SUNNY Z

I do have a spare set of uprights, and time to build it. Money talks FWIW, I have about 4-5 hours of time in this one, could probably do the next in a little more than half that, now that the "engineering" is done. This baby is solid though, definitely not worried about any flex. I dressed it up a bit more, though I didn't get any pictures yet.

Almost done with the rear mount / brace. I started by squaring everything up, and cutting a piece of angle iron to tie the tops together. Welded those, then I again checked everything to make sure it hadnt crept, and welded on the a arm mounts. Next I cut the bottom brace apart. I then mounted it on the cover again to check clearances, and built some gussets for the inside of the uprights. Welded those in. After that, I found some tubing and cut it to length, squared, and burned all that in. Finally i took some angle iron and braced the outsides of the uprights. This is where the pictures show the progress, as I kinda did all that at once. There is still some more that I need to do, but its coming along.

I also wanted to state that I'm almost in the black as far as selling things off the IRS goes. I've sold both axles, one knuckle, the rotors, and a tie rod, and I'm only $150 in the hole. Even if I don't sell anything else, $150 for a cobra pumpkin is pretty damn good! Hopefully once the rest of my R200/ 280z stuff sells, I'll be ordering the backing plates, strut tubes, axles, and driveshaft. If I play my cards right, I'll only be into this whole conversion for about $3-400. Granted, I had a lot of money in other stuff in the rear to begin with, so I wouldn't count on anyone being able to replicate this exact setup for the same price. I'll post a spreadsheet when I get it all squared away to tell the true cost. However, if you do your shopping, it could easily be just as "cheap" as an R230 swap and billet things, with a better outcome, IMO.

Good to hear! I Have a steel one for sale thats the right length for an lsx conversion! lol

Got a little done today. Here is the diff mounted. PLEASE refrain from the "you need to reinforce it more" comments. Its in the plans! Perfect clearance, as planned I also cobbled together a diff mount from cardboard. Probably going to cut out the pieces from steel, maybe tack them together, and then get this rolling. Again, being at a huge disadvantage not having a welder here. Another shot of the "diff mount" surprisingly, just eyeballing it - its fairly square. Just hanging there, it is sitting with +2 degrees of pinion angle. The trans is sitting at -1 degree, for a total of -3 degrees. I will probably shoot for somewhere in the -2 to 0 degree range, as there is no needed negative as with a live axle.

Good thought. I'll hopefully be making a mount for the front of mine, as well as reinforcing everything very shortly. Major downfall right now is that my welder, and my car, are 8 hours apart Soon. yes, sooon.

... still not sure how this is even a shade of LSx ....

I'm running some 4 piston bmw fronts and 240sx rears, and I just hooked it up to the manifold, stock everything else, and it worked great..... Not that that is a lot of help lol. Have you checked instide the booster to make sure the reaction disk is intact? I know this made a big difference for me as far as changing the pedal from an on/off switch to a gradual feel.

I'd probably make a plate with 4 bolts welded on it that could go through the 4 holes in the casting (vertically). Bolt the plate to your bench,and just set the diff onto the bolts (with spacers/ washers/ nuts as needed, and zip it down so it stays put. Just an idea

Good reference. I've been busy selling stuff here lately. Hopefully get back to the buying and building soon.

I have one without the bezel I'd sell you. It was in good condition, but I used the housing for another gauge. pm me if you're interested.

I just picked up an R200 out of a 77 280 with 60K. LMK if you're interested.

I have energy suspension bushings in mine. They're fine. Might help if you had a link or PN.

Looks to be about 2 inches wider, and a bit longer. http://ls1tech.com/forums/13239929-post8.html

I'd probably be done by now if I had a welder and the car in the same spot

Yours looks more expensive! Haha. I'm interested to see how you do the mounts. I was drawing up some braces last night, but in the 25 degree shop, I was having trouble getting motivated.

PM'd

I just used the JCI engine mounts, and made my own trans mount. Theirs is a joke IMO. If I ever do anything requiring more room (aka Bewst) Then I'll probably make my own mounts. I just think theirs are clunky and take up too much space.

For the record, the passenger's side is an old school SBC mount - nothing fancy.

Go to photobucket Create an account upload your pic grab the "IMG" link paste it here press "post"

You guys act like this is some 1000 lbft monster of an engine. If it breaks, (which I don't think it will) I'll just build it better. However, I have an Idea that might send all the nay sayers packing. Time will tell.

I do intend to brace it further, but I have faith that it would be ok as-is, especially with a hefty front mount. I think that many are under estimating the strength of this material. If you've ever tried to drill a hole in it, you'd know exactly what I mean.

Those look like TEA dual golds. That is most definitely non-stock valvetrain. I would pull a rocker and see what pushrods it has in it. You would THINK that they'd be chrome moly, but who knows.

There were a couple people using a 4l60e. Cable had one at one point. The 80E is a great tranny, and at that power level should hold up just fine. It is a big boy though, so tunnel clearance might be an issue.

Yeah, I think its an 07. The PN is in this thread. 1st page i believe