blueovalz

RacerX, thanks for those numbers. I just bought a cheap $55 (from a discount company similar to Harbour Freight) gravity fed gun (non HVLP) with a 1.4 tip, and was very surprised at the nice pattern for such a cheap gun (appears to be well machined and with no plastic parts). I had no reference to the 1.4 size, but do now.

I'll 3rd that. Thanks again. I feel even better with my 289 vs the 302 now (considering the intake set-up and other very important perimeters now).

My 280Z 5 speed weighed 71lbs (replaced by a WC T-5 that weighed 80lbs)

A good gun is important on your top coat (color coat), but a cheaper one works fine for priming. I have recently started using the gravity fed guns, and am much more satisfied with this than the siphon fed gun I've used for decades. I'm just about ready for a HVLP one next to keep the overspray down.

I believe the 260 has a smaller bore (3.8"), but same stroke (2.87") as the 289. It cannot be bored to the 4" 289 bore, but the block is basically the same. The only possible problems between the fitment of the 260 vs the 289 (or 302) is making sure the bellhousing has the same number of bolts (5 vs 6). With all the 302 blocks available out there, I'd consider the 4" bore before going back to a smaller bore. It's all the same other than that.

John, I with you on this one too. I've got the 5" BS on mine and my finger just fits between the tire and the 2.5" springs.

My experience in this is such with a '75 280Z: I used the BFG Comp T/As for many years that had 245/45ZR16 tires on them. The wheels were 8" wide, and I had about 3/8" clearance on both sides of the section width (between the stock springs, and the unmodified fender lips). So they will fit, but the wheel backspacing was critical. I basically had 4.5" back spacing on them.

An "old" method I used with a 60's model chrome parts was to prepare the surface with a scotchbrite pad. This will take some work being you have to turn the shine into dull. Then I lightly primed it, and then painted it. Big thing to remember is keep the coatings (primer and paint) to the very minimum thickness (just enough to cover) I can't recal if there are conversion coatings for SS, but if so, these would be recommended being the I believe the drip rail and windshield trim is SS, and not chrome.

I'm not sure about the term "spindal" in regards to the CV shafts, so I'll cover all bases here. Using OEM parts, the 280ZX Turbo CV shafts with the accompanying companion flanges, will only "bolt on" to the 240Z axle stubs (with the 25 splined stubs). The later 260 and 280 axle stubs have 2 extra splines that prevents the CV flanges from slipping onto them. The adapter allows these shafts to bolt onto the slightly larger stubs that have the 2 extra splines.

Mike, balancing in my area (AR) runs between $150-$275.

Ross, you slay me.

I can't address the "painted" inside. But I can say that the R200 stubs just pop out of the sides with a symetrical and firm force. Two screwdrivers positioned on both sides of a stub, using the ramp of the blades to force the stub out as you carefully drive the blades between the stub flanges and the diff case.

With a door on the hatch, and the cap on the fuel tube, the tube is sealed by the cap, not the door (remember when you open your cap on your other cars, and you here the air rush out). I took some pics of, and left a 6" round black cardboard circle on the needed position on the hatch (to get an idea if this was going to look "too wierd". It appears that it will look fine. Yes, it will be different. As you can see from the following photo, the car is almost paintable. The spoiler does not interfer with the door, it's off being wet-sanded.

I experimented with VW bus (and one Porshe) CV joints early on before narrowing my choice down to the Datsun CV joints. What I found encouraging was they were narrow, and a simple adapter plate would be all that is needed to bolt these joints up. The bug axle (don't know their strength) is very close to needed length, but I was focused on shortened Porshe axles. Keep in mind that even with the Datsun Turbo CV halfshafts, the stub axles may then become the weakest link (tried to say those last works fast)

Just an idea here that I'm going with being my "theme" for my Z is RACE CAR! I bought one of those "Bullitt" fuel cap doors (round brushed aluminum) that Ford has on their Bullitt Mustangs. I am going to mount it flush with the hatch surface, centered below the window, on the hatch. Being the cell and battery and tower cross brace with cage and all is back there anyway (won't be putting any luggage bach there), I don't see any reason not to run a filler tube up to and just under the Bullitt fuel door (use spongy foam gasket to seal the tube and cap to the hatch surface. This way I can fill without opening the hatch. Open the door, remove fuel cap, and fill.

There may be a construction difference between different models of Z cars. I did the 4" at a time method on one side, and the "cut entire rail off at once" on the other side. There was absolutely no separation or distortion what-so-ever when I cut the entire rail off with no spotwelds during the removal. BUT, again, there may be different circumstances with differing models. I very well could have used a very mininum of bondo by grinding the weld flush, but I felt that this seam needed a somewhat "full" bead for strength, and with that in mind, I left about .060" of bead exposed above the flush sheetmetal after smoothing the bead out with a grinder. This was also done to cover any inadaquacies in my welding skills being I did not want this seam to separate 10 years down the road due to flexing and vibration.

I wish I could give pointers on the bondo part. It took me several wipes to get it right. I guess my biggest problem was the bumps in the weld bead. I did not get them perfectly smooth when I did the grinding. Thus I would sand through the bondo into the weld bead bump(s), which in turn caused this to be a high spot, so I would have to wipe again. Use a long idiot stick (not a short hand sander) to keep the broad curve smooth and even, take you time and be very patient. Site along the edge from the front and the back to make sure you are creating a smooth curve in both dimesions (up and down, left and right). Bondo work is more of a learned process that I feel can't be taught in text. The more you do, the better you will do it.

The pattern is the same. My use of these rotors were as follows. They are about 1/4" in diameter larger than the front Maxima rotors ('87) that I am using on the rear brakes on my Z. They are of the same exact offset and width as said rotors. They will not fit over the front hub without removing some small amount of material from the OD of the front hubs (or the rear for that matter). They will not bolt onto the back side of the front hub (i.e the factory location)unless modified by opening up the inside hub hole and redrilling the mounting holes. IMHO, the 300ZX four lug rotor, or an aftermarket rotor would be much easier mod.

DavyZ hit the nail on the head. I still wanted the round lights for the traditional Z appproach, but the smaller diameter gave a "meaner, more brutish" appearance. I seriously considered the original size lights, but without the steel fender's support, and not wanting to add much more weight to the front (fabricating larger headlight supports) holding the bigger lights further out toward the corners, I decided against it. Lastly, I will fabricate clear covers for these smaller ones, and the other OEM light option would have prevented this. The fiberglass fender's shape disallowed the use of the normal covers even if I did put the lights at the corners.

We'll watch each other's back and take the heat from any other member's spouse for giving great ideas go a fellow gearhead. That ought to be on our charter.

A plain coil to a spark box will work, either way.

I glued them to the fenders (exterior sheet metal) because this elimnated the need for a vast amount more foam. I'll send you an E-mail of the process I wrote up a while back for someone else if you feel the desire to give this process a try.

On my FORD Unilite (carb engine), the red wire goes to the ignition (+) side of the coil (where your 12vdc from the ign switch meets it). The green wire goes to the other side (-) of the coil (where I have the tach wire also attached), and the brown wire goes to chassis ground. I hope this is the same as the Chevy set-up

Moving the front axle forward served two purposes for me. 1) increased caster to about 7 degrees. 2) allowed me more room in front of the engine. Fortunately, I built the body, so the wheel openings could be designed around this arrangement. An added benefit is the fact that the weight of the engine is further rearward as far as weight distribution with the front axles moved forward (even if it is an insignificant amount).

Sleeving can be done to a cylinder that is still intact or one that's missing the original walls. If I wanted to fix up a worn out, 60 over, iron block to standard bore specs, then sleeves would work, or if a single cylinder is damaged, the a sleeve would fix it. I think that this has been used (in iron blocks again) to increasd the bore beyond the original castings capability too.