Zetsaz

Your link sent me to a VigLink Shopping page for some reason. I'm in for info regardless, but I thought that link problem was fixed a while back. Had to go find the stuff you were talking about myself. Soffseal Sound Deadeners INSUL1?

Got to drive around a fair bit yesterday. No pressure in either of the coolant hoses despite full coolant level. Noticed the front was a little bit damp after the car had been running for a bit. Guess it's time for a new water pump and temperature switch since I'm not getting a reading on my dash gauge either. Good thing this parts are actually quite cheap. It never ends... Haha

Got the car running with the zx alternator! Splicing was easy, but the bottom legs actually needed a tiny bit of shaving to fit on the bracket Steady 14v-ish with lights on and wipers moving. Garbage I have no idea how people fit the CS130 or 144. Will likely still go with it in the future but this one is already closer to the lower radiator hose. Battery tie downs and door work tomorrow

Dang, should have thought of that! Might go buy some at the hardware store I guess. Will make things much easier. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/67531-ac-delcogm-alternator-swap-part-2-cs144-installation/ This link for my own reference. I was finding it near impossible to find a CS130 without ordering. CS144 was about the same work but very heavy and required ordering another pigtail. The work and costs just seem to add up and I didn't want to have such an overkill alternator just hanging out by the engine if I wasn't making use of it, so I just spent a third the price on a later model internally regulated 60A one for the time being. Will be an easier and cheaper swap for now and get the car moving while I focus on other things. Fancy lights and audio won't be used for quite a while anyway.

Thanks for the tip! I'll check them out tomorrow. They are nearly identical from 70-76 as was mentioned. The biggest difference is the slightly different design in the panel and door handle/armrest being two pieces (4 screws involved) in the 240 and one piece (3 screws involved) in the 280... None of which align. I'll just drill out the spots I need and weld or solder anything threaded that will recieve the screws. Not terribly difficult. If my car was all black I would have just slapped on the doors after some paint stripping and black rattle can in the meantime, especially since it'll be looking more and more like an early model with those series 1 parts, but with my brown interior and already reupholstered seats to match I kinda didn't have a choice but to figure something out.

Home for spring break. Current project... Fitting 280z door panels onto 240z doors

This car was in a recent Speedhunters article. Not mine. Rotiform wheels. I've been liking a lot of four spoke designs as a future replacement for my stock 14" 4 spoke 280z wheels.

Love the blue! Great info! Seem to recognize that first picture with the Rotas. Loved the thread on fitting 275's in a factory wheel well.

If it's any help, I spent the better part of a month dealing with a no-charge issue on my old maxima last year after autozone tested it good, only to run several of my own diagnostics to find out it wasn't. I wouldn't trust any electrical tests from Autozone. Get it tested at O'Reilly and NAPA.

Taken from the 71 parts car I have sitting in my car port.

Looking very nice! Don't let the DPAN guys hate on it over the number of coats used, most of those guys are clueless anyway haha. Excited to see how it looks when it's more put together.

Mostly asking because supposedly it's a very easy swap. Every time I look into the possibility of a 2JZ swap, the transmission is what concerns me the most. Worthwhile options for it are just so expensive.

Question I just thought of, have you considered the AR-5 transmission as an option?

This. I didn't buy my alternator from them. They gave me a false positive when they tested the one I had. That's why I'm saying test it with a multimeter or have it tested somewhere else.

If you happen to read my build thread I mention a very poor experience with Autozone testing my alternator on an older Maxima that was my daily, caused me a lot of grief until I bought a high quality multimeter and tested things myself only to find out the alternator was definitely bad. Wasted a lot of time chasing other potential problems and had to have the car pushed across a bridge by an officer and later had to be towed when I thought I had fixed things. Needless to say I wouldn't recommend getting anything electrical tested at Autozone. I've trusted NAPA more lately.

Bottom end of the hatch strut, if you're facing the passenger side, the rear of the bracket is bolted on. You'll need a wrench since a socket of pretty much any kind is too long and will probably hit the panel. Pretty easy to remove once you have that off. Also make sure you've removed the interior taillight panel.

If they're all working properly, but get dim, more than likely it's your voltage regulator or alternator going bad. Or just as likely it's not strong enough to keep up with everything at once. Alternators are rated by max amps, at idle they're noticeably lower. Look into doing a later model ZX, or turbo ZX, alternator swap. Or look into using a GM unit. The ZX ones only require a couple wires to be spliced and they give you the security of a more modern, internally regulated, unit as opposed to the units your 75 and my 76 use. The voltage regulators had a tendency to fail prematurely anyway, so it's a great upgrade, especially if you plan on running any sort of more modern audio or upgraded headlights in the future. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/alternatorswap/index.html

I had almost decided to just go without a truck for a while, and figure out a different way to move all the junk i need to scrap or clean up in the yard. Toyotas were too expensive and Nissans were generally beaten up. Then I found this excellent hardbody that had been owned by an older man since '93 when it was almost new. Has a near complete service history, aside from some oil changes he did himself (which are dated on tape in the engine bay), receipts for a re-manufactured engine about 30k miles ago, and a rebuilt transmission about 60k miles ago. It's not the V6, but it was hard to pass up such a well cared for truck. Picked it up and brought it home for the same price I was paying on the 620 Keeping it in the Nissan family for now I guess. Black was purely coincidence haha.

This video has been motivating me lately... https://www.facebook.com/KMSengineperformance/videos/1313278088715680/

I bought a few nice seals and new door handles from them when they closed at a steal. Wish I'd bought new bumpers and early taillights too considering how cheap they were going. I had already bought tons of replacement panels from them in the past. Kind of sad to see them go. I've kept all my old parts brochures from them. Kind of fun to see the cars they always featured in the back.

If you're interested in a unique I6 swap, maybe look into the Mercedes M104? I don't know, there's a lot out there. There's at least one person I know of who finished a mercedes turbo diesel swap into his Z.

Yeah, I've been looking into the D21 a bit too. Fortunately they're cheaper, and from what I've read that, VG30 would be a better option to the 3.0 equivalent from toyota

The 5.3 v8 vortec is as cheap and has more support,

More voice of reason, thanks Dave! My brother was mentioning some of the same things. Started leaning away from it last night mostly after thinking through what finding parts would be like. I'm thinking I'll probably wait a few months and pony up a bit extra for an older but well maintained Toyota. The right xtra cab 4x4 and I could be feeling like Marty McFly haha.

No big updates on the car currently since I'm away from it. But, for a while now, I've been looking for a small truck to carry extra things in, whether it's needing to take a couch home (I have wooden outdoor couches in my living room because I haven't had time/a truck to bring home comfortable indoor couches... granted they fit in with the fireplace and all hardwood floor) or just to be able to get rid of green waste around the house. I was looking at a lot of 22RE engine Toyota 4x4 trucks, but they're always pricey even at over 200k miles, so I started looking at older 620 trucks. After all, I don't need much, just something I can carry stuff in, plus a 620 was the first car I learned to drive in. Last night I made a $2k offer on 307 chevy swapped 620, and it's likely I'll be picking it up this weekend. Can any of you more knowledgeable people maybe point out areas of concern based on the pictures? I drove it a bit last night and it drives well and brakes hard. It doesn't look pretty, definitely a rat rod, but it would work well for what I need. Opinions?