I've built the engine crate you put up measurments for. Works great but if someone (like me) is going to work on the rear of the motor, plate and flywheel, they should use 1x6 for the back side or do what I had to do with a wood chisel. The 2x is too thick to let the rear clear the board so I had to chisel out 3/4" of the thickness and went down about 2" so it will clear the rear board. You could still use the 2x but cut that out before nailing together. It sat about 1/2" short before I cut that out. But for storage it would be fine. And you'll have to go 1/2" farther back for the oil pump cut out.

Edited July 16, 201212 yr by siteunseen

Looks great. Yes, 1x6 is probably better, good call.

I got my OEM shifter in, I will take pics comparing it to the MSA short shifter....I think I may be good now...but I will find out if it fits after I put my little one to sleep tonight.

Here are the pictures I promised you. THe black shift lever is the MSA short shifter. This shifter requires the use of small ears that fit on to the two tabs at the base of the transmission. These tabs raise the fulcrum substantially as you can see. This shortens the throws, but makes the effort to shift enormous. It also makes fitting the stock console an impossibility.

The stock lever to the right is much more adaptable to a 71 and early Z that came with a Type A shifter. I was able to enlarge the opening using the Type B shifter boot as a template. THen I drilled some small holes at each opening in the boot and was able to use sheet metal screws to secure the metal shift boot ring down to the transmission tunnel. Then the grinding of the OEM center console started. I am not going to lie, it hurt me to grind that console. But in the end I think it was worth it. After many test fits, and some very harsh treatment of my fuse box (poor thing gets crushed each time I take it in and out of that narrow console opening) I was able to get the shifter to work with the OEM boot.

That chord hanging down is my Innovative LC1. I need to find a way to reroute it to the O2 sensor. I use to go through the shift boot, but really did not want to mess with a good thing this time. I may have to swallow my pride and do it again, but I would hate to cut a slit in that brand new shift boot.

wow, that picture above really makes my door look shabby..

NO, stay the course Zedyone!...

One project at a time.

Ha! Don't be too hard on yourself, flash makes everything look a lot more severe. I bet you can hardly see anything on the door panel in normal light.

Good call on going back to the stock shifter. While I like the idea of a shorter throw, the stock one in my '78 really isn't too bad (I'm sure Datsun did their homework), especially with fresh bushings. Case in point - driving in Chicago (or any metro area) in a Z car can be scary, you can't see $%^& around blind corners due (as we all know) to the long nose. I had to take a semi-blind turn this afternoon, and what do you know, another car coming up quick on my tail, had to put the pedal down a bit and I was sort of surprised when I got rubber in 2nd. Though I suppose the benefit of a short throw is more from 2nd to 3rd, etc.

Man, I'm really dying to get a carburated car after seeing your intake set-up. Thanks again for the excellent documentation of your swap!

OT I just used three of these plastic screw caps/covers on the visible screws in the console and it looks tidy and the bottom part acts as a washer on the brittle fibreglass.

Available at Ace Hardware's parts bins and come in a few different sizes and colours.

I also used them on the screws on the long plastic deck edge trim just behind the seats

Others:

Edited July 17, 201212 yr by Blue

That is a great tip. I have long wished to tidy up both footwell compartments. Great tip Blue

This evening I cleaned up the garage, put 1.5 quarts of royal purple in the transmission, hooked up the speedometer cable, connected and tested the reverse lights, put the neutral switch plug back in, and installed the shiny new Hella Horns.

I am questioning the color of the horns.

What do you guys think?

I think the horn color is great, especially with the valve cover. It gives you license for more subtle red. Calipers as well, maybe?

Stephen, you might want to consider shortening your shift lever. I took mine to a machine shop and they lopped off about 1 1/4" and then rethreaded. It creates a shorter throw but does not require undue effort (though your tranny may be stiff until it breaks in). Now when I drive a stock shifter it feels a bit like shifting a school bus.

Stephen, you might want to consider shortening your shift lever. I took mine to a machine shop and they lopped off about 1 1/4" and then rethreaded. It creates a shorter throw but does not require undue effort (though your tranny may be stiff until it breaks in). Now when I drive a stock shifter it feels a bit like shifting a school bus.

I did the exact same thing - shifts great and the shifter does not sit as high in the console either.

I am questioning the color of the horns. What do you guys think?

I left in my original repainted horns and added a Hella Air Horn and mounted on the radiator support - extreme sound - very loud - it will get somebody's attention if needed (that's what a horn is all about).