jmortensen

Not so sure about this. I think there are many instances where a state or Congress might pass a law that is unconstitutional, and that doesn't make it right or justified. That just means that people have to push a case involving the law to whichever court has the power to say yea or nay. Like I said before, if I had my car impounded and crushed I'd push it as far as I could. This is one case where a group like the ACLU could actually do some good.

Maybe, but I didn't read anything about the state issuing checks for the value of the property they're destroying... Again, how far does this go??? If you've changed, say, your air filter or your spark plugs, have not parts been removed and altered? It's written so loosely as to become a potential excuse for a government agency to destroy just about any vehicle they want.

So you're worried about the "stupid monkey" in charge and what he does in other countries, but not worried about the executive branch of government which he directly controls coming and taking your property away and destroying it? Who is nuts again??? I guess as long as you're happy beating up on mussel cars that's all that counts. I prefer to pick on the clam cars myself, although every once in a while I'll pick a fight with a sponge car or an octopus car too.

Correct as far as I'm concerned. My understanding is that there is no reason to deny ownership of a vehicle. There are existing laws against possession of stolen property. If you have house furnished entirely with stolen goods, I don't think the cops confiscate the house, nor do they destroy it. Maybe I'm wrong, but that would surprise me greatly to find out that they would confiscate the whole property. An engine is not a car, and so I can't logically make the jump that one equates to the other. Now we're talking the same language. It would "protect" the public to get rid of our polluting gas guzzlers. And there are already plenty who would stand by and cheer as they went to the crusher. What we don't need is government assuming the right to take property in the name of public safety, either incrementally or in one fell swoop, which is what I think is happening here.

There is a difference between a gun and a car, and I didn't want to get too far into that discussion, but there are reasons (felony conviction, I think they ***just*** added mental illness, etc) why you are not LEGALLY ALLOWED TO OWN A GUN. There is to my knowledge NO LEGAL REASON TO DENY A CITIZEN OF THE US OWNERSHIP OF A CAR. So to take a legal posession and destroy it is to me an unfathomable violation of the 5th Amendment, and probably the 4th as well. I don't see much due process in "He was at the scene of the street races, so we took his car and crushed it" which seems to be where this is going. There have been other threads on Hybrid Z where someone had linked to a CHP training video which was telling cops what to look for under the hood to justify impounding cars, and those were equally scary. Things like "blue hoses" were found on the suspect's car in the video as parts that justified impounding a car. Even in the case of the gun that gets confiscated, I think the government would necessarily have to reimburse the owner for the value of the gun, reading the amendment. If I were involved in one of these cases I'd sue the state and try and take it all the way to the Supreme Court. But that's just me...

No it wouldn't. I moved here from SoCal, pretty much the dumbass ricer Mecca. I've had plenty of exposure to the jackassery surrounding it. I'm all for giving them harsher jail sentences. I don't like the idea of the gov't taking a person's property and destroying it to protect the rest of the population. Too many things that I own could be considered dangerous or could be used as weapons (or actually are weapons).

I'm the last person to defend street racing, believe me. That aside, is anyone else have a problem with the police confiscating citizens' property and destroying it, or is that just me??? If it were contraband I could see it, but these are cars. Stolen parts might be confiscated, but crushing a whole car??? As Mr Horse would say: "No sir, I don't like it."

Jumping the gun a little bit, aren't you? Have you tried contacting the seller about it, possibly returning them and getting a refund if they're not going to pass inspection?

The trick for longer race studs is to drill a hole in the backing plate and slip the lug studs in that way.

I found that there is a particular rotation that allows me to fit a socket on the inner end and then I can use about a 6" extension and an impact gun. But it has to be clocked just the right way for the extension and gun to go on.

That tool is for installing and removing studs like manifold studs that have threads on both ends. Z wheel studs have a knurled section down at the base and this knurled section needs to be pressed into the hub. You could pull the whole thing apart and press it in with a hydraulic press which I suppose is the way Nissan did it originally or you can just pull them in with a nut.

Ending at the last carb is called "dead heading" the fuel line, and it works fine, but it is hard on the pump. I would suggest you don't use the choke, but if you do the way that I seem to remember it being done was by using one of the SU choke cables and stripping the sheath off of the cable, then running the cable through the arms on the carbs and trimming to the correct length. Most people with triples just use the accel pumps to squirt a little fuel in there, fire it up, and play with the gas for a minute until it will idle on it's own. Sounds like you're on the right track as far as cleaning the carbs out. That will obviously make a big difference in how it runs.

I also have an Ultra-Shield, but I have the "Rally Sport" model which has a little less agressive bolsters on the sides than what Tom's has, but other than that I think they're very similar. I was hoping to be able to get in and out without a removable steering wheel. Now I think I'm probably going to have to have the removable wheel anyway due to having door bars. Anyway it's a good seat at a good price. Much more comfortable than the Kirkey Intermediates that I've sat in. I also have the 10 degree layback. I hate a really reclined driving position, but Tom is right that you really need these things mounted low in order to have clearance for a helmet. I have mine mounted on a 1" square tube frame that is welded straight to the floor, rockers, and trans tunnel.

If you make ice cream with $^!#, you get shitty tasting ice cream.

I agree. Where's Mark Belrose when you need him??? He's running 50s on his race car with a stroker motor. I think last week he said on a different forum that power comes on at 5000 rpms. That right there should tell you what you need to know.

Too big for a street car for sure. I'd go 44's because I tend towards the more aggressive / less streetable end of the spectrum, most here will tell you to go with 40's.

I thought the naysayers were joking... It's been reported by cnn and reuters and yahoo, and snopes has a link to an article as well. And it's not April 1st... http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/06/powdered.booze.reut/index.html http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSPAR64994620070606 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070606/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_dutch_drink

Steven Wright: "I had some powered water... but I didn't know what to add."

If you download the 280ZX FSM from www.carfiche.com it has the complete rebuild instructions. I've done 2 manual transmission rebuilds, and they're not that hard. I had a Nissan master tech buddy who did the 5 speeds all the time for the local Datsun freaks. I think he charged 5 hours labor for the job if they brought the trans to him. I think the book time for a headgasket replacement is longer...

Do you recall which springs were longer? Should be longer in back, regardless of what the stickers said... If you have them in right, you can cut 1/2 coils until you get the height you want. Cut with a cutoff wheel, not a torch. Also check the available travel on the strut. No point in lowering it so far that it rides on the bumpstops.

That's good info. I'm not trying to burst your bubble by the way, just trying to keep the info all on the level. Check this out: http://www.060calculator.com/ Plug in your 2400 lb weight and try to hit the 0-60 time you were stating, and it turns out you need about.... 185hp at the flywheel. That sounds pretty realistic to me. There are lots of guys doing it, although I'm not sure about that weight. I figure that weight should be possible, but most of the weights I've seen listed are in the 2500 range and up, haven't figured that one out yet. Eventually I'll go that route and see what I can do to build a lighter version. Some with the new all aluminum LS engines are still putting down 25 mpg too, but that's because they can do freeway speeds at 1200 rpm with the double overdrive T56 6 speeds. Are you going to the Canby All Datsun Meet this weekend? I'm not, but I know Dave Kipperman will be there with his gorgeous LS1 Z car. Here are some teaser threads, some with pics and vids just to prove the realism of the high hp street Z... and they can turn too! There are a LOT more out there, these are just the ones that came to my head first. 2 V8 Z cars vying for TTOD at the Eugene autox: http://album.hybridz.org/showgallery.php?cat=803 Pics of Dave's car: http://www.picturetrail.com/gid14620511 Terry Oxendale has a 400 hp 289 Z car that is now street driven (hand made fiberglass body): http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={7DC317B0-8EDB-4B2E-A837-F708D07C9769}&inv=9C67398D46D99D9&userid={7DC317B0-8EDB-4B2E-A837-F708D07C9769}&inv=9C67398D46D99D9 Tim is putting down 630 whp with an L28ET, and Garrett in that same thread is putting down 460 whp with his: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116829 This V8 conversion has to be there too: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=93677 R200 is the 280Z differential, also used in the 280ZX, 280ZXT, 300ZX and 300ZXT, among others. The CV's most commonly come from the 280ZXT and the 300ZXT. There are adapters from www.modernmotorsports.com to bolt the CV shafts into a first gen Z car, along with billet steel stub axles and other go fast drivetrain parts.

Ron is right. Also a race legal fuel cell is HEAVY. I weighed my 12 gallon Fuel Safe cell at 32 lbs. Stock tank can't weigh much more than 10 if that. There isn't really any advantage going to a cell with carbs IMO, so the motivation to install a cell should be rules compliance, or if you're actually road racing impact protection. That cell isn't going to give you either.

R200/CV swap would have taken care of this issue. So you're saying you blueprinted an L24 and changed the cam and exhaust valves and got 300 hp? I'm finding that a bit tough to believe. Maybe there's more to it that you didn't state, but I got ~240 whp out of an L28 with 11:1 compression, medium cam, triple carbs, recurved distributor and MSD. As to why people would swap in something else... imagine not having the U-joint issues and having 400 or 500 whp in a 2300 lb car. That's why... :devious:

Looks like a nice car. I'd upgrade the turbo though...

When you look at it objectively most of the arguments against the V8's (heavy, low rpm limit, ruins handling, "old" tech, etc) don't really hold water. In the end it's your car, so do what makes you happy. If you want really big power its tough to beat a V8 conversion, especially when you consider bang for the buck. If you want to learn more about V8 (or any other) conversions, a trip to hybridz.org is in order. You name it, it's probably been done over there, L28ET, L31 and L32, BBC, SBC, SBF, Mopar small and big blocks, 13B, 1JZ, 2ZJ, 7MGTE, SR20DET, RB25 and RB26, Jag V12, BMW V12, and I'm sure I'm missing some others.