blueovalz

And I always thought that hydrogen in tires was a bad idea.

I can only give an example of my set-up which I don't think is too far off from some other SBF set-ups I've read about. In mine, the block is approximately 1" forward of the firewall (to allow the removeal of the tranny separate from the engine) to allow access to the bell housing bolts. In that position, the pan (front sump) is about 1" lower than the crossmember, and was about 1" too far forward (interfered with the rear edge of the crossmember. Solution: remove material from the crossmember (which was then covered with steel sheet), or raise the engine up. In my case I wanted the engine as low as possible (was a track car), so I also adopted an unorthodox method of clearance in that I moved the crossmember forward 1.25" (to increase the caster angle) which then allowed additional room for the oil pan. The rear sump pans will have a front sump on them anyway, except that the front sump (which surrounds the oil pump itself) is slightly higher (less deep) than the rear sump. So if the engine is mounted in a low positon, then even this smaller sump will cause concern in it's relationship with the crossmember.

I was never able to find a parts house (even those dedicated to foreign parts) that carry or can find the old Datsun truck 3/4" clutch master cylinders any more. I finally (mine started leaking) bought an aftermarket one that had the same bolt pattern as the Datsun (this seems to be a very popular bolt pattern) by Girling. A few minor modifications to the pushrod so that it would mount properly to the clutch pedal arm, and reshaping the metal brake line, were all that were needed.

Chances are the long ones are 300ZX. They were a good bit longer than the long sided 280ZX halfshaft.

Yeah! We've been entertained now by the enfamous mother of all garages, and quite a while back, learned not to take on toilet repairs without a sledge hammer, so what's the poop on this "wager"?

The 352 is a dinosaur. The reason they don't make it any more is because the 260 (later to be 289, and then a 302) was such a better design. Lighter, and more powerful. Personally, I'd wait for the later Windsor block instead of using the 352.

They definitly pull out. They are simply pressed into the hole, and to remove them you will need to find a punch of proper diameter and push is out from inside the cover.

If this "Indy" rear end is similar to the typical current Ford IRS, then I can say that I've compared dimensions of the ford assembly to hypothetical pick-up points on the Z for the subframe and I've found that the Ford unit is a bit too wide for installation by the typical Hybrider. If I knew I was going to attempt this kind of swap from the get-go, then perhaps the job would not be so intimidating as far as the size difference goes. The 240SX or last generation 300ZX assembly is closer in size to the Z than the Ford unit is.

There is a difference on my shafts in two places between the left and right halfshafts on the CV jointed ZX shafts. The axle itself is 1/2" longer (boot to boot measurement on mine for example) and 5/16" longer on the stub that inserts into the differential. Here is another posting of the photo of both sides. The drivers side is on top (short one). I noticed on mine the boots are different between the two on one side. This may or may not account for the axle length difference

Or you've got the left axle in the right side. There is just enough "float" on these axles to allow the short axle to fit into the long side, but not the other way.

All this address downloaded for me was an audio file only with no video. Nice music I guess.

Kinda makes you miss Goathead, doesn't it (sniff sniff)

Stony's experience is similar to mine. I had the same problem and it was the combo switch that was causing it. I think on mine though, I turned the lights off and then back on, and the high/low worked fine again. The problem only happened 2 or 3 time a year, so it wasn't a big deal.

These wheels will stick out of the fender. When I used 8" wheels on my 280, they had a zero offset, and I just barely got my pinky between the fender and the tire (I used 245/45ZR16 tires). Now push that out another 45mm (almost 2") and you have quite a problem (In my eyes anyway). The first link you gave showed a matrix for a 10" wide wheel. Could by chance the 8" wide wheels have less negative offset? If so, then you need to know what the specifics are.

Well, as I said, I'm not an expert here. I've read some stuff from the manufacturer and talked to race engine builders, and the consensus is that the Hyper piston is a good "fill-in-the-gap" piston for someone wanting a "stronger than cast" piston but cheaper than a forged piston. They are indeed stronger, but more brittle (like tempered glass is vs regular glass) than regular cast pistons. It appears that high compression and/or high rpm (both of these are subjective descriptions) are not a friend of any cast piston, and yes, the hypers are stronger, but you may want to investigate this area with people that have had experience with these pistons. They may be great for what you need out of them. I was simply voicing some concern as I had thought about a set for myself, but at 10.3/1 ratio (pump gas) and 7500 rpm, I wanted my motor to be good for a long time (if that's even possible). I just decided to spend the extra money and go forged. Simply my opinion and not expertise here. Hypereutectic piston info

Can't say. You will need to know either back spacing or the offset before you will know.

No expert here, but until someone that is chimes in, I'll take a stab at it. The .035" over rings will be fine, just like any .030 rings will be in the important fact that you will, regardless of which set you get, check the end gap with the rings in the bore prior to assembling the block. The manufacturer will provide a suggested gap depending on your application (stock, racing, NOS, turbo or supercharger, etc) and it will be up to you to ensure the end gap is within this range, which may entail some removal of material from the ends of the ring. Personally, I'd never use any set of rings without checking the end gap prior to putting them on the piston. When you do this, also be sure to keep the rings dedicated to the cylinder they were tested in (one set for each cylinder). There will be very tiny variances between cylinders if you use the Joe Blow machine shop down the street. Perhaps you can answer a question for me now. I was under the impression that the Hyper pistons used in high compression applications would be quite susceptible to shattering if detonation occurred (verses a forging). Is this true, and are you comfortable with this if so?

What kind of first gear ratios are you guys running when you say that 1st gear is pretty much a waste of time? Is this opinion based on lack of traction, or just the very small amount of time spent in 1st gear. With the 315's on the back of my car, traction with my high rpm 289 is not as much of a problem as it would be with a more stock, torquier, lower rpm 289 or 302 with, say, 225's. My T-5 has a 2.96 1st gear, and 5th gear is .80. This was set up for a road course more than anything else, but I was curious as to how these gears compared to your experience(s). I would like to try the 4.11 some time, which is why I'm watching this string closely. RPM /speed with an .80 5th gear ratio is a little iffy, but I think I can get away with the this rear end with the high (2.96 vs a 3.36 or whatever) 1st gear.

You've got the general idea. I used an old spark plug that I modified (welded a stub where the electrode was) to make a piston stop, which was used to find TDC. If you use a tape be sure you get the "advance" side in the correct direction (which isn't a really big deal because the tapes I've seen also have a "retard" scale too.

These pointers have always been an enigma to me. They're like pens or screwdrivers in that I'm always loosing them, or I never seem to have the right one that I need. I gave up, and used one of those timing tapes (Mr. Gasket I believe) with a homemade pointer. Besides, the timing tapes are so much more visible as far as seeing what you're doing (especially when you're as blind as I am) If your lucky you may be able to come across the timing cover with the cast-in pointer.

Tim has many good as well as valid points and concerns here. In fact, many years later (not because I had any problems) I fabricated cylindrical wedges to would slip into the wedge gap of the Akermans, and "crush" into place when the 1/2" bolt was torqued down sufficiently. It was not anything that I felt was needed. The binding rod end is very important. The first time I did this, yes, the rod was binding at full droop. This problem was cured by chamfering the spacer so that the ball had minimal contact surface with the spacers. Lastly, I do have a set of Akermans that I did cut in two, and weld back together. The welding was done in such a manner that heat throughout the process was not cycled and the piece was kept cherry red from start of welding process to the finish. Once the weld was completed I used a press as well as a large hammer and attempted to destroy the weld. Lastly, the piece was normalized (don't know for sure if this really was of any benefit). I used it for many years successfully too. But these are only experiences and may not be an "SAE approved" method. Thanks Tim for bringing up the safety aspects of these mods.

I've done much the same thing using spherical rod ends (but for a different reason). Good quality rod ends are available that will be stronger than you will ever need. I took a slightly different approach though. I instead used a grade 8, 1/2" bolt through the steering rod (Ackerman) instead of drilling the hole out larger. The reasoning was that 5/8" seemed to be a bit of overkill, the 1/2" was almost a perfect fit (the hole is slightly bigger), and lastly, if I later did decide to use a conventional rod end, the unmodified Ackerman rod would still be usable. I found that with good quality washers, the 1/2" bolt is very well suited for this usage. I then made an adapter to match the steering rack ends to the spherical rod ends. With this set-up, bump steer can also be improved upon. This set-up has worked well for many years. I the below photo, I used nuts as spacers to adjust the bump-steer height. Once I found a good length as far as bump-steer spacing, I made a nicer looking single spacer.

NAPA quoted me a price two days ago for $80/side with a $30 core charge (entire half/shaft). Sounds reasonable to me.

I've taken the end off one side to replace a boot. Basically, the joint slips over the splined axle. I don't recal a circlip on the end or not (may have been there, but I don't remember). The most notable thing was the end of the axle is peened after the joints are slipped onto the axle. This peening expands the splined area just enough so that the joint will not easily slide back off (I used a press to push the axle out). After the boot was swapped and before I re-assembled it, I ground the immediate area around the peened part of the axle just enough so that the axle would slip back into the joint, and then I re-peened it. The other boot was in good shape, so I did not have to disassemble it (thank goodness, because it looked a good bit more complicated to do).

The Turbo 280ZX and most later model 260 and 280(if not all) 2+2 Zs had the CV jointed shafts. The NA 280ZX did not.