BillZ260

Well reading through the tread I think I have seen all my favorites mentioned and wrote down all the ones I haven't seen. I am going to see if netflix has any any of these older movies and hopefully I can catch up. One I don't think I saw was "underground aces". I do have to say the chase scenes in Ronin are bar non the best I have ever seen. I can watch that movie over and over. Cannonball Run 1 n 2 Gumball rally any other burt renoylds car move, those are classics. Maybe cause I grew up with that stuff on HBO, but man, thanks for reminding me of these great flix!!!

Yes, I just decided against the adjustable coilovers and 5 way adjustables. So I should end up with some extra $$ to buy some nice wheels and tires when I am done with all the other work. Good information to have...

I hate to see thos hi-dollar cars I will never have be torn apart, so my favorites were the RX-7 and the 911 doing those long sexy drifts! (I like to imagine my wife driving them like that....)ahem

Well, I have finally started a major project on my z build up this month. The sub-frame connectors and the floor pan replacment thearapy. I started with cutting out all the rusty floor areas. Luckily this was the only place on the car with ANY major rust. I bought my 2x3 steel tubes and have been working on them trying to somewhat replicate pparaska's frame rail design. Mine ended up almost identical to pete's but for the front section I cut the top off of the tube so it can wrap arount the front frame rale. I cut them with the 14" Harbor Freight Specail hot saw I got this week, man that thing works great for 50 bucks! So today a buddy from work brought over his mig and we got to work. I have the passenger side rail in, fitted and the front is buttoned up. Still need to tie in the rear of the connector on the passenger side. He did all the welding so this week I am going to practice on some scrap pc's and if I can get my tecnique down I will finish welding the driver side frame connector. I have been reading so much on this site since I bought my Z the week of thanks giving weekend last year. I really never thought that I would ever get the nerve to cut this car up and actually get with it. So for the 1 yr anniversary, i hope to have the rails and floors finished, then on to wiring and fuel system, suspension. This is the most fun I have had in a long time. I am a machinist by trade so everything has been taking alot longer than thought, IT MUST BE RIGHT! I guess that is all for now. Sorry no digital camera, will try to borrow one or something to show you my version. i will work up some dwg's of the rails and their finished dims this week or when I get to it. I love this site and all the info here, I am so sure that I wouldn't have gotten this far with out you guy's. Thank so much!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bill Tulsa, OK

I tried to keep up with my parts but was having so much fun taking the car apart and seeing how everything was designed and fitted together that I didn't really keep all that good track of them. What I did do was put all similar parts and fasteners into ONE BIG BOX. Like all the interior parts and fasteners in one ect. ( I used a exercise bike box for this)

I don't have too many posts to my name so far but once I actually start working on my car, I will most definatly run in to problems that I will need help for. Mostly I read read read. I have a 260 that is pretty much stripped save the suspension. Just this week I got my 11ga 2x3 tubing and 18ga sheet for the frame and floors. I am very anxious to finally get to "MAKING" instead of cleaning, taking apart, ect... I hope to get the frams pc's cut and possibly tacked together depending on how the weekend goes. I really love this site and hope to get a camera and post as much information as the "core" has. Another reason I may not post is that I feel I don't have any thing to ADD or offer with my limited experience of Z cars or the projects that are posted.

I was wanting to do this about 6 months ago when I started pulling the old swollen interior pannells out of my Z. So I read, and read and was getting into it UNTILL, I started to price the stuff. Seems like it would have been like 6-800 bucks just to make some very simple interior pannels and guage pods, ect. I did quite a bit of looking around but all the prices for the raw materials were just HIGH. If anyone makes some pannels, I am very interested in buying some, if you can do it on the cheap. ---------------------- Bill 1974 260Z 25,000 pc 3D jigsaw puzzle

I would drive a 1200 hp boat.

You can't forget LTD "Limited" My first car, not sporty, but managed to survive teen driving for 2 years.

I want a turn!

Has there been any progress on this? I am also interested in NOT sectioning my struts...

Well, I suppose I will join in with the Ford crowd. Although I will not be using the 5.0. I am going with the 2.3 Turbo that is in my neighbors TurboCoupe. He is selling me the car cheap, cheaper than a SBC and trans so he helped me make up my mind. With all the available parts for these I am a bit suprized that there hasn't been a 2.3 Swap already. I am anxious to see how the smaller, lighter power plant does. Looking to put out about 300 Hp. The motor is heavily built for Ranger truck use, and has been around forever. The Mini Stock guys seem to really like it. Any thoughts?

http://www.pdkfabrication.bravepages.com/index.htm is the site, not much info but very nice work. What is the price for the Fiberglass Dash.

http://www.pdkfabrication.bravepages.com/index.htm

How much are the fiber dashes, do they have a 260/280 version?

The 2.3L that is in older FOX body mustangs, t-birds, and rangers can easily make 200 hp. Check out RacerWalsh.com and Esslinger.com both have lots of parts for the 2.3L ford. This also came in turbo form in the SVO's and TurboCoupe T-birds, with this set up you are looking at 300 easy hp (190hp STOCK). These came with T-5's already mounted up. All you would have to fabricate is the mounting points for the engine and trans. This is the power plant I am looking at using. There are a million of them and since the MiniStock racers use them there are lots of HP parts that aren't too expensive. ------------------------- Bill 74 260

Let me know how the Ausie's do on your Dash, I am considering doing the same...

I listed my 2.6 and 4spd in the local paper for 2-3 months with not ONE call! I had it listed in running condition for 450 for both with all accessories and everything. I almost took the block and trans to the landfill last week but still have hopes that they are worth more than the $20 it would take to toss them. Bill

That is cool, so you already have your block and trans? Did you source from mustang or a tbird? Let me know how your progress goes, as I am very interested in doing this swap.

Anyone do this swap or have any experience with the 2.3L Ford 4 cyl that is in mid 80's SVO mustangs and Turbo Coupes? Seems that there is a ton of part avail. Any comments?

I think the 5.0 Ford is probably a better engine than the 5.0 Chevy. Didn't see anything on the JTR site as far as a SB ford bolt in kit. I assume I could similarly buy a 5spd mustang and a painless wiring kit. I also hear the Ford is lighter than the L6. I also just have to say that this site will be my savior when it comes to actually tearing in to the car. There is so much information and everyone seems genuinely interested in each other's progress. Too COOL! Bill

I suppose what I am really wanting is a light tourqy power plant with a good rumble. I read on another post that the 4.3L Chev 6 is a good motor for this but it sounds just awful in my opinion. So SBC it is? will a 327 will spin up a bit quicker than a 350? I don't want anything too radical, proabaly <2000 build up on the engine, w/ 4 spd toploader? I am in no hurry and my 260 runs pretty good. I am wanting a street car that I can take to the local autocross events and just have some reasonalby inexpensive fun.

Does anyone have any info or ideas on this? Have always wanted to put one of these little V8's in something. I have found very little on where they are obtainable, perf parts. I do know that Buick sold their casting eqipment to Land Rover. Any help would be appretiated. Bill