rags

Working through the teething pain but she's coming along very nicely.

Well I finished up the Electric PS install on my 78 last night. Excellent piece! Right now I have sensitivity being augmented by a potentiometer. This works well with the ECU's program that takes steering input into consideration when applying assist. Next up will be to tie in the LS1's ECU speed signal to have true speed sensitive powersteering. Overall I'm very happy with the kit. Joe

If you don't have enough clearance for a power rack, why not look into electric powersteering? Joe

I ordered from EZPOWESTEERING.NL last Friday and had a package sitting on my front steps yesterday. Ordering from the Netherlands including exchange rate and shipping came out to $1520.00 to my door. They did ship me the wrong firewall flange but dealing with them has been a breeze and I expect the new flange to be here in a few days. I'll let you know how the install goes. Joe

We just did an LS2 swap from a GTO and used the GTO pedal. Very simple installation. All we did was bolt a plate to the firewall at the stock pedal location and then bolt the GTO pedal to that plate. Took about a half hour. Joe

And she's out of the garage! Looks like she's ready to take on big brother

Car is ready to head to the custom exhaust shot for a set of stainless long tubes and true duals. Only other pieces to get are a belt and the shifter offset lever inside the trans for an Fbody. Anybody know off the top of their head what size belt to use when using an LS2 from a GTO? Also, Keith, you wouldn't happen to have a part number for the shifter offset lever inside the trans shifter housing would you? I should have read your post more carefully! Joe

If your car is like mine and you are using the original slave cylinder, I think the new fluid turns black so fast because it is mixing with the clutch dust that is already in the slave cylinder. I would think flushing the fluid a few times in succession would clean it out. I just swap out what is in the master every month or two and so far the clutch is working perfectly. Oh, and don't worry about the squirt that comes out of the master with the screen out. Mine does it as well. Joe

Once you remove the peened nut, the flange that the halfshaft (4 bolts) mounts to will come off. Use the slide hammmer and pull the stub axle out from the outside. Once you do this you will see how the bearings are lubricated. Basically the hub houses grease the that lublrcates the bearings. Slap a handful of grease in the hub and reassemble. Joe

Today we made some progress as well. All of the wiring is finished with the exception of the fan relay and power lead to the fuel pump. Tach and speedo are done, brakes are bled, the clutch is bled and block hugger headers are in. It's going together very well! Joe

A few months ago a good friend of mine asked me if I would help him find a good Z car to play with. He owned a 260 30 some odd years ago in high school and always thought about owning one again. After 2 days of looking (yeah, he was very lucky) he picked up an extremely clean 73 from Colorado and had it shipped to NJ. Then he drove my LS 280 and got the itch. Next thing I knew he was searching for a 6 speed donor. It wasn't very long and he was driving to Pa to pick up an LS2/T56 from a 2006 GTO! His next question was "What am I going to do about suspension and brakes?" so I sent him to all of the usual places to compare what was available for our S30's. A few days later, an ArizonaZCar track pack was ordered complete with Q45 diff. We welded in some bad dog rails and a fuel cell and it was time to trailer the car to my garage for the transformation. After 2 days the driveline is in and the ride height set on the suspension. We have run into a few snags with the fuel lines, not having the correct fittings to connect everything up, it appears JCI sent a driveshaft that is too short for the short nose R200, and not having the correct shifter. Not too bad. Today we'll wire the fuel pump, bleed the brakes,get power to the ECU, install the speedo and hook up the tach. A very productive weekend. If we keep this up and the parts we need get here this week, we should have the car moving under it's own power by the end of next weekend! Progress Joe

I still have my money on the T5 Joe

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-Datsun-240Z-Veggie-Car-/230833135367?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item35beba1f07

What LS2 starter did you use? Mine came from a GTO and it uses a ring connector. Joe

I don't bother changing the bearing, I change the trans. When it gets really bad, you can pull the driveshaft and move the output shaft of the trans side to side. A good trans will have some play but the bad ones the play gets very excessive. I have opened up a few of them and for some reason, it appears that the countershaft is located too far away from the primary shaft causing a significant amount of play. I don't claim to be a transmission engineer and there is probably a reason for how and where the countershaft was placed but it just does not seem right to me when comparing the play with any other model trans. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, when this trans starts acting up, it is getting replaced with a Z32 trans Joe

I know it would seem weird that the problem would be before the diff since you only did a diff change to have the situation come up, but are you by any chance using a BW trans? The rattling noise heard in the second video sounds exactly like my BW trans do when they lose their tailshaft bearing. I've gone through 3 of these now and figuring out the vibration was coming from the trans and not the diff/axles the first time was very difficult. A stethoscope on the trans while in gear and on the lift will tell you the condition of the trans. If the tailshaft bearing is worn badly, you will also be able to see the front driveshaft u-joint slightly wobble around while spinning. The wobble will not be steady but you will be able to see it. Not saying this is your problem, just giving you some insight from my experience. Joe

Search. There are many places that can supply you with a harness. IMO Speartech, although pricy, is the best. Joe

I used a Magnaflow 12198 instead of a Y pipe. From there I have 3" mandrel bent stainless to a flange just before a Magnaflow 11229 in the stock mufler location. I also have a straight pipe that is the same length as the 11229 with the same tip on it. I can swap out the straight pipe for the second muffler for those times when I'm feeling "old". Best of both worlds! Joe

Cable, which windage try do you use on the LS2 with the F body pan?

looks like the rotor is the wrong diameter. The ones look have appear to be too small. Joe

Ugggh, sorry for the late response, vacation got in the way! Anyway, the back edge of the door panel that runs along the door lock mechanism area needs to be trimmed about an inch. This edge is a lot straighter that the earlier doors as the body opening that the door fits against has an extra lip to it. Hard to explain but if you look at your car door opening, you will see what I'm talking about. Joe

With some slight trimming they do fit the 77/78 doors! I have them on mine door panels

email addy is rags260z@verizon.net. Joe

What do you want for the dash? Price on the bumpers if they are for an early 260, I'm interested. Joe

Yep, that's the one. The car now has red seats and the slotted rims are now on the car. As Clive's pictures indicate, the car still has the flat top carbs on the motor which function surprisingly well! Dave also has a set of round tops that he might be interested including in the sale of the car if the price is right. If he keeps doing the small details on the car the price will probably go up so act quickly Joe