whatnow123

That's pretty cool way to do it! I would just be freaked out if they aren't perfectly centered which is why I bought the adaptors.

Way Cool!! I modified mine to accept the Z fuel sensor as well. It's in my build thread if your interested. And just another FYI, the actual Camaro fuel tank from the same years fits under the Z perfectly if you don't mind losing the spare tire well!!

You are running in the 11's aren't you? I'm surprised you didn't drag your car!

I wouldn't have drove on that! I am wondering how it happened, it was a "blunt force" as that would be plenty strong to just hold the wheel in place. And did I read your post right? You are letting other people (a lot of other people) drive your car?

Wow, I have heard of this happening and it freaked me out so when I did mine I shortened them before I installed them. I'm trying not to be the bearer of bad news I'm willing to bet you killed your ring gear/pinion and possibly bearings. The good news is the LSD carrier will swap right over to another R200. And an open R200 is still cheap. I shortened my stock CV axles as I figured the CV's are way easier and cheaper to replace than the LSD diff. I did a write up in the drivetrain section on how I did it. I took about 1/2 an inch off the length, it's been about 1500 miles and no issues at all. I think Checked flag sells the shortened axles as well if you want to go that route.

"To get a two car garage" you had to build a pool huh? You sound like me.. "while I'm in there doing that, might as well...."

All I can say is wow! With all that shinny stuff underneath and on the engine well, pretty much everywhere I'd be scared to drive this thing anywhere. One small puddle in the roadway and I'd be spending hours wiping everything down! The car truly looks awesome! I hope you plan to show it, it's a work of art! I hope you are still within your budget but something tells me your not Awesome Car!!

How the hell do you put your rear wheel on? Gotta 8 lug wheel? If the petal doesn't osculate and/or you don't shimmy when you hit the petal, I wouldn't worry about it. It is odd

I used the techno kit when I did my swap. And yes you can use the trans mount as it only needs to be slightly modified (I needed a spacer and a couple of holes drilled).

Hey Old Andy!! Awesome stuff on here!! I'm going to be a buyer so keep us updated! Also about the CV conversion. The Z31 axles are a touch to long and could grind away your ring and pinion. I ended up shortening mine with nothing more than an angle grinder, it's in the driveline area where I did a write up. I've got about 1k miles on them so far with zero problems. Just thought I'd pass this along! Awesome work!!!

Hey, Check out desertdatsuns.com as well. It's a group of Z guys here in the valley. Very cool group of people and I have done a few meets with them as well as drives. A few of them have more than 1 Z and they come up for sale sometimes or they may even know of one. Just another ave to help you on your search!

Thanks for the nice words!! Anyway, to your questions. 1. Tires are 205 x 50 16 front and 225 50 16 rear. 2. Love the wheels and how they look! Great rims for the price! 3. No idea, I will check for you. 4. No, I didn't section the struts, there is plenty of travel and I only dropped it an inch from stock. If you wanted your car much lower than an 1" from stock, sectioning would be a good idea along with camber plates as you WILL need them if it's any lower. 5. 225 front, 250 rear. Seems perfect for what I use it for (street only and some spirited driving) 6. I used the ford power steering pump. 7. All the fittings for the clutch master and slave are standard brake line fittings. 8. I used the ford AC compressor. Works perfectly!

I'm with Rebz. The car is cool but slow with the stock engine. I'm running a 5.0, aluminum heads, full roller with fuel injection, AC and power steering. I'm guessing it's around 325+ hp but I don't really know. I'd bet it runs low 13's with little effort, has great street manors, I'm averaging around 20+ mpg and I could drive it daily which really was what I was after. The nice part is it weights less than it did stock (my car is a 280z with 240 bumpers). I would have gone the LS route if a completely rebuilt (and rebuilt right) 5.0 short block and Z spec T5 didn't fall into my lap! But overall, the car is awesome! It's comfortable, very fun to drive and I get comments every time I drive it. I wouldn't change a thing! It's how the car should have been built.

I'm sure it's simple, but is there an issue welding it closed? I'm thinking I want to debadge and get rid of this hole when I repaint it.

That car looks like Reb's Z above

CGSheen, What are the local shops? I'm in the Phoenix area and want new weather stripping. Can you let me know the shop that carries it?

I've got one.

Congrats Keith!! Also, just watched your video of running the mile, congrats on that too!!

SVMike, check my build thread, it's on there. 78 280z ford 5.0 T5

Just to clarify my set up, my Arizona Z MS bar is has the poly bushings where it mounts at the body (just like the stock bar) as well as the stock rubber mount at the bottom of the diff nose. It is pinned in place by another poly bushing on the upper nose of the pinion to keep it from lifting much, so it's not a solid mount diff, but it does minimize movement. I do agree with John, it shouldn't be a solid mount as anything that vibrates compounded with mass will eventually crack somewhere. I think the question is the solid aluminum bar VS the flexing of the stock bar. I don't think this would be an issue provided the mounts to the body and front diff mount are allowed some movement via bushings.

I have one, no idea what the disadvantage would be. It's also got to be lighter than the steal MS bar. I also have the front of the diff pinned with a snubber, that made a difference! The front of a long nose diff moves considerably up with some HP tossed at it. With an IRS rear, I would assume you'd want the diff not to move at all, or very little with rubber mounts. I think the factory mounts were just a poor design but was adequate for the HP the stock engine S30's were tossing at it.

this is awesome! However, 25 feet did both doors and the hatch? It doesn't seem like it would be enough.

Sounds like you are pulling the trans. It's going to be all speculation what is going on until you check it out. Fortunately T5's are cheap and easy to rebuild.

Just another update. Decided that I needed a bit more "Cow Bell", you know, "I got a fever and the only prescription is more cow bell".. Anyway, my Cow Bell is in the form of some AFR 165cc aluminum heads. The stock heads for the 5.0 HO mustang motor are the choking point, followed by the intake and exhaust. The exhaust and intake are already taken care of, so I thought I'd go with some aluminum heads for the weight savings not to mention they are rumored to be the best all round head for the 5.0. Well, they are correct and did it wake up my Z!!! I also installed a rear pinion snubber by Technoversions. Didn't think much about the rear diff moving until I was chasing down a slight vibration I had at 80+ (turns out it was the driveshaft angle and I had to shim it up 1/4 of an inch). Anyway, I installed a web cam under the car to see if I could see the vibration at the pinion and I bet the front of the pinion moved 3 inches up on acceleration. Best 80 bucks I have spent on the car! It just takes right off with out the "softness" if that makes sense. Try one and you'll know what I'm talking about. To bad it's next to impossible to see my shiny new heads with all the EFI stuff in the way. Other than that, just been Zooming around enjoying the car!

Swap in a power steering rack from a Subaru Forrester. Slight modifications are needed to the cross member but it's a quicker ratio and drives way better without it feeling too light. The other benefit is I can park my V8 Z with one finger. I got mine for $99 bucks delivered from Ebay. Total swap cost with all new parts end to end was less than $300.