BLKMGK

Lone, as many details as you can share on that install would be appreciated. I've actually got most of the parts to do a Z install using the stuff that the factory used but have been leaning towards the Vintage system. My understanding is that the Datsun stuff didn't cool real well so I'm a little hesitant to go through that trouble. MikeKZ - thank you for sharing! Vintage has a couple of small systems that look like they might fit behind the console area if the stock stuff was removed. There's supposed to be a couple of dealers local to me so once I'm on the road I may be chatting with them. I like the idea of using the stock vents, I can't imagine the hassle of replacing them and who wants to ruin the stock look? well okay, some of the billet vents do look nice! I really like the new billet sort of control panel they've got - all electric I think too! Honestly guys - $900 for an effecient system that uses available coolant is worth it. However if the dealer wants another $900 in install labor I too may have to become profeccient (sp?) in this stuff

I've seen one! It was a beige Volvo 4 door wagon with a TPI'd SBC in it. It sure looked funny gettin' on it going down the road! All twisted up and screaming - I had to laugh

Well, right now I'm having some trouble finding the TSW Trohpies - argh! I've found some 17X8 Cobra wheels that might work though I really have my heart set on the TSWs though so I'll keep trying. Thank you for the update! Anyone else swapped wheels lately to something odd?

Jeronimo - I'm about to FINALLy undertake this myself. How are your wheels working out? Any gripes? My front hub is a 300ZX hub so the offset is different, I believe that 17X8 with a +40mm offset is what I'll want. I was thinking 17X7 but if an 8 will work I'll do it. 225 45's is hat I'd been considering, if 235s are working for you fine then perhaps that's a better choice. On the back my offset is stock - this is a 240Z. I was going to go +40mm there too with a 245 45 on a 17X8 rim but you've gotten a +20mm to work, yes? How close is the wheeltire to the spring and fender? I have coilovers and strong studs so if going to a +40 and using spacers allows me to move the wheel in and fit a 245 I'll do it. I guess I'd just like to know how well the +20mm is working out for you. Can anyone else comment? 245 in a stock fender well on anyone else's car? I want to run the Nitto drag radial else a 235 would be acceptable P.S. Not measuring the lip of the wheel was one of the things tripping me up in my measurements. Thanks SCCA for helping me get that straight!

$5K buy-in for the wholesale huh? Is there much difference in price? If so I actually may know a guy that would be interested. $5K shouldn't be too hard to reach either with as much as he buys through you guys and Jegs. Sounds like a neat job though and if they're training you that's awesome! Oh, don't knock the Import caalog I want one of those big cheesy stainless seel mufflers with the coffee can on the end for my car! I figure I'll be able to suck in Honda punks like nobody's business with one of those! I'm just not sure how loud it would be or if I can manage to fit a pair of them with my Holley blue pump in the back corner. A shame you guys don't sell one with a three inch inlet - or do you? something liek the big sucker I've got on my RX7 wihout the zillion dollar price tag would be nice

Mine aren't locking but... I used the back hood bumpers, just replaced them with my Sparco bits...

They actually had no idea? Geez, on an electrical gauge that measures resistance the FIRST thing I'd figure they would think of would be a short. Zero resistance is going to peg the gauge in one direction or another. Sheesh!

Actually an Aircraft fuel gauge is pretty accurate as you might imagine. They use some sort of float tube I think - hard to descibe. Anyway, they can be gotten in various lengths and SOME will fit in a fuel cell - in fact I think some fuel cells might even already use them. As the fuel level drops th egauge reads accurately whether is a 20 gallon tank or a 200 gallon tank - works fine and there's NO risk of a stray spark either Aircraft Spruce ROX and anyone who's interested in doing any fabbing, especially with carbon fiber or glass (lone?) should get a copy of their FREE catalog. MSC Industrial Supply is another must have for th eshelf - oh and maybe a Grainger catalog which I've not yet gotten....

Yes! It's the 1800 I've seen! I swear it looks like something the GreenHornet would drive! If I could find one of those in good shape and swap in a V8 I'd be in heaven - that puppy is just plain cool looking. Hrm, HybridVolvo.org? Lone, if you've got any other interesting sites with those puppies by all means let me know. I canNOT handle yet another project but I can drool as well as th enext guy. I can see the Honda punks now - I got beat by a Volvo?! WaaaHaaa!

*grumble* I'd be happy to find the speedo I wanted *grumble* Seriously, nice to have such a valuable resource on the site. A shame I've just about finished ordering all of my parts though - some from your humble establishment! Heh, now that we know who you are we can ask for you and shoot your comissions up if that's how they pay you guys

Lone, that article is exactly one of my BEEFS with testing! Yeah, if they swapped th ecarb I'm betting it would've BEAT the EFI setup. Sacrilege? Nope, the EFI intake wasn't the SAME intake! Those ding-dongs compared apples to oranges if they were trying to show EFI vs Carb! I think that sucker was a big block too so th eHP difference that they found was pretty minimal for such a big motor if I recall correctly. Read that artcile just the other night and it irked me because they presented it as an induction shootout and not an intake shootout which was really what it was.

I guess the R230 swap interests me mostly because of th gearing, added strength, and availability of the diffs at decent prices. Yeah, the VLSD you mentioned from the SE is available but until you posted the info above about the spacer and linked the new pics I wasn't aware of that information. I'd read your page in the past but it never seemed that the swap was done or that all the part numbers had been listed out yet. Once the info gets around the SE diffs will dry up fast too! Not all of us have access to books for finding parts that will interchange and most o****er guys won't go that extra mile unless your buds with them. When folks like yourself figure something out like this it's a BIG help! For dummies like me please take lot's of pics, list all the parts, and give us as much step by step as possible. Hell, I'll host the pics if that's what's needed. The R200 clutch LSD swap is pretty simple and I still had some trouble getting the mount in here! I'm actually not a complete idiot but the Datsun is new to me The more detail that's provided the more likely we are to try it ourselves and come up with improvements and lessons learned. Heck, I've not even moved up to CVs yet on my car because it's more trouble than the stock style Us. When it breaks I'll upgrade for sure but not just yet. Heck, I'm hoping the 3.7 ratio works for me but if it doesn't an R230 will certainly be an option. I'm tempted to get one just to examine and tinker with - they apparently aren't hard to find or very expensive (shrug). Considering clutch LSDs go for as much as $500 these days figuring out how to use a less expensive diff would help lot's of people be it R230 or R200...

Umm, Versaille rears have been sought after for YEARS by Mustang guys - don't get too excited about them until you've got one in front of you and an unsuspecting yard owner who doesn't know what they're worth (ahem). Oh, and it's an LSD I think but probably NOT a locker which is good. The brakes on those cars are a little funky I seem to recall and there were some other oddities too. It's touted as a "bolt-in" fo rolder Mustangs but at least one mag I read mentioned some weirdness. I can indeed provide the width on the 8.8 rear in my LX, just not tonight Oh, and th e8.8 were VERY common with 2.73 gears. If 3.08 or 3.27 is what you're after I'm certain I can help you out on a used set of gears. An advantage to the 9inch is that the carrier can be setup off the car, the 8.8 requires on th ecar setup since the pumpkin doesn't come off. I think the solid 8.8 is still your best bet, I don't believe you need the added weight of a 9inch or the cost. You might want to hunt down a good chassis shop though and get their opinions first before commiting ANY money - you might be surpised. A shop I know narrows 9inch rears fairly cheaply and gets cores out of most anything that has them in the yards...

And PLEEEEEASE dopcument this with lot's of pics, part numbers, and lessons learned! I'll host it if you want or have it hosted here, just please get it out there for the rest of us! Those diffs are apparently easier to find and stronger with ratios that some of us would really like so having someone document this swap would truly be awesome! Oh, did I say PLEEEEEASE already?

Umm, is the friction modifier really needed? I know it's a clutch diff and all but well - I didn't put any in mine I wondered abut it but had never seen anything that mentioend it so... Did I Doh!?

Heh, first find out if th ehatch is even available. Obviously you've not encountered the ArizonZ fine art of sales yet Let's just say that he's less than easy to deal with and you'd better be ordering at LEAST $1K worth of fiberglass or you're not worth his time! Sounds liek you need to speak to Ron. His big block car is running single digit times I thnik - he'll be able to tell you how to setup the chassis! I thnk he's got a WEB site with pics too!

Ooooh, is that the really funky looking sporty Volvo? I saw one of those weirdo cars in a parking lot once with it's long nose and I swear I heard it calling for a motor swap! Anyone got a WEB site with a pic of one of these suckers? Don't know what the engine bay looks like but that puppy looked really ripe for a swap!

Watch E-bay! You'd be surprised at the really neat stuff that shows up and if it's categorized poorly it can be had at bargain basement prices too!

Davy - the "issue" with single plane intakes that is supposed to make them better for upper RPM motors is that the bigger plenums and runners make airflow "lazy". Fuel is supposed to drop out of suspension at low RPMs and intake runners get wet instead of simply flowing the mixture. That's the theory anyway, I don't know if th ereal world really works this way... When you go EFI ALL of that goes away - fuel is squirted into the back of the valve and the ONLY thing the intake flows is air. EFI has ALL of the benfits of single plane airflow with better mixture over a dual plane intake. The ONLY advantage a carb has over multiport EFI is the cooling effect of the fuel in the mixture. EFI is much more adjustable too, it does things a carb could NEVER do. A converted single plane intake is the best of both worlds. Having never run a carb'ed single plane I cannot speak to it's driveability but I don't think it'll be that bad - I'm willing to give up low end torque in this application. Given a choice and infinate amonts of money I suppose I'd go for a dual intake setup ala th eSHO with two sets of runners tuned to different RPM bands. There was an aftermarket intake like this fo rth eMustang once upon a time but it was too expensive to get anywhere - bummer. Lastly, the ONLY time a carb beats EFI is when it's not tuned right. Most of the EFI vs Carb shootouts swap the intake for a different design and the EFI ends up with torque gains and HP losses. The reason for this is often the intake design, it's even worst when they used a damned OEM style intake! OEM EFI intakes have looong runners to promote torque and run out of breath in the upper RPM. Convert a carb intake to EFI and at the very least it will match the carb for HP with better driveability and greater torque - IF it's tuned right....

Agree with everything you said about the old Paxtons. I had one, I didn't much like it. The new ATI blowers take care of the belt tension with a spring loaded idler (an option sometimes) and use as many as 12ribs on th ebelt. My Mustang has one of those 12rib spring loaded idler setups, it's nice. It also has a good bit of wrap on the pulley - something my Paxton setup didn't have. The squeeze bulb thing - and even the aftermarket "coolers" for the fluid were indeed a PITA. Heck, first time I pulled the "dipstick" on my Paxton the rod dropped into the blower! ATI's use a stainless cable for a dipstick but I think you still need a turkey baster to suck th efluid out - they might have a drain. Blowers have come a looong way since Paxton was king! Progress is good. Vortech was formed by ex-Paxton engineers that were upset Paxton wouldn't build their idea, the gear driven blower. I'm not sure where the ATI guys come from but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some cross polination there too. Powerdyne guys have some interesting ideas as well - their new blower is gear driven too BTW. If you do a blower in the Z expect to fabricate mounts. You'll need plate steel and it'll require some work. However my friend's shop has done it with Ford blowers from scratch so it CAN be done with a little common sense. I think a better idea would be to look at th eLT1 setups that folks like ATI use that really tuck the blower in tight. Perhaps one of these would work? I'll try to get some pics of one - you can barely see the blower once it's all buttoned up in a Z - don't even ask about the 'Vette setups (shiver).

I'm still working out wheel widths and calculating things. Don't think that swapping the Tantrums off the RX7 hasn't occured to me already The previous owner used wheels that are too narrow for that car and the tires are only 225s! I would love to have bigger meats on that puppy but the TSW wheels just look so "right" that I can't resist them! I figure I'll need all the help I can get hooking up too so 225's on the Z wouldn't be much help. Got some more parts today - will post about it in the appropriate threads. Going to be a busy week! [ May 14, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

TimZ's idea of oil in the intercooler is a good one, I've seen this. However pulling the TB hose and looking inside will reveal this problem real quick - it'll have oil all over it in there. My Mustang pushed oil past the turbo seals and made a mess, cleaning it out is a PITA! Pressurizing the intercooler and checking for bubbles is a good idea - wonder where you got that from (lol). I'd use very low pressure, be careful with a compressor. I don't think you'd want to cause a problem by giving it too much pressure (ahem). I'm going to be real curious to see what you find, sounds like the dumb as rocks knock sensor wasn't to blame after all!

Hrm, shortening the 8.8 shouldn't be too hard and it should take the power if properly setup. I'd want to know what the rear came out of though to find out what brakes those are from. The ratio you've got is 3.27 and was found in automatic equipped V8 Mustangs from 87 to at least 93. After 93 I'm not sure what they were found in. C-clip elimintators are a must, if nothing the track officials should require them for the times you're running. Rebuild the stock LSD for now, use a stud girdlecover, and aftermarket axles. If you can get the rear for free it's worth considering IMO.

BTW - got a CLEAR look at a Cobra IRS th eother day - didn't have my camera though. It had the tank pulled and you could see everything. They run a tube across th eback of the suspensiondiff to support everything and it's mounted using just a couple of points. I know this setups isn't much in the running since the Cobra guys seem to be snapping things but it looked pretty straightforward and there's a million gear sets available for it...

Whew, FINALLY got my front suspension 99.9% done. The only thing not done is the brake hose to the caliper and I've just been too lazy to do that so far So, today's "adventure" - test fit some wheels - interesting results IMO. The RX7 Tantrums are 17X7 with 225 45 tires on them. They fit the rear pretty well but I'd probably use a 1/4inch spacer just to get a little more room. The Mustang wheels are 17X8 (pretty sure) and would need a pretty big spacer to fit out back. The backspacing on the wheels is pretty close to the same which was a surprise. The added width of the rim makes the difference it seems. Up front the Mustang wheel fit WELL but came pretty close to the caliper face - that's a function of the spoke design is all. I'd move it in about a half inch I think to get it inside the fender better. At full lock both wheels hit the frame pretty solidly but neither hit the spring. Closest point was the adjustment collar - figures. However that may move when I get final ride height done setup. I've got a feeling I won't have much strut travel (sigh). I'll be posting pics of all this on my WEB site tonight after I unwind some including pics of the measurements I took on each wheel - I didn't write them down. What I need to figure out is how to get something like my RX7 wheel with a wider tire. 225's up front isn't too bad IMO, maybe a 235. Guess I need to see what sizes TSW Trophies come in. Spacers are no biggie and neither is having wheels up front that are a different size. I'd prefer all to be alike but that may not work out - we'll see. Lastly, all of my observations apply to MY setup with MikeSCCA's brakes in front. The rear may apply to everyone else with a 240 as I've not changed the track but be careful using the front findings unless you've done something like I have. Here's a link to my site -> http://216.254.117.47 I'll put up pics as soon as I can but right now I'm pretty beat! They will be in the Photo Gallery section.. Update: Pics are up! I'm trying to figure backspacing now. The mustang wheels are +30mm according to AARIMS.COM so that helps. My measurements on that wheel put it at 38mm tho'. A 17X7 in front and a 17X8 in back look to be the plan. +40 in front with spacer, still figuring the rear oout. Might have to mount that Mustang wheel again! [ May 13, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ] [ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]