Rob

Thanks!

Hi everyone. I ordered one of those really deep dish air filter bottom plates which came on '67 Camaros which allowed room for a 4" tall filter on top of my ZZ4 with a Holley 650 double pumper. I was delighted with how tough it looked and figured it would only help it run better. However, whenever I open up the secondaries it bogs momentarily and then wakes up, every single time. When I put the edelbrock bottom filter plate back on with 3" filter, it is a silky smooth transition when the secondaries are opened, every single time. Is the engine running so much more lean with one extra inch of filter that I need to rejet or change the squirter or something like that? Its hard for me to believe. When I went from paper to K&N I didn't notice anything like that. I've never heard of a filter change requiring rejetting. Curious if anyone else has experienced this, and how it was fixed. If it really did lean out due to that filter that must mean there's more power waiting if I get the carb dialed in for it. For now, I'm just running it with the 3" filter. Thanks!

I've got to put in my .02. The Porsche wheels are pure art. Can't think of a nicer looking design. Are those the ones with hollow spokes??? Wish they fit on a Z, I would tell you they suck and offer to take those hideous things off your hands!! He he he.

Thanks as always for the information Grumpy. Reading your posts is an education. I'm curious what your opinion is on gapless rings. They seem like the best thing since sliced bread but are there any problems or compromises with them? Seems like if they really have 1/10th the leakdown of conventional rings (2% vs 20% according to Total Seal) then everyone would use them including oems. Sorry if the answer is in the info, I read some but not all of it.

Be careful when designing the tranny mount, if you go that way. That mount is not only holding up the weight of the tranny and engine, shared with the motor mounts. It is constantly experiencing shock loading as you drive over bumps. (Ever notice your shift lever bouncing a little over bumps, on any RWD car?) I'm guessing the g loading of going up a hill suddenly at high speed could be quite significant as well, basically making everything heavier. So I am trying to make two points here. 1. Fatigue strength is important for the tranny mount and engine set back plates and steel is much better in this area. 2. If you do design one out of aluminum (I'm not saying its impossible) keep 1. in mind and overdesign the hell out of it to account for shock loading and hills. My guess is that if you do properly design an aluminum mount the weight savings will be less than you think. FYI, I had my fabricated steel mount fail on me due to a bad weld that finally fatigued. I probably spent about as much labor fixing my unibody that literally tore apart due the mount failure than the rest of my conversion. Believe me you don't want this to happen to you! The JTR mount has no welds which is a big plus. My car now has the JTR mount. I did increase the bolt sizes to 5/16, and I recommend reinforcing your floor by welding a sheet metal patch to it to distribute the load between the frame rail and tunnel better. Good luck, whatever you do, and if it helps any I am also a weight freak. When you think about it the thing that makes V8Zs so incredible is the power to weight ratio so we all are to some extent!

I really like my 3" single exhaust and Edelbrock (I think its called) 304 series muffler. It sounds very cool, I get lots of compliments on it. Not too loud, but you can definitely hear it. It fits nicely in the stock location. I also have the ZZ4 crate motor. For under 400 HP I think you are OK with single 3" if the system is designed correctly. I would recommend buying a good flowing Y connector from flowmaster or similar rather than relying on the skill of the muffler shop in this critical area. One other thought, the dual exhausts really hurt the sleeper look. Nothing wrong with that, but it could be a consideration. I love surprising people. Any gear head can tell I have a V-8 from the sound of my exhaust though.

I have Prelude seats in my Z but I think mine are older than the ones you have. They don't have all those cool adjustments- just lumbar. Can't remember for sure but I think they are out of a 91. They are wider than the original, and crush ever so slightly when you shut the door. Adapting them to the current seat bracket was pretty easy. They do sit you up higher, which I actually preferred. I'm 5'10" and I still have plenty of head room with a helmet on.

Unfortunately, I can't go to larger rotors. It is a spec class and you can't change much at all besides suspension and cage, and for that they tell you exactly what is allowed, brand, model number, everything. Guess I'll just have to get really fast about changing pads. Since you seem to know something about brake pads, I've got a question for you about pads for my Z with Wilwoods. What do you think of Polymatrix "C" compound? Its a lower friction race pad. I'm wanting to use that one as an all around do all pad. However I'm learning that a do all pad really doesn't exist. Curently I have polymatrix "cold stoppers" and I have two issues: fade and too much grab before they start to fade. Its way too easy to lock a front tire up. I just found out that the guy that sold me the brake kit put cold stoppers in it, and its no wonder I don't like them, they are pretty much a drag car pad, and Polymatrix refers to them as "sticky".

Mainly I will be using it for road racing. However since I can't afford a trailer this year I will be driving it to the track. I've done some more research on these pads, and they will turn the rotors down like a lathe until they warm up. The Hawk rep told me I should swap the race pads for stock pads just to drive to the event, or to autocross. Gee, that's convenient!

Yes I did wash the rotors thoroughly. I installed the pads correctly. The bearing play I set according to Haynes for Zs. It consists of tightening to 22 ft lbs and backing off 60 degrees, all the while rotating the hub. I didn't feel comfortable with the Mazda procedure which said to tighten the nut until the hub binds and then backing off 1/6 turn. Seems kind of subjective. Funny you should mention the pads. That's the first thing the guy asked was what pads I was using. I admitted that they were Hawk pads. He asked if they are racing pads and I answered with "well they are performance pads". I think I learned that one from Clinton. The 100% honest answer would have been "hell yes they are racing pads, and I still want you to replace those rotors, please". His stance was that if they were metallic he wouldn't warranty the rotors because his information stated that this car should only have organic pads. Well I brought one in and we agreed that they were probably carbon metallic, which I actually wasn't sure about. Makes sense now I think about it since Hawk calls it Ferro Carbon. Ferro for ferus or iron I guess. I stood around for a while, and next thing you know he said that he would replace them for me this one time. I will be calling Hawk to see what they have to say about this. If they hadn't have put those instructions in with the pads I would have never put that much heat into the rotors right off the bat. By the way if you are interested the Hawk procedure is as follows: (no I am not recommending this!!) If using new or used rotors you must follow the steps listed below to achieve maximum brake performance. 1. slowly engage brakes 6-8 times at medium speeds. Don't drag brakes or come to a complete stop. 2. Increase speeds to simulate race conditions. I used 75 mph which should be very conservative I thought. Allow 6-8 Very Hard stops at racing speeds. 3. Allow brakes to cool for 15 minutes or more by parking the car. I actually heard them pop on stop number 6. The right was within one second of the left which was amazing to me. That would take very identical rotor characteristics and very balanced heat being generated on each side. Or, perhaps very balanced bad luck. Thanks for all your inputs. Be careful if you get new rotors and or race pads! Drewz procedure would have worked fine I'm sure.

No, they are not cross drilled or anything. They are Raybestes brand which I thought was supposed to be a good brand. The temp was about 45 probably. The wheels were torqued to 55 lbs, and on this car the hub and rotor are all one casting. (which makes changing them much more fun, all that grease and press fit bearing races and all!) The rotors were probably not from the same batch. I've been having too much fun with this project. The first pair I received had the bore for the inner race out of tolerance so I returned that one and they had to special order the replacement. Thanks for the comments. [This message has been edited by Rob (edited February 18, 2001).]

Does anyone know the proper way to break in new rotors? No punn intended! I know I don't, cuz I followed the procedure on the Hawk brake pad burnishing procedure, which states specifically that it applies to new and used rotors, and I cracked both rotors!!!! I guess its possible there was a casting problem but I think I put too much heat into them too fast. Not good! Be careful out there people! Hope I don't get in trouble here- my problem was not on my Z car but my RX-7. This is the best car tech site I've ever found and I think my concern applies to all cars. Thank God my new rotors didn't crack on the Z when I installed them with the wilwoods! Yep, I still have the V8 Z and don't plan to get rid of it! Too much fun! Thanks!

Thanks a ton for the information John.

Way to persevere Danno!! You are going to end up with the best rear brake setup for an early Z I've ever even heard of. Well done.

Yes, I think there is a demand for a better suspension and brake kit. I would check it out if you sent me the information.