=Resurected280=

I'm gonna throw this out there because I dont think anyone else has this setup. What I have on my Z right now is a Full Boar universal muffler that my local exhaust shop carries (the rest of the exhaust is stock) and I really like it. It has a nice deep rumble at idle and is pretty deep and loud below about 2600rpm, or when you really get on it, and it screams at higher rpms (about 4000 and above) and never ever sounds ricey. The thing that I really like though is that its almost as quiet as stock from 2700-3900rpm which works out to be cruising speed for me on the highway. Also its cheaper than a flowmaster 40 series which ive been told has a similar design. Just tryin to give a different option :-).

When I pulled my Z out of the woods, after sitting for 17 years, I found quite a surprise when I opened the glove box. There was an entire nest of carpenter ants!!! Now I've been around a ot of old cars and restoration projects in my life and seen all sorts of animals living in cars but this was a first for me.

For me I have to say that the uniqueness and rarity (to me anyways) of this car is one of the major things that I love about Z cars. I live in massachusetts where rust has destroyed many of these cars and in the year and a half that ive had my car on the road ive only seen maybe a half dozen of these cars one the road.

for regular it was this much I mean

From yesterday to today the mobil I usually get my gas from went from $2.65 to $2.85.

Those poor Charger fans, all their years of waiting and they end up with a mislabeled Roadrunner......

JTR Conversions This is the best conversion I've seen. If you do the conversion by this manual it will set the engine as low and far back as possible in the engine bay, unlike in the origional Scarab conversions which were further forward and less efficient in their cooling and have heavier steering. I bought this conversion manual and read through, seems to be very informative and cover all the info that you would need.

I will admit that there are way too many harleys with exhausts that are way too loud. But if you ride a motorcycle alot you would see how many people out there just flat out dont even see motorcycles when theyre on the road. With the exhaust that I now have on my bike, which is loud but far from being obnoxious, I notice that people look when I come up behind or beside them or behind them in the next lane over. No one did this on the bike that I last had, which was very quiet. That bike was totaled while I was on a multilane road when some one changed lanes very quickly to pass a car and drove right into me. She said she never saw me. BTW, Harleys need all safety features they can get, considering that they have the worst handling, acceleration and stopping ability of any motorcyle .

I'd check summit racing for some reasonable sized exhaust tips, 4" is too close to being ricey IMO. I personally get a kick out of my set up which is just (2) 18" glasspacks with 2.25" tubing and a 2.5" slash cut tip. People are always confused with so much noise coming out of such a small tip.

I saw a 454 Z project online a while back (sorry, cant remember the site), this looks like a MAJOR project in his case at least. He had to cut out the entire area under the cowl as well as reroute the steering, custom front crossmember, move the pedal assembly and steering wheel back (hope your not very tall!!), custom rear end, etc, etc. The point im getting at is that width-wise the engine would most likely fit but the length of the big block engine and the transmission to go with it would be a problem. Also there was way more metal work and welding involved than I ever imagined. I'm all for the V8 conversion, so long as its done correctly, but I think a 427 would probably be a little much IMO. Can you imagine trying to get traction in this car?????? Just my 2 cents.

Nice Car!!!! Thats way better than the starting point than I had, keep us posted and good luck!!!

I second that, many of chevy's V6's of this time period (they're all variations on the same design) are very good engines. For example the 3.8L that GM started using during this time period is still used today, and is a reliable motor so long as proper maintenance is done. This engine has be effectively used in cars, trucks, and been supercharged in many of the vehicles that use it. Now, in the new Grand Prix GTP it puts out 265hp, even though its an outdated pushrod engine design.

You can also take the horn apart, just be careful, I took mine apart and cleaned them real good with solvent and compressed air (as well as cleaned the connections) and even though the car sat for 17 years they worked after I did this.

This is the original post that started this thread, which seems to be asking which engine is better to put in a Z, not which one is better theoretically.

Another item on that topic, you ever notice that the majority of the high horsepower cars with sr20's, rb26's, etc. etc. are owned by tuner companies that for the most part wont even admit what they spent on the car? In many cases though these cars cost $60,000 or better!!!! In contrast a friend of mine has a '69 Vette which he bought and built for less than $10,000 and it runs 11.5 in the 1/4. No it doesnt look mint and is not finished yet, but still 11.5 for $10,000.......... I'm just saying that whats better is only better if it is attainable to you.

I second that on the ABS steering coupler, my stock one was like mush and after I installed the urethane one I had waaayyyyy more road feel and IMO the steering got a little easier too.

First off i'd like to say that I love the Datsun inline 6. I think that this is one of the most fun motors I've ever driven or worked on but if you want to go FAST for cheap you have to admit that a pushrod motor has alot going for it. For instance I recently saw a 3.0L Rebello stroker for sale on this site and the owner said that he had about $6,000 into the motor and it pulled 200hp on a dyno (with a misfire mind you, but still under 300 hp). Also, a built SR20DET or RB26DETT is not cheap either. On the other hand an Edelbrock Performer Crate Motor goes for $5140 and puts out 320hp and 382 ft-lbs has aluminum heads, water pump and manifold. I know that this is not the most efficent design but there is a reason that this engine style engin has been used by Chevy and Ford since the 50's and that the chevy small block has been the hot rodder's darling for so long. I dont know if this has been brought up yet but just my 2 cents.

Just as an additional option MSA in now selling slotted mag wheels that look just like the origionals, but they come in 15"x7" and a 17"x7". Pretty cool looking IMO.

Autozone sells a "clutch kit" (alignment tool, clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing and the throwout bearing too I think) thats pretty good for a little over $100. I did this job myself on a saturday in about 5 hours on my car (a '78 280Z). I believe this job would similar on your car but I cant say for sure.

Just a general suggestion CrashNBurn, but try to find a place that will give you a true written estimate for your bodywork as opposed to some shops who will look at the car and give you a ballpark number, but in the end charge you by the hour. I say this because my car was just at an "hourly" type of shop and while the shop did a very good job they also overan their estimate by $500 on what was origionally a $1000 job. I've also heard similar things from other people that have gone to these types of shops.

BTW both of these companies also have carpet kits that they sell.

Welcome to the community!!! Nice car, I have a '78 280Z thats in process of getting a V8 as soon as the chassis is finished (and I have the money, hahahahaha). Anyways Motorsports has an upholstery kit for your year for $220 (not sure if this is per seat or for the pair though) and foam inserts to go with it for another $85 (per seat). http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SIC102 As an alternative, Too Intense Restorations also has a upholstery kit that they sell, not sure of the price on that one though.

Just a note so far as banging the starter motor with a wrench, only do this as a last resort and be VERY careful when doing this because if you hit it too hard some of the magnets in the starter motor can become dislodged (I believe they're only glued on) and then your starter is finished. I know this because this happened with my wiper motor. If you have to do this though I'd use a plastic dead blow hammer. Good Luck with your Z!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for posting this PrOxLaMuS, im not much of an SR20DET fan, but this absolutely made my day :classic: :classic:

These are $70 from Summit Racing. Not cheap I know but I researched these mufflers on both this site and the L6 forums on the HybridZ site and everyone that had them seemed to like them a lot, unlike the dynomax super turbo and the flowmaster 40 series which both seem to get mixed reviews.