Pharaohabq

nothing like driving in style... at least he was pursueing his loves. Z's and 4x4'ing. He's still on crack tho, looking at the reserve price. redneck much?

280z Vador's conversion looks pretty good. I like how you've got the 240/260z front facia with the 240/260z turn signals. I imagine you just spliced the bulbs into the existing 280z harness. Like to see some close up's of your bumber mounts. I've been thinking of making my own mounting brackets. tho I might just buy them. depends. Also Im getting my 240z Bumpers rolled and rechromed since I've got some surface pitting. Phar

ahh, that's what I get for posting at the same time as you hoov. change the oil and 30 should be fine. might still smoke a while tho. Compression test will still tell the story. Phar

Yeah, it sounds like your rings are a little messed up, Are you sure you got the rings on the pistons in the right order? Did you Gap the rings correctly? Since you honed the cylinders they might be larger than the rings are originally set for. You should also search for the post on the valve seals. There's a set of Ford seals that are supposed to work much better than the stock Datsun valve seals Viton, or some stuff. You could be dripping a lot of oil into your intake that way too. Without a set of compression tests it's pretty difficult to say what's wrong with your engine. But don't worry, at least these engines are easy to work on. Did you replace your main crank bearings while you had the piston's out? Be sure to check the clearance on those too. Too tight and you'll muck your crank, too loose and you'll get lower oil pressure, and possible crank damage. Likely you'll have to tear it down again one way or another to fix the smoking. Oh and a little assy lube really helps things seat well. Good luck, and you can get a cheap compression kit at Harbor freight, or "borrow" it from Autozone/checker etc. Phar

Well, Needing Transportation is understandable. We all get "over a barrel" sometimes. So yeah, you could probably get a L28ET installed and running for $1000 but it would take time to find one. I'm not sure why you're going with the L24, since so many L28's are around, and so much more powerful. I hope that guy in Tampa at least gave you that as an option. But oh well you take what you can get. N good luck with it. Find yourself a good local Z club. They're almost always willing to help. ( I spent my saturday last weekend helping my club pull an engine from a Z31 for another member. FREE! he just provided a cooler and some snacks. it was fun) A good club would provide help and info about that's what. Your Engine, if you'd got a 83ZX L28ET w/ the P90A head, you would have almost twice the HP that L24 he's putting in would have. I guess it's good he's fixing your doors and wiring for the same $1000. so I guess it's not so bad a deal.

Well, There you go, Welcome to the world of Z's, Your 91NA Z32 should be fairly reliable, but be sure to save up $600 to $800 bucks. That's for each time you have to take it in for service. I've had my Z32 for 12 years, and it's cost me about $800 to keep it in good reliable running condition each year. So they're not cheap. There is a Z32 forum on here, so I'll expect to see your comments there. As for the older S30's I love mine, She's not running, but she's about the prettiest car around. Sorta like that hot cheerleader w/ a broken leg, you know once she's healed up she'll be hella fun, but right now she's still hot and you can play w/ her, but going places isn't happening. Mines getting an engine transplant, and since my 280z is a project car there's no rush/hurry to get it done, I buy the parts when I can afford them. The Z32 gets me where I need to go, DD, work etc. Unfort my Z list takes backseat to my honey-do list. So, buying a Z early in life, in HS or early college is worth it. but be prepared to spend some time and $ to keep it running. I drove a 260z all through(okay mostly through) college. I bought it when I was a junior in HS, but didn't get it running till after I graduated. It did well, but that's 20 years ago. Z's today are a lot more finicky, the wiring is old and hard so you don't want to move the harnesses unless you have to. Connectors are all corroded, anything plastic is a lot more brittle. If you can find one relatively cheap, and you can read a haynes manual, you can keep it going through college. Websites like this (especially this) one will help you out more than you know, Especially if you use the search function, not to mention parts and mod ideas. Look into classic antique/modified classic car insurance, If you're not going to drive more than about 3600-7200 miles a year, it's ultra cheap for full coverage, and I think our Z32's are starting to qualify. but you might need garage access. (they don't check) Anyway, Good luck, Phar

If your Key was in the off position, you should not have had any Spark on connecting the battery terminals. A spark like that would mean your battery is being drained while the key is off, and would not be good, though something so small as the dome light or other power drain can cause a spark when connecting the cables. If you're sure everything is off, you shouldn't get a spark. This can be a good troubleshooting method, but is best done with a switch and a lightbulb.

YEah, Caution here... You may be able to get A rebuilt title. Call the DMV and ask about it. But really what are your plans for the car? Are you just going to fix it up and make it a daily driver? Salvage or rebuilt title is completely fine for that. If it is going to be fixed up for shows, then you're better looking elsewhere. The Sunroof already cuts the value way down. Sure some of them are nice, but really they mess with the lines. So could that as a negative. Before you buy it, Call up your insurance. Or much better, Hagarty classic insurance and see what they'd require. regular State farm or other insurance will be cheap, but won't give you much if it gets wreaked. Classic insurance will pay a lot more. (eg. my buddies 240z got hit and insurance paid almost $10K to fix it. ) You might establish a price, n then once what's done, tell him you'll give him a deposit, and the rest contingent on getting a rebuilt title. You can then go to the DMV and see what they're going to require.

yeah the 79-83 5 speed 280ZX trannies will bolt right up, Though 240's never came with a 5 speed, so someone may have swapped your tranny (and perhaps engine) already. The Drive shaft difference is not enough to wory about, The difference is in the slip joint, and shouldn't be any trouble since it's only about 1/2 an inch. Tho a good driveshaft shop should be able to fix it up for you cheap if you want to change it. The Speedo-gear, I think there's someone on here who knows what to change it with, but realy it shouldn't be off by that much. if any. Not to mention if you have a 5 speed already, you could likely take the gear from that. What's wrong w/ your old 5 speed? Phar

Very nice. That's a pretty good looking cal considering where it is. and the amt of salt that's around. Those few rust spots you should take care of asap, because guarantee soon as it warms up a little more they're going to turn into a nightmare. sand the paint back a few inches because rust tends to travel under paint. you can get some decent primer and come mostly color matched paint at the autoparts store, or online. to cover the areas you sand till you decide to get it repainted. up North you know how importants a good underbody is so get the wire wheel out and jack up the car and get to work. Then recoat it wwith something decent. Rhino-liner is actually really good, but I dunno if you have that up there. Your interior is making me jealous. I love the spice interior, but I can't find enough to convert mine. Funny, when those images were loading, I was thinking, huh, where's the car? under all that snow??? Phar

Hey Austin, that's great, not bad numbers at all. What are your next plans for the 240z? Phar

yeah what is that scoop or strange growth on your hood. I mean, maybe you like it, and that's fine, but daaang. Fix your hood if you want, but I'd be looking to replace, just to smooth the lines a little.

Wow there's a lot of engines availible that don't need to be rebuilt. (these L28's are easy compared to v8's) You should be able to find an L28ET (turbo) engine for ~500 ish. and there are other L28's availible for cheaper than that. PM me and I've got some leads for you on the locks and a lot of spare parts cheap. PharaohABQ

I would hope aluminnum because I can have a shaft made locally for half that price using steel. I don't think the ujoints need to be upgraded either since even boosted 350z's are fine on the stock ujoints. On my rock crawler I did upgrade the yoke and joints over stock, but I'm running 35's on that. Phar

Yeah, and Price for you to make the shaft if I provide my nissan Yoke and measurements: center of ujoint/center of ujoint. Phar

Hmm this is an interresting issue, perhaps it would be a good idea tro make a circuit that uses a decent size capacitor for only the computer power so that the computer will charge to 12 volts even if the battery drops low. This should make it easier to use a lighter battery but still enable the computer to function provided Battery power doesn't drop too low for too long while trying to start Phar

Too bad you guys didn't stop in, we were talking a lot about the S30's and all the projects we've got. There were only Z32's out front because those are mainly the only running cars hehe I hope you guys will come out to the next one, 2nd thurs each month. Phar (Eric)

Yeah Very nice, I can't imagine there' too many Z's in Bahrain these days. (tho it's mostly hot there right? no real rust nightmares, or am I mistaken?) Phar

All S30 Hatches will fit other years. the early ones just have the vents and only one strut support. I'm going to put a early Z hatch on my 280Z. NM has a lot of heat that the vents should help with.

Nice Idea, I was wondering about how you'd get the body alignment worked out. Did you get to talk to those engine computer guys? Phar

Also that cowel area wher eyou're looking is the right spot to find your leak. Seal the seams in there w/ good RTV sealant. and make sure the draintubes are cleaned out and flow okay. That should stop your water leakage. Aside from that the only think left would be the windshield seal.. You might get some screen material and put in in under those vents just to keep the crud from coming back. and don't forget to treat any rust you may find. Phar

Whoa! is that the same Z you had sitting there stripped in the car port? ?? It looks amazing, More pict more picts! Couldn't be, I thought that was a 240?? Phar

On the 8.8 you can also get an electro-locker for the 8.8. much nicer for putting the power to the ground. If only they'd build one for the R200.

wow wasn;t trying to kill your thread, Any news? Phar

yeah, the 280 harness could work. Another idea is to call Painless and see if they have a harness for a 240z. That way you wouldn't have to worry about corroded or cut wires, and you'd have all new modern fuses, and everything would be labelled all pretty. I know whe budget counts for a lot though, so it's up to you. but yeah, soldering and heat shrinking the spliced wires is the best idea if you swap. The other plan is just to figure wtf the PO did, and try to fix that so you don't have to remove the existing wiring. a good volt/continuity meter is your friend. phar