zeeboost

Mike, those are some good points that you brought up. The only thing is that when I said previous hydraulic issues before the clutch failed, I was referring to my cheap O'Reily's remanned units that kept busting on me (3, I believe). I only started messing with the throw of the rod after the clutch began to have problems. But, again, you are right that I will need to address it before I install the new clutch.

Yeah, well, that's kind of a problem, because the only flywheel that I can use that adapts the pre-'86 engine to the T-56 (while using the stock bellhousing) is the 36 lb. flywheel is the one that Centerforce offers. I'm going to call them today and find out how much I can shave off of it. I checked this morning, and the clutch disc can only fit one way.

240zwannabe - No complaints about the tires, yet anyways. I've read a lot of reviews of people saying that they're noisy, but I suppose the engine must be a lot louder, because I haven't heard anything from the tires. Here's the story. The car had been sitting for about a week, and when I went out to go drive it, I pushed in the clutch, and suddenly the trans didn't want to go into gear. Having hydraulic issues before, I was expecting to see a puddle of dot 3 underneath me. When I didn't see anything, I figured I would replace the slave cylinder just incase. This still didn't help much, so I purchased an OEM slave cylinder (came with m/c and hardware) and followed Tim240z's method of drilling/tapping a 1/4" pipe fitting into it. After installing this, it still didn't help, so I shimmed the spacer in between the s/c and the bellhousing to get more throw from the push rod, this helped a little, but still had problems with the clutch disengaging. Afterwards, I noticed I had about 1" of play before my clutch pedal actually began to pump the m/c, so I drilled another hole in the pedal. This actually made things worse...then after a week it got much better. I rarely had problems with clutch engagement. Last wednesday when I was going to put the car in 1st after starting it in neutral, I heard a metal-sounding clink when I pushed the clutch down, and I could feel a large amount of vibration in the clutch pedal. My pedal feel dropped about 50% and the trans wouldn't go into gear at all. This is when I think the second spring went. I limped over to work, dropped the trans, and here I am. The damage came from the springs, they were the only things to fall out when I dropped the tranny. This is a common problem with the Stage 2/3 (they share the same spring hub) over on the camaroz28.com forum. Some people have good luck with them, and unfortunately, others have this happen. Apparently the tab that holds the spring in will just simply break. The new clutch went in when I rebuilt the engine. I spent about 8 hours on a Saturday and drove about 300-400 miles in city driving in order to break in the engine / clutch. Everything was working properly until I started the car that one day after it sat for a week. I'll look more into this tomorrow.

It worked fine, until the springs went. I installed it exactly as it came in the package.

Install a SPEC clutch! And the aftermath with the flywheel Well this would explain the problem I was having with clutch disengagement. The springs popped after approx. 3 months of driving. I never dumped the clutch, and anytime I would hit WOT in it, I would shift slowly / easily, trying to avoid damage. Looks like it wouldn't of mattered, though. Unfortunately, I found out that they are notorious for this AFTER I had installed it. This was a stage 3, and supposedly, the stage 2 isn't any better. Needless to say, I'm calling them tomorrow to see what they're going to do about this, because that is BS. I've heard some people say that they offer a huge discount to upgrade to the stage 4, which is a springless clutch, but I really don't know if I can trust another one of their clutches. I'm also going to call Centerforce tomorrow to see how much I can shave off without weakening the flywheel. It seems like I read somewhere that every aftermarket manufacturer uses the same PP, but a different clutch on the LT-based T56 transmissions, so if that's true, I think I'll look at a McLeod clutch instead. On a plus side, I found a couple of angles that I thought gave the 280zx a more "muscle" look (try and overlook the exhaust hanging down ): This angle looks better in person, but regardless, I still think it looks good. I'll keep you updated

Does that look like a RHD to you?

That car sounds AMAZING! Good freakin job, dude!

If it comes down to you needing a posse, I live relatively close, and I'll be more than willing to help out.

Actually, a search would've brought up this old post I started a while back: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=94004 There you can view other, more bold, opinions -- it led a short life.

I don't smoke, but I'm in!

This came off the homepage from http://www.camaroz28.com http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=106732

2nd that -- I've done it a few times without any problems.

So zlalomz, where do you put the props after halloween? Bet you have a heck of a stash, wherever you keep it.

Man, where are all the Austin hybriders here? I went to the czot meeting last night, but there was only 1 S30 and 1 S130 -- the rest were Z32's and Z33's...I was hoping to meet someone from here. Maybe at the next meeting...

Grumpyvette, Mikelly, blueovalz, ScottieGNZ, pparaska, 80lt1, and a special thanks tooooooo....Tim240z

What a deal! You even get three turbos to work with!

lol...Mr. Plow

To avoid confusion between me and my girlfriend's Z discussions, I decided to give them all names easy for her to remember: 1972 240zt - Kiwi 1982 280zxt - Turbie 1982 280zx v8 - The V8 1977 280z 2+2 - Ugly (She'll be painted in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I can change her name -- although it may be difficult with that damn back seat ) Kiwi seems to be about the most fitting name for the 240 -- I actually grew accustomed to it.

That center piece will just snap back in. If they broke the clips, I'm a tech at a Ford dealership, so I can get them for free. I think I'll just install the factory stereo back in there. Oh yeah, they also stole the factory speakers behind my seat...sheesh. On a plus note, I found a junkyard that has my window for $45, so at least I won't be freezing my butt off in the morning.

Indeed

It was my 1997 Ford Ranger, which is what I drive when the Z's are inoperable, or I need to haul parts. I've been meaning to put that mp3 player in the v8 -- I guess I waited too long.

The officer taking the prints said that Austin's crime / theft rates had really increased since the people from Louisiana flocked over here... Oh yeah, I also had the spare keys to my v8 280zx, parked only a few spots over, laying right on top of a Victoria British magazine. Good thing they couldn't put 2 and 2 together.

Don't think that's something to brag about, though. Not a good way to start my Friday morning . The cops fingerprinted the scene, but I doubt I'll hear anything from this. Talk about unexpected! The reason why we chose to live here was because of the "low crime-rate". What's interesting is I had $200+ worth of car parts sitting on the passenger floorboard, but I guess the only thing they were interested in was the $800 cd player in the dash. Oh wait, they also stole the first-aid kit behind my seat, but they probably needed it for their bloody knuckles from busting my window. I wish I would've taken the serial number from the back of the cd player so I could identify it as mine -- I guess I'll know better for next time. It's times like this I'm glad Kiwi (my yellow 240zt) is locked up in her garage.

Doesn't the carbureted intake manifold have larger runners? That should help a bit.

Hmm...well, it's 1:00 a.m. over here, and I just installed the new slave cylinder. I bench bled the m/c, connected the slave, installed it on the Zx, and then had my g/f pump the pedal while I bled it out. Interestingly, I started the car in neutral, pumped the clutch pedal three times, and slid it into first...the only thing different was that the front of the car was jacked up. As soon as I dropped it back down and took it out, I could tell that the system still needed to be bled out a little more. I would bleed it again, but like I said earlier, it's late enough. But, this at least gives me a new hope. Have you thought about your hydraulics being the culprit to the knocking / grinding noise? Does it have trouble going into gear, or is it just when you're letting out on the pedal?