Gollum

I've talked with one, if not maybe the only/main guy, who's building the "new" cobras that are basically just a superperformance kit that's professionally built and then sold as a complete with a Shelby VIN and a nice Shelby certified logo on it. He was very open about talking and didn't mind that I soaked up a good hour of his time or so. The way they're registering them in CA is through the SB100 still. The only difference is that instead of the state giving the VIN number like they'll do if you don't have a VIN already, is they use the Shelby plate supplied VIN. This isn't any different than how FFR supplies a serial number and you can use that if your state requires it, or you can have FFR leave it blank and you can punch your own number once the state as "ok'ed". The Shelby builder told me first hand, that he just walks the customer through the SB100 process. It's still up to the customer to go to the DMV and get the SB100 and to have all the correct paperwork, which Shelby helps with. The really scary thing about all this, is that according to the fine print of the law, that's illegal. You can only use the SB100 for a custom built car that was NOT built by a company, and it's very difficult for a project to get a SB100 if it's changed hands because you're supposed to be suppyling information (receipts, build logs, etc) from YOU building YOUR custom, because that's what the law is for.... All in all, the state by state laws are all a joke and it's almost humorous that even Shelby is going through such loopholes like everyone else has to...

I'm not going to repeat what all has been said, as I feel hybridZ as a community is actually giving much more advice than would normally be given in a thread like this, but I do want to touch on something. You mentioned that the tuner "wouldn't touch your engine without running race gas". While I totally understand why the tuner said this, I also feel it's not right to let you just be ignorant as to why. I've only tuned a small handful of engines and can tell you right off the bat the true-er reality. Race gas doesn't burn the same as pump gas, no matter what people might say. Some like to think that race gas is just "less prone to ping" which is only a half truth. In fact, it's WHY and HOW it burns differently that makes it less prone to detonation. This is a GOOD thing. BUT, what can tend to happen in most shops is that they use race gas to dial in ideal timing and find the rich best torque and lean best torque ranges for that motor at various load points and then extrapolate from there. Then they'll spend a justifiable amount of time fine tuning some values but they'll NEVER get the same amount of tuning done that you can get done when you take an "ongoing" approach to tuning and take the responsibility of a good tune into your OWN hands. They'll never reach a good 40% of the load tables unless they're using a dynamic brake dyno and running it at various loads, AND at various throttle levels (very rare). The exception is when tuning on an engine dyno, as you spend a lot more time and money getting it rigged up, so you better bet they're going to take a lot more time getting the cells dialed in. The real issue that's on topic here though, is that if the tuner uses race gas and doesn't switch back to pump to basically re-do a good quarter of the tests he did before, then he isn't really verifying the engine did what was expected. And in many cases, if the tuner just puts pump gas back in, and then just does some runs to make sure it's running right, as expected, without adjusting cells, then he just left power on the table. Why leave power on the table? Because it's "safe". Safe tunes can tend to be better for the shop as they get less cars coming back in a 6 month period with broken parts. It's easy to tune on race gas as it's forgiving and you can find that balance between rich and lean best torque and figure out what could be called "safe" for that motor, dial it in, then switch gases. I don't say all this to say go find another tuner. I say all this to make sure you understand that educations reigns supreme in any subject, and being an ignorant consumer is the more sure bet way to make sure you're not satisfied with a product.

My lord, phil is posting PICTURES of work he's doing? What is this world coming to? Someone PM me when he posts a video finally... Now that I got the obligatory joke that belongs in anything big-phil related, let me say I'm very excited to see this happening, and thanks for sharing. Looking through the pics, I found this... That downpipe looks TERRIBLE! And we complain about the radius of the curves of the stock 280ZX downpipe...Shesh. Get something with 45 degree bends or at least a larger radius 60-90 and you might pick up a couple hundred RPM of spool response...

What he said ^... We have ZERO data here so far. Here's some BASICS that should get us started: What head? What Gasket? What Pisons? What Rods? What Crank? Any detonation detected? What's the ignition setup look like? What's your initial and total advance? The test number you get on a compression test gauge has VERY little to do with static compression and how you want to approach your engine and your goals Knowing the TRUE, MEASURED static compression will give you your start on figuring out a "solution" to this "problem" you're having. I also wouldn't take a dyno operators advice as gospel truth. Their opinion is just that, an opinion. You didn't mention having ANY detonation problems, which makes me wonder why this is even coming up....

For a mostly street driven Z, if you have the later 5 speed with the better, more even, spread than I'd go with the lowest ratio R200 you can find. That is of course, you're running a L28ET like you mentioned. If I had a 3.364 I'd run that myself, but in all my Z car purchases I haven't had access to one yet, and I haven't felt like spending the money yet on that area of my car. Having a sub 2500 pound 280z with a L28et, the later 5 speed, and 3.545 r200 I can say with certainty that it's a "good" street setup. But I still feel like I should get a lot more out of my early gears, and wish my RPMs were a bit lower on the freeway. I'd like to have the RPMs under 2800 ideally as it quiets down quite a bit around there.

Is that Bill Madamba's car? I say the name bill mentioned, and only wanted to half-assume it was the same bill with a while Z. And speaking of him, I need to call him about setting up an event at TH. Your project looks great btw. You're getting more done per month than most do in a year around here. Making us all look bad...

First let me say im very sorry for your loss. Its really tough to help without having more info though. A running, mostly rust free 240z can be worth over 5k eaily, even with minor cosmetic issues. Most aren't very rust free unfortunately. What I'd recommend is finding a z guy in the area the car is and have them check it out for obvious issues. Though the z community can be a bit snooty at times, we're normally willing to help fellow z owners, especially true around hybridz. Some of my best car guy friends I've made on this very site. I put on a yearly meetup and I've had nothing but nice things to say about the people that show up. I hope you can find someone who can meet up with you.

Regardless of what numbers you put down on one dyno or another, what's important is the curve. We can deduce raw HP at the wheels with things like weight and trap speed just as accurately, if not more accurately, than a dyno. But plotting a torque curve is a whole nother matter. What's really standing out to me is that #1, you've gained nearly 500rpm of near-peak-horsepower, which can make ALL the difference in the feeling of power at each shift (as I'm sure you're well aware). The next thing that popped out at me was the AFR curve. Is running a nearly flat AFR curve just a "safety" feature of this tune or is the intake/cam/head/exhaust combo really that well matched through the range? It's also hard to tell if I'm just seeing the fact that the scale is a bit too large to see differences. Either way, it's all looking really good mike. It must feel nice to at least have progress.

I don't know a whole lot about importing, which Tony obviously has covered like the moon's shadow on an ant, but I just thought I'd chime in regarding registration. More and more states are developing laws for customs, and I've heard talk about people working on a federal legislation to allow federally given VIN numbers to ground up builds that could be recognized by all 50 states and allow more ease of registration of customs. For current laws, Dynacorn has links to each state's information page on registering customs: http://www.dynacornclassicbodies.com/stateseal2.html In california, I see no reason you couldn't use an imported fiberglass chassis to register a S30 replica with a SB100 registration process. I'd actually find this a closer intended use of the SB100 than the typical "put a running gear in and you're done" kit that soak up a large portion of the SB100's given out every year.

I'll just go shower now...

This is getting pretty off topic, maybe you should start another thread or link to one you have started, since this is more of just a "sign in and say hi" thread.

I double checked the data, PPP is indeed correct. Something to note though, is how many variants there were all in all. There's 3.364 R180s and R200s, 3.545 R180s and R200s, 3.7 R200, and 3.9 R200. And that's just in the S130 chassis.

I've owned 1 '80, 2 '81, and 1 '83. All were R200. All were manual. The '83 was a turbo. All this info is in the FAQ section btw.

Most S130's (280ZX) were R200 in the USA. If it's an automatic there's a greater chance of being R180. Most, if not all iirc, manuals were R200. All 2+2s were R200 and all turbo were R200.

S30, S130, and Z31 (among many) were long nose diff cars only, from the factory. Weather R180 or R200 it will be longnose.

Seems to me the #1 thing that fails people in racing these V8 sedans from japan is always the auto box. You can gut a LS400 or Q45 down to 2500 or less pounds, and yet the transmission still seems to resent any thrashing around. They're designed for town driving, not race driving. Can they be made to work? Probably, but I'm not educated enough on automatics to say what needs to be done to get them to live at 10/10ths. That said, if it's just a street car, keeping the auto and doing paddle shifts could be a neat swap.

The non-biased half of me says go LS1 all the way. I love mopars but the old ones are just too pricey to build up HP for HP. If you happen upon a good deal on one and don't plan on modding it, go for it! But dollar for dollar I'd go with the LS1 if a pushrod V8 was in my future.

Miles have very little to do with bushing condition. Age and time in certain types of environments are the largest contributors. If it only had 140k and had spent 90% of it's life living in a garage whenever it wasn't driven, then sure the bushings should be good. But if it's seen regular winters outside in the rain and hot days left out in the sun, then that constant stress on the rubber will eventually wear it down. Other than the typical squat on accel and dip on decel a S130 can feel more firm and planted than many cars built today. There's no reason they can't feel tight and sure footed. Poly bushings do a ton in getting a car there, and aren't a huge monetary investment.

Well the taper matters as well. My design doesn't have any longer runners than what some of the carb'ed NA cars on here have had. I think some of the longest I've seen where when Paul was doing experiments in his yellow car with runner length. You can do the design with runners under 24", and the top end won't really be killed much unless you don't taper the diameter, which I would plan on doing at that length.

1. The car shouldn't feel THAT floaty. Probably needs all new bushings, and might as well upgrade to ployurethane while you're at it. 2. As the pads get low, the fluid in the reservoir gets lower. If the rear AND front pads are nearly gone, then yes you could be literally running out of fluid when you press the pedal. I'd check the pads, replace as necessary, then bleed the brakes and put in all new fluid and see where that gets you. When I had bad tires (good tread) that were old weathered hard rubber, I could lock up the brakes at 80mph standing on the brakes hard enough. Your braking should be TIRE limited, NOT brake travel limited.

Hey, that's lighter than my gutted bumper less 280z came I'm at... rude..

Tony is completely right. Heat shielding is cheap compared to all that work. That said... I've been toying with an idea for years now of running intake runners over the valve cover. It makes more sense to run the maybe 200 degree compressor outlet by the oil pan than it does the 1100 degree exhaust manifold. My reasoning is that you could minimize pluming, adding an air to water cooler if needed while minimizing the amount of exhaust to intake heat transfer. And while heat wraps do wonders, they're still not perfect and after extended time under boost you're still going to be baking your intake. Obviously electromotive did fine at 1000 HP, so I'm not saying my idea is necessary, just another way to approach heat management.

The only true "base" models I've seen without A/C, Power Windows, Power Steering, T-Top, etc was a '79, in which that was much more common. It was in the junkyard and rust free. I cried. Those models also had the high speed dash that went to... 130mph or something? I've always wanted a complete base model S130 as a lightweight daily drive. Even using the L28 hopped up a bit and mounted 3 inches back and 2 inches down could make for a sick street car. Throw in a mild turbo 4 or more high strung NA 4 and it could be a truly wicked Z that would be completely unexpected by anyone you see on the street. I just realized that all had nothing to do with your question really... but I had fun sharing it. Anyways, if it had power windows (which most did) it should have had an A/C option. Most were also auto-climate though, especially '82-'83 when it seems like just about every car got every option.

Later 260Z and early 280Z are my pick, but mostly from a high HP standpoint. If I was just looking for a little 300hp mild build and wanted full interior and such, the 72-73 240Z isn't a bad choice at all. In the end, whatever has the least amount of RUST is always the best buy. And for what it's worth, my '75 280Z weighs less than quite a few people's 240Z's... and I've got a few extra pounds with a turbo setup. Last weight was in the 2500 range (2540 or there abouts irrc, it's in the weight thread). It had: bumpers removed, no interior other than seats and floor mats, lots of dynomat (blaaa), spare tire, some random tools, L28ET (no intercooler), 280ZX radiator, stock tank about 3/4 full or something. I listed it all on here when I weighed it. Point being, I was surprised and many without first hand 280Z experience were a bit too. I could still convert to R180 and save some weight there too. Now that I've stripped the 280Z doors I'm convinced they're not much heavier either. Most of the weight in the door overall is the glass, window crank system, and the hinges. My 280Z is currently living in the garage while other things take priority over MS for now, but in the mean time I've been rewiring it, swapping doors to ones without natural weight reduction (rust) and will be running windowless doors. I'm shaving every mount and random piece off the car I can find, and I'm debating converting the tail lights to a simple LED setup for weight... I've considered swapping to a subie R180 for weight savings too, but that's a whole nother project requiring money. My goal: A street driven rat-rod style Z that's track ready that weights in around 2200 pounds. If I'm right, I'm within 100 pounds right now, and I know where most of the weight left to get me there is... I'm not sure that having a 240Z in the beginning would have saved me more than 100 pounds in the end. And I'm also convinced I could get a S130 to roughly within 100 pounds trim for trim of my 280Z, for what it's worth... So in the end, the weight isn't a huge concern to me, but if you're planning on keeping it a "simple" project and don't want to get knee deep in project, then the 240Z can start to look like a good option. But just converting to 240Z style bumpers gets you 90% of the way there and isn't that big of a project, but still something to consider. The benefit though, is that if you're going the EFI route then the 280Z might make more sense. If you're going to have more than 300hp, then the 280Z might start to make sense. If you're wanting to keep your budget to a minimum, the 280Z might make more sense, as they tend to cost less from the get go for a low-rust chassis. And all that said... I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 240Z if the right deal came along and I had the cash in hand.

Hell, I bet there's room in the engine bay for THREE turbos! (man I'd love to do that...) I'm personally not at all a fan of rear mounted turbos, and that subject has been beaten to death. But yes, the S30 is no different than any vehicle, and it could be done. I'm glad you're going to read corky's book, which will explain very well why the STS systems are NOT the most competitive in the world and don't operate all that wonderfully. The benefits are for a very select crowd which rarely happens upon HybridZ, let alone becomes a regular contributing member. Getting a turbo manifold should be easy, and cost less than $150. I sold my last one for like $40 because it had a stud that needed replacing and was going to be a pita for anyone to do in a garage. I bought my last turbo longblock for $200, though I had to pull it myself in an evening in the guy's backyard. Only thing I didn't get was the wiring and turbo. I just about broke even selling the parts I didn't need, and gave good deals to fellow members. And if you really had THAT hard of a time finding one, you could build one for not too much more money. Take the cheapest header to can find as a flange donor, cut it up, reuse some of the piping if you want, order some bends for the rest, tack weld it in place if you can't weld it yourself, bring it to a welder, done. Probably cost you around $200 in materials and $200 for the welders time if you pay him REALLY well. Shouldn't be much more than an afternoon project if you've got it all lined up right. I plan to make a turbo manifold down the road, but only because I want to place my turbo in a very particular spot that isn't very close to stock and would be hard to extend the stock manifold to. Plus the stock manifold is like 20 pounds, it's a heavy beast. Oh, and I've seen guys build turbo manifolds for under $150 on their own, but they were fairly competent fabricators who did it all themselves from scratch spending most of their money on nice SS mandrel bends.