JMortensen

I did a lot of shopping. So far this is the best deal I've found: http://www.racepartsusa.com/shop//customer/product.php?productid=17705

You can't just plug all the lines. I tried and I could only get 8 gallons into my tank. The way to bypass the tank is to connect all the lines together, then run the one line up through the floor and to the filler neck. Then run a vented cap. I helped Matman do this on his 71. Cost a bit in fittings to get the 3/8 to 1/2 to 5/8 hose connections, but it was easy to do. I think the problem of the hoses is worse for the early Z's with the plastic expansion tank. When I first put my 70 together I split 4 of those plastic tanks before I finally went to a metal tank out of a 72 (requires the later interior panel too). With the metal tank I ran the car for a long time until the hoses finally started rotting again. Now I'm going fuel cell. Screw the damn stock tank...

If you're an electrical system retard like me, the carb setup has advantages. I think hte article proved it didn't have any performance advantage, but I was quite surprised at how little it lost on the dyno compared to the EFI.

There is a "shortnose" R200. I think they introduced that in the Z line when they went to the Z32 300ZX. It also got used in the later 240SXs. What years I'm not sure. If I were to guess I'd say 90 on the 300ZX was the transition year. I think it was a couple years earlier on the 240SX. It is tough to distinguish a 280Z from 280ZX from 300ZX R200. There might be a way to do it by the part number on the housing. I really don't know. It's easy to recognize the car that you're pulling the diff from. 87-89 300ZX turbo diffs are commanding VERY high prices right now. I bought mine about 10 years ago for $325. You see them go on ebay today for $700 and more. Another option for LSD is to buy a LSD carrier from http://www.differentials.comor http://www.reiderracing.com. They have the "Power Brute" diff which is the Nissan clutch type diff for about $500. Swapping in the LSD is easy and has been discussed a bunch of times, so look that info up if you want to. 88 was an odd year and the 300ZX Turbo came in both the regular version and the SS version. The SS used an oddball viscous LSD which requires you to use the CV shafts that came with it. I think the MM outer CV adapter works with the VLSD CV shafts, but you might want to check with Ross at MM if that is true.

A cheap race car that you can drive on the street that gets great gas mileage is like a virgin hooker who can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch that you can take home to mom. Doesn't exist.

If you buy the 300 ZXT diff, and I think you should, then you'll need: 1. mustache bar from 280Z with R200 2. yoke (companion flange) from 280Z with R200 3. rear cover from 280Z or ZX with R200 4. side stub shafts from 280Z or ZX with R200 to bolt up to stock halfshafts Obviously if you buy a diff from a 280Z with an R200, it has everything you need except the mustache bar. If you buy the 300ZX diff, then you need the above pieces. Another option is to convert to CV shafts. If you do that, then you need the CVs from the 300ZX Turbo (has to be turbo) along with an adapter, and you no longer need #4. I got my adapters from http://www.modern-motorsports.com. There is also a way to convert to 280ZX Turbo (also has to be turbo) CV's as well. These aren't as strong as the later CV's. Modern Motorsports has those adapters as well. You can also modify the rear transverse link to clear the finned cover of the 300ZXT rear cover. This requires a bit of fabrication, but is pretty easy and has the advantage of a larger sump and cooling fins to allow the diff to run cooler. If you do this then you don't need #3. I don't think I missed anything, but if I did someone will pipe up I'm sure.

I'm in a pretty good situation where I have a small garage to put the car in. It went in 2 years ago and I'm about 1/2 done with the crap I wanted to do, which sounds like at least twice as much as what you're planning on. If you're trying to kill rust, definitely get the sound deadener off the floors. On my car there was a ring of surface rust most the way around the perimeter of the sound deadener. If you don't have time, then don't pull the car apart. It is a lot of work and it does get overwhelming for me sometimes. I just figure that if I keep hacking away eventually things will start to look like they're progressing, and it is starting to look that way in my case. One thing I can say is that I should have broken down and built a rotisserie when I started. I knew I was going to take this car ALL the way down, but I was convinced that I wasn't going to need it, that it would take up too much space, etc. After about 50 hours laying on my back grinding and welding under the car I decided to do it. I now have the car ready to go onto the rotisserie, just haven't gotten out there lately as it's been ~40 degrees here for a couple weeks. Regardless, I am convinced that having the rotisserie will be a HUGE benefit when I'm working on the frame rails and such. If you're going to be replacing rails or fixing rust on the bottom of the car or working on the bottom of the chassis extensively I'd say it's worth it to have the rotisserie.

The main limitation to getting more steering angle is the TC rod. You'll find that unless you have some really offset wheels that the wheel hits the TC rod when cranked. I'd check for clearance before you went modifying. One solution would be to build a custom front control arm that worked like the ones on a 944 and integrated the TC rod and the control arm into one unit. This would potentially provide more room for the wheel to turn. To answer your question, I believe the short steer knuckles give more steering angle than the stock length ones.

One issue with using plates in the front and not in the rear is that the plate lowers the car about an inch or an inch and a half. So you'll be running the rear coilover a lot lower to compensate for the difference in height. This difference would be more severe in a 280. As to the noise, what I was talking about is getting a spring hat which would let the spring rest right on the monoball itself, essentially bypassing the torrington bearing and loading the monoball. I haven't looked into that idea too far, but what would be needed is a top hat for the spring which tapered so that the weight of the car rested on the small monoball. In looking at MM's coilover setup, it looks as though they have a totally flat top hat, so that woudn't work. The AZC setup does taper, but I don't know if it is enough because the hole in the bottom of the GC camber plate is pretty small. I'm not sure that it can be made to work easily. I still do think that loading the monoball would quiet it down a lot though. Then there is still the possibility (albeit slim) that I was using crappy monoballs. I really don't think this is the case since the first ones came from GC and the second set were so damn expensive...

If you search I think you'll find that an 8" 250 in/lb spring coil binds before the strut hits the bumpstop. Obviously that wouldn't be the case with the car lowered, but I think with 250's you should technically have a 10" spring. Your coilovers don't require any preloading whatsoever. The obvious next question is what if I go over a bump and the spring falls off the perch. Well, most manufacturers drill holes in the top hat. Run a zip tie or some safety wire through the hole and around the spring and that will prevent the spring coming off the top hat (which in realitywould take a Dukes of Hazzard style jump, BTW). If the spring comes of the bottom perch it will seat itself as soon as you hit a bump. I've experienced that when I jacked the front end up and wasn't paying attention when I set it back down. Drove down the street a ways and "BONG!" the spring set itself...

I don't know if I did mine the "right" way, but on my first set I mounted the collar so that when the spring perch was all the way up, and the strut was fully extended, the spring was touching both the perch and the top hat. That's basically as high as you can put the collar before any further adjustment starts preloading the spring. The second time around I realized through years of experience that I had been running the front 1" lower than the back, so I lowered the front spring perch 1" from where it had been on the first set of struts. Like I say, I don't know if that is technically correct, but it worked fine and I was able to get the height I wanted. If you're really in doubt you can always mount the collar lower and get some longer threaded tubes.

You will need the shorter valve stem seals, so search for that thread, the author was speeder. You'll also need aftermarket springs and retainers, since the stock springs bind at about .470 or so lift. Schneider springs and retainers will work and they don't have excessive seat pressure. Those springs with the Ford valve stems seals will get you what you need. Then you just have to play with the lash pads.

I am running a regrind as well from American Cams. This is the third cam from them that I've run, and all my friends run them too, and nobody has ever lost a lobe that I'm aware of. Cheap too... I'd go .495. Right now I'm running a .490/280. Started with a smaller cam and SU's, similar to the .460. Soon realized I should have gone bigger. Went to the .490 and that was a good match for the carbs. That combo worked much better than the smaller cam. Put triples on and built a new higher compression shortblock, now I'm looking for bigger on the cam again. When you're looking for cams everyone tells you "Don't go too big, you'll lose driveability, it'll suck in traffic" etc. I drove my car with triples, .490 cam, 8.3:1 compression 2.5" exhaust, heavy clutch and light flywheel in stop and go traffic daily. I loved it, the car was fast, and I never had a problem with stalling or driveability.

The one complaint I've heard consistently from road racers is that ABS is horrible in rain. Comes on way too early. Other than that you have to be a REALLY good braker to outbrake ABS, and ABS keeps getting better and better.

Personally, if I could get 503 hp out of a LS1 I wouldn't care whether it had EFI or a carb.

Louvers are supposed to shade a window. But you want to put them on a hatch that doesn't have a window at all? That's a little... different. Have you considered one of John's hatches with the Lexan window in it. Nice and light and you don't have to mount a screen in your dash. http://www.betamotorsports.com

I like a 13" wheel too. I have an older Grant that looks very much like your carbon fiber wheel but with vinyl on the rim. It's OK. I have no complaints about the stitching. Maybe the quality issues are a more recent development??? Mine is at least 10 years old. I do wish the rim was a little thicker, but I can say that having used a 15, a 14, and a 13 the 13 is definitely the best, and having used 4 spokes and 3 spokes, 3 spokes is also preferred IMO.

Good enough for me. I just pointed it out because when you said 50 that's about what they are normally so I didn't want your post to create confusion down the line for somebody else. 53 is definitely bored though. Very cool. Nice to find one off old racing parts.

Here's a page from TWM's site. They list air horns for Mikunis, and although the different measurements aren't listed, I think it's pretty safe to say that A=diameter of the hole in the air horn, B= length of the horn, and C=the OD of the end of the horn. According to this the air horn end of a 44 measures 48mm, and a the air horn end of a 40 is 44 mm. http://www.twminduction.com/AirHorn/AirHorn-FR.html OOPS, link doesn't go to the right page. Click on Mikuni in the menu on left to see the page I was referring to.

It's a common problem and has been discussed before, search and you'll find several threads about this issue. As to these "bored" carbs, I don't think they are. Boring carbs was done back in the day and How to Modify book shows some examples. However, all side draft carbs have a taper to the bore. I don't recall what the taper is on the Mikunis and I dont' want to take my velocity stacks off to verify what it really is, but I do seem to recall someone here thought they had larger carbs than they actually did because they were measuring the filter end rather than the manifold end of the carbs. I think that person thought he had 50 Webers, and it turned out they were 45's. Regardless, the hole on the outside end of the carb should be larger than the inside.

I seem to remember that it is pretty common for people to run the .460/260 cam from MSA with stock springs. That is a pretty small cam though. I always want to question why people even bother with all the hassle to put in such a small cam. Search for speeder's post on valve stem seals if you go bigger than .460 too. He has a great post about some alternate stem seals from a Ford Ranger which will give you a lot more clearance so that the retainer doesn't hit the valve stem seal at full lift (which is a problem over ~.470 lift).

Schneider

I agree with speeder. Looks like the wrong lash pads to me too. Maybe someone installed a cam without changing the pads.

Mid 80's Subaru XT Turbo. Real easy to tell because they put a white "LSD" sticker on the cover IIRC.

When you get Tokicos hot they get that blue discoloration. That in and of itself doesn't mean the strut is bad.