Chris Duncan

Got my '93 R32 front clip a while back and noticed that one of the turbo's has oil leaking into the intake side. Also want to upgrade the ceramic turbine wheels to steel so they will eventually take more boost. Shopping on Ebay and looking at two different kits. They both have everything needed with pre balanced Inconel turbine wheels and shafts. One of the kits additionally has compressor wheels. Do I really need new compressor wheels? Should I get the kit with them at $350 or the kit without them at $300? These sites also claim this overhaul job can be accomplished by a skilled DIYer. Has anyone here done this?

Not sure if it would have helped but you might have tried either purging the inside or painting it with Solar Flux. I know it works good on stainless but not sure about mild steel. http://www.solarflux.com/Pages/Productinfo.html with this thin of a weld you are penetrating to the back side and you don't have shielding there, so that may affect the weld.

I put an s30 into a '69 510. Firewall back, swapped engine trans, front subframe and suspension, brakes, rear brake drums, rear diff. Moved the TC mounts to the rear, it was sort of a pain, but it's got to be cleaner than "splitting" links. But that's a nice rack, I've used it on several projects. Light years ahead of the stock steering gear box Seem to remember the crossmember bolted right up, but the struts where shorter so with no money I just dropped the top mount an 1-1/4" or so. Nowadays you would probably just leave that to make it lower. Bump steer is far more important than Ackerman

I'm here to gain knowledge, that is all. I learned a few posts ago that you can't just "bolt on" an undertray and diffuser and expect it to work. I had suspected that already. I was asking why, and what needs to be done to make it work, that's all. I meant no disrespect but I think you took it that way. I still don't have an answer...

I didn't mean for this to be a hostile exchange. And it's pretty easy to see who you are, after all you made a video of a race day. A lot easier for me to see who you are than you to see who I am. You described what a diffuser does, I already know that. You've asserted that the ones you've seen (at the track) don't work. My questions, that you haven't answered, are, why do they not work, and what would it take to make them work? I just love it though, and it really feeds my drive to succeed at something, when someone says something won't work or I don't know what I'm talking about. So keep it up, it has positive effects. I've been building cars from scratch for 25 years. I was wrenching on Z's before you had a drivers license. I don't know why these aftermarket or scratch pans and diffusers don't work and I was asking someone I thought might know. But even race car drivers don't know everything I guess. That's disappointing, I thought they were omnipotent. That's okay though, I'll figure it out one way or another. I invested in Solidworks (with CFD) a long time ago. Pretty sure I can dig up a s30 solids file. I'll spend some time with the Z aero and get back with you guys.

That's a lot of words for not really answering my questions. ;>) ""I would love to make my car flat bottomed. I would however approach it in a way that..... didn't resemble a flatbottomed car."" this makes no sense to me. ""I see loads of people who attach panels to the underside of a car, I see people buying diffusers all the time and not actually realizing that they are not doing anything but adding weight and drag to the car."" I don't see very many people doing this. Of all the build threads I've read in the last 7 years I think there are 2 that did underpanels. Assuming you are talking about aftermarket diffusers, my main question is, you say they don't work, WHY do they not work? I understand the concept of an aftermarket part that has no benefit and in fact may be detrimental. Like a front strut brace with big kinks in it is doing nothing for rigidity. But you haven't explained what makes these bad diffusers and underpanels bad and you haven't explained what makes a good underpanel/diffuser work properly. "" I point out that the undertray or flat bottom is simply much more than a large piece of plywood attached with clamps to the underside of my car. Thats fu@#ing stupid.........."" The concept of plywood is just as a mock up. I don't see why plywood if it was done right wouldn't work for the flat areas of the under panelling. I've seen a RUF underpaneled Porsche, it was completely flat to behind the rear axle. The diffuser section after that curves smoothly upwards, I don't really think it's rocket science. Seems to me that was what a Ford GT looks like also, nothing all that complex. "" I also wonder why does this data actually matter, when no one really has the need for such data. There are maybe a handful of people on the planet that actually would benefit from a functional tunneled undertray and diffuser for a 240."" Define benefit. By this definition nobody needs a hybrid Z, it's just being done for the sake of doing it. I want a Z with a flush bottom and a functioning diffuser. I'm never going to race but I just like the idea of having it. Heck I might want to go fast and it would be nice to have solid functioning aerodynamics. I think a lot of people benefited from the last wind tunnel test, don't see why that couldn't happen again. Just an FYI, Solidworks has CFD software embedded, even in the base version, and it's not that hard to use. It would take a while to accurately model a Z but it's probably already been done.

Nice post, good info Why does an undertray and diffuser work against you? What does it do wrong? What would have to be redesigned on a 240Z to make it work? I may have something to donate to this cause in the near future.

I'm interested. Also note in the pics on the first page of this thread there are different trim widths. The thinner ones look nicer to me.

So why would you want a slower ratio? Thinking 2.5 or 2.7 is already too slow.

awesome swap so where is this DIY steering rack article? What kind of ratio does this rack have and have you looked at any other options?

I'm doing a 280Z RB26 swap and have been keeping track of weights. Here's what I have so far R32 RB26DETT complete, with front diff, clutch/flywheel, turbos, downpipes, alternator, ps and ac brackets, but no ps or ac pumps---- 550 pounds bare RB26 block---- 120 pounds R32 rear suspension sub frame complete, including diff, cv's, all brakes and struts---- 350 pounds Bare rear sub frame---- 53 pounds R32 AWD transmission with transfer---- 180 pounds S30 Bare S30 Chassis, completely stripped ('75 280Z)---- 473 pounds L-28 long block, with valve cover alternator and clutch, no manifolds---- 351 pounds 280Z door w/o inner panel---- 54 pounds 280Z door bare---- 34 pounds 280Z back hatch w/o interior trim---- 38 pounds 280Z back hatch bare---- 21 pounds S30 4 speed trans---- 80 pounds

Since it is somewhat tedious to try to find anything in an un-searchable 804 page pdf I made this .rtf index with page numbers for the most common R32 pdf SM. So you can just enter the page number on your PDF reader and go right to it. Then I found the GTR guys in Canada have made a R32 service manual pdf that is searchable and has clickable links in the main and sub indexes. http://forums.gtrcanada.com/faq/36-holy-bible-6.html#post467565 R32-SM-INDEX.rtf

YES!!! +1 like

Another problem with a large gap like this is that the back side of the weld is not shielded. With a very small gap or no gap there is little atmospheric exposure to the back side of the weld, with a large gap there is large exposure. Subsequently you get weld oxidation, essentially the weld puddle is burning which causes impurities and inclusions.

Are you sure the column doesn't telescope? And maybe it got collapsed during shipping? I know that most newer factory cars have a collapsible column that works by telescoping. Try using some slight force to extend it.

What sort of experience do you have working on cars? I sort of agree that you should just put a stock engine back in this thing. Unless you are really mechanically inclined or have some experience with swaps. Generally working experience goes from mild stock restoration, mild customization, and stock motor swaps, to full restoration, extensive customization, and hybrid swaps. You should also consider costs, try to work up an estimate and post it up to see if it's realistic. Not saying it's impossible to do a hybrid first thing just don't bite off more than you can chew.

didn't refresh, NewZed beat me to it.

With those sidedraft carbs it's worth it just as a parts car.

Read, read, read. Figure out what you want and get very specific. For instance, what year of each vehicle? Then post that specific info up on multiple forums asking, is this the best way to go? A big question to ask is what do you want to end up with? Something you can do a track day? Drags? Or just show and street? I don't know what an LS1 has but aluminum heads are desirable for anything where you want good handling. Plan a budget and put that out there also, asking if it's realistic. Add up all the costs you can figure, then add at least 25% miscellaneous. During the build keep a running total. Costs can get way out of hand if you're not keeping track. After a ton of work you can end up with something you can't justify keeping cuz you've got too much money tied up in it. A minimum of a month of planning before you buy the first part can save you time and money in the long run.

You got a good deal, I paid $1650 for my 280 builder and that's the going rate up here. It's a '75 280, going with the RB26. I've done the Chevy V8, it fits really nice and is more affordable, but heavy unless you go for aluminum heads. I got the R32 front clip with rear suspension assembly for $4500 (the going rate), but it must have sat for years and a couple of the bores are rusted so it's going to need a bore job. Shame because the rings were still tight, couldn't have been more than 50K miles. I had a 30 day warranty but didn't want to mess around with the return and waiting for them to get another long block in. I built the Chevy hybrid for around $6K total (late '80's). This project is going to be closer to $20K but it will have all the nice stuff. It's a small world. I worked at Malloy back in the '80's. (With Dave, John, and Danny)

Nice, the RPF1, best bang for the buck and good looks. This is where I'm going on my ZGTR.

100 grit is okay to sand down old paint, you could also go rougher like 80. The best thing to do regarding colors and types of primers is to decide on who is going to paint it and ask for their recommendation on everything, then follow it without deviation. They usually have a preference and can do a better job when the products they know are used. Black hides other colors pretty well there shouldn't be a problem but there are definitely problems with some of the other colors regarding hiding of the primer color. As has been said it's good to change the colors on the primer layers so you can see what's being sanded down. The final primer sealer should hide well under the final color coat. There's two types of primer. Primer filler for "blocking", sanding to get the surface flat, and primer sealer to seal everything underneath from the top coat. Wet sanding is to keep the sandpaper from clogging. Especially when you are blocking the primer filler. You are using 320 to 400 and it clogs up quick when sanding the primer filler. It is also done to quickly clear the sanding residue when you are color sanding the top color coat before the final clear coat if you are color sanding and buffing. It's easy to get in trouble quick and sometimes problems don't show themselves until the final paint is done, and then it's too late. For instance I once used some catalyst spot putty on top of non-catalyst primer filler. It came out nice and flat and for the first couple months the final top color coat looked nice. But then the spot putty absorbed the primer filler and there was little blisters everywhere there was spot putty. Get the painter's recommendations and follow them exactly. I would also let the painter shoot the primer sealer coat. That makes it easier for them as they get a practice run, that's easier to sand down if there's a problem, before shooting the color coat. It's hard to find a good painter at least here in Washington. The industry is strictly regulated emissions-wise and most painters do not paint complete cars. Word of mouth is probably the best way. Find a nice paint job that you know isn't stock and ask them where they had it done. It can also get crazy expensive so you have to shop. One other opinion. If you are doing a restore and are going to be doing a fair amount of other work on the car, save the painting for last. That way you don't have to worry about scratching while you are for instance taking the motor in and out.

Go to - tires - "shop by size" Then clear brands on the left and pick Dunlop. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?customSizeSearch=&width=255%2F&ratio=40&diameter=17

A Z of this vintage shouldn't have problems with a jump start, but anything is possible. A voltage surge can potentially fry an ECU. One quick way to check injector function is with a stethoscope. Are they clicking while the engine is cranking? Lacking a stethoscope a long screwdriver with the handle in your fist and against your ear, the other end on an injector.