Pharaohabq

Round top conversion, Can you elaborate a little? buddy of mine just picked up a set of SU's for his 260, to replace his hitachi's

Nice Job on the Paint. Impressive. Did you end up undercoating the bottom w/ Rhinoliner like you were going to? And mind if I ask about the cost of your repairs? How'd you replace that quarter panel, did you make your own, or use a tabco part? Thanks Phar

That Supra page was pretty cool. I've always figured the chinese repro lights were inferior, but I didn't guess they would be that bad. I'm sold on trying something different. I've been looking for another light that could be modified to fit into an S30. the 7'5 inch round opening we have is difficult to find anything cool that would fit. I don't know what a custom housing would cost to have fabbed. Phar

Well it's all in the prep. But I'm one to talk, I haven't even stripped my 280 yet. I'm going to go the $500 cheapo paint setup and see how it comes out. Either that ir if I run short on time I'll have a body shop I trust do it right, (for about 2K yeah... ) that's down the road tho, gotta get it swapped and running, but... I digress, Where are you in your swap? have you begun looking at the wiring yet? from what I understand about the SBC swap is that it'll involve a little harness splicing... Phar Oh and yeah there's a few of us here in NM.

oh man, please don't rattlecan paint your car. you would be asking for a crappy job, that won't hold up especially here in NM longer than a year or 2. Read the body and paint forum on here, if you must paint it yourself, a harbor frieght sprayer and some decent paint can be had cheap and you'll get about 100 times better finish out if it.

This guy has the right idea... The Cowl is that little grilled area in front of the windshield. When you look in there at the bottom you'll see the drain tubes. Make sure ,like he said, those are clean. Then in the bottom of the Cowl area, there is a seam, over the years the seal of the seam goes bad. You need to clean and reseal that seam with RTV or some other waterproof sealer. Se sure to seal well under the heater intake, it's a tight fit. That should stop the dripping down inside under the dash. It's also a good idea to repaint in there once you're got it open too, just to be sure you don't have trouble later, often the underside of the cowel has surface rust. Good Luck Pharaohabq

I knew the "street cred" comment would get some flack. But really, just like the car "pre-owned" is availible and possible to get for a decent price. I got my 16x8 supersport rims, (Konig rewind - similar) off here for $300. Yeah the Truck rims are cheap and would certainly work, but would not add to the value of the car much. Looks and all are what will make the owner happy. so what's the value in buying something that you may not like. So look around and see what's availible in after market too. Ebay, forums on here and maybe forums for cars that have rims that would fit. but I realize since he's not paying the bill he doesn't exactly get to choose.

Well you want something proven and reliable, I'd suggest the SR20 family. lots of support, and parts availible.

Door panels you can get from MSA reproduction vinyl cheap and have them put in locally, much cheaper than trying to ship panels to kuwait... Doorglass, youll be lucky if it makes the trip in one piece. but good luck, n buy insurance.

haha! Fart can. I was going to pick on you about that too. Looks like your "Joke" dented up the rear a little tho.

There was a group buy a while back from a Company called Klearz.com that we got 280z clear lenses done. They made clear, red and smoked versions of the lenses and might still have the moulds. as for the 240z, the could make them cheaper than you could since they're already setup for that, but other interior pieces I would really be interrested in. I know a lot of people are looking for a Apillar gauge pod for the S30. So you would need to start this off by figuring what you can make, maybe make a prototype or so to show the work you can do, then put it in the group buy section. But Showing picts of how you'd do it would be the best way to draw interest. Phar

Welcome to hybridz... Yeah the Search button is your friend, but we're happy to discuss specific problems you may have, and would love to see more pictures of your swapping to the LSx engine. You don't see any rust, but that doesn't mean it's not there, if there's some in the wheel wells then likely there's some behind the body panels. up underneath. Look on here for the common areas and get a little mallet to knock on things. I bet you'll find more, esp under the rear deck lip above the tailights.. On an be sure to enter your Vin, into the Zcar registry. Phar

Those trucker rims are cheap and durable, but not so classy. he'd get more "street cred" at school w/ some nicer aluminum rims. it's not my $$$ tho so whatever works.

oop yeah, my bad, dunno how I read VG rather than VQ. That does up the coolness factor a bit. As for the wing, I guess it's your choice, your car. If you think it'll help and actually be worth it, then go for it. Let us know how it works out for you. maybe you'll start a revelut'Z'ion!

Hey you've got some nice ideas for the bodywork, I dunno why you'd want to put on such a ghetto rear spoiler, but hey it's your car, and thank you for serving, I apprieciate it. swapping in the VG30DET should be fun, N w/ the tranny you'll probably want to get one of 240hoke's tranny shifter brackets. THe engine, that's great it showed up, ou should have someone to turn it w/ a wrench to be sure it's not locked up. dunno where you got it. Nistune will work, but you'll need the harness etc for it as well to integrate it into your Z. There's tons of info on here, and I know you have some time away, so do a LOT of reading. you'll save a lot of time and headaches that way. good luck and thanks again Phar

Though you may be able to just tell the authorities that it is all stock, since it's VERY unlikely that they would know that 4 wheel disc brakes weren't availible of not in the 70's. Much Less any other parts So likely you wouldn't have to worry about it. Beside that, 75% originality is still very easy to prove. it's 3/4 of the car. so all body panels, seats glass and engine would qualify as 75% I would think. Phar

sounds like a lemon... I would talk to the PO and see if maybe they'll cove 1/2 the repair costs. If they balk, tell em you'll be hearing from a lawyer. give the car back and get your $ back. The steering rack is a $800 job. Converter, I dunwanna know. even used parts aren't cheap. my 92 is $600 bucks everytime I take her in.

I'd have to search for the link, but there was a thread on here, and they're selling the reprogram on Ebay for the DE. I'll dig up the link for you shortly. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=155395

Yes that's the Body Control Unit. BCU. It handles security and functions like the power windows auto closing and airbags and other various internal items. It talkes to the Key via the nats antenae. and to the ECU.

great price. I had a lot more trouble finding my vent drains

nice looking car, Paint is good, but hopefully there's not much wrong under the paint. Have you checked out all the common rust areas? Oh, the lack of low end power is likely your ignition timing is a little off. get a timing light and check that. a ZX distributor is a nice upgrade, as is a ZX alternator. What's that with the lights on the front. The lower fog lights look okay, but what are those orange ones where normal 280Z front parking lights go? little different looking . if you're going to leave the bumpers off, you might go find a 2nd grill set form another S30 and fit it below the upper on so the whole front is louvered. looks a little better that way, and your radiator is protected, instead of that open area. It's your car tho, so Do what you will. we're just here to talk and offer suggestions, guidance, and hopefully save(or cause) you some headaches. Phar

That's actually the other war around. A gear reduction starter Turns your Engine over slightly more slowly, but the Starter motor works less and turns faster, thus it's a stronger turn, and can crank longer. It won't make it start any faster, because your old Z uses a mechanical fuel pump to push the gas to the carbs and this the engine has to turn over enough time to push enough gas to start it. The Gear Reduction starter just uses less battery power to do the same job. Phar

Okay, New Update: I have found what's nearly the last major piece of my Engine. The Starter. I think I have all the major parts of my Swap. I also picked up a Spare 08 G35 ECU. (they're the same) and the G35BCU, tho it looks different. just in case I need to swap. Next I need to put the Engine and Tranny together and wrap it up so I can instal it in the Car. My project has moved slowly because I've got so much crap in my garage I can hardly move. I have a line on a couple Hoists I can use to move the engine about, so that will certainly help when I get there. Phar

Hey Mark, Just to let you know, those guys who are reprogramming ECU's to elim Nats/BCU are looking to do an HR. Maybe they can do yours and setup the Tables for Turbo as well, then you wouldn't have to buy the haltech. Phar

Yeah, Very nice picts, So when do you get to put on the hood and fenders? All this fime she's been living w/out them. I know you don't want to scratch or dent anything is why you've been waiting. but the Engine is done right? Can't wait to see her fully dressed.