Zetsaz

I guess once you start adding all the extra tubing all bets are off, but mine won't really have any of that and will be almost entirely street. Then again, mine is a 75 which is the lightest of the 280s. I guess maybe I'm off on my guess, but 2800 seems ooo heavy for Mike's car. What year is his?

That's awesome! Nice to see the new tank is in and working

Having been around a series one and scrapped/used/sold a ton of parts between that and my early 280z I can tell you that the chassis on it's own is definitely noticeably different between the two, but isn't the biggest cause of the weight difference. Aside from just chassis reinforcements between years that add up to a fair bit, the R200 weighs WAY more than an R180. At least it feels that way when you're trying to lift them. All the EFI stuff is more weight, the bumpers are way heavier. The one most people seem to miss is the pistons themselves for the bumpers. Probably at least 10 pounds each corner. Bigger metal evap tank instead of smaller plastic one. A variety of emmissions stuff in the 280z engine bay is nonexistent in earlier models too. Rear struts are bigger/taller, which also means more metal for the strut towers on the inside.5 speed, if you have it is heavier. 240z didn't have a rear sway bar either. To be honest, other than the bumpers and emissions stuff, most of the things that make the 280 heavier are actually all good things for performance as far as I'm concerned. You can't have everything unfortunately. All else being equal, you can probably get the 280 within 200-300 pounds of the 240z, assuming the same equipment is on both. But then you have to deal with the fact that the 280 is a sturdier stronger body to begin with. I gave up the hunt for a 240z as a "superior" or more original car when I realized the only things I preferred on it were all basic styling cues like the lights and bumpers that tons of people have modified easily.

That looks better than new!

So cool!

Yes. Wouldn't be any different than just removing your AC, you just won't have a functioning system.

Only a few people have even done the VQ37, the electronics are what gets expensive. Unlike older swaps, newer engine ECUs are more interdependent on different systems to be connected to function properly, which quickly becomes cost prohibitive to most people. Even if you somehow used just the engine instead of having the expensive modern donor car you'd have to find a standalone ECU that would support it.

My stock R200 mustache bar worked with the T3 dog bone/drop mounts for the finned cover. was a bit tight, but it worked fine.

I have one from a series 1. Did you want the later box that went with the 73 flat tops? They're not the same iirc

Was just about to add that this is what I've always called them. Most people I've talked to that own S30s usually call them frame horns as well.

My priorities have almost been opposite direction lately. The more I drove my daily (a G37S), the more I realized that I didn't even take advantage of the top end of that car. I quickly realized that anything near 200whp in the S30 would match the power to weight ratio of the G37s.... sounds fun enough for me and easy enough to do with a very mild turbo L28, or some extensive work on the L28 with fuel injection. 300hp is a common goal for a lot of people, and really you can hit it with almost any of the popular swaps. For your goals I really think the turbo L28 would be a solid option. It'll hit the numbers. fitment will be easy, will be lighter than a 2jz or an RB, turbo will let you adjust how much power you're making to meet regulations when you need to.

Your setup is very comfortable for me. I'm not a giant fan of the how high up the top of the doors come, but you have to make some sacrifice for the fitment. I fit in it great and see out just fine. Don't feel like there's more of a blindspot than normal. Yes sir! High school currently. Bands, jazz, marching music theory, mariachi (weirdly enough... it's way more fun than running a group guitar class which is the more standard option students would have). High School schedule is pretty exhausting. Example, we had a marching rehearsal yesterday and a football game the band is playing at tonight. Which means I haven't finished those rails like I hoped... slows things down, but hey! The car is here now, which means even a couple welds/bolts a day is more progress than I was making last year.

Made a call recently about certain parts. Seemed excessively priced, even compared to some higher ebay prices, but the support and conversation was definitely great. If I wasn't so budget minded I definitely wouldn't mind buying there. Think everything was recently moved. There's always an ad on craigslist for the same stuff.

Z specialties has good stuff but seems notoriously overpriced.

If you wanted to be REALLY out of the box and stay semi modern inline 6 you could always consider a Mercedes M104, but there are a lot of disadvantages it shares with other engines you've mentioned, and no significant advantages over a JZ or RB as far as I know