GeeDog

250 - 270 sounds about right on P98, depending on how happy the dyno is that day. Your injectors will stop you going to E85, but if you upgraded them & tuned for E85 you would be looking around 300. Intake piping & cat may cause issues at that power level as well.

The coolant lines & oil return are easier to get off from under the car, but probably doable from above. As already stated, dump bolts will also be harder.

Then you replace whatever is actually making the noise. There is no "gear" - in your example it will be the belt, the power steering pump, or the harmonic balancer. You would see any damage to the belt or balancer.

Remove the external belts (aircon, power steering, alternator, fan) and see if it goes away. If it does, put the belts back on one at a time. Engine will run without any of those belts for short periods.

Your original post sort of indicated that your oil temp was fluctuating between 70 & 150

Do you mean that the reading actually goes from 70 to 150 deg, or that the gauge is capable of reading from 70 to 150 deg?

I found it easy, but the engine was out of the car at the time... The big advantage of braided lines is how easy it becomes to re-install a turbo - those hard lines are a pain in the arse.

There is a kit available that converts both coolant lines & the oil feed line to braided - I installed one a few months ago with no issues. For the hard line in your photo, the line in the kit has a barbed fitting at the other end, which pushes into the stock rubber elbow behind the head (on the intake side). This is where the stock hard line connects to now. It then has a clamp over it. The kit wasn't overly expensive, and it included all the fittings & copper washers along with the 3 braided lines. The kit was an Earl's brand, and was called an "RB25 Turbo Line Kit".

I've also broken the shaft in a track car, and we are pretty sure it was from oil starvation. It might be worth talking to Tao at Hypergear in Melbourne about a rebuild & highflow of your turbo, as an option to a HKS.

There is a workshop in Frankston - Pit Lane Performance - who is active on Australian Ford Forums. They seem to do a lot of ZF work, and get good feedback for it. Not sure where you are, but it may be worth calling them. Their ZF service prices seem to be pretty sharp. I don't actually know them, or have any connection with them, have just read plenty of feedback. The ZF in the Ford FG is pretty much the same as yours.

I've got a G6E Turbo with a ZF 6 speed. Ford also claim "sealed for life", but most mechanics recommend a service at around 100,000 km. I had mine done at around 120,000, and there was a noticable improvement to shifting and general feel. The first service requires a replacement pan & filter, subsequent services only need the filter as the replacement pan allows the filter to be changed. The other common issue they have is a fluid leak at the mechatronics sleeve. Eventually you end up with low fluid level, and just topping it up can make a big difference. My son has a 550i (also with a ZF 6 speed), and topped his up a few months ago. It took about 300 - 400ml, but it made quite a difference. The ZF is a fantastic auto box, but I can't believe that the fluid would last 150,000 km or more.

Is it a ZF 6 speed auto? If the fluid hasn't been changed, it may be worth doing. Cheapest place I've found for ZF Lifeguard is Repco - they sell it in 1 litre (or is it 1 quart?) containers. When they have their 30% discount for RAA / RACV etc members you can get it for less than $28 per litre. Add a new metal pan and filter (assuming it still has the OEM pan) and it may fix your problem for a few hundred bucks.

Nice looking car - GLWS. I just sold a couple of sets of the original rims shown in your photos, and I'm 99% sure they aren't Rays rims. I know some stock 350Z rims were Rays, but not those ones. I assume the ones shown in the photos are the "original Rays" you mention in the ad.

The viscous part of the diff is sealed. The rest of the diff needs oil.

It is a BSP thread - I think it's 1/2" BSP but don't have one here to confirm.

There is a widely held belief that the V in VLSD is for Viscous - I actually believed this for a time. I now know that it stands for Virtual - it isn't a real LSD, just a pretend one. When the going gets tough it isn't much better than an open diff. As Molly would say, do yourself a favour and get a real LSD. You'll wonder how you survived without it.

I thougt the price wasn't cheap - it is an early model & a 250 (not 350) GT. The cheapest one on Carsales is $3500. At that price range I don't think I'd worry about a history check, but I would want to have the car checked by someone who knows a bit about them.

I've just had a close look at an RB25 water pump, and I don't think that you could crack it through there by over-tightening the bolts. There is plenty of meat under the bolt heads that would have to be crushed first. I'd be inclined to think that it was faulty from new, or had been dropped at some stage.

Well that didn't take long....

Do you mean "wastegate actuator"? The wastegate is in the turbo. Are the rest of the engine & ancillaries stock? Why are you after an actuator - is it an upgrade, or is the current one broken/missing? You will get smart-arse answers because you've given very little information, and expect us to mind-read to work out what you are trying to achieve.

Note that the Australian plate is actually a sticker, as opposed to the original VIN plate which is a bit of metal. Your car should have both.

I have to drive past RRG in Adelaide this morning - I should get my arse in there and have a look.

I've also been thinking that I should have a Hans device & helmet to suit, for the same reasons. I haven't done any research, but your post will prompt me to. I think I'd prefer an open face helmet for in the car - have been using my bike Shoei to date. I usually leave the visor off. Having bought too many bike helmets in my lifetime, I do know that I need to try them on before committing - the same size in different brands fit differently. I can only assume that car helmets are the same. I did buy some suspension bits from that Ebay seller last week, and had no issues - they were as described, packed well & arrived in a couple of days.