BLKMGK

Hunt aorund here for information on the Tilton or McLoed (sp?) hydraulic throw out bearing. Figure out what master it needs. Tilton clutch masters aren't too pricey, I got mine from Pegusus Racing Supply and there are sizes that I'm sure ouwl be suited for your applicaiton. Using the Mustang's pedals and whatnot would require a ton of work as they're probably cable operated - yes? What year Mustang? If it's a 302 HO I don't think any year with that used a hydraulic activated clutch...

The ZZ4 you looked at includes a distributor and might even include an intake. Terrific rods in it - better than the LT1 rods, crank is decent too. Good aluminum heads on that puppy plus a roller cam - what's not to like? Oh yeah, I don't liek Hyper pistons but for what you describe they'd be fine. That's got a nice warranty too While you might find a deal at a "rod" shop it will probably have iron heads and a flat tappet cam or cost as much or more than the ZZ4. It won't be much cheaper either unless something's going on or it's pretty close to dead stock. My built 383 cost me well over $4K and was headed for $5K but my memory's a little fuzzy and I refuse to add the receipts up! That's about a 425-450HP motor, the ZZ4 is something like 350 right? Be careful when a local shop quotes HP figures too - remember it's in their interest to sell the motor. GM on the other hand knows that every mag in the world will dyno the snot out of their stuff and so if they fudge they'll be caught! Do what I did - sit down with a Jeg's catalog and price out a motor bit by bit. Add it up. Look at a ZZ4 and look at what a local shop is offering. You'll be able to see what's what pretty easily...

Okay, let's ballpark a few things and okay I'll make a comment or two first.. Sunroof - ouch. That hurts IMO. It's aftermarket and while it doesn't leak it might later and do you really want it? Rust sounds okay but you won't know for sure till you pull the door panels and get in there - it's probably rusting from the INSIDE out. Trust me here. Interior - I'll try to price some of this below for you but it'll be off the top of my head figures. Get a VB and MSA catalog to be sure. It won't be cheap IMO but E-Bay and folks here can help. Primerpaint. It might not be rusting now but primer absorbs moisture and to paint it they'll probably want fresh primer anyway so it'll be stripped off. Primer also hides waves, some dents, other potential bodywork so be careful. Some prices: Door panels - $50 apiece? Console - mine was NOS and at least $150 I think. Ouch! Consider a used one. Weatherstripping - $200 or so? Rear - $75 for an open rear maybe? Carpet - $150 maybe? Dash cap - cheap Springsshocks - $300? maybe less How did the seats look? Interior plastic all there? Cage? Don't forget it will need a motor and trans! Look at it this way - what about the car makes it special over buying a stock Z and converting it yourself? The motor and trans will be gone and you'll have a non-running car that needs work to gather parts for. It's a fun car with the V8 but it won't have it when you buy it and it'll take some cash to come up with a motor. I can't give you a dream guess on a good price (I'm terrible at that!) but I can tell you I spent $6K on my 240Z with a fine running motor, new interior, new paint, almost ZERO rust, triple Webers, and Panasports. I was quoted $5K for a paint job on my previous purchase - hence my willingness to spend so much on this car! With what you've quoted - including paintwork, motor, trans - I'd say you're looking at an easy $10K to make it REALLY nice if not more. Am I way off guys?

Heh, not me wanting to use a Tilton TO I've got the stock masterslave - it came with the trans gratis.

I think the water pump on the back would be my big question mark. High revs is great and all and it looks good but make sure that things like cooling and juice can be taken care of without a degree in mechanical engineering or rocket science Looking closer at the pics I don't see a water pump pictured anywhere and I'm not sure I've seen a pic with a dressed motor either. A distant pic in a rod yes but nothing running up close. Would an electric pump be worth looking into maybe? How's it run on a stock motor? Lastly, this motor sounds really neat but might there be another one out there just as interesting with less worries or cost? I honestly don't know but before plunging in you might want to step back and look around just a bit...

Guys, both of those cars have R230 rears, right? If he's looking to part them out and it's an R230 I'd be interested in one of the rears. I know we've not figured out how to mount one of these things yet but darn it if th eprice is right I'd like to get a peek at what one of these things looks like and see how hard it will be! What's he want for a center pumpkin and maybe the shafts out of it? Lastly, maybe we should consider a forum for oddball swaps that have no home? They seem to wind up here, we're all interested in them, and it's not like we're purists

ZZ4 uses Hypereutectic pistons, I'd bet that the ZZ3 does also. so long as you don't go nuts and don't hit the button at too low an RPM you ought to be fine but be sure you don't rattle it...

I've seen more schemes to do this than you can shake a stick at. One guy had a writeup in Turbo that sounded the most promising - it was indeed making boost on a small motor but not much and it did indeed drag the alternator down - might have even needed one dedicated to it. One big downside apparently - it whined like an air raid siren or something! (ROTFL) The noise was supposedly loud enough that people stared, pointed, and asked if everything was allright under the hood

I've looked at that site a good bit. I just wish they were using something like a FelPro setup rather than DFI. Wonder if it's the newer sequential DFI or the batch? Since they say sequential is "also available" I think I know the answer - bummer. Mike, Electromotive just up the street from me can do the same conversion I believe. They also sell rail stock, throttle bodies, sensors, and oh yeah - EFI setups. If I can work a deal with them I may run one of their complete setups, some of my friends know those guys so I could get lucky. Next Winter...

FWIW - many of the "electric" high pressure fuel gauges that used to be sold for the Ford guys were just relabeled oil pressure gauges - senders and all! If you're running a high enough pressure (9psi=no way!) then you can use an eletric Oil Pressure gauge. I've seen isolators for the high pressure mechanical ones but they're a PITA to get clear of air and I've heard rumors of problems with them bursting diaphragms. I believe Autometer may have changed the design, I vaguely recall seeing something recently on their site. I need to check into it myself - the person I bought the RX7 from didn't use an isolator (gulp). Some of the Japanese gauge makers have some VERY nice electric ones too with peak hold etc. ($$).

Oh man that's SWEEET! LUV the RED car! A real shame I can't get a wheel like that in a 5lug 17X8 size. Looks much like my car with nice mirrors and a sweet spoiler. Guess I'll just have to see what mine looks like all finished up. I've saved that pic, thank you for posting it! P.S. where do those mirrors come from? Mine are junk! P.P.S. - very nice WEB site you've got there. [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited March 02, 2001).]

I've got both an LSD R200 and open R200 in the garage. If a close up pic of either will help lemme' know.

You've got a T56 modified for th emechanical cable? I'm not sure anyone else is running one of those here - parts from JTR? A sharp bend CAN bind up the cable and cause problems, I had one killed in my Mustang thanks to the techs binding it while doing a catalytic recall. The only two times that car saw the inside of a dealer they broke something and on the speedo issue they refused to pay for the replacement (grr). Anyway, yes, binding can hose the cable - it's like a sharp bend in a bicycle pull cable for the brakes. It'll work but not well and a speedo cable sees stress spinning around in there. How did it fail? Leak or snap in two? It will probably not fail where it was bent and I'm betting it snapper below the bend. It's like a giant spring, if it binds up high it will twist up down low until it builds the torque to spin. Before the Mustang cable actually went it got jumpy on me as the cable bound and released - I wasn't smart enough to figure it out in time. Did yours do that at all? Personally, I'm going with an aftermarket electric speedo and skipping the trans mods, aftermarket little gizmo boxes, etc. an dhope that the OEM sensor and aftermarket speedo are reliable long term.

Thanks, I skipped over that. I know how the viscous stuff works but wasn't quite sure on the clutch ones and didn't look closely enough at your response. Heh, should've gone out and spun the one on my garage floor

Oh allright (pout). That'll be fun to take out and I didn't drop the arms off at the powdershop 'cause I figured that keeping them would be the consensus Maybe I can get them out in one piece and find someone who wants them? I can dream right? As it is, some of my stuff is headed for E-Bay (sigh). Thanks! I'll work on yanking them this weekend.

I've got a set of Recaros in my car. They too are a bit narrow for my taste, not sure which model. At some point they may come out and be replaced but it will depend on what I can get if I sell them. Shoulders and butt are just a touch uncomfortable for me but then I have begun to spread over the years Miata was fine for me but there's not much support in the lower back - trust me. Long trips were managable but could've been better. RX7 is really nice but I've not measured to see how well it would fit nor do I know the weight. Miatas sometimes have speakers in the headrests too which is a nice to have...

Piston seleciton might end up more important that rods or crank but DO use good bolts no matter what, it's not like they cost a mint. How will you hook up that much power? Anyone running that much of a shot here now? I've only ridden in a few NOS cars, none Zs, and the hit could be violent. A little goes a long ways, 75 or even 25 can win a real close race pretty easily...

Dude, glad you had a fun ride! But be careful. Don't let the eup[horia get you so carried away that you don't see the problems the car might have. Did you check for rust? Under the battery tray? Frame rails? Fenders? My first and only V8Z ride was much like yours - except I drove It hauled a$$ but overall it just needed too much work for the asking price. That was maybe 2 years ago (Mike?) and I'm glad I didn't do it. Since then I've passed on yet another "nice" V8Z that had a 5speed and a non-JTR mount (like the first). I've learned a TON in the meantime and when my car is done, with lot's of help and advice here, it will blow away any of the previous candidates. If this one passes there will be others and if you've got to put a motor in this one you can do it in another nicer one just as easily...

Umm Randy - it sounds like the distributor won't come back out of the motor though... However I'd agree that you may have a phasing problem and need to get that puppy back where it belongs. If you wiggle the rotor and tug, any luck? Is it down at the gear end or do you think that it's just tight in the hole (snicker)? Did you have to force it in? Okay, I've got to stop asking questions before I fall out of my chair but you get the idea. If it's at the top around the hole maybe some penetrating lube?

Heh, RX7 - yummy! I've got a 93TT If this were a TT 300ZX then I'd question your sanity but a N/A? Heck yeah! However I don't think anyone here has done it yet. Since you're obviously familier with swaps you're probably better prepared than average to do this though - we can try to help. Someone has linked to a 300ZXT - late 80something here somewhere but I'm not sure that's a help. Is the motor already out? Can he be without the car awhile? What sort of emissions laws will he be worrying about? The rear diff ought to be able to withstand the HP easily BTW We're trying to figure out how to swap it into our cars it's so strong!

$4100 nearly ready to run w/EFI? Umm, YES! I think that it would be a great swap if you're willing to take it on. Does that include flywheel or flexplate? What will exhaust cost? No polishing done, correct? Factory EFI manifold? Alternator or accessories?

Stock Master for an LT1T56 is indeed angled at the base. I can take some measurements if anyone would like but I don't see an easy way to use that unit. As for the slave you've already got - I dunno' to be honest. Heh, I dunno' a bunch of things which is why that I'm sticking to the beaten path and not haring off into the woods on some of this stuff. Truly, I'm trying to keep my swap straightforward if at all possible. I've already learned a few lessons the hard way. Tonight's was - dummy why didn't you order pressure plate bolts from Jegs?! And why doesn't the MACHINE SHOPSPEED SHOP across the road have them in stock?! Smack, I ASSumed they would and that I'd pay a little more but they don't even have them. Their ARP stock was about 4 hanging little vacuum packages of stuff and nothing else - huh?! Looks like the clutch will be another day or two going on - I resisted getting OEM stuff or reusing what I've already got. Can't find my darned torque wrench anyway... There, I feel better!

If it's 3.55 chances are VERY good that it's NOT an LSD! The only 300 other than the very latest ones to have an LSD were ALL 3.7. Ask him the year it was pulled out of - the LSD 300s were all 87.5 through 89 and were ALL turbos. Unless you're lucky an LSD will usually run you about $500 and will be used. To go new costs even more. I'd ask him if it's LSD, he may think it is. If he says yes jack the rear up and turn one wheel - if it's posi I believe the other wheel will turn in the opposite direction. Someone PLEASE correct me ASAP if I've gotten this wrong (50-50 chance right?). Another way is to jack up just one wheel and try to turn it - should be difficult to turn, if it turns pretty freely it's NOT an LSD. Viscous LSD will turn freely with one wheel jacked up but only one special edition version of the older 300ZX had those - damned impossible to adapt - and the very latest 300ZXs had them too. There ARE a few Zs withthe very latest pumpkins in them but they're rare and the swap over is yet to be documented (dammit - and those things are all over the place cheap too!). You might be able to use this cars lack of an LSD as a bargaining point - especially if the seller thinks he got an LSD by using a 300Z diff Good Luck!

Okay, I've pulled my front crossmember and control arms. The funky spacers I was seeing on the control arms turned out to be offset bushings! I've decided NOt to make the JTR mods to the front crossmember for now but note that these bushings move the pivot center. Does this have the same effect? Were these meant for bumpsteer or for alignment? Most importanly, should I keep them or yank them in favor of the ones I've gotten from Energy? They look to be in good shape to me - solid aluminum wrapped in urethane... TIA!

Okay, maybe some help on both... First the trannie - I wouldn't sweat it. I've not heard of major failures with these suckers and Viper guys are running MUCH bigger HP through them than we are. Yes, they have a slightly different trans with a different gearset and some small internal mods but I don't think it's THAT different. These transmissions, unlike the glass T5, take the power pretty well! Don't forget that a CamaroFirebird weighs MUCH more than a Z - probably close to 3500lbs vs 2500. It's the torque IMHO in such a heavy car that kills it. When the trans is asked to move such a lump it really can be strained We've lowered that load so when you read about 450HP blown F-bodies running T56s realize that we should be as well of to that level and higher. If you're really curious head to the F-Body BBS and ask but I believe that so far they've been pretty durable. As for the EFI - if you've already got a motor I would use it. My personal plan of action is to get things running carbed first, then EFI, then maybe a blower. To go EFI I will probably use the carb intake drilled and setup for port EFI. OEM EFI setups are designed for torque NOT horsepower. When an OEM long runner intake is dynoed against a carb intake the carb will usually take the HP while the EFI takes torque. That's great until you change displacement, cam, RPM range, or simply want more airflow. At that point the OEM EFI is a cork and will starve HP, torque on the other hand will probably be wonderful A solution to this is to setup a carb intake for EFI and get the HP advantages. Not sure it'll help in the torque dept. but with a 2500lb car do you really want tons of low end torque? I don't - I'd like to be able to launch this puppy and not simply fry the tires. For this reason I've chosen a single plane intake for my car - it's also supposed to be one of the easier types to modify for EFI too Arizona Speed and Marine, Kinsler, Electromotive, and others all sell parts to convert to EFI... IF you've got your heart set on a TPI type intake for whatever reason check with Arizona and Kinsler as well as look at Accell's line of intakes. I'm pretty sure that you'll find at least a few that are designed to be run on older style motors. Hope that helps!