jonzer12

I currently know basically nothing about auto mechanics but I am building a car and have done a good bit of auto work in the past. If you don't have to rebuild or repair, just transplant the driveline find a knowledgable friend and attempt it yourself, you have to start somewhere. My strategy is always just to read very carefully and to take things slow, sure it takes me about 20 times longer than it would a mechanic but you have to learn somehow. Think about it, if you get an engine that doesn't need rebuilding its just some wiring, plumbing and bolts, not complicated if you don't rush it. And if you get stuck this site is here to back you up, thats the point of it. I have found that working on old cars is a *^&$#, bolts are stuck, rusted etc but doing the work yourself just somehow makes the car feel more like its yours.

As far as keeping the links up to date how about a few simple Perl scripts so web surfers can add and remove links from the page, VERY easy to do and it would prevent the host from doing any of the work. I would be willing to help anyone with this if they wanted.

Anyone ever use CounterAct electronic rust protection system. It seems to be a little box that constantly runs a negative charge throught the car to inhibit rust. Seems like a great idea, I saw it on 2 guys garage and immediately thought about the rust buckets that we all know and love as Z's. I am usually aprenhensive about things like this tho but apparently this will all but stop the contiuation of corrosion. Opinions? Jonesy P.S. Here is the website http://www.counteractrust.com/

That makes sense, more compression = more exhaust per cycle = higher rate of pressure change = more bark. Thanks for the great info, this site is making me nuts to get started on the build. The minute the snow is gone in the spring I am flying down to nevada/arizona to pick up a car. I will push it all the way back to Canada if I have to to! The only problem I have with this site is that so many of you have done such different and great things and there is so much information that one can really get pulled in different directions. So many choices out there! I have put a hold on buying a more parts until the car is in the garage, I am already thinking about selling some of the stuff I bought.

I have made a few grills in the past, not for Z's but there a few simple routes. 1. Go to home depot, Canadian Tire (probably means nothing to you yanks, lol) or some equivalent store and buy some gutter guard, comes in plastic, metal, varying patterns, just buy some to your liking and shape to your grill, you can attach a number of ways such as zip ties, embedding them into the fibreglass with a heat gun, even welding them in. 2. (best in my opinion) There is some metal (fence) that is pretty common, its the kind of stuff you find over windows on elementary schools and such. Most of the time its alluminum. I have took a polishing wheel and a can of clear coat and had some amazing results. Also being aluminum it is very easy to bend it into some nice easy curves. 3. Cut and weld some small pipes to 2 vertical lengths of metal to make a grill. I did this for my friends explorer which had a collision and you would be suprised at how good it looks. Just some ideas for making a grill, good luck.

I agree with the statement above, I have been shopping for a Z for a while now and after have (very painfully at times) decided to fly south in the spring to find a nice solid arizona or nevada car. In my experience be very careful when you see advertisements for rust free Z cars. I can't tell you how many times people have told me that there is little to no rust on their car and then I get there I find out that the car LOOKS great but once you crawl underneath its a very different story. I put a pall point pen through the frame rail of a car the owner claimed was rust free!! Why people leave cars parked on grass for years?

I agree, I am a recent graduate with a computer science degree and I can find almost no jobs. Every IT or programming job wants 3-10 years experience, how the hell am I going to get experience if there are no entry level jobs? the IT field is terrible right now, the only job offer I got was for 28k a year, I mean common thats rediculous, I just spent 50k on educating myself, I could make more working in a call center or something. If I could do it all over again I would have become a plumber or tradesmen of some sort. Oh well, live and learn.

Liens are attached to the vehicle not the owner, thus if you sold the truck as is right now and stopped making your payments they would repo the new owner's truck. That is why people won't buy them. When I bought my car (had a lien) I went down to the bank with the owner, I gave her the money to pay off the rest of the loan and she kept the rest. I then got a letter from the bank saying that the lean was paid signed by both her and the bank. Then I got the title to the car.

Crisp thats the word I was looking for, I am glad someone understands what I am talking about, sound is very important to me, yes it seems somewhat childish but for me its adds so much to the character of the car. I can't get excited about a car that doesn't sound great.

That makes sense thanks for the great response Jason. I have yet to find a rust free car to put my drivetrain into but I now have an exhaust goal, that sound sent a shiver up my spine!

I live in Sault Ste Marie Ontario but I work in Sault Ste Marie Michigan, are you in the UP or downstate?

I am not sure how to describe this exactly but the other day I had to cross the street to get the parking lot where my car was and this 5.0 (late 80's early 90's) mustang pulled up to the light, it had the best exhaust sound I have ever heard, and I have heard hundreds of v8 cars. I live in a truck town where everybody has a late model with dual exhaust and well they sound nice, they have the really flat, blunt v8 rumble. This mustang had a sharp, crisp exhuast note, it was incredible. I hope someone understands what I am talking about, and my question is does anyone know how to get a sharp, raspy note to a v8 exhaust?

Personally I like the ford 302 over the say a chevy 350 but if you just wanna v8z then do the chevy, its easier, and its been done a hundred times. If you don't have your heart set on a ford then just take the path of least resistance, personally I like to just get projects rolling along and am not a big fan of R&D. My 2 cents.

I thought you used to have a V8Z? IMO your question is too openended. Fuel economy, reliablity and comfort are all what you make them, especially in a hybrid car, simply build your engine, suspension, interior accrodingly. Out of the box the 300zx is a much more modern, comfortable car, but personally I am not a fan of them, and if you are planning on buying a NA 300zx a v8 hybridz will easily walk it. That said if budget/time and skills are lacking I would buy the 300zx.

If you want I can host the vid for you, PM me if you want and I can send you the FTP info.

I don't know for a fact but I think it is the same.

I am having the same dilema, I have never driven a high powered car on the street and am not sure if spending the money on a high power motor is worth it. Autocross doesn't exist in my neck of the woods and drag racing is not big here either. My hybrid is going to be a 100% street machine. That being said I can't imagine the need for anything over about 300hp in a 2500 pound car. Pump gas and highway cruising are big goals for me. I am interested in some educated opinions too.

What resolution is your screen set to. Find an empty spot on your desktop, right click and select properties from the menu. In the new window select the "Settings" tab, make sure your resolution is 800x600 minimun, 1024x768 is now standard, see if that helps. Justin

The KL block comes in a variety of cars, the klze version is a j-spec engine found in mx-6's, 929 (i think) and some other's. Its a great tuff little engine but not a good choice if you are looking for really big power. The kl family all had forged internals and are all aluminum. The miller-cylce mazda engine is also a standard kl block. I once saw a twin turbo kl powered car make 800 hp on a stock bottom end (saw this in a magazine). Its a very common motor used in swaps in Europe and Australia. Another good feature if you plan to keep the motor NA is its VRIS system. Basically the system used butterfly valves and surge tanks to vary the length of the runners to make a really flat torque curve.

The mazda klze is another good choice, its normaly a front-wheel drive config but I have it done RWD with another tranny quite a few times. 200hp STOCK, 2.5 litre high reving v6. A few simple breathing mods and you are looking at 200whp. My kl03 (detuned version) revs like a small 4 and has great low end thrust, I have seen the klze in VW bugs, dune buggies etc. You can pick them up for about 1200us, very cheap as not many people know of them. If you are on a budget there are plenty of ~200hp motor's out there, they just aren't common swaps.

I have worked in customer service and let me tell you that one of the reasons that things have gotten so bad is that nobody goes back and complains. It is a pain in the $%# to spend an hour at a place speaking with the manager due to bad service when all you want to do is leave and forget you ever wasted your time with a place but it must be done. If everyone would complain and make it understood that we as consumer's won't settle for terrible service we can raise the standard that manager's expect from their employees. Go and vent at the manager of the business. It can be done politely and doesn't have to be an uncomfortable experience. I can't tell you the number of times that I have seen people recieve HORRIBLE service and get ripped off and they bite their tongues and leave. If it was me I would DEMAND compensation and to have the job done right, that is what you are entitled to as soon as your money hits the counter. Anyways, that my ranting

Check out http://www.ontariozcar.com you live close to many of their events. I believe they have their own magazine/newsletter and quite a few events. They also have a classified section that is fairly busy. I have never been to an event as I live on the opposite end of Ontario but I think that many of their members are on this site, ask around.

I forget to mention my main point which is that it looks GREAT! Love the taillights.

I have been looking at creating a new panel for the rear, I am not a big fan of Z rear, I think they could have used some work. Anyways how difficult was it, My plan was to just take a new piece of sheet metal and start from scratch. Can you shed some detail on your process?

I own a 94 mazda mx6 LS, get the cloth seats, they are great sport buckets with good side support. I like them anyways.