Stock Car Mafia

You will have to drop the motor in seperate. As you get several inches away from the motor mounts lining up, you then need to drop the headers in. I do believe I put the passenger side in first as the starter is in the way. Then you can shove the motor to the pass side and drop the driver side one in. It's best done with another person.

This was the read that I needed this morning!

Keith has been kind enough to give me some telephone time to discuss measurements for my rear struts. He was able to determine the rear strut tower for a 240z is 2 inches lower than a 280z. Tomowow we are going to measure to see if the stock isolator for a 280z makes up for this difference in reference to where the shock bolts to depth wise. It's been another long night of scuffing and painting. I think I should only have one batch of parts left to do. The killer part is I am waiting for the shortened axles and companion flanges to rebuild those and get on the car so it can be on all 4 feet again.

Well Keith, I finally got in touch with Ground Control on the kit. Another guy does belive I removed too much from the rear strut tubes...I removed a total of 3.15" from the rear and 1.42" from the front. He mentioned I should have been told to remove the same amount from the front and add a spacer underneath the shock out of 1 5/8" O.D. tubing. I haven't painted the rears yet as I am replacing the inner bearings however I am open to some option to correct this. I have the sections I removed and think I should just bite the bullet and resection them...I was hoping to avoid this! S#!t!

ehren, how did your rear struts turn out and what was the overall length from the bottom of the tube to the top gland nut? Mine are 15" (just like it says in the sectioning FAQ). Information on sectioning 280Z rear struts are all over the place and I think I might have removed too much (80 mm) from the rear.

Do you have an update on how these worked out and did you get them on the car? I've removed the same amount you have for my rear struts and I've been reading and reading and reading on this. I am close to painting them which is why I want to make sure they are right...

Thanks Henness. I think this is what I will do.

Guys, I am looking for some part numbers for the inner and outer CV boots. I do believe I've found what I need off of RockAuto.com but the inner boot shows it is gray. Are there any available BLACK inner boots for the CV's? Have a "kit" that comes with the circlips would be preferred. Outer CV Boot - Beck/Arnley #1033018 Inner CV Boot - This is the one I am struggling with. - Dorman #614002 There may be vendors out there that carry replacments but most of their sites are extremely vague and provide no data or pictures. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Parts order will consist of: Porterfield R4-S pads Rebuild kit for stock calipers Drum brake parking boots Rear Inner Bearing and 2 seals CV Boots - Inner and Outer for axle swap. Can someone point me to the best "kit" that is the most reasonable in cost? Fender Flare Bolts, Washers, and nut inserts More 3M tape More seamsealer The part I am struggling as of late is to find time to complete all of these damn tasks!

Hornedcow, you are right. The pan (and the Hawks headers) both sit lower than the cross member by several inches. I never measured mine. As far as ground clearance it SHOULD hit the headers first before the pan. I still am worried about putting strain on the headers, in turn putting force on the header bolts and so forth. For the pan, I think it would be wise to make a skid plate in the future to prevent road debris from contacting and damaging the oil pan.

No real updates other than blowing black buggers. I have 2 rounds of parts scuffed and painted. Most of the front suspension components are done and I have all of the rear yet to do. My brother possibly is bringing up the front hubs, dust plates, and rear struts this weekend. I'll be placing another parts order shortly for odds and ends that are still needed.

Alternator Clearance - I can prove that the F-body alternator bracket does fit. It is very tight. This is all I have for a picture, however I had to trum the shroud to contour the circular shape of the alt. to clear the steering knuckle. I sat to do some thinking on this because I obviously need a solution too. That bracket could essentially be moved to the passenger side as in this picture? Does anyone see any oposition to this?

Good feedback MECH-E. This is making me rack my brain too, but yes I had to remove that clamp as well. I do believe that keeps the steering rack from re-orientating along its axis. I don't think it is necessary, but I will post if I find otherwise. Once I removed that clamp the motor dropped down and rested on the next lowest thing. The steering rack clamps. Once this was clearanced, it dropped to the crossmember. Let me dig up some pictures for reference. I don't want to thread jack your findings, but this is good information for all others trying this set up. This is all the material I had to move to feel comfortable. I tack welded the new plating in and test fitted again. It still is quite tight on the driver side near the steering rack mounts.

MECH-E, how close is your oil pan to the crossmember? Any rubbing there? MY oil pan touched the crossmember AND the steering rack bushing and brackets.

My brother finished the first batch of parts on Thursday so I had a spare of the moment urge to go pick them up on Sunday. Being 2 hrs. away I wasn't phased. He used a high quality industrial primer with hardener in it. I am not sure of the brand or makeup of it but he swears by it. I guarantee my satin black paint will chip off and his gray will remain! All of the parts turned out FANTASTIC. He mentioned there was very little rust when he was blasting the parts which I am thankful for. Now for days and DAYS of scuffing the parts for paint. That's the game plan for this week. Updated suspension/drivetrain goals: 1. Get struts sections and welded up. 2. Remove old bushing, ball joints, and tie rods. 3. Send parts off to powdercoater. Still considering colors for this. Black or a medium gray to change it up. Have brother sandblast. 4. Scuff and paint suspension. VHT Rollbar & Chassis satin black. 5. Install front wheel bearings. 6. Replace one rear inner stub axle bearing. 7. Install new bushings. 8. Tear in to the R200 CLSD and check tolerances and install the new clutch discs. 9. Swap open R200 pinion flange on to CLSD R200 pinion. 10. Wait for Chequered Flag Joe's shortened axles and 27 spline flanges. Rebuild axles and assemble rear drivetrain. 11. Cut front spring perch for camber plates. 12. Reassemble. This should wrap up this upgrade so I can move back to the motor swap: 1. Install clutch MC 2. Install brake MC and adjust push rod. 3. Weld up engine bay holes. 4. Find firewall plugs or weld in patches. 5. Drop in motor. 6. Fab and weld up exhaust. 7. Find solution for steam vent. 8. Mount and wire gauges in dash. 9. Wire up engine harness. 10. Make battery cables. There's quite a few more smaller tasks but I won't list them, I am going to keep this list going to bring some organization back to the project. I am getting really excited by the thought of this thing running soon!

Very helpful post Keith! I will proceed as indicated. Jim, that car is looking fantastic! Keep the updates coming.

That is my biggest fear. Losing a tire that rolls and sets its own fate. At that point I am more worried about what it would hit than my car. The statement of breaking these on road courses kind of definitely makes my butthole tighten up. I've read the metallurgy wasn't very consistent axle to axle. CF did mention he would take a down payment for a set of axles if I wanted, however I would have to wait at LEAST 5 weeks for them to get to him. Then shipped to me. Right now, since demand isn't high, he needs to pay for a batch all up front and it takes him x amt. of months to turn over that inventory. My hats off to him for continuing this great service for everyone on here. I will be rebuilding the Z31T half axles I have with his axle kit. He said in a week or two they should be back from being splined (same with the 27 spline companion flanges). I'll then buy a set at that time.

Keith, I was really hoping that CF would have the 39 splines stubs on hand but they were out. It's not worth my time to wait. From my reading, I should be safe with the 280z stub's since I will not be running slicks or dumping the clutch. The 27 splines should hold but correct me if I am wrong. Just as you are, I tend to notice very minute details that the majority of people would overlook. I just like to have a well rounded/though out/polished project! That of course means I will never be finished.

Awesome Jim! What pads did you go with for your stock brakes? I picked up some Hawks HPS pads. I think they should be sufficient for me now. Interested to see how yours perform.

On the inside of those axles it is a sealed bearing so I should be safe to remove them. The only thing I could think of is it was used as a spacer for the studs. lol I am going to remove them when I put it back together. This week is pretty much shot. I have some personal stuff to get together for next week so I don't foresee any work until next Wednesday.

I do believe Hoke has his beta kit released. I believe you have to trade in your engine cross member as a "core" and the kit is still quite spendy. It is $1,110 with no AC mounts. It is posted on his facebook as well.

Are these circlips needed for the Z31T half axles?

Thank you sir! I'm glad I started a build thread because its crazy looking back and seeing what I've been able to accomplish already. And I don't feel like im close to finished. I've seen your car somewhere before but I did just find your build thread. I will have to give yours a read through. If you do a turbo LS build I will be watching for updates daily! Looks like you already make good power though

Thanks for the advise guys. I was able to use a 2 jaw puller on top of the slide hammer to get it off. The flange was rusted on the splines pretty good. I took an impact to the puller and broke it free. Then would alternate the slide hammer and puller. It was quite tricky! I was a little perplexed by the axle grease in the axles...One is a white paste and the other seems light a high temp/bearing grease. The one bearing with the white grease doesn't spin freely and I'm curious if it is cooked. I will clean it up and see how it spins. Do those thin square backing plates serve a purpose on the back side of the stub? I don't see why they would need to be there. On another note all of the studs are pressed out ready for longer ones. I ended up washing the Mustang tonight and covering it again, so I can paint the parts when they come back. I am going to pocket the money from powdercoating. Down the road this allows me to buy new aftermarket parts

I think those are going for about 75-80K right now. I know most I've looked at have more miles but I think for 70K I would consider it a "10 percent discount". If your financing fees and interest are included and gets you under 70K I think it's reasonable! I like the looks of the car, but there are others out there making more power.