DavyZ

Ryhan, I suggest you go to Pete Paraska's site and see what size tires he put under the car! Find a thread with his name and you'll see the prompt for his site. Davy

I used to buy Kit Car magazine years ago, and they were around. I have no idea if they are good, but you could call the BBB and see. Do a search on the web and see if you can find anything. Being able to see the factory and how they make the product will go a long way in convincing you if they are worth the money. Dan Juday went to AZ to meet with John Washington and was impressed enough with him and his products to buy the kit. I have to agree that $1900 for a kit is expensive--at least to me it is. But life/cars is not cheap. David

You could always steal them from his car! Actually, an easy way would be to find a style that you like from an existing car--like MR2, Z28, Trans Am, etc, and adapt it to your Z's fender. Otherwise, you can get scoops and vents from some of the rice/import magazines. Those are just some ideas... David

I'm almost 100% sure those were made. The lights you can get from a trailer or truck parts place; even JC Whitney would have them for sale. The old rear Datsun panel was taken out (get those rivets out!) along with the tail lights, and a fiberglass or sheetmetal piece was fabbed to fit in the rear of the car. Holes were drilled for the new generic (but good looking) tail lights, they were all mounted and voila! A whole new look with not much time or energy. The Arizona Z car website has a "roadrace" tail section that incorporates round tail lights, but it is expensive. You can fab this yourself fairly easily if you take your time. David

Sounds like a winner! Davy

Rich, The journals are not the same size so therefore a 350 crank will not drop into a 400 block. There will be machining done either to the block or to the crank (and for some reason I can't think of which one--I believe the 400 has larger journals because those cranks need to be machined down to fit a 350). I would strongly suggest looking at SCAT cranks--many times you can find them listed on ebay, brand-new, for cheap from machine shops and the like. The Scat cranks are made from "cast steel" and are stronger than cast iron, but not nearly as expensive as a forged crank. Check out David Vizard's books, especially the How to Build Horsepower for the small block chevy, but look at the carbed engine book. The EFI book I'm sure is great, but I don't have it. The rule (if you can call it that) seems to be that the longer the rod, the better. I would look at using at least 6 inch rods for the motor. With 500 hp, you should look at better quality rods--stock rods are good from 400-450 hp. Since you are going to build an awesome motor (I'd love this one) make sure you follow the details in getting all the umph out of it and making it work the very best you can. There are so many little mods you can do, even to the short block that will make a difference. Add 'em up and BAM, 50 hp more! Good luck with a great project. BTW, building a destroked 400 sbc will be more expensive in the end than building the more popular stroked 350 sbc. Food for thought. Price it all out first... Davy

The GM dealers sell new engines that range in price from $1500 to $3000 on avg for a SBC. This does not include carb or sometimes an intake manifold, or alternator, etc. IMO you should buy something that fits into a total outlay of what you want to spend for an engine. Want to spend $2500? Then look for an engine that costs around $1700-$2000 and you'll be about $2500 when all is said and done. I agree with you in principle that all things being equal, get the engine that already has some performance parts, etc, built into the motor. Or, you can go on what the builders say is the HP rating for the engine. Do you want 300 hp, 350 hp, 400 hp? That will determine the price you pay many times. Just figure that whatever you spend, there will always be expenditures you never counted on. Be conservative on choosing the motor and then grow from there. The ratio is something like, "figure out what you think this will all cost, and then add 30% more to get a more realistic figure. Davy

Yes, that car was also at the MSA Natl's. Looks great....but how much does it cost? For the conversion bracket, and then for the parts alone? It's great, looks custom, is impressive, but too rich for my blood. That guy has big bucks to build cars like that. Davy

Dan, I think you are getting information overload on the ebay stuff... You might want to pick a mild motor first for two reasons: 1) You never know what you are buying from ebay. 2) A mild motor can still be nicely upgraded in the future, but for now, it will sell for less and save you money. I'd like to offer some advice here: don't buy your first motor from ebay unless you absolutely know what you are doing. You sound like you are almost ina hurry from all your posts--I understand your enthusiasm for the conversion (I nearly go nutz!), but if you have a chunk of change to buy a motor, you are better off buying a reasonably mild motor from a responsible builder/machine shop that advertises in the back of magazines. You can get good deals and know what you are getting up front with many of these firms. Look into it because ebay comes and goes, and you don't want to make an expensive mistake on your first one. Just my $.02 Davy

This sounds like a good mild street motor that would be very good for a first-time conversion project. Over time, you can always start upgrading this motor. If the price is right, this might be a good buy. Davy

I agree with what Lone said about the 0.60 overbore--but if you take care of the motor, it should last you a long time anyway! The second engine listed has nicer parts and waaay better heads. I'd opt for the second motor. What are the cam specs? If the cam is too radical, you could put in a milder cam and really enjoy that motor. The first motor is ok, except for the heads and that it has no warranty. If the motor is "cheap" then it might be a deal anyway. Hopefully it is not overcammed, or just has the stock grind cam. Are you pulling these off ebay or what? Davy

Aside from Permatex gasket remover, razor blades, and sandblasting, I'm not sure there is anything else? David

Nothing wrong with those tires for street use. You really should have the front end aligned when you get the new tires on. Your tires will live longer and it may actually help (some of) your problem. Tire balance is usually the main culprit, and after having been worn a bit in an uneven manner, the problems just seem to be compounded--and you even mentioned that they had sat a while in one place! If you ever do have to let your car sit in one place for an extended period of time, try filling the tires with air to a higher pressure, like 40lbs or so, that helped the cars we had in storage at the dealership--keeps the tires from getting a "flat spot" when just sitting. David

Someone I talked to...probably Len or someone else crazy like that used a Honda CRX harness--no kidding. Better & newer, with about the right amount of wires for a swap. Personally, I think a Painful, er, Painless set up is a good bet--no more expensive (probably less) than OEM and built to suit. David

Hmmmm, all those Z cars, huh? You wouldn't by chance be moving to my neighborhood, now would you??? David

Good to have you back in the game, but what engine did you end up with?

Welcome to the forum! You will get good advice here since most of the guys contradict me anyway!! Actually, if you are using the new MSA mounts or the JTR conversion (my choice) the weight over the front wheels should be no more than about 150 lbs (that is not that much all things considered). Any aluminum parts you use like an aluminum intake manifold, wanter pump, heads, etc, will drop that weight right down to about stock. Some good shocks you can get from www.shox.com and would be something like Tokikos, Koni (too stiff IMO), even KYB if you are on a budget. The springs are almost more important, because the shocks can handle the weight. Look for springs in the above website, or MSA, or Jim Cook Racing, etc. Hope that helps you out. David

I can't help you with a visual, but I have a book with the dimensions. This is from "Engine Swapping Tips & Techniques" compiled from Hot Rod Magazine: 30.5" from front of fan pulley to rear of block 20.5" from top of valve cover to bottom of oil pan sump 25" from top of carb to bottom of oil pan sump 27" from top of air filter to bottom of oil pan sump 19.5" across from valve cover to valve cover 26" across from exhaust manifold to exhaust manifold Keep in mind that these are approximations and will change with every modification you make to the motor, i.e. taller valve covers, headers, choice of carb, choice of air filter, short or long water pump, etc. These dims are based on a stock SBC and that's all I know. HTH David

It sounds so darn easy, but I would love to see this before I shell out the bucks for these bumpers at the yard. I'm looking for something "new" and "different" for the Z, but a picture says a thousand words... You could mail a pic or two to BLKMGK and he could post--he's such a nice guy! Thanks for the info--I just have to file it away and sleep on it. I'm thinking it would look pretty good--much better than any 280Z bumper, yes? The Fiat has thinner ones covered in black rubber, right? It's been a while since I've seen them. David

So much for frikken NAFTA, huh!? Seriously, wasn't NAFTA supposed to take care of all the crock of taxes between us?!? Or was that just Mexico???? David

Congrats Stony! That's really flying! David

Hrm, the car was originally built to run on leaded gas, but if the head was ever redone, they probably installed hardened valve seats. The leaded gas provided lubrication for the valve against the seat (this is too my knowledge, correct me someone if I'm wrong) and would eventually wear down overtime if only unleaded gas was used. If you are going to keep the car as is, it's cheap insurance; but, I'm inclined to let the car run with unleaded and take my chances. If I guess wrong, I'd rebuild the head correctly. Heck, I'd just pull the 6 banger and drop in a V8! David

I have seen round tail-lights for sale at Arizona Z Car. Only, I would strongly encourage you to look elsewhere to find them. David

Yeah, Les just summed it up: it's ugly for the competition when a Z spanks 'em!!! Of course, I will hide the fact that I've got $$$ into the conversion when it's finished (sigh). But, at least it's unique. That said, IMO the Datsun Z (1st gen) is perhaps one of the most successful body styles in history; I'm not saying the "best," but clearly one of the best. They are so alluring, I can practically "taste" the car--and man, it's really good! David Pete, I don't mean to dump on your liking the ingenuity and the benefits of that Vette body kit--thanks for sharing. I can appreciate hard work, even if its not my cup of tea. Your car is more my taste, if you know what I mean! [ June 23, 2001: Message edited by: DavyZ ]

This topic has come up before, so it may be helpful in using the search function. My early body style 260Z had doors that would have fit on a 240Z, I am almost 100% sure. As for the later 260Z and 280Z doors, I don't believe they are compatable with the earlier cars because the latch mechanism looks different; I'm very unsure that they would be adaptable. I pulled a 280Z door from the junkyard for my 260Z, but ended up returning it because the doors were too dissimilar. I have not tried actually mounting the 280Z doors on a 240Z, but I would really like to hear if someone else has. It may very well require only a different latch. The 280Z doors are so much better in terms of finish, internal mechanism quality, and strength. All things being equal, there is no contest on which I would choose for my car. David