Cal Poly Zmanaustin

I was wondering if this is a scam. Seems too good to be true. http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/274547259.html

Great find Phil. Just goes to prove there are great examples of cars with original rust, cracked dashes and torn interiors out there just waiting.

How much you pay for the car is not the only consideration, but more importantly how much to bring it to where you want. In other words if you pick up a rust bucket for $50 vs. a straight car with good paint for $4000 the $4K car might have been a better deal. Also, depends on how good your skills are and how much parts are.

Steve, love these kinds of submissions. Even though I am not doing this swap it is great info and easy to follow.

I agree with the suggestions above. Are you lowering the cars ride height? If you are then you are much better off adding bumpsteer spacers before sway bars. Also, if lowering you may want to cut the rebounds down 1/2 inch to return travel back to the strut. I will echo the other thoughts above and suggest you play around with your suspension a bit. For instance an easy change is to add a washer or two to the radius rods and bump up the caster. I think I was running 3 degrees and my 240Z felt more stable and turn in was better also. Good luck.

Great info Mike.

I thought anything over 1/2 degree negative camber would chew tires up on the street? Don't you need to run a street setting and a track setting. Probably the best way to do it is to put markings for each setting?

Smart. When I was in school I had my car at home the first year while away and took it with me the second. Someone ran into it with their pickup truck and ran. The only upside was since it was smashed up I drove it everywhere and didn't worry about parking it later. Wise move to not have it with you. Very nice work and great car! Came in late in this one but wanted to acknowledge the craftsmanship and attention to detail. Kudos! Mark

Yasin, I definitely learned two things about you from reading this thread: 1) You do a great job on polishing wheels 2) Your soda choice is somewhat questionable. Again, the wheels look fantastic. Mark

second that! Wow what great space and workshops.

Nice!

Skylines Down Under forum Right after I get my McLaren F1 back, yeah that's the ticket!

Thought this was interesting...appeared on SDU... First, let me introduce myself. I am a detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. I work a multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency vehicle theft task force in Los Angeles County called TRAP. I picked up the criminal investigation against Motorex and Hiroaki Nanahoshi a little over two weeks ago. The case started in 2005 when someone from Motorex reported the theft of (5) Skylines from their shop. That investigation was originally handled out of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Compton Station. Since then, Hiro and an accomplice had been arrested on some other charges. That criminal case is being handled by detectives from Compton Sheriff’s Station. The case I am handling centers on fraud committed by Motorex as a corporation, and by Hiro, it’s president. Motorex was a Registered Importer of Nissan Skylines, authorized by NHTSA/DOT to do so after certain testing and other requirements were met. Motorex imported these cars for many servicemen, and also for sale to customers in the United States. One of the requirements was that Motorex had to perform modifications and upgrades to these vehicles before NHTSA would allow them to be released to the general public. I served a search warrant approximately two weeks ago at Motorex’s now abandoned shop. The only Skyline left there was one that had been crashed, and stripped. I seized numerous items of paperwork, many identifying vehicles and owners. In these two weeks, I have learned many things. I have examined several Skylines, and I have talked to many people. There are several key points which I wish to make with the Skyline community here. First, I have been in contact with NHTSA. They are aware of numerous issues with Motorex and the vehicles which Motorex had released or sold. After identifying a problem, they investigated, and when they had enough evidence to support their case, they revoked Motorex’s importation status. There appears to be evidence of fraud on the part of Motorex, but NHTSA is aware that the owners of these vehicles (third party purchasers and owners who had contracted with Motorex to have work performed) are victims. NHTSA has stated that they have every desire to work with Skyline owners to bring their vehicles up to standards, and ultimately, release the bonds on the vehicles. NHTSA is sympathetic to everyone’s plight, and I do not believe that they are the enemy here. Although I do not work for, or can speak on NHTSA’s behalf, I can say that I do not believe that they are going to crash through people’s doors to seize their Skylines. In fact, NHTSA is a regulatory agency, and not an enforcement agency. Second, Detective Salmon and I are investigating a criminal case against Motorex. We are not out to seize anyone’s Skylines unless they are stolen. We are interested in pursuing this case because we believe that a lot of people have been defrauded, and we want to secure prosecution of any guilty parties involved. If anyone is in possession or know of the whereabouts of the Skylines with the following chassis numbers, then you need to contact me. These vehicles have been reported stolen. 1. BNR34-403075 2. BNR34-400755 3. BNR34-005468 4. BNR32-312046 5. BNR32-214507 Additionally, all of the Skylines that belong to customers that were at Motorex, but are no longer there since the business is now empty, may also be stolen. Contact me if your vehicle has disappeared, or you think you may have one of those vehicles. You may be a victim of fraud if: 1. You contracted with Motorex or Hiro to import a Skyline from Motorex, but the vehicle was not delivered or has since disappeared. 2. You bought a Skyline from Motorex, but the vehicle was not delivered. 3. You bought a Skyline from Motorex, but the vehicle does not meet U.S. standards. 4. You contracted with Motorex to modify your Skyline to U.S. standards, but the Skyline still does not conform to U.S. standards. I can be contacted at my office number, which is (562) 345-4262. I have prepared a complaint form which I urge you to complete and send back to me if you feel that you are a victim.

I'm no lawyer either.... You might consider talking to a lawyer, paying him a flat fee of $50-$100 and asking him to file under municipal court for you. That's what I did when a tow truck company moved my car that was legally parked, damaged my vehicle and refused to pay. The benefit in doing this is they must have a lawyer to respond which A) costs them money requires they be organized. You can draft a list of questions and have your lawyer submit to them and they have to answer them. They will need the lawyer for that too since its additional legal paperwork. This forces expenses on the other parties side. The best part is that it is time sensitive. It's been too long, I believe they have 30 days to respond. Most of the time these guys don't even know they need an attorney or just blow it off. If that happens you just won your case. By the way, don't sell your car. You are going to feel terrible about it later if you do. If you opt to give up a hobby then do just that, but on your own terms. I think most of the people on this board at one time or another were taken advantage of (in a great sexual way for 280ZFORCE) or know someone that has in a similiar fashion to what you have described. Knowledge is power; learn from this to do on your own. Everyone makes mistakes and how we deal with them is part of what defines who we are. Okay, I will jump off my soapbox. Best of luck, Mark

That just made me think of the old joke,"Why do the English drink warm beer?" Because Lucas makes refrigerators.

I wonder how this topic would have been answered in the V8 section? I'll echo Chris' response. LSX is definitely cheaper for your power goals. LSX swaps are great, RB swaps are great. Both are very different. The LSX swap is much cheaper/easier for your power goals. The LSX is also a lot lighter engine. RB swap requires much more fabrication. I would say beyond that it has a lot to do with personal preference. I personally love the RB, but to each his own.

I noticed the first one to mention a gun is from Texas...just an observation.

Sorry to hear that. Are you planning to get back into the game at a later date?

I have to disagree. I had the setup he is describing with 420cc injectors running Z31 MAF/ECU. Mine ran perfect and this was in 1995. Jim Wolfe Technology did the tuning and I never stepped foot in his shop. He just mailed me the new chips based on feedback I gave him. This swap has been done since so many times over I would be shocked if you called him and he didn't offer you multiple options to send out immediately. I personally have never run Megasquirt or some of the others so can't speak for them. They probably work great too. Just telling you the the Z31 stuff worked great with zero hassles too. This was my old setup. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=7530&cat=500&ppuser=11637

He said he was looking for 3.0L or 3.1L region.

Why? Are you now Z-less?

The money for the crank is secondary IMHO. You will have machine costs to bore the block, balance, etc. You are going to have much thinner cylinder walls on the block when done producing much more heat and losing much of the strength and durabiltiy of the block. Not a big deal for the street, but a much bigger deal if you want to go to the track and beat on it. When I had my L28ET I opted to not go with the LD crank because I was doing track events and the structural integrity limitation of the block was so easy to reach through cheaper mods. So it really depends on what you plan to do with it. If you do opt to increase displacement with the LD crank I highly recommend you match your pistons within 1/4 gram or better. Good luck.

I agree with Jon. For NA I would recommend, but probably not the best bang for the buck on a turbo application. It's a nice upgrade, but you can easily and more cost effectively get more hp by other upgrades.

Thanks for sharing. That was cool. Funny to think we all share the same passion they were explaining about the car. The end the guy says I will never sell my car. I can relate.

It sure does. Nice work, it's beautiful!