jeromio

I think you're refering to Simon DeGroot's design: http://www.usq.edu.au/users/degroot/240z/pages/diffmount.htm Of which I am a big fan. I copied it using some fence tubing and 280Z poly trans mount bushings: http://240z.jeromio.com/diffmount.html My write up is kinda sucky, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Getting ready to put things back together with the t56. I took my flexplate off (used to be an auto on there) and I notice that the crank has an unthreaded hole that matches up with a 7th hole in the flywheel. So, is there supposed to be a pin in there? I have an LS1, but something like this should be the same as in the SBC. I was all set to put this sucker in there but I'm worried that this apparent pin hole wants a pin in it. There's no mention of it in my shop manual, but it could just be something "obvious" (as long as your car didn't originally come with an auto).

Answer: Alot of people. Where I live, there are thousands of ML, X5, LandRovers, Land Cruisers, Lexii, Cherokees, Excursions - hell every freakin third vehicle on the road is an Expedition. I think they would have a hard time selling it only because it ould be an expensive Chevy. They would do slightly better badging it as a GMC. That motor bone stock would make an excellent swapper into a Z though. 270hp is not shabby at all. I wonder how hard it would be to put a T56 behind it.

Got my Mac today. It is sooooo purty. I got the stainless 3inch one. Very short. Looks like it'll fit very nicely. It has lots of very nice looking TiG welds aaallll over it. I almost hate to have to mount it way under the car.... Obviously no impressions of the sound or anything yet, since my engine is sitting in front of the car, next to the new T56. It is interesting to note that the stock tailpipe opening in the rear valence is just about exactly the right size to allow for 3 inch exhaust to exit. Gunna have to bust out the sawzall.

You'll need duct tape. Lots.

If you had to drop the trans, then he wouldn't have said half hour. It's on the side of the trans, there's a hose with a fitting going into it and 2 bolts attaching it to the bellhouse. When the new one (should cost like $25) is on, you gotta bleed the system. Sure it's a bad slave? Leaking? Clutch works when you top off the fluid, but maybe you have to pump it? Unless the slave is nuked (you say "gone" does that mean it's missing?), then the car should be driveable. Otherwise, it's the actual clutch that wants replacin'. That does require dropping the trans and will take much longer than a half hour. My record is like 6 hours.....

Kinda makes it look like a Maverick.

Pete Paraska: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/drivelinemods.htm

Pete's an engineer and can essplain the details better'n me. But, yeah, I've heard that optimal driveline configuration has the cups in the UJoints rotating for lubrication. Therefore the actual driveshaft should be somewhat cockeyed relative to the input and output (trans and diff) and won't be parallel with the frame rails. But, what I'm referring to is something different and more critical. Imagine the axes of each unit (trans and diff) extending into space straight out (from the tail of the trans and the pinion of the diff). What I'm taking about is ensuring that those two lines are parallel. For example, my trans is slightly down and towards the passenger side relative to my diff. BUT, (hopefully) the 2 are aligned such that the inputs and outputs are still parallel. Another way to envision it is to take a perfectly flat plate of steel and push it up against the flat part of the trans output shaft and another against the flange of the diff. Now the planes created by these two fictional plates should be parallel (in 2 dimensions) such that you can draw a line between the 2 and it will form a right angle (90 degrees) with both planes. And any and all of those right angle lines that you draw will have the same length. What this does is reduce vibration and stress caused by the power of the rotating trans output from working towards anything other than merely turning the diff input. Or something like that.

The other major consideration which has been a very popular subject on this board, but not yet in this thread, is the alignment of the trans ouput with the diff input. Improper alignment can cause major driveline vibration problems. Pete's site has lot sof detailed info on this. This caused me many headaches and ate up lots and lots of trial and error time. Maybe 20-25 hours of just moving the motor around and taking measurements. I bought an angle finder from Home Depot (just a big plastic dial). I could use this to measure the vertical plane of the trans output to match it to that of the diff input. The horizontal was more difficult. I had to try and use the chassis for reference points. What I ended up settling on was running long, straight dowels (just finding fairly straight, unwarped dowels was a pain) thru the motor mount towers (which the bolt thru Camaro motor mounts attach to). I had to make sure that the 2 were parallel to each other and that those 2 lines were in turn parallel to the frame rails by taking various measurements. This all assumes that the diff is mounted orthagonally to the frame rails (which it should be). I'm still not 100% sure that I achieved optimal alignment.

Wow, those are better than shop manual diagrams. Here's a diagram of that switch valve from FastFrog (lapsed member here):

That's cuz no one can access your desktop machine. You have to post your pictures somewhere that is accessible to the internet. Like http://photos.yahoo.com or http://imagestation.com or something. My T56 is scheduled to arrive (finally!) tomorrow afternoon. Clutch came this AM and Slave came yesterday. Still haven't bought a Master. Holding out hope that my Datsun master will work. (Yes, for me, at this point, that $100 for a new Master is significant. ) Once the motor is back in, then I can get back on the exhaust and complete the fuel line connections.

Looks like a pretty good idea. But, and this may sound mean, I think that those fiberglass inserts in the fenders are going to crack. From what I've read elsewhere (and here, esp. from Fiberglass Terry), fiberglass bonded to metal cannot be thought of as a permanent thing. The 2 materials expand and contract at different rates. Plus, with this area, you have the door slamming into it constantly. It's a bit worrisome. You know what would be slick? Convincing the salvage yard you're getting the latches from to sell you cut outs of the door jamb area (including the recesses) and then welding those to the Z. Then you could blend it with lead (or bondo).

Or, if it's really buggin you, measure the the distance between perches at full droop, and then buy a set of 180lb springs with that length, maybe slightly longer. I have pretty longs springs up front, such that to do suspension work, I have to unlock the lower perch and spin it down several inches (to remove the strut for instance. It's another benefit of coilovers, no spring compressor required!

Keeripes! $2K is excellent. As to that TH350 - it's hard not just recommend pulling it out and putting that 5spd back in there. Nice car. And with a cage even - good find.

Here's his reply: So, I guess that sort of answers it. Very strange that he lists it as an 82 280ZX Turbo diff instead of the more accurate 87 300ZX turbo diff that it apparently is.

I have a Lincoln Weldpak and it has served me very well. And this may be obvious, but if you get anything from a pawn shop, please don't offer them more than like half their asking price. I dunno what it is with pawn shops - some kind of ancient tradition: take in a used item, "loan" out money based on about 1/20th the item's value, then after the elapsed time, put it up forsale at 10% above what full retail would be for an equivalent, new item.

Yeah, I emailed him too - no reply.

HEre: http://www.hotrodsusa.com/cgi-bin/tame/buynow/non-brand.tam?rlk=166898 http://www.yogisinc.com/results.cfm?Category=55 http://www.yogisinc.com/results.cfm?Category=54 Those are the only links I happen to have. Best is to pick up a magazine like StreetRodder and look thru the ads.

Dunno why you would equate coilovers with harshness. The Eibachs will probably be fine. Trouble is that if they're not, too bad - you just spent $250 on springs you don't like. With Coilovers, replacement springs, being more of a universal 2.5 inch diameter application, can be had in a wide variety of lengths and rates pretty cheaply. Plus, rideheight is adjustable separate from spring rate/length selection.

Well, really this is not stupidity, just ignorance. There's a big difference. Now granted, this guy may also be stupid, but ignorance and stupidity, especially ignorance of a particular subject, do not go hand in hand. He does, for example, manage to seek out help and info from a web board in an effort to alleviate his ignorance, and that's a good sign. (as a total aside to this post, every time I typed "ignorance" it came out "ignarance". Had to edit. Dunno why....)

Here's a brief list off the toppa my head: [*] Going LS1 instead of the simpler LT1 (I sooo woulda been done by now)[*]Letting HVAC dictate my LS1 install (Now I have a steering dilemma)[*]Swapping in that stupid 280Z HVAC in the 1st place (shoulda gone aftermarket)[*]Homemade steel rear disc calipers (shoulda bought some)[*]Burning my seat belt (resting on floor, welding floor brace from below)[*]Miscalculating my driveshaft length (that's gonna cost me)[*]I'm sure there's more, that's all that occur to me now. [/list:u:0bb69f3967]I guess my list isn't actually too bad all things considered. I'm definately glad I did all the brake and suspension stuff first. I really wish this swap wasn't taking so long (but I should know better). All in all I thin kthings are going fairly well.

I hadn't thought about the console. I'm not planning on having one at all (anyone wanna buy a 2000 FBody console?) I also hadn't thought about moving the motor more to the pass side - mine is about 1/2 inch over. But, as to aftermarket A/C, from what I've seen, it's way cheaper than those brackets. The quote I got for the alt bracket alone was $400! You can get a nice underdash VintageAir system with controls for less than $300. I have yet to actually complete my 280Z HVAC system. The condensor I got had a major leak. I gotta get a Camaro one anyway now that I am using a Camaro compressor. At some point, I think I will just give up on it and get a VintageAir - The stock system is pretty sucky. If you do plan on getting brackets, check with John Bzdel (http://www.montecarloss.com/ls1montecarloss/). He made his own for his project and may be amenable to making more. Check out these custom headers he made:

My motor is currently out of the car, so it's hard to remember just how far forward of the firewall it sits. I think mine is setup to be about 1/2 inch forward of Lonestar1's setup, and I believe his is identical to JTR. If I remember correctly, if you attach a string between the 2 forward strut tower bolts, it would pass directly over my EGR fitting in the intake. This is probably the only reason to consider moving the motor forward. This point: is sort of confusing. The steering "knuckle" - that's the rubber isolator? For me, this is not in the way at all. Anyway, the real killer interferer is the steering shaft itself. Moving the engine farther forward is going to worsen your interference problem. I moved mine forward due to 4L60E clearance problems and heater inlet clearance (I have 280z HVAC). But that 1/2 inch has really hurt me on the steering shaft. I moved it over by about 3/8inch, but now that's not enough. I'm going to have to move it over more (not sure if I can move it more than another 1/4 inch) and also muck with the exhaust manifold. To sum that one up, the shaft gets closer the farther forward the motor goes. This is bad. I think Gary mentioned moving his column over by 3/8 and that was plenty for him. T56 is not a big fat pig like the A4. I don't think clearance is a problem (although I haven't got mine yet). And that sheet metal can probably be cut with scissors - I had to cut mine for the L28 5 spd and it was really not difficult. You're still stuck with the frame rails being in the way. Unless you plan on buying the pricey high mount brackets. This is what I was thinking when I decided to move mine up 1/2 inch. I guess the point of my post is that I now have some regrets about this. The more I think about it, it would've been simpler to optimize engine placement, giving zero consideration to HVAC (which I'm leaving for last anyway). Then, I could've taken HVAC on as a separate project and would probably have just gone with a superior aftermarket system that would work better anyway.

I'm sure that you could get 4 wheel drums to perform nicely too. But why? I see absolutely no reason to mess with the stock system. However, if you have to fix it (need new calipers or rotors or whatever), then I would go so far as to suggest that it would be foolish to replace with stock. Upgrade! I spent about $120 on my "Oxandale Junkyard" 280ZX/300ZX vented front brake setup. I would've done the vented Toyo4X4 swap, but the spacers required upped the cost. Terry's discussion of weight and required clamping forces were also very compelling. I have noticed a significant improvement in braking. And I mean on the First, cold stop as well as the repeated stops from 100mph. I noticed it with original 14 inch radials and cheapo stocker pads. With the tire upgrade braking was even better. I imagine a set of $$$ racing pads would yield further improvements. Later on I switched to the larger bore master cyl. and I didn't notice a difference. BUT, my old one was broken, so I saw no reason to replace it with the same old plain one