MetalMagoo

Thanks for the info guys. After searching I found an OEM solution. The harmonic balancer off a 327 is only 6.75".

My stock balancer is 8". I was hoping there was an OEM balancer from the 60's / 70's that was 7.25 or smaller. Thanks though, that one is a great price

Slowly picking away at a client's 72, so I haven't had any time to work on my 78...but I did start to make the 350 a little purdy. Can't wait for the rest of the bits to arrive this week coming.

Going through my JTR manual, page 3-3, it says I'll require a 7.25" or smaller harmonic balancer. Cool. It negelcts to give any part numbers. I'm about to do the timing chains, gears, cover, and finally a harmonic balancer. FIRST: What balancer did you use in your swap? SECOND: did the timing mark line up with the stock timing indicator? I have searched high and low for an answer to no avail. Thank you in advance.

Hooray! My JTR V8 conversion manual is here. Time to read this 4 or 5 times. I skimmed through already very briefly before DHL was even down the driveway. Missus is making stir-fry, I'm drinking beer. My current crossmember has the stock engine mounts hacked off. I may be hooped. It appears the mounts in this manual bolt up to the stock engine mounts. Balls. That means I need to survey my '77 engine mounts. Anyway! Excited to share this adventure with you guys.

Good news! I found a SBC 350 with 51,xxx original miles. Turns out it was built in November of 71 (I thought '69) but installed in a 1979 GMC vandura. Same block as a 69 Z28 though. By far one of the easiest engines I've removed. JTR manual is on its way!! Apparently it being in a truck/RV means it had a mild cam installed. Can't wait to clean it up, tear it down for rebuild, and install some attractive goodies. No idea which transmission I'll be going with. T56 is wayyyyy too expensive nowadays. Might go CD009 from a 350 or G35.

This dang covid has got everyone over here behind the ball. I am doing metal work on a friend/clients 72 240z and I am sooooo far behind!! A month past deadline at this point and growing. I feel terrible, really. I've run out of excuses From having to quarantine (TWICE) and having the shop shut down for more covid BS. We're all healthy and living btw. So a lot has and hasn't happened. We are moving shop, my home👍 and I moved my cars (77, 78) home. The 72 is still at my shop. Been picking away at the77 just to get it to run..but I can't wait to get back at this 78.

I picked up a 77 280z on trade for some metal work. It's a nugget. 280zx alternator upgrade (brand new with internal regulator) with voltage regulator delete and maxi fuse upgrade (deleted the fuse links and their respective relays) I'm experiencing a weird problem; - Aftermarket tape deck from the 90's when this was last on the road. If the deck is plugged in (12v straight from battery) it won't crank over. In fact it kills everything if I try to turn the car over. If I unplug it, the car will crank. If I turn on hazards those kill all interior electronics, same with headlights, they'll kill everything too. I've cleaned all the grounds in the engine bay. This is all with a battery tender/charger hooked up. I'm wondering, should I have kept the relays? I do have the Haynes manual, as well as wiring diagrams and a meter. This is weird. I did swap the ignition from my 78 before the upgrades and everything worked fine. The factory radio harness is a bit buggered. Probably should start there.

A sandblaster was in order for restoring the majority of any undercarriage parts....not powder coating these either. Just single stage polyurethane paint. Here they are in epoxy primer. also found some calipers in a box of parts that came with the car. I posted a request for help to identify what they're off of and apparently theyre 82-83 280zx calipers. SO. On to my next question. Does anyone have the specs for the maxima caliper brackets? Heck if you have the specs, I'll build you a set for free haha.

Still plugging away over here. I managed to buy another 2. One is complete 77 280z, one is parts carcass. My main focus lately has been working on a customer's 72 240z. He has a built sr20 going in that I need to fab up motor mounts for but his car is just as bad as my 78.

Odd place to terminate as well considering the body sheet metal is popcan thin.

Haha it's funny sometimes; the love for our projects. Patch most likely, complete with hemmed edge. The front lower corner is toast and the mirror has been shaved so it'll need attention there as well. I'm not sure where to find full skins.

Started attacking the front of the floor pan today. Immediately had to attend to the a-pillar and fire wall area so that I'd have something there to actually weld to. It just keeps getting worse. Today was one of those days where I asked myself "wtf am I doing with this rust bucket"... Then your push on...

Using the dimple hole to spray in some coating is an excellent idea! I'll look into what the best for Canada, and salty environments.

I'll have to look into that. Is it similar to that por stuff?

Haha I hope it isn't pretentious. This is my first real go at replicating panels to this degree. I am very fortunate to rent a spot with all the tools, and I pay for the consumables. So far however I am unable to find another Z project this rotten. Lots of info on here of people replacing just about every bit on these cars.

Slowly picking away at it today.. The inner wheel well is rotten in spots so taking care of that, also going to try and make a seatbelt pocket. Pretty sure some tank/round over dies are in order for the bead roller.

Thanks for the welcome! I bought my 3 piece valence off of Jim actually. He's a really nice guy and you're right, he knows just about everything there is about these cars. The cross member and rear subframe have been bolted in since day 1 and I threw the door back on to get the rocker lined up right. Caution is certainly being taken. Still waiting on my slip over outter rockers off the eBay....ordered back at the beginning of January and they sent me later 60's dodge d series rockers haha.

You're right. Zinc coated weld-through primer is the way to go. As careful as I am, with my etch prime, I am hoping for another 20 years without issue. This car won't be in another field I pray and hopefully holds up. Seam sealer should do it's job. Maybe. Hopefully haha.

Finally I had some time to get it all put in, reinstall the door to check gaps and make sure the door opening did not get skewed from cutting all that metal out. A brace would have been smart but there's still a trans tunnel, a pillar, b pillar, roof, firewall, and passenger side keeping the integrity. I hit all the hidden surfaces with epoxy primer and welded the rockers together and finally the floor.

The closer I looked, the more rust and rot I found. How can I attach a new pan to metal that doesn't exist, or that has disappeared. A mixture of expanding foam and fiberglass were used by the PO to attempt a repair on the rockers...So.... New rockers had to be made. Inner and outer. Waiting on slip overs for 2 months now.

See that moss! Wow. Immediately I picked up a rotisserie from a relative and got to work on the floor.

Some of it has been reclaimed by the Earth and I most certainly should have it checked for any tweek. Hopefully it's not as bad as it seems. 15 years it sat there. Some time ago someone started to do repairs. I don't want to bash their work but undoing their mess has been a lot of work so far. That's ok though. I get to see exactly what this car needs.

Let's dive into it.. It's mostly complete with a lot of spares. After picking through the parts I was able to find the front end and installed it to move around the shop. Boy it's a project alright.