skerry

Sounds cool, I'd love to see what a real Hybrid Z looks like lol

Yeah, it was pretty nice last year though I would have liked to see some more classic Z's. I think they had (4) 240Z, (1) 280Z, (2) 280zx, (1) 300zx and the rest were 350 and 370 out of about 25 entries. I believe they also had a GTR. But anyway, nice event. You received free lunch, tshirts for anybody who participated in the show which was of course free. The older Z's that did show up were really nice with the exception of mine which spit water and radiator fluid all over the ground as soon as I arrived.

Exactly, the point I was making was that the way he talks he seems to think what was done back then was better. My comment was only disagreeing with that perceived notion.

I've talked to the guy a couple times since. He really is arrogant even though I think what we have today far exceeded what he did then. A guy at work just sold his ridiculous Z dragster and said he wished he would have brought it by to "show him the real King Z" Lol I guess everybody can be a little arrogant. Side note: Rob, you planning on going to the Leblanc Z Show in April?

I'm looking to buy a decent condition headlight switch. Let me know what you have and how much. Thanks Stephen

Ok, so I've got some Mustang seats that I was going to try to put in the 240z. First thing I did was went to removing the sliders and the bracket that held them because the floor braces were far too long. I don't see a way to change out the sliders only which stinks because the seats have some cool built in features. Both heat and the drivers side adjusts up,down, angle, all that good stuff. But I just cant see how I could do it. I was just going to fab up an adapter and drill new holes to mount my current sliders to the base. I was talking to my friend today, a guy who admittedly overdoes everything and he had concerns that drilling another hole even with the added support of the new bracket would weaken the base to a point where it could easily fail in an accident. It seems a little silly to me that 4 5mm holes could do that but I'm wondering what you guys would say? Any advice?

Haha, well I haven't actually been able to drive the car all that much so it hasn't been an issue. Although, I'm gearing up to order the a/c components in the next couple weeks. Between that and the gauges it's going to be some of the interior fab on hold. I just received some 2013 Mustang GT Seats that my uncle pulled the airbags out of so I'm going to work on those as soon as I've verified that I have in fact eliminated all the leaks lol. Always something right? It's so difficult to get stuff done this time of year without a proper shop. Between the cold and it getting dark early, parts are piling up while I'm waiting to get time to do it.

Here is a picture of the latest mock up. Ive gotta get better with the jigsaw lol http://imgur.com/kLYeYfT

Well I keep forgetting to take pics but I moved the fuse block around and mounted it to a piece of pvc material on the passenger side back toward the firewall. I had to cut out the fuse block brackets as well. I've now pulled everything back out as I initially painted it black but have decided to wrap it in vinyl instead now. I also bought some of the chrome trim pieces. I expect it to look like crap but figured it was worth a shot for as cheap as it is. I'm also going to recut the center piece to raise the radio up a little bit. Hopefully all my experience of cutting this material will make this one the best one yet. I can't complain though, I've only burned up a single $30 sheet of material. Pics coming for sure tonight.

I did have a window seal leak and I was able to fix it. I looked at the shark fin and it's in good shape, I see what mean about the design. Now that I'm understanding how it works, Im going to get some buckets and the hose and see if I can figure out exactly where it's going.

Thanks Zed, it seems to be coming in at the pillar I'm guessing. I don't see water on the door panel, it just seems to be on the floor. It appears to come between the fender and the door. It might be designed that way? To run between the seal and drain out from under the door?

I'm trying to eliminate the seemingly never ending leaks that I have in my car. I've found 3 of them but it's still getting damp from somewhere. I've noticed that the area under my door holds water when I open it. And water is getting under the rubber door seal. I can't imagine that this is how it's supposed to drain? Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Stephen

I hav a 1971 Series 1, not sure if that makes a difference but im liking how its coming out. I will post picks tomorrow.

I always think about posting this stuff too late but I'm using PVC Foam to make a new Heater Panel that will accept a double din radio. So far I've sketched out the design onto cardboard, checked it for fit, adjusted the template, cut it again, checked it again, made some adjustments, cut another template...you get the picture. When I was done I discovered that it was much easier to square off the edges and leave the rounding for later. After that I copied my template to the pvc then cut it out using a jigsaw. I then used a piece of coat hanger to determine how much of a bend I needed to put into the pvc. I then placed it on my wooden workbench and screwed down a piece of scrap wood right at the spot where the bend should start. Then used a heat gun to slowly bend it to the desired angle. I need to router the edges to get it to sit correctly but so far so good. I also have to delete the fuse holder mounts to accommodate the double din radio. I will eventually install AC and plan to go with electric switches. For now I'm planning on painting it and only installing the stereo for now. I'm leaving the rest as a blank template until I can decide what I would like to. I would like to trim it out in some chrome or something to break up the black. Next on the agenda is building a center console out of the same material. We will see how that goes.

Absolutely, and he rubbed me wrong when he said it that way. That's why I corrected his statement in my first post. This isn't one of those things that you can definitively say "I did first". I did get back by there and talk to him some more. This time I brought the car, he complimented the "newer" way that the conversion set the engines further back. It's funny because talking to him I realize how lucky I am to be able to do this at a time when I have access to the web. He's giving me these tips that he learned over years and years of working with these cars. And here I am this mechanical novice and while I appreciate everything he's telling me, I already know most of the things he's suggesting. 20 years ago, it would have been valuable information and it still is. The difference is, now I don't have to know this guy because I have access to all of you guys. Then I just think, that must be kind of unsettling to him. There was a time that in this area people would specifically seek this guy out with questions. And now, I don't have to. Of course, I thank him for every suggestion but that same arrogance that allows him to make the statement about being the first won't let him hear the improvements made over what was best even 30 years ago. I think there's a fear of facing that maybe he's not "the guy" anymore so he overcompensates with ego. Still fun to talk to him though and hear stories.

1973 was the date on the article. Like I said in my post, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of "first people to do it" and I'm sure they all come across just like he does. Just thought it was interesting to meet someone who has been working with the cars for so long.

So, I had an interesting meeting today. It was a place I've been dozens of times before. I usually need to get in and out as quickly as possible...but today I had to wait. And while waiting I noticed a wall that I amazingly has never noticed before. On the wall was a license plate that said "King Z". I immediately wondered if it had anything to do with Datsuns. A question that was answered by looking at the old picture next to the plate. It was a younger version of the man I've briefly chatted with a couple dozen times. I asked him about it and he says, "yep that's me next to the first Z with a V8, I was the first to do it". We didn't have long as he had a customer but he said that he did tons of conversions. I'm going to drive my car next time and get him to tell me more. Obviously, I don't want to give his real name but he said that everybody knew him as King Z. I'm in South Louisiana and I have no doubt that he's telling the truth though I'm sure multiple people probably did it around the same time. Still pretty cool to meet someone that goes so far back with these cars.

Looks like Technovisions is out of the office until December. Just wondering if anybody has one of these that they'd like to get rid of. Thanks Stephen

I'm in Baton Rouge area and have a 73 parts car if you need anything. I'm not sure if you're planning to stay original or go hybrid but it has a running 2.4 and 5 speed in it. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks Stephen

Awesome, thanks again Miles

Thanks Miles, it's definitely the one on the left. Anyway to figure out the gearing without looking at the gears?

The diff in my car says "T23" and "209" on it, I was under the impression that it was a stock R180 but I can't find any source to confirm this. Any other way I can do it? Thanks Stephen

Wish I would have seen the response(doh!), I went with the 2800 though it does say(2500-2800). The motor has gotten a little more beefy than I first anticipated. To go with the Lunati Cam, I have Comp Cam 981-16 Valve Springs, roller rocker arms and I found that the heads were a little better than stock. Now I need to make sure that the diff is the one that I think it is. I'm scared I've created a monster when I wanted a daily driver.

Cool, I appreciate the explanation. I guess all of that reading didn't do me much good as I thought lol I would like to find the happy medium in there. I think that the 2400 might be the key. I think I'm going to take the plunge and make adjustments as you suggested. Thanks for your input.

Street Only and I trust the cam designer but I know a lot more goes into Stall than what Cam you have. They have nothing about it in their spec, it's just on the sales page as a side note "likes 2800 stall". It doesn't specify at what HP or Peak Torque or gearing or car weight. I've researched the cam and it's about as far as I can go with my stock setup. I chose the cam because it has a smooth power range with a little bit of punch up top but like I said before after reading everything it really seems like the 2800 is going to make my car sluggish in the bottom end. And it also seems like if I get too low then it will make it idle rough. I was just kind of hoping that maybe someone had a similar setup or close enough that they could say, this is what I have and this is what I would do. You know what I mean?