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Dan Juday

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    2009
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Everything posted by Dan Juday

  1. Guys I have to ask your forgiveness. The whole point of my post was to add clarity and actual numbers. I may have misled. The Toyota S12 calipers are for the VENTED ROTOR brake upgrade. So to determine the additional un-sprung weight you need to consider the extra weight of the vented rotor and spacer as well as the caliper. I have both of these items so here are the numbers: Aluminum spacer, 11 oz. Vented rotor, 13 lbs. 5 oz. I do not have a stock rotor loose and handy. If someone out there does, and has some good scales, we can get some honest numbers on this swap. FYI, the solid stock rotor swap uses the S12+8 caliper which I do not have to weigh for you. Sorry folks. Tried to clear the waters and ended up adding mud.
  2. I have both calipers here on hand. And I have very accurate refigerant scales. The stock 240 caliper does, indeed, weight 9 lbs. almost exactly. The S12 Toyota weights 11 lbs. 4 oz. this is unloaded for both. I'm sure the Toyota pads weight an ounce or two more than the smaller Datsun pads. So figure about 2.4 lbs. per wheel heavier with the S12 swap.
  3. A hybrid, hybrid! Now some helpful information: When mine was on the road I got about 26 highway. A lot less burning up the tires around town. 240Z, 305tpi, T5, 3.70 rearend (but a 3.36 in going back in).
  4. Just an FYI. Blueovalz is Terry Oxendale. John Washington is just John Washington (But he wants Terry's Z). Also, John would want me to mention, he only wrote the article, he didn't take the awful pictures.
  5. Ya, kind of wish you hadn't mentioned someone who screws over other good people in the z car community. Just email John at Reaction Research. His website is old fashioned but he's a 100% honest guy with great customer service. He has both style hoods and others as well. John will treat you right.
  6. I'd say they suck but, actually, they don't. Props for creativity.
  7. Reaction Reseach $495. Ready to bolt on. No welding or re-inforcement needed. Great quality and John is an excellent guy to work with. Plus you can say you bought a hood from the future mayor of Scottsdale.
  8. "IT IS MAN CAVE!" (Spoken with forcefulness in a Hollywood caveman voice.) ROFLOL!!! I second that ugh!
  9. If it were just complying with the laws it wouldn't be that big a deal. And some people here have done it without a lot of drama. Others have quite a different story though. It's the human factor where the issues begin. Some people in authority in one county interpret the laws one way, and others in a different county differently. Some car owners act like jerks and piss-off the authorities (who are only human) and suffer the consequences. Some authorities are just jerks themselves and decide to make life hard on the poor, sweet Z car guy. Before you decide to go with your '77 do a lot of reading here on the topic of CARB compliance. And there is a lot to read. For every positive story there is one that goes the other way. Everyone here wants to argue the law, but it's not the law, it's that dang human factor. For me that was just too much of a gamble of my money and time. And a proper motor swap will consume plenty of both. To be fair, even an older Z with a motor swap, by law, is required to be compliant even if it's not inspected and tested every two years. So if you piss-off a cop, or if he just shows up pissed-off, he can make you take the car in for a smog inspection. As a general practice I stopped pissing-off cops years ago. So for me this seemed like a much safer bet. Your results may vary. Oh, and yes, follow Miles advice and get the JTR book. For anyone thinking seriously about doing a V8 Z this is the best first money spent.
  10. Just remember, basic principles are still in effect: "You get what you pay for" and "The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a good price is forgotten".
  11. Welcome to Hybrid Swede. The first thing you need to be aware of is the bi-annual smog inspections required on your '77 280Z here in California. That adds another layer of complexity and difficulty to your swap over those of us with '75 and older cars that are not required to have inspections and testing performed every two years. Your conversion will have to be CARB compliant. You might consider finding a nice clean '75 to hybridize.
  12. Some of you know that as well as the '73 240 hybrid, I own an '84 Straman convertible . I bought it about five years ago from John Washington. There is some question of just how many of these were produced. The number that comes up most often, and seems the best documented is 352. Well there is now a gentleman, Robert Whitman, that has taken seriously the job of registering and properly documenting these rare bird cars. According to his research the actual number is much, much lower. Here is an excerpt from his email to me: "The 352 number is a pain in my backside! That number comes from an article in Automobile magazine and a manager from Straman told me that Richard Straman liked to pad the build counts for those articles. I have about 50 Z31s in my database and about 20 of those I have the serial number from the roof frame. If the car also has the date of conversion sticker, I can create a timeline of production. That is how I have landed on the +/- 150 build count. I have been doing this for all the Straman convertibles and it is working as expected." So maybe these chop-tops could really be worth something someday. If you own one and have not registered it yet with Mr. Whitman shoot me a PM or email and I'll get you his contact information. He also can provide you with sales brochures and other hsitorical documentation on your car.
  13. That is a crying shame. Beautiful Z before the bonk. Sorry. I have a pair of fiberglass SubtleZ front fenders with the sugar scoops bonded on. I'll give you a good deal on them. If you are interrested PM me. I also have a perfect '77/'78 hood with the Reaction Research vents installed. It includes the hinge assembly. But, yes, I want a lot of money for that one. It's perfect. I live about an hour from you.
  14. That's it Craig, you and John Washington should gang up. http://www.reactionresearch.com/automotivedetails.htm
  15. In the current edition of Kit Car Builder (April 2012) there is an article on Hank Held's Velo Rossa (written by our buddy, and creator of the VR, John Washington). Hanks car has a swapped in VG30DETT and the tranny that came with the motor. Very clearly seen in the photo of the interior is a gated shifter. So it would seem that at least one Nissan Z tranny has been successfully adapted to the gated shifter treatment. EDIT EDIT EDIT!! Wait, I needed to read the article more closely. John clearly states, "The transmission is a stock Nissan 300ZX unit with a Counterforce dual-material clutch and aftermarket shifter". Sorry folks.
  16. I saw one of the "new" new Beetles today on the road. You know, the ones that are supposed to look more "manly"? Ya, a chick was driving it.
  17. After the sixth or seventh commercial! The internet is free, right. Rant over. I think it's a great idea right in line with the thinking here. Lots of work? Sure. Those guys on the show are pros that do that everyday. They make it look easy. You just have to decide if you have the tools and talents to do it yourself.
  18. Even before the economy slumped it wasn't that bad, "expired in about 15 minutes after the first DMV Office opens each year". Five or six years ago when I did the motor swap on Steve Cameron's TomahawkZ I warned him to get to the DMV before they open and stand in line with all the other gear heads on the first day of the year. He ignored me and wondered in on the 4 th or 5th of January and walked out with a number and an application. The whole process took him three or four visits and his car was registered and legal. Everybodys DMV experiance varies, but the SB100 applications are on a central statewide system so reguardless of whether you are a SoCal or NorCal guy your chances of getting a number are the same. The fact that these specialty contruction registrations are not being swept up in the first hour is actually a sad comment on our sick obsession.
  19. Hi Craig, Since these are my first comments in this thread let me start by saying it's absolutely wonderful what you are doing and the quality appears top notch. What a huge endevor. Most guys here try to make a few simple parts to sell and fail at that. I solute you. Makes lots of money and set up an operation this side of the pond. Now, on Trevor's comment: While your design has been gusseted from the prototype it still is basicly a series of boxes. A few, even relatively small section, tubes triangulating those boxes would add a great deal of resistance to bending to the entire sub-structure. This would be a small weight penalty in exchange for much greater strength.
  20. Now that's entertainment! Gives new meaning to the term side pipes. Which one of those Japanese words was "Camaro"?
  21. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/50042-250-gto-owners-thread/page__st__860 Post #865
  22. A 240 is just fine. Lots of opinions out there. Here's mine. Weld in the Bad Dog rails, bolt or weld in a roll bar, and add strut bars and you're fine so long as your unibody is solid to begin with. The 280 is stronger in many areas over the 240, not just the frame rails. But all that re-enforcement adds weight too. Your not racing, you're fine.
  23. Have the best of both worlds: Buy both, cut the body off the Miata and graft the Datsun Roadster body on the Mazda chassis. The wheelbase is almost exact. The rear track is the biggest issue. You'll have to add 4" flares on the rear. What are you laughing at? This is Hybridz, right? Plus, register it as the Datsun and never have to worry about smogging it! Yes, I have been thinking of this.
  24. No, it's not going to work as designed. The 280zx (S130) is a different animal from the first generation Z (S30). Brians kit might be a good starting point but most certainly is going to require serious modifications. So much so that you would likely be better off staring from scratch. Change to a Chevy motor and you can get a kit from JTR that will bolt in. Also, not all T5 trannies are created equal. The T5 that came in your Z from Nissan will not work with a V8 conversion. Do some more searching and reading here and you'll get all the info you need.
  25. Like the C5 Corvette. Very nice. Any inspiration from this guy? http://www.reactionresearch.com/280yz/danjuday/KCB13P29.pdf
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