pparaska

The Z has left and right threaded tie rod ends. Look at the slope of the threads on the inner tie rod, next to the tie rod end, as Jason mentioned.

a few replies: zfan: I bought it new at a dealer. The parts guy was intrigued with the project and gave it to me for super wholesale or something like that on the ticket. I paid $175 for it. That's alot, but it kicks but and I wanted to make sure I had reserve cooling since I was putting A/C in. I think the regular price is like $250. (list) --- BLKMGK: I agree with TimZ, the Maxi fuses are nice (I'm using one on my fan - a 60 amp.) I just ran fusible links in a few places cause that's what I knew to do. I agree it'd be better to just have used fuses. I think the only advantage a fusible link has is that it is kind of forgiving if you have a quick short when working on something (like less than a second when you touch a hot wire to ground, see a spark, and then take it away.) But there are slow blow fuses also. BTW, the Camaro Rad takes about 1.5 gallons - less weight up front - but not alot of reserve for cooling with this thing. Oh, I photocopied a few pages (including the circuit diagrams for the cooling fan) from a Haynes (I think it was) at the local Trak Auto. That's where I saw the relay box and 60 amp fuse info. --- Brian_O: A switch that can handle 30 amps (what some of the Ford fans pull on high speed) is plenty expensive. A relay is not that much. Plus all the length of wire to run to and from the switch drops voltage. There are auto electric sites, books, etc. that can show you how to install a relay. And you can buy them in radio shack, with plug in connectors.

Mike looks nice - I was glad as scrolled down and saw you painted the bay later after trial fit . Thanks for documenting the swap!

Sweet install! Looks like it was meant to be there! BTW, what's the before/after weight and weight distribution?

It's in the SCARAB position - ~4" forward of the JTR position . Go JTR, I'd leave the John's car's stuff alone for the Z.

I have a Mustang-specific Team Voodoo Aluminum polished shift know, no pattern on it. It's 2" diameter solid AL. Very nice feel and it's heavy, to help shifting (synchro pressure) hopefully. Check out Team Voodoo Shift knobs for info. The guy running the company makes them and is very nice. Most of his business is for Miata stuff. I made my own handle out of 3/8" steel plate and a 12x1.75mm bolt welded together. I need to redo it, but that's how I got the know where I wanted it to be. [ July 28, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]

What scca said! It'll be cheaper and better in the long run!

I've wanted on of those for a LONG time. I'd want the hands free adapter as well. I need it to handle a 17 inch rim, but I think the larger auto sized on does that. Definitely interested. Darned things are expensive - but doing my own alignments on my cars would be cheap after a while!

Guys, one of the reasons these Ford fans cool so well is because the blades are design to pull alot of air. But it takes a heck of a motor to turn it. The Cobra GT 4.6L fan I have pulls 35 amps on high. The Cobra electrical system has a special box that controls the AC and fan, and it has relays and a 60 amp fuse in it. I'd seriously think about using that switch to actuate a relay near the fan. And I'd run a fusible link and probably at least a 10 gage wire from the ALT/Battery to the relay, from the relay to the fan, and grounding the fan with a 10 gage wire. Of course, put a fuse in there too! BTW, if you use wire size of 10 gage, you need a 14 gage fusible link.

Depending on what they have to do, that might actually not be a bad starting point. Bodywork, paid by the hour, gets incredibly expensive. On my next car I will either buy one that doesn't need much/any or do it myself. More than half of the money in my car is body and paint work. That's sickening to me. Try to get someone that will give you an estimate and stick to it. Doing it by the hour kills you.

Actually, it's that slight difference in weight (several hundred pounds) that makes me really like the 240Z over the 280Z. I CAN feel the difference in the handling of similarly prepared 240 and 280Zs exhibit. There's more to light weight than just power to weight ratios. Jim, that RX7 of yours shows you that. Light weight generally goes along with lower polar moment of inertia, and ALWAYS goes along with better handling, for cars of the same design and equipment. For me, I'd rather start with a 240 or early 260 and add reinforcement. I doubt the difference in the structural stiffness between the 240 and the 280 is anywhere near the difference between a 240 with and without subframe connectors and an 6 or 8 point cage (as defined by S&W).

If someone is building a car that they really want to do a bunch of drag racing in, I'd say do the auto. Ditto on using it for alot of stop and go driving. I used to commute in a horrible stretch of road (North-West quadrant of the Wash D.C. beltway in afternoon rush hour - 1+ hour of stop and go - hundreds of clutch cycles on the worst days - did that for many years in my Eclipse GSX and Maxima 5spd.) Otherwise, I'd go with the stick. Oh yeah. Jamie, the Z28 is a big heavy car compared to the 240Z. In my opinion, the only easier car to control in all aspects that I've driven over the 240Z is the Miata. Lots of torque and a stick in the Z is actually a heck of alot of fun, from the several drives I've had in V8Zs. The Z just has that tossable quality about it that gives you a level of control over the 4 contact patches that the late model Z28 will never obtain. I think it's that the Z28 is heavy, more than your driving. Take your Z out in the rain and try some powerslides with the 6 cylinder - you'll feel like a professional rally race driver with the control you'll have sliding around like that in the 240Z! Try the same thing in the Z28 and it'll probably get wrapped around a light pole or something. If I were to do a auto, it'd have to have a manual valve body.

z ya, I'd grab those CV shafts. They are going to be scarce some day not too soon, an nothing else is known to swap in so easily. They are stronger than the U-joint shafts. The next week link in a 240Z is the stub axle. They've been seen to break either at the splined area or at the flange to shaft area.

As far as I know, on a 240Z, the only places the VIN shows up are: 1) Stamped on the firewall, above the brake booster. 2) Plate riveted to bracket that's spot welded to the dash. (See it through the windshield.) 3) Door jamb plate. I don't know but the 280Z might have a stamp on the frame rail, but my memory is gone. I do not condone this, but we are all grown up girls and boys here, so we do as we see fit. I also don't think this is anything that warrants more than a hand slap.

I'd imagine the bellhousing you have for the Muncie is the straight up one. There is also one for the WCT5 to work in the Camaros that used the T5 (previous generation). The F-body WCT5 bolt pattern is the same as the Muncie and T-10 though. In fact, you might want to use the straight up bellhousing as it places the shifter nicely in the center of the tunnel, as opposed to to the left of the hole. The only issue is building an angled mounting scheme for the trans mount. Pretty easy to do. The hydraulic setup should not depend on the transmission, only the clutch and changes if any in the clutch fork geometry.

I seem to remember someone artfully and stealthily replaced the firewall area where the VIN is stamped on his 280Z with the same area from a 240Z. Of course, the VIN tag was easily swapped also. Of course, if it was ever discovered, legal problems would result.

Baxter Custom Engineering wanted like $75 US to coat each muffler. I painted them with 1200 degree F POR-15 type paint instead. I wanted them to be inconspicuous as the aft end hangs below the fender at the rear.

I'm 99.9% sure all LSDs had the finned cover. But some of the finned covered R200's weren't LSDs, I've heard. I think that was on the 240SXs. If the R200 with finned cover came from the factory on a 300ZX T (87.5-88) then it'd be an LSD. Just look for a "viscous" sticker on it. That one is not easy to get to work in a Z - but James Thagard has done it.

Isn't that the 87.5-88 year and a half only for the LSD? The 88 SS has a viscous one that doesn't work with the early Z stubs or the 280ZXT CV shafts.

Do what you feel is right on this one. I know Mike Knell leans heavily towards the automatic, but if you don't like automatic sports cars, don't let that sway you. Many of us haven't.

Mike C, I can understand long projects. I love those vettes (C2 stingray) and always wanted one since I was like 10 years old . Looks like a good bit of work, but I'd love doing one of those. Especially if I modified a thing here or there to piss off the Bloomington Gold set . I'll check the angular play between the crank and cam before I replace that timing set. Just read a HOT ROD article on this and they said many of the same things. I didn't know you could get a "pre-stretched" chain - pretty cool. Van, I wished I'd thought to fly you out to paint it, but didn't know of your talent . I'd bet it would have been cheaper too. Cool on that cam choice of yours. You should be a good bit more powerful with your 327, as my heads are not ported and yours have the full tilt job. That cam ought to be sweet. Thumbs up on the solid roller, I love it . I've talked myself into either the XS274S-10 Extreme solid flat tappet or the the CS282S-10 Magnum solid flat tappet. As Mike points out I could just swap in the Magnum with my existing springs, so I will probably go that way. I will probably not do it now, but if I see scored cam journals, I'll have an excuse . I'm going get another crank, new bearings, and have the block gone over and cleaned, new cam bearings, etc. I'll inspect it and clean it thoroughly (especially all the oil passages!) but I want another set of eyes on it. KMA? What's that stand for? Cheers,

quote: Originally posted by Mike C: ...Have you looked at the older 282s Comp mechanical cam? It looks like a nice grind that would be easier on cam and lifters as well as springs. Dang, you're right. I'd looked at that before but now I see that it does need less spring. Probably not a ton of difference between the XS274S-10 and the CS282S-10 that you mentioned. It's 236/236@0.050" and .495/.495 lift (1.5:1 rockers). That would be just a lifter and cam purchase and change - a bit cheaper to do ($185 at Summit, for example). quote: Originally posted by Mike C: I knda' like the single pattern grinds with a free flowing exhaust. Small blocks suffer intake woes but exhaust is pretty good for most part. Good point. My exhaust is pretty free flowing. (My web page has the details.) quote: Originally posted by Mike C: Is the cam you are looking at one of the new tight lash mechanicals? Are you familiar with them and how quiet they are? Looks like it is - the Magnum series all use .022/.022 lash, and the Extreme use .015/.015 lash. No idea one noise. I personally like the noise and the lope. Guess I'm showing my age . I'd love to see all you cars some time. Like most gear heads my age, the C2 vette and 69 Z/28 are favorites of mine . Is the vette a Bloomington Gold type numbers matching car, or the way I like it - a driver? Oh yeah, a timing chain question: The Morse type chain is loose (1/2" total slop) after the run in. May some of that is due to main bearing wear, but doubtful it's much. I'm looking at the cloyes hex-adjust piece. $95 ain't cheap, but it'll probably last. Any ideas or opinions appreciated. I want it to last without stretching!

Phil, sounds like another super quick GN powered car is in the works - Great! I always tout the NASA spin off stuff. I've been reading NASA tech briefs for many years. The spin off stuff is incredible. Too bad the public doesn't see it as other than wasted money. The freaking Apollo program ALONE did more for the 30-40 year long technology explosion we're experiencing than anything else. Few people understand this. I LOVE seeing NASA do new stuff - it always pays us back BIG TIME. I see missile defense the same way, BTW. I'd love to hear more about the NASCAR deal. BTW, does anyone make aftermarket heads for the GN motor?

Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear it cost you that much!

I'm thinking of selling the 461s and just starting with a lighter (AL) better port and chamber design. AFR, Brodix, not sure which. Supposedly, a set of good 461s are sought after by the gold-chain to-the-numbers Vette guys. Hoping to cash in on that and get some lighter, new technology. The 461 heads do have a 3 angle job, but just stock valves. 7/16" screw in studs and guide plates, Pro Magnum roller rockers (1.55:1). Oh yeah, I bought Mike Kelly's used Victor Jr. - it's sitting in the garage. I plan on doing a side by side comparison with a G-tech or Home-dyno to see the differences between the 30-336 (that's the one I have - you're right) and the Vic Jr. Do you have experience back-to-back with the 30-336 Holley dual plane and the Vic JR.?