gretchen/jason

Not sure what chevy radiator would fit but i hate the JTR radiator . Ive done every possiable thing to keep my z from over heating with a JTR radiator even before i added a supercharger it overheated . i tried high flow water pumps the bigest electric fan i could get even the infamous ford tarus radiator 2 speed fan . nothing worked untill i bought a 2 row aluminum cross flow radiator and the black magic extreeme electric fan from jegs . the overheating issue ended . Sorry i cant help ya with the other questions . Jason " JTR radiator sucks " at least for my z anyhow

Very nice man . Ive got a BG blower carb when ya tune a carb it works great Bg carb has been the best ive ever had from edelbrock to holley . Say those valve covers man are they custom or something . they look like the first gen valve covers but ya seem to have some kind of cover over them or something very nice though . Jason

Cool that answeres all my questions on a 305. Im going with a roots stryle blower . wow a 100$ or so for a bare block i do need to shop around a bit more 600$ was quoted for a bare block this is why i asked about a 305 turned into a 350 . So i know where i need to go now a 350 block thanks for the advice . Jason

Im looking for off the line just god ole 1/4 mile power what a bummer to twist a rear end ouch . ive never had any misfortune like that thankfully just electrical problems and some carb problems . Of course my super charger is smaller just a 144 series . So far ive gotten my " bang for my buck " 1,800$ for the thing and i gained 100 crank horses . Jason

I know a guy who will part free of charge with a second gen 305 . Can the block be turned into a 350 by changing the heads or maybe boring it out some . How about a 383 out of a 305 can it be done . it would save me 600$ on buying a 350 block to do a stroker or such . Also do 350 heads fit a 305 ? All in all im looking for a deal on a block to redo another supercharged 350 or maybe a supercharged 383 . Jason

Just a question im gonna build me another engine and i am wondering is it any benifit at all to build a 383 stroker with a weiand super charger on it which i have at the moment on a stock 350 or keep the crank stock and just bore the block out say 40 over and use the super charger ? Ive got some people i know saying " do a blown 383 with roller lifters and rockers and such . Use dished pistons and run about 12 pounds of boost " Rite now i have a stock 350 had 230 horses at the crank when i bought it all i did was add a super charger no cam no lifters nothing all stock and i now have 300 horses at the tire with 7 pounds of boost . Im starting over new because i need my z as a daily driver so i cant rebuild the new engine that is in it as it needs rings . Jason

Kinda sounds like i need stock springs for the length , i do like the way my z looks lowered but if lowered means blown shocks its not worth it . Ill call tokico monday and get some measurements on the struts and such and compare them to the strut tube length incase the previous owner swaped something out that i dont know about . On my fronts i wouldnt exactly call it a 3 inch gap when i raise the z i can pu 2 fingers one on top of the other in between the spring and the plate the spring rests on . Jason

Ill call monday and see what they say but the main problem is i cant do without the blown struts as i only have 1 car and i cant drive without struts " guess i could go really really slow haa haaa . i hate to buy another set when there is a waranty but what can i do i need my ride . i do want some better struts then the tokico HP's though for the rear due to squating on a good launch , i know some squatting is good but man i bottom out every time even when the struts were new . The front handles like a dream even with my V8 swap but even when the rears were good they squated very very low . id launch and every time the rear would go so low the bump stops hit . got worse withn the past few months thats why i checked my struts . Does it matter that i have lowering springs ? ive noticed that when i rais ethe front off the ground the strut is about 3 inches longer then the spring . therefore the spring falls out of its perchevry time and i have to reset the spring when lowering the car back down . the rears werent as bad but when raised the springs wer not under any type of load . . The struts came with what i call a piece of metal fence post pipe , that went under each strut to make up for the height of the strut tube so as the insert would sitin the correct height position . Kinda like high heals for a lady to make the strut taller !!! is that normal for a 78 280z ? . i dont remember but i think the " pipe " spacer went in the rear , i cant take it apart as i drive it to work and dont have another ride . My z had been modified somewhat by the owner beore me . 82 zx engine etc etc . Is there a way to tell if i have strut tubes fro a 78 280z or maybe from a earlier z that may have been shorter . I ordered all struts and springs for a 78 280z but who knows what i had on my ride when i bought it as the guy who owned it died and was up for sale and i bought it . Jason

No dust boot but did install the bump stops according to the directions . They said to cut the stock bump stop in half " make it thinner" so i did . Oh and i used tokico lowering springs sme as on the front only the rears are blown fronts ar fine and they have no bump stops in the fronts . Ive read another thread on struts but bilstein and some other company said they make nothing for datsuns .

Ive got a 78 280z . i installed tokico shocks/struts about 16 months ago well the ones in the rear are blown , ya push the rod down it dont come up anymore pisses me off . So are there any other brands out there that work in a z car as i dont feal like buying tokicos again if they are just going to go bad . Nothing is leaking from the shock if ya push the rod down then pull up on it you can hear the oil or something inside the shock swishing around not sure what happend , unless they bottomed out some how and broke internally . Jason

Have ya tried taking it off the engine and letting it sit say with some rags under it . Just to look for leaks . I have a demon carb same as a holley uses the same parts at least and after about 4 days of sitting the bowls are about half empty , im leaning towards it evaporating out the float bowl vent tube . I have seen my carb leak some out the venturies after i drive it i am guessing its just pressure that makes it drip . i doubt it could get sucked back into the tank but maybe try pinching off the feed line to see what happens . Jason

Yep i ordered a cell where the fuel fittings are at the bottom of the tank i figured during a good solid launch that is where id want them. Wow fule lines inside the frame rails no thanks . I never thought of running them down the top/underside of the trans tunnel that is a good thought . The z i have now is oh a test platform as i dont have the money 3 grand to redo the floor boards so im using this z to fab stuff up and chop sheet metal apart then buy me a rust free z " yeah rite " hopefully with good floor boards for a christmas present . then swap everything over to it after i do what mods are needed and take it apart bolt by bolt and do it rite . Jason

Looking for stiff springs for the rear of a 280z . I have tokico progressive rate lowering springs but would like something a bit stiffer for the rear using the stock strut tubes . Or would the tokico adjustable struts be a better choice i now have just regular tokico struts . Jason

Got ya . I was thinking of cutting the wood deck to the size of the cell, then the same thing in the sheet metal where the tire sat . The more i looked at it the more i thought id just let oh 2 inches stick up above the wood decking and box in the tank in aluminum just like in youre pics . Of course my tank won be here till the end of the week but it gives me time to think about . Another question are youre fuel lines run in the stock locaition ? Next to the frame rail . Mine are the stock ones but way to close to my exhaust near the front strut rods about 1 inch away been thinking about running them near the pinch weld but not sure as of now . Thanks again jason

Ive heard autometer came out with a adjustable fuel level gauge to adapt to sending units other then GM units . Was supposed to be out some time mid 2006 Jason

Well for the moment the cell will be inside the hatch aera just like a small suitcase when ya travel . It will be bolted down of course as i dont have the money to cut apart my rear hatch floor to sink the tank down low . That will be done sometime in the near future . When i do cut the floor aera out as i saw in pics from the underside of your car how much will the missing sheet metal make the car flex . i saw the cross bars you welded to the " frame " or did ya just kinda cut a square hole and insert the cell ?. My tank is only going to be 17 inches wide 17 inches deep by 9 inches tall so i wont have to cut to big a hole in the floor . I was thinking of cutting a hole where the spare tire was and then making a "basket" out of aluminum and sinking the cell into that leaving just about 4 inches of the cell sticking up into the hatch aera . I dont want to sink my cell all the way down but maybe just about 4 inches into the floor . I printed the pics ya posted so as to help me in the fab up when im ready . Thanks for the pics Jason

So im taking out my 4 , 10 inch subs and 140 pound box to replace it with a fuel cell because i want less weight and more speed . Ive looked at fuel cells and the way they deliever fuel plain square/rectangle tanks and some with a lower part then the rest of the tank i assume to catch fuel on a hard launch . For every day driving what is a good option , should i get one with foam inside it . How do ya vent the fumes ? Next is what is the best place to put it . Between the struts ,just behind the struts ? Id like to place it so whatever gas i have in it the weight somewhat helps with traction . One last question is it wrong to run the fuel line inside the car and out through the fire wall using steel braided line ? I was thinking of the pump and all mounted in the hatch aera or is this a bad idea . any pics out there of what has been done would be helpfull also but no big deal . Thanks Jason 78 ex black pearl z . blown 350 soon to be a blown 383

I can atest to the need to tune a engine for altitude . I lived in Lubbock Tx for about 2 years tuned and built my z car and had a blast atthe drag stirp atonly 2,000 ft above sea level . Ive since moved to Colorado springs about 6,000 ft above sea level and man what a loss of power to my ride but some proper carb jetting and such and my z came alive again . i was one of those guys who always thought bigger was better man was i wrong . Jason

Oh sorry forgot to mention the car . The parts the guy believes comes from a 260 he thinks maybe a 280 not sure my z is a 280z . The eurthane parts i have in my ride now are only about 1 inch thick really lowered the rear of the z quite a bit . Even if the height doesnt change i just want to get rid of the noise . Jason

Man i cant even remember when i posted this question but problem solved . Where i work they have a tire and rim balancer . It measuers rim runout against the tire run out . It cost about 14 grand for this machine but its worth it . What it does is measure road force . It has a roller that puts about 1,000 pounds of force on the tire while it spins ata slow speed . Then ya lower to arms against the lip of the rim to make sure the rim is ok . Come to find out my rims are as good as they get only .0010 side to side run out and .0009 of up and down run out . The tire was the problem it basaicly told me the tire was crooked .. Plus this machine can be set for different style rims like say cragar rims like the torque thrust style . You can note each spoke or arm on the rim "which i did for mine" and then it will tell ya where to put the stick on weights behind the arm so they arent on the outside of the rim for a clean look . All in all its the best ride ive had in years in my z . So much for the local tire stores and theire machines . The one at my job is amazing of course its at a Hyundai dealership no one else on the block has one not even ford or chevy as tey come use ours once in awhile . Even had dodge come visit with some viper rims go figure . Jason

Im needing the part that goes on top of the strut itself which has the 3 bolts in it that stick up through the towers itself . My question is i found a set but are the fronts the same as the rears minus the bearings of course for turning . I have eurthane adjustable ones from MSA and im looking to put the stock pieces back in the rear of the z . Jason

Man wish i had a pic of the 5 feet of snow that was in my inlaws yard covering my z car when i went to visit them . 3 feet fell in one night yuck . 8,900 ft above sea level in the colorado mountains can suck . Jason

The 240z setup man . I have a 280 and switched the front end to a 240z looks way better even got a 240z air damn from MSA and i like it way better then the type 2 i think it is the latest one anyways . Jason

Not to gloat but hmm some foriegn object in the float bowl aera . Im kidding man . Ive just had it and seen it so many times i get a lucky guess once in awhile . As far as jegs ive had bad luck withthem . They sent the wrong part to me 3 times in a row took 4 months to get the correct one . they then over charged me by 2 grand and caused me alot of grief in my banks statements . Took 2 weeks to getthat one corected . Then once i ordered something i think it was a blower pully well they charged me then never sent the part . then they said they did send it so that was a mess another 2 months to get another part . Got a holley carb with missing parts " electric choke piece " everything else was in place except that one piece . I also got charged 3 times once for the same part . i only order from Jegs if Summit Racing costs more then they do . but if ya got a V8 z my fuel pump and regulator cost me about 500$ its easy to spend big bucks ouch . Glad ya figured out ya carb problem took me 3 weeks the irst time it happend to me . Jason

A simple but affective rear strut tower brace i made was made out of Black Pipe . The metal pipe they use for natural gas lines in homes and offices . I took a piece and on each end welded a pice of weldable steel to it about 1 1/4 square . Then i cut the pipe directly in the center cutting it in half . I then measured from my cut 3 inches and took that much more off each piece . I then found a threaded rod that fit snugly inside the black pipe and found nuts and washers to fit . Once i sliped the threaded rod inside the pipes i put the pipe in between the towers and then used the nut to put tension on the rod . i could actually seperate the towers by 1/4 but didnt do so just tried it once to see if it could be done dont ask why just stupid curiosity . All in all i spent 30$ to build a strut tower brace and let me tell ya i noticed a big difference in body flex or should i say the lack of . . after a few weeks i removed the bar and the car was back to it creaking and groaning going in and out of drive ways and parking lots . Just a idea for a cheap rod if anybody wanted a idea for one . hard part will be fabing one up for the front to clear the blower on the V8 i have now . Jason