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Justin, I sent you an E-mail. I'm willing to make full payment on the flange via Paypal assuming everything is still a go. I know how difficult it can be to get a machinist to start a one-of-a-kind project. They're usually very interested but have to keep the steady money coming to pay the light bills too!

Pull the number six spark plug. Rotate the engine by hand until the piston is down in the bore on the being of the intake stroke. Feed a healthy length of 1/4" nylon rope into the bore via the spark plug hole but leave a piece hanging out for removal. Rotate the engine by hand until the rope binds the piston moving upwards. The rope compression should be slow enough to let the intake valve to be fully seated (exhaust will already be closed). Use that breaker bar to loosen the flywheel bolts. Reverse the process to tighten the bolts. Done...no heat, no brackets, no stress.

I'd never buy the car sight unseen. Someone must know someone close enough to the car to inspect it for you. Sounds like outrageous claims of condition to me. I'd want it pulled or driven to flat ground for much better and close up photos. It could be an investment for parting out if many parts are in good shape. The racing fenders would fetch a fair price assuming the condition is good. Dash could be perfect to crap and price would adjust accordingly. Alloy wheels might sell well too. Primer paint does not get my vote for metal protection...what is it covering up, I wonder???

Every gear but fourth requires the countershaft. Fourth is straight thru from input to output shaft. Sounds like you have syncro and/or gear troubles. Pull the drain plug. It has a magnet attached and will probably be heavily coated in metal fragments. Sounds like a five speed swap is in order.

The 89 is fine. I have heard but not confirmed that a later 240SX box 'might' have a larger diameter output shaft for added strength. The bellhousing mods are all that's needed. Some swap the 240SX countershaft front bearing for the earlier smaller 280Z/280ZX bearing when installing the older bellhousing. That is okay. I will be machining my early bellhousing to accept the 240SX's larger CS bearing. The reverse gear was mentioned only to point out that some gears can be swapped to accommodate gearing changes if older components are needed but not available (no 22 tooth idler gear was available in my situation) or you are looking to modify the 1-4 gear ratios away from factory options. It had nothing directly to do with a 240SX transmission being fitted into a early Z such as in the link provided by Naviathan .

These are not the same. As Jon pointed out, the early boxes do not have interchangable countershaft gears. Changing the mainshaft gears (with a fixed countershaft) is not a good idea as proper tooth mesh is vital for strength as well as noise reduction. That said, the gearboxes you mentioned are not the same dimensionally. Even very early, early and late S30/S31 5-speeds are incompatable with some internal components. The bellhousings are different (early bellhousing can be mounted to KA box with some work as the link provided will indicate). The shiter is in a different location too. Some gears can be interchanged from year to year. An example is the reverse idler gear in an 83 box which has 22 teeth. There is no replacement and Nissan offers a 21 tooth as a substitute. It does fit but there tends to be excessive noise for gear lash. The solution is to get a countershaft reverse gear from a 89 KA box and swap it in at the same time. The KA box uses the 21 tooth reverse idler gear so it is a perfect match. I learned this trying a variety of gears options to eliminate that noise. It only gets more confusing as the conversation goes on. If you go into http://www.carfiche.com and look at the a S30 transmission vs a 240SX transmission and you'll see subtle differences and part number changes. What exactly are you looking to do anyway?

Search...it has been done. It isn't easy. It isn't cheap. Some have used a Ford Mustang or Subaru STI rack and a couple other units I believe. I have a Subbi rack in my garage but haven't found to investigate it's functionality yet.

Headwork is relative to the desired results. Rebello does incredible work from all I've read and seen in here. Remember my end goal of 250+hp. Relatively mild head work will get me to my goal along with the displacement. If raw power were my objective then I'd just drop in that LS1 already destined for my old Land Rover and put the extra mobey into heads, cam, ECM tuning, etc. Like I said earlier, I want a streetable vehicle that can be driven daily in comfort. I've had my share of 500hp vehicles that work you hard to drive them on the street and those days are past me.

I choose not to address the $500 figure as it obivously too low. I was looking at the LD manifold (larger runner diameter) as an option. It would make less difference if it were supercharged too. The stock L28 manifold just won't flow enough to be viable on anything but a mild build. I'm not looking to build a huge fire breathing high rpm torque monster. It's only an exercise to build a bit more torque and horsepower and keep it a comfortable daily driver to boot. There is no set criteria for building any engine. You can go modest or over-the-top no budget limit crazy. Many times I think folks get grandeur ideas in their head without giving every consideration forethought. If you dive in without a defined end in mind then the money will surely leave your pocket like BB's pouring down a rain spout.

That's assuming your running carbs. If so, I have a set of tripple Dellortos on the shelf too. There's also a Clifford Research 4-bbl intake. I actually plan to FI this engine using LD28 manifold with injector bungs. There's also the possibility of supercharging with an new generic Eaton M62 (also on the shelf). Adding $500 is not an unreasonable possibility. Let's point out that we're talking about items that might come into play regardless whether it's a stock L24, L26, L28 or stroker motor. My observation is merely the cost of building the long block stroked L6 and costs involved.

I have read many of these posts stating that huge money is needed to build a stroker. If you're looking to build some outrageous power then yes that would be true. The car would likely be miserable to drive on the street too. I came from the late 60's/early 70's world and created some bada$$ small blocks but as a daily driver they really sucked. It is the challange to build a potent L6 that outweighs a V8 conversion. Dollar for dollar the V8 is a better and more reliable deal. I have a stroker in mind with most of the parts sitting in limbo in the garage. These included the LD28 block and crank, Euro damper, L20B rods, L20B timing cover, adjustable timing chain kit, P90A mechanical head, misc. ancillaries (thermostat housing, etc.) and a SDS system. Total investment in all of these pieces is about $1800.00. The SDS was $1100 of that so only $700 is in the mechanical parts so far. Pistons will run about $700 which is crazy but an evil neccessity. With additional parts and machine work I'm looking at about a $2500 to $3000 investment in the actual engine. I'll be doing the actual assembly. I'm looking to acheive about 250+ hp. That will make for a spirited car and still maintain reliability and streetability. The sole reason for this is being able to open the hood and point to a L6 engine. Beyond that the chevy V6 or V8 conversion would make far more sense. The 4.3 Vortec (220hp) and LS1 (350hp) sitting in the garage are looking more sensible all the time.

I use Suzuki Esteem or Aerio sidemarkers. 2000 up to about 2005 work great they fit the S30 directly with no problems. You may need to drill holes for the 280ZX Add bullet connectors to attach to the original harness.

Superior automotive on Portsmouth blvd in Portsmouth, Va. They do good custom work using thick walled aluminized tubing. The tubing will not be mandrel bent though.

Would it be reasonable to think a 3/4" disc could be welded to the stock stub axle in the rear? It could be machined to the equivalent diameter as the Z31 stub and drilled for 5 lugs. That would make an instant match to the Z31 front hub and it's 3/4" offset. The disc could be laser or waterjet cut from a piece of 3/4" or 1" plate steel. Any competent machine shop could perform the services. Am I missing something? Input?

The zstore unit will accept the add-on pulley used in early models with dealer installed a/c.

Long over due but I thought I'd let everyone know the outcome. I drove a buddy's 280Z and was astonished at the better stock braking. He mentioned that the booster check valve could be a possible problem accounting for hard brakes in my 240Z. I checked and sure enough. The PO had installed it backwards and I never thought to look. Wow, the braking performance is awesome now. It was worth the upgrade but I wonder what the stock brakes would have done?

That is a good investment. You won't have to worry about rust issues for a long long time, if ever. Still use a good inline filter between the tank and pump. as for liners failing, yes it does happen. I believe it is a result of inadequate prep and/or poor quality liner material. Most rad shops that provide this service have their reputation on the line and will only perform this on a viable tank with a quality liner material. I used an inexpensive liquid liner on a steel tank for holding water. It flaked continually until I finally replaced it with a custom aluminum tank...problem solved.

The stock system with all components and excess wire causes about a 3 volt drop to the headlights (about 9 volts). Upgrading to relays will provide a strong 12 to 14 volts to the lights and take load off those old switches and fuse block. It is one mod that I would always recommend. The difference in light output is nothing short of stunning. I always install load relays in every high current circuit of my cars/trucks.

http://waltontools.com/products/remvzinc.htm

70-83

Go with Pop's insight. There is a shoulder on the flaring insert that is usually used to determine the proper height needed. Also, you must use the correct insert for the tubing diameter. 1/8" sounds a bit shy of material needed to create a good double flare on 3/16" tubing. With too little material the rolled lip of the flare will not provide adequate surface contact to the fitting nipple and/or the line will actually split.

Thought I'd pass this along. Borg Warner 5 speed from an 83 280ZXT listed under item #170109496146. It's starting at $75 with a $150 shipping charge. It's in MN.

I feel your pain. I have too much month left at the end of the money too. I have four more boxes to build. The rebuild kits are not cheap. Three of these will need additional gears at a cost >$200 per tranny. What one gets is as close to a new box as possible though.

It is dependent upon what parts are required to do a proper build. The box I have has good gears, new bearings, syncros, seals, sandblasted and painted case. It is ready to go and would be $300.00 plus shipping. You would have to swap over your shifter, boots, and throwout bearing, I could provide the shift fork or you could use yours. Since you are in NC is is likely you could drive over to pick it up though if you're interested.

Picked another 240SX transmission (89 model). I'll be buying reverse idler and o/d gears from David at Courtesy (along with more gears to fix the close ratio boxes). It seems everyone misses fourth and grinds reverse when shifting hard and chips these teeth up. I'm building up two other close ratio boxes and another wide ratio box. There's already a wide ratio finished and ready for someone to install. All of these have or will have new KOYO or NACHI bearings, brass syncros and non-damaged gears throughout. If someone is interested in a 5-speed box just PM me. The one thing I haven't determined yet is how the speedo housing/gear will work in the KA box. That trans has the VSS with a larger driven gear and larger drive gear too. I've yet to determine if the smaller gear of the 280ZX will engage properly when the housing is clocked for proper installation.