pparaska

A very nice guy we all know named Dan donated an HP 2000CT (133mhz) laptop to me. No horsepower house, but just being able to do stuff on business trips, etc. is a BIG luxury for me. Helped out in a meeting I went to the other day as a collegue got held up at an airport and emailed his presentation to my hotel room the night before. Laptops, no matter how powerful - ARE KEWL! I can't wait for the day when I finally decide on an EFI system that can use it as a tuning aid and datalogger! Thanks again Dan! Scottie, that's one killer laptop. Are you looking to control each molecule of fuel through the injectors or something ?

I think this is really going to depend on the year of the Z. My 73 has a black w/ yellow stripe wire to activate the starter solenoid, just as JTR says. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

That's a beautiful looking engine compartment! Looks great! What intercooler is that? Looks awesome.

This can be a bit tricky, using a Ford Solenoid and a oil pressure switch for the fuel pump. Sneak circuits creep up easily. Page 13-2 (in my 7th edition of the JTR) describes a problem when wiring the oil pressure switch, fuel pump, starter, ignition, etc. The note is to not connect the wire that operates the starter solenoid to the the fuel pump power. When I wired the Ford remote starter "solenoid" (I hate that term - its just a contactor, not a mechanical solenoid!) I used the black w/ yellow stripe wire that went to the OE starter to the left small terminal on the solenoid. Then a big battery cable goes to the usual battery cable stud on the starter, and a short connection to the starter solenoid. I think there is more than one black w/ yellow stripe wire in the harness (not sure) but you might want to check that! The other one may always be hot, and that wouldn't work. Hope this helps, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Rick, the issue that bothers me is that this happened after going around a corner while you were "getting on it". My fear is you uncovered the oil pump pickup for too long while cornering and lost oil pressure momentarily and damaged a bearing. Journal bearings need that oil film, and if it gets scraped and thrown off and not resupplied, bad stuff happens. That being said, I had a Holley mechanical fuel pump that made a rod knock type noise in a SBC. It drove me nuts until it gave up the ghost and I put a new one on. It was deeper sounding than a valve tap, but not as viscous as a rod knock, so I thought maybe it was a piston pin problem or a slight rod bearing problem. Never went away or go worse, so that wasn't it. The damned fancy chrome fuel pump was the problem. Or the fuel pump shaft was too short for it. What did I know, I was a 17 year old kid who'd just built my first motor. Good Luck, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited March 12, 2001).]

Man, does it ever! I hope someone here can help you with a new motor or parts! Think of it as a way to upgrade maybe? Sorry to hear that. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Thanks Davy. Now where do I mail that pay off money? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Love to know the weight difference.

...double hump heads. The generally don't flow much more if you open the valves beyond 0.46-0.48. And the exhaust ports don't flow as well as the newer heads, so that dual pattern cam makes alot of sense. I'd go with the 274/286 for a street ride. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

emitch, Welcome! Read the JTR book a few times. Find out where the holes appear to be, then use the search engine in the forums for the areas you're not clear on. THe JTR book does a good job of getting you started, but there are so many options and details, that the book couldn't cover it all unless it was much thicker. And of course, if you can't find the answers you want that way, ask away! Cheers, Also, take a look at the links on this site. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I think JTR recommends 3/4" - remember, the diff is bolted down, so it doesn't need to slide much - only the engine/trans and the diff moving in flexible mounts will cause relative movement and the need for play. I used 3/4" which is plenty. You want to not use too much since any extra length from the tail housing (actually the bushing) to the u-joint exaggerates the play in the tail shaft and causes the u-joint to run in larger and larger circles, causing eccentric driveshaft rotation and vibration. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Even though Kevin's still an inliner, he got all of that correct. The cylinder numbering starts at the front of the block. You'll notice that the left bank of the engne (driver's side for us left hand drive people) had the head slightly ahead of the other bank. The cylinder numbers are from front most to rear most. The driver's side cylinders 1,3,5,7 just a rod's width ahead of the respective passenger side cylinders 2,4,6,8. Firing order 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 I'd have to pull the cap and crank the engine to be sure, but I believe the distributor runs clockwise, looking down on the rotor. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Good deal man. Yeah, I've always like those solid Centerlines since I saw them 25 years ago on a 70 Cuda. They look like BUSINESS. What color are you going to paint it? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

As of 1pm eastern today (7th) there were 5 left. At 1:01pm, there were 4. Yep, I got one. Now, here's a question. If I have a brand spanking new R200, can I easily put a LSD unit in it? I'd think as long as I got the shims right to center it left/right, the pinion depth would be fine. I'd have no pre-worn pattern to worry about matching, so there shouldn't be any noise. I'd think I could get the backlash to be nice and tight, if there's enough play available with the as-setup pinion depth. I have a burnt LSD unit that came out of a 300ZX (and then somebody's HybridZ, right Scottie ?) The gears don't look too hot, so I haven't put it in anything. I plan to get new clutch parts for it and put it in this new 3.545:1 R200 and have a mostly new LSD R200. If the 3.7:1 in the car fails, or I don't like the gearing, I have a tiny bit of room to move the 4th gear rpm down with the 3.545:1 unit. Think this will work? My only challenge should be finding shims to set it up if the ones out of the 300ZXT diff and the new diff don't have the right thicknesses to get the backlash within spec. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Mike, I emailed you this, but I'll put it here. I installed the 240Z seat slides in the stock mounting points in the car. This leaves the 4 sohrt studs sticking up that normally bolt to the seat. I took some 1/8"x2" Al and spanned the studs, left to right, with the Al. I did this in an offset manner front to back to allow room for the A4 seat mount bolt pattern to fit. Then I drilled holes for the A4 pattern. I had to use some spacers to raise the seat off the AL and the AL off the slides to keep things from interfering. The seat does sit a bit high, but I still have about 4" above my head. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Nice job! Very Sleeper looking. Shweeeet! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

BLKMGK, You might note a link for : "Datsun 240Z with a Chevy V8 -- lots of good stuff here - Check it out." That's my site. Dan has quite a little web site there!

Sweet! I want to see bigger pics, when you get a chance! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Yes, I'll drive it and hard. I'm an incurable lead foot. And I like powersliding around corners. And I'll drive it 500 miles to Kingston. I couldn't believe it when my wife asked if I was going to trailer/tow it! I built it for long drives and fun. If it gets dirty or chipped, oh well. I'll clean it and/or fix it. If it gets bent, I'll fix it or find another shell. Most of the work is what I put INTO the shell. Sure subframe connectors and cage/rollbar woud have to be redone, but it's only a car! "11 year Pete"

John, if you are refering to my car as a masterpiece, that is a nice compliment. Thanks! Like I keep saying, it's a hobby, not a car (to me). I've had so much fun doing stuff just the way I wanted to (most of the time) on the car. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Search this site for "Exhaust" threads using the search engine. This has come up several times in the last year and had a good bit of discussion. My site has details and pics of my exhaust. A bit loud for me, but I wanted it really pretty quiet. My neighbors with the Harleys thought it sounded quiet . ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited March 05, 2001).]

"Ten Years Pete" here. You guys are going to make me cry . danc, glad you found us and like it here! BTW, it's probably going on 11 years now. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Sunroof: Not preferable, but I'm not too sure it's the kiss of death either. The frame structure around the roof edge and the rest of the roof probably provide most of the stiffness of the roof panel in shear and bending about the important directions, so I'm not sure a sunroof hole really matters that much. Rust: It hides because these cars didn't have much for galvanized/e-coating from the factory, and came across the ocean wit hthe rust already starting from the inside out. Mostly in hidden areas like the rocker boxes and frame rails. The only sure way to tell is to look in there to find out. In the frame rails, you might have to drill an hole in several places with a small hole saw and look at the rust on the inside part of what's taken out, as well as clean off the rust from that and measure the thickness. Also, tapping around with a ball peen hammer on the rails can show a really weak frame rail, but the owner might not like that. Good luck, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Yes, I'd bleed the system, but also check to see if the slave cylinder is binding or the fork is binding.

How about a 330 hp crate motor from GM for $2075?: http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevySmallBlockV8s/330.html Or the 350 HO Deluxe which is a complete motor, oilpan, to dist/carb with the Vortec heads for $3250? (same page) That puppy has over 300 lbft from 1700-5600 rpm! You should upgrade stock suspension, brakes with this setup. While the R180 has been known to live under moderate powered V8s for quite a while, the R200 open diff is cheap and easy to swap in. Make sure you use good U-joints. Search the driveline forum for "solid u-joint" to find the one that Scottie found and used with success. Other than that, follow the JTR (see the links page) manual and you're home free to lots of fun. Cheers, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages