Jay1970Z

lol, my dad has an 86 toyota 4x4 with probably over 170k on the odometer now. the only thing that ever broke on it was the a/c which was sealed back up and has been better than ever since then. the funny thing is, is that the cab looks 100 times better than the bed, like the paint on the bed is faded and the tailgate is starting to rust, and i'm pretty sure that the bed was made in the US while the cab was from japan. but it still is a great truck and has rescued many a V8 full size pickup from the swamps here around the everglades with its little barely 100 hp 4 cyl. also, let me correct myself, maybe the term beater was a bit too harsh, i dont really want something that demeans my style but if it comes down to it i will just go get a pos honda or something like that. again, thanks for the great input

well, i'm not talking beater per se, however i need a cheap daily driver that if i have problems with i won't freak out. se-r sounds good, i'm open to just about anything right now...either way it has to be able to reliably get me from orlando to ft. lauderdale and back on a regular basis. thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming!

I'm looking for a decent beater car to get me around town since the caddy is gone and i don't have the time to start on the Z right now. I was thinking of something along the lines of an early 90's 240sx or a 91-95 mr2. I'm looking for something kinda sporty, cheap, that will have relatively low insurance, and something with some decent power. Anyone got any ideas? Let me know thanks!

whoa you saw a bricklin? i almost bought one of those just so i could own an obscure piece of automotive history lol

my friend just bought a 2003 A4 1.8t and he loves it, although it has already spent a lot of time in the shop and is only a few months old. the first week he had it the ac compressor blew up and caused a whole mess. he then had to have it replaced again afterwards because the new one quit working. also, his fog lights have some sort of design defect where they filled up with water and he had to have those replaced. very nice looking, luxurious and sporty car, but on the slow side. he had his hands full with our other friends pos chevy beretta.

this thread is getting out of control! ok, so maybe domestics don't have the reputation of reliability that many imports have and it is most likely a well deserved one. all i'm going to say is that we've all had our experiences with every make and model of car out there, good and bad. so can we just all agree that everyone has had their own first hand thoughts on which brand is best and end this thread before people start getting upset and it ends up being a massive import vs. domestic war!

I have to disagree. I had a 93 STS for 3 years with the only problem being the a/c blower motor. The car did burn a lot of oil, but GM swears that that's normal. I loved that car, it was black with black leather, and that Northstar could really move that 2 ton beast. The car was big, luxurious and good looking even today. I used to drive about 30 miles an hour in it and wait for ricers to come flying by, then i'd crank up the stereo and show em whos boss. 0-60 under 7 seconds, and 1/4 miles of 14.7 are pretty awesome for a car that big. I loved that car, right up until my brother wrecked it last month and the insurance company totalled it, oh well they gave me very fair compensation I realize that some people get a car loaded with problems, while other will get one that seems invincible. I guess I was one of the lucky ones

when they first start zooming in to show off the skyline, look on the sideskirt near the front tire and you'll see the TRD sticker lol

dang, that is crazy

my first car's life just came to an end. I'm only 19 and my younger brother totaled it on his way home from school. it was a 93 cadillac sts...man that was a fun car, i beat the heck out of that thing while putting a beating on the ricers lol insurance company compensated me pretty well, so im back in the market for a Z now...things may work out for the best

guys, I am very ashamed as I am a student at UCF right now. Like a week or two ago I was waiting for class so I picked up the latest issue of the UCF Future to kill some time. As soon as I saw this article I didnt know if I should laugh or be disgusted. I gotta say, our newspaper is notorious for stupid articles that have absolutely no truth behind them. Just last week they had an article on the etiquette of going to a strip club, and another article on how guys that wear prescription glasses get more "play". Notice that the picture of the car takes up like 3/4 of the page and the article is actually small. I want to track down the idiot that wrote the article and the idiot that they interviewed and give them a nice beat down.

I'll give ya 4 grand for it

I'm looking for somewhere between 300-400 hp at the wheels. I'm fairly sure that I want to go with the 350, so I was thinking maybe the ZZ4 engine. Is that a good idea, or what about an LT1 or LS1, since this car will most likely be my daily driver (but probably won't be used nearly as much as a typical dd).

Thanks for the help on my last two posts by the way, you guys are great! Ok, here are my questions. 1. When a crate engine says it is say 350 horsepower, where is that measured from? Is that flywheel or rear wheel horsepower? 2. Does anyone know of any good places to buy crate engines, and would it be best to buy a stock GM crate and modify it myself, or to buy an Edelbrock crate or something along those lines? Thanks a lot guys!

Thanks a lot guys, you are all so knowledgeable and helpful. I appreciate the replies and I think this site combined with the JTR book will make my V8 conversion a lot easier. You guys rock!

Will a stock Z be able to handle that kind of power, or will I need to weld on a subframe or something? I would imagine an engine with that kind of torque in a 240Z could do some damage without some sort of frame modification.

Ok, I hear you guys talking about "mild" V8 Z's a lot so what I'm wondering is what do you guys consider mild? Like how much hp are we talking here and what kind of performance would be your definition of a mild Z?

Thanks for the help guys! As for it being a real hi-po, I can't say that I'm certain, but my uncle is a real mustang afficionado and he says that it is. I've only seen the actual engine a few times and it looked to be in good shape and very clean. I recall it having headers and my uncle mentioning something about the belts on it. I will get more info on it this week and get back to you guys. Thanks again for the help

Ok, I've got a 70 240Z and am definitely going through with the V8 conversion. I originally planned to go with the SBC 350 but now I am exploring other options. The 350 is still my number one choice, but an opportunity presented itself that is making me think twice. My uncle has been re-restoring (my cousin wrapped it around a tree) his '65 fastback. He bought another 65 mustang to use for parts in the restoration and it has (he claims) a running 289 hi-po in it that he would give me for probably really cheap if not for free. Now, my questions are, how difficult a swap would the 289 be since there aren't really any books or kits available. Also I believe the hi-po 289's from 1965 had somewhere around 275 hp, correct me if I'm wrong. I've never been in a V8 Z so I was wondering what kind of power that would produce, like 1/4 mile times, 0-60 etc. Also I am planning on using the car as somewhat of a daily driver, not an everyday driver though. Would this engine be reliable enough and cheap enough to maintain? Forgive me for going on and on, but I've been reading your forum here for months and finally decided to join and post so I've had a lot of time to think up questions Thanks a lot guys Jay