datsunlover

That is rediculus ( there's a red 'SP' mark..) and I have to agree that yes, we are rasing a generation of pansies.. I'm with Doc. Denis Leary; "My mother didnt love me, and I just done feel good about myself.. and... SHUT THE F$%K UP!! NEXT!!!!" Man oh man... If you don't teach kids to learn FROM mistakes, they will learn nothing. Ever. If I make a mistake, and my boss tells me so, I DEAL with it! Thats the way life is.. you are going to do things wrong the first time.. or 5.. And if the color red is 'negative' and makes you feel some way.. well, sorry. What a brave new world we live in...

Yah, dot is running a corvette rearend/shafts iirc, so it was 'simple' for the rear on his car.. I was thinking about this as well (love that 'just slides right on' swap for the front!) and wondered if anyone here HAS redrilled the datsun rear hubs to suit a chev 5 bolt pattern? Is there enough matirial there, and if so, would the chev patern end up haveing one of the holes 'run into' one of the datsun holes? I keep rolling this around in my head, as decent chev rims (15" 16") are easy to come by.. and I need a brake upgrade anyway... but I'm finding it hard to source out 15 or 16" rims for my Z.. (localy, and cheep)

well, I'm aprenticing at a machine shop right now, and we have some nice welding equipment. I've been learing on that, and my little 110 gasless mig for a little over a year now.. And for anything I want to look nice, I'll go over it with the tig. I feel pretty confident that I can clean the car up good and weld in some structural support.. I was considering welding a rear brace in permanently.. but now am thinking of just doing a 4 point cage back there; It'll give some suport, AND make it a bit safer in the event of a crash.. I'm looking localy for someone to bend me some pipe to fit, and I'll weld it in.. The plan is to attach it to the floor behind the seats/ tie it to my 2x2 frame rails. The front will definatly have some sort of braceing for the strut towers too.. I'll have to figure that out after the motor is in place though.

Well the Z is a 75, and I already have (half ass sort of.. ) the frame conected with two pieces of 2X2 sq tube.. but the front unibody is what wories me, as it has had at least two previous 'repairs' from what I can tell. Not like accident damage, just badly fixed rust issues, and lots of ugly (looks like STICK) welding all over the front rails. I want that end to at least be stronger than it is.. and I'm not woried about adding a few pounds to the car for stifness, seeing as I'll have TONES of power to make up for the gains. I am gona switch to a rear diff from a zx (mines had it; lots of noise/leaks/and clunks) and get new bushings/mounts tfor the whole car, suspension included. I guess I'd beter make a 'shoping' list and start ordering that stuff.. As for guages, I'd like to get the stock z's working (trying to make this a sleeper) but if it's a big headach, I'll just replace evrything with aftermarket stuff...

Ok.. um.. a couple things.. wtf is 'woot woot' Maybe I'm getting old... Second.. forgive my ignorance but what is a zz4? And I thought there were lots of guys here running big bad V8 hi-po monsters through an r200 or r230 with no problems.. and IMHO, the Z's IRS is a good system.. I never understood why people would want to rig in a solid axle.. unless it's a dedicated drag car that gets trailered to the track, and really has no place being driven on the street..

Nope, no work for me either.. stupid complicators... It says Im in (puts my name up) but I don't get a window to type in.. crappy..

Alllrighty.. Im hanging...

Yah.. it says Im 'in' there.. but Igot no window or anything...

Well, do you hear a 'click click' sound from under the dash (drivers side) similar to the sound when the signals are on? If not, I'd say the relay is shot. I had to replace both of mine when I got my car. Don't know if its in the same spot in 240/60's but in my 280 its under the drivers side lower dash panel.. mine was just kinda 'tossed' up in there.. I found a spot and bolted it in, but it's fine just hanging.. Heck, could be just the wiring clip has got coroded. If you can find them (hazard and signal should be close to eachother) try switching them around.

Good find man! Hey.. wana set of 14" 6 spokes to put winter tires on for that zx? Maybe a partial trade plus some $$ for the 16" 7 spokes? (I'm looking for some nice rims for my 280z that I can get some wide tires on... 351 windsor gona have some power.. heh heh ) As for the 'stalling but starting up again' thing.. maybe the coil is breaking down? I've had that problem before.. not in a z, but other vehicles..

Doood.. just pull the carbs and clean them up yourself! Trust me, they are EASY to figure out. Just do one at a time. It took me and a friend about 2.5 hours to tear down, clean with varsol, and re-assemble both carbs. Made my own gaskets (sheet of gasket paper is cheep) and took my time. Seriously, these are probly the sipmlest carbs ever built.. and I threw them on my car and had it running in 20 mins. A week of tuning and fidling (don't have a unisyn.. did it 'by ear') and they work awesome.. come to think of it, I havn't touched them in 3 months, and the car still runs great!

I think with enough time and money.. and thought, you could 'transplant' just about evrything to a zx platform.. EVRYthing would have to be custom fab'd.. but it would be do-able for sure IMO.. Basicaly, you could cut up the 350Z... and piece it into the zx.. Like the whole front clip; firewall forward.. attach the zx body metal to it.. rear 'frame' section w/diff and suspension and brakes.. ect.. Oh yah.. why not?!?

Well, I'm gona do it. I told my friend I'll take it, just have to sell a vehicle (no need for 2 daily drivers... I dono wtf I'm doing sometimes..) to gather the funds.. Whichever one I sell, I'll get around $3k and that's pretty much the buget I'm working with.. well, probly 2500 cause I have a few things to take care of before the car.. ANYway, this buget has to be stretched to unclude the brake upgrade, suspension work, and mounts/exhast/rad/ect for the driveline. I'm confident that I can do it within this range, as long as the 'while I'm at it' bug doesnt bite me too hard.. I'm gona run the C4 auto with the Hurst ratchet shift for next year anyway (seeing as it's already attached to the 351) and may look for a deal on a 6 speed next summer/fall. Also, I figure that this swap will be enough work as it is, without adding the cost/time/work of a 6 speed to it. As for HP/torque, I can ask my local ford dealership to run the VIN tag and get all the specs.. and probly the service histpry too. My friend (seller) figures in it's 'stock' form, it's around 275Horse/300Torque, but I dono if thats acurate. Either way, after I rip off the A/C, power steering, air pump, and dump it in a light little Z.. it's gona FLY!

Thats the one Wags. To bad I'm way up here in Kanaduh, and it's a few grand out of my price range right now! I wonder if the frame has been strengthened up in that zx already.. From what I recall, arn't the zx's a bit tricky to put frame conectors in, compared to the earlier z's? I definatly like the zx 'look' as a convertable though... Hmm.. more wheels turning in my head now.. great...

Hmm.. well as for the car dying without the choke on, I'd say the carbs just have to be adjusted a little richer. Sounds like they are too lean, and with the choke on, it gets just enough fuel to run, but it starves it when you turn off the choke.. And you say you did the points and timing.. what's the timing set at? You might not be advanced enough, or the vac advance may be shot/not working (check the vacum line for cracks). Sounds like the same prob I had when I put my SU's on. Just a thought, (this helped me simlify things a bit) you could replace your dizzy with a newer electronic 280zx unit with the black box on it. Very simple to wire up, and it gets rid of that awful 'dual pickup/transistor ignition/relay/mess of wires' system the 280s came with. Good luck man.

I thought of that as well.. but wasn't the 2+2 stretched in length a bit? I think that might make it look a bit awkward as a convertable.. not that the 2+2 isn't weird looking ENOUGH already. And beeing a rare model, it might be hard to come across.. I have only ever seen ONE in real life up here.. I'd like to see pics of ANY conversion on a z though, preferably with close-up detail on the construction of the trunk area, and what gets done with the door window track/chrome piece...? I'm also considering maybe a 280zx for the conversion.. I saw one on the web a few months back, and IMO the converable makes the zx look better..

Yah.. I saw that and thought.. WTF?!? Who the hell thought that up.. Stromburgers eh.. heh.. my budys car has twin webers; also running like a bag of crap! Turns out the rear carb has the WAY wrong jets in it due to a previous owner trying to compensate for one of the cams beeing off a tooth on timing! The back two cylinders apparently were not firing properly, cause the valves are open at the wrong time!! I'm trying to convince him to let me build a custom manifold and put twin SU Z carbs on it. SOooooo easy to tune.. His has issues up at high rpm as well.. makes a lot of noise at wot, but not much more 'pull' you know? I tryed to get hime to jam a V8 in there but it's not gona happen..

Heh heh.. Yah, seams like a PITA car to WORK on.. those weird british buggers.. I dont understand WHY they built some things like they did... but when they're drivable, its quite a thing to bomb down the road with the top down at 75 MPH! So you have one in the shop..what's it in for Drax?

Well if the carbs were off that much I'd think you'd have other issues; backfiring/poping out carbs and exhast, rough idle, sputter on acceleration, ect.. Have you done a compresion check lately? OR... check the timing? Could be it isn't advancing enough (bad points/vac advance?) or is set incorectly..

Yah, that would be my first guess; Thermotime switch. If it's misreading, it can mess with the ecu..

DOOOOD!! I feel your pain.. I had a 1/2" of bondo on my rear 1/4's AND all across the hatch.. Awsome job on the fron frame though man.. I'm gona ply copycat on that I think.. my front frame is fugly, and I want to drop a 351 in so.. yah.. time for some strengthining! Keep up the good work man!

Cool man, glad I could help out! Sometimes it helps to use a tool to hold thw pieces together.. I've heard it called a 'pressbrake' but I don't know the 'proper' term is.. Basicaly, an old tire wrench with an extra piece of bar/whatever welded on the end with the socket. Hard to explain here.. hmmm.. Basically, the end with the 45 degree bend (with the socket) has another piece welded off it, and wraped with tape/foam. the other end, with the big flat screwdriver end can be used to hold or press against the metal. You can push using your arm/shoulder, leg, foot.. head.. whatever.. Looks like this sort of.. / / ] ] Pretty easy to build, and its like having a third hand to help out sometimes! I also find it helps to weld an inch or so, and then hamer/beat down the metal again before continuing to weld. The heat warps the metal, and does strange things sometimes. Oh and the time factor.. did you forget to times the estimated time by 3? Good luck man, sounds like your havin fun!

Well either way, I MUST V8 my 75 that I have now.. I just couldnt bare to cut it up though, seeing as it took me a year of blood sweat and tears (and dont forget MONEY ) to get it to where it is now. But I LOVE the way a z looks as a convertable! I don't know about doing a V8 convertable though.. too much all at once you know? I was just thinking by the time I'd get the conversion done, I'd be pretty tired of body/metal work, and could move on to V8/brake+suspension upgrade on the other Z, and enjoy the top down cruising.. it would also enable me to do the V8/ect stuf at a slow pace, so as not to rush things.. First thing though, I have to sell something (no, not the Z!) to gather some funds.. I'm drivin a 93 Kingcab, and have an 89 Pathfinder.. both worth (IMHO) around $3000 or so a piece.. I can only drive one, so one's gona go.. I'll see what happens in the next few weeks.. Man oh man.. I just HAVE to have a project..

First off, I'd say.. SEARCH! Second, IMHO it would be easier to swap a turbo engine/trans/ecu into a 75 or newer Z, as they came with a stronger chasis from the factory, had an R200 rear diff, AND had FI to start with.. so there is a spot/wiring for the ecu.

I've been thinking of doing a convertable Z for a while now.. kicking it around in my head, dreaming.. I also want to V8 my present Z (75 280) which is a good car now (runs/drives, looks good, ect) BUT it's too slow.. you know.. ANYway, a friend of mine recently took me for a ride in his dads 'new' car; a 75 Jensen-Healy convert. Wow... Nothing like cruising with the top down.. That ride started the wheels in my head, well, gave them a little push anyway... I recently looked at a 76 280 that needs body (yah, it's ugly) and some frame work, and a fuel pump. But it's all there, and I can probly get it fairly cheep.. I got to thinking.. I could put a frame in it (which it would need anyway for a rag top conversion) and use my SU/s w/3psi pump to make it drive..(I'm just assuming the FI is dead) 'Aparently' it has a rebuilt motor, new brakes all around, new struts, so other than the frame/strengthening and body work, I'd leave it stock. I figure over the winter, I should be able to build the 76 into a convertable, and make it driveable. (I don't drive mine in the rain now anyway, so it wouldn't even HAVE to have a top yet..) and then in the spring, pull my 75 apart and do the V8 swap.. maybe.. I'm having a hard time thinking about riping her apart, seeing as it's a complete driving car, and well.. it's pretty.. I thought.. Well, this would give me a project for the winter, and if it's not done by spring, I can drive my 75 Z. If it IS done, I'll drive the 76 covo, and V8 my 75 over the summer.. either way, I will for SURE have a Z to roll in next year.. Soo... anyone wana second the opinion that I should be comited to some sort of institution? (the first coming from my girlfriend)