VinhZXT

I finally found a TR7 convertible frame for my Z. Guess how much I paid for it? a grand total of $15 bux. Initial trial fitting seems like it will fit nicely. I just have to fab up the mounts on both side. I guess I can make plan for long trips with the Z now. Here is a pix of the car And here is a pix of the top that I just got:

Ernie, I have 3 ZXTs and a ZX N/A and 4 first gen Z. The one in the best shape is my Cobra project. The next one is on the rotisserie that my lil brother is working on. The one I just got actually looks pretty good except for the frame rails. I might fix this car in the future. I also have another 2+2 for parts. Clive, Sorry I have only one Z with the black interior and my lil bro is working on the car so he will need the interior. My Cobra has white interior. The new Z I just got has red interior. The 2+2 has brown interior lol. I also bought a 98 Honda Accord with light front end damage for $500. I will fix this car up and use it as a daily driver instead of my ZXR. BTW I have another guy locally begging me to buy his 240Z lol. He said it's in very good shape but not running. The only problem is he wants $1500 for it. I will wait until he begs me to tow it out of his lot for free lol.

EvilC, 8 total now. I had up to 10 a few months ago. Still trying to down size my Z collections. I am not sure what I want to do with this car just yet. It is very complete inside though so I won't remove anything off it any time soon. PS. I got the car running this evening after cleaning out the gas tank and replaced the spark plugs. yeahhhh now I can move it around the shop and maybe take it out on the street for a few burn outs lol.

If it's a 97-98 ls1 motor with DBW then you can almost sure that's a C5 motor. However somone could have installed the C5 TB to mislead you. The C5 also has different acessories mouting location compare to the Fbody. On the C5s the alternator is up high on the driver side verses down low on the Fbody. The most distintive appearance piece is the oil pan. The C5 oil pan has the 2 wings sticking out which btw won't fit into the Z. Here is some numbers for you to compare: I paid $3500 for my C5 motor with 42K miles. This include the 98 PCM and wiring harness and a few other items. However no trans. I had to pay extra for the trans. My motor came with all the accesories to which I didn't use and I sold them them on Ebay. Since your motor doesn't have the wiring harness, PCM, tranny and other stuffs I suggest you to bargain it down some more due to the missing stuffs. Although the 97-98 PCM is kinda useless for a swap as I found out later in my swap. I don't suggest you to do a swap using a C5 motor but if you plan to let me know there are several important things you need to know before hand. It will be much easier using an Fbody drivetrain. #1. It's not a good price. You should pay lower than that. Maybe $2500 #2. Let me check with my SI manual and get back on this. #3. Don't know this one. #4. You can't use any of the C5 accesories except for the water pump. Check out my web site for more info

Get the 99 and up computer. Make sure you get the wiring harness for a 99 and up model also. Unless you want Speartech to build you the harness. It's not cheap.

You can't use the Camaro clutch master cylinder. The line is a little too short and plus originally it mounts on an angle. Too much work to get the Camaro one to work. Not worth it. Here is a picture of the 2001 Camaro master that I didn't use for my friend's swap: Here is the one I used: I like the one M1noel used on his swap which is from the GTO.

OK I just got myself another Z,8 total now. Who needs parts for a 240Z? The guy just gave me the car. I am going to try to clean the gas tank and get the car running so I can move the car around my shop. I do feel bad for him so I made a deal with him. He said he got a 1976 911 with some electrical issues and I will take a look and fix it for him without charging him.

Guys, There is only one switch at the brake pedal and it controls both tail lights. If he has a problem with one, providing the other is working normally then the problem is somewhere else. FYI on a ZX there is a tail/stop lamp sensor box under the passenger side seat. From the descriptions of your problem I think you need to replace this box. It's the black plastic box under the passenger seat. Just pull the seat up and unplug this module and both of your tail lights should go out. Good luck

JohnC, Thank you very much for the responses. I will use your numbers as a guide. I've just recently repaired the floor pans, rockers and battery tray on another Z so I can estimate how many hours it will take. However this was done on a Z that was on a rotisserie so it was much easier to weld. I think this guy wants to replace the floors, floor supports and have the frame rail patched. I've seen quite a few people on here welding the floor supports on top of the pan and it should be easy to do. His rocker panels are OK. I will have to check the frame rails carefully before I begin. If they are rotten I won't touch this car. Again thank you all for the responses. If I end up fixing the car I will post some pixture b4 and after. Vinh

Alright guys, Got the car back at my shop today and it's not good news for the owner. Both floor pans and floor supports need to be replaced. Both floor pans are filled with fiberglass. The car is missing the right fender. The rear bumper got a big dent in it. The right side frame rail is rusted from front to back. This car is pretty much junks. The guy paid $500 for it and $85 to tow it back to my shop. He said the car runs. I asked him how much he plan to put into this car and he said 2 to 3K. What do you guys think? I have to write up an estimate for all the major repair and let him decide what he wants to do. I want to help this guy out but I don't want to spend too much of my time because I got my projects to do as well. Thanks for any ideas or encouragement guys. Vinh

Thank you everyone for the info. I really appreciate it. It would be a lot easier if I were to strip the car down and put it on my rotisserie to work on it. But if I do that then if will become a full restoration job and I don't think this guy can afford it. I don't think this guy know what is he getting himself into. He came into my shop and saw my Z sitting on the rotisserie upside down and he wants me to work on his Z immediately. I don't do outside work now aday but when I do I charge $50/hr for my labor. I haven't seen the car yet so I don't know how bad is the floor. I will have to take a look and discuss the price and his option based on that. I think I will just cut out the rust areas and weld new metal there instead of replacing the whole floor pan. Even if I patch a couple of holes it will cost him more than $300 already. I am a good welder btw. I have sheet metal and a giant sheet metal breaker so I can make the floor pan myself. I just found out more info about this car. It's been sitting for a long time as well so the carb will need to be rebuilt. The car will be towed to my shop today so I will find out more about it. Will keep you guys posted on this. Thanks again Vinh

Hi guys, How much would you pay someone to replace the 2 floor pans on the first gen Z? Just met a guy today and he is dropping off his 240Z for me to replace his floor pans. I can fab up the floor pans and weld them in but I don't know how much to charge the guy. Also what is the trick you guys used to weld the floor supports to the floor if you don't flip the car over? The only way I can think of is to cut the floor supports out and weld them into the floor pans first. Then after welding the floor pans into the car then reconnect the ends of the floor support to the frames. Thanks for any pointer guys. Vinh

You should be able to buy it the way it is for that price and just take the body kit and you will come out ahead. I think that front end is a tilt front end so it won't require much to remove it. Last year I saw a GTO kit for sale just like this and it went for over 4k. I personnaly looked at the car and that was a complete garbage. Plus the front clip was crazy glued to the body of the car. So remove the front end and all the panels will be a PITA. So I say this car is still a very good deal even if you buy it for parts. GL to someone Vinh

The ZXs are know to have problems with the starter relay. A long while back I had problem starting my ZX and I kept thinking my battery was dying. This was because when I have this problem if I get jumped then it will start. I later put in a brand new battery and it still happenning. So I knew it wasn't the battery. I then install a new starter relay with all new wiring from the ignition switch to relay and from relay to the starter and that fixed the problem for good. In this process I also install the push button start. I used the headlight washer switch under the left side of the steering column and wired it into the starter relay. Good luck.

Guys, Some body in Oregon might get lucky. I wish I live in Oregon I would definitely get this kit. http://www.zcar.com/classifieds/index.php?method=showdetails&list=advertisement&rollid=36714&fromfromlist=classifiedscategory&fromfrommethod=showhtmllist&fromfromid=29& Oops.. it's a GTO spyder

Darrel, Have you try to put another distributor in? I think the CAS is bad. The CAS triggers the sparks and not fuel. The EFI relay controls the power to the ECU and therefore controls both the sources for fuel and sparks. If you still have the CAS by the damper I suggest you to convert it to the 82-83 distributor. I had an 81 280ZXT that I rescued from a junkyard. It went thru several shops and none of them could get it running. I got it running by convert it to the 82-83 distributor and set the timing and it ran perfect.

I emailed a friend of mine in Japan and asked him to check out this front spoiler for me. He said it costs $350. He will check into how much for shipping it to the US. He also mentioned if we can get a group buy interest he will look into it to get a better price for the front spoiler and shipping. I will keep you guys updated on his progress. Vinh

Clive, Congrat on the sell of the Camaro. If you buy the harness don't forget to ship it directly to me to save you some changes. Also I suggest you concentrate on getting the motor in and running. After that you can work on the rear end, suspension etc. Do you plan on doing a full restoration (rotisserie) of the frame?

Guys, I found this on Craigslist. Is the Datsun truck 5 speeds any good? I think I've seen some discussion about it before. http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pts/242729808.html