Pharaohabq

Hey that's *MY* car! Gimmie! hehe just kidding. You're a lucky dog, Mind if we ask how much ya paid? Those upgrades aren't cheap alone. Phar

Yeah, I'm hoping things will work out well. I keep looking at the Mckinney mount and thinking I'd really like to make a bolt in place cradle for the engine to sit on. I know I know welded in rail are a lot stronger, but If I get large bolts it shouldn't be too bad, not to mention a cradle like that that would slide on the rails would really make it easy to move the engine as far back as needed and a snap to pull out. Welding nuts into the frame is easy. Maybe I'll re-enforce the frame w/ angle and bolt on over that. 1/4" angle should be easy to tap and thread.

Alternatively you can pull loose the hose from the fuel pump and pour fuel down it with a funnel, clamp the hose shut with some vice grips while you reconnect the fuel pump, and let it loose, then try starting, the fuel pump should then pull enough fuel through to make it all good.

I thought the TofuBox plate was hilarious...

you should buy it and sell it for 5 times the price to someone in east coast.

Okay I did a bit of work and mostly figuring this past couple weeks. I'd gone back and forth on using the stock mounts, but in the end I decided to try the stock 280Z mounts cut back to just the rubber. I made a pair of temporary flanges below to try things out with. Now I know these look simple, I found that getting the spacing correct was difficult. The bolt holes had to be 2"&1/8" from the frame to line up with the rubber. Likely I'll pull these off again, and slot them to make fine adjustments easier. I'll probably also add some 3" angle steel to the rails and some bolts to hold that in place. Similar to the Mckinney mounts I'll have that and a bar under the motor to stengthen the whole setup. I didn't want to buy the Mckinney deal (though now they say it works with the HR) because they want $600 bucks for it, and while it looks good, I've only spent about $15 in 3/16 sheet steel. Yeah, call me cheap. Here's pict of the flanges tacked in for testing. They're holding the engine weight pretty easily. I am going to bolter them a bit more though. Phar Questions let me know.

I certainly see your Point. So we'll add that to the list: 6: Don't remove Factory bumpers. How about the idea of reenforcing the earlier flimsy 240Z bumpers with a strip of solid steel? hidden behind the 240Z bumper. Yeah we wouldn't have the shock absorbers, unless we drilled and mounted a set far enough back for nicer spacing with the bumpers. A solid steel backer might allow for more impact transference to the frame. front and back would likely add 100Lbs.

that VQ mount kit from McKinney looks pretty awesome. Apparently with it you don't need to reroute the steering since the new engine brackets ar longed and at a steeper angle. Very interresting.. If I hadn't just spent last weekend building some of my own, I'd be looking to go that way. I like the under engine brace on that, so I might add something similar. $600 bucks is a lot, I paid $500 for my engine. (yeah I know it was a deal) That tranny mount looks way easier than Ahoke's version. Awe Man! so many options! Phar

It really looks like they did a nice job. I hate to wonder how much you'd spent as compared to doing the repairs yourself. Granted the body guys have the tools and the shop to work on it much better than a DIY guy can do. But you pay for it... Not that I'm saying you couldn't have done it yourself, I would love to have someone fix my Z up for me. I just don't have the cash to throw that direction.

Hey Owen, Try not to worry too much. a good idea is to get the wire wheel out and hit all those areas that you're finding rust. Then apply some rust inhibitor of choice and primer the area or Por 15 it until you can get back to it. It seems that way at least you won't have to worry about the rust travelling furthor. As far as the bad areas, You can buy replacement panels from Tabco, MSA or I think Datsun Restore. They're not too hard to put in if you take your time and measure thrice. You'll need a welder low voltage and amperage to stitch the panels in place. There's threads on here all about it, and the You Tube videos are pretty good. It wouldn't hurt to consult a body shop. Granted you won't do a perfect job, but it's pretty easy to get passible results. Certainly better than rusting out. Phar

Okay, So say re refit the door panels with a nice hard foam like Impaxx, Aside from driving lessons and all, what other things can we reasonably do to improve the safety of our S30's? The Wreaked Z picts out there are pretty heartbreaking, but most seem to take hits pretty well. Adding airbags is out of the scope of most of us on here. Though it would be a good idea, there's a safety issue with them as well in that airbags are usually sized for the vehicle they're in, so if we added them, and made them work properly with the right sensors and all that, it's still possible they could cause more injury than not having them in place. This is a difficult ideal mainly in that we're not trained to know what Airbags require. A Roll cage is certainly an idea though, how well will one really help you in a daily driver situation. Sure the Rollbars will be padded, but you can still hit your head. Does the risk of that make a car More or Less dangerous for having one? Most of us take off the heavier 260/280 bumpers. How much difference do those really make in a higher speed accident? The Stock S30 seats (73+). They're okay so far as safety. but a newer bucket seat with wider side bolsters to bucket you into the seat, sure seem like they'd be better, in that they too would prevent body accelleration assuming, you were buckled in. I guess what I'm getting at, is that maybe we could make a list of mods we could do to an S30 Daily driver to decrease the likelyhood of injury when someone hits you, or if you hit anyone... So far we've got: Learn to drive - drive like people are trying to kill you (easy advice, but not really a car mod) Door bolsters - To limit body accelleration in a crash. Rollcage - Does this really help in a daily driver? Seats - Newer seat design can hold a passenger to help prevent body accelleration ABS - Haven't seen anyone put in in an S30 yet. Are ABS calipers much different than standard calipers? I have an 350Z ABS pump. might be interresting to try out. If you've got more ideas aside from ranting that people can't drive, then please speak up. This could literally be a matter of life and death.

Check out the VG swap stickie in the V6 forum.

That's a really good idea. I've often though that if my VG30DE dies (Z32 NA 2+2) I might look at putting in a VG30ET from a later 300ZX. That way I'd get to turbo, but I wouldn't have to worry so much about all the Stuff the VG30DETT requires. Sure it's less refined than the DE, but it's more HP and cheaper than another DE would be. From what I understand the blocks are the same, but the heads are what's huge on the DE and the DETT. So it's the same tranny pattern, same engine mounts. I'm sure someone must have done it. Though tell the State that the Donor engine is newer. Usually they don't allow older engines to be put into newer year cars. Phar

WOw MX you've crashed a lot... You know they do have driving courses out there, might help on the insurance side... The modifications to an S30 to make one safer is what we're talking about. Not any particular person's driving skills. This could actually be a valuable thread if we work out some ideas. Phar

pretty cool, How much was the GM wireing connector kit? I may need to get some of those at some point.

I've been looking for mine, it's in a box somewhere with my gauges. It's pretty easy tho, it's a white plastic box 4"x5"x1" tall, ribbon cable and plug. I think Myron has a pict in his build. I'll try to find it. Here's his pict from this thread Phar

I don't have one right off, but I'll try to get one soon. It's a white plastic box with a ribbon cable on one end. Regular plug on the other end. it plugs into the middle of the dash harness. the ribbon cable plugs into the dash cluster.

tough call, but your door sticking out at the bottom tells me that your door may have sagged due to age. sucks about the window. Don't worry more glass can be found fairly cheap. Are you sure it's the seal that's the troulbe, and not the latch? without the seal does your door stick out on the bottom, does it close tightly and easily?

Yes two completely different cars, Yours is really much nicer, and in much better condition than the one I was talking about that he's posted about up in post #1 of this thread. Thank you for rempoving your disparaging remarks. In that car's photos # Photo0535.jpg clearly shows weldiong on the floorpan, not to mention that larg amount of missing parts, rollbar and hacked up wiring. This alone is a big warning sign. Photos # 0536 and 0538 both show the rear quarter markers, and rear lower section shaved (and cracking out, signifyling to me poor workmanship, or body torque.) not to mention odd paint hue and finsh change between the hatch and body, meaning to me, possible hatch replacement for rust? Seeing the floorpan patch, I would believe rust. #0539 shows missing cowel, funky mirror mounting, missing wiper assy. None of these are deal breakers in themselves, but certainly the missing parts alone should ask for a discount, if not warrant keeping looking. I have saved these pictures and will post if need be for explanation. Phar

Nice going, It's awesome to hear about another resurection. It's a thanksgiving miracle. So is that pop everytime you shift, a backfire? It sounds like your timing might still be a little off. I can't wait to drive mine; mine sat for 12 years before I got it, and though I did get it started, there were no brakes so I couldn't drive it more than a couple feet w/o risking crashing into anything. Did you ever get your Brake brackets figured out? Phar

Yeah, looking closely at the pictures, this car has been given some work on it. Looks like some patches have been placed on the floor boards, and the side markers and rear have been shaved, but how well. When a car has been setup for race like this, you've got to wonder what it's been through. You really need to look underneath and see what the underside looks like. Setting it up like this doesn't mean he spent a lot of time worried about the looks, it might have just been welded in safety stuff, but nothing to really hold it together. Read all about Rust on here and the common places you can find it. (there's probably 30+ threads on rust on here) Fixing someone's half-as.. er baked I mean, job is a lot of work. more than if you were fixing one yourself. for the first time. $2K sounds like a lot to me but who knows, you could probably talk him down. Offer $1000 and settle on $1500. Not to mention If it's been raced, what condition is the engine really in?

Yeah, I liked having my louvers, they were great in rain and snow and Kept the sun out of the car in the summer. I always hated trying to open mine to clean the window. Tiny wingnuts were always getting lost. If I can find a set here, I'll put them on my S30 after paint. They'll fit any S30, as the glass is all the same. There was an aftermarket metal set sometime back that also incorporated a 3rd tailight, but it's been years since I've seen that. That Blue Z in your pict I think is a Hybridz member here in Albuquerque. Looks sweet, but blown up he's still working on getting paint. If it's the same guy. Phar

sounds like a good time for a 5sp tranny swap.

Hey Jade is a lot nicer than my first Z was named. A HS gf named mine "Dolores" I don't know if it was because she was jealous or if that's the name the car "spoke" to her, but it stuck. that was many years ago tho. Your car's looking nice. The gold and green is a pretty nice touch I didn't notice the first time. Gotta admire the towels to protect the fenders from the new looking fender protectors, but hey new paint, I'd be doing that too, or even taking the fenders off. (gotta seal the underside sometime right?) Looks like things are going quickly, you've already got the engine in place. so that's a plus. How are you planning to put the glass in place? Stock rubber w/ metal trim or generic mounting like a lot of glass shops like to do these days? Have you already found a new interior? Phar

Right, I know the 3 liter and 2.5's have been turbo's for some time, but there's no stock turbos for the VQ35 as far as I've seen. I heard the Pathfinders have a Supercharger, but I think that's still on the 3.0 liter engine. The VQ35HR and VQ37HR are built very strong ladder frame blocks. The stock rods I don't know how much they can take, but I've heard 400HP is supposed to be common. Should probably call Stillen or DTE or some other after market company to see what they'd suggest. Stillen has a Supercharger kit for the VQ37 that's supposed to rate 515HP. Little upgrades like tuning maps, exhaust and alum flywheel can add up to a lot, getting you to almost 400HP w/o FI. Turbos are supposed to add almost 100HP too. As with any motor swap, you'll probably want an as complete as possible donor to swap from. Usually that means a wreaked car, but really once you know what parts you want/need you can get a prett complete deal. It's just nice to have everything to start with instead of tracking down parts. The VG30DET, Well I don't know that much about them other than that you can swap in a Maxima crank to get the Forged crank - cheaply. The rest of the internals you might need to pay some clams for. I don't know too much aside from that on building a VG30 up. One thing you should look at though is your budget. The VG is going to be much cheaper pretty much across the board, to get you to the 400-500HP range. I agree the VG30ET has monster potenial, but there's cost too. I really think the VQ is a better motor, but what you want and your budget is what's important. Phar