jonzer12

I am a novice welder and pretty much suck but in most simple welding applications you can simply fill in your mistakes or just cut out the welded part and start over till you get it right. If you have a good rig you can make some decent welds pretty easy. Or just take a class like I am doing. Pretty cheap and lots of fun.

It has been discussed here that you can buy the adaptive bellhousing, I did also comeacross a company (stemmed from a link for this site) that sold the T-56 and the bellhousing all ready to go.

K here are the pics of my Daily driver car, I did what you are planing, sanding the surfaces and painting them although I only did the front facia and few other things around the cabin. Sanding is the key here, I have seen some painted interiors at our tiny little car shows here that are brutal. Wet sand everything use adhesion promotor and good solid base coats. I clear coated the entire thing and then used rubbing compound to finish it off. Its a few years old now but still looks good. Pictures are kind of dim, its already winter here so I snapped em in the garage. [/img]

I live in the Great Canadian North, lol, I knew I guy coming from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie on a harley and hit a Moose. Neither of them lived. I too will stick to 4 wheels.

My car is pretty filthy right now but nonetheless sometime tommorow I will snap a few pics and put em up

A while back I spent a ton of time fixing up the interior of my other car. I wet sanded and painted my entire front facia of my dash as well as the shifter console, with duplicolor silver (paint is actually for rims). Lots of sanding and clear coat and to this day people still freak when they get in it. I remember being scared that it would look terrible painted but its great, I will try and take a few pics if you are interested. You can do cheap things to really change the character of your interior.

There are synthetics for transmissions and diffs. Personally I use Redline products. Never hurts to shell out the coin for good lubricants.

Thank You for the great response, I don't think I will have a hard time finding a good donor motor my city is about half Italian (tend to take very good care of thier cars, its true I tells ya!) and we have a very small car enthusiast population so parts are plentiful and cheap. I looked at a 91 IROC, with 110 on it (kilometers ->~60k miles), absolutely mint and well cared for, I can get the entire car for 3k Canadian, I figure I can pull it in the garage and pull and rebuild the motor over the winter, 3k seems steep for a used motor but I think I can probably sell the tranny (auto) and body for 1500 bucks, the rims alone are probably worth 500. Two quick questions tho what is the helm manual and is the MAF really a big issue to avoid? From your pic it looks like there is enough room to run some intake plumbing without too much trouble. Beautiful engine bay by the way.

One of hell of a hole shot for that GTR!!

I am only looking for about ~300 bhp (not rwhp), I am not interested in Drag racing, I am building a fast street car, do you think (in your experience)the TPI 350 is cost effective and more street friendly than a carbed 350? Also as I am somewhat of a novice mechanic and the Z project is a major step forward as it is that the added complexity of swapping a FI motor is worth it? I would love the opinion from someone who has done it. I don't have the car yet but I do have a heated garage, the suspension and rear end setup I want as well as almost a complete new interior I want to decide on engine plans by january so I will be ready to drop it all into the car as soon as the roads clear and I go pick up a solid car. My goal is to have the car done (driveable, lol) in time for my wedding!

I found this. "Fuel should just barely trickle out of the plugs on the side of the float bowls. If not, the float level can be adjusted on the top of the bowls. Another possible problem is a defective float. If it has a brass float it may have a pinhole that will fill with fuel and cause it to sink. I have even seen some of the plastic style floats that appear normal that were too heavy as if they had absorbed liquid over a period of time" Just another thing to consider, don't think it would account for the amount of fuel you are describing tho.

Has it run successfully in the past, did u just get it, is it used? This may sound stupid but if its used and untested make sure nothing is missing! (Friend had problem, carb wasn't fully assembled he just assumed so). Checked the float level?

Fuel Pressure?

I don't see to many v8Z's with TPI motors, I am looking for about 300 bhp, is this economical on a TPI 350? i am guesing I should simply stick with the carb setup, less limitations it seems.

Why do they die after 4600? Is it just head designs or do the stock intake manifolds flow terrible too, I assume by running out of breath you mean that they simply don't enough air to go higher or it another issue?

Anyone have this book is it worth buying? I sold the motor I had (got amazing deal so I had to sell it) and am at square 1 now. I now thinking of buying a IROC with a WC t5 and doing the swap. I was wondering if this book is as good as the v8 swap manual or if there are better books out there.

I have been in the process of gathering knowledge and parts and have been casually looking for a Z for about 6 months now. Any unrestored Z will typically require some drivetrain/suspension work so I would just be concerned with the body. If you can afford a paint job and the actual metal work is very solid I would probably offer around 3 for what u describe. However if the car turns out to be rough I would not pay that much. Worn out Z cars with moderate body rust can be found very cheaply if you take your time. I have seen a few VERY nice cars for ~4k so I wouldn't hop on this deal if the car is not a good 6-7 out of 10. Most Z's out there need tlc so make sure this car is something you are capable of fixing. Good Luck

Thats not a bad choice for a first sporty car, I have been in one before, its pretty slow (for hybridz standards, lol) but it handles great and is fun to drive, parts are going to be expensive tho, and they aren't at all practical, also from my friends experinence working them is a pain, not much room to really get in there. Nice buy tho, put up some pics when u get it!

Inline configurations in general tend to be torqier than most other setups. At least I have always thought/understood so.

Will your valvetrain support 9k, also you will need the CAM to make use of the added rev range, I would guess a serious 250-275 hp. Never heard of that setup before.

Dealer Service Manual is great, the chilton/hayes aren't too shabby either. I don't own it but I often hear of "How to restore your Datsun" in threads, you can find it for order from a few of the Z sites. If you by chance get an opportunity the score the Dealer Service Manual I would jump on it.

In response to Nic-Rebel450CA I just want to make few points. It was not my intention to try and change anyone mind or discourage the building of a small displacement smallblock. I really don't think people here intentionally try to discourage any particular project, its just that some setups are in all senses the best route to go. Personally I am not that experienced with building engines/cars but I have witnessed MANY projects and the difference I see is how much people enjoy them a fews years after there done. Gas mileage concerns screams daily driver to me and you can't tell me that a highly tuned 283 making 400hp and a 350 making the same 400 are not 2 very different things. Revs are great but reality is after a year of owning of the car the intense noise, pissed off neighbours and attention from police, etc that a screaming 7000 rpm smallblock makes get old very quickly. Tight powerpands, huge cams and very high compression don't make for a enjoyable daily driver and that is most likely what you are talking about with a 400hp 283. I have changed my original project plans hugely by coming to this site. My only point is that before you dump a pile of money into building a 283 think about the tradeoffs and is it the setup you will still want a few years down the road?

Small displacement doesn't always mean better mileage. You still need to burn enough fuel/air to produce the 400hp. You could achieve those specs on a 283 with either forced induction or an almost race setup engine. You would need to dump some serious dollars in your head/valvetrain/cam setup. What you would end up with would be a very expensive, high compression (NA) engine with probably a very steep power curve. If you went the > 350 CID route you would probably save some money and get more usuable powerband. I would suggest calling a well recognized engine building company and discussing it with them. Even if you are going to build it yourself just pretend you are interested in buying one. If you ask the right questions and they are in the know you will get your questions answered. Also what kind of you revs are you looking for? Getting a built smallblock to hit 7500 isn't very hard its just expensive. I have numerous friends with street/track cars that make peak hp very close to 7500rpm. If I were you I would abandon your two concerns, 400hp and fuel economy is an oxymoron and highrevs seem attractive but the reality of it is that high winding v8's are expensive and you will get used to your engine's character anyways. Build your engine around your budget, drivetrain and gear ratio selections, and the weight and general application of your car. If you match all of these up your will be happier with the end result.

My father had an old (MK 4 whatever that is) Jag I6 with tripple carbs in a austin healy. That thing sounded INCREDIBLE. I can still remember it. The car got rolled but the motor is still around. If parts didn't cost mucho dinero I would probably try to buy it off him.

I think you can order the small style bumpers from the Victoria British catalog, or I may be incorrect....