_Donovan_

I am about to attempt the same, putting the same air dam usafdarkhorse has onto a 280Z. From what I am seeing it basically fits behind the headlight buckets and bolts right there? What else do you have to do for that? Or is it really about that simple?

Over here in East coast I have a few chick friends with a S2000, know some dudes with them as well but they as about as close to a chick as you can get. I don't know, I classify them with a RX-8 when it comes to feminine or masculine, they just seem too "pretty" or "cute" to see myself driving one on the regular. My biggest reason for getting the Vette was I couldn't handle driving my 350Z anymore. I loved everything about that car, bought it in '03 and had it till early '11. Did the basic stuff, intake, exhaust, 4.08 rear, lowered, and it ran great. I was at the point of wanting more power though. I considered the twin turbo route and occasionally thought about LS swap, although briefly. The money it would cost VS what you got didn't make sense to me at the time, since I could sell it and for not much more just upgrade the car to a C5. Then from there for less money that TT'ing the Z I could supercharge the Vette and be about 100hp or so above the Z and still have better all around car. I miss the Z a lot though. Why I couldn't drive it was that it got to the point that I could not go out to get groceries with out some Mustang, Honda, Subaru, or Camaro/Firebird trying to race me in the worst of conditions. I don't mind messing around on back roads that are straights but I got ran off the road because a guy ran a red to try to catch me and was too busy trying to get my attention to notice the red ahead of us. He swerved towards me and ran us into the grass median. In the Vette not many people try to mess with me if at all. I guess most people just realize not to bother and it is so much more peaceful now.

HAHAaa, I knew this thread would come to this. Took longer than expected though. BTW Jon, I am moving to San Jose area in a few weeks. Any good areas you would suggest to search for apartments?

:lol:

BTW, the S2000 is a chick car, jk

If you are going to do something like restoring a Z or building a Z with engine change, you got to LOVE that Z. It is not a "well, that sounds cool" kind of thing unless you are the type that have done many things like that in the past. If someone calls you a troll do not take it as disrespect, many people show up here and there first post sounds just like yours, then they say how much money they have or plan at throwing towards it. The reality is most do not have the funds, patience, time, etc to finish such a project. These projects either never start or are not finished and people either waste their money and/or other people's time. If you can look in your bank account and see $40k you say, then you need to ask yourself what is important to you. I say many times "if I could do it all over I would do this..." what I really should say is if I could do it all over I would not have started trying to tune my own cars, I would have tried to be a doctor or something. I am like a lot of people here completely involved in it like it is my job, looking up parts, reading forums, planning out systems, all of it. If you are like this then sure, jump right in, you will LOVE having a car that you are driving down the road knowing you have personally replaced every bolt on it, a few times usually. If this does not sound like you and you honestly just want a car that is quick and somewhat flashy and can handle the track as well, I know exactly what I would do with that cash. I would go get a C5 Vette FRC or Z06 model. If you look hard enough and wait for winter you can get a great deal on one. I bought my C5 for Z06 from Ohio in January with 70k miles for $14k. Now you take that and go grab an A&A supercharger for another $5k ish and there you go. 500hp with good gas mileage and can shred a track and you probably will not even have $22k in it. even if you don't opt for the supercharger, it is an amazing car. Now for me, I prefer my Z, but I have had this thing for 12 years and have a lot of history, sweat, and blood in her. I enjoy it because it is mine and I have fought many battles with it, from a break down the first day I owned it to changing the rear struts. You got to figure out what fits you man and go for it, maybe even try to find someone close and take a ride in their V8 Z, or Rb Z, or L28ET Z, whatever you can find. Good luck and sorry I ramble on too much.

"1) my choice ... L28ET ... this has been discussed SO MANY TIMES ... best value, best power / weight, easiest swap (IMHO). 2) second choice ... V8 JTR also a decent swap, different character to the car v8 vs turbo). 3) third choice ... SR20DET ... lots of aftermarket pieces, more modern, also a good choice. More expensive to do right than an L28ET. I've seen a RB25DE with ITBs ... that may get you to 300 RWHP, but expensive and not all that cost effective. " I agree with you on this part. I went with the LT1 option because of an amazing deal I got and the headroom to work with the V8 but I didn't fully want to suggest an engine for him. I thought of going with RB series as well or LS engine but when I researched it all out I believed the LT to be my best option. I hope AlleyCow will come to a conclusion on what engine he wants based on many factors, some to include, availability, engine potential, and most important is personal goals. If you want 350 hp and you know that is all you will ever EVER want then his options may be a little more broad. After I already had my LT engine I found someone on this forum, maybe Braap, that was selling the 5.3 LS engines for a very reasonable price that also was pushing 300+hp out of the box. That would be the next engine I would choose or the LS3 crate engine. But the next Z I start this winter will be done right, complete resto with tube frame. Some serious cash droppage in that bad boy. But it AlleyCow, you just need to research with an open mind. The pieces will fall into place as needed.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have fully built the entire car's suspension before even thinking of touching the engine. for what you are wanting I would suggest the same. Actually I would suggest not doing it at all for your case. You need to understand the process and what you are about to get into fully before you even start, otherwise it will never finish and you will never be satisfied. The process of dropping in a new engine seems simple but there is more to it. Yes I can have an old L6 out of the car and a new V8 and trans in and hooked up within a few hours now but that is no where near completing the car. If you want this to be a track car then suspension is going to be your bread and butter, Start looking through the forums for links, experiences, ideas, and hard numbers. Make a list and print out all you find useful and organize into folders and a spreadsheet. After your suspension, brakes, interior, steering, all that is the base of the car is complete you will be putting down the numbers and times that upgrading the engine would have gotten you, and having a lot more fun in a safer manner. From there you can start working on engine and have a platform that can support the huge change. I just re-read your post and felt like laughing at a few things. Some at the fact that they are silly requests that I doubt will ever see the light of day, some at I can hear myself saying the same thing back in the day. I will go down your list as well and tell you my thoughts. 1. 275 - 350 RWHP not to hard to do but you are cutting into that $10k cap pretty hard. 2. 6 cylinders from Nissan, well in my opinion you have 1 option. The RB engine is what you are looking at and there pretty much goes all of that $10k budget. Now I know someone will get on here and tell me otherwise and how you can get the engine and trans for X dollars. I know what you can get them for. But, as every project, figure a cost of the project then double that. I say this because as a first major project and take in account the tools, small parts, mounts, custom work, mistakes, and do overs, that cap is gonna dwindle quick. 3 25 - 30 MPG, I feel as though now you are just making up some wish list like a little child, or a major car manufacturer. As a kid I wanted a car that does 200mph, had wings, could go under water, ran on nuclear power so I never had to stop for gas, and was candy apple red. Car manufactures now want to build a truck with so much HP and torque at so much rpm and so much fuel economy and fits this many and tows this much and has iPod support. not all of it will happen. Think of what you really want in this car and right down realistic ideas. Also, gas mileage never was a part of the equation for any of my fun car purchases or builds. 4 Suspension, see above. In my opinion much more important that the hp you put to the wheels. Ever heard of a car called the Lotus Elise 5 your preference, I will FI. 6 LOLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL 7 still laughing at number 6. uhg, I can not tell you enough how important it is to plan out everything with totals without forgetting the smallest details well in advance of undertaking a car project. If you spend $9k of that $10k budget or whatever budget and you realize you do not have the time, money, or patience to finish, then you just wasted that money and are going to have a sour taste in your mouth about it and your next project. Don't waste you money. If you want it, plan it and do it and do not lose motivation. 8 This line didn't even need to be here 9 A/C you will find out if this is possible through the research you are about to be doing. Now there is a ton of info in this forum, honestly everything you need to know. I can prove that, you should see the amount of paper I went through printing out discussions and pictures and highlighting that I went through before I even fully decided this was what I wanted to do. Even through all that I still come back here to ask questions and search for more answers. So Good Luck, I hope to hear that you started your project. Do not get discouraged just do some inner thinking and hard decisions on what exactly you want. And don't half ass it, be proud of your work and put out a solid project, some day you may be carrying someone you care about in there and you want it as safe as possible and just as impressive.

No one?

I see you many times around 7:40 turning from Route 1 onto 7100 towards Ft Belvoir north. You have a red S30 model Z and it sounds fantastic. I would like to know more about it. "I know you don't know me, and this sounds crazy, But you got a nice car, So let me drive it, maybe?"

I have one from a '76. Just not in the Bay area. Maryland.

Nice car.

That is the panels I used, I would recommend them.

Interesting, I only have a 7psi feeding a surge and a Walboro feeding the engine. Am I doing something wrong?

I like it. I actually like it a lot.

All of those plans are easy except one, the bushing kit. Wow, that was a pain in my butt.

Been looking for help in my area as well. Thanks to deployments, missions, and schools my project has been going painfully slow as well. Good luck though.

I have a 76 280Z I am willing to sell. I was swapping in a LT14L60E with the JTR kit. I have 90% of the parts as well. Body is good, fiberglass front end. A lot of new parts. All that it needs is put together, drive shaft, exhaust, and the plumbing for the coolant. Engine and trans is good with less than 100k miles from a well kept Roadmaster. I bought a lot of parts of members here that was new or outright bought from Jegs. I don't know if you are interested or not but I can tell you all about it and everything that comes with or what you still need. I can also sell the body alone if you need as well. Right now it is located in Aberdeen Proving Grounds at 21005 but I can also haul to you if you would like. I am moving to Cali and a lot has come up lately and I will need to go to Cali before I can finish it and rather not pay to ship that far. If interested just shoot me a text at 814 531 5294 or email at shore.donovan@gmail.com. If you are not interested it is fine, I understand wanting the older cars and all. As for price, honestly all I care about is not completely losing my ass on it. I have had the car since 2001, previous owner was a buddy with the Virginia State police and had it for a while before I bought it.

New Desktop pic.

First, There is no picture. Next, go to the JTR website and get the swap guide. It will have the diagram you are looking for and a lot of information you will eventually need. All the info to make the speedo work is there also.

I checked out that site on the staggered set up. I want the Royal Hyper Black as well. The thing is I want a set that I do not need flares for. Does these specs for the one shown meet that requirement? 17x9 4x114.3-13mm (Front 2 Wheels) 17x9.5 4x114.3-19mm (Rear 2 Wheels)

Get yourself a good lawyer.

I dig it.

Get the book and just plan it out. You can get crazy with it or go keep it simple. Exhaust and driveshaft I consider to be biggest concerns. Try to get estimates on those. If your car is good and the body doesn't need any work then with engine and trans it should be under $2k.

Check this thread out. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/57565-rota-rbrb-r-4x1143-17-z-offset-wheels/