Dan Juday

Sorry guys, I missed this thread when it first came up. Marc e-mailed me when I didn't respond and I filled him in. Just for the record, and because of his great picture that illustrates the cutting and bending part very well, I will bring the rest of you up to speed. If you don't have a welder or the skills, and don't want to ignite the inside of your fender and burn up your wiring harness, this is an idiot proof alternative. Fire was a real concern for me. My car had it's innerds treated to a Ziebold process. This is what probably saved my car from the dreaded cancer. Basicly they drill a bunch of holes in the unibody, door jams and other hidden areas, insert a wand and spray a greasy black undercoating inside. Then they plug the holes with little plastic plugs. I still had a few small rust spots and while welding one of them up the stuff lit off. Kind of scary wondering how I was going to put out a fire inside my frame rail. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, there wasn't much in there, hence the rust, and it burned itself out pretty quickly. My rear fenders are filled with that stuff though and I didn't want to burn the car to the ground. I got this method from Rory Bateman, the Tomahawk kit designer/builder. After you have fileted the fenders so they look like Marc's picture you get out your drill/driver and a box of #10 self drilling, self tapping sheetmetal screws. Screw each wheelhouse tab to the outer fender with two screws. When you have it all secured the fender is sealed with a special HVAC duct tape that is designed to seal out water and air and is self-healing. It has an aluminum backing with a thick, very sticky cauck type adhesive. It can be purchaced at air conditioning supply houses under various trade names like Alumigrip and StickyTape. I use this stuff all the time and trust me, it is well up to the task. We use this to seal exposed duct under pressure and it does not fail. It is not cheap, expect about $30 a roll. One roll will work if you don't over lap too much. Overlapping is not requied. Good luck guys!

The wedgie one is the TR7. I've seen a few of them with V8's. Triumph even did a factory one, the TR8. It had the Rover 4 litre aluminum motor that used to be the Buick/Olds 215ci.

You're nuts Denny, just nuts. I've got to go to that other thread and see how old you are. That could explaine a lot. All good natured ribbing. But you're still nuts.

I saw my first Scarab when I was 16. It was brand new. My Z was built five years before I could drive. 41 Age doesn't matter though. I'll live forever. Also saved by the cross.

Nice work Guy. I'm a little concerned though. How is the access to sparkplugs #5 & #7?

An idler is a pulley that turns nothing. It's just there to route the belt in a particular direction. Once you get your motor and take a look at it things will start to make sense. The parts house should know what you mean by a pigtail. It's just a plug with wires connected for each terminal, (in this case 4) about 6" long. Installing a pigtail is much easier than trying to swap the terminal in the plug. Trust me, I've tried. Swearing doesn't help either. O.k. I looked it up. You remove the wire to the "L" terminal and connect a wire from the "F" terminal to "hot in run". This will switch the alternator on when the ignition is on. Got this info from Ron Tyler.

Well... it's for a TH350 so I'm thinking P-R-N-D-2-1? Am I missing something?

Classic swapper shot! 1. Coke can on roof. 2. Hot Rod mag under a pile of EFI wires. 3. Hand written notes taped to windshield. 4. Torch striker laying on fender. 5. Red rags all askew. Ahhh... the memories.

Eight points better than three. PDK

I'm a Chevy guy but I'm good buddies with a Ford guy. His car is in my sig! Jon, pipe up and give this guy a hand. You need to reinforce the frame rails if that is where you plan to mount the motor to. You, like others before you, will have nasty problems if you don't. If you want to streamline the process Alsil, a member here, sells a complete crossmember to mount the SBF in a first gen Z. As far as headers: I can't remember anyone that hasn't had to modify a set to make them fit. Good luck, and welcome to hybrid.

Your motor will bolt right up using the JTR kit. You will not be able to use the AC compressor in the stock location. The popular thing to do with the belt routing is to pull the vanes out of the PS pump and use it as an idler and then fab a bracket for another idler to replace the AC compressor. This is what I did, not as difficult as it sounds. I would suggest you do the last part after the motor is in the car. I made mine first and then had to redo it because it hit the frame rail. Also, while we're on the subject of the accessories, you will need get another alternator pigtail, (available at any parts house for $5) and swap the exciter wire to another terminal so you don't burnout your alternator. I don't remember which one right now but I can check when you are ready to do that. A lot of people diss the TBI/TPI book. It is true that most of this book will be of little use to you, but I found nuggets of gold there that to me were worth the price of addmission. Helm writes the factory manuals for GM. You call them and tell them you want the manuals for the car your motor came out of. In your case tell them you only want the first two books out of the three. The last one is a suppliment added for the (3.8 litre?) V6. This will save you a few bucks. Still, expect to pay about $120 for the two manuals. Some people say you can do the swap without these but I wouldn't want to try. The Helm manual will give you all the info, every last jot and tittle, on your motor. If you have any problems after the swap it will give you step by step flow charts for troubleshooting. Here is the phone # for Helm 800-782-4356. Have your credit card ready.

We put a Odyssey battery in the Tomahawk, couldn't fit the full size one through the small hood opening with the LT1 in there. This is a great battery. Wish I had gone this route.

Very common in the R180 though, and cheap.

You did good Terry. Make sure you get everything: driveshaft, ECU, complete uncut harness with relays, all accessories, MAF sensor and all the intake plumbing, all the heater hoses (trust me ), TDM (used to be called VATS) and the ignition key if you don't want to have to reprogramm the ECU. IMHO that is a great deal for a very low mileage '95 motor and trans.

JTR V8 swap book, JTR TPI/TBI book, Helm manual, plus a little help from the guys here. Worked for me.

This requires a little more modifying than I think you had in mind but you asked for pictures.

It's not exactly stock, but the mod is very "subtle". Quality is top notch. $300 with reinforcement, mounts on stock hinges. Or shin only for $200. See John Washington at http://www.reactionresearch.com/automotivedetails.htm

Something would have to be done with the rear side windows on a Z31. Dark tinting at the very least. A novel idea, it would be the only I've ever seen. This is one of those body mods that I think would actually be easier done in steel than fiberglass. One sheet with two bends. Any sheetmetal shop could do it for you once you get the dimensions right. Remove the hatch glass, cut out the window openning larger father down and weld in the new piece. Bend up a flang for the new window and pop it in with a genaric window gasket. Use laminate safety glass and any decent glass shop can cut you the shape you need and it will still be DOT legal and safe. Of course there would be the requisite grinding, finishing, and paint but all in all shouldn't be too bad.

Scott, that's horrible. Please tell me it's a non WC T5? Now I feel guilty for calling for that smokey burnout at the Anywhere Cafe. Maybe time for a six shooter (T56)?

I've bolted roll bars into both a '73 240 and a '78 280 and the metal that the inner wheelhouse is made of seemed considerably thicker in the 280.

How soon 'till your swap? Shame to spend money on a driveshaft you're going to throw away. Sounds like a good excuse to start now.

Those headlights on Racer X's car were way ahead of their time.

No, that is not good. If you have any play in the u-joint you need to replace it. Let's make sure we're talking about the same thing though. The part of your driveshaft that slips into the tranny is called the yoke. Grab it with one hand and the driveshaft with the other. If you have play here then the u-joint is bad. Do the same thing with the other end to test the rear joint.

Nice to see some PROGRESS Alex. But what does this have to do with CONGRESS?

One more item you need to know Spikey. The LT1 and older SBC will bolt in with the JTR or MSA kits. The LS1 has no kit and requires fabricating your own engine mounts.