Pop N Wood

I have a related question. I have a 240 that has been repainted once (a very high quality job). If I do the same as JamesL and run it in primer, what will I need to do prior to the final coat? How many layers of paint and primer are acceptable before problems occur? I have read from past posts that using chemical strippers leaves a rough surface that takes some time to smooth back out. Thus is it feasible to try and sand 2 layers of paint and a top layer of primer down to the factory primer before the final paint?

You've got us all interested now! If you had the stock unvented rotor then I would add that it is entirely possible to overheat and warp the rotors with one "spirited" driving session. Since you have the 300 ZX rotors (which I assume are vented), then I would hope that is is much harder to do. At least that is the whole point of going to that set up, better heat dissipation. Still think you need to check the rotor run out before you do anything else. And since you didn't specifically mention it, make certain the rest of your front end parts are solid (tie rod ends, bushings, TC rods, steering rack mounts). The spacer being off center would imply a wheel balance problem like you mention. A vibration during braking might be caused if the spacer was not perfectly flat (thus the wheel is not truely perpendicular to the spindle axis), but since I assume this problem was not present from day 1 it is probably something else.

I had an Aunt who painted her car with a brush. The things you will do when you are poor. Actually I would like to second what Mike Z said. Spray cans will look pretty bad. A Maaco job is an option but some of the Maaco jobs I have seen were so bad that you would probably want to completely remove them prior to a final job. My suggestion is to buy or borrow a cheap spray gun and paint it with a sandable primer. I think that is the kind that can stand weather. Then you will have joined the elite group of individuals who have painted their cars the internationally respected Hot Rod color: primer grey

Same thing happened to my Z. The steering wheel would vibrate back and forth when I would brake from speed. Got worse the faster I went and the harder I braked. In my case it was warped/worn rotors. Check the rotor run out. Any good shop manual will tell you how. If the run out is excessive you might be able to get them turned. At the time new rotors from MSA were only $35 each, so that is the route I went.

Alright, collecting opinions on exhaust and fuel cell layout. For a V8 swap in an early 240 it looks like a dual exhaust with 2 full sized turbo mufflers will give me a quiet ride with good performance. Target HP range: probably 300 HP but don’t want to rule out an eventual build up to 400+ HP. To accomplish this I have just about decided I can live without a spare. The question now becomes what is the best way to accomplish this? My problem is I do NOT want the fuel filler inside the car. I have enough trouble with spilled coffee. From spending half my working hours perusing this site ( ) I have come up with several options that appeal to me: 1 Keep stock fuel tank, hammer down or remove the spare tire well and put both mufflers on the left rear corner. 2 Lose the spare tire well and stock tank, put a fuel cell in the middle and mufflers on the left and right corners. 3 Put both pipes straight down the middle with a small tank in the right rear corner. (Someone on this site has this combo.) 4 Sidepipes. The car will be a summers only street machine that will hopefully see some club racing. I really like the look of dual pipes anchoring each corner of the rear end! This would allow some flexibility adjusting the exit location to avoid possible exhaust fumes in the car. (Saw this topic in a very old HybridZ post.) Problem with this (I assume) is I cannot reuse the stock fill location since it would have to cross over a muffler. This leads to a custom made tank and/or fuel cell mounted in the center. But then what are the options for a fuel inlet? Has anyone tried building a flip down license plate with a fuel filler behind it? Could I find a fuel cell that would support this or do most fuel cells have the fill location TDC? What would be involved in making a tank from scratch? Does anyone have any convenient links illustrating how to build a tank (with tips on baffles, internal coatings, flexible fill tubes, etc.)? Should I be worried about the Pinto syndrome? Or is it best to modify a junk yard tank from some other vehicle? Finally, has anyone discovered or made an oversized muffler with dual 2 ½ inch inlets and a single outlet? Something like this might fit in the stock muffler location and allow me to keep the spare tire well in tact. Opinions? Alternate suggestions?

Oh boy, you've started it again! Actually a very common question. You will get opinions on both sides of the fence. You may want to do a search on the two key words and see what pops up from old discussions. I've found it is best to collect facts from those who have done the swaps so I'll step out now.

OK, if I ever win the lottery here is the engine I would like for my Z. http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/editorial/article_popup.jsp?id=48541&sidebar=1 This same link has several good looking engines http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=48538&%20viewtype=text

I put the MSA European springs on my 70. The MSA catalog said it would slightly lower my ride height. Instead it raised the height by maybe 1 inch. At the time my Z was 20 years old with over 200K miles. Can't expect 20 year old springs to not settle a bit. If you are measuring the height to the top of the roof, don't forget to use the same diameter tires as a stock Z. I ran my daily driver with euro springs, KYB gas struts, all urethane bushings, MSA sway bars and 60 series tires on stock steel rims. (MSA use to know me by name.) The ride was definitely more livable than alot of my car club guys with lowered/stiffer setups. The car still sits very flat in turns. With my 50 series autocross tires on 15 inch centerline rims the car held it's own in the club racing I use to do. On some of the rougher tracks I think the softer suspension was actually an advantage. The 50 series tires DEFINITELY transmit more of the road into the car!

Flux core wire gets the job done, but I would highly recommend getting a system that can be upgraded to use a shielding gas. Flux core wire costs more than plain wire, the welds are not as pretty and the smoke flat kills me. The only real smoke from gas welding is from any residual paint or when I drop a glob of molten residue on my shoe.

Shoot. And I was checking road maps for the driving time to Texas!

I guess my question is why are you even trying to enlarge a hole in a mustache bar? When I did my R180 to R200 swap, I was having trouble finding a decent R200 bar. The guy at the wrecking yard (which specialized in Z's) told me to resist the urge to drill out the R180 bar to fit the larger R200 mounting bolts. He said the drilled out R180's inevitably cracked. He said guys came in all of the time with cracked R180 bars and that is why the R200 bars were hard to find. From what I can tell the bars are tempered spring steel. The mounting holes are probably where the bar is subject to the most stress, thus it only makes sense that heating this area by drilling could ruin the temper and lead to cracks. Maybe you are doing something other than what I described. I don't think the guy at the wrecking yard was just trying to sell me parts. Are a lot of guys using modified bars? If you are, how well do they hold up under use?

Don't be too quick to replace the diff!!! This might not solve your problem. Check all of the differential/rear suspension mounts first. Probably the #1 source of rear end clunks is a broken front differential mount. Also make sure the mustache bar bushings are in good shape and all rear end bolts are torqued to spec. Torque the nuts on the mustache bar bushings and the two bolts that hold the diff to the bar.

Follow up on my previous comment. All of the stuff I read was in the JTR conversion manual. JTR went on to warn whoever does the welding to use the correct alloy of wire. He lists the types but I forget exactly what he said.

A question similar to this has gone around this site several times. Here is one thread: http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001961 I got into a discussion with Grumpyvette about heads and flow capacity and we touched on this. I grew up wanting a 302 out of a 1969 Camaro and was headed in that direction for my Z. But since no one seems to sell 302 parts it is looking like it will be cheaper (and have more horsepower potential) to go with a 350. Unless I miss my guess that 302 is a very rare motor. Chevy only offered it for a couple of years and even then it was only popular with a certain class of racers. If someone has numbers please correct me. If the rest of the engine is in good shape and fairly complete you could have a living piece of history. Let me know if the engine has the cross ram, dual 4 barrel carb set up. If it does I'll come to Texas and pick it up!

Where did you get a 3.08 rear? I didn't realize Z rears went that low numerically.

I knew a slalom racer in LA that used a welded R180 with a slightly modified in line engine. He was practically untouchable in a race. I think his name was Rick Brown and I do remember his CA plates: 240Z. I am told in a road race a solid diff gives a good driver a distinct advantage when going through (and out of) a corner. A good driver can make better use of the throttle to improve handling. Can't remember where I have read all of this. I would also like to add that from what I have been told the weak link in an R180 rear are the spider gears. If you want a welded diff, then you might want to save some weight and use an R180 as this should give you adequate strength.

I personally don't like J with my PB.... I do like big breasted women with meaty thighs. However, can’t say I have ever bought a car magazine because of the picture of the girl on the cover. I have skipped buying magazines when they didn’t have any articles that looked interesting. I’m probably in the minority here but have to second what Silicone Boy says, kinda hard to take some of these magazines seriously.

I know this sounds overly simplistic, but the first step in troubleshooting any charging/starter problem is to clean the battery posts. And just "looks clean" is not good enough. Take a wire brush to them. Cannot begin to count the number of people who have needlessly replaced starters and/or alternators because they did not heed this advice. While you are at it, check the rest of the wiring and cable connectors to make sure they aren't corroded or loose. Next check the voltage across the battery, both with the engine running and off. With engine off should have around 12 volts. With the engine running, should be 14 volts or slightly higher. If it is still 12 volts (or less), check the voltage at the back of the alternator. If they are both 12 volts or less, you have a charging problem. If the battery voltage is low but volts at the alternator good, then you have an open circuit between the alternator and battery. See if maybe a fusible link has blown. My guess is you don't have an alternator problem since you have replaced it with a "known good". If all of the wiring checks out, the next step is to have the battery checked. If the battery is over 5 years old, then I personnaly would just replace it. The same place that checked your alternator should be able to check the battery under load. Probably need to charge it up before bringing it in.

Isn't Pete Paraska using this very thing with his Z? http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/brakemods.htm

If recoring a stock Z radiator works, then why all the rush to pick up Camaro radiators? Seems like the extra $100 could be better spent. Would there be a problem with say an LT1 and the "reverse flow" cooling? What about radiator hoses, are the diameters and/or placement unworkable with a Chevy engine?

Just posted this reply to Help in Huston. Thought it applied to you as well. Funny you mention the turn signal switch. I had an old Ford Fiesta that I thought had a bad turn signal switch because every time I used it the engine would momentarily cut out. When I stopped to investigate the car wouldn't crank. While I was waiting for my buddy to show up and jump start me, I noticed the dome light was flickering with the beat of the radio. The problem? Dirty battery posts. The battery acts like a capacitor to smooth out voltage transients from changes in current draw. Using the turn signals temporarily dropped the voltage that the battery wasn't able to make up because of the dirty posts. If the voltage drops below some level it kills the ignition. My 2 cents anyway.

Many years ago my inline 6 had radiator problems. I went to a local radiator shop and bought an (I assume) off the shelf radiator with a 3 or 4 row core to replace the stock single row one. Maybe they built it from my old core, too long ago to remember. I do know it did the job with excess capacity and I don't remember paying anywhere near 2 bills. I don't think it is aluminum and is definitely not plastic. Can't see why that wouldn't work with a V8. At the time I remember it having more cooling area than the radiators MSA sold with their V8 kit. Opinions?

If everything is as easy as 1 tuff Z says then count me in. $300 and change is no problem. Does anyone anticipate any problems with different "varieties" of r200's or are they all the same? Thought I saw a previous posting about machining stub axels and adding plates, or am I just

Grumpyvette posted a pretty good link describing how to tune a carb with a home built O2 sensor. The web sight also describes how to build your own O2 sensor for a handful of dollars. http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm

Dominic I am in the same boat as you. I have a Z and am considering candidates for engines. I already have the JTR book and am reading it for the 4th or 5th time. You might want to spend a few weeks (like I did) reading old posts in the Chevy section. There is a lot of good info that should answer what you are asking. I went round and round with Grumpyvette on the very issue of crate vs. home built. Here is the link: http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001937 Grumpy has a seemingly unlimited access to web links with excellent engine combos. He notes that a lot of crate engines are built toward heavy cars and thus give up some potential high end horsepower in favor of low to mid torque. Something else to confuse your mind. I am beginning to think the secret to a low cost home built is being able to recognize a deal when you see it AND knowing what parts will work well together. I have seen Grumpyvette lectures about wasting money buying "deals" only to end up with a combo that doesn't work. Thus if you are like me and don't have an extensive background with such parts, a crate engine might be the better way to go. Anyway the one comment I would like to make is your budget vs. dreams. 400 HP and under $5000 is probably asking a lot from a crate engine. (Of course as I write this someone will probably post a link for a 500 HP engine at $3000, but that is OK because I will just buy it!) This is before the cost of the transmission and conversion. With a 400 HP target you definitely need to budget for brake and chassis work!