Bartman

Are you happy with the PDK strut bars? I'm thinking of getting a set for my car, but I'm wondering if there will be fitment issues with the alternator. I'm also considering installing A/C, which would sit even closer to the shock towers on the other side of the engine.

Great job, and it is quite an improvement. Someday I will need to drywall my garage as well. I think your missing a couple of cars aren't you?

Very nice looking car. since I'm using Autometer speedo and tach i could really use a housing like that for the lights. Does anyone know where I could get one?

Saw this car on Discovery Channel last night. It's an amazing machine that I would love to have. http://www.ariel.us.com/

The pictures definitely help! It sits a lot farther out than I expected and I think having the back plate ground down would give it plenty of clearance. Looks like it could slide right in without any other modifications for my install.

In the long term you will probably want a LSD, but to start with you can just run what you got. The JTR book covers wiring and you don't have to do any metal fab for most installations (you can get the mounts from several sources). It sounds like you're far enough along where you really need to get the book to determine how best to move forward. This site picks up where the book leaves off, so you really need to go through the book for some of the information you get here to make sense.

Hanns, Did you get tired of getting kicked off the strip everytime you went too fast? Are you going to get your competition license as well? Looking forward to your sub-10 second roll cage and your new legal times. Can't you put on some sort of quick disconnect on your mufflers to squeeze your times down even more?

Tim,It looks like you figured out how to get the hood to close completely and you did a great job painting it. Did you roll it into your garage or did you really do it on the driveway?

Based on that information it should work. Like wheelman said, the engine is offset to the passenger side; so if the compessor is further in than the alternator I can't see how it wouldn't fit.

Just in case you're interested, there's a cool looking Scarab brochure on eBay right now. http://cgi.ebay.com/1976-Datsun-240Z-Scarab-Chevrolet-327-V8-Brochure-Lot_W0QQitemZ7181599669QQcategoryZ13561QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem It even has the price list and order form. The auction is worth looking at even if you're not interested in buying the brochure.

I actually found the same site the other day, but I'm not so sure it will fit in the 240z engine bay. It looks like it might interfere with the inner fender or the shock tower.

You need to figure out personally what type of motor you really want. If you really like V8 engines then you could do a swap for the amount of money you want to spend. If you haven't bought the JTR book yet, get a copy before you decide what engine to get. It talks about driveability and the many options you can go with (carb, TPI, TBI, 5-speed, etc.). If you think you might want to go with a later model engine get the Chevrolet TPI & TBI Engine Swapping book as well as the Datsun V-8 Conversion Manual. Personally, the decision to put in a V8 was done well before I got the Z. For me it's the only way to go. You can't beat the sound of a V8, it's so easy to work on, parts are cheap and plentiful, and there are tons of options available to get more power. If you decide on a V8 there will still be many choices to decide like carb or EFI, crate engine or find a donor car, performance upgrades, upgraded rear end, etc. Dig deep and think about it...what type of other cars do you like. Is it muscle cars, tuner cars, or somewhere inbetween? If you get talked into doing it one way and you really wanted another, you'll be pissed for not doing what you really wanted.

When you're editing your signature and you want to put in a link you need to select the "insert link" icon first and then enter the link (it's a globe with a chain link). http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=3268&cat=500&page=1

I ran a 10 gauge wire from my insulated terminal block to my battery as wheelman talked about in his post. It does appear that the current is taking the "path of least resistance" and the alternator charges the battery directly via this new wire instead of going through the Datsun harness. I think the only issue is that it appears that the amp gauge doesn't really serve much of a purpose since all the current isn't going through it anymore. I guess that's a small price to pay for the added safety of not running so much current through the old wiring harness.

I have 225/45-17's which are widest tires recommended for a 7" wide wheel. If you're running coilovers you can run a little wider wheel and tires (and still fit under the stock fenders). If you look at the picture below you can see that the tires just fit within the stock arches (no rolled lip). The pictures you have cover a wide variety of wheel types and sizes. One of the big decisions you have to make is determining if your want flares or not, and if so how big.

The value on many older cars is extremely low (with the exception of collectable type cars). Many times something will break, and the cost of fixing the item will cost more than the entire car is worth.

In general they just get infomation about other homes that have sold in your neighborhood and then compare those houses to yours. They have set values for differences in liveable square footage, lot size etc. I had my house appraised not to long ago and I was a little disappointed in my value as well. I found out that the upgrades don't really make much of a difference in the appraised value. I have a 500 sq ft covered patio, a $40,000 + pool and jacuzzi, a loft and an additional garage that I build (with permits); and it hardly added anything to the appraisal. My house has gone up quite a bit (I bought it brand new in 94 for $130k and it's now worth around $500k), but it should be worth more than the other houses in my neighborhood that don't have all the upgrades that I do. Did you get the complete report? You can request a copy and see how they actually calculated the value.

According to JTR, a getting air through a 4-row radiator core is difficult due to aerodynamic restriction. They also claim that once the cooling air has gone past the first row, the air is heated up so that it cannot draw as much heat from the next row, and so on. They sell a single row radiator that has a tube width of 1.25" that they claim is the best for cooling a Z. Not sure of the validity of their claims, but here's a link to their info. http://www.jagsthatrun.com/V8-chapters/V8-DatsunZ-Cooling-System.pdf

Of course wheelman, I have a similar problem:icon52: . I purchased an insulated terminal block from MAD Enterprises http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/cn-1.shtml and I'm using it to connect all my electrical accessories i.e. - my Painless auxiliary fuse block and my Taurus fan. I think I have all my current running through my Datsun harness the same way you did, which doesn't sound like a good situation. If I understand this all correctly, I should run a new wire from my terminal block straight to the battery. Is this correct? If so, what gauge wire should I use? BTW - The fan seems to be working great now that I'm getting my current from the terminal block and using two relays wired in parallel (still using a switch for now).

Okay I'm not an expert, but I want to wire my Taurus fan correctly. I got my parts from MAD Enterprises including his book on Electrical Wiring. From my discussion with Mark he recommended hooking the fan directly to an insulated terminal block (which I ordered from him) connected to the output of the alternator (not the battery). He said the alernator puts out around 14 volts while the battery only puts out around 12 volts, and that most electronics would prefer to use the 14 volts. I see quite a few posts recommending connecting to the battery, and I'm not understanding why. In fact, I currently have mine hooked to the battery and I don't think it's a good setup. When I turn my fan on high it actually makes my amp gauge go way over to positive charge (which from what I understand is not good). Did the fan on the Taurus cars run off power coming directly from the battery? Do any other car's run their electric fans from the battery? My Painless auxillary fuse block came with instructions to connect it directly to the battery as well, but after talking to Mark I think that should be connected to my new insulated terminal block as well.

They list at $269.95 at MSA. http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=30-7055