Bartman

I understand your concern and desire to improve the safety of your Z, but having a roll cage in a street car may not make your car any safer...in fact, it could actually make it more dangerous. Roll cages are designed to be used in a car where the occupants are wearing helmets. If I thought it would make my car safer I would consider installing one as well.

Autometer Ultra-lite 5" in-dash tach #4498 fits perfect.

If you're going to paint the headlight buckets, try leaving the scooped out portion chrome. I'm thinking that would look pretty cool.

My congratulations as well! You can't complain with those low consistent times, winning, and not breaking anything.

Get the latest issue of Hot Rod Magazine. They painted a whole car with it and wrote an article about the whole process.

Go with an Optima, you won't regret it. http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/automotive.html I'm using a red top and it works great!

240Z through 280Z hoods are all interchangeable, but the 280Z hoods have hood vents. The fender mirrors are here and on eBay every now and then, but be prepared to pay quite a bit for them. They have some listed here for $349.99 (that's about the going price) http://www.datsunlandsocal.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=233&zenid=2mf8aesqhgmrctm40ja4trpnu2

You could go with a Urethane Air Dam with brake ducts http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/7AD1/50-1411 It should be able to handle more abuse without breaking.

Here they are on a ZX. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=104259 They look pretty good.

Thanks for the explanation. I don't know why I didn't notice it the first time I read your post, but now I see that you had an intake filter built into one of your walls. Your testing results seem to indicate that the exhaust fans are able to draw the air in through the intake quite well.

Looking good Justin! Any chance of having it running for the ZCCIV Show?

It's probably not street practical, but it is a street class record. http://www.yearone.com/news.asp?nsl=1&nslSEC=10&nslURL=http://www.yearone.com/Articles/news_dp.asp?AID=126

7.80 1/4 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116094

Thanks Ernie and Terry! I will be doing this soon...at least I hope so. I think I may go the route of using PVC as it would be easier to put up and take down for future use. It looks like it works well to create stands as well. A question regarding the fans. I only have one now, how many should I ultimately use and how many for intake and how many for exhaust? It looks like Ernie used two to exhaust the fumes, but nothing for intake? Terry, you mentioned upgrading to four and it sounds like you would use two intake and two exhaust.

Any insight regarding the effectiveness of the openings in the rear of the inner fenders? I have installed fender vents, and I am interested in adding similar openings if they will help remove engine heat and/or provide other aero type benefits.

Congrat's, can't wait to see some pic's!

I don't think any of the information on this thread is going to get someone killed. The two main items being discussed are roll bars and fire extinguishers. I haven't seen any data that supports having these two items can be anything other than a benefit. I think the only way you can really say having these items can be a problem is if the person who owns a vehicle with these items drives any differently because he has them...this would be because of what you referred to as the "false sense of security". If you drive exactly the same regardless of whether you have these items or not, I don't know how you could logically say they are not a benefit. Now if you start talking about roll cages, there is data that suggests you are safer without one on the street. Because these are not performance enhancing products I find it difficult to find that these products could be used against you in a court of law if anything did ever happen. I think the bottom line is to drive safe and defensive and keep high performance driving to controlled venues. I see no problem whatsoever in adding safety equipment to a street vehicle as long as they aren't used to give the driver a sense that he can now drive more aggressively on the street.

I'm not going to the same extent as you are, but I am looking at installing Bad Dog framerails (subframe connectors) and I want to be sure that their isn't any sag in the car when I do. I think that it's a fairly safe bet that 30 something year old unibody cars will have some sag, especially one's that need new floor pans and framerails. I did a simple test that I think indicates that there is some sag in my car (http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=121536 toward the end of the thread). I think that moving the front jackstand position back allowing the weight of the engine to reverse sag before installing the frame rails is a good idea...of course that's just my opinion.

Would this Autopower wheel well mounted roll bar be a benefit to someone over 6' 2"? I wouldn't mind adding something that would provide a little more safety, but for comfort I keep my seat all the way back and I have it tilted back a little as well. My car is mainly for the street.

I am originally from Holland, but we immigrated to the states when I was very young. So I was just visiting relatives, doing some bicycle riding, and just being a tourist. I didn't see any Z's while I was there, but whether they know about it or not the V8 wasn't a big hit. My uncle is a mechanic and he's into Alfa Romeo's and my cousins, the one's that like cars, are into Mitsubishi's and other similar 4-cylinder cars.

You know when I was in Holland a couple of weeks ago, they didn't seem to understand why I would put a V8 in my Z. I would get a lot a strange looks, and some would ask me why. They seem to like smaller displacement high revving engines, expecially with turbochargers. I think part of it is the cost of gasoline, but part of it may just be what their familiar with. I like V8's because I grew up liking them. The cars I liked had them, and I really like the sound. If I didn't grow up with them, maybe I would have opted for an RB26, SR20, 7MGTE, or just build up an L28. You can definitely get the same amount of power I have, or more, with any of those engines.

Don't know if this would be something that would work for you, but it's actually froma 78 Camaro Z28. Not the best picture and still in progress, but maybe you can get the general idea.

I think you'l find quite a few people on this site that would like an LS7 powered FD...and who cares about the rest. I can't find the thread, but someone else with an LSx powered FD posted up on an RX7 site, with mixed response from other FD owners. Some people just don't like it when you swap v8's in cars that didn't originally come with them, especially American V8's into foreign cars.

Are you looking for a diferent style dash, or are you just trying to get rid of the cracks? You can buy Ferrari type dashboards from companies like www.reactionresearch.com or you can just get hard molded dash covers from places like MSA http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/DC/50-2045. These covers work great and plenty of people here are using them.

Based on the reactions of the Japanese people at the Japanese Classic Car Show I've been to a couple of times, I don't think they like it much. They like American V8's in American cars, but I don't think they like them in their beloved Z's. Of course this is a generalization, and you will find some that think the V8 conversions are great. They definitely like the SR, RB, etc. conversions though.