jmortensen

The tires won't fill the rims, I can tell you that much.

John's Cars sells LS1 mounts, transmission mounts, driveshafts, etc for Z cars. Go search at hybridz.org for a couple days. When you've read all you can find and still can't get the answer to a particular question about the swap, then ask.

None of the stub axles had 29 splines. 240Z had 25 splines, 280 had 27 splines. Go count again. FWIW, I HATE counting splines, for some reason I can almost never come up with the right number.

Unnecessary. Shock failure due to dust is next to a non-issue with aftermarket struts. Can't say I've ever heard that complaint before.

If you're wanting to keep the L28, I would suggest turbocharging rather than supercharging. I think the 280ZX Turbo was available worldwide. If not, you could pretty easily import an exhaust manifold from Japan or the US and get it done that way. If you were going to go with an RB, why not the RB25 or 26? My understanding is that the oil pan is about the biggest issue with that swap, but you can find a lot more info over at hybridz.org on both the RB and L28ET. Wheels/tires info at hybridz.org as well. Search first, ask questions later. As far as the head bolts, I've never seen a hot torque spec, so I'd do them cold.

Pop an intake and an exhaust rocker off. Clean it and use a marker to color the friction surface black (don't know if you have Sharpies down under, but that's what I used). Reinstall the rocker, adjust the valve, and turn the engine over a couple times. Look at the pad on the rocker, and you can see if the wipe pattern is centered. If it is not centered, sacrifice a feeler gauge. Cut it into strips and use it like a shim between the lash pad and the rocker. When you get it to the right thickness, your wipe pattern will be centered. Add the thickness of the shim stack to the thickness of the stock pad, and then you know what size lash pads you need so you don't need to order extras. Some engines take a different pad on intake and exhaust, but if your machine work was done correctly, all of the intakes should take the same size lash pad, and all of the exhausts should take the same size lash pad. It's time consuming, but not difficult to figure out. Some people will say to do the marker test with machinist's blue, I like the market better because it doesn't smear as much. LOTS of info on this over at hybridz.org. That's where the cutting the feeler gauge tip comes from.

Car magazines. That's so 20th century. I can see a 4 page spread on a car that I pay money for and wait to be delivered, or I can see months of work here or at hybridz.org where the owner details what he plans to do, discusses it with like-minded people and then takes pictures all along the way and posts it up for free.

John's right in at least one respect. If you were going to go to all the trouble run triple SU's, you could probably get more power and get done easier with triple Mikunis, Webers, etc. Not really buying the mixture/pulse argument in terms of it works/doesn't work seeing as how so many British cars had three SU's from the factory. There might be some room to argue about optimization, but it's pretty clear that it does work.

IMO the clutch LSD is better, but there are plenty of people who think that the gear LSDs are God's gift to traction. If you do the clutch LSD, you should remove the stock spacers and add more clutches. Info on Hybrid Z, there is a sticky on it. Stock they won't hold that kind of power, but with the spacers removed it should be fine.

I can tell you that the gasoline does expand, but I can't tell you to what extent. I had an argument with Tony D on Hybrid Z about getting rid of the vapor tank. His suggestion was that 10% of your gas would come out of the filler if you filled up at night and it got warm the next day. I thought that was wildly overblown, so I looked around and I found a spec on it: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/669765/buy_cold_gasoline_and_save_money.html?cat=27 That translates to 1/4 gallon in a 16 gallon tank with a 30 degree change in temp. There is a lot more temp change in the fuel rail, and the volume of fuel is a lot lower, and I don't know the compressibility of gasoline. Regardless, I think it's safe to say that the pressure WILL go up as the car heat soaks. To what extent is beyond me at this point and I really don't want to go looking for the answers. I'll leave that to someone else, as I've been trying to restrain myself from wasting time finding the answers to questions nobody really needs the answers to.

That STi is available in the previously nearly unobtainable 3.90 ratio too. A good option if the R180 and relatively inexpensive so long as the stock halfshafts will cut it.

Just look at them. If the bearings and races look clean, run them again. If they look scratched up or if the ball bearing at the pinion feels like there is sand in it, then replace the ones that need attention. If you just press the bearings off an put a new bearing on, you shouldn't have to mess with the shimming, so it should be relatively easy. Tools would be a bearing splitter and a press, and a large brass drift for the ball bearing and the races.

So the fuel doesn't expand when it gets hot?

Why is that? If you stop the car and turn it off, the fuel stops flowing through the rail and there is no air going past it to cool the fuel. Seems to me the temperature going up is just the result of heat soak. Likewise my electric fan used to come on a minute or so after I shut my car off. Didn't mean that the coolant was boiling, only that it got hotter after it was shut off and the block and head could transfer their trapped heat to the coolant without the coolant circulating.

It's a series of DOHC straight 6 Nissan motors that came in Skylines and other cars outside the US. The later Skylines used the RB25 and RB26 turbo motors.

It seems clear that if the fuel system stays pressurized that the fuel won't boil. That is after all why we have radiator caps. The problem occurs if the fuel system pressure is able to leak down, just the same way that your coolant boils if your cap leaks.

To be fair, that one has welded spider gears. The big issue with the R200's is guys doing burnouts and drag racing and wallowing out the cross pin shaft hole, and the welded spiders fixes that. It's all in my big sticky post over on Hybrid Z. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/49194-differential-cv-lsd-hp-torque-r160-r180-r200-r230-diff-mount/ Really though, some people can break ANYTHING. I know a guy who broke a mustache bar in half. For a cheap LSD solution, I don't think you can beat the OBX R200 differential. It's a Chinese made Quaife copy and is frequently assembled wrong, but that is easily checked and fixed if it is a problem. The LSD is $400 last I heard. It's not the highest quality part, but if cheap is the priority, it is cheap. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/88099-obx-differential-inspection-and-installation/ FWIW, I'd really like to see someone do a Ford 8.8 IRS rear end. Strong, lots of gear ratios and LSDs and lockers available, and I believe it is quite a bit lighter than the R200, but you'd have to figure out mounting, halfshafts, everything to make it work.

Are we talking about a driver, or a concourse restoration? If the car is old and beat up, I don't think it makes a lot of difference. If it is perfectly restored with the wrong motor on the other hand, I think it makes a very big difference. You're selling to two entirely different audiences so you have to act accordingly.

You might also consider an L28ET. Easy 300whp with a stock block and bottom end. Hybrid Z really is the place to go when you get into the swaps.

DGV's and 4 barrel setups are best used by people who don't understand SU's and won't take the time to learn. If you want to learn about SU's, just get the video from www.ztherapy.com. I think it is $20, and then you can get better performance than you would through the downdraft carbs and you can spend the rest of the money you saved on more go fast stuff for the car.

It's been done several times. A guy who goes by ScottieGNZ over at Hybrid Z has put that Buick V6 in a Z and an RX7 and who knows what else. I think his was right at that 10 sec quarter mile time when he sold it. There were a couple others too, haven't seen them posting much over there lately.

2450 and 400hp... eventually.

If you're not going to surface them, just use a razor blade and don't gouge the aluminum. Scotch Brite, especially a Roloc pad, isn't the best idea. It doesn't have to be perfectly clean, it has to be flat.

2300 sans you. Add your weight in there, and I'd guess you were pretty close with 2450.

Probably pretty close. You have a 70 which is lighter, but you also have R200 with LSD which adds weight. I know mine with a full carpet kit, R200 and Autopower roll bar weighed 2350 with 1/2 tank and nobody in it. I'd suspect yours is probably right around 2300. So yeah, that sounds about right.