keith5700

The problem with checking the runout is that, say the uj is a couple of thou' out and the prop flange, and the prop end yoke, then if all these out of tolerances stack up in the same direction you could get, say 5 thou runout on the propshaft tube. But when it is balanced then this runout will be taken into account and cancelled out with the balancing weights. If you go bashing it to run true then it will obviously go out of balance again. It is a good way of checking for a bent tube tho. Is it Wilson Driveshafts you went to. I went there once and they completely wrecked my prop. After speaking to them about propshaft theory I realised I may as well be talking to my rabbit. At the end of the day there are only a couple of things which need to be spot on. Assuming nothing is worn of course, Firstly the angle of the gear box and the diff needs to be the same, and preferably less than 4 degrees. And the centrelines of the gearbox and the diff need to be parallel when viewed from above. They do not have to be in line, only parallel. This is a bit more tricky to measure than the up and down angle. I used a couple of lasers. 2ndly the prop has to be in balance. Unfortunately we are in the hands of the balancer here. Oh, one more thing, the yokes on the shaft have to be perfectly in line too. Ed, bear in mind if you want to measure your angles then it's loads easier to do with the prop off.

ed, your propshaft company are talking bolox. If you pop over sometime I'll lend you the tool for checking the box and diff angles. It's a piece of pi88 to do. At least you'd know then if it was an angle prob or an out of balance prob.

I like it. Just needs half a dozen air vents stuck on it, and some blue led washer jets to finish it off.

I'd ask what they use to make the inside smell like a new car. Or if there's any 'leather smell' stuff that actually smells something like leather.

Full = 5 ohms, empty = 81 ohms

I paid £50 for my booster and the pedal assembly.

Box, without torque convertor, is 69kg on my bathroom scales.

That's very kind of you gents, thank you. Will try and get some pics when the engine bay is finished. As I was saying to Pete last week, I'm not after making the fastest Z around, although it's going to fly when the blower's on, but I want to make the BEST. I suppose 'best' is different for everybody, but this is just my idea of what the best is. Thanks again......

Like the bumper. Anyone know if they're still available?

Tailgate for me too.

The theory that n/a engines need backpressure has come about because people have swapped their standard systems for free flowing jobbies, and then found that the mixture is all wrong, so the obvious conclusion is that the engine needs backpressure. Really it's just the fuelling that's been set up for an engine with backpressure. If you remove the backpressure, and re-map the fuelling to suit, then you'd have more power. Also you can still have the benefits (if there are any) of pulse tuning without backpressure. They are two seperate things.

I have these on the back, and 235/45-17 on the front 8" rims.

The only thing is I haven't got mine on the road yet so can't say what the ride quality will be like. I'm just guessing that it's going to be a bit harsh.

I've fitted the ES black bushes to my rear end arms. The bushes seemed very hard so I took them to work and measured the hardness. From memory they were 96 shore, or maybe a bit harder. This is not much softer than nylon so I'm expecting mine to ride like a truck when I get it on the road. Bushes this hard are ridiculous for the road, god knows why they make them like this. Rubber is around 65 shore, and 'normal' poly bushes are around 75-85 shore A.

Yeah, weighed autobox, but only on some crappy bathroom scales. Was about 155lbs. My Tremec box is 125lb. I think the main weight saving is going to be by dumping all the associated junk that came out with the engine. David, f/glass or c/fibre tailgate would be great cos I bet that weighs a ton. Anyone ever weighed one?

For anyone interested..... Borrowed the scales from work. Weighed the Z engine a while ago when it came out. It had the ex manifolds on but no air con pump. no pas pump and no alternator. This weighed 206kgs. Then weighed the Chevy in the same state, with the carb and dizzy. This weighed 193kg, but forgot to put the ex manifolds on which weigh 5kg, so total is 198kg. Certainly a surprise how much the Z engine weighs.

Pull it off battery and hacksaw a screwdriver slot in it.

Just got to stick my twopenn'orth in and say what a lovely job you've done there. I know how much grafting it takes to do a 'proper' job and there's tons of work gone into that. Well done mate.

Let's have a quick look at costs. Say 350hp half decent engine, new, with ally heads, £4000+ Tremec TKO500 box with bellhousing and hydraulic release bearing, £2000+ Fuel system, Koyo rad, custom prop, £700 Endless other bits and bobs, big battery, mini starter, custom ex manifolds, custom exhaust, custom made sump, £1000++ So say £8000 in bits, plus labour from a decent outfit, £3000+ for a half decent job? Fair bit of electrics to sort out. This assumes you've got uprated suspension, big brakes, manual clutch etc. Fuel injection? Add £2500. Serpentine belt system, add £400 Steel flywheel? Uprated clutch? How about a supercharger with water injection? £3000 Stick a stroker kit in and roller rockers and that's pretty much my present engine. I don't know any garage who I would trust to make a proper job of this. Lots of people could drop the engine in and get it working, but getting it working, and doing a proper job, are two different things. By far the cheapest way is to buy one already done as the seller usually resigns themselves to losing all the labour and development costs, and a lot of the parts costs. Not many 300 v8's about tho'. Hope this helps.

I only know Fords and Chevys. Had a quick look at some hp/torque curves. Compare a 430hp Cossie with a 430hp 6.3 chevy, both peaking around 5500rpm. Both look similar until you look at the torque curves. At 3000rpm the Cossie develops 200lbft, whereas the Chevy is kicking out 430lbft. The Chevy would destroy the Cossie on the road, providing it could get some grip! 500rwbhp from a V8 transplant, with someone doing all the work for you, for £7500? Not a chance.

I'm the one putting a Chevy in at present. It's a 6.3 litre small block, which is built for a Vortech supercharger, although I've decided to run it without at first, to get used to the car, then bang supercharger on after a few months. Reasons to put American V8 in..... bhp/lbft per £ is unbeatable, especially with the current exchange rate. Weight...my engine is about the same as the V6, with all it's alloy bits. The suspension is going to need lowering after fitting as the car is a lot lighter. Simplicity...take a good look around the Nissan and see how complex and innaccesible everything is, then look at the Chevy (pics to follow) and see how simple it is, and how much room there is in the engine bay. Low down grunt....nothing much compares. Without going too daft. Sorry, got to go now, just been offered a quick jump, so off to bed. Continue tomorrow.

Found out what most of the electrical units are, whilst stripping the car, but what's the little electric box which is fixed inside the driver's side footwell upper trim cover? Also when reconnecting the battery there is a relay clicking on, which is fixed to the fuel pump electrical box behind the nearside rear seat. What does this relay power? Ta.

When you accelerate, the nose of the diff lifts up due to the torque reaction of the wheels. When you lift off, the nose drops back down. If the diff case is touching the subframe at the front, just behind the propshaft yoke then you will get the whining noise from the gears, but as you accelerate, the diff may just lift clear of the subframe and quieten down, but return with a clunk when you lift off. It's just a suggestion, but when I fitted mine and bolted it back together I noticed the diff was hard against the bottom of the subframe.

Maybe try checking you've got some clearance between the front of the diff case, at the bottom, and the subframe bolt on bit. It is difficult to see, so you'll need to put some string or wire thro the gap and pull it across to check it's clear.

Ah! so that's where the alternator is.