pparaska

Coming from one who has repaired a very rusty Z, I'd say keep looking and consider importing one from a SW US area if you can. My car didn't look too bad from the outside when I started, but OH MAN! when I opened the hidden areas up, did I get a surprise! All rust can be repaired, but the cost in labor (your's or their's) gets really out of hand, in my experience. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

The bushing thing ought to work. Try to get some really soft ones. Also, look at how the OE's mount radiators for clues. My 92 Eclipse uses rubber bushings with a very big sloppy hole fit for the radiator brackets that are mounted to the radiator solid. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

SuperDan, pat yourself on the back again. Even though I screwed up the details of the conversion ate first fo V8 VPR, he's on the right path now. HybridZ to the rescue.

They are already pointed a bit inward. I'd think that pulling the tops inward more would really make the camber gain as the wheel goes into bump a problem - more than it is now. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I'd suggest that you NOT mounting the radiator rigidly. The radiator support on the Z moves and twist a bit and mounting an aluminum radiator to it rigidly could cause leaks down the road later on. As for your HP, I'd say get a Gtech Pro or a home dyno (search the site for posts on this stuff - it's been covered) and just measure it. Very hard to tell what you are really making with a used motor, etc. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Chris, your tool for extracting the pin sounds interesting, especially if you add som e shock persuasion (hammering) to the other end of the pin as you tighten the nut on your tool.

dgsc1, welcome! Good luck and ask away, as there are lots of knowledgeable and helpful V8Z folk here. Al, your page shows some cool progress! What year Excel do those side marker lights come off of? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Surprised Mike Kelly han't chimed in with his experiences with a "scarab" placed V8 versus a JTR placed V8. Scarab or Hooker placement is fine for drag racing, but the JTR setback is known for making a good handling Z. Having the engine lower, 4 inches or more set back engine placement is not without some handling advantages. Not to mention the clearance gained for fans, air cleaners, etc. And block hugger headers are a proven solution. Honestly, drilling 9 spot welds out (with the proper pot weld drill) can hardly be called "hacking" can it? (I'm talking about removing the stock hood latch bracket from the firewall here.) Other than that, the only other intrusion to the stock sheet metal is the mounting the tail of the transmission, since it will be too far aft of the stock mounting position to be used. JTR has you drill 8 3/8" holes in the floor and add some backup plates. Pretty simple stuff. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 13, 2000).]

Have you checked: Half shaft u-joints, Driveshaft u-joints, Halfshaft to companion flange bolts, Driveshaft to pinion flange bolts, Front mount (is it torn) and mount bolts. Mustache bar nuts to studs from diff Mustache bar bushings? Nuts at bushings? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

If it's not smoking, and it's not leaking outside of the engine, the last place to look is the cooling system. Let her cool down, open the radiator. Do you see any signs of oil? Milkshake? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Dave, sounds great - you're making progress! Let us know when it hits the street. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

A local buddy with a 350 in his 240Z has been having trouble with his 600 vac sec Holley. It's been gone through and then runs crappy after a while. Since he's not interested in messing with it any longer, he decided to getr a new carb. He was considering the new versions of the Edelbrock Performer carb (carter-like). He went to the engine builder/speedshop that built his engine and asked the owner's advice. This guy has been doing street and race American stuff for over 20 years - Guy(?) Mancini. Mancini said that all the street motors he sends out as complete units have an Edelbrock Quadrajet on them! My buddy and I were very surprised to here that. Mancini said that the he's seen alot of motors have their cylinders washed down when they used the Edelbrock Performer carbs. He likes the simplicity of the Holley, but prefers the Edelbrock Quadrajet for street use. Just some food for thought. I've always known that the Quadrajet was a great street carb if it was tuned well. My problem is that my attempts years ago (when I knew less and was much less thorough) at rebuilding them were far from successful. I guess I might go that way if my 750 vac sec (on the motor) and the 600 vac sec I have stashed away don't make me happy. Damn, I wish EFI weren't so expensive! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

IF the convertible was not stiffened with a roll cage or something along the lines of what John Washington (VR Engineering, Velo Rosa fame), I'd not put a V8 in it. The stock Z MIGHT be o.k. with that 350, but without a top and no reinforcement in the cabin, you'd be asking for trouble. Hunt around in the Chassis forum, use the search engine, or just read all the posts that sound like they apply. Welcome! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I'm not sure that 1/6" on either side would be real bad, but the JTR mount design slid right into place for me. If I were to do this over again, I'd buy at least the spacers from JTR. The ones they make are much smaller than the drawing since they remove alot of the extra material that's not needed. The design they have in the book is quick and easy to make though, with a band saw and a drill press. I'd probably just spring for the set back plates also, if I didn't have 5/16" steel. Not that expensive in the scheme of things. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Starter shims on GM products are pretty common. You can usually get these in the parts store under the Red bubble pack HELP! collection of odd parts. You need to have a certain clearance in the meshed gears. Something like 0.1" clearance I have the info at home from my aftermarket starter. Email me if you want the exact info (I'd forget otherwise). ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

You need a 280Z R200 mustache bar. The R180 one WON'T work. They are mis-informed. There are differences in th front mounts also, and it's always a good idea to replace that or put a solid one in (beware of the noise issue though). [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 08, 2000).]

Good Advice. I have a buddy who had a machinist at his work make a pivot pin driver out of tool steel just slightly smaller in diameter than the pin. He had it drilled and tapped on one end, to a depth greater than the threaded portion of the pin. Screw on the tool to the pivot pin, back up the inner sleeve of the opposite bushing (other end of pin) with a socket on a hard heavy surface (anvil) and wack away. Don't cut all the way through the outer sleeve when trying to remove that part. take a chisel and hammer and tap the outer sleeve toward the center of the hole and the thin steel remaining where you almost cut all the way through to the arm will tear. Then tap out the sleeve. The really cool thing would be a top mount. or a captured lower mount that is not as tall as the stock front mount. The height of the front mount causes the diff to have a severe nose up attitude and this aggrivates that u-joint angle problem on the driveshaft. See my site under "Driveline Mods" for my research into this area, if you're interested. Ron Tyler made a "top mount" for the front of the R200 in his V8Z. He emailed me details of it yesterday. I'll email him to see if it's o.k. to post here. This lets you be able to cut the center of the front diff crossmember out and lower the diff front to the desired height needed to lessen the nose-up attitude of the diff. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 08, 2000).] [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 13, 2000).]

I've screwed up here. I apologize. Some of the R180's (looks like the ones out of the 260Z) have a center bolt that holds the halfshaft into the diff, and the other R180's (240Z) have side axles that protrude from the diff about an inch, and these side axles have 4 studs. The 240Z R180 with the 4 studs bolt to halfshafts that have a u-joint flange that bolt to the side axles, like the R200 ones do. Those halfshafts are the same, but different from the 260Z! The upshot is you will need the halfshafts from a 280Z. A set of 240Z halfshafts will also work, I'm fairly sure. Sorry for the confusion. The Halfshafts start at the inboard end at a 4 holed u-joint flange that bolts to studs that protrude from the side axles of the diff. It sounds like you have ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

The only parts you need now are a new R200 mount and the R200 mustache bar. The 280ZX u-joint half shafts are the same as the 240-280 half shafts. And since you don't have a 70-71 240Z, you have the correct "rear crossmember link mount" that goes behind the diff. BTW, here's a good (but not totally correct) page on the swap: http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/R200.htm The thing I don't agree with is that you don't always need the R200 "rear crossmember link mount", if your car is post-71, and there was other small issue that is not real important. I've emailed Carl Beck about these issues. BTW, Clark Arizona Z Cars can get that part if you can't find it. Reasonable a great to deal with. I can't find contact info now, but if you have a Z car magazine, he's in there. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 08, 2000).]

Mike, I agree with you. If you can get wheels in the right offset and size with a style and weight you're happy with, then why not? If you upgrade to 1/2" ARP studs, that should be plenty of strength with "just" 4 studs. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Welcome to HybridZ! I apologize that we don't have a better way for newbies to find stuff. The search engine works pretty good, but we need a SBC-> swap FAQ or a really good tech article. We plan to be working on that soon. Anyway, I'll leave your 700R4 question for those in the know. There are several people here with aftermarket shifters also. They'll chime in, but search the site for B&M, Hurst, I'm sure some stuff will turn up. Headers, Hooker's work, don't know about others, but there are a lot of block huggers out there. Lot's of discussion on this board about what types to use with what heads (angle vs. straight plug, etc.) Supertraps - kind of loud in my opinion once you allow them to flow well. The 280Z half shafts will work. You might need to take the side axles out (they pry out) and swap them to the 82 diff. There are plenty of people who have gotten them to live fine with mild to less mild 350s. Check the chassis section of this site. Search for strengthening, etc. Lots of this has been covered. Cheers, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Jeff, make sure you mark the rods and caps, and main caps as per the position and direction that they are now. A center punch can be used to put 1-8 dots on each rod and rod cap (on the same side of the rod, before you unbolt them). If you have access to number punches, even better. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I've seen the Muncie in a V8 Z with the JTR setback, but that was ten years ago (car had a GTO 250 body kit as well). I remember the guy had to use straight shifter linkage that was somewhat custom. He had to move the shifter back past the end of the tail shaft to get the shifter into the middle of the stock 280Z shifter hole. Somebody here has a Muncie in theri car, can't remember who. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Chris covered my experiences with the Sparco pretty well. I'm 6'2", inseam 36", so my torso is about normal proportional length for my height. I have the Sparco "Road" seat, which is just a fancier and longer wearing material covering on the "Sprint" that Chris has. With the stock slides and the 3/16" high brackets I made to mount them to the seats, I added only about an inch to the overall seat height. I found that this wasn't necessary (having the brackets so shallow) as I still have a good 4.5" of room above my head. So I could have made simpler Z brackets that adapted the stock slides to the seat and still had 3.5" of head room. The wife's seat will be mounted a bit higher like that when it goes in , as she's several inches shorter. How much does a helmet add to your head height? The reason I went with the Sparco was my height and the desire to have adequate room for a helmet. I didn't want a Z seat (not enough support, etc.) I thought about a Miata seat and tested one in the car, but didn't like the support either. Finding seats that are shallow enough in the seat bottom for adequate clearance was a problem for me. Recaros were out. The Sparco was the one that I was able to test out and find that it worked. I have a feeling the Corbeau Clubman may be very similar. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 07, 2000).]

quote: Originally posted by Jeff 280ZXT: I work right out side of annapolis some times Im over at the ice gardens I forgot what road its off somthing barral? hmm Not sure where that is. quote: "performer RPM "company Im guessing" intake air gap version Company is Edelbrock (look in your Summit Racing or Jegs catalogs), the intake is the "Performer RPM Air gap" quote: Comp Cams Xtreme hydraulic cam "cam kit with spings and rocker arms" atlest I think it would be smart Yes, the Xtreme cams need a bit more spring than the older grinds due to the faster ramps. quote Sounds about right. Could be shorter depending one the machine shop's turn around. Not something I'd hurry through though! quote I ran it for 5 years, sold it to my boss and put it in his work truck for him - he drove it another 5 years and sold the truck. Still running great (sweet little 327 with the fuelie heads, 10:1, 327/350 cam) Loved that motor. I ran against a friend's GT500 Shelby from a roll of about 15 mph and pulled on him until about 90, where the 428 Cobra Jet showed me what cubes could do.) Fun car! (70 Camaro) ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages