JP

I got my weatherstrip kit from MSA yesterday, arrived in less than a week.

I am at the moment having a copy of the original mounting tabs fabricated further back in the tunnel but still tied into the orginal support frame. To me it looked the soundest way, and when I spoke to an VASS engineer about it he agreed. Obviously its a fair amount of work and I am paying to have it done as its beyond what I am confident in doing. Especially with drive shaft angles etc.

Look like 240Z round top SU's to me

Select 1st gear Mark the 12 o'clock posi on the input shaft and output shaft, Get a mate to tell you or pay close attention to when the output shaft has turned one full turn, as you count how many times you have turned the input shaft - should be less then 3 full turns (2.9) if its a 260 box. Much nicer ratio than the 280zx boxes which are floating around everywhere.

Sounds like a fuel problem to me too.

Any good 2 part epoxy primer will be fine. I wouldnt use POR15 on the exterior as it is not overly sandable, fine on the interior and underbody though.

Yeh, more torque from the gearing (transmission).

I would never invest this much time and money into something on chance. If your looking to make money from importing, then stick with things that have a known market. If you have a sea freight container for your personal belongings, then I would be looking at L28ET motors and R200 LSD's if you want Z related stuff. The aftermarket suppliers there are better also, so you could look at things like CV conversion kits and weather seal kits, but you wouldnt expect to be making a huge profit on new items, more so common junk items in the US that are rare and desirable here. I would have thought there would be more money in Mustang's etc

It seems you are right :-\ It's done now either way. Thread closed

I would have thought so too. I'll take some measurements next time I get a chance for interests sake. Cant imagine anything lines up between heads/blocks of different engine families for any manufacturer. Nissan is better than most with commonisation though, so I guess its possible and a I cant prove otherwise at the moment.

Quote so far is $340US for a single kit delivered in 5-10days. I had asked for prices on more than one, but of course they ignored it. I currently am requesting a quote by sea (which i asked for initially also). Either way, I need to place this order by by tomorrow at the latest, so if your willing to pay a maximum of $340US (although i am sure it will be cheaper once the shipping is combined and via sea) then let me know. Doesnt seem to be an overwhelming benefit on buying together, but i am sure there at least a few dollars to be saved.

I agree on working the L series, a swap to an L28 is simple enough. Besides, there is no way on earth the RB30 head will fit the L series block. If that was the case, the RB25 head would also fit and we would have a lot of twin cam Z's running around.

Depends on the panels. I know rarespares does some locally, but I guess you would know that. Weather strip kit: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SWR01A/34-2000 I have emailed asking for a shipping quote and if any price discount is possible on multiple kits and an estimate on extra freight cost per kit. Will advise.

Guys, I am going to place an order with either MSA or Black Dragon in the next day or two for a weather seal kit. If anyone wants anything else from one of these places and is interested in splitting the shipping to Melbourne let me know ASAP. I hope to order Thursday night (04/10/07) or Friday (05/10/07). Thanks James

I have a '77 2 seater 260Z. It had the body changes that match the US 280Z, minus the ugly bumpers and the EFI 2.8. I am not an expert on this stuff, but to my knowledge these include plastic A-pillar trims, different seat rail mounting points and vents below the rear bumper. This makes sense as of course they all came off the production line at the same time and it would have been impossible to modify the tooling for the US model without affecting models destined for other countries.

Mine is a turbo with a twin cam head. I saw LS1 mounts in the US, if you can get pre made mounts thats half your battle, but you still need to many accessories as you know like charcoal cannisters, drive shaft, suitable radiator etc etc. Orginally I was going to build a mean L28 in my garage, but then I wanted independant EFI throttle bodies, and then I wanted to turbo the L28, and then I wanted a V8 like you. It was actually when speaking to an overseas workshop who play with the V8's I wanted that they recommended to build my RB motor at a cheaper price than the V8. Anyway, thats how quickly things get out of hand. Orignially the car was for track days, but the way it is now, it wouldnt fit any meaningful category and I probably couldnt bare to risk getting any damage on her

Nice instruments on both cars I have heard the VDO speedo's are real easy to calibrate on the go, is this right with yours?

I picked up my new dash yesterday which has got me thinking, what gauges do I need. I will be going overseas again in November so that will be the best time to pick some up. I wanted to swap out the speedo since I will be running an electronic speed sensor, but that might be a hassle due to the odometer being there. Likewise with the tacho, with the indicator markers being there. As for the triple gauges, in all my Z's none of them have been too accurate so I was wondering about swapping them all out. However aftermarket gauges dont seem to come in split/combination models which is a nuisance as there are at least 4 types of information I want to read from 3 holes. Fuel, oil pressure, water temp and boost. What are other peoples takes on this?

I am still midway through my RB30 conversion and have been for a couple years now. If I could do it all again I would have built a crazy L28 instead. I would have been finished by now and not have had the headaches of custom this and that. Im sure it will be fun in the end though.

Have you done it in car before without a hoist? It was a real nightmare with my RB, in the end I pulled the engine again, assembled, then put it all in as one peice. (where is this going? well, if you do it this way, you will need a crane)

Johnny describes it a bit over in the forums at www.thezgarage.com

What is the history on the dash? Who/how was it recovered? What size is the brake master? What shape is the bonnet in and is it vented? If it is a quality reskin I am intersted along with the master cylinder if it is a 15/16". Probably a few other odds and ends I would be interested in as well but those are the main ones (I can pick up also). Let me know, Thanks. James

I sold my seats a long time ago and forget the details of them, but I imagine swapping the seats would be a problem with the recliner lever. I also beleive even if you bought seats with the wrong rails, you could just swap them onto your existing rails. Lastly, buying other orginal seats will probably just lead you to the same problem of deteriorated padding. Might as well go to the root cause and have your seats repadded. Not much fact in this post, just a whole lot of personal opinion James

There are 2 types of seat rails for the 260Z 2 seater, early type and later type. I'm not sure about the 2+2, but something to keep in mind.

Nice write up. Is your gearbox mount mated to plates inside the cabin?