twoeightythreez

How about a VH45DETT swap...since you have that motor (w/o turbos..yet)

Here's the vids. Z's parked till spring though fellas.... It had is one and only snow experience. Never again. I don't want to see my datsun turn to dust WHILE DRIVING IT. Start to finish...then topping off with a drive of my Buick, which I gotta get rid of....Too many cars! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKl0n6oZvY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRw8-dqhsoY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDu_MY6fy48 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLvZWj2e5dI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r7Np8HBxDw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WQBBFTzDBw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWEXE2pwI4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQpxbq7OGow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WFOcQgaAGc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpolKWa86is keep in mind I drove 3000 miles uneventful and the last 50 took as long as it took me to get from california to sulphur springs texas. Here's the buick vid

MS can use any type of O2 sensor. You can use your narrow band sensor, just enable "narrow band" in megatune and it will adjust cruise mixture to stoich. You can also piggyback off of that o2 sensor to run a gauge if you wish. IF you're going WB soon I would recommend not getting a gauge yet, as the WB gauges are different. (you can make a narrow band gauge work with an LC-1 but it's still not as accurate...not as much voltage range...0-1 for NB and 0-5 for WB) You can adjust how much authority the O2 input has on your fuel map, too. Once you get the MS and read up on the Megamanual (you can DL this free, bowling and grippo figure [correctly] thier software is useless without a MS kit, and they're nice people, plus it would cost you more to make all the components yourself...etc) you'll see just how much a MS unit can do.

Thanks. I might try that, but can't seem to find just the bell housing. I was just planning to measure everything on the l28 (engine and trans) to get the proper distences and clearences with everything and mod the bell housing to match. I know the l28 and KA flywheels are interchangable (if not the same). I wish you luck....so there are no 4x4 nissan pickups with 4cyl. up your way? Bellhousing is the same, just the part aft of the bearing carrier is different.....bolts to the transfer case...but you only need the front part...

I believe that goes to an altitude switch, but that was only installed on cars that were expected to be at ....high altitude areas. My 280z had one. The factory ECU would enrichen it's map slightly if that switch (if equipped) closed. Dunno if it's the same on a ZXT but that's sure what it looks like.

There used to be a junkyard in SoCal called "All Z", he packed up and crushed about 100 Z cars. Shame. Out here in PA I might as well be driving a '34 highboy or something. Thank you so much for that number, phil! If you could get a good condition wood 240z wheel from him let me know! My 280 needs some of that class

the oil hole not lining up......is why you can't overtorque them. If you tighten the shisniegen out of them you're blocking the oil supply to the lifters! Notice how the oil hole in the lifter body seats on the machined flat surface of the head. I think at 30 ft/lb there is still enough clearance between the surfaces to get oil to the lifters. Any tighter and they work for 5 min but slowly bleed down and cause major headaches. (WHen mine were ticking I was able to move them easily up and down by hand, I loosened them and they popped RIGHT up...then I torqued them to about 30ft/lb and they've been fine ever since.)

i'll take one too!

might be a month or so

Now I'm just waiting for the temp to climb above freezin so I can replace my slave cyl. and drive the Z!

Welp I'm posting the videos up on youtube slowly, I'll post the links when they finally work. (I have the same handle there, twoeightythreez) I got within 42 miles of my home and spend the next 14 HOURS (would have been 24 but we finally managed to sneak off the highway and go back roads) on interstate 78. Welcome to Pennsylvania. America's mismanaged broke as a joke government starts here. I'm still glad I finally made it home. (got stuck on my unplowed street!) still fun. They still (4 days later) haven't plowed some of the streets in my neighborhood. Downtown streets are still mostly one lane because there are piles of snow (with disabled cars in them)everywhere. IN DOWNTOWN. It's like, a car got stuck, so they just decided that would be a good place to put the snow for now. Cars have to park in the travel lanes, (which are usually 3 lane one way streets with parking on each side) because the sidewalks and curbs are still snow covered. I had to chip and shovel (with the neighbors) with a roofing shovel at the 6" of ice so cars can get up the alley by my house. The ultimate irony? All this going on, no stinking plows but the PARKING AUTHORITY tried to issue my neighbor (who towed my Z to the side of the street with his jeep) a ticket because his state safety inspection was expired and he was on the street. We set them straight QUICK. (like as in get outta here before you have a reason to take us to jail in your 4x4 since you have time to issue tickets to people who are stuck on your unplowed streets a day after the storm left) Oh well I like it anyway. Gonna get a 4x4! What a perfect excuse! (still never gettin rid of the Z)

Fred sed: "I did not see anything on that video stating it was a 500 cad in that car. Those old 500 cads are boat anchors. (so are all engines if you use them to anchor a boat) I used to work on those things years ago. (not disputing this) I think it would make the car too front heavy. (so does a big block chevy. your point?) Everything on them is cast iron. (yup) Not much aftermarket parts around for them either.(not mainstream) Limited to what trans will bolt up because of the bolt pattern on the bell housing. (actually it's shared with buick, olds, pontiac, plenty there) Last time I checked Jegs or Summit are not selling speed parts for that motor. (Jegs and Summit cater to chevy, ford and some chrysler, and not much else, mainstream stuff since that's what makes money) It would be alot cheaper and more reliable to go with a 502 chevy crate motor, if your looking for a BB , plus you get a 2 year warr. on it. (and you get to spend 10 grand at once, which most hybridZers can't do) While your at it, I would get the Jegs 12 point cage with frame kit. Its setup for 4 link rear. (if you're gonna do that why not just build a tube frame and plop the gutted z shell over it? I think this swap is more along the lines of a super-sleeper stock-bodied Z car) If your looking to build up a drag only car. (right, if building a drag-only car. If building a kick-ass street car that'll blow your rich buddy's viper away for half the money, and want something different than a chev or ford, the stock IRS with minor mods will handle the cad...and you don't want a rollcage in a street car, it'll kill you in an [inevitable speed related] accident due to your head being softer than the rollbar) Fred (bryan)

DavyZ, Is that possibly the DATSUN radiator I see trying to cool that beast? I guess if it's a 1/4 mile at a time it's alright Btw, I have a 472 (and a 68 deville convertible) sitting at home (in pieces) here in Allentown. I'm gonna put the car together and sell it unless one of you guys want to buy it as is and pick it all up! I also have a nice 68 skylark that's probably gonna go up for sale. Why? Well I have too many cars (rubbish :oP) but the real reason is that I want to get a 4x4 and a trailer and a snowmobile....my cousin finally got me when I had time to and we rode them around and....I'm HOOKED.

THanks for all your advice, I just anted up and drove it back...no probs until I hit 78, that's right, 2950 miles uneventful, 43 miles from Allentown and we got hit with "Pennsylvania's Katrina" (not disaster wise---I mean in state government mismanagement)...14 hours stuck on a travel lane in the interstate, I have vids, just have to upload them and you guys can enjoy. My youtube ID is the same as my hybrid ID. The videos have not posted yet for some reason, I'm still trying. Have fun!

6 hours from home.....Z's getting her trial by ice. Still tuning, still getting 28-30mpg, but way rich on boost and high rpm. I'll share mine also when it's done. What a drive....Sulphur springs,TX to Weithville,VA nonstop. Only 6 hours from home and stuck for who knows how long. Still gonna try tomorrow. Can't wait for your next video phil!

I am not near the 17psi mark but I'm slowly tuning as I drive the Z across the country. Still have been lucky and have not hit bad weather yet..(but it's snowing in PA...yikes!) The good-good news is that over the 900 miles I drove yesterday thru texas (phil your state is awesome, except for the el paso cops....gave me a ticket for doing 70 in a 60 100 feet before it went back to 70) but my point is I'm getting 30 miles per gallon. That's right....30. (and my odo is accurate, we're actually using the atlas to get mileage) I'm using less gas than oil. My infiniti is even getting 27, that texas gas is something else! Shouting out from Sulphur springs, hope to make PA today but probably will stop in Tennessee....

You've got me wondering what kind of stroke you could push the LD28 crank out to....imagine the LD28 block bored to 89-90mm (linered?) with a 3.8 stroke, keeping the same rod/stroke ratio you have now? (stock LD crank is 83mm stroke vs. 79 for L28) That would work out to...219cid...or 3.6L...shaweet!

Is the Buick 350 with the distributor up front like a Ford worrth looking into? Will it mount in with the JTR SBC mounts? Could a T56 or T5 be made to wrk with it? It definately would be different... It wouldn't directly mount to the JTR SBC mounts, they're in different places. You could use them, you would just have to fabricate set-back plates. The T-5 should have bellhousings available for B-o-p style, 1998 and above V-6 camaro/firebird had the 3800 series (buick) v-6, and the 5-speed behind them was a w/c t-5. T56 you would have to get a BOP to Chevy adaptor plate. As far as the engines themselves... They had a 3.800 bore and a 3.750 stroke to come to about 347cid. The heads were ahead of thier time, with heart-shaped combustion chambers and large valves with splayed spark plugs, a little porting here and you have some excellent-flowing heads. (modern heads are still superior but for 60's technology these were pretty kewl) The oiling systems need to be upgraded for any kind of performance use, they were marginal when new and the gears rode directly in the aluminum timing cover, this is probably why he spun a main, these engines had HUGE main and rod bearings (the rod bearings are the size of sbc MAIN bearings) and huge cam bearings that loved oil...worn oil pumps were common in those engines and the only true fix is to get a new timing cover. The reason they had this was because Buick was on a quest to make thier engine as light as possible, and the wide mains "girdled" the thin main cradles these engines had. This is one of the lightest iron v-8's you'll ever see...long block is under 500lb They also had non-adjustable shaft-rocker valvetrain, and the lifters are fed thru the front cam bearing. The pre-73 motors had weak rod bolts that were only good to about 6000rpm. (though the rods themselves were forged) The cranks on these things were monstrous, due to the huge main journals, as long as it wasn't run a long time with a spun bearing it's probably straight. All the problem areas on these engines can be fixed, and you end up with a light, strong, torquey motor, the problem is all the aftermarket is thru niche vendors so you'll be spending some money. If you want to go buick get a 455, these are the lightest domestic big-blocks ever built (with aluminum heads and intake these are lighter than a small block chevy, even stock all-iron these were only around 600lb) and properly built make hp/tq on par with the chev. They had the biggest bore and shortest stroke of any big block,(I believe it was 4.350 bore x 3.90 stroke) and a great rod/stroke ratio. Just a little fyi if you want something different. I don't think the buick build would cost significantly more than say a chrysler big-block, but that's just me. For some buick info google up poston performance and ta performance, two vendors that deal in Buicks Good luck!

Of course...if you're non-resident military you can buy a car in California. Once the initial smog is done you never have to smog it again...I feel bad about the Buick I had to get rid of because of the base smog rules, but then again I would have never bought my Z if not for that. (so in a way I can almost thank the smog nazis) I've had it for nearly 4 years now and have never had to smog it once, other than initial purchase. (non-resident military clause) As long as the Z doesn't prompt a ref ticket I'm good, and since I'm going back home in 10 days I'm not worried anymore.

I guess you could do that...or you could just register in another state. (like Pennsylvania) Check this out....PA has no front plates. If you're in the military, PA also has this cool clause...you no longer have to pay state taxes! (though we still pay federal...hehe...we pay ourselves...how hilarious is that) Here's the deal. YOu do have to be a resident of PA...and in the military....but once you get around that, it's a simple matter of.. 1) write down your car's vin, and drive that car to police dept. 2)Get said friendly police officer to sign his name and badge # onto the document with your vin on it. (you have to drive the same car down so the police officer can verify that the vin is for that vehicle, so he can confirm that to the PA dmv) 3) Fax to Pennsylvania DMV, along with the application form, pictures of the car (preferably one would have a clear view of the VIN plate, then at least one pic of the car to make sure it's not wrecked) and the dues for registration. (see http://www.state.pa.us) 4)Wait for your shiny new plate to arrive. 5) Install plate. Now you can revel in the fact that while you live in California you don't have to smog every two years, plus those pesky red light cameras are stymied. Of course.....if you ever find yourself in PA be prepared to... 1) Get a safety inspection every year, along with a smog test (not like cali's unless you're in bucks, phila, or allegheny counties...that's philly, suburbs of philly, and pittsburgh) 2)get a new registration plate every 4 years or so (PA has this ridiculous tendency to revamp thier license plates routinely, and all the old ones are no longer valid...great for cops, bad for collectors who want to keep the same year plate on thier car) Just an idea.

IMHO the most significant diff between the L and KA FS5W31 trannies was the input shaft bearing, so if you can find a KA bell, then put it and the input shaft bearing on your L trans and you now have a KA trans?

Not to criticize, but I'm sure they have junkyards with nissan PICKUPS? They had KA's too.......at least the D21's you could at least get a KA bell and adapt it to the ZX tranny...that way u don't have to grind on the L bell

I had built a 455 Buick nailhead Don't you mean four-TWENTY-five nailhead? (I'm not counting any displacement possibly added by boring when you built the motor...30 cubes is certainly possible..buick did it with the big block 400 to create the 430, and Poston only sells 430 replacement pistons...they tell you to bore your 400 out to 430 bore) 455 didn't come out till 1970...and the "nailhead" wasn't the same engine family as 400-430-455. (400 replaced 401 nailhead in 1967 intermediate-size buicks, 430 was a bored-out 400..optional on full-sizers...and 455 was the stroked 430 that buick came out with when GM lifted displacement ban in '70) Yes, and I know that buick named thier wildcat series of engines by torque, not displacement, but I believe that particular motor was named "wildcat 475" (referencing the 475ft.lb torque that the dual-carb 425cid motor was rated at) I might be wrong but I used to be really into the buick motors 401,425 buick "nailheads" can be identified by a round, chrysler-esque bellhousing and a rear-mounted dizzy with sump-mounted oil pump, while 215-300-340-350, 400-430-455 can be identified by a B-O-P standardized bellhousing pattern, front-mounted dizzy and external oil pump (like on an AMC or...gasp... an L-series motor 215-300-340 were also a different family from the 350..the 350 seemed to combine some buick big block attribuites with the small block design....weird....had huge mains and cam bearings that liked to starve lifters as they wore down, unlike the earlier "wildcat" small blocks...e.g. the 350 was basically a "big block" with a smaller bore and stroke. It still had few interchangeable parts (i believe the cam bearings were the same, but that was all) with the actual buick big blocks(or the earlier small block buicks), it was kind of a bastard child, one that buick nurtured from 1968 all the way to 1980. (the 231 [which actually started out life as a 225cid, 3.7L six..used in '64-'67 skylarks&specials when the tooling was sold off to Jeep due to lack of demand...'68 specials debuted with the stovebolt chev six]was based off the earlier 300's.[231 was based off the '66-'67 340]..which is why it's a 3.8 instead of a 4.3 like the chev v-6...the 340 had the same bore [3.800] as a 350 but a shorter stroke [3.42 opposed to 3.75 for the 350])..Buick actually bought the tooling for it back from Jeep so they could have an economy motor in 1975! ) (and boy are the GN owners sure glad Buick did) 425's were available with the dual-4bbl option, while 401's made do with a single 4bbl the 401 nailhead is famous as being the engine that was used to start the turbines on the SR71 blackbird...kewl... To tell the diff between a buick 350 and the 400-430-455, look for the displacement cast on the intake manifold....and also the 350 had a flat oil pan flange on the timing cover (deep skirt block) while the big-blocks had a beveled one since the crank sat farther down to accomodate the longer stroke. Also, the engine mounts on the block and frame were different...the big block had isolator mounting holes forward and aft to accomodate the different platforms they were used in (the full-size buicks had the motor mounted farther back in the engine bay than the intermediates...to accomodate the center-sump oil pan the full sizers used....a fact I realized when I swapped one into my skylark all those years ago.) Then in another infamous use of tooling sales, Buick sold the tooling for the 215-300-340 to Land Rover after developing the 350, who used it until BMW bought the company in the early 21st century.....man that was another example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ...and to think people think platform/powertrain sharing is a new thing.... More useless buick related factoids from my "useless info folder" in my head The 225cid V-6 was known in buickese as a "fireball" The same engine when Jeep had it was known as a "dauntless" I guess years from now, when people are debating the names manufacturers give thier engines..... do you think they will ponder how ridiculous "triton" "iforce" "vortec" "magnum" and "endurance" sound as engine names as we do "wildcat" "dauntless" "fireball...I bet that guy got flamed" and "super chief"???

[len:Because when I bought the car I had to repair the windshield due to previous owner wiggled while driving and his foot was still on the accelerator slap:] Wow, so this guy not only did the wiggle thing while foot was on gas, but he was in REVERSE too....and his head's really hard... Or am I missing the details of a Z rearending another car? (

Oops...forgot to mention the above compression tests were DRY...I forgot to put oil in the cyl. and see if comp. went up...I guess tomorrow.