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I realize this is an old thread but has there been any progress made on the LD hybrid? Really cool idea!

Any news on the intake?

I read in one of my old car mags about gutting a 4 barrel carb to use as a throttle body. Now that I'm actually ready to build my V8 (putting it in my 280zx 2+2) I can't find the article or any relevant info on the web! Has anyone here done this or have any info/ suggestions?

My brother has a 351W block he is willing to give me for free. A friend of mine has a 289 crank for an excellent price. This combo gives a 289 with a killer rod ratio. From what I understand should outperform a similarly equipped "regular" 289. Before I get flamed for not going stroker, read up at www.victorylibrary.com/mopar/rod-tech-c.htm. The main journals are different. 351W has 3.00" and the 289 has 2.25". Can a spacer such as Ford Racing PN: M-6339-A351 be fabricated to fill the gap? Would something this large (.75") be advisable? Anyone know a good machine shop that would be willing to do this?

Does anyone have a pic of the IMSA flares installed?

BlueovalZ, that's pretty much what I had in mind I just want the pad to extend all the way across the "bumper" area and tie a few braces from there to where the factory bumper mounts. Add a piece of sheet metal to enclose the bottom should be strong enough to hande small roadkill.

:2thumbs:Looks good to me and plenty strong too. Nice work. By the way, what body kit is that? I also have a '79 280zx 2+2 but can't find a kit to suit my taste. Maybe we have a winner?

Twistex, that's one killer engine! It was mentioned it another thread that the LD block doesn't clear the hood with out mods. How did you get yours to fit? Would a cowl induction hood work? I'm scowering every forum and car classified listing on the web for an ld28 crank but now I want the block too! What CR does that combo give and with what head? Have you had it Dyno'd? Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin!

Now that's what I'm talking about! Strong and good looking. I would love to see some pics. One question though, what is CSM?

Don't have a freakin' stroke! Yea, it's a four year old post on fg fabrication. I did a search for more advanced composite work and this came up. Four years from now some poor soul will find this thread and might actually learn something about building sub boxes. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the idea of HybridZ was to share your Z knowlege, experience, mistakes, etc, for future Z enthusiasts!

Do you have any pics of the mods?

4 12" subs need a lot of support. Build the basic enclosure box from 3/4" MDF, seal it on the inside seams with a layer of resin and fleece, then you work on the asthetics. Remember you need to have the subs angled slightly from the back panel so the waves don't cancel out. To get the free formed look you can either use foam blocks cut to shape or add a 2-3" trim border around the edge of the box and stretch fleece down to the speaker cut-outs. You can also recess your amp with a trim border and fleece. After you achieve the look your after, brush on the resin (get quality stuff from a boating supply store not Walmart!), let fully dry, then apply the fiberglass mat and more resin. You should use like 4 layers of fiberglass. Sand it between the layers so the next layer goes on without air bubbles. To finish, sand everything even, apply bondo where needed, glazing putty (fills in all the little pin holes), more sanding, primer and paint. It's a lot of work but if you take your time to get everything just the way you like the results are spectacular!

The biggest reason being that it fits with no modification, and I wouldn't need to fabricate any linkage. Besides just from looking I'd say a hollowed out SU would flow more than that Subaru TB with that big obstruction stuck in its throat. What is that, a MAF sensor? You could do better.

A girl at work bought a Mini like this with white racing stripes and it looks awesome! It would look even better on my Z though. Does anyone have pics of this color on their car? Is anyone handy enough with photoshop to replicate this color on a Z?

Thanks for the info TonyC. Does anyone here have experience with honeycomb? I've made flat HC panels and simple curves but this would require several compound curves. About a million pie cuts in all those little cells would work but there's got to be a better way.

Just to give you guys an idea of what this stuff is capable of, the engine cowlings on the helicopters I work on are about 3/8" thick. When opened up they double as a work platform that is rated to withstand 500 lbs. The hinges would break before the composite would!

If you just spent $500 on a body kit, what's another $140??? Especially for the guys who bought it and never installed it because it's so flimsy! Just a little checking (on the MSA site) and you will see that with this addition you'll only have spent 10- 20 bucks more than the other kits. Not to mention you'll look Way better!

Yes, I put up a link to their site in another thread a while back. Which do you think will work better, 2 injectors in each throttle body or the 6 injector direct port injection? From what I understand, having the injectors closer to the port gives better drivability around town and the throttle body injection would be better at higher RPM's. For all out performance you could use both with your ECU programmed to fade out from one to the other over a given RPM. This would provide the fuel more time to vaporize at the higher engine speed. More efficient burn= More power. But for me that might be a little overly complex. I just want my Z to breath as freely as possible without blowing my entire engine budget on the intake alone.

It seems that is what most people on here think of the MSA kit. It's a shame it looks so good! My solution is as follows. 1: Rivet a piece of sheetmetal on the bottom. This would give some strength to the air dam and help with aerodynamics (somewhat) . 2: epoxy on a layer of honeycomb to the interior of the bumper/ airdam. Here is a pic hopefully it will stay up! This is 1/8" cell Kevlar honeycomb, available to the public through Aircraft Spruce www.AircraftSpruce.com. A sheet 4'x 8' is $139.95 and should be plenty to cover the whole interior of one bumper/ airdam, if not both. After the honeycomb is epoxied to the bumper and dry, apply a couple layers of fiberglass over the honeycomb. 3: If any of you are handy fabricators you could also incorporate mounts and possibly a few struts for additional rigidity at high speed. If you are patient and have a little skill with fiberglass nobody could tell the difference. The part would be 100 times stronger and you only add maybe 16 ounces weight! What do you guys think?

Does anyone have a clue what I'm talking about? Or has everyone lost interest already?

:2thumbs:I've been looking for ideas on how to do do this for some time now. Looks awesome! On mine I want to gut out the SU's and use them as throttle bodies only and have the multiport injection like yours. Would the zxt throttle bodies offer any advantages in performance over hollowed out SU's? How much more power do you speculate your setup will have over the stock EFI? Once again, awesome work!

Most accidents are in parking lots below 5 mph so that would be fine. I wouldn't mind sacrificing the bumper to save the hood, quarter panels radiator, condenser, etc. By the way Clifton, love your car! I work in aviation and nearly all the composites we use are a honeycomb sandwich (ex. fiberglass/ core/ fiberglass). The aluminum honeycomb core gives incredible strength yet is very light. Modern cars use a plastic "egg crate" which gives a little more strength but not nearly as much as the honeycomb. Has anyone used this in their car? Do you guys think it would be worth trying?

I love the look of the MSA III kit for my 77 280Z. When I called and asked what all it included he said is was basically an empty shell. I'd like to have the peace of mind knowing that if someone bumped into me that it wouldn't crush half my car! The MSA II kit for the ZX uses the factory supports. Is there any way to beef up the MSA III front and rear? Or is the shell alone tough enough to take a low speed impact? Help me out guys.

Where can I get those flares and body kit from? That looks soooo sweet! Black Dragon Auto has a set but I don't think they look this good.

I was hoping for more cfm but how much more do you think? Would the gain justify the work involved? Simply put, does anyone know the cfm of the twin SU's and the cfm of the EFI ? -Tom