BLKMGK

Uh boy - now I might be confused - surprise! I've got to swap from an R180 ro an LSD R200. For this swap I've acquired a pumpkin and a pinion flange from a 280. Do I need anything else if I'm sticking with the U joints and NOT going to CV yet? I've got an extra set of axles that I believe are also from a 240. Argh! Sure wish we could figure out and agree the "best" CV conversion. Then we could get together to finance the custom bits

Engines are essentially air pumps. Fuel and air mix to give you power. The more fuel and air you can get into the engine the more power you make. Having more displacement usually means the engine is capable of ingesting more airfuel - thus more power. V8s don't make massive power via boring anymore than your motor will make much more with a 10% increase in displacement. A 350 stroked and bored to 383cubes makes more torque, a little more power all things equal, and usually won't rev as high. However to build a 383 doesn't cost much more than a good 350 so I'll take the extra power while I'm at it. So, you want lot's of power. You're going to have to get that air in there some kind of way. Wild cams and massive compression will do it but driveability will go away, so will MPG, forget emissions, and maybe even have to buy race gas. Yuck! So, MY favorite way of getting more power out of a mild engine is to force feed it. Your friend's turbo was an automatic and probably running stock boost - it was slow for a reason. Ever take a ride in a hopped up Buick GN? Can you say faster than a 'vette and carrying MUCH more weight? From 231 cubes! 14lbs of boost on an engine means it's eating DOUBLE the air that it possibly could naturally aspirated. It'll do this with a mild cam, normal compression, and decent driveability! There's lot's of ways of force feeding a motor, including NOS, but with the Z there's tons of turbo motors sitting in boneyards for cheap - not taking advantage of that is crazy! If an early 300ZX turbo motor would drop in then that's what I'd do else go for a 2.8 turbo. Pick your poison - high strung and finicky or boosted. Not enough power? Turn up the boost - so long as you've got fuel to go with it you're in business. Most folks who've lived with high powered turbo cars love them, you really ought to try driving one. As for V8s being heavy and fat - wake up. A V8 Z done correctly will have as good if not better weight bias, handle as good, and make 400+hp without breathing hard. Take that 14lbs of boost and cram it into a 350+ cube V8 and compare the power output to doing the same to a smaller motor. Guess which one is probably making more power and torque? It's all math and it's all about air and fuel - both engines live by the same physics despite what the Honda guys seem to think (smile).

Hit Vic Brit up too. They were VERY quick about sending me a catalog and I get a new one pretty regularly. Motorsport on the other hand was less quick and took forever for me to get the NEW catalog even though I was already on their list. Vic Brit seems best for stock stuff, Motorsport has more aftermarket stuff. Both will charge you a ton for stuff you can find elsewhere including the dealer. Always shop around and always ask if you're trying to source a part and can only find it with either of those two - someone can usually tell you where they get it

I'm biased - I really think the V8 is the way to go but... I've also driven a turbo 280ZX with nearly no mods... If you're NOT interested in the V8 then yeah certainly go for the turbo 2.8. If that's still not enough power after you've done the exhaust, played with the turbo, and tweaked the computer then consider upping the displacement. I'm not sure what hi PSI 280 turbos are running but the drive I did in a wounded one hit about 12lbs and it felt pretty nice. Heck, maybe you could even swipe the motor out of an early turbo 300ZX The cost of doing a stroker motor right off is probably not going to yield the performance you want as everyone else has said. Maybe try to find one already built being bought instead of doing it yourself - zcar.com has them up for sale once in awhile. Forced induction is the best way to find power that I've seen so far short of NOS. The rush when boost hits is addictive and it makes all sorts of really nice sounds...

There's Victoria British and MSA or Motorsport Auto. Both have free catalogs but I'm sorry I've not got URLs handy - a search here will find them or use Google. Another option that I use often is EBay. People sell TONS of stuff for Zs on EBay You probably won't find floor mats there but most every other weird thing seems to show up there. Just don't outbid me please

Mine wouldn't pass SCCA but MIGHT pass NHRA. Working slowly towards getting a WEB server up so when I do I'll post some pics. If you can get hold of a circle track type catalog you'll find some nice cells with bladders, safes, and I think even foam for decent prices. I don't know for sure how well they'd pass tech but last I spotted some I thougth the prices were pretty good considering I'd paid close to $200 for my aluminum cell. I won't be doing any competition racing (SCCA) but maybe some play time - hopefully they'd let me on the track. Same with NHRA, some track time but nothing real serious. I'm building this mostly for the street and fun so I wanted it reasonably safe and decent looking. A serious rear end collision would likely breach the cell but hopefully it wouldn't come into the passenger compartment very easily. Geez, now I'm paranoid I'll wait to see what Mike does, what it costs, and then decide if I want to follow his lead (grin). A FuelSafe system would've been ideal but the costs I was seeing were WAY out of my budget for now (sigh).

Solid Us are supposed to be the hot ticket. I bought "Spicer heavy duty" U joints from MSA - they were hollow and drilled for grease - doh! Neapco #1-0029BF is supposed to be a solid joint. Note that I'VE not picked them up yet so I could be wrong - check before you leave the store. However if you want Spicers I've got a set here

ZZ4 is about 350HP if memory serves. It shoudl come with a distributor, intake, valve covers, front cover, and no water pump. The dampner is too big and it'll need a flywheel. Pistons are hyperutectic (sp?) which I don't like but it's WAY better than cast. I just don't like the hyper pistons myself - too brittle but others love them (shrug). Cam is a roller. ZZ4 is a damned good motor for the money, if you're doing this on a budget a carb is not a big deal and is way cheaper. I nearly went for the ZZ4 but spent about a grand more to have a 383 done making about 75 more HP or so with stronger internals. As for the Hooker swap - I've told you what I know. Other's have more experience and I think there's at least a couple of folks who've done the swap in a ZX so let them guide you. Heh, I'm still trying to get moving on MY swap!

Mike, your's didn't coe with foam? Wow, I must have lucked out! Got mine from Morrison as they were the only ones that had one after RCI went out of business (!). Getting seat belts is a bitch right now because of RCI too. Haven't seen the plastic ones buckle before but it's no surprise - bummer. The way you're going now will be safest of all. I'll be real interested to see how you get the fill in the rear plate. I've tried to do this myself but the angles just didn't work out with the darned fill being in the center of the tank. The angle was nearly flat and filling it would've been way slow I was afraid. The Impallas have a nice flip down tag frame BTW

Pump mount is a good point Myron. My Mustang hs it right behind the rear bumper - with 13inch brakes you'd better believe I'm nervous about that! Not sure where it will go in the Z when it's done but I'll be watching out for theaxle whip when I mount it. Has anyone considered some sort of safety loop? Is it even possible with all of the suspension travel? Nothing wrong with a solid axle, don't get me wrong, and if this car were a drag car I'd be seriously considering it. For that matter - I'm considering a 'vette rear if this sucker blows too easily. It'll come down to price between the 'vette rear and a solid rear. I guess I just go more for the "touring" than I do the straight line and in touring mode the live axle just isn't as much pleasure to drive. Scottie - the 60ft times you've got are great! I DO think the extra squat is wasted power but if you react properly that's all done with before you leave the box so no biggie! Wheelhop is a good point - the Cobras are DYING from this - axles going left and right with slicks at the starting line. Ford has a big problem there! Interesting note about the CVs over the Ujoints being smoother. Wish we could come to a consensu on the best way to convert to them! As a side note - looked at a friend's 280ZX turbo on a lift today. Niiice CVs It won't all just swap over lock stock and barrel huh? Bummer!

I'm pondering this too as I've gotten lucky enough to stumble on some A/C gear - my car had no A/C when I got it. My plan is to use the stock Datsun stuff, apparently easy to retrofit, and then a Chevy compressor. The JTR book covers this, if not the Datsun V8 swap then the TPI swap book. I THINK I'll go with stock type mounts but Pete's got A/C on his with homemade mounts and it sounds pretty spiffy. The Street Rod guys have more billet and cast mounts than you can shake a stick at plus I'm told the 'vette has a nice $20 alternator mount (low mount) I might be able to use - I'm trying to get my hands on that one now It can be done!

Your handling might be a bit off but it can't be helped. I'm NOT sure what parts the Hooker kit comes with so check that out. The JTR trans mount ought to work if it doesn't come with one and it's just a piece of bent flat steel with holes in it anyway - I've got one If you're scrounging the junkyards for a 400 why not just build that? More cubes is fine so long as th emotor is solid. If it's a stroked 350 you want plenty of places sell the cranks already done - byt the time you get the machine work done on a 400 crank you'd probably be about even cost wise with buying a cast one. You're looking low power anyway so cast shouldn't be a worry. Forged pistons are a good idea no matter what and a NOS bottle makes up for much in the power dept Do go with an R200 I think, non-posi ones aren't too hard to find and shouldn't be too expensive. LSDs go for $500 and up unless you get lucky. You've still not mentioned a budget. That's probably what you need to set first. For instance those heads - what will the machine work cost on them? The Edeldbrock aluminum heads I've got cost $900. Vortec iron heads cost less but are also a super buy. You might find that the machine work costs a significant portion of that and that buying new would work out better. For that matter - what will it cost to rebuild that motor, the heads, etc. etc. Then compare THAT with buying a ZZ4 crate motor @$3200 complete. The ZZ4 may look VERY nice when you're done adding it all up and it comes with aluminum heads, roller valvetrain and yucky pistons but then you won't need to NOS it either. Set a budget, plan it out, then figure out how much over budget you can go and still finish it. I know I'm blowing mine! Hrm, I hope I never add up my receipts - that would be "ugly". What's your budget?

Okay, I'd asked for an HEI to be shipped with my motor and then discovered here that what I'd asked for probably wasn't ideal. Surprise, it didn't ship with an HEI so I'm in "luck" sorta' Obviously I want small to tuck this sucker right up to the firewall. I also want a vaccum advance. I'm not running EFI yet so I'm not sure the small cap stock distributors will work - no? I thought they were computer only. So, how does the MSD-8474 from Summit look? Or the Performance Distributor from the DUI guys look? http://www.performancedistributors.com/duigm.htm They take your motor specs and custom curve it so... The MSD looks to be physically smaller though. Holley has a 890-100 HEI that looks liek it might be able to be used with an EFI later on and is cheaper than both of the previous two. Summit has a stockish HEI too in the $149 range and lastly MSD has a still more expensive stockish looking HEI. My primary concerns are size and enough parts interchange that I won't get stranded halfway to Florida and be forced to wait for th eFedEx guy to bring me something "special" (coughMallorycough:-) Thanks for the guidance guys!

How big a diameter do you need? Aircraft Spruce and Supply sells nice ducting. The "airbox" company that Mikelly got his airbox from sells it and is on the WEB too - I like their setups and will run one of them. Last but not least Pegasus which is an SCCA type racing place sells it - it's called brake ducting Hope that helps, personally I think Mike's method is awesome and gets you plenty of cool air even if it's not super cheap.

Okay, I did an aluminum cell. I can't say for sure that the poly tanks aren't good but I just didn't feel comfortable with a poly tank. Static electricity buildup (no joke) and worries about heat were primary in my mind. I went with a Triangle aluminum tank with sump. The rollover valve that Jeg's and Summit sell for big bux does NOT fit! If someone can use it though let me know - I'll sell you mine cheap. I picked up a cheaper valve on the 'net that's made to fit in a vent hose. My intent, once I figure out the size fitting my darned vent takes, is to run braided hose to the stock vapor thingy with a rollover valve inline. As for a fill. I bought the nice 45degree cast filler tube with hopes of a rear fill. Nope! I'll sell that cheap too My tank is mounted FlUSH with the rear deck. However a steel "house" has been built over it. This protects the sender and the filler. It's just tall enough to cover both and has a door to open for filling. I'm not positive that it will pass tech this way but I did at least try to comply with the spirit which says that a "bulkhead" must seperate the driver from the tank. The tank in my car is mounted just under a panel that this "house" is riveted to. I've got some pics it that would help - just say the word!

FWIW - differences in solid vs independant... I've ALWAYS driven cars with solid rears in the past. One thing I noticed with them is that in hard turns the rear would seem to step out - no panhard rod installed. I've had them move a pretty decent amount let me tell you! Off camber type turns always made me nervous as the rear could do whacky things. Nowadays I drive a Miata - rear is solid as a rock in most turns and when it gets loose it's real predictible. Same with th eZ - when that puppy gets loose I can feel it. I can also feel the rear in both cars moving with the road and that one side isn't upsetting the other. I'm no pro racer by a long shot but I do feel the solid rear isn't as stable when the racing isn't just in a straight line. There's no question in my mind that the solid is stronger too, just make sure you've got NO C-clips retaining your axles!

Have you considered the Vortech or ATI style centrifigul blowers? Roots type blowers make great low RPM boost but heat the air a great deal. With the RPM capability of the L6 motor I'd think that something more effective at higher RPMs would be good. Vortec makes a smaller size blower just for small displacement engines and the ATI blowers just plain rock Vortech blowers might be easier to package though.

Okay - here comes my opinions Forget the MSA and JTR swap kits. If memory serves the ZX has a different cowl setup that will NOT allow a setback mounting like the JTR. The MSA kit seems pricey to me -like everything else they sell! Hooker supposedly still sells their kit - guess what, it's NOT the setback kit and that's supposed to be what you want. Call up Jeg's or Summit and see what they price this at but first get the JTR book. The JTR book has tons of info and may have the Hooker part#s. I'd look but I'm not able to tonight. As for the MSA driveshaft - not on a 2+2 I'd think. Have one built - it'll probably be cheaper and stronger anyway. We can get you the Neapco # for the pinion thing. As for trannies - try to get an overdrive and find out if you've got a R180 or R200 rear. Memory tingles and tells me that it might be a 180. Since you list drag racing I'd want an R200, posi if you can find one. Consider a cage of some sort too before you drag race it. I've seen Mustangs wrinkle the roof with one good launch with stock bodies - Zs aren't as strong. Motor choice sounds fine but since you want to race make sure it's got forged pistons and then scrounge up a good NOS system Power at the track, mild motor on the way home! I like superchargers myself but NOS has it's place. In fact if my friend's shop gets a fill station I might just slap one on my car for giggles! P.S. Welcome! Keep the questions coming!

I'm pretty surte the LT1 CAN be run with a carb so don't count it out. As for the T5 - mine lived behind a ton of torque and 450horses for nearly two years. It's death was the result of showing off and beating it really hard ONCE. It survived the dragstrip several times but not an hour+ of beating on it. That was a stock '88 Ford T5 FWIW. In our lighter cars I'd think it would last fine behind 300HP but I'd still prefer the T56 (shrug). Consider the T5 if cost is an issue - you can buy several for one T56 (sigh). The GM crate motors are decent. Some are slightly higher HP than the one pointed out I think but aren't too bad. Cast pistons kind of turn me off though. Try to pick one with Hyper's and Vortec heads. If budget allows the ZZ4 ROX and comes with most everything you need 'cept a carb and headers. It's got aluminum heads for weight and a roller valvetrain so while it's a bit more it's a good deal.

Hrm, supercharged motor losing power... I'd check compression real quick just to be sure you've not got anything real bad going on. Oil and water look okay? Plugs?

Thank you! I don't suppose leaving the stock perch is an option for me huh? Sure would be easier Springs are here, now I just need the car (grr). Nice powder coating and they shipped them well packaged - cool!

FWIW - my block is 2bolts an dit'll be pushing 450hp. Frankly, I'm NOT worried. It won't see high RPM and unless I really abuse it I don't expect to see it come apart. 4bolt factory blocks are overrated but the 4bolt conversion is better if you can afford to have it done. It'll need line boring and whatnot afterwards, my machine shop didn't think it was needed.

First - what's your budget? I'm trying to do a fairly simple swap myself but it's ballooning Consider the GM crate motors first of all. The ZZ4 is pretty nice and makes awesome power, there's a more radical one too that's making 385hp. Last but not least there are several low HP 350's that would work fine and are cheaper - well worth considering. As for a trans - I really liek the T56 idea and it's what I'm going for. It should be ROCK solid and take whatever beating I hand it. However it's costly and heavy - if you stick to a low HP motor a T5 is a better choice. T5s all but fall out of trees around here and are fine behind a lower HP motor. Read the JTR book, it's got plenty of info on this kind of decision (IMO) and should be your first purchase.

Mike, why do you think an Auto tranny would last longer? I'd say th eloads imposed by a manual would be worse on th eUjints not better. Granted, you can make a really nasty auto trans that snaps your neck but for th emost part I've always observed that automatics are easier on the drivetrain not harder. FWIW - I'll be hunting Neapco solid U's "soon" for mine. My last source fell through and I don't think I wish to use these MSA Spicer joints.

And a coating like Jet Hot or the ceramic coating oe of our members does will coat the INSIDE as well as the outside. On a turbo car you want to keep the heat IN the manifold and allow the hot gas to expand in the turbo for best response. FWIW - the glowing thing really does happen and can be SEEN right through the ceramic coating I had my cast manifolds glowing cherry red at least once with Swain coatings on them. Pretty scary stuff I might add - it was damned hot!