love-my-V8-280Z

I don't know if this is the best place to post this, but can anyone tell me where I might find a new fuel tank sending unit for my 280Z. I have tried motorsport and victoria british.. Anyone know how to rig a different sending unit and make it work?? Thanks...

I have a cowl hood to sell also... Where were you guys when I was looking to buy one?? I have a fiberglass hood with a 2 or 3 inch cowl... Pictures if anyone is interested.. Terry steenhagen at charter dot net

Pay attention to body work, I learned a long time ago "no rust" only means it looks good. You may find the car full of plastic fillers.... you will waste any savings when you are stuck fixings someones else's crappy work..

I too am working on a LT1 into a 280Z. Mine is a 78. I have mounted the PCM behind the glove box, I have all the work done, I installed new gauges and installed the dash.. Turned everything on and several things are not working. The motor starts but a couple gauges did not work and what not.. I was really expecting it to go flawless. I have put so much time into studing. Anyway I made a new wireing diagram also. I did not use the GM plugs. I may have shared this with you already. If you are interested in seeing it, and giving any feed back I would be glad to send a copy. My address is steenhagen at charter dot net..

Silicon Boy, I have been reading your post and notice you are going to need a hood riser. I bought a fiberglass cowl hood used, Its a 2.5" lift I think. If you are interested let me know. I bought it off a hybrid Z user, It still needs a little work. The reason I want to sell it is because Its more lift than I want. I don't want people to look at my car and right off think that its been hopped up.. I have a stock hood on its way from Arizon right now, Went and destroyed the original hood sand blasting it.. That mistake has cost me some money.. steenhagen @ charter dot net

Start savng photos of other peoples work. I have, I plan on taking seveal to a recommended muffler man and have him bend and weld me up what I want.. I have many good picks if you would some copies. Email me at steenhagen at charter dot net

I will remove my post.. It is incorrect... I have just done a upgrade and did only hook one wire to the soleniod...

Hey, don't take it as being critized, We don't want people to be bashful about there ideas.. If you have a extreme idea you will get extreme comments. I have a lot of fun on this site and most of the time its good quality remarks. It was just different when you talked about building the car around the headers.. I hope you see it as fun and not people being mean spearited... I have posted some pretty odd ideas, it helps to see what kind of remarks people make...

That is what its all about... Just made every penny invested worth it.. You have to go home and place another notch in the head board...

When I was looking at what I wanted to do with my LT1 I reviewed all the options.. It boiled down to did I want a/c or not.. I figured I might so I did the mods necessary to mount the a/c on top... I would sudjest to anyone that has to go through the work of modifing the belt and pulleys to just go with the a/c setup.. Its only a option, but before you go thorough the work make sure you are not going to change your mind. And if you do want A/C I will more than willing give you what you need to make your own brackets...

Yes, very funny! If you need to know what headers to buy ask and I will go and find what I bought, I made sure I found the square port block hugger headers and they look and fit great! I can also send a photo if you like.... I have the LT1 which at the moment I'm mad at....

I have the T56 and the JTR diff adapter. I took a junky driveshaft to the local truck shop and told them to shorten it.. They made me a perfect driveshaft for $250. The more I looked at it the more I realized there was not one part from the driveshaft I brought them.. Anyway, so for $250 I had a driveshaft made from scratch. If you found a shaft at the junk yard it's only $150 to have it shortened and balanced... Just don't forget to do the best job they need the trans input shaft and the adapator for the diff, they balance them all at the same time I guess.. Of course they did not tell me this on the phone, they waited until I got there...

Everything you ever needed to know about sizing up a correct tire.. Excellent sites again grumpvette!! Good job... I added a few pages to my saved word data base

I found O2 sensor bungs for my LT1 on Jegs for $8.50 each. That seems alful step for what it is. Am I missing the boat? Has anyone found something that will work and not cost me almost $20 for 2? Thanks

Muspuppis, Just make sure you keep all the parts you remove, take a lot of pics and video, I was were you are at about 6 years ago. You will know the day you are no longer tearing down and starting to build back up! I today was looking at my old video to see where the radiator over flow tank went... Take it slow and know that you will get tired of it, let it sit, the desire to work it on it comes and goes... I gutted my 280Z.. now I have the inside almost done, a LT1/T56 installed and I have been working on the cooling/heater.... So close to being able to start it back up! Seemed like I would never make it.. I've checked on getting the dash recovered.. Out of my price range.. $800.00. Almost the same price as buying a new one. So I have been reading and looking and the dash caps look plenty good. I just ordered on last night as well as all new gauges. $470 for the gauges and $110 total for the dash cap.. I just spent the day taking apart the old dash and gauges and doing alot of cleaning..

Steve, Good luck! Make sure you take it slow and enjoy the upgrade. I have installed a 95 LT1 into my 280Z and have it running. I would be glad to give advise if you need it. Save my email address- steenhagen at charter dot net I just need some more cash to keep this project moving....

I don’t deserve the credit I received a lot of help from another Hybrid Z member. Never the less it works. I did relocate the coil, its hard to see but it fit nicely on the front of the a/c plate. As for the belt size I don't remember but all you do is rap a string around the pulleys and measure it. The serpentine belts model number is how long they are. The first belt I bought was a little lose so I took it back and bought one 1" shorter.

You will need to make a dozen trips to a parts store, run into walls when the stores are closed, have to wait for parts that you needed to order.. There are a lot of reasons you will not get it done. Nothing wrong with trying but just tell yourself that your not going to be dead set on getting it completed, You will not enjoy the work and be upset when things slow you down. This is to be as much fun as building as driving it.. I love it every time I add a little to get it closer to perfect.. I have been having a great time, only because Im not rushing. I have done a ton of studying and internet learning.. Big fun if not in a hurry!

Here is a pic of the cut outs I made before I traced them to steel and purchased the pulleys. Works very well, had a little trouble with the belt coming off until I found what pulley needed to be shimmed a little. Here is the motor just before I installed it. Here it is in the car and runs great!.. Plenty of clearance. I have about $40 invested including the cost of the belt.. One more thing, With what I did you can push and pull the A/C so it either is very close to the valve cover or very close the strut tower. I have it about 1" from the valve cover, I love sharing my pics and work, I owe it to this site. So If can help just ask..

Id like to toss in my 2 cents.. I would not paint the car until the very last thing. My project has turned into a 4 yr event because of the "while I'm at it" problem. My car has been banged and bumped a lot. not to say how many times I have crawled under it and used my dirty hand to pull myself out.. I painted the unbody parts after I sandblasted them and reinstalled, I have done a lot of body work and it sits in primer.. I did paint the motor cavity of course... I feel the last thing is the paint, I want to go over the car with a fine tooth comb than put on that killer paint job!

How come everyone is in CA? I guess its because all of the Z's in Michigan have disinagrated due to the winters and salt...