Gollum

1st off, where's the car located? I consider myself a pretty stand up guy. I've never had someone act as a broker of sorts for me, but I've been the middle man of many other people's sales. The most important thing, as always, is to have very clearly written out expectations and have it SIGNED. It drives me nuts when someone is willing to put a deposit down for a car but never thought about writing up a simple contract.... As far as who to trust, I'd say find someone that has some connections to mutual friends/people you know. If there's at least some personal attachment the person is much more likely to go all the way to make sure you're happy.

Leon ~ Have you sat in the MX-5 / NC chassis miata? In the older NA miata I feel slightly cramped, the NB is really nice to me, and the NC I have to sit 2 or 3 clicks forward from the back on the seat, it's really that much roomier than the older ones. The handling on the NC is definitely not the same as the older ones, but it's still far better than SO many cars out there. I'd forgotten about the sky/solstice! I'm not fond of the solstice front end that all the magazine journalists seemed to love so much, but I though the sky was pretty hot looking. The best part about them though, imo, is that there was a company with a LS1 swap kit before most dealers had their first cars! And don't be scared to buy one because of the brand name being gone. GM has been very clear about supporting these cars, and they shouldn't be any less supported than any other car. You can still get parts for a Z33 can't you? But it's out of production... You can still get parts for a Z32 can't you? But it's out of production.... You can still get parts for a Z31 can't you? But it's out of production... That's my point, those companies are just small little monikers of a much larger company. GM closed those branches because they were needing to downsize to keep their budgets at least somewhat realistic. That doesn't mean the companies making the parts are out of business... Most parts in those cars were generic GM parts anyhow... That'y my 2 cents on the pontiac/saturn thing. If you fit in the NB miata, it's certainly a perfectly good car that should be well under budget, new enough, and a great platform. You won't have to give up on having fun and CHOOSING to work on your car and improve it like the S30, whereas many of the cars that have been brought up are either hard to modify, or get quite expensive to improve.

I've driven ONE S2000, which is far less than the other cars I gave my input on, I admit. But I could just never get around that FOR WHAT THE PRICE IS, it's just meh. If Mazda offered a Miata for near or over 40k you can bet it'd rival the S2k in just about EVERY way. But they've never wanted to target their market that high. Even the turbocharged version didn't near S2k prices. In all honesty I just don't see it as that much better of a place to start as a platform, unless you're just willing to spend the extra money to save time and energy to start at a higher level of performance all around, which is a perfectly valid reason and opinion to like them and buy one. Just doesn't excite me which is something I want a car to do, ESPECIALLY if it's replacing a S30.... Maybe YOU haven't driven enough miatas I'm 6' and 200 lbs now and have never had an issue climbing into a miata, especially the new ones. The latest revision that you can find for decent used prices now is quite room and I feel 5'-10" to 6'2" is the sweet spot that they designed it for. It's definitely geared towards the american market. And remember, the S30 is fairly tight too, which is something many of us like about it. I'm sure you understand, since you drive a S2k. Bold quotations for highlight of truth. Ron explained my issue with the Z3 platform as a whole. They're just not a DRIVERS car, which is hilarious because that's something the M3 has always killed at, so you'd have thought the M Coupe at least of all Z3 cars would be golden.... Exactly why I didn't bring up the Z4. Way out of budget range we're talking about for the most part. Hard to find them even for S2k money, and they're going to be expensive to work on once they start breaking. To OP: I'd also look in to turn of the millennium M3's. I know they're not a 2 seater, but they're more of a drivers car, more fun, and more just all around awesome than many of the cars we've been talking about. After Ray's post I couldn't ignore the recommendation. There just hasn't been a bad variant of the M3...

FRS is nice, but if you're looking to not pay too much depreciation finding one a year old already and for sale will be difficult, and will still drop a bit in value over the next 3 years. And no matter what it won't be under 10k.... The miata seems like the clear leader in this catagory, but I feel it's still a LONG ways off from being anything like a vintage Z. Most like a Z built today in the mass production market? Maybe. Personally I'd look at something older and find a really clean example. You can find a FD under 10k in good shape. The FC is also a killer car for what they go for and they fit an LS1 nicely still But you might not like the idea of a project, and in all reality even though a 20 year old car might have low miles you should still go through the car looking at bushings and such because there's items that will wear over time, not just miles. I'd scratch the WRX off your list. They're wonderful, but nothing like a Z... I'd skip the RSX all together and find a Type R if you're going that route... BMW Z3 feels like a big since it's so heavy for it's size, which leaves you feeling gypped when you drive it. Audi TT is so bloated it makes me wonder where your head is at get a mustang instead if you're considering something in this weight range... The crossfire was a good idea, that never caught on thus the car never really got refined the way it deserved The RX8 is a great car that has that magical mazda feel when it comes to cornering, but it still feels like a 4 door to me when I drive them. If you can get around that sedan-ness the car has it's a wonderful all around performer that's hard to ignore. It's a bit out of your budget but the genesis coupe is hard to ignore. It's a well equipped car for not much money and definitely has enough power to be fun. Many note that hyundai's cars still lack something in the character department, but I can make comparisons to MANY cars people buy that I feel the same about... The S2000 is a great car, but I still feel they're overpriced, even in the used market. I'll probably never personally own a S2000 for that reason, as the fanboys will never let prices come down into the real world. Another interesting older car in that price range is the MR2. Definitely "different" but I'd say it's more like the S30 than the WRX or RSX... Getting hard to find those really clean examples though that are really worth paying the premium for a low mileage older car. Also, if you're willing to forgive some weight like you are with the Audi, look at the RWD lexus cars, like the IS and the SC, both of which are great cars for modifying and come with wonderful powerplant options. No manual for the V8, but the auto isn't terrible if you don't abuse it, and the other option is the 2JZ, which you can't really complain about as a bad option either.... The funny thing is that I see people looking for pretty much this same exact fantasy quite often, but there really just isn't a great replacement for a vintage RWD car like the S30, which has more character (in my humble opinion) in just it's bumper than most modern cars in their entire lineup. Cars are made for the average idiot these days that just wants a car to go from A to B in the most comfortable and fashionable way possible. They're also made to the most ridiculous safety standards that force designers to work around extremely limiting structures. If you want an old car, buy an old car. /rant off.

Ross is a gem of a human being. The whole Z community will be effected by this, but it pales in comparison to what I know the family is going through. We can't possibly feel your pain, but my thoughts and prayers go out to you, the Corrigans. May God and his peace be with you all during this time of struggle.

I know! I'm booking a whole weekend for it, debating making it a week!

Sweet Jesus son of Mary and Almighty, has hell frozen over?!?!?!?! Somebody call Tony an ambulance, I think he's having a seizure! If you need to bring it to a shop to have it repaired, I honestly wonder if owning any vintage car is really for you. You either need to have deep pockets, or willing to do the work yourself. The battery tray isn't too complicated of a repair, especially when you consider things like replacing the tail light area, lower rocker areas, or replacing entire floor pans... I'm not trying to be mean, just hoping to shock you into reality. Old cars rust, and these Z cars weren't the greatest at preventing it. That means you better to prepared to deal with the consequences.

Definitely expensive, but from what I've heard from so many east-coasters, they CAN be worth it if they're in good shape. If the rust is truly minor, then it might actually be cheaper than shipping a CA car out. And just because a car is from CA doesn't mean it's rust free, you'd have to have someone who knows what they're looking for look at it for you. If that sounds like too much time and headache, I'd say see if you can talk him down and be happy with whatever you get. The prices have been skyrocketing lately and finding a clean S30 even in the bay area for a reasonable price seems to be getting hard to do. Really gotta hunt with lots of patience, not in any sort of hurry.

The "poor car" comment was about the sun roof, and the sun roof alone. I couldn't care less about the looks. Already off to a good start in that department.

Air in the left side maybe?

That poor car! (I hate added sunroofs in case that wasn't obvious...) I spy in your photobucket some turbo parts. I'd say go crazy with it, not many do with the S130.

Sorry I haven't been reachable lately. Just got back into town. Glad to see the wheels and turbo made it! Packaging didn't get too tore up did it? I was semi-worried that due to the weight it'd get a bit abused by the gorillas. And I see a flywheel bolted up, woohoo!

JCan, how sure are you that the clearance on an OEM gasket was going to be .025"? And do you think your deck was resurfaced at all? If you had a stock 2.8 crank, stock L28 rods, and stock flat tops then an OEM gasket would make for a 100% OEM clearance deck. The pistons are SUPPOSED to pop out a bit but what you saw is quite large. You mention the block as though maybe it was the factor causing the excess deck clearance but I've never seen ANYTHING showing an variation in deck height in the L block from 240Z up through 280ZX L engines. But if all measurements were correct, .025" clearance is certainly getting to the limit of what I'd feel comfortable with. If I knew my bearing clearances were spot on and I was running hyper-cast pistons I'd maybe take the gamble and run that, but I think you might have done the right thing in your case. I'm just curious of the root cause.

Tim ~ I was assuming 15% and then I rounded a few numbers because I was just in a hurry to make a point. Obviously I was in such a hurry I had a typo or two. But thanks for the clarification for those trying to not crunch the numbers themselves. I just figured out what happened... 175 * 2.75 = 481 crank hp 481 * .85 = 409 wheel hp with 15% loss But 175 * 1 = 175. The 2.75 number would be 1.75 * atmospheric pressure equivalent and I just forgot to subtract the 1 for "normalizing" the equation/formula. But now everyone can see just how easy it is to figure out! And just as important, 1 bar is NOT perfect atmosphere, but 14.5 psi while standard atmospheric is 14.696 psi or commonly rounded to 14.7. So keep that in mind when calculating BAR pressure required versus PSI pressure for a given output. And then remember that calculating boost requirements this way is just to give you an IDEA of requirements. Real world application will require factoring in YOUR altitude, average outside temperatures, intercooler plumbing losses, actual intake air temps under boost, size of compressor/efficiency under use, etc.

For a stock port, stock cams are fine. People really like the "a" cam for the turbo. Even though it's NA and has more overlap, which some anal bench racers swear against, the extra duration does a lot to improve the powerband. The second half of that bit of info is that the stock ports are fine until you're trying to get to 400whp, and at that point you've got to be running the RIGHT turbo, with the RIGHT tune, with all the RIGHT parts to complete the SYSTEM to get to those levels and beyond on a stock head. Not saying it can't be done. On the contrary I'm sure it has, plenty of times. On the other hand, a mildly prepped street head by robello, braap, yourself in your garage, etc can make WORLDS of difference. Matching mild port work with careful port match work done with a custom intake/ported intake, matched with the right cam can make 350whp a breeze to make. I can't remember his username on here right now, but if you go through Big-Phil's youtube videos you'll see a friend of his (who is on here I believe) who (if memory serves correctly) put over 400 to the wheels at LESS than 14psi. Think about it this way, if "all things were equal", which I'll tell you they wont be, a motor running 1 bar of boost (14.7) should make double it's NA HP. That doesn't happen exactly, but it's in the ballpark. If the stock L28E makes around 175 crank HP, then you'll need about 2.75 bar of boost to have enough power at the crank to make 400 to the wheels. That's a LOT of boost! It makes everything complicated in all reality. On the flip side you can modify a L28 to make 200whp, 250whp, or even 300whp. For simplicity sake lets say 200, lots of people manage that around here. That's around 235 at the crank. So now you're only running about 1 bar of boost to reach 400whp. And THAT is why it's complicated to answer the simple question of "what cam is good for X horsepower". It's all about the application of how you get there! In the end it all comes down to what I started this post with. The cam should match the SYSTEM. The port, the intake, the chamber, the valve size, etc. Sure in every setup there's a "range" of cams that will work fine and you can fine tune the torque curve to some extent with difference choices, but in the end you will always want to match a cam to a SYSTEM, not just throw a cam in a stock or unknown head and expect power.

I have a P90 but it's going to need some minor machine work. It got buggered pretty good on an exhaust stud removal. To be done right it should probably be welded and re-drilled and tapped. It might survive with just an oversized helicoil though. Make me an offer.

Had you removed the entire liner, as cast in? Or did you just remove the part the protrudes from the casting? I seem to remember some flow bench test showing before and after just the protruding liner material removed on a L6 head and the numbers weren't THAT bad. But hey,you're speaking from experience with never lies, even if it's not true for everyone in every context. Right now the price for a non-liner head isn't very cost prohibitive, but at the rate prices have been rising it might soon be cheaper to weld up a liner head!

"murder your flow" is a bit overboard don't you think xnke? The data is out there for those that dig, but yes it will hurt flow to remove them. If it were me, I'd run the liner'ed head with a cheap T3 and not worry about it. If it blows the turbo, oh no, i'm out a whopping $100 and I've actually DRIVEN the car in the meantime. Then I can worry about sourcing a different head and turbo. The reality is that at 230whp just about ANY T3 should do fine, and on a stock longblock that should only take around 12-14 intercooled PSI which shouldn't get THAT hot. As long as it's tuned well the EGT shouldn't be crazy and shouldn't cause the liners much issue. But hey, if you find a non-liner head for under $150 these days, go for it!

It's amazing how when someone posts a thread with QUALITY input they get QUALITY responses. So far all the advice given is GREAT! Regarding the dizzy versus coil packs: The reason I usually skip recommending the turbo dizzy is that #1, they're more prone to signal noise/jitter than a crank trigger. #2, the stock dizzy/coil setup doesn't offer near the spark energy coil packs can, and with the price of a MSD add-on you might as well just get LS1 or EDIS coils. #3. The only "new" or "reman" dizzy out there at stores will cost you over $200... Even if you can find a used one for $50 or less, if it ever fails guess what? You're getting towed home. If a LS1 coil fails, find the nearest parts store and start walking, they'll have it in stock. All in all the turbo dizzy is FINE, and I run one currently. I plan on going COP with LS or similar coils, but right now my car hasn't left the garage in the last 1.5 years, so I'm not in a rush... The HVAC comment: Was more directed towards the fact that the turbo intake has a LOT of stuff on it that's turbo-specific. There's a fun little do-da that prevents BOOST from reaching your HVAC controls. If you use your stock intake with no modifications, if you have the AC on then anytime you're under boost you'll have a heater inside the cabin instead.... Careful study of the turbo FSM will show you EVERYTHING you need to know about the turbo specific systems that you can choose to replicate on your own. Also, even though 230whp is easy as pie, you'll also want a BOV and I recommend a recirculating type, which is super easy to plumb considering the throttle body is right near the turbo inlet. The N42 head has liners. Yes, they "can" disintegrate and go through your turbo. Yes nissan obviously REMOVED them for the turbo head, since the NA head at the time had the liners. But there's little documentation that I've seen as to the real reason why they did it. If they wanted to they could had made the liners thicker to take the heat better. We know the liners are intended to get hot and help reduce emissions, maybe nissan thought that the turbo would already be creating PLENTY of heat so that the liners just plain weren't needed? We don't know for sure, either way. But what we DO know is that the guy who have seen issues turbo'ing a liner head certainly weren't running "mild" setups. IIRC one was running close to 300whp. And if IIRC the other guy was running non-intercooled. There's been probably hundreds of guys to turbo a liner'ed head, and we have only a small handful that have had bad results. If you want to remove them, go ahead. It's a PITA but can be done with any die grinder. Expect that to add 4+ hours to your build as you'll want to be VERY careful, take your time, and not get any shavings back towards the exhaust valve. For 3k this is a realistic swap. You should have enough loose change at the end of this build to sort things out nicely and really "finish well" as I like to say. Many times with tight budgets guys get 90% done and run out of cash, and just force the rest of it to work and the results, even when they work, are usually not ideal.

FWIW I remember that the stock S130 tranny x-member was straight, while the T5 X-member was offset, much like some of the ones I've seen in the S30, if not verbatim. So it mounts a good 2-3 inches further back, and might need some modification if you want to use the stock x-member you have. I also slotted mine slightly to assist in easier engine/trans install. Call me picky...

Which in all reality is probably about %50 more than you're currently getting to the wheels, which makes a BIG difference. One of my favorite cars I've ever owned, and would love to own again, was a 155whp CRX that weighed about 2250. Yes it plowed through corners if I came in too hot, yes the crappy ebay coilovers sucked like mad, yes it was a noisy little buzz box of a car. But I could always just get in and drive, and flog the hell out of it and have a blast. There's something to be said for a car that's "balanced" that has just enough power to be fun, enough brakes to be safe, and just the right amount of everything to just "work". In a S30 that should only take 150-200 to the wheels for a street car. More is just excess for the sake of excess. Which is fine, but the higher you get the harder it gets to keep any semblance of balance.

Considering it's a non-WC T5 it's gonna blow up at roughly the same HP levels as the datsun unit. I know datsun engineers "thought" they were putting in a better transmission, but I just don't see it. The T5 case flexes upon shock loading BAD and the gears just spread away from eachother like fingers, bad bad BAD. The big upside to the T5 is that aftermarket gearsets are available, shiftkits are available, and with a short shift kit side to side movement is reduced as well, unlike the nissan design. But it DOES indeed have a different driveshaft. I completed my first turbo swap in a S130 just to find out that all the local driveline shops wanted like $300+ to have a custom driveshaft made with the right yoke, even though I had the turbo driveshaft in hand. All the shops told me it was a "non-removable" yoke. I think they all just wanted to move on to more profitable work.... So I found a B16 CRX for $1,100, later sold that for what I paid and bought an already-turbo 280Z for $1,100. Not bad for a mere $800 more than a driveshaft, I got a whole S30 + turbo motor! Point being, pick your battles wisely. Do you want to dick around with a tranny conversion when you could just drop the motor in and be happy? Also, around here I've seen guys trying to sell the turbo T5 for around $500. I don't know what people are actually paying, but the fact I've seen several in that range tells me something. When I sold mine I asked for $250 and I thought I was robbing the guy.... Even at $250 that pays for HALF of your purchase. If you're going SDS you can sell the EFI, AFM and some other odds and ends and possibly be in the BLACK! Not a bad way to start an engine swap. Oh, and as to your original question, it all looks fine. If the owner left the injector cooler on, EGR untouched, and was even running AC then you can pretty much bet it's all "original". Don't see any red flags either.

If the OP had knowledge at his disposal I doubt he'd have made this thread. Alas the bittersweet reality of forums. Though if he DID have a bit of knowledge, the path I'd suggest (should he want to stay L specific) would be to get MS2 up and running and then build a spare head on the side to throw onto his flatop block. $200 worth of machine work and lots of time in the garage working on the head, intake, and exhaust and he could certainly reach 200whp, and maybe even get close to 250 if he really tried good and proper... ...But he'd have to do a lot more research on his own to do that. I hope he can, and does, but so far that doesn't seem likely. This gave me a good chuckle.

Will, no harm, no foul, all water under the bridge, or whatever cheesy analogy you'd like to use. I've got decently thick skin but just wanted to make it clear that I myself encourage people to look beyond the R200. The R200 was great when Z31 turbo donors were much more common and a mere $100 away from getting an entire subframe.... At today's prices I'd consider other options in a heartbeat.

Will, did you read my post? I SUPPORT his swap. I'm not defending that he should STAY with the R200. My point is that there ARE people that have done wheel stands on the R200 with stock half shafts without breakage, but you're right, they probably are mostly on auto. But I also know there's lots of guys with 450+ whp & torque turbo L cars that have really stout clutches that don't break input shafts like that. Granted it's a turbo motor so it doesn't have the same instant torque with most people's setup, so maybe that's what's saving the shock load. The point of my post was the there have been MANY people who have broken things due to improper setups, and I hadn't seen ANYTHING in the thread talking about the possability of it being due to harsh driveline angles which CAN shear parts like that.