g9m3c

Awesome project and cars man. Keep up the awesome work!

Haha, well be prepared to smile man. Luckily, I was driving my 260Z less than a month after I bought it.

......and then there was this. Most of you know what my problem was just by that picture. Soooo, I made my own version of the Ron Tyler mount today. After studying the drawings of the mount, I decided it was a little overkill, especially for a mostly stock L26. If I ever put the LT1 in it, I'll probably beef it up some. I made mine out of 1/8" x 2" and 1/8" x 1" steel with an extra gusset across the top. I built this at the place I used to work at (automotive shop at a Pepsi warehouse). My dad still works there and I'm friends with the manager. Back when I worked at Pepsi, I mounted a new vice and welded a piece of 1/4" plate to the workbench just for this purpose. Little did I know I wouldn't actually use it until after I stopped working there. Here it is almost finished. I just have to do a little more smoothing, drill the mounting holes for the poly mount, and paint it. I'm not drilling the holes for the final location of the mount until I get back in Tuscaloosa and can put it on the car and make it an exact fit. I had to cut down the bulge on the side of the poly mount to make it fit between my gussets. It's quite an improvement over the leather belt.

Well today my roomate and I took my Z to the Nissan dealership and looked at one up close. AWESOME car. The rear wheels look ridiculous up close. The interior is smooth, sleek, and screams luxury. BA car. They've only had it about a week, and aren't letting people test drive it yet. The sticker was 33K and some change. Black with the 6 speed.

.....as mentioned towards the end of this edmunds.com vid.

Very nice. Haven't seen that one on tv yet. Oh man, if only I had $30K to spare.

Has anyone seen it yet? Definitely a badass commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcPs4vQtFMA I'm still curious as to how the synchrorev match deal will perform in the real world.

Wait a second, my 260Z had electronic ignition from the factory, didn't it?

Alright, here's a few new pics. The battery in my roomate's D40 was dead (again ), so I took these with my phone. New underhood pics since a good cleaning and tune up. The next project is to do something with that ugly air cleaner contraption. The new fuel pump block off plate I made at 3:00 am in the garage last night. Here's a walk around vid. (cold start) The valves are a little loose, but I swear they're not that loud in person. lol, the video amplifies them for some reason. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/Videos/?action=view&current=MOV000015.flv Here's a little acceleration vid. I wasn't really stretchin her legs, only revving to 4,200 or so. 2nd gear's plain fun. Sorry for the long vid, the good part's towards the end. The squeeking is my steering column. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/Videos/?action=view&current=MOV000014.flv

Hmm, no I haven't checked that yet. I'm sure there's a thread around here with a how-to for an electronic ignition swap. I'll search around. Thanks!

I picked up the tank this morning and got it back on the car. They did a pretty good job with it, and so far, my filter is still crystal clear. I made a new fuel pump block off plate tonight and did some cleaning under the hood, so I'll have to get some new pics tomorrow. I think I'm having a small fuel delivery problem though. Sometimes it doesn't want to idle and stumbles when I start off, and then it stumbles randomly at higher rpms (4,500+). My guess is it's because I have my fuel pump so far forward in the system, and it's just not creating a whole lot of pressure. Does anyone think it would help things if I moved it back by the tank?

So THAT'S why my fuel filters kept clogging up. Yep, ALL of that was in my fuel tank, plus more that I couldn't shake out. I thought I was going to be able to just take it off, put some solvent in it, swish it around, and pour all of it out. I was wrong. lol, so I took it to a radiator shop this morning to have it acid dipped and steamed out. It cost me $45, but it'll be WELL worth it if it comes out pretty clean when I go to get it tomorrow morning. In the mean time, I did a full tune up on it with a Borg Warner cap and rotor, MSD Street Fire 8mm custom fit wires, and NGK plugs. It should be running excellently when I get the tank back in it.

My 260Z doesn't have the seatbelt interlock. It can be started whether you're sitting in the seat or not. I'm guessing the previous owner had it disabled somehow.

Yes.

Today, I drove it back to Tuscaloosa. It was about a 65-70 mile trip, and I didn't have a single problem with it. I must say, this thing is a BLAST to drive! Haha, I love this Z. I went on a couple of test drives this morning before driving it back, and the fuel filter stopped up once. I'm pretty sure it's because I was thrashing on it a little and stirred up some crud in the bottom of the tank. I cleaned it out and was fairly easy on it the rest of the day, and it's still crystal clear (see-through filter). In a couple of days, I'll probably go shake the back of the car around a lot, let it settle to the bottom for a while, and then drain it until it runs clear. I'm hoping I can do that a few times and have it cleaned out pretty well. I'm about to go for a little drive in it. It's officially my DD now. EDIT: It rolled over 62K miles on the way to T-town today.

Very nice project. It should make for quite an updated feel to the ole' Z.

Thanks guys.

Is there a kit available? I've looked on MSA, but the one on their site says it's for the 240Z. Is there a diagram or something that shows how to use a regular, newer alternator like off of a SBC so you can bypass the external regulator? I'm sure I could fab up some brackets for one, I'm just not sure how to bypass the external regulator. I'm sure someone has done this before.

Well, I got insurance on it today. I'm going to get a tag in the morning, and then my roomate and I are going to pick it up on Friday. I've got a few last minute things to do to it and some test driving around town before we come back with it though. The farthest I've driven at one time is about 4-5 miles, and it's only gotten up to full operating temp a couple times. I'm going to give it a few more lengthy test drives to make sure everything's alright, and then it'll make the 70 mile trip to Tuscaloosa. If everything goes well, I'll be driving it daily starting Saturday. I also picked up a pretty nice Alpine head unit from a member on fullsizechevy.com that I'll be putting in here pretty soon. The first project is a new firewall pad, full ABS dash cap, and then the head unit install. I'm probably going to mount some fog lights up pretty soon as well. I've heard these cars suck for night visibility, so maybe that'll help some. I'll be sure to update this thread Friday if everything goes according to plan. Here's the spread of crap to put on Friday. If you're wondering why there's only 13 lug nuts, it's because that's all the warehouse had when I ordered them at work. I'm gunna stop by a couple of our other stores on the way home to get the others though. Apparently, 12mmx1.25 shanked lug nuts aren't easy to get ahold of.

I agree that it'd be hard for it to be valve related, but it was in my case, and my engine was running EXACTLY like he just described, except it was the front 3 cylinders not firing. I tore it down, and intake valves #1,2, and 3 were not sealing, and had left nice little impact dimples on the pistons.

I had the same problem with my 260, and it turned out to be bent valves. The carbs being out of sync isn't going to make three cylinders just not fire altogether. Is there a spark being generated to those three cylinders? As in, do you see a blue spark between the wire and the plug when you pull them off? (probably better to do this in the dark) Also, check your fuel supply to that carb and make sure the suction piston is rising as you give it throttle. Check the oil in your dampeners as well. If all that checks out, then it's probably time to pull the valve cover off and run a compression check.

Thanks guys. The reason it still has flat tops is because this car will have 8 cylinders within a year or so (probably). I just wanted to get the stock engine running and reliable so I can drive it in the mean time......and run, it does. The only mods on it are an entire deleted air pump and injection system, and 2" pipe out to the rear with a Thrush turbo muffler in front of the rear pan. So far, I am not dissapointed in the flat tops at all. As far as the bumpers go, I haven't really decided what route to take. I've been thinking about modifying the brackets for the front bumper and move it up against the body, as well as cutting it down some so it doesn't stick out as far. I'll also shave the front plate mount and make my own fiberglass end pieces if I do that. For the rear, I'll probably take the bumper off and shave the rear pan if I can figure out a way to fab up a bumper between the pan and the tank. I'm not driving around with a piece of sheet metal shielding my tank from idiotic drivers. I've heard of people building a bumper to go there, so maybe it won't be too hard. Thanks Daeron, it has been a fun process so far. It can only get better. I think it's come a long way in a month and a half.

I forgot to bring my roomate's D40 with me, so these were taken with a pos 3MP Kodak. I drove it about 6 or 7 miles today, and experienced WOT for the first time. It's not a Corvette or anything, but damn. That L26 will get up and go! I guess it doesn't take much to move a 2,500 pound car. There's no doubt it would leave my truck in the dust. Anyway, on to the pics.