Bartman

I designed my garage, but i had to have a licensed Architect provide structural calculations for my dinky 12' x 24' wood frame garage. I had to use Simpson pre-fabricated sheerwall panels (that cost over $250 a piece) on either side of the garage door, as well as 30" deep x 12" wide footing in front and back, 18" deep x 12" footings everywhere else, I can't even remember how much steel reinforcement, and the whole thing had to be sheared with plywood under the lap siding. My house may fall down in the next earthquake, but my garage will still be standing:icon52: .

I've driven her around the neighborhood a few times, but today I took her out for around 40 miles to the shop for a new exhaust system. The car run's great, but I found out it definitely needs fuel (ran out). It was pretty hot, but she didn't run hot. I even ran into quite a bit of traffic, and the temperature gauge only moved a little past half way. I never even switched on my cooling fan. The drone from the open headers was a little much, and I was stressing the whole time thinking I would get pulled over by the police; but I didn't even see any along the way. Once you get it cruising in sixth gear, it's not all that loud (well at least to me...my wife was following me in my other car with the windows rolled up and the air on, and she said it was still pretty loud even at cruising speed); but you can't hide the sound during acceleration and de-acceleration. I am extremely happy with my car, and I appreciate all the help and advice I've received from HybridZ along the way. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm just about finished with all the major mechanical work. I'll post up some pictures of my completed exhaust system and I bet it will be really sweet (hint: it's being done by someone most of you know).

Not sure if it would bolt up, but there would be a lot of issues to deal with. I think the threaded plug you are referring to is where I mounted the oil pressure sending unit. I guess if your's isn't there (or you relocated it), you could possibly plug that like you mentioned. In my installation the back of the intake manifold is extremely close to the firewall. I think you would run out of room to design an intake that would flow well even with extensive modification to the firewall. In addition, the fuel lines would be on the front of the car, and it probably wouldn't look all that great.

I'm with you, it doesn't look right at all! I've seen Z roadsters that didn't look too bad, but with a top (at least that one) the lines do not flow well.

If you want dual exhaust you basically have two options: run both in the stock location (will have to clearance the spare tire well), or change the fuel tank. You don't have to use a fuel cell. I will be running my duals in the approximate location of your first link and I am using a nylon tank from an LS1 Trans Am. Dan Juday is running duals in approximately the same location as Bob_H's pic, and I believe he's using a tank from a Suzuki Samarai mounted on the passenger side.

That's one heck of a garage:shock: . I'm happy with my additional little 12 x 24 that I built for my Z. Is this just for your own projects or do you plan to run some type of commerical business from this building?

Sounds great! I'm going to try and go with dual 2.5" exiting on either side of my LS1 tank with an x-pipe and afterburner mufflers. Hopefully I'll be posting about my system being complete very soon...

Thanks Dan and wheelman, I started her up without them yesterday and it seems to be running fine. I will be careful driving it to the exhaust shop because it is pretty loud:twisted: . wheelman, I'll check out your new post about your new exhaust setup.

The only way to get the ground clearance you want, is by going with adjustable coilovers. Don't skimp by getting some aftermarket springs that may or may not work for you. You may also want to consider making changes to your exhaust at some point; having your exhaust 2.5" below your frame rails is less than ideal. I would suggest getting adjustable's and increasing your ride height until you can do something with your exhaust.

I installed my new block hugger headers from ThermalTech, and they look and fit great. I need to get an exhaust system made, and I would like to drive the car to the shop (with open headers). The headers don't have the bungs for the sensors, so can it drive without them installed? I figured the bungs would be installed on the exhaust somewhere around the transmission area, or is it better to be on the headers themselves? The big question for now is there a temporary solution that will allow me to drive without the oxygen sensors properly installed?

It seem's like a lot of people on this site like single 3" exhaust, but personally I like 2.5" duals. When you have a low car, getting the exhaust up as high as possible makes a big difference; and an extra half inch could make the difference in whether you scrape something or not. I'm looking at switching to 2.5" duals and I want to try and get it tucked up as high as Pete's is. According to this link from Pete's site http://alteredz.com/exhaust.htm the only place where it is lower than the rest of the car is under the trans mount (by 1/4").

Anther 5.3 earthquake just hit around Yucaipa...shook my office in Costa Mesa pretty good.

Haven't tried to sit in one...that could be a deal breaker. There's been more than a few cars that I thought I wanted, and then sat in one and decided against it (I'm about 6'-2" 200 lbs). I was after a 67 'vette until I sat in that. I've been looking around at new cars the past few weeks, and even the new Mustang doesn't have enough leg room for me:shock:.

That blue roadster is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I could definitely go for a roadster with a SR20. Maybe my next project...

I think Mikelly is a troll and he should be banned. There is some seriously good information being posted on this thread. I think for the most part if you have to ask how much...you probably can't afford it. In addition if you have to ask why, then putting a V8 in a Z isn't for you. If you don't enjoy building it, then get yourself a 'vette.

My '73 has a retractable lap belt, but a fixed shoulder belt. Here's the source that I used for my seat belt information: http://www.automedic.org/smzcc/tech_tips.htm#seatbelts Phantom, This link doesn't mention taking a complete 77-78 280Z seat belt mechanism and swapping it in. Do you think there would be any issues mounting the shoulder belt to the strut tower (Does it need extra bracing)? If this would work, this may be the best solution. Wheelman, I've also noticed that we've been almost paralleling each other in our projects. Hopefully we will both be done fairly soon:shock:, and be happy with our toys. I've been very happy with my progress and the results so far. I assumed that I could mount the shoulder belt of the units on eBay to the same location that my current shoulder belt mounts. Pop N Wood, You may be right about searching the junk yards. I may have to try that.

I'm looking for nice 3 point retractable seat belts for my '73 240Z. I don't have a roll cage or roll bar, and I have replaced my stock seats with ones from a Miata. I don't like how the stock shoulder belt isn't retractable, and doesn't stay connected very well to the lap belt buckle. I know 260Z's and '75 280Z's have a retractable shoulder belt I could use, but I'm having a hard time finding one and it would still need to bolt on to the buckle of the lap belt. I'm thinking maybe a universal 3 point retractable belt might work. Anyone used one of these? Here's one I found on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7979715616&category=33725 Do you think these would work?

In this instance, I don't think this is the case. Both wheelman and myself have confirmed with Tokico, that the front springs included in the kits are progressive. I think the only issue here is concerning whether or not you want progressive front springs, and if you like the ride height that you get with these springs. The ride height is subjective, and can be influenced by other factors such as wheel and tire size and weight of the car. Since the springs are progressive, a small amount of extra weight could make a significant difference in ride height. I might add, the guy I sold my kit to was very happy with it.

There has been several threads regarding progressive springs and they seem to work well for some people. Here's a thread that talks about them: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=90122

No, I called Tokico when I inspected the kit and noticed that the springs looked "progressive". They confirmed and I sold them as brand new. I'm using the stock strut tubes with Tokico adjustable shocks in Automatic Transmission Fluid with Arizona Z's adjustable coilover kit. I'm not racing either, but it's nice to be able to determine your own ride height. The added bonus is being able to easily switch to different spring rates if necessary. The restocking fee doesn't sound too bad, if they're allowing you to return the kit after it was already installed. If all you want to do for now is increase your ride height, you could buy spring spacers. Not the best solution in the world, but it would raise your ride height.

I bought the exact same kit from the same guy on eBay. I posted about it a while back and tried to let everyone know about the progressive springs. He didn't want to accept my return either, so I sold the whole kit on eBay for almost the same price I paid for them. I think you would be much happier with adjustable coilovers and selling the HPK 251 package.

Cool of you to post the wiring data:cool: . I thought your engine was from a 93 Camaro? Is the wiring harness the same for 93 - 95? I don't need this information now, but I was looking for it a few months ago. Since then I got the Factory Service Manual, and most everything is hooked up now (at least to make it run). Nice looking car and web site.

http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=50-1752&Category_Code=7BSA01 http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=50-1753&Category_Code=7BSA01

No, this isn't my car...these are the pic's from the MSA web site. It looks like MSA is selling quite a few carbon fiber products now including these bumpers, various front and rear spoilers, hoods, etc.