Beau M

Found this while looking for pistons for my 302: http://www.orlandoforums.com/forum/s...d.php?t=132873

So I got tired of sanding, and started poking around with my engine. As I did so, I noticed I could not turn it over by hand. It would move about 30 degrees in either direction, then stop. WTF. There was no getting around it, it had to come apart. I thought maybe a nut fell in there or something when the previous owner had it. On the stand: Headers came off first: Then the accessories and valve covers: And finally, the heads: The good news is the motor turns over by hand great now. Be bad news is there was no bolt, and I cannot see any where a valve may have contacted a piston. The pistons did have quite a bit of carbon build up, but that's the only thing I can see that is out of place. I said earlier that this engine sort of sucks because of the flat top pistons that only came in the 86 engines. I think I will swap them out before I put this thing back together, I can see visible cross hatching on the cylinder walls so that good.

I used tp play, had a 70 druid, 70 warrior and 70 rogue. I stoped right befor LK came out, thankfully. Now I am actually getting some work done on the Z! But, the new guy at work actively plays, and I find myself getting sucked into WoW conversations. I guess once your an addict, always an addict.

Does anyone use the Datusn rear u-joint when they make their custom driveshafts? There are people with beefed up L28's with more hp and tq than I will have, do they swap over to the chevy adaper and u-joints? I am not going racing at all with my 302, it will be a fun street car only. Back when I was into 4x4's it was OK to have u-joints a little on the weaker side, as they acted as driveline "fuses" of sorts. Better to break that than an axle or worse. So, would it be ok to go from the ford yoke to a ford u-joint on one end and the stock datsun u-joint to R200 on the other?

I will die a happy man if I never figure out what a herniated taint looks or feels like.

I just went to three wrecking yards looking at rear lips. You can pretty much forget about American cars, they seem to either have metal bumpers or one piece plastic. The japanese cars were the same, they tend to have painted on faux lips. If I am going to find one, a german car seems to be the way to go. There was one on a 98 Mercedes C class that seemed to have the right shape, exhaust on the correct side, but it was busted up pretty bad. So, the search continues. I did score some hatch supports though.

Lookin good!

I might get shot for this, but I have been eyeballing the rear lip on the Prius. They are everywhere, next time you see one take a look and tell me what you think.

V8 Datzun speaks the truth, I am in the exact same position. Just try. I chopped the rear off my car, so I HAD to figure out how to fix it.

Horatio, I understand 100% what you are saying. It is for that reason I had to make a relief cut right up the middle, it was buckling just as you say. I thought of tacking and bending as I go, which would be easy at the edges, but would be very difficult in the middle. But then again, it wont really go all the way across, because I still need to do an exhaust cut out. Maybe I should move on to other areas until I get the exhaust sorted out.

Thats not a terrible idea actually. I would need to leave some room for exhaust.

Ah, the bottom edge. What I would like to do is run a curved piece the length of it, so it matches up with the "lips" on either side. I just don't know where I can get that long of a curved piece, because I'm pretty sure I can't make it myself. I have been kicking around the idea of cutting a slice from some exhaust tubing.

Rear end update. I have been welding, sanding and applying bondo for the last few weeks. I was trying my hardest to get the metal as flat as possible, but I was getting frustrated in my search for perfection. I decided it was time to let some body filler do its job. Here are some pics after a guide coat of primer, its not totally dry but you get the idea:

Rear end update. I have been welding, sanding and applying bondo for the last few weeks. I was trying my hardest to get the metal as flat as possible, but I was getting frustrated in my search for perfection. I decided it was time to let some body filler do its job. Here are some pics after a guide coat of primer, its not totally dry but you get the idea:

sounds like someone is swapping vin tags

So, I think that this is the plan for the Alsil mounts correct? My question is about the "notes". Can someone explain them? What is supposed to be 1" and 7/8" away from what? The hole from the bottom of the bracket? I take it this will tilt the engine a bit?

To me, it makes the front end look shorter than it already does. You would think the opposite, but thats what it looks like to me. I may be biased, I like the 2+2 look, and stare at one in my garage on a daily basis

Small update. I just picked up a t-5 tranny for a reasonable price. Combined I spent 700 for the engine and tranny (so far). The flywheel looks like it will need to be re-surfaced and I will be getting a new clutch. I hope to have mounts mocked up by the end of the winter, but I really need to get cracking on my body work.

I don't know the answer to you r question, but I have to agree they have a very nice line.

Thanks for the info, are you happy with the set-up? Also, what headders do you run with them?

So while searching I cam across Dave's website, www.V8-240Z.com. I found pictured of motor mounts that look to be fairly easy to fabricate, like these: My question is what kind of mount do I need on the engine block? Is that custom also?

Im still thinking twice pipes... Because its a 2+2, I need to extend them about 12" anyway. I was thinking off the headers, into an x-pipe to take up the slack, then into twice pipes.

Slowly but surely....

Sometimes it feels like no matter how much I work on this, I make no progress. Anyway, here is what I have been up to: Beau's ghetto body shop. I modified an 11 dollar dent puller to accept steel nails, which I clipped the points off and welded to the body. Works amazingly well. I also have been hacking away at the rear end, its almost done. Here it is stripped and almost in its final place, getting both modified coupe rear lower quarter to match has been a real pain. And here is a quick shot under the valve cover of the engine, it looks almost brand new. I dont know if thats good or bad.