BrandenZ

How'd the autox go? What are your thoughts having now driven the car, presumably in street and racing conditions? I still need to do electrical checks on mine, as personally I feel like I have way more assist than I'd like at speed. I've gotten to where I flip the kill switch over 20mph or so...

How much did the appraisal cost? I'd also love a copy of it if you wouldn't mind sharing! 😁

Please post back once a link is up. I'd love to keep an eye on your future sale!

I definitely need to tinker with my tach and vss wire on my install as well. I hooked them up _I think_ the same way mrk3cobra did, who reported great success with it. In my case, I "feel" like the steering is much too loose at speed. I expected EPS to basically 'turn off' above around 30-40 mph. I wired a kill switch into mine, and it feels drastically different at driving speeds if I fully disable it. I was hoping for a much more progressive feel with EPS across all driving speeds, but again currently it feels like vss is being under-utilized or not utilized at all. I'll probably try adding a 'kill switch' to that wire as well and see how it behaves if I kill that wire while driving, and see if it makes any difference at all. If not, I may ping Silvermine and see if there's a way to tweak the EPS to provide less assist across the board. I absolutely love it at parking lot speeds, but it feels too jittery and active to me at driving speeds so far.

Your build is 100% Bring A Trailer worthy! I'd advertise there and set a high enough reserve to where you won't be disappointed if that's all you get. I have no intention in selling mine, but I'll admit I'm very curious to know what kind of a price a well built LS2 240z ends up going for.

I'm running them on an LS2 using Hokes mounts. They're roughly 2-2.5" below the frame rail depending on how you measure (see attached). I've taken an inch out of my strut tubes and am running a fairly aggressive autox/track alignment which leaves me almost exactly 3" of ground clearance from the headers. It looks pretty frightening, but I've managed to clock over 1000 street miles on the car with no issues thus far. Of course, severe grades or speed bumps are very much a no-go!

One other option if you do decide to delete the existing flares is to go with a fiberglass replacement: https://www.ztrix.com/fender-kits/subtlez/ There are several options out there, the one linked above will fit 9.5s in the rear, but the offset has to be just about perfect. The 280YZ rears would definitely fit those wheels and tires. I agree with Jon that I think it looks odd because of the 'mudflaps' and also because the front is stock. Anyway, best of luck with it!

Do you believe you lost any of the raw / connected to the road feeling of manual steering? When you say it feels like a modern day sports car, my concern is that a lot of newer sports cars feel a bit disconnected / mushy, particularly at low speed and sharp cornering. Roughly how long would you say the full install took? Did you ever get an answer back on the offset on the steering rod?

Congrats!!!! Mine is also a 2006 LS2 / T56, and I completely agree with you on on the sensation of speed. I've had friends tell me it makes them borderline car-sick. I do not have any issues shifting, aggressive or otherwise, in any of my gears btw. Are you running a bigger clutch master cylinder? Are you sure you fully, fully bled it? My engagement is very firm and very close to the ground. Either way, for now you should just enjoy the car for a bit, you've earned it! It's a strange time to be completing a project that just begs to be driven, with all autox / track events shuttered... but at least the streets will be mostly empty for you! 😎

What have you done so far to verify fuel and spark? It seems odd to me that you're lacking both, but the starter turns the motor over. Unfortunately since it's a swap, it's anyone's guess as to how both are wired. Fuel: 240z came with mechanical pumps, but 72-73 did have unused wiring to the back. Mine is a 73 and I personally used the factory wiring to wire my electric fuel pump. Can you tell how yours is wired? Can you find any fuses / have you checked in the fuse panel area? If you turn the key 2 clicks, can you hear the pump turn on? Have you checked the fuel filter to make sure it isn't clogged? If you pull the carb filter(s) and have someone crank the car, do you see any fuel flowing inside the carb? Spark: I assume the HEI distributor runs an MSD ignition and coil. Can you tell how it's wired? Can you find any fuses / have you checked in the fuse panel area? If you turn the key 2 clicks, can you see any lights on the MSD unit indicating that it's powered on? If you pull the coil plug wire (from the center of the dist) and place it near a grounded bolt (strut tower is usually a good one) and have someone crank the car, does it arc a spark?

I hope you do find a local who can help out, but in the meantime... What kind of motor is it? Is it carbureted or fuel injected? If carbureted, does it use a mechanical fuel pump or electric? What kind of ignition is it using? Is it mechanical or electric? Was it for sure running before the dash removal? Do you own a multimeter and know how to use one?

I would highly encourage you to read the thread here: What you should really do is: - Set desired ride height, front and back and side-to-side (measuring with car on the ground) - Have the car corner balanced (optional for tracking/racing) - Have the car aligned as desired Of course, you want this done without any rubbing or clearance issues. In my case, I had to go with less positive caster than I would've liked to clear the front air dam. In your case... Do you have the last known good alignment specs? What's the tire brand, make, and size on both the front and the rear (same tread profile F/R)? Are there any wheel spacers installed in the rear? Do you have the ability to adjust rear camber? Can you trim the inside of the flare or the lip based on your point of contact? My guess is that you do have variance side to side on how the flare is installed. However first you need to set desired rear ride height correctly, not going by wheel gap or coilover threads. That alone may do the trick. If not, you may also be able to dial in more negative camber on the rear and/or do some trimming.

Wow! I just assumed you had the usual bolted on flares. That is indeed quite the conundrum. It looks like great work too, I also wouldn't want to touch it. One other possibility is, if your struts are sectioned (likely with coilovers), that they're sectioned at uneven lengths. Either way if so, that just confirms your issue but doesn't solve it. Ignoring the wheel gap and coilover adjusted length, have you measured the distance from ground to pinch weld on both sides? This is what you should be going by, as cross weight likely is not 50/50. Where is your rubbing / interference occurring and under what driving conditions? Do you have wheel spacers installed at the rear? Do you believe moving the tires inboard more, or adding more negative camber could be enough? What are the rims, tires, and associated offsets? If it's super close, you may also be able to simply swap tires. There's a surprisingly large variance of track width across different brands. PS upvote because chewy.com

I too have ~1/4" clearance difference between the DS and PS with no evidence of prior collision in the rear. The easiest fix is probably going to be to pull the DS flare and mount it 1/2" higher to match the PS. Another option may be to get wheels with a different backspacing (less positive), pushing them more inboard so they'll clear the flares. The cleanest, hardest, and most expensive option would be to ditch the flares and go with a kit (like what Ztrix offers). 🤪

The other thing to keep in mind about the Z, especially the lighter weight 240, is that it's unibody construction. Any part of the chassis that's rusted out can greatly reduce structural rigidity, and in some places (looking at you, tension compression rods) can impact alignment and braking. Even with a clean chassis, if you're planning for 300+ hp/tq, you'll probably want to beef it up with bad dog frame rails at a minimum and/or a roll cage. Unless you're planning for a restoration / cruiser (which I doubt), I'd personally try to find one as clean as possible!

No power steering here, but I'd love knowing whether or not that kit works with a Hoke-mounted LS2. For "daily driving" scenarios like 3-point or very low speed turns, it's definitely a bear. Personally, at speed or autox/track events, the only thing I notice about _not_ having PS is a more direct feel to the road.

Welcome James, and beautiful job on the 68 Camaro! I'm also on the east coast and if I'm being perfectly honest, it's slim pickings out here for a rust-free S30. You'll want to keep a close watch on eBay, Bring a Trailer, and Z-specific Facebook communities. If you're dead set on it being rust-free, be prepared to fly out west and drive, trailer, or ship something back. When I started my project, rust-free was my one unwavering requirement (as I quite enjoy all other car / engineering related work). I spent almost a year looking before I found a suitable candidate. For sure read up here on all the spots to watch out for, as I looked at 5+ "rust free" advertised Zs that were anything but (if you knew where to look). As far as events relatively near by, the Mitty at Road Atlanta is fantastic, and there's always a reasonably large "Z Corral" there: https://www.roadatlanta.com/the-mitty Also ZCon is in Nashville this year, and definitely worth checking out: http://www.zcon.org/ ZDayz is probably pretty close to you: https://zdayz.com/ Lastly if you ever find yourself passing through Atlanta or at any of these events, feel free to shoot me a PM!

Congrats and welcome to the LS party! Once you get it on the road, all your efforts will be completely worth it. Say goodbye to cold start and cold running issues, and hello to amazing reliability, cheap parts, surprisingly good gas mileage if you're cruising, and an obscene amount of power for such a light weight chassis! This is the oil pan set that I went with, out of the C6 Corvette: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-New-Oil-Pan-Pickup-Tube-Windage-Tray-LS2-LS3-Corvette/251749654073?hash=item3a9d72de39:g:bwIAAMXQNhdSDp1T Definitely confirm that it will bolt up for your application, but it's an absolutely perfect fit. Not only does it offer much better baffling than the alternatives, but it clears the cross member and even sits slightly above it. You can check here for various posts (mine included) on wiring harness and PCM locations: I'm running the T56, so unfortunately I can't comment on clearance issues with an auto. Since yours was a manual already, my bias would tell you to go T56 instead. It really depends on your use case, though. I do mostly autox and track events, so automatic anything was never in my personal consideration.

Also PSI also LS2 T56, basically same location choice as mrk3cobra

I definitely had a heck of a time burping mine until I installed the sight glass and hooked up the steam vent line. I think going with a 160 degree thermostat also helped. I bet you're right on the edge of your current thermostat wanting to open. I'd probably still swap to the 180 degree, but even with the current one installed I'd be tempted to let it get hotter and keeping a close watch on the sight glass and the OBD2 scanner. Heck, LS2 fans don't even switch on until over 220 and 230, some quick googling seems to indicate even running up to 240 should be OK (particularly at idle). If you can get the thermostat to start opening even a little bit (before hitting 240), I bet this all sorts itself once all the air bubbles leave the system. Also agree with Richard on the tie rod ends, I'm personally running the integrated bump steer + knuckle replacements from AZC: http://www.arizonazcar.com/lowarms.html I wanted quicker steering input for autox + with wide tires and no power steering. If that's not interesting to you, you can get a cheaper set of just bump steer spacers which install over your current knuckle.

It's possible but unlikely IMO, so long as the water pump is moving water through the block and you don't have a giant air pocket blocking water from reaching the thermostat. Have you checked the temperature of both hoses running to the heater core? Have you also tried running heat through it to see if you get hot air? This is the thermostat I ended up running btw: https://www.jegs.com/i/SLP/847/100228/10002/-1 Once the car is warm, I never see temperatures down to 160 ever. About the lowest my gauge ever shows is 170 even with the fans running at highway speed. It seems to like to live around 190, which I'm more than happy with here in Georgia, as I can see spikes to 200-210 if I'm stuck sitting in grid or traffic for a while. Are you sure you installed the new thermostat in the correct direction? My best guess is that if you can get the thermostat to open even a little bit and burp the system, this issue will solve itself. It wouldn't but fun, but another thing you could do to verify the water pump is functioning correctly and you're able to fully remove the air from the system would be to fully pull the thermostat for a one full heat / vent cycle...

I had a heck of a time getting mine to cool properly at first as well. I did the same as you, and swapped out the thermostat and still found that I was having issues. I believe the way we're forced to run our upper and lower radiator hoses makes properly burping a bone dry motor quite difficult. What finally solved it for me was adding one of these to the upper radiator hose: https://jagsthatrun.com/products/coolant-sight-glass With a 1-5/16" diameter hose and 1/4" steam vent hose size After installing that, I also poured dexcool in the top hose to make sure coolant did arrive at the thermostat, ran it with the cap off, squeezing the upper and lower hoses a bunch, then finally with the cap on but the steam vent on the sight glass opened up to get the remaining air out. I heat cycled it and topped it off from there and haven't had any cooling issues since. I'm currently even running a 25% underdrive pulley and still have no issues!

I surprisingly couldn't find any good shots of just the PCM itself. When I'm up at the shop later this week I'll grab a couple. Is there anything in particular you're interested in seeing shots of? I'm running Speedhut gauges with my swap, using CAN-BUS from the OBD2 port on the ECU, but I believe that only works for 2006+ PCMs.

I used a PSI Conversion harness for my LS2 / T56 and I'm SO glad I did, and didn't use the stock and hacked up one that came with the motor. It looks extremely clean and all the connectors are cut to length so perfectly that there's really no guess work at all. The only real trickery was re-wiring the factory Z harness for the LS starter. Everything else was pretty much plug-and-play. I personally mounted my PCM above the passenger floor pan on the firewall and at least with my 240z. I can probably dig up some pics if it's interesting to you.

Hmm this is a very good idea, nice find! I'd need to verify that if I used a non-plunging CV on the inboard side, that the outboard side + available axle splines still had enough room to drift to accommodate for the longest length required. It definitely seems like it should more than adequately be able to do so, though.