Stock Car Mafia

I am looking to buy a R200 clutch or viscous LSD out of a 1987-1989 Z31 300ZX Turbo. Let me know what you have available via PM and I can provide my cell phone number. Also if you have an Z31T 4 bolt cv axles that would be great as well! I have been searching high and low these past 2 months... Thanks in advance! Wade

Well so far, I am feeling the same way. I mean I had a GREAT idea what I am looking for but any question I asked get vaguely answered and really they should have a spec sheet they ask questions off of...i.e. top speed, tire size, weight of car, hp/tq goals, shaft length, diff flange size, etc. I've told the guy 3 times in the email just to call me so I can get it ordered....just email responses. haha

I made a few phone calls today. I found a welding company in a town nearby that will TIG weld the v-band on my header collectors. I've emailed back and forth about 30 times today to get a driveshaft lined up for the car. A 3" aluminum shaft with 1310 spicer sealed u-joints and a billet slip yoke for $580 from Driveshaft Shop. He fudged up the first email back several weeks and didn't include the $100 cost of the yoke. I also made a Jeg's purchase today. - 15 gallon black powder-coated aluminum fuel cell (Jegs #555-15338) - Billet 100-micron pre-pump fuel filter (Jegs #555-150005) - Vibrant Performance 3" stainless steel V-bands x2 (Jegs #231-1491) I am going to order the fuel lines, russell fittings, and so forth from Summit as they are cheaper on these items. I just need the tank now to start fabbing my mounts. I am hoping to make a fill neck and a flip down license plate so I can shave the gas cap off when I have the car painted. Any advice on this would be great. The v-bands are needed so I can have the shop take care of the headers so I can fab up the exhaust after the tank is mounted and driveshaft is in. I have plenty to do out in the garage but it seems I get out there and run out of things to do as I need parts! I need to just sit, chill, and think out the project more...

Well Keith, you called it. I called in to place an order for my shaft after I measured and the guy goofed up and didn't include the cost of the billet slip yoke. A 3" aluminum shaft, spicer nongreasable u-joints, and billet slip yoke is $580.

Man your car is really coming together! It's overwhelming when you have all the parts just sitting in a box

I was able to measure for a driveshaft (26" exact) and need to make a couple other measurements before I call it in. I am starting to wonder if I should consider the Q45 swap and axles before I go any further...The damn R200 CLSD and axles are so incredibly hard to find that I don't know if it is worth the wait. I'd really hate to spend months waiting for what may never come and not be able to rip on the car like I want to. We also threw the radiator in last night and took a couple metal coat hangers and bent them for the rad hoses. I need to get some rubber grommets to put on the bolts that secure the rad down to prevent any damage from vibration and twisting. I am going to get some rubber caps as well for the heater core and water pump. The tranny cooler lines need plugs as well. I'll have to call them and see what size/thread pitch they are. The darn alternator still needs some trimming in order to clear the steering shaft knuckle and bolt. I am probably going to send my harness in to Jim's performance and have him rework it all and delete what is not needed and reloom it all. I just don't have to time to read for mind numbing hours on the topic. I don't find it very entertaining and if I can get it back for $400 and just hook it up I am happy with that. I also need to call a couple fuel cell companies tomorrow and see what is available for E85 compatability. I really would like to have the option of going this route without spending more money down the road if I chose to. Right now all I keep reading is aluminum tanks, foam, and most sending units don't hold up well against it when it sits for long periods, especially if it has been exposed to air/moisture. And last but not least, I would like to find a good TIG welder to weld the V-bands on and start planning the intake tubing I will need. I'll probably pick up an alunimized steel 3" builder kit from columbia river for the exhaust once the fuel system is figured out.

Stopping to get a nice carbide bit was definitely helpful for opening the tranny tunnel holes. I just kept working away until it fit nice up against the frame and still fit snug. I was able to round up some help for this weekend too! It was a mix bag of workers and beer drinkers. It's just nice to have some other people around to keep your mind off of personal crap that goes on in your life that you think way too much about! My brother wire brushed all the tunnel surfaces clean as I finish welding up the motor mounts. After that we threw the motor and tranny in and test fitting the mount and it looks like it will all line up. We took the motor out and started welding the mount in. After that long process of welding, cooling, welding, etc. we put the motor and tranny back in to button it all up. The shifter sits about an inch lower than where I was thinking it was going to end up. The crossmember is about as high as it can go. I don't know if it will be a problem but the motor/tranny do angle down a little in the back. I put my buddy Ben on the task of solving how to get the damn steering shaft back on. This literally took several hours to figure out the damn order to get it back in. What it came down to is unbolting the whole steering column to pull it back and give room for getthing the shaft in, then throwing on the 2 spacers, bushing, and bolts. WHAT A NIGHTMARE! It should go smoother next time though, but it does take an extra set of hands and a jack stand in the car....

disepyon, here is your clearance picture! These mounts are so low that the pan hits the steering mount brackets. I still have to dremel more away. But the pulley is about 15/16" to 1" away from the steering rack. There is plenty of room there.

That quote from the DDS was for a billet slip yoke and either a 2.5" or 3" shaft and 1310 spicer U-joints. They quoted $480 for an aluminum one which I will probably opt for.

Santa also delivered another early xmas gift! It is the Champion 3 row radiator (CC634) and the Ledfoot aluminum shroud and 2, 12" fans. I still don't have an overflow tank planned out and I'll more than likely plug the tranny cooler lines. I'm really hoping I quit procrastinating and get my fuel system ironed out so I can order those parts. Once I get the xmember tacked in, I'll drop the motor in to test fit again and look at any issues. It'll get pulled out again, fully welded up, dropped back in, and I'll measure for the driveshaft then as well.

I was able to get an hour or so in the garage tonight. I finally got my Roloc grade 50 bristle disc to clean off the old gasket material on the heads. I started cutting through the floor after I had marked where to cut for the transmission xmember. The rear brake line had to be pulled out of the way so it didn't get cut. I drilled a couple pilot holes to give me guidance for where to cut. I used a 4 inch cut off wheel and then a sawzall. This is the pass side. And the driver side. The floors have some thick spots of the sound deadener that I scraped away. I haven't scraped the underneath but i got it close enough for tonight. I'm probably going to work on widening these holes just enough so the mount can be pushed in and held.

Driveshaft Shop will make a steel one for around $380 if you don't have one to shorten.

I can definitely get more pics of the clearance between it and the rack and also provide some measurements. Right now the motor is out so I can find the time to cut up the floor and weld the tranny crossmember in. When I throw it back in I'll put it on my list to take care of. Thanks ladams! I plan on keep adding to it each day I work on the car. I just want to provide as much feedback as I can for other people looking to do the same.

Did you take your dash out to get at the gauges?

Oh man! Another turbo build

I also dicked around with alternator fitment on the car. The alternator does have enough clearance from the steering rack. Keep in mind this is the LS1 alt. and I have not wired the harness for the plug yet. You have to cut down the exhaust port a good amount to clear the steering knuckle. If you cut it off at a 45 deg. angle and flush with the inner semi-circle it fits perfect. In the pic below, I hadn't cut enough off yet.

I figured dropping in the tranny/engine combo would take more effort to slide the LT's in and get the motor mounts in. I had to set my engine leveler pretty far forward to ge the tranny to dip in to the tunnel but once I had that set, I never touched it again. I lowered it in to the engine bay and once the tranny got low enough, I put a jack underneath of it. I used this to keep the tranny at a decent level and dropped the bad boy in! It got to midnight last night, so I didn't get any measuring done for the x-member but I would have to say the tranny fits in there quite well!

I ended up getting that one little pesky rear passenger seat bolt out as well. I didn't have a 1/8" drive socket and ratchet set but I knew the sockets would be more shallow than what I have. I had to use my large flashlight as a breaker bar too since I couldn't get anything else under the seat. I have to thank my engineering buddy Mike for his in a pinch ingenuity! I got the kick panel bolts and door jam pieces out so I could pull the carpet out. The parking brake light was disconnected, and a couple snap buttons for the parking brake boot and out it came! The only rust I really could find was on the passenger side under the seat. There is a quarter size spot that when you push on it from above and below, you can tell the cancer has gotten to it. NOT WORRIED however, because down the road this will get rectified.

Well I couldn't find my printout from which sensors had been deleted from the stock harness so I had to reach out to the guy I bought the motor from. He was nice enough to email me the list: - VATS Security 1 & 2 - Fuel Tank Purge - Fuel Tank Evap - Torque management was reduced - Rear O2 sensors - Bank 2 sensor 2 - Bank 1 sensor 2 - Clutch pedal input switch - CAGS/Skip shift With the skip shift eliminated, I did a little digging on the LS1Tech forums and figured out you could use a drain plug from a 1983-1986 Plymouth Horizon 1.6L 4 cylinder. It's got the M20 x 1.5mm thread pattern (Dorman Part #090-040). Most people take a dremel/carbide bit and shave off the steel collar on the plug so it can thread in farther. Since there is a larger O-ring in the tranny I didn't want to chance it leaking so I left it as is. You can get a little more than a full turn on the threads, so I just threw a good chunk of blue loctite on the threads and Vasoline'd the O-ring. I also removed the stock slave cylinder that was on the tranny and got it ready to be bolted up and transplanted in the car.

Man I've really enjoyed reading through this. Let us know if that phantom grip holds up as you throw the miles on it. I rebuilt a rear end and diff in an 07 mustang and since I'm stuck with an open R200, I really want to try the Phantom Grip out. Keep up the good work!

Very good work sir. Who makes those strut tower braces? If you don't end up using or getting a weld in pair, I'd be interested in picking them up.

I also pulled the driver seat tonight and got 3/4 bolts on the passenger side. The one damn bolt with the littlest room is the one that is the most seized. I am getting rather frustrated with it as none of my sockets/wrenches/ or swivels work to get enough contact with the bolt to break it loose. I even tried putting a socket in a vice grip to get more leverage...no go. I pulled the carpet up to really see underneath for the first time. I am REALLY liking how little rust I am able to find on the floor boards! I still don't regret getting this chassis! I did get Bruce's cell phone number and was able to call and talk to him for a good 15 minutes. He is a pretty down to earth guy and really stands behind his products. He did mention that the tranny mount is a little tricky. The floor needs to be cut out where the mounts will be and wedged in. He welded them to the frame solid and then stitch welded the frame to the floor. Following that a healthy coat of seamsealter did the trick in his application. He also said if you remove the foam padding from the x-member portion of the carpet, you will never notice the mounts sticking up. I will be sure to post up pictures of this as I go. That's it folks! Until the next day I can find some time. We have year end inventory at work, where I will be staying late to make sure everything gets accomplished.

And really the end result was this.... I definitely wanted to see the motor sitting in there! Ahh what a relief to see that monster waiting to feel out its new home

So after doing all of this, there are a few things I noted to take care of once I take it out soon. - The driver side trans tunnel needs to be pounded out. I want to make room for the V band on the collector. I will be taking headers in once everything fits to have the V band tig welded on. - The brake line bracket will have to be moved to another spot. I need to find some one hole brake line brackets anyways. Here are some photos just to show you the routing and how close everything is near the block.

A little update for today. I got home around 5 but I did manage to stay awake working til 9. I scrambled to get the suspension bolted back on so I could drop the motor in. The front is so damn easy to disassemble! I just wish my crap wasn't so damn greasy. All the ball joints are blown out so I will be getting new ones. Is there any good recommendations out there besides Moog? I bolted up the engine plates and mounts. The passenger side was a little finicky and required most of them to be loose so you can start them all before tightening. I put the engine on the hoist and wanted to check fitment with the motor and headers. First thing that was noted when dropping it in is the front of the pan on the drivers side contacts the steering rack U-Bolt. I am not sure if this is needed but I just removed it for now. I figured I can position it differently at another location if it is necessary. After hoisting it up and putting it back down it became aparent that the steering rack wouldn't clear the pan on the drivers side either. It is on the inside portion of the steering collar where the bushing is. I just took a 4 inch cut off wheel and notched it a bit for now. I'll need to dremel it smooth and sand before it gets powdercoated. Just so everyone is aware, this little bracket on the passenger side will have to be removed as well for the headers. I definitely tore a larger hole in my engine bay by just air hammering it off. Oops. I guess I will get to patch a panel in before the engine bay is finished. Now there definitely was a technique to dropping the motor and the headers in. They fit really nice and aren't that hard to get in and out. I would expect this to be a little harder once the tranny is bolted to it as well. 1. Drop motor in. 2. Slide passenger side header in. 3. Drop it a little further, almost to the mounts. 4. Slide the driver side header in and bolt up the front bolt. 5. Lower the motor and put the passenger side motor mount bolt in. 6. Lower the motor more and put the driver side motor mount bolt in. 7. Bolt up the rear header bolt. Since the passenger side is a little tighter with the starter, it seemed best to get this in first. The driver side fits quite tight in the rear and the collector contacts the side of the tranny tunnel.