Dan Juday

You have a free uncut harness in the Z28, why buy the Painless harness? Like Mark, I've done this swap as well my tpi. Buy the Helm manuals, you only need books 1&2, about $100. If you're still afraid to do it yourself pull out the harness and send it to me. I'll do for you in about a day and only charge $600. Sorry, just kidding. Seriously, you can do it yourself. It's not that hard.

Dave, the little lady and I are all with you on the color swap. She hates yellow! Just because John is such a great guy I got to pass this along. Reaction Research sells the SubtleZ cowl hood for $300 reinforced bolt on, or $200 skin only pin on.

Hey Mark, does this bring back memories? Is that essence of Goodyear in the air?

Very nice.

Thanks Bruce, We had the same dilemma when we did the LT1 Tomahawk. Ended up going with the Autometer Sport Comp tach and speedo. Close match to the stock Datsun gauges only with orange/red needles instead of white. Speedo goes to 160 and tack to a ridiculous 10k. The indicator lights got replaced with LED's. Two new ones were added: one for the PCM and one for a low oil level light since the LT1 has a float switch in the oil pan. Not too difficult since the Tomahawk has a removable fiberglass dash cover. I should have got pics before I delivered it, dang.

There you go Mark. You got your ride. Now share with the world your feelings.

The Turbo Meister: Here is the thread he's talking about: http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27815&highlight=

If you use ceramic coated headers and heat shielding around the wiring that runs near them you won't have any problems. Notice the silver cover over the harness that runs along the frame rail below the right side header.

Best line I've ever read on this site! So Glenn, If I ever make it up to Toronto would you extend the same priviledge to me?

Big deal. Big motor. I'm not impressed. I want to see the machine that turned the crank. Now that would be impressive. Still, I'd hate to be near it when it throws a rod.

Here are those engine shots I promised. The valve covers, cold air induction parts, heat shield, and inspection light were powder coated by a friend here in town and a new member here, Frank C. Thanks, Frank!

Some of you may remember that last summer I swapped a '95 f-body LT1/T56 into Steve Cameron's Tomahawk. I completed the swap just the day before the San Leandro Kit Car show. Some of the local NorCal HybridZ guys got together there for what has become an unoffical regular HybridZ gathering. At least we had some good Mexican food! Anyway, since that time it has been a slow process finishing up the car. Personal things have also gotten in the way and slowed things. And, we have discovered that it is just easier and a lot faster to do things yourself rather than hire out for work in this poedunk town. Additional work since the motor swap has been some extensive frame reinforcement, seat swap, seat belt swap, front and rear strut bars, Autometer gauges and LED's installed to replace the lost indicator lights that were in the tach and speedo. Also added were a low oil level light (a float switch comes stock in the pan of the LT1) and a PCM light. Today I calibrated the speedo with a barrowed hand held GPS. Very cool, and accurate to 1/100th of a mile. I love that Autometer speedo. Change tire size, rear end, tranny? Just recalibrate with the touch of a button. Well, now that I finally felt like the car wasn't going to twist in half if I got on it, I decided to do a little... uh, performance evaluation. Yea, that's it, seat of the pants style. Safice it to say,"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!". This thing is scary fast. As gentel as a sledge hammer when it's openned up. Who would think with 305 wide rear rubber this thing would have a traction problem. It's just phenomenal. I'll post a pic tomorrow of the engine bay. For now here is a great shot of the car when it had the six in it. Finally this car has the guts to match it's looks. Maybe now I can get my car done.

Rick, Do your 1 1/4" spacers clear 15" wheels?

I've installed two Tilton clutch master cylinders. Fine units. Keep in mind you will need to make some minor mods at the rod-to-pedel connection. The JTR book explains this very clearly. I know you're an inliner but I bet you've got a copy hidden away somewhere.

The MSA kit positions the motor somewhere between the Scarab and the JTR kit. It is a compromise that gives you somewhat better weight distribution than the Scarab but still allows you to use full length headers. With JTR it's blockhuggers only. Like JTR it also comes with a modified hood latch for distributor clearance. If you are planning on using a manual overdrive tranny, T5 or T56, I'd recommend the JTR kit for better shifter placement.

Wow! Welcome to Hybrid Zsane. You've obviously been lurking and reading about requests for pics of these cars. Thank you, what a treasure. Just noticed, you live right up the road from me.

Not free, and not in SoCal but if you are willing to drive to Sacramento here's a motivated seller. http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=28395

Thanks Lee for your post. This idea has been kicking around here for a while. It's nice to hear from someone who has actually done it. Things are not as easy as they seem on paper (or in the mind). Can you tell us, did you do any frame reinforcement to the car? And did you have any twisting or racking problems with the tops? Given the complexities of fitting all the necessary parts for t-tops I've thought that a targa top ala 911 would be easier to do on an S30. Thanks again Lee. Oh course, we'd all love to see some pics!

Let's just say they were spaced a little farther apart and hung down lower giving the car a more "masculane" look. BTW, tires: 265/50/15 & 305/50/15.

Thank you. That's the sincerest form of flattery. HAH! That's funny.

Are JTR's thicker than MSA's or VB's?

Yup that's me. Here's a shot from underneath with the second set of mufflers installed. The first set got rude comments from Alex, a.k.a. Auxilary. Thats the back of his head in the picture BTW.

What is the compression ratio of this motor? This was the low point in time for the SBC. Believe it or not Chevy actually sold a four banger Vega that had a better 0-60 time than the Vette in '76. If it were me I'd take a good look at the compression ratio and the heads. Bolt-on's alone may not be enough to bring this motor out of the mire.