Two Things I've Never Seen on a Z
A "Factory" sunroof on a 280:
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/1227205530.html
And the weirdest V8 mount I've ever seen:
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/1234765165.html

yeah that custom V8 mount wouldn't restrict airflow and cause everything to run hotter at all now would it??? hahaha
norm(The 12 sec Dual SU Dude) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yeah that custom V8 mount wouldn't restrict
> airflow and cause everything to run hotter at all
> now would it??? hahaha

Epi-Centre http://www.topix.com/forum/city/citrus-heights-ca/TBMF60UQNL1S18TE3
> > yeah that custom V8 mount wouldn't restrict
> > airflow and cause everything to run hotter at
> all
> > now would it??? hahaha
I guess that seems to make sense if you had an aircooled V8. If though you a had a liquid cooled V8 and were looking to create a very rigid chassis for racing, engine plates are the ticket. These plates turn the engine and transmission into a structural element of the chassis.
I've never done a V-8 to Z swap, but I understand that Fords mount into a Z with some kind of similar arrangement. So there is a precedent. But something about this one just seems . . . I don't know . . . not right.
As for the sunroof, I would sure like to see that puppy in action. I can't believe it was dealer-mounted. I know they did a few 'T-tops' at the dealers back in the day, but 'integral' sunroofs like this? New one on me.
Norm, that is funny, but true. Plate seems normal to me, back in the day chevy had front engine mounts, not a plate like that, but that is defiantly rigid. Sunroof, bahahaha. I have a roof here waiting for someone like that who wants the original roof. I saved it just for that person, or the one that roles over. 8=D
"Factory Sunroof" was an authorized conversion first prototyped on Mr. K's personal 260Z, which sits in the Nissan Heritage Collection in some basement in the Mideast.
Anybody wanting one would order it from the dealer, and the car would be allocated from the port for conversion at the designated manufacturing facility where the conversion was done. Anybody who has ever been in a 69 Beetle with a Sunroof would say the interior function and mechanisim look similar.
LOADS better than the typical hack-job dealer add on. For the price, if I was home I'd buy the car just to salvage the roof.
Engine plates are the preferred choice for mounting in racing circles, he's right. Even the Electramotive Turbo L6 in the 280ZXT of the early 80's was mounted to the chassis in this manner.
From my point of view, considering the attrition rate of these vehicles, that particular version of sunroof conversion would be considered "Rare"...
They were usually purchased by people with Eurpoean Car history, who did not want the hack job crap. They are more common in SoCal and the West Coast for this reason alone---it was where a lot of that Eurotrash Iron was sold back in the day, and the consumers wanted it quality.
Actually, no it won't Norm. The only difference would be that it exits under and over the mount so the airstream would likely be less apt to stream oils backwards from a leak on the engine.
It's a rather common V8 mounting scenario. Even powerful L6's use it.
Tony - that was a 2+2 that Mr. K drove if memory serves me correctly.
That gave the sliding "inner" section more room to retract.
I also liked the pearl yellow paint. What do you know about pearl being used in '74?
Same as on his 240, the pearl marano used on his cars was custom mixed and applied. Same color on the 260 was on his earlier 240. It was 'his' custom color.
You can do that when you're the boss, I guess.

The sunroof is interesting.
The motor mount is ... not for me.
western Nebraska
1979 280zx coupe parts car
1980 280ZX coupe
1980 280zx 2+2 gone to z heaven
2001 maxima,
2002 maxima,
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom pickup,
1998 mustang