long240project

ritrebor, Got a couple in this thread on first page. I can shoot a couple for you in greater detail with a better quality camera. Will be home in a few days. Lane

ritebor, I Appreciate the props on the enginebay!! Anything you'd like to know regarding the rearend set up I 'd be glad to share. Just ask away Thanks Lane

I have followed your building of the gauge cups!! I can't begin to say how impressed I was with your attention to detail on that project!!!!! I am at that stage with my car and I have my eyes on the Ultra lite gauges from Auto Meter. Any chance you've gone semi commercial with the gauge cups? Has the white material been used at this point? If no on both of those last two...Any suggestions as to how to make the installation a success? Going with Three electrical 2 & 5/8...and the 5'' in the speedo/tach spots. thanks Lane

Headed home to work on the Z and view dem Saints! WHO DAT!!!

Darn Grump, You took the words right outta my mouth on that recommendation! Also a great Carb, to tame the launch on your car. I'd also recommend not fooling around with a used one. Get you a brand new one to avoid a leaking base plate or one with slack in the shaft. I can't tell you how many guys I ve seen bad mouth a Holley and then you ride over to help them and they are tuning on the biggest piece junk ever bolted to the top of an intake Manifold. Lane

Mark, I was unaware that there was anything in Mandeville! Thats cool to know. That's a beautiful town so probably a cool event! Keep me posted on that! Man I am so freaking ready for this job I am on to end! It's a catch 22. The longer I stay the more Z parts can be purchased with a clean concious! lol... but I am ready to install whats on the door step now! I made a rookie mistake with the brake upgrade by not buying the 15/16 master cylinder. Going from two pistons and two baby wheel cylinders to 16 pistons demands a lot more volume. I don't know what I was thinking!! I ordered a 15/16 bore base and my reservoirs are supposed to go on it. I'll be able to pass along exactly how much difference the two volumes make as soon I get home. Also the entire lot of things that go along with plumbing and wiring the car have arrived! It will rumble by mid March!!! Lane

Roro, Nice launch shot! Love it! The car has really undergone some serious changes! What type of crusin speed are you able to achieve with 700r? My absolute goal is to make it to Cruisin the Coast this year! We'll definitely have to get together when that rolls around. I should have the car back on Methanol for that occasion really freak some people out when they sniff that coming from my car! Have you managed to hook up with other Z owners in our region? I wanna Make some shows before I get to crazy getting my car dirty racing. Lane

Kevin, whatcha think?? Reciprocating saw to the hood?? lol

Ahh that other thread about engine location and distributor has got me worried about my darn hood now!!

Kevin, After you mentioned the gentleman with the Carbon fiber hoods, I looked at the equivalent to my hood from him!! I got ripped!!! ahhhhhh Well if anyone is going with a big cowl hood buy the carbon fiber one!!! Don't be an impatient non-researching tool like me!!! Its so superior with just a pictures glance! Hope this saves someone in the future some heartache!!! Sincerly, Ripped off Unlimited products hood owner....

roro..., Thanks for your comments about the car! I am really happy I decided to register to this site! Everyone here really knows the pains one must go to to tackle this type of project. Not to mention we all appreciate how unique these little Z cars are! I searched for your car. I can't find it here? Please direct me as I am interested in seeing everyone's ideas come together thur their project. I am from appro. 10 miles southeast of Baton Rouge, LA. I have raced at Gulfport dragway several times. In fact, my older brother has won the King of the Coast bracket race there a time or two. He was able to do so only because the (Dragster slayer Z was out of commision!) lol just kidding he is an exceptional racer!! The work assiocated with changing the rear end to a straight axle would be so easy with todays parts availability!!! It would also be super inexpensive. If I were to snap some shots of how simple my set up is you'd freak out! This car has run low tens for 10 years! Its so deadly consistant people were out right offended that I was taking it apart to revamp its look! The car leaves super hard 1.35 60' times and carries the wheels very aggressively. It does all this without a single subframe connector or anything to tie the car in underneath. Thats right, the underside looks just like it came from Nissan other than the rear end being bolted to some existing brackets from the stock set up! Now, I do have the roll bar which is probably a big factor in its ridgidity. However I have never had any twisting problems with the body etc... the doors shut perfect. The set is very Drag Race geared and I have no knowledge of how it would work if you plan to road race in curves etc.. You could duplicate what I have for under 1500.00(brake rotor to brake rotor)

The 2'' has provisions to bolt to stock location. But the fit leaves a lot to be desired!!! I have (no exaggerations) 700 man hours on the underside of the new hood! The race version 4 1/2 didnt come with hinge provisions nor did it come finished on the underside when I purchased. I made both of these happen while also trial fitting a million times for screwed up body lines! In addition the structural rib for support underneath had to be notched at the Radiator support! Needless to say I wanted to put the choke hold on Unlimited!!! I am curious as to what the quality of the hoods from the place that advertises at the top of these site are? If I ever want to make a change I would definitely look at some other options. I do love the final product I ended up with but it took $5oo.00 to purchase 700 hours to prep and $200.00 in supplies along the way. Here's the car before I took it apart in 2007

Kev, You are correct I have a cowl hood. I wanna say it's the 4 1/2'' from unlimited. I know..I know that is a little over kill but I am kind of partial to the drag car look. I have a 2'' Cowl that I took off of the car before I got the bright idea to dismantle it into a million pieces. If you or anyone is interested in it. Lane

Kevin, You are a braver man than I!! These lil Zs put up a mean fight!! I wave the white flag for the next build. LOL Lane:icon2:

I just found all the pictures from your project! Man! You got cool taste and great ideas! Like the car! Sorry just found the pics at little slow ha! Lane

Shots of Suspension Mods

Rsicard, It’s difficult to hammer out technical questions on here because one statement by the telling party made lead to multiple questions by the other party. I think I screwed the pooch so to speak on being clear. First off your suspicions about the steering shaft are exactly right. The header on the driver side is two piece. Meaning the front primary tube separates at the flange and reconnects in the header once it has looped around the steering shaft. This creates mega clearance room! I just can’t see you having problems with steering shaft clearance regardless of where the motor is located with these headers. Second: Don’t be discouraged about the header availability. I wrote to everyone wanting to tell my experience because I went through the same deal and I thought damn… I missed them. They are in fact available. Again, I have had a V8 in my Z since 1998. This is my third set of these hooker headers. All of my previous sets where the painted ones because that was all that was available. I called Jegs and said “I want a pair of the Hooker Headers for a Datsun Z car with a small block Chevy except this time I would like them ceramic coated.†The guy was like those are discontinued!!!!!! What!!! I have had these for years I told him! I was bummed out!! I got right off and called Summit and I said do you still happen to have these headers….Part # @@@@@ he say they are going to be discontinued but I still have a pair and he puts me on hold. I was like I am buying these headers if he comes back and has them. Well he comes back and explains that he’d have to call Hooker on Monday!! I took the part number, threw it in a Google search and low and behold there they were directly from Hooker on an E bay sale. So take that part number in the previous post and Google it for starters. Also, I believe that Summit was alluding to the fact that they were not going to carry them but could still order them from Hooker. This may have taken a little longer but they are out there. Hooker is not going to toss out the design. The demand is not huge but people want them and it probably doesn’t cost $100.00 to produce a product that retails for 5-600.00 bucks Third: The pictures of my car with the engine in are recent and that’s the new set!!! That’s what I did for Christmas Eve my man!!! Dropped the motor back in my car!! My girl was pissed! So That part of the car is done and the Headers I offered to send to you are my OLD ones. They are yours to keep my friend especially if you experience problems finding a nice coated set! If you get a coated set and you are not going to use them then I wouldn’t mind getting them back but definitely no hurry. Hope this helps. Also contact me at tlanecomeaux@hotmail.com for more convenience. Lane

I love that Silver on yours!!! I was so torn between Silver and the color I choose. Nice car Bro!!!!

Rsicard, I wrote you a novel on the engine mounts that I created and the forum just erased it! It really let the wind out of my sail! lol But I found some old pics of them. I dont know what the JTR consist of but which ever you wanna use I have great news!!! I have my old Hookers! They are not lookers but they are Hookers I've been running this car for years with a small block chevy. You are welcome to use them to mock the engine up and also to see if the angle plugs will work with the Hooker Headers. I believe that they will work with the angle plugs. There is a lot of clearance under the primaries. Give me a jingle on here and I'll ship them to ya! They are just collecting dust on my end. Lane P.S thanks Slopoke I appreciate that

The headers are a set of Hooker Super Comps. Do a search or call around using part #21471HKR... there is a (-1) at the end of the part number which indicates it is the Ceramic coated version. To anyone interested in these Headers do your homework!! I saved literally $450.00 by shopping for these. Message me if you have any problems locating these it was a stressful step in the project!!! Thanks Lane P.S Almost forgot!!! WHO DAT??????????????????????????????????????

Pic of color in Sun

"60 over 350, squared, line honed and torque plate honed Keith Black hypereutectic pistons. Speed pro rings. 6" Elgin 5140 rods with ARP bolts. Internaly balanced, clevite bearings, ARP bolts used throughout engine, Dart Pro 1 200cc heads, cast crank, crane cam 228@.05 480 lift. 140 amp alternator, weiand water pump, AZC radiator and taurus two speed fan" NOT 383 from this description....

Thanks! I plan to make the next push to get it wired and plumbed so I can at least go around the block ready to rumble the neighborhood

Well.. it's a mutt in many ways (drive train,Brakes,Engine)lol so on color I stayed true to skipping around. It is the exact paint code from the New Mustang. Like 07 and newer. These shots really do it no justice. Its slick as a mirror in person.