Richard Oben

Not sure of the year but the earlier LS 1 compressors may not have been variable. We used a stock LS1 from a 99 on another project and it worked fine running as a non variable. I could be and have been wrong in the past, Richard.

JMHO, but the words "don't get crazy with cost" and brand new engine from GM Plug and Play, don't really go together in a sentence or thought. That being said, Research is your best friend. Get a plan, research the plan, research some more. Double your time frame. Get a budget, double it. And then start. I have a build thread, so does Trackspeed, His is way more comprehensive than mine. Read them ALL! Different approaches to both. Then read all of the build threads out there. Like everyone said, get the rear suspension working and in order after the 280Z engine is gone. The whole car will be lighter and easier to work on. Prep and paint the engine bay. Do hard to do stuff now, for example we put all new fuel and brake lines on the car at this time, and it was no problem. Then get the motor in and get it running. Why the Auto? Stick is a lot of fun in these cars, and a lot easier to do. Do not take anything personally, but your numbers are way short. Not saying you can't do this, because it can be done. For example; to get a 400HP suspension is doable, but not for $1,500. Paint at $2,000 won't buy the paint probably, let alone the work to do it. Car looks pretty good why paint it at all? There are lots of disc conversions, but stock brakes are really pretty darn good if you are not at the track all the time. Research this a lot. Silvermine has some great kits. A quick overview of what I did, not saying it was right or not, just what I did. (I did put 1,300 miles on it during the Hot Rod Power Tour) CX racing install kit. John's cars AC kit. 3 core radiator, vintage air AC, Tanks inc pump, classic tube fuel and brake line, 8.8 rear out of Lincoln, 930 CVs. I have yet to put on the Eibach springs and KYB struts. (good lord that sounds so simple and easy, it was not simple or easy) Remember all of the above are opinion not fact, just experience. Richard.

Some of this is in my thread but the short version is it takes a bit of figuring out. In my case: I bought a gen 3 mini from vintage air, then modified it to fit the car, turned a mount around added a different mount, normal stuff. Second I bought the JCI (Johns Cars Inc.) compressor mount and compressor. Modified it a little to fit, had to trim a little around block or something, nothing major. I found no other mounts that would work. Third I looked at a bunch of condensers and bought one based on research, it did not fit. So I bought one local that did fit. 240 and 280 are different, so measure twice and buy once. Fitted all the fittings and crimped all the hoses that were needed. We have done a bunch of ac so I just needed to buy hose locally. I would buy a hose and dried kit. Wiring was also different for me. We used the GTO computer to run AC. It took a little extra work and wiring and unless using a donor car it is not possible with an aftermarket harness. HTH, Richard. PS Google search is your best friend on this type of thing. HTH, Richard.

Techno Toy Tuning. It mounts to the hood lock part of the firewall. Well made part, really stiffened the front end. HTH, Richard.

Joe K I mount mine in about the same place as the original harness. Except is is on the side of the console. If I were to do it again, I would mount it on the to the dash on the driver side. Something behind the vent control. The harness is designed to be there, we had to extend the driver headlight since we came from the pass side like the original Datsun harness. HTH nmehdikh, the tank top is up against the body at that point, really up against the body all the way across the top of the tank. The pump would be in the trunk without the drop. Pump is plenty long as is comes from tanks inc. HTH, Richard.

Thanks for the update. Very much appreciate it. I do like the new depot mount. Trying to decide which way to go. I have an 8.8 with 930 CVs already installed with a cobbled together mount.. My problem is the difference in axle lengths. Mine are the same left and right. I think there will be enough give but not sure. The diff cover not aligning is odd and maybe with the 28 spline stubs maybe I will not have the clearance the mount. Thanks again. Richard.

Do I need to strip an upright?

I have an 8.8 out of a Lincoln MK8 in my car now. I like the Z car depot rear mount and they have beefed up the front mount. What I have is cobbled together at best, home made rear with a T bird/Lincoln rear cover which won't let me get the diff low enough and a T3 front mount from an R230, like I said cobbled. Looking for a better solution. Thanks for the info. The first pic has been around a while and I like it a lot, the second is new to me, home made but better than mine and uses the explorer cover which I am not opposed to buying. FYI the T bird/Lincoln is a double front mount but not as beefy as the explorer. Thanks for the info. Richard.

That is the first version of that I have seen. Looks nice, where did that come from. Richard.

Are you happy with the Z car depot 8.8 mounting kit?

Jim I am offering again. Should we send them an upright and all the stuff you have back? It would be a shame to give up at this point. It is below 20 here and I am not working on the car so we can spare the parts for a little while. Richard.

Great work. EZ wire is what I used, the instructions are not so good, but it works great. You are going to love the Speed hut stuff. Looks really great, nice attention to detail. Richard.

Any idea of time? Any idea of pricing? Getting ready to do winter upgrades. Thanks Richard.

Agreed. I used a TTT front mount and I know it moves. Spitsnaugle, keep working, A better front mount is essential. If the design pictured used longer bolts with spacers to use the suspension mounts that would be a great start. Remove 4 bolts, put in longer ones that support the front and it could be a good design. Thinking out loud. Thanks for all the work Richard.

Thanks for the update. Please share the failure thread what went wrong and why. Also maybe the copy link, that would be a bad turn of events. Richard. PS going to love the lift. I have had one for 15 years no idea how I did without it.

NICE work, painting a car is a lot of work. Nice numbers the car and congrats on the baby. I can't imagine the amount of power that is. Again great work.

If it comes down to it I have an empty strut housing (off the car) if they need it. They can make a new one test it before sending it back to you to test etc. Special stuff always takes forever. Hang in there! R

Any updates?

Thanks for the kind words. Like I said, a LOT of info came from this site. Ask any questions anyone has, I will do my best to answer them. Richard.

R134, made my own hoses. Vacuumed it out and put in 134 and the right amount of oil (8 oz I think) and works great, so far so good. HTH R

I purchased his AC compressor kit without purchasing anything else. Nice guy and the kit works. Using a low mount alternator I can't see how the Hoke will be an issue. I put the temp sensor in the opposite head (re ran the wires) instead of using his washer thing. HTH, Richard.

Well we need to ask who makes billet stubs if anyone decides to not use the 280z stubs? Sorry for your issues.

I know it took too long. Took me a while to figure out the gallery here, car guy not computer guy lol. Sorry for the giant pictures. Richard.

We got the idea from another member here, can;t remember who it was but he had lots of problem with external pumps. In the end, it was not cheap doing the tanks inc pump. A couple of hundred in tank mods plus the pump. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. Everything is serviceable and sure you can hear the pump a little at start, after that it is like any other car. I am never worried about running the pump dry. There were a few decisions I would change but my goal on this project was to most of the stuff my self. Had the harness dieted and tank welded. I did everything else. HTH, Richard.

First I am in this forum a lot. Without the pioneers before me we would never have taken on the job of putting an LS1 in a 240Z. I admit to being a car junkie, at one point there were 4 series one 240Zs at once, paired to two. Have been in the car business over 20 years. www.northracecars.com if anyone cares we make stuff for FFR cars and for Fox mustangs. If this inappropriate delete as needed. FFR Daytona coupe replica So it all started in the mid 80s with a series one car in my home town. Bought it as it was less rusty than the mustangs before it. In 92 bought 09070, not knowing anything about it other than I had been without one for several years. Back to school and life stuff. I actually drove the car and then we started the restoration. NO Rust Done. 9070 factory auto dealer air. August 1970 production date. Just no grunt. We sold the GTM and started thinking about LS in a Z So for $500 we bought Ruby. Ruby had a sunroof so we fixed it first Ruby had too much rust too. Ruby was sold so someone could save the front clip. Good bye. Then came Leslie. This is the first day, all stock six which was sold. Fixing the floor surprising little rust for a local car. Under side of Leslie Sanding down to put in frame rails Fitting bad dog rails they are straight floor not so much. lol Frame rail installed Don't laugh at my welding We installed the bad dog rails figuring the car would just twist in half if we did not. On the to fuel system New top of tank To fill hole in tank. Now that we filled the big hole the little one needs a pump. Pump has its own sump and sits on the bottom of the tank with the return going to the sump. So far no issues And I hate the sound of an external pump Engine out fenders were not actually bolted on as the bottom of the rocker panels had not been tapped for bolts. In short the car was a mess. We bought the kit from CX racing. complete and worth every penny in my opinion. Prepping for LS install. Note all new stainless brake lines, fuel lines etc. We are in the highlight version of the build. Rustoleum red is the same as Porsche red which is what this was supposed to be. Car was green originally. And it has rear ended someone as the front aprons are welded back on. A mess like I said. Put in the LS1 in. I bought a wrecked 04 GTO, changed pans, alternator, shifter, swapped the clutch to and LS7 one, and had the harness cut down. All the stuff that needs to be done to make the swap. John's cars AC set up is tight. but fits and works. Getting closer So very sorry for the bad pic, but is a bad mount I cobbled to hold the 8.8. Came from a 95 Lincoln mark 8. We put 3.73 gears in and traction lock. Front mount is from TTT. Waiting on Z car depot or Spitsnaugle to make a mount I am happy with for the 8.8 Modified the Datsun push rod to fit the Wilwood MC. To mate the 8.8 to the Datsun stub I bought the Z car depot ends and the DSS end for the 8.8 to fit the a 930 Porsche CV. Mounted everything in the car and then measured for the axles. Had them made and made a mess putting it all together. ITS ALIVE As it looks now. It had 80 miles on it when we left for the hot rod power tour! Went from KC to Des Moines to Davenport to Champagne to St Louis and back to KC did not do Indy or Bowling Green. 1300 miles later, had small oil leak fixed by tightening the by pass and filter, never figured out which was leaking. Blew out the 40+ year old wheel cylinder on the left rear. Other than that it performed great. There is so much I am leaving out but will edit as my time permits. In short CX racing kit. Gauges from speed hut. JCI compressor. Vintage air mini, with a condenser my local gut sourced. EZ wire main harness M&M cut down engine harness. Factory headlight and turn signal switches. From the outside and inside it looks like a 1971 240s with a fat exhaust pipe. Projects left to do. Install proper 8.8 mount. Springs and struts will be done at the same time as the 8.8. Rear discs and 280 Z stubs (28 vs 24 spline). Finish interior. Polish wheels a little. All of which I hope to get done over the winter. Ask all the questions you want. If you have a negative opinion leave it at home. The amount of blood, sweat, time and money involved is mind numbing so keep any all negative comments to your self please.