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It can be done but it will take a lot of time and effort. If you want to do it right go and get some lead body tools and a couple of different hammers, for tapping and hitting. You will notice the lead body tools have different shapes and some will match fairly well with the curves you have in your hood. On the sharper curves start by tapping on it by holding the lead tool near the outer parts of the dent and start by tapping the lead with the hammer. You will find the right amount of swing and impact to start to move the metal some. Slowly working your way inward. You will have to repeat this process several times to get it to come out fairly smooth. If you spend enough time and practice on it you will clean it up so nice that primer paint will be thick enough to hide the remainder of the dent. If you get impatient you can always heat up the area and work it a bit faster. I have removed those kinds of dents and a lot worse from cars in the past, so I can say that take your time and work the metal slow. Cost wise it would probably be cheaper to buy a used hood, but for the knowledge you gain from doing the work is worth a lot too. When I go back home next weekend I will see if I still have my body work tools and maybe you can borrow them for the cost of shipping them back and forth. More power to learning. Robert

If you decide in the future to supercharge or Turbocharge your car with the Holley, drop me a line and I'll make sure you know how to set it up right, explain where to drill, and let you know how to make your secondaries work for your power range. I have done many Holley Carbs on turbo and supercharged cars. They are actually very good carbs. Have fun Robert

I talked to this guy that owns ArizonaZcar a few months ago and he would sell any mold for 6K but would sell all hi molds for 38k. He is not interested in doing any of the molding anymore since he has to much time invested in the machined parts. I have been trying to find people that would be interested in the body kit when you first open up their website (car in Yellow). The fellow said if I could find maybe 15 to 20 people wanting to pay about 2K he might be willing to make a run of that kit. I had found 5 others but I did not find enough. How about that as the kit or even some of the other mold parts. I hope this helps and check out the fiberglass parts he shows. http://www.arizonazcar.com Robert

For that low of a boost, you should not have a need for water injection. Once you get the boost up and your car is set up correctly - with the right amount of timing retarded, then maybe. I have put together systems of V8 up to 30 psi of boost and been able to stay away from water injection. A long time ago I had a 280Z that I turbo charged with a Corky Bell Cartech system and I ended up buying a Edelbrock Vara-injection system - you can still find these on ebay for 60 to 200 dollars. I ran a mixture of water and spirited water in the bottle but I was running 21 psi of boost (not stock internal to the engine) Once I figured out the fuel to air mixture (drilling the carb) and setting the timing correct, I ran 24 psi and did not need the water and spirits injection. I would try to look at your system and see what you can do to eliminate the use of that spray. The only reason I would do that is if I had no other way to control detonation or not enough money to get rid of it. The Vara-injection does have the adjustments that would be needed to spray the water when needed but it will take a bit of playing and aa flat head screwdriver to get it right. Good luck Robert

I would take the steel insert out and see how it looks and how it fits on the Aluminum flywheel. Look for any warping that might be in that plate. I have had probably at least ten different ones over the years in different cars. Two actually heated up so much they cracked. Make sure that the scratches are not stress cracks or deflection cracks when they mounted it. If they are simply some small scratches I would not worry about it. Also Don't forget the next time you change your clutch you will probably have to resurface the ring insert. Hope this helps Robert

I have done some rust removal, flares, and body kits. Please don't mess with bondo (I know I will get some negative remarks about that), but bondo is like putting some clay on the car and painting over it. Eventually it will be noticed, crack or fall off. Cut away rust from the car. Fiberglass resin and the cloth works well but don't forget to get something called gel-coat which is how you fill in the small imperfections and don’t use bondo. When I put on fiberglass in the past I actually bought some bathtub liner rubber. I know this sounds strange but this works well for me and you can use more flexible materials to do more contoured shapes. You lay the glass into place and use the liner to push and smooth it out once it is starting to cure (when you can touch it with your finger and you leave a finger mark but are not getting the cloth or wet your finger from the resin, the curing area should appear warm to the touch), a small rolling on for art works well to push the liner. Once you have it in place let the fiberglass start to cure (I usually added a little more active hardener to the resin to speed it up), slowly peel the liner off (almost not, making sure not to peel the fiberglass off and then let it cure the rest of the way. After this do your sanding work use some resin to lightly coat and sand again. Then apply the Gel-coat and sand until you get the surface finish desired.

I have done this a few times and the first thing is to make sure with the DMV that the car may be put back on the streets and ask them if you need to do anything to request a title. Sometimes they tell you to get the car registered in your name at the county clerks office where you will pay the taxes on the amount you payed. In several states before you go to the county clerks office you have to get the car inspected and insurance (Texas and California for sure). If the car is old enough you may only need what is a safety inspection while in others you may not need anything or a complete emissions test. I hope this helps since I have done this with I think it is 7 cars now. Robert

Hello all, I was wondering if any of you out there have also incurred the issue with tire companies that will not touch a car with spacers/adapters. I am concidering designing some hubs and have them custom machined at some that have the built in spacer offset. I was wondering if others are also interested in it, how many of you, and what kinds of offsets are you interested in. I am going to do this with my 78 280Z but it will be fitted similar to the 240Z hub style because of the brakes. So any and everyone interested reply to this board so others can also see and I will figure the different sizes and see what kind of a deal we can get if we have many. Also what you all think this should be for price range. I am not going to add in any profits, or designing fees or anything. It will just be what they charge for machining them and don't forget there will be shipping and a box/s added to the price. I know several owners of machine shops in both LA and in Houston that I will ask quotes from once I finish the design. Currently the design is the same as the 240Z hubs but thicker by about 1.375 inches. Let me know if you have any suggestions even if you would prefer a material. Once I have the design all ready I will post it and the costs to machine and getting some boxes or a box at a shipping company. Hope this helps and it should remove issues from the tire companies. Robert

I bought one off the Snap-on truck years ago it is a very simple and can be reproduced easily. I can send you some dimensions this weekend and a drawing of it so you can make something like it or you can go to a auto shop and ask when the Snap-on truck is supposed to show up. They are sure to have on board like when I bought mine. I don't have any idea how much.

Did you happen to loosen the bleed screw when you tried pushing on the piston. The caliper itself does not have anything that can cause it to really bind that way unless something was distorted or a foreign object went in. I am assuming you checked the bleed screw, but just in case. We all miss something once in a while because we are to close to it.

How about make a video tape and sell it as extra guidance or make it available so others can view.

I believe that rust is just car cancer it needs to be removed completely to get rid of it. Also if you are looking for a rust free floor, I think the wrecked 240Z I have might be good for what you want. Let me know if you want me to find someone that will cut it out for you. I don't have a torch where the car is in California but I could probably find someone that does and then it would just cost you the cut out cost and the shipping and you can have the entire floors with the trans tunnel if you want. I am taking the few parts I need from the car at this time and going to put anything that people might want for real cheap on ebay just so it does not go to the junk yard heaven so fast. Let me know if you are interested in it and its yours. I would still recommend practicing on some scrap metal and then replace anything that might have rust. I will try to go tonight to pull the brake cable of it because I need it for my rear brake conversion on my 78 280z and at that time I will see if the passenger side area you need is any good or not. The car is not rusty but it was hit hard near the passenger door and rear wheel. Hope this helps Robert

I am looking forward to seeing how the LS1 conversion kit goes and what your opinoins are after the car is up and running in stable form. I also need to state that I am sorry that it appears that I ruffled some feathers out there. I can say that if someone is trying to sell a product that they should not kill a sure sale inside of 5 minutes. It might be that John (at least I believe that is the person I spoke with) was having a bad day or something. I don't know and that should not matter to a person that is about to buy. He had the sale with me before I called and I was just calling to ask a few quick questions. The first question was does his kit work with the LS6 also. His answer was what is that? (I just figured I would call Gm and ask the differences directly). The second question I asked was how much is the total complete kit price so that I can put a LS1 with an automatic transmission with AC, headers, and have the gauges work. HE said go to my website and add the numbers together, then he paused and said 3000 or more. The third question I asked was is it better to do the LT1 kit since it is proven or would he say the LS1 is going to be better. (His shortness and lack of wanting to say what the kit cost made me think he did not care for the LS1 kit for some reason). His answer was for that kind of information and advice I would need to pay for. At that time I said okay I guess I should re-think what I want to do and thanked him for his time and said bye. That is very close to the exact conversation that went on and it took under 5 minutes to go from where I was going to buyu the LS1 kit to making me wonder if that was the right kit and finally to saying I don't want to give this guy any of my money for his stuff. But just to be perfectly clear, I 100% was going to place an order with him that day and he made me start looking for other options. I even called JTR and Motorsports and stated that if they would develope a kit I would supply the car the motor and transmission and pay for the kit if they wanted to test things. IT seems they are busy working other angles at this time. In any case it may have been a bad day for John when I talked to him that day but if he is really just out to make a buck he lost that day. I will wait and see how things go with some of you with his kit and other home grown kits and try to figure it out again within the next few months. Once again I am sorry to have ruffled some feathers out there but as you said he is out to make money. He just needs to realize how not to miss out on a sure deal that he had in his hand. I hope that John (or whomever it was that I spoke to that day) reads these forums and realizes that they should concider every person that calls to be a potential customer and no matter if they are having a bad day or not that is how they should look at it. Like I said he lost out on making his buck that day with me. I will probably call again since many of you are supporting his product, which is a positive note and I would love to have the same positive feelings, but I might wait to see how it goes with others first. Also if others are concidering a group purchase, I would like to have a chance to concider it myself. Robert

I have done some of the older swaps with both Automatic and Standard transmissions but not the 6spd or the 700R4 or newer overdrives. I have driven each of the last two mentioned. I would say the standard is more fun but that is more for what I like and the control. On the other hand the Automatic is what I will be placing in my conversion, which is due to the fact that I am not the only one driving the car and my wife does not care to learn to drive a standard. If you plan on like the Turbo 350 - then I would say it is good for the 1/4 mile but you will be replacing it on a regular basis or the rearend. I would recommend trying to find the Engine and Transmission together and I would probably say go with the Automatic since anyone can drive it and you have a lower probability of breaking things in the drive line. Hope this helps because I have been going through the same thing and I am going the Automatic route. Take care Robert

I agree with you paying a little more for a very well developed and made design is worth it. The part that I found is that when I talked the Person at Johns about 2 months ago - well lets say he was not very interested in taking care of a customer that was ready to make the purchase right then. I wish it was different but, that was the case for meand it seems like from this forum and others that I had it easy. The kit added together at that time appeared to be over 3 K on top of the 4 to 8k you would spend on the engine and transmission. I like that there are 4 companies that make conversions for the 350 style motors, which keeps the gouge effect lower. AS can be seen others out there are building kits for themselves and it would be great if some of them would make a little money to keep doing it and making more options, so I fully support that and would help out anyway I can. In any case I am still looking for a good kit, that is made by a single person, group or company that will be willing to answer questions so that I or you can make the best choices. It seems crazy if you ask someone what engine transmission combination would they think is good and they come back and say you have to pay for that advice. Sorry about the long note but I had to qualify my desire to get a good deal design for the money spent. Once I find it or design it myself I will post it for all to access. Robert

I am also trying to find power steering information, especially when it somes to put a chevy LT1, LS1 or LS6 engine. So if anyone remembers where to find it please let me know. So far I have searched and found very little. I have heard that people used Mustang II (like in the Mid 70's) as a conversion and also an Isuzu Impulse. From what I heard is that these bolt on fairly wheel and only require some minor modifications such as the tie rod ends. But I am still looking for the information on these and I am hoping someone else recalls this and where to find it. If I find it I will send it in hear. Any help or suggestions is welcome. Thank you Robert

I just put 17" by 7" wheels on mine and used 225-45 tires and they work fine on a 78 280Z that has not been lowered. But you may want to look at what spacing you have now and use the following calculations to see if you can get clearance. If you want I have an excel spread sheet I made that you just type in different tires and it will do the calculations (just send me an email and I will send it, it is quick and dirty). It also has spacer values, standard size tires, and some recommended tire sizes from a few places with 17" by 7" rims. First thing I recommend is to see what tires you have now and make clearance measurements when the wheels are straight and when they are totally locked. If you need some ideas there feel free to ask me (I used some clay to get close). For example lets say you have 18" rims and you want to put some 235 - - 40 -18 on the car. Here are the calculations you should use. Tire_size_in_inches = Tire_size_in_mm/25.4 example: Tire_size_in_inches = 235/25.4 = 9.252 inches wide Next calculate the tire height Tire_dia_in_inches = Tire_size_in_inches * Tire_series_number / 100 * 2 + Rim_size_in_inches example: Tire_dia_in_inches = 9.252 * 40 / 100 * 2 + 18 = 25.4016 the stock height is 24.748 inches the stock width is 7.677 inches Hope this helps. Also your speedometer is going to be off be about 3 miles per hour (reading low) at 55. This is about not exact.

You are ahead of me and I plan on doing basically the same thing. I was wondering are you making your own mounts and brackets or are you buying Johns Kit. Also if there are a lot of people buying the kits from John, maybe we should all work out a bulk order with him or see if like JTR or Motorsports (or other) would be interested in producing a kit. But one thing I do have to say is that motor would look sexy inside a z engine bay. (my wife laughed when I said that). Robert

I like the same mounting used and I was wondering if the angle of the motor and transmission where set correct to the rearend. Also do you know if he used his own creations for the transmission mount and the rest of the peices to install the LS1 motor. I am really interested in finding out what I can do to get the best deal and a really good LS1 or LS6 set up. Maybe a new kit can be created that keeps the prices lower than Johns Cars. Robert

If you plan on using Aluminum it should work fine but I would recommend putting some inserts for the threads. Most machine shops that deal with aluminum would be able to point you in the correct direction. There are some newer inserts out there now that you will not need to break off the tabs so once they are in place it is a go. I was wondering something else, because it seems that you either machine or have access to a shop that might not cost to much. How much would it run to make a second set of conversion parts or even better would you or they concider making ones that would work for the LS1 and LS6 motors. Robert

I am hoping to find out as much as I can about LS1 and LS6 engine swaps. I am planning to do this swap in the near future (next few months) I have the JTR manual and read about the other chevy engine swaps but I am more interested in the all aluminum and stable LS1 and Ls6 engines. I have heard about Johns LS1 conversion but it appears that his prices are high around 3K or much more if you add all the items together. I was wondering if anyone has done these swaps, which they think is better and what are the best swap brackets for this (even if they are backyard style). I would love to hear any comments and suggestions on which way is the best to go and who I might be able to contact for more information and advice. I have heard of many LT1/350 swaps and I know of the kist that are out ther for them, but as I mentioned, I prefer doing the LS1 or even better the LS6. Thank you in advance for your assistance and comments. Robert