BLKMGK

True story: I had some work done on my Mustang to install a blowproof bellhousing. The mechanic who did the work charged me for "custom" exhaust work due to the bellhousing being wider. However, the exhaust still seemed to leak (hint to Mike - Springfield Motorsports!). I got under the car and found my H-pipe hammered pretty bad and a slight gap where the header pipe joined - for this I paid extra?! Anyway, I left it that way intending to get it fixed, I smelled no exhaust but it was slightly noisier. About 2 weeks later my company had a "health screening" to get a discount on my health insurance. Naturally I signed up for it Upon reaching the monoxide test I blew nearly as badly as a smoker - I've NEVER smoked! This truly puzzled both me and the person administering the test. She asked me if I had sat in traffic long (I hadn't) and a few other questions. Finally I did mention that my car appeared to have a "slight" exhaust leak and that I'd had to drive about 4 miles to the test center.... She freaked! It seems that CO is a "cumulative gas". This means that it gets into your system and leaves slower than it got in. Over time it builds up until it can kill you or at the very least cause you to fall asleep at the wheel. Needless to say I had a muffler shop build me a cusom H-pipe that next weekend and have never gone back to that shop ever again. The pipe looked even worse once it was gotten out of the car!

I don't think the spacers help to be honest. The motor is attached to the crossmember which is what the spacers sit on. Using the spacers raises the body as it sits on the crossmember but since the motor is attached to the crossmember and not the body of the car it's height remains unchanged.... Mike, how low is your pan?

Wow, 7/8ths is a pretty decent amount! I'll ask my Mustang mechanic about it. I knew about the GM "twist" - ick! The T5 is a pretty smooth shifting trans but after seeing so many broken including mine I just didn't want to throw money away on one with this car...

You can actualy do some of this documentation yourself if you wanted to. Tape small strips of plastic or paper to the hood such that they can flap a little - like small streamers. Drive the car at various speeds and observe the streamers. You might be surprised to find that at certain speeds they reside in a clam area whereas at others they may flap madly. The trick will be to find out if this low pressure area is far enough back to be behind the radiator and to figure out just how much air you'd need to vent there. Louvers would work but I don't like the look. Motorsport sells a louvered hood if you're so inclined. I think the muffin fans would be pretty useless. A cowl hood would work though, I've seen that occur on my Mustang. At low speeds heat streams out of it, at higher speeds the air may actually reverse and go into the cowl - I'm not sure. The thread on the fiberglass hoods mentioned some of this. I'm getting pretty darned tempted to order one of those BTW. Anyone in Northern VA interested in doing a group thing to save on shipping? I've got a business address they can be sent to to save still more! Lemme' know. For carb intake I'll likely use Mike's idea of taking ram air from the radiator core. Cutting into the cowl is a little scary Some Mustang racers DO this tho' and it works well - especially for supercharged motors that have the intake facing the driver's compartment. You might also consider drawing air from the wheelwells as many Mustangs do. All in all I think the radiator support is easiest and requires less cutting up of the car short of going under the spoiler for air and risking water ingestion...

You migh twant to consider grabbing the rear from that 300ZX and selling it. At the very least they shoudl realize that those are unique parts and command a higher price because of it. One site was selling one of those to the "highest bidder" so it might be an opportunity for you to make a bit of cash I for one wouldn't touch it though, sorry. I really appreciate you looking out for me though! I MIGHT have found a rear nearby, I hope to know soon. I may also be looking at the Reider LSD as part of the group buy. As for th eclutch question. Your stock clutch master might not be able to handle a different trans but neither can the Z master - we're swapping them out. You may also be able to do the same if you need to. It's little issues like this that come up when you do something no one else has done and is why some of us aren't so sure we'd do it

I've not ever seen different length T5 input shafts - where did you hear that? Maybe the 94-95 cars but I don't think so since I've seen older transmissions and even Tremecs go in there. As for th etorque rating. That most has to do with gear ratios it seems. The lower the gear in first the more torque the motor can apply to the assembly and the LESS power it can handle I believe. Stock Mustangs can EASILY break a T5, why would you want to use one behind a healthy V8? Seriously, I don't have much love for the T5 having seen many of them broken. I don't much like the Tremec either The T45 is also less than desireable and is breaking pretty readily too behind Cobra motors. the hot lick for the Cobras, especially those with independant rears, is thre T56. Bolts right in with the stock driveshaft As to the wisdom of putting one behind a big block - I have no idea how he did that! You sure it's not a Liberty or somesuch? One good stomp and it ought to break into many pieces. Ford big blocks make torque when built correctly - something smells funny there.

Okay - I'll bite First off I'm a BIG Ford fan. I've owned two Mustangs now and this last one since it was new in '88. I've had blowers, twin turbos, lot's of heads, and now a blown 351W in it. I've also been an admirer of Zs from afar. They look cool and they take a V8 pretty easily. Best of all no emissions crap to worry about and they're light! So, I have a friend who does a V8 Z and that little twitch got unbearable - I'm now building a V8 Z At the same time I've got access to all the Ford hi-po stuff I could want since a friend owns a shop specializing in Mustangs. I also had another friend who used to restore Zs and who hadmounts to put a 302 using stock Mustang headers into the Z. Stock oil pan too BTW and the stick goes through the tunnel in the right spot too :-)Hrm! After some thought I chose the Chevy motor. Shocked? I chose it for several reasons. First and foremost - it's a proven swap. It's been done time and again and there's a great book on how to do it out there. Second, I wanted a car that could be cruised easily on the highway and which had half a chance of getting decent MPG. I've broken a T5 in my Mustang and now have a Tremec - notchiest thing I've ever driven! Not only that but 5th isn't enough overdrive when you put in fairly "wild" gears (IMO). Some Zs have 3.90 and better gears so that was a concern. Along these lines there exists a NICE Chevy trans - the T56 - that has 6 gears. .5 overdrive? Sign me up! Yeah, there's a Ford version too but it's not "stock" in anything and costs a grand more+ even at the prices I get. No thanks. A couple of things about going Ford. You can get good HP from the 302. I went 351W in the Mustang because it was MUCH easier to get that power, a stronger block, and because with a blower I'll be getting close to 600hp Doing that with a stock block 302 would be tough. Parts ain't cheap even when you get them at cost or used. The weight difference between a Chevy and a Ford wasn't an issue for me. You might be able to do a 351W into a Z but it's about an inch wider so it could be pretty tight. I'm spending $4500 on a built 383 stroker SBC, I could easily have spent that much or more on a Ford motor. Not counting the $2K+ heads on the Mustang I probably have about $3000 in that sucker so maybe it's not too bad. How much power do you desire as your end goal? How much work will you be willing to put into it? Can you fabricate? The mounts aren't too bad but I've not been able to get hold of that guy to get the plans from him for them. Will you be happy with a T5? How will you do the clutch release? Hydraulic throwout maybe? It may buzz a little high on the highway with that overdrive. Obviously others here have done this swap, it's a cool one, but be sure you want to take the road less travelled. Figure it out as far as you can before taking the car apart, trust me on this (sigh). I had slaved for awhile to get my Mustang ready when I started the Z, I just had no energy to "engineer" another car. The Mustang still isn't on the road, after a year of delays I was pretty sick of working on it (grr). I'm taking the easy path, which path you take is up to you but the Ford road - in this case - IS a bit harder. I'll try to get hold of the friend who mounted a 302 in his Z to see if I can get his mount measurements, no promises tho'. As for the pushrod arguments. My Mustang friend is now working on SOHC and DOHC Mustangs. His current ride is a blown DOHC Cobra - close to 500hp. Yeah, it flies! Consider the cost of that HP compared to a blown 351W or 302. He could hop it up further but then reliability might suffer. 283 cubes I think it is. Why do some of us push cubes? It's about effeciency folks. If I get a small motor to be super effecient I'll make lot's of power ala F1 racing. It'll like hi-revs (Cobras do!!) run like stink and be put together like a Swiss watch. Bucks! Now, build a bigger cube motor, rev it slower (less wear BTW), and have less effeciency. Yup, it's not quite as "exciting" but bubba - you didn't pay alot for that muffler! Parts for those small engines are in the stratosphere too! Those bigger motors aren't as exciting but they get the job done and they make the power. At the end of the track the loser doesn't usually jump out of his car and say "yeah but my motor is more effecient". It doesn't work that way. The Z is light enough to take the weight - done right a SBC weighs less than a Z 6 folks. Oh yeah - my 383's balancer will be just over 6inches so you could fool a referee if you had to Geez, how's that for about 25 cents worth? I'm beat! [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited July 17, 2000).]

Have you looked at the 'vette pan that JTR talks about? It's supposed to provide more clearance but I was going to go with a pan similiar to the one you're talking about (gulp). Was this a "drag race" type pan or one made for roadcourse kind of work? Mikelly - which pan did you use? I seem to recall that your pan wasn't an issue and it had extra volume...

Got the latest issue of Chevy Hi-Performance and found several URLs and some other stuff that I figured would be here. Hrm, the first appears to be dead. It's supposed to calculate the needed speedo gear if you know the tires size, rear ratio, and ONE of either the trans gear or speedo gears. Here's a cached link to it from google so perhaps we can hunt it down. Sounded damned handy for us here! http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.sura.org/~grippo /auto_noframe.html+speedometer+calibration+auto+grippo&hl=en I found tons of refrences to the above page all over the WEB when I searched on Speedo1.htm so perhaps that will help (sigh). Next up is a page with a tire sizing calculator, injector sizing, pulsewidth calculators, and more. Cool! I also had to hunt this one down (grr). http://users.icubed.com/~sknight/calculators/index.html Last but not least - one I'm sure we can all use! WWW.Dennysdriveshaft.com Hope that they help someone out! [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited July 17, 2000).]

Agreed - your clutch isn't disengaging. Here's whay I say so - if it won't go into gear and reverse grinds that means the gears are turning. Reverse, unlike the other gears is NOT synchro'd - at least on the T5 and I assume others. The reason for this is because if it were you might be shifting into it while going down the road - doh! The reason why it won't go into forward gears is because the synchro's - sort of like little clutches - can't slowstop the gears in order to allow engagement. Try this - shut down the motor, put it in gear, try starting it. Any luck? Does the car lurch forward? Does it maybe start and make grinding sounds? If this is a T5 the sound you described could've been the trans going. Had you just shifted 3rd gear? When my 3rd went in the Mustang it sounded like I'd just run over a brake drum and I couldn't shift third. The other gears worked so I was able to limp home. Hopefully this is just a clutch thing for you. Keep your fingers crossed!

Destroking a 327 is the way to go if you want hi-RPM power. At least one other member here has a 302 and it apparently revs pretty good As for 4-bolt blocks. I wouldn't bend over backwards looking for one. The 4-bolt blocks are supposedly not all that good - the bolts go in straight down and I've been told they can actually weaken the block! If you are goign to run hi revs or hi HP then consider using a 2 bolt block but having it modifed to accept splayed 4 bolt caps. There are several companies making these but machining ought to be done by a pro. Personally - if this is going to be done on a budget and yuor goals are modest I'd leave a 2bolt alone. Better yet buy a junked LT1 and not even have to rebuild it! What do you expect to run for a tranny? At the very least if it's going to be a manual use a T5. These are somewhat brittle so be gentle. Best of all is the T56 but these are pricey - expect to pay $1500+. Get the book before you turn a wrench or start buying things and READ IT cover to cover. You have no idea how many times I've seen people ask questions (mostly on zcar) that are covered by that book - even when they already own it.

Goto www.jagsthatrun.com and buy their Z swap book. It may not aply 100% to your car but it's a start. It'll give you information on electrical, mechanical, engines, and transmission options. As for that 283 - you sure you want to use that motor? Lot's of 350's laying around these days and they'll make more power with less work. Talk to an engine builder about your desires and go from there but first buy the JTR book so you'll know what you're getting into. Plans for motor mounts and whatnot are in the book. I don't *think* the 280Z is much different than the older cars. The ZX yes, but not the Z. Did I get that right guys? P.S. Check th elinks page here too. JTR is listed as are a ton of other good resources. Should've pointed that out earlier - some of those links may even be to cars of your year! [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited July 15, 2000).]

The builder I spoke to didn't seem to think 500 horse from a 383 would be a big problem I didn't even give him any real big details as to how he was to go about making all that power and I actually am targetting about 450. The real test will be the dyno and as little as I know about tuning carbs I'm probably going to need help from friends when that time comes (sigh). I'm just wondering what sort of exhaust I'll need for that power - the Hooker block huggers look a bit on the small side. I did notice that Motorsport is selling LSDs bare for $750 or so in the new catalog - ouch! The 'Vette is supposed to to have a ring gear of just about 200mm like the Z so it's supposed that the ring and pinion ought to hold okay. It's the U joints that are a concern for me. I've also still got a R180 so there will certainly be no big clutch drops going on as if I'd do that anyway Other than the R200, maybe the R230 (?) form th eQ45 - what are the options if we retain independant rears? Corvette? Jag? 9inch with stub axles (don't laugh they exist)? Any chance in hell of mounting something like that reasonably? What about the Cobra 8.8 rears? Of course they're breaking with modded Cobras so maybe that's a bad idea... Spicer U joints for now I suppose (sigh) and maybe a CV conversion when I'm more comfortable working with the Z rear.

Scottie's right - there might be something you can do with the 4cyl. Worth checkinginto at least. As for the 300ZX - unless it was a turbo car it's not a big deal. Only the turbo cars of those years had the LSD. As for distance - hrm. As rare as the darned things are it would probably be worth shipping! Heh, find one first. Even if it's too much trouble to get it to me you can bet that someone closer will want it.

FWIW Motorsport is posting Nissan LSDs for $750. That's no ring, no housing, no nothing but the LSD. Ouch! And I thought my trans was expensive!

Whoa! You work at a wrecking yard buddy old pal? Should you happen to see an 1987.5-1989 300ZX TURBO come into the yard that's NOT painted all white would you do us th efavor of checking the rear diff in it? IF it's got a pretty aluminum finned cover and both wheels spin in the same direction when jacked off the ground you've found an elusive LSD! I'm betting that there are several of us here, myself especially, who would be interested in paying a reasonable price for one of those in decent condition! They only made them standard equipment in that short time period and those of us with V8s will be needding them. The all white "special edition" or SE cars have an LSD also but swapping it in is difficult at best - it's a "viscous LSD" as opposed to the clutch type LSD. Thanks!

Turbo sizing is important for a couple of reasons. First, the exhaust housing must allow enough gas to get by without choking the engine. If this happens not only won't the engine run well but the heat build up will simply amaze you Second, as you might have read elsewhere here boost is a measure of restriction. On a centrifigul blower removing restriction from the heads and intake can result in lower "boost" numbers yet the blower still turns the same RPM and still pumps the same CFM - the engine is simply ingesting it easier. The same thing will happen on a an engine who's cubes have been increased. All things being equal it can consume more air and make more power. when you have a turbo that's sized for a smaller engine and run it on a larger engine it's wastegate will attempt to keep the turbo running at whatever boost it was set for. Because the engine is capable of consuming more air the turbo will have to spin FASTER to make that same boost pressure. Turbos, like blowers, have a "sweet spot" or range of RPM where they're most effecient. Stepping out of this range leads to "interesting" things happening. For instance you may see higher boost numbers but no added power - the added heat in the air has reduced the oxygen. Or the impeller may even self destruct as the forces of spinning so fast (exponential forces I believe) pull it apart! This is why blowers and turbos have what are called "compressor maps" that document where the device is most effecient so far as pressures and impeller RPM. Sized correctly a turbo will NOT have lag unless you've got it sized to run insane boost pressures up high. Twin turbos allow you to use two smaller turbos to get fast response and great volumes of CFM - they need not be huge. One thing you DO have to watch with smaller turbos is boost creep - this occurs when the wastegate cannot bypass enough exhaust to prevent the impeeler from spinning fast enough to broach the max pressure setting you've made. Porting the housing and other things can help prevent this - chances are you won't have this problem but it's worth mentioning. Whew - hope that helps! Seriously, get a book and read up on this stuff. If you're seriously considering trying to build this you'll want as much knowledge as you can get! I've read one of the books posted above, don't think it was Corky's but I'd liek to get my hands on that one! Read up on NOS and "superchargers" too. Lot's to learn there and the books are CHEAP compared to learning the hard way. My Mustang's turbo system was researched for a looong time before I did it and I still got bitten by a few "things" (grr). It was a kit but you'd be amazed at what doesn't get documented very well. That's why this Z I'm building will be carbed first - KISS and then get comlicated

Came across mention of something called V-BLOK in one of my car mags. This stuff is a spray on sound deadener that apparently has SOME rust inhibitors and may insulate from heat a bit as well. I don't know about you guys but my Z with a 6 sounds a little tinny and I can't help but wonder how a V8 will make it rattle Check this stuff out - VB-1. 1 gallon of VB-1 w/rust inhibitors is about $70 in sprayable form. $60 for the gun. With Ceramic heat barrier (R24) it's $124. The "exterior" grade in black is about $78. http://www.cascadeaudio.com/ Anyone else found a good sound dampner? Anyone using the DynaMat spray? The pads? What are you dooing, if anything, to turn down the noise level a bit?

I own a Miata and seriously considered those seats The car I'm swapping into came with Recaros though so I'm not seat shopping anymore. Side bolsters squeeze me a bit tight for my taste though - we'll see how the cage fits aorund them. If anyone has a burning urge to know measurements or anything about the Miata seats let me know. Could do some pics too if needed. I'd do the same for the Recaro but I've no idea what model they are etc. I'm 6 foot 2 inches and not only fit a Miata (91) but the seats are fine too. Not much side bolster I'm afraid.

Allright! Please post some pics - particularly with regards to ground clearance etc. Hope your floorpan is insulated!

Aw kripes, now I'm on the fence again about the GM radiator. Getting the Griffin repaired isn't an issue, I know guys who own a radiator shop. Unfortunatly they can't get me the GM radiator for much less than the Griffin. JTR stated that the larger radiators were used on higher HP Camaros and bigger trucks. The difference was the tanbk size not the core - more water in other words. The Griffin has much bigger tanks so I figured it would support more HP.... How much HP is Lee running? I'm hunting a mod motored Mustang radiator fan myself. 2 speed yes.

Well, they were specced for a 3liter, right? You're not quite double that at about 5liters. However, people have gotten a good bit of power from the stock turbos and you could always have them "wheeled" later on if you chose. Will they fit? Ponder this - instead of finding turbos at a cheap price and making them fit, consider finding turbos that will fit most easily and flow what you need. Then consider the cost. In the long run it may prove cheaper to do it this way rather than dealing with a "cheap" part that only "sort of" fits. Am I making sense? If these turbos look promising from a fitment standpoint figure out the HP target you've got (forget lbs of boost for a moment). Then call a reputable turbo shop and see if they will flow what you want. I think they'd work as I think they're slightly bigger than the T25s I ran on my 302 which made 450hp. I ASSume you want more than 450hp tho'.

The carbed SBC kit has what you're looking for I believe - was about $1700 or so. Best thing to do is call my guy at Excessive and talk turkey. One problem we ran into was the tensioner - ATI sells them at different prices for different kits - prices vary a good bit (sigh). Cal after about 12:00 Eastern time. (703) 331-1422 and ask for Tory. Tell him Jim sent you! I'll also see if I can't get him on here but be warned he's more into Fords than funny little Zs (smile). Right now they've got no used blowers in stock unless you want say a D3 aka "ferris wheel".

My motor is much like Mike's and is being built by Keith Craft racing. It'll be a 383 stroker, Eagle rods, GOOD forged pistons, aluminum heads, flat tappet cam, single plane intake. Brokered through a friend who does business with them on many Ford motors cost will be about $4500. HP should be between 450-500. This is intake to oilpan including an aluminum water pump, SFI dampner, and ignition (HEI). Compression to be around 9:1 and it might see a blower later on and certainly fuel injection if I have my way. In this case I told my friend I wanted about 450hp, he told the builder 500+ (smile). I made no real requirement on cubes or how they accomplished my goal but generally more cubes makes it easier to get higher HP. I did spec a single piece rear seal but in hindsight it makes no real big difference but I will be using a T56. I strongly considered a 406 for the wretched excess factor. Speed costs money but do realize these cars don't weigh much so you need not go nutz, I've probably overachieved. GM has a crate motor that's 350cubes making 385horses and plenty of torque. It's apparently complete oilpan to intake including ignition and has a roller cam - the balancer you'll have to replace. Cost is under $4K. My ONLY really "good" reason for avoiding it was that I wanted stronger pistons and more HP. Honestly 385hp and those pistons would probably be enough to take on most anything you're likely to encounter on the street so do strongly consider that motor. Oh yeah - one of us here is running a SBC 302. Now THAT might be interesting. Lot's of RPM - vroom!

I ONCE top ended my Mustang when it was mostly stock. Speedo only went to 85mph but those cars were good fro about 135 from the factory and I was probably closer to 125-130 at the time. A 928 was side by side with me and at that speed DOWNSHIFTED and left me sitting still! Then came the "interesting" part. Slower traffic ahead! Try this sometime while riding with someone on the highway. Look out the window at the stationary objects along the road coming at you. At 60mph those objects are coming at you at about the speed they would if you were doing 120mph and they were doing 60mph. Scary huh? I quickly learned that the brakes on an '88 Mustang were pretty crappy! First upgrade to that car was brakes, then wheels to better vent them. I've since gone to even bigger brakes and beter wheels I still have the 85mph speedo in hopes I won't be tempted again and I never intend to do that again on a public street. I have no idea what it's top speed is now or was after I doubled the horsepower and that's fine by me P.S. No, I didn't hit another car but I sure scared myself the way those tailights got real BIG in a hurry!