Phantom

My son drives an '83Zx. About 5 years ago he had two accidents in about 6 hours resulting in a buggered up brand new Acura and two other totalled vehicles. He just turned 25 and his full coverge insurance with USAA dropped from about $176/month to $80/month. Oops - forgot that also includes his apartment insurance.

The Z ECM's are mounted in the cockpit down at the drivers feet to keep it away from engine heat. I followed that rule with my LS1 ECM - also left more room in the engine bay for other things - and it is mounted above the passengers feet. I have a couple photos of the location in my album.

Alphabetize them.

I've got over 15,000 miles on my LS1 with the 3.70:1 LSD R200 behind it. It has been driven fairly hard and made several runs down the dragstrip as well as two hours at Texas Motor Speedway with no problems at present. Again - just depends on what you want to use it for.

Good questions. 1) I used the wiring harness from the Z28 engine donor. Pulled out not necessary wires and then repulled the specific Datsun ones. Can't give you all the details becuase the shop did the actual work. It did, however, incorporate all the LS1 engine sensors for it's ECm and the sensor wires for the water temp, oil pressure, and voltmeter for the Datsun gauges. 2) I kept the stock speedometer and hooked a "CabeleX" converter to it to convert the electronic output from the T56 to a mechanical drive for the Datsun drive cable. I wanted to keep the brake warning light and turn signal indicators that are incorporated into the Dastun speedometer. It was less work and matches the other gauges that way.

I'm a bit confused still about the catalytic converter requirement because of the OBDII. My 280Z, admittedly registered in Texas, did not come with catalytic converters which were on the '98 Z28 Camaro donor car. I did not install catalytic converters but had the ECM edited to eliminate the post cat 02 sensors. When I had an OBDII test performed it didn't "throw a code". Doesn't that indicate that you could just edit the ECM?

OK - This morning I am definitely a candidate for a hearing aid! I cranked up the stero to try to find it's limitations and they are my ears. Got out of the car 30 minutes ago and they are still ringing. Turns out the amp is just over 500 watts RMS with peak power just south of 2,000. Had about 30 people look at the car last night at a Cowtown Z Meeting and about half asked me where I park it and if I have an alarm on it. Oh-oh. Guess I'll be getting an alarm on it now. Found a few more minor things that will need fixing, couple loose bolts, lost retainer clip and the %((*^ seat adjustment. Man it gets crowded around the pedals when I'm driving with my chin on my knees.

Used the right oversize screw and it's ok now. Car is good to go except for a seat adjustment I'll have to do this weekend. Nice to have it back.

Yup, know about the tension screw on the sunvisor. Thanks. Not getting the job done at this point. I think it may be stripped. Seals are in, interior panels are in, stereo is in and tuned, doors are aligned and close snuggly, and roll bar is in. It's down to just a few minor, but aggravating minor trim details to make it look right rather than rough in some areas. Stereo is awesome. Sound like a real punk rocker now. Car can shake & rattle with the best of them from the base response in the sub. The good part though is the sound quality of the system. I've never heard one as good as this. Unbelievably clear. It puts my home unit to shame.

I am totally impressed. Were you able to keep the AC, power steering, etc?

If it's done - it will be there.

PM "Savage42". He has the inside track on the 510 scene and may be able to hook you up with some folks in Washington .

Have to keep this up just to irritate "the_DJ" if nothing else. Work is almost done. The interior has been on hold while trying to get a passenger side quarter window seal out of MSA to replace one that the installer accidently damaged. It's on a Fedex truck somewhere in the area today. After it arrives the window goes in. The door seal can be installed and the headliner tucked on the passenger side Then the inside window body panel can be installed followed by the roll bar. All this waiting on the one seal. The stereo system is in except for a trim piece around the head unit and final tuning. I tried the car on for size at lunch today and I do have more headroom with the lowered seat - even with the rejuvenated cushions. Biggest problems i see at this point are sunvisors that don't want to stay up because of the weight of the leather covers - fixable - and the new door seals ares so solid that they literally have moved the door about 1/8" out from aligning with the body. That will be fixed too - somehow. Car may be done tonight - tomorrow for sure. Should have some good "It's Done" photos up in my album Saturday. With this new stereo I may need a bigger alternator!?!

Got some more photos loaded up last night. The new door seals are great. Actually having to adjust the door strikers because they close so tightly now it puts strain on the door handle mechanism to open.

Carpet is in on both sides and being recut in the rear to accommodate the enclosure for the sub-woofer. Sub-woofer enclosure is tuned for 32 Hz. Grill covers are in for the side speakers. Doors are together except for outer trim at base of window and mirrors. Roll bar has been rhyno-ex'd and looking good. May get some more photos up on line tonight depending on some other planned activities. Looks like it should be done this week. I'm right on schedule for a standard project following the standard rule-of-thumb for timing: Take the worst case estimate of how long you think it should take and multiply it by 2.5. In this case my two week project is going to come in at right about 5 weeks.