DavyZ

Hey Datto! Welcome to the forum! I met you at the MSA Natl's and talked with you a little bit. I liked your car and especially the Supra part of your front airdam--sweet mod that bolts on. You also had a great color on that Z of yours..perfect. Good to see you here. You know, the only thing your Z is lacking is 5.7L of power! Take care, DavyZ

Unless someone else knows for sure, you are going to have to measure them. If the 260Z is an early one (looks like a 240Z with the skinny bumpers) the fenders should fit--as to the 280Z and the late 260Z...measure...sorry. The hatch glass should be no problem and should fit. Are the defroster lines going the same direction as your present ones? Davy

Is there anyway you can measure the differences if there are any? Is it impractical to do so? Anyone else care to comment? Davy

Hoover, good to hear that the monster is running (really well I guess) and you've made good headway. Regarding the seatbelts, I had a 510 with a 4 point harness, and we removed 1 harness to give us a little more flexability to getting in and out. It helped a lot! I like the feeling of a wide harness, which is something that you just don't get with stock belts. And with as much power as you are pushing, it's probably a very good idea. Davy

Ron, do you think small claims court is worth a shot??? Davy

The riceboy magazines have mirrors that mount on the frame, not the door itself, but I would want to measure the mirror angle and the frame angle first before plunking down a General Grant... Davy

Jeeez sorry to hear you found more damage...hey, at least it's rust free damage! Well, unless I am wrong (never happens) you can use 1970-1973 240Z parts and they should be interchangeable. Now, you might even be able to use an early body-style 260Z before they changed to be like the 280Zs, but don't quote me on that. Late 260Zs and 280Zs are different enough that you can't use the crossmember, but I hope I'm wrong about that. Anyone else care to comment? Davy

BLKMGK, you foget it's not hooked up yet! The Borla would be freaky loud if it didn't have the Dynomax Superturbo after it. It (Borla) is a straight thru design and acts as a resonator of sorts. I took Rick Johnson's word for it that the system is "quiet" and fits w/o too much massaging of the underside. The guy is very meticulous and I can tell from just looking at the way this thing was made he was totally telling the truth...plus I got a great deal on an otherwise $500+ system Davy

Thanks for additional information--makes it easier to visualize the schematics. Davy

Pete, we've seen solid mounts, Scotties mounting solution (love it! ), the JTR cable solution, and the Simon DeGroot mount (beautiful & lotsa work), but I can't really picture Ron Tyler's solution. Does he have a website or pictures? I would be great to see it. So far, I like Scottie's solution for its simplicity, cleanliness, and cost effectiveness. But I'll gladly look at anyone else's! Davy

BLKMGK: you are right and we have gone over this before! I believe the consensus was what you just stated (but could it have been dual 2-1/4" pipes that were equal to a single 3" pipe?) I bought my system from Rick Johnson, a motocross racer that used to post here, who replaced his old 3" single with a 3.5" single--he said there was NO hp difference and wished he had not sold me his exhaust system! I think he was running 450 hp(?) Rick told me the single 3" stainless steel Borla is no longer sold in the exact dimensions of the one I currently have (it's about 15" x 3" hrm...have to check). He says the mandrel-bent system is relatively quiet (which is what I wanted) and flows great. The Y-pipe is not a Flowmaster, but was custom made. I would buy a Flowmaster in a heartbeat if I had to do this from scatch. The routing of a single system just makes more sense to me. Sure, the dual is more sexy, and if you have the room like Mike Kelly does, or the engineering skills and patience of Pete Paraska, then by all means go dual! Otherwise, a single system is a little less expensive, fits well, works well, and looks a little more ricey but is more stealthy too Davy

Awesome piece of work, dude! Davy

If you want to get some good ideas for flames, the Truckin'-type of magazines are pretty good and so are Rod & Custom type magazines. The tribal flames and variations of them are pretty cool--I saw a Camaro with Cameleon color flamesthe other day--BAAAAD!! Davy

Brian, I'm almost sure that the flange can be straightened out--maybe a vise and a hammer would work? I'd try that first. Otherwise if you have to buy new, don't get the ramshorn mufflers if you want the best performance--nothing wrong with them, and you can get them from a wrecker for about $20 each. I bought headers from Summit racing. I'll have to get them coated though. As far as exhaust is concerned, you can do a single 3" which is very efficient and hardly gives up any power to a dual system, but I think that's up to 400-450hp--beyond that duals will help. I have a 3" single and have a Dynomax Superturbo in back and a Borla stainless stright thru design muffler coming off of the Y-pipe under the car. If you go duals, the crossover pipe or "H" pipe will help to smooth out the idle and supposedly give a little bit more power. A good muffler shop can set you up nicely. You'll do really well if you can find a place that will do mandrel bent systems, but they cost a bit more. HTH. Davy

Stock Datsun fan? You know, Leonard (Fairlady327) is also using a stock Datsun radiator and it never overheats....of course he is in SF where its cool most of the time. Why you car does not overheat in the Texas summer heat is strange to me. Good for you, though! Davy

Zach, I'm troubled about why the starter won't fit on your block. The engine block has provision for two bolt patterns: the inline bolts and the offset bolts. If that is a GM starter you are using, there is NO reason why it would not bolt up. You still have to use a starter that will be usable with the size of flywheel you are using, please keep that in mind. For a 153 tooth flywheel, you can use a starter from a 1993-1996 V8 Camaro and the 1994-1996 LT1 Caprice. A 1982-1992 Camaro Starter will also work if it is heavy duty or medium duty. I think the older Camaro ones will be cheaper, but either will work. FYI: the bolt holes are inline, not offset for all the starters I have listed. Make sure you check when you are there!!! Davy

Congrats on the new ride! What year of 280Z is it? Is your car setup like a Scarab or JTR? Is it a weekend car or a daily driver? Can we see pics? Will you send us money? Blah blah blah... Davy

If that "transistor ignition" is at fault, don't bother buying a new one...they're what, like $700-$800 in the VB catalog? Get one out of the same year of car if possible from the wrecking yard--maybe $35 or less? Hooking it up shouldn't be that hard at all. I wish you well. Davy

Jim, that's excellent! Thanks for the info--I downloaded it a minute ago. Davy

I have the smogger heads for right now, house brand block huggers from Summit, Autolite sparkplugs, and cut to fit Mallory 8mm wires from PAW. There is at least 3/8" clearance from the thick sparkplug boots to the headers. I bought cool vertical looms from "Made-for-You" products that help me position the boots away from the header pipe--but just about any good looms can do this. I wonder why the Edelbrock heads and your headers have so little room for your sparkplugs and wires? Sorry to hear of the problemo BLKMGK. Hrm. Davy

I suppose you could just give them the manual and then they could go from there--but hopefully they will not be confused: they are not starting from point A! All they are doing for you is installing the motor mounts and setback plates, maybe remounting the radiator(why?), having the driveshaft resized, but not much more than that. I'm trying to think of things you could do yourself to save money (they charge by the $$$ hour). Buying the kit from JTR is easy to do and everything should fit fine. You might not need another radiator if the car has a decent one. You might need rams-horn manifolds or block-hugger headers if it does not have them already. Hrm, think about what you might be comfortable with doing your self and ask more questions. Hopefully, we can save you some money. Make sure you get an estimate from them. It would really help have a picture of the car and the engine compartment with information on the tranny and such. The car may not need a whole lot of work. Does this car run? If so, you might want to drive it a bit and get used to it before modding it. Just a thought. Davy

You do have the JTR manual, yes? You can pretty much follow their advice in getting the engine & tranny. If you can take your time, go slowly and hunt for bargains. I got caught up in building a motor when I should have just kept the motor stock and put it in. If you can find a running V8 with a 4 barrel carb, that'll be your best bet. Unless you want to go FI (hard on a budget), your tranny will be from a different car most likely. When you do get an engine, get everything associated with it, otherwise you'll spend so much more money chasing parts like alternators, brackets, etc. Junkyards are ok, but make sure the motor runs first--out here they give a warranty so you can return it if it does not work. Davy

Actually, Pete, that's what I was trying to say in my sort of non-engineer way Thanks for spelling it out in correct terminology. Davy

I have a 1972 Camaro motor with a T5 bellhousing and a 153 tooth flywheel. The starter I pulled from a mid 80's Camaro. It fits fine and is listed in the JTR manual. When I went to the wrecking yard I just looked for one of the starters JTR listed as being a proper one. Bingo. I'll have to look at my motor to figure out why yours does not fit. I find that puzzling. Davy

Aside from installing the JTR kit, they have to shorten the exhaust pipe (but you can keep the blockhuggers, and they'll modify the driveshaft by possibly shortening it. If you want to use the hood latch assembly, you'll need to chase the parts from the 280ZX like JTR says (that'll save some shop time). It's stuff like that you can do that will save money in the long run because shops charge by the hour and generally will markup the price of parts they sell you. If this is a really clean setup, even though it's a Scarab kit, you may want to drive it for a while and see if you like it that way. All things being equal, though, the JTR version is better. Just consider how much the shop labor will be after they do their work, the JTR kit, the new paint, etc. Good luck. Davy