Pharaohabq

Wow, nice job on the frame repair. that's a big area to replace. Did you shape the metal yourself? Looks like you still have the stock Tranny mounts in place. you'll need to cut those off for the 6sp to fit. I just pulled my engine (again) to get back in there to cut out more of the mounting plates. My HR-JK Tranny is wider at the back end and was hitting the cut off plates. Im going to cut them out a little more to just one layer of metal then hammer a 1/4 to 1/2" bulge in the tranny tunnel so I can be certain it's going to fit this time. now that the engine is out of the way too, I'm going to wrap my rails in the engine compartment in 3/16" or 1/4 steel. Where are you getting your camber plates from? MSA too? I just scored an 05 350z Diff for 100 bucks off ebay. I'm hoping I can make the half shafts work, but at least I've got the speedo sensors on it. Not sure on the mounting yet.

I just looked through the site and couldn't find a complete kit. But the MSA kit should work. though I know some people have had fit issues with the MSA stuff. I haven't tried my MSA kit yet.

I'm not sure, but I think you've got some wires mixed up. I know the flashers need to be upgraded for LED lights, I don't know the part number right off. Also your Dash Dimmer wont work unless you put a resistor in parallel with one of the LED's to provide impedance to the system. I'd recommend you look over the wiring schematics again to see where you're missing something.

Yeah, I got to see the show on Saturday night, Wow what a kludge, and what was with the "it's still just a datsun" comments. I was impressed at how quickly the white team pulled the engine in what 12 mins?, that was impressive, though on a 73' there's not that much holding it in, even if it was a hatchet job. The rest of the show was just painful. I mean I'm all for seeing modified cars, but hey there's something to be said for taste. The White car was just a hatchet job right from the start. The Blue team (Red car) They're supposed to be Euro Import Specialists??? Yeah they're young, but oh my they knew nothing about Z cars. Trying to go Over the Top was the theme, I would have said, okay, lets hack off the fenders and go WIIIIDE BODY, Massive tires, and mount the engine higher so those air cleaners stick out of the hood for the hole they cut. The Fenders just moved out about 4 or 5 inches, Filled behind with sheet metal wouldn't have been any harder than what the White team did, they could have done a much better job on the tailight plate. just carbon fiber over the Stock lights was embarassing. Might as well have mounted Trailer lights on the back. Now, I don't know what all was availible, but the blue team knew they were up against a blower engine, You'd think they could have fount at least one TURBO in that parts cage, Just something to even the scales. I'm glad the R180's in the 240's held up. in the end though, the blue team(red car) had a better looking car, retained some value, even if they "PIMPED" out the interior quite a bit. Maybe fuzzy dice would have scored more points. It wasn't as bad as the white car though. The White one just wasn't a Z anymore. These are supposed to be the best of the best, yeah right... maybe from Okee-pokee Technical institute. The Judges! oh my! I can't believe how slanted they were. It was obvious they didn't like datsuns from the start. and I don't know where the guy from WC Kustoms, Pimp my ride dude said "I can't fit in here" I'm 6'5", yeah I gotta move the seat back, but I fit fine, plenty of headroom. If the scoring was based on how badly you can fark up a Z, then the White car team appropriately won, but as far as value or workmanship I believe both teams and indeed the Show "Car Warriors" itself were the losers. I have no respect for the Speed Channel for green lighting an episode like that.

Ouch, yeah a little rust like that isn't going to be fun to fix, just remember you're going to be welding THIN metal and that you need to clean up the rust first. Hitting it with a wire brush on a grinder is a good way, just be sure to wear a good set of goggles/full face mask, to clean it all up. Butt welding, or overlapping both work fine, but just take your time and make tons of little welds to keep things from warping or burning through. read up on how people have done it. The Floor pans often rust because of a leak under the cowel in front of the windshield. Cleaning out all the crap in there and resealing it with a good Sealant will help prevent it from happening again. Underneath, consider paintng Por15 (or some other rust inhibitor paint) over your repairs, then some regular underbody coating. The Por 15 will help prevent any rust under there from continuing. Inside, sand it down and repaint it with about any matching paint should protect it well enough. You just don't want to leave exposed metal/welds since they'll rust quickly again w/o treatment. Inside it's a good idea to remove the Tar sound deadening crap Datsun put down, just to be sure you don't have any other spots. Dry ice makes it super easy in the warm weather. Colder temp areas <40 degrees you shouldn't have much trouble. I used a flat screwdriver, mallet and a thin metal paint scraper trowel. Let see some more picts! Phar

Junkyard ballast resistor works too... Also you can upgrade to the 83" ZX Dizzy and it should work since the pickup in the Dizzy won't work unless there's movement in the dizzy of the stator moving past the pickups.

I guess it was " Car Warriors '73 Datsun 240Z" Seas1 Ep:4.. it'll be on again tomorrow at 4pmEST, or Saturday sometime. I would have liked to have seen it solely to see what they did to the cars. I'll try to catch it later. I dunno why Datsuns get no love from these shows. Hey you all should get a hold of Foose and have them overhaul my 280Z. That's one I would really like to see, hehe never happen, besides I don't want a V8, it's been done ya know...

Hey Mark, Interesting spring setup you've got there. looks like it'll hold up well. You could use a trunk bolster or something to hold it eventually rather than a piece of wood. a short one like from a jeep or something going from the frame to say your 3rd knuckle on your hing should be plenty to hold it up and keep out of your way while not weighing too much. Still liking your rims, they're looking pretty cool! I'll evenually probably go for Watanabis - since I can't afford awesome ones like yours. I like the wider lip anyway. So I've been measuring a lot with my HR, using the stock intake I've still got plenty of room above my engine between the hood and plenum. My plenum fits just under the stock hood latch, where my oilpan is about 1/4 inch below the stock steering crossmember. I'm thinking this is a better fit than most of the DE engines I've seen. The harmonic balancer is about an inch above the steering crossmember too, so no issues there. I did have to modify the steering crossmember to fit around the lower crank housing. My exhaust is really tight using modified HR headers. Your custom firewall should take care of all that though.

My God! It's beautiful! just like christmas. You've got some pretty parts there man. I can't say I have the $ to spend on all that at one time like you are, but hey yours is going to be awesome! Any reason for going with the R230 Diff? Is it just for the 300zx Axles? I've been thinking I might swap to a 350Z or G35 diff, solely for the OEM 350Z speedo to work, but if I can find one with an LSD cheap, it might be the way to go. So how about some picts of the car, not that you've got the parts. Phar

<my bad...> You might also check your Fusible links. I remember mine were pretty roasted and the car would sometimes suffer complete systems failure when water would get into them. (my caps were bad) Phar

Yeah If the 280Z engine is workable stick with it, because once you start pulling wires and such you'll end up opening cans of worms, not to mention the whole "While I'm at it..." thing. The main reason I would vote FOR the swap isn't really because of the engine. it's bades on the Trannies. If the 280Z has a 4 speed and the ZX a 5 speed, then SWAP definitely, if they're both 5 speeds, then you'll need to see which ones you have, because the later ZX 5speed has better 5th gear ratio, than the 77-80ish Z 5th gear. I'm sure somewhere on here somone has posted the ratios. If it's solely an engine thing, then you'r enot gaining any power by swapping. If your ZX engine was a turbo L28ET then you might have a better reason to swap, but you'd need more than the engine, you'd need the turbo (of course) the wiring harness, the ECU etc etc.. Oh I might also swap if the ZX engine was a F54 block with a P90/P90a head since that's a really good combo for later FI. (not to mention the Quietness of the P90 hydralic heads) So from what you've given us, I'd say stick with the Stock engine and try to make it run. it shouldn't be too hard to make it run. Depending on how bad the fuel is in the tank and lines, you could be in for a job. I've used bailing wire to snake out gummed up fuel lines. The tank might have to be boiled. The surface rust, is never just surface rust. Get a good DA sander, some primer and touchup paint and go after those spots before you get the car rained on. if it's been sitting a long time like that, you might need to be cautious so the rust doesn't travel under the paint. Phar

Well This is what I bought with mine... A new project, I don't get to work on it till the VQ project is done though. PharaohABQ

That or maybe a Vapor lock. my old 260Z used to do that, it'd run fine, but if it got too warm it would sputter out and I wouldn't be able to go again unless I let it sit for 30 min. It's possible it could have been the same power transistor. Sold the car before figuring it out.

JAcking... Good advice on always using Jack Stands. I've had my floor jack "let go" while I'd had the car up. Scary as hell, Fortunately I had 4x4's under the frame rails stacked sideways. The car only fell maybe 1/2" but it was still enough that I went out to get jack stands right away. When I remove a tire, I always push it under the car. I figure if a stand slips out, or something else bad happens, it'll at least save me from being completely crushed if I'm under the car. I'm pretty confident in the Harbor freight Large stands. They're way beefy, much higher rated than a S30 needs, but I figure it's safer... Mostly though, just use your head. if it doesn't look safe, it probably isn't. too bad we can't all afford to have a lift in our garage. Phar

YEs, old thread, but still valid, You'll need the Custom brackets. I think MSA sells them, but I'm not sure about your intercooler. I think the MSA brackets bolt to the oem "bumpershock" mounting holes. If anything you could modify them to fit, or maybe make your own. They're basically L shaped metal w/ slots on the long end and holes for the bumper on the short end.

Couple things I can think of right off. One the Kawa Alt is made to spin faster than the Z engine, so a smaller pully might be a better idea. Kawa cycles rev easilly in the 3-8Krpm range, so I'd expect this alt to be happy there. A smaller pully will turn faster, but the resistance should stay about the same. What size was the stock pully? If you're at the point where every Lb is making a difference, then have you pulled out everything else like the horns and headlights?

not a bad price! Congrats on the house. Now you have room for the next car...

From what you've said, it really does sound like you've got a bad vacuum leak. you might try just getting new gaskets before replacing your carbs. Vacuum leaks can easilly cause it not to run well. As for the noise, it does sound a little tinny to me, though that could very likely be the video since it's hard to make an engine sound that way unless something is rubbing. I would guess that you flooded the carb (why it wouldn't start) and the noise was probably something imbalanced between the two amplified by the vacuum leak. I really don't know for certain since I can't see the car. Check your levels and hoses would be my advice.

Dunno, you checked your oil levels in your engine and in the carbs right? You're talking about the metalic pingin noise right?

Just don't let her sit on the roof ! hehehe

Still looking for that PDF, anyone repost it? Also, Would a 350z PS pump work with these subi racks?

I think he's lucky it didn't go boom...

I dunno, but the ones in mine (78 280z) are cheap 6x9"'s from probably the 80's that some PO hacked into place. I'm going to replace them, but that's way down the list. Phar

Hey Mark, How're things coming? I guess you've been pretty busy building rather than posting. Phar

Arthur, Depends on your wallet, Yes, starting with a whole Donor car is MUCH preferred since you'll have all the parts you need from the same car. Certainly it would be much easier than buying them piecemeal from a yard, but could be more expensive up front depending on the deal you get on the "Wrecked" car. an advantage you'd have there too is that you could take your time pulling parts from the donor car. you wouldn't need to wonder if you got everything. So if you've got the cash upfront to do it that way then by all means... Phar