Calling MSA mount kit users

[Miles]

No Damn 240

 

You wrote: "BTW... how's the T5 holding up in your boys Z and how much HP do you think he is pushing?"

 

The sbc in my son's car makes about 300 hp and he has driven the car hard for about 3 years with no transmission problems. The T5 and stock Camaro clutch is just fine for a street car. Don't forget to install an R200 differential.

 

A safety note: beware of driving in the rain after your hybrid is on the road. My son was driving in the rain a year ago and the car spun out without any warning. The car spun into a curb nearly flipping it over. I ended up replacing the left rear wheel and entire left rear strut assembly and trasverse link. Fortunately, the racing seats and shoulder harness did their job and kept my son and his girlfreind from getting banged up.

 

Miles

[Psykovertible]

dang...... hurray for safety seats/harnesses. and people say that 5 points have no place on the street. humbug on that crap. harness all the way

[Guest tony78_280z]

Do I have a rant for MSA. I bought my "kit" from zcarparts.com. And it sucked!

 

First of all the instructions I got were crap. Two pages of a badly photocopied blur with a foot print accross them. Written on the top sheet in bad penmenship it said "put this back where you got it". I have no frickin clue what that means, but you think they could have white outed it before photocopying and sending it to me. That was it for instructions for all the parts I am about to mention below. These mounts did work well.

 

Second, one thing those crap *a$$ instructions said was that the mounts would be labeld R for Right, L for Left Right being driver side. They were not. That was only a phone call and a long wait and a transfer to the tech guys and another wait for them to then give me the low down about one being higher than the other, and which one goes where.

 

Third, I asked when ordering that since I have a 2+2, and it is longer in the body after the engine bay, Will these mounts still work? "yes" they replied. Oh nooo. The tranny mount had to be COMPLETELY remodified as they wouldnt reach the top of the shaft tunnel. And yes I did buy the TH-350 adapter too. Of course this adapter wasn't even mentioned in the "instructions". That part was another waste of money since with my mods I didn't need it. (I'll snap some pics one day and show other 2+2 guys what is needed if they are stupid enough to buy these mounts.)

 

Fourth, The UNIVERSAL TV-Cable didn't fit. Speed-o Cable isn't geared in any way, and is WAY off. Throttle cable you could get at autozone for about 15.00. That was BIG insult considering how much they charged me for it.

 

Fifth, To prove they knew I had a 2+2 they had to special make a drive shaft for me. I got under there and measured my length 3 times to be sure I got it right. I explained that from the back of the tranny to the flat of the differential it is 36&1/2 inches. They made and sent it too long. A fe inches too short and I still could use it as there is some play in THAT direction. I gave them specific exact measurements for my long tranny in a 2+2. Since they had to special make it there was no refund or return. But they sent it too long, I think that they assumed I didn’t know my measurements and went with a 2+2 with a short (non truck) tranny. Idiots!

 

Sixth, the headers they offer I found out later can be aquired ALOT cheaper via summit.

 

Other products on their page I did not order (thank god) so I can't speak for them. Everything piece I bought from them I feel it was a complete waste of money and I should have gone with another supplier.

 

So I can't recomend these products. Prossibly most of my bigger problems (particularly the tranny issue) could have been solved with better instructions as I'm pretty good at reading technical manuals. Please don't respond to me though and offer advice or tell me where I went wrong, as it's behind me now. It's a good thing I'm A+ certified on "making it work".

 

Ok, I feel better now.

[80LS1T]

I am using the MSA mounting kit in my 280ZX LT1 conversion. The only reason I bought the kit was because at the time I did not have a welder to make the mounts. For $235 I could have made 10 sets of these mounts! I too think the "instructions" are absolute crap! To be honest though I didnt really plan on using them anyways, all I wanted was the mounts. Those instructions are intended for someone swapping in a older carbed SBC with a very basic set up. Atleast thats what I thought of them. I think it would be funny to have one of their "techs" to try to swap a SBC into a car with those instructions! LOL I bet they couldnt do it!

 

I cant say I've hand any issues with the mounts them self though. Then seem to made well. I couldnt use the tranny mount though because I am using a T56 and not a 700R4. So I sold that to another member for $20.

 

If you just want to mounts then use the mounts and burn the instructions cause thats about all they are good for.

 

 

Guy

[pparaska]

Very sorry to hear you guys are having problems.

 

As for 240-280Z's, the JTR's manual is a lot better than two bad pages of instructions.

 

JTR's mounts down require any welding to make, and can be bought fairly cheap. I see them on ebay once and a while too.

 

I'd never let MSA build a custom driveshaft. That's best left to pros.

Just about any decent sized town has a driveshaft shop. Or order one

from a specialist (driveline.com, etc.).

 

Not an I told you so, but thanks for sharing. I just wanted others

to know that the JTR book and parts are worth the price charged,

which isn't much.

[Psykovertible]

i agree about the manual. i already threw away the MSA two page window wiper and have had the JTR manual for years. i have been waiting patiently for this car to come along since selling my last one in a tuition crunch. JTR is tried and proven to be reliable and affordable. I just simple prefer the appearance of the msa kit. mounting is very close now days so there is not much to gain postion-wise.

[Georgia Flash]

I have my MSA stuff all mounted in the car now and I have to say that the “drilling blindly†for the tranny mount holes did not work for me. I almost wound up making Swiss cheese out of my tunnel. The MSA drive shaft that I bought months ago was, you guessed it, too long for my application! I had to take it to the local driveline shop and have them cut it down to size.

 

My car is a two seater 280Z so it was not a custom made to order shaft, as was Tony’s so it should have bolted right in right. Nope!

 

I have said this before but this time I mean it. I will never buy anything else from MSA. They have sucked the last penny from me that they will ever get.

 

By the way, the drive shaft fits well after the cutting, now all I have to do is find new nuts and bolts to bolt it to my differential flange. This is because the stock 14mm bolts are too short.