is about 5 lbs heavier than the open R200 because of the clutch pack and finned cover.

You need to read the article and look at the design. In the meantime - consider one thing - at what point in the system does the brake fluid start to boil? First hint is that it's not a foot away from the calipers.

Always on the search for little ways to dress up my car I found that True value carries chromed metric fasteners. Among them were M10x1.5 Acorn nuts. I bought 6 each of them,and matching flat and lock washers and proceeded to replace the M10 nuts on the top of my front strut towers - only to have the nut gall as I was wrenching it on and then have the stud break loose in the strut so I couldn't get the acorn nut off. This was on the first one and I took it for what it was - an indication that something was terribly wrong. I took the nut I had removed to True Value and, sure enough, it threaded right on to one of their M10 bolts. When I tried to thread one of the acorn nuts on, it got tight after about 1/2 of a turn. At that point I went to the manager. While he was trying every M10 acorn nut he had on his M10 bolt - unsuccessfully - I had one of those rare moments of clarity and went and got a 3/8-16 bolt. You guessed it, someone had put 3/8-16 nuts in the M10x1.5 drawer. The manager was very apologetic and refunded me my money - for the five sets of nuts and washers I hadn't used - he still charged me for the one that is seized on my strut in the car! A real customer relations expert! Now I just need to find the customer complaint hotline for Tru Value. maybe this is my excuse to upgrade to the new adjustable Tokico's?

Jon - that's what I was thinking. My problem now is that the stock PV is right behind hte drivers side head on the LS1 and access is much less than ideal. I may have to opt for an underbody location for the valve that my long arm can reach.

Think of something similar to a heat sink in a computer with a thin metal tab that fits full-length between the pad and the caliper. It reduces the maximum temperatures seen during a series of 'aggressive braking' by as much as 90 degrees F. It reduces the possibility of the brake fluid boiling and improves pad life. The article was pretty convincing but it's not on the market yet and no projected pricing was given.

Mikey - Where's your factory service manual? I don't think the one for my '77 280Z would be the same? dr_hunt - can't you just remove the internals from the stock PV and leave the empty body in place? That would be a lot simpler than a total replumbing.

Anyone read that article in the new Sport Z magazine on the new braking technology? Essentially it's a radiator for your calipers. I found it quite interesting. I'm very dubious of any new product but this one looks like it could make the difference for someone whose brakes are marginal in competition but don't want to do an expesive upgrade. Anyone else who has read the article with opinions?

I installed a 4-pt. roll bar in my car for the following reasons: 1) If my car gets any quicker it would be an NHRA requirement. 2) It adds some structural rigidity. 3) Because of it's close proximity to my sitting position (I'm 6'-4") it adds additional roll-over AND side impact protection. All that being said it still needs the 1-1 1/2" thick head pad to keep from caving the back of my head in if I get rear-ended.

I hope that motor revs pretty high because 1st gear will be nearly useless with the high numerical rear ends. My LS1 (6,000 rpm redline) with the T56 is at the limit with 3.70 in the rear.