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The wiring is good, first thing I thought was the wire came off the sender. Then I popped the hood and the overflow was full of boiling water....which pretty much confirmed it overheated.... The thermostat is the next step, gonna pull the thermostat housing and check it out. Thanks! Al

I got my motor back together and running a week ago. I figured a couple of days a go I should take it out since I haven't driven it even out of the driveway since Feb 2nd. So my son and I took it out on Thursday afternoon. I drove it out to Hwy 5, and it had warmed up just a little. As SOON as I stepped on it getting on the freeway, the temp shot up all the way to 250. Literally, I watched it just swing right over in less than a second from 110 to 250. I have never seen that before ever, and I've had Mustangs. (If you've had an old Mustang you KNOW what I'm talking about. ) I limped it home, temp at about 230-240 the whole way. I have a 4 core Summit Radiator that I had cleaned, pressure tested and flow tested. I have a 180 thermostat. I have a Flo-Kooler Aluminum High Flow Water pump. I just don't get this. I have built MANY MANY cars and never had problems like this before. It seems like no matter what I do with this car it breaks. I mean, come on, I managed to have a '66 Mustang that DIDN'T overheat. Try that on a 100 degree day in CA! Anyone in the PDX area that might want to come over and help me figure this out? I am so sick of fixing this thing, and not driving it. Thanks Al

Oh, and this is second generation 240sx also, right, the mid 90's models with the flush headlights? I really like the look. Al

I've been thinking about a dash swap for a long time, especially since my dash is so messed up, even the glove box door is falling out! I can actually see the back of my center gauges from through the windshield! What did it take to mount the 240sx dash in there? I have noticed they have similar dimensions, but didn't think that they were close enough to swap. Looks like they are, what did you have to modify? thanks! Al

Damn, glad I live in Washington now. It's rolling 25 years here, which means 1978 and newer this year. I also saw the gas prices, YOW! It's like 1.59 up here for regular, and 2.05-2.25 for regular in the bay area! WOW! The price we paid to live in an overcongested, smoggy, overpopulated area with crazy BMW and Mercedes drivers, with outrageous housing and utility prices! If California passes that law there will be a lot of really PO'd hot rodders.

The ford swap is similar in almost every way to the Chevy swap. except the motor mounting and trans crossmember. I sell a crossmember that is very close to a bolt-in for the Ford swap, only 4 holes need to be drilled. Chekc out my website at http://zcar.netdojo.com/fordswap.htm . Many people have used this crossmember and have had success with it. If you have any questions about it, email me at zcar@netdojo.com and I'd be happy to answer. Most of the info is up on my site, I try to be thorough. As far as EFI on the Ford, just find a donor 5.0, truck, or LTD, or you can use a new computer from Ford (but they aren't cheap new!). The EFI fits under the hood easily, and you'll just have to add a larger send line for fuel, 3/8", and use the stock 5/16" for a return. There is a $5 EFI swap wiring book you can pick up from Ford Motorsport, makes wiring it easy. Hope that helps. AL

I want to do something different with my dash in my car, you guys know of any dash kits? I remember that Arizona Z Car had a C4-inspired dash kit for a while, all done in fiberglass (of course), any other kits anyone know of? I like the stock dash, but the stock HVAC sucks, and my dash needs to be covered or replaced anyway. Some ideas I have had: - 1990 300zx Steering wheel (last of the non-airbag) - 300zx2 Seats - Later model center console - custom door panels Still thinking. Since I have some time to save up for the engine replacement, I want to get the rest of the car ready....gonna do everything including body and paint and top it all off with a new engine when I'm done. If you guys have any links to site that might have kits let me know! Thanks Al

Yea, I already have the timing chain back on, gonna get the gaskets for the front cover later, had to take care of some stuff. Hopefully this time tomorrow it will be running. Thanks! Al

Well I got the new pin,a dn I'm going to try doing a compression check in a little bit. If it is a free spinner then I'm probably OK. Although I will be worried about what will go wrong next on the motor. thanks Al

Well, I actually got pin out pretty easily. I just bent it back up and grabbed it with a pair of vise-grips and it came right out. When I pulled the valve covers all teh rockers were tight. So I'm going to find a pin, put the timing chain back on, and runa compression check. If all teh cylinders are good, then I'll put it back together and see what happens. Thanks for the help! Al

OK, I'm going to go out and pop the valve covers before I go any further with this motor. One question, if I do replace the pin, where do I get it from? Do I just go to a parts store and pick one up? Thanks Al

problem is, I would have to pull the cam to do that. Which means pulling all the rocker arms / pushrods / lifters and intake, pulling the cam (after pulling the hood for clearence).....i dunno.....I'm really tempted to just get a new motor. also, is it a free spinner (no risk) motor? I'm not sure, I know the comp ratio on these motors is 9.0:1, but that doesn't mean that it won't make contact. The stock '95 cam isn't that small, I'm really worried that if I pull the cam and do that work, it still won't run right because of cylinder sealing issues...... Anyone know? I'm really digusted with this motor now, but it will be quite a while before I can shell out $2k for a motor.....but I can wait. It's safely stored in my garage, so no problems with letting it sit.....thinking about stripping it down and having it painted now, maybe just save up $5k for both, and have it done, then drop the new motor in then. I also want to redo the steering linkage so that I can use the other header, only need 1/2"!!!! I dunno, I've had lots of obstacles with this car, including running out of money and almost selling it...crazy. anyway, if anyone knows about if it's a free-spinner, let me know. I might consider trying to fix this motor if it is, but it's getting a new motor after paint!!!!!! Thanks! Al

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Hey guys, what's up. Now that's out of my system, I'll give you a bit of news and I have a question. First, the news: I pulled apart the front end of my motor today. As you all know (or maybe not) the engine conked on me in the driveway (thank god there, and not on the road!), and I had to keep it in the garage for a while. Well, I had a free morning today, so I decided to tear into it. I had checked it out a few weeks ago, thinking maybe I could narrow the search for the problem down. I turned over the motor, and the belt was turning. So i knew the crank wasn't toast. I popped the dist. cap and turned it over, didn't move. CRAP. So i grabbed the rotor and tried to move it (thinking maybe the dist. shaft had broke or the gear broke) and it was solid. So that left me with 2 possibilities - the cam snout broke, or the timing chain broke. So when I tore it apart, to my suprise, the timing chaing was still on the cam snout. after closer inspection, I decided to unbolt the cam sprocket and see what was up. it fell off in my hand. THE BOLT THAT HOLDS THE SPROCKET TO THE END OF THE CAM BROKE!!!!!! This is what it sounded like when I found that out: http://zcar.netdojo.com/simpson.wav As you can hear, I was upset. The sprocket had popped off, and bent the pin on the end of the cam down. And now for the questions: 1. Can you replace the pin on the end of the cam, or is it welded or a solid part of the front of the cam? 2. Is the 1995 5.0 a free-spinner? If not, forget the first question, because the valves and pistons are probably toast. So that's the deal. If this means I have to do anything more than replace the pin on the end of the cam and put it back together, I'm just going to pull the whole engine, I have had too many problems with it to even consider replacing anything else on it, after already doing valvesprings, headgaskets, oil pump, timing chain.....who knows what else on my 70k mile 5.0 will blow up! Anyone know if Central Coast Mustangs is still around? They had GT40P motors (long blocks) for like $1800 a while back, that's what I'd really liek to go for, 320 hp with EFI, wonder what that would translate to with a carb! Thanks for your help everyone!

Well, it WAS! OUCH.

That bottom end's TOAST! Looks like there's not much left. did it take out the cam too?

I agree with both the last posts, check out this page on my site: http://zcar.netdojo.com/fordswap.htm . it has all the info for the swap that differ from the JTR book. basically the only differences are the way they are mounted and a little wiring. I put specific instructions for the Ford swap on my page. If you're interested in the crosmember to do the swap, email me at zcar@netdojo.com. thanks AL

Hey guys, my wife and I are talking about moving to Oregon next year (California's great, but WAY too expensive!) and I just wanted to know if there were any strips up there. I know I'm spoiled in CA having 2 in my general vicinity (Sears Point and Sacto), so I want to see if there's one up there, specifically in the Portland area. thanks! AL

Problem is in the Z chassis, you have to use a block hugger that has a collector in the middle of the engine, because there isn't enough room for the dowmpipe between the starter and the frame rail. Otherwise I would have used EFI-type headers. The Sandersons would fit ine, but they're a bit pricey. I went with Hooker headers. I'm trying to find a pic, but the only pic I have is of the driver's side....

Yes,t he stock Z flange is tiny. That's why JTR sells the adapter flange, so you can use bigger U-joints. This is a part of the car (like the brakes) that is never good to go with anything used. Just get the adapter from any source (there are a few) and bring the yoke, adapter, and the dimesion down to a driveline shop. The last thing you want is a bad driveshaft. Thanks AL

Take the yoke fromt he Mustang driveshaft and buy the JTR conversion flange for the diff and have one made at your local driveline shop. The JTR flange uses the bigger, stronger u-joints, and matches the u-joint on the Ford yoke. While you're at it, get Spicer U-joints so you don't have to worry about them. You will have to measure the distance from the face of the diff flange to the back of the tailshaft housing on the tranny so they can make it the right length. Got mine done for less that $200. Took a day. Thanks AL

Well I found the problem with the bogging. took a bit of screwing around, first I didn't see any problem with the carb.... 1. Took out the Air Valve 2. Turned fuel regulator to 4.5 psi (the float boals were a bit shallow) 3. Fixed the timing (not advanced enough) Guess that all the driving the day of Sears it had been backing off all day. I should have brought my timing light like the old days, I would have figured it out. the dist bolt was a little tiny bit loose, so it was slowly losing timing (DOH! ) Oh well........next time. Going out November 13th.....anyone wanna come?

Well I'm taking off in about 30 minutes for home to figure it out. Anyone got any ideas before I go? Thanks AL

OK, I took the Z out to Sears Point last Wednesday, and I wound up finding a HUGE flat spot I didn't have before, just after 1/3 throttle. Now here's a bit of detail that's important: 1995 Ford 5.0 motor Edelbrock Performer Intake Edelbrock Performer Carb, 600CFM Adjustable fuel pressure regulator Carter Electric Fuel pump Here's what I'm thinking. The Fuel pump was putting out 13psi without the regulator. The regulator is set at 3.5 psi I think. Now to me, that seems really low. Should be like 5psi to keep up with the engine, right? So what I'm thinking is I'm going to start the pump (key on) and let it fill the filter and the fuel bowl. Then I'm going to turn it off and pop the top of the carb and check the level. If it's low, then I know the pressure is too low. Now my real question, is that if the fuel bowl runs low, wouldn't the car pop? Wouldn't I get a lean pop through the carb if the secondaries open and no fuel mixes with it? I checked my air valve (a weighted throttle blade above the actual secondaries to regulate how much air goes through, supposed to only let as much air as the engine needs through) and it seems to work fine (it's not stuck at least). The only other thing I can think of is that there's something stuck in my jets and I need to rebuild the carb. As far as NON carb issues that might give me a flat spot, I'm going to check my timing (although it's an MSD Billet setup, shouldn't EVER need to mess with it), and check my plugs. Anyone have any ideas? I want to bring my Z out to Sears Point November 13th to run it again if I can get it going. And yes, I know I should be running a Holley if I want to race!!!!! Just don't want to be messing with it every time I drive it! Thanks Al

Why would someone even want to be seem walking within 50 feet of this thing???? Amazing what people do to cars.

It didn't cost me that much to go hydrolic! The Neal Pulling Cylinder was like $60 or so, and the Tilton Master was likr $100. Besides that I had to get a steel braided line for the hose (another $20) and that's all you need. You will need to rethread the clevis on the end of the rod for the master cylinder, and buy a couple of bolts and a plastic bushing (I think there is a pic of the setup floating around here somewhere on HybridZ) and you just install it. I will take a couple of pics of the setup tomorrow and post them, and I'll dig up the prices and where I got the parts, but there's no way it was $350 for the parts! Also, if you go to my site http://zcar.netdojo.com/fordswap.htm I posted the trans mount part # there now. I'll try and post pics and all this info on the page tomorrow afternoon. Thanks AL