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This has the potential to be one of the best threads in this site's history. It would be awesome to end up with complete database of head flow for the different combos.

Super cool, thank you for posting.

09-08-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: My rear hatch "glass" (polycarbonate) ordered from Plastics4Performance in England arrived today. As I have mentioned I had them use their template for Ferrari 458 rear window vents. Why? I like the look. Great for flow through ventilation. This is an open air Z anyway. No side windows, and mostly stripped out. I got the 3mm thick one, so thin, and VERY light. It looks cloudy as I haven't peeled off the protective layer of plastic yet. Now, as they told me, some sanding and fitting will be necessary, but I am happy to report it made it across the pond and to my garage! PICS:

The first head to document will be an old E88 from my 72. I used this head a long time ago worth 40DCOE triple Webbers. In typical fashion long long ago I did my best to do what I thought was right. I blended the seats to match the bowls with a grinder, and port matched the head to the intake, opening up the port about 1" in from the entrance to blend the new opening (not good). other than that, stock valves and chambers So lets flow it. Hoping to borrow a stock E88 to compare later. Some pics for referance Here are the head Specs Cylinder 2 Intake with 84mm Bore And Cylinder #2 Exhaust with 84mm Bore I then switched out the bore to 86.5mm and tested again, here is a comparison chart of the effect of only a larger bore Sorry the image is hard to read I need to figure out how to upload better resolution pics, but you can download the PowerPoint below E88_Flow_Bench_Comparison_Cyl2_84mm_vs_86.5mm_FIXED (1).pptx

09-06-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: Ok, so I mounted my electric panel into the car and began wiring it up. The garage is SO HOT. I had to go inside and get a fan to blow in there on me (see pic). going pretty well! about 75% done. PICS

I've decided to build a detailed thread to document L-Series cylinder head flow testing and the results. Like many aspects of these engines, it's sometimes hard to know what to believe or how to interpret what you see and read. Test setup, equipment, testing methods, and just straight-up BS can all contribute to the confusion. I don't sell a product or service and have nothing to gain from the results I post, so my goal is to keep the testing unbiased and as consistent and repeatable as possible. Feel free to comment or criticize as I move through this. I'm happy for any input. First up is the equipment. I have a SuperFlow 600 converted to run the digital FlowCom directly to my laptop where I use PortFlow analyzer from Performance trends. This software sets up the test and aids in the data logging and reporting. It also compensates for Altitude, Barometric pressure, ect. So no math or reading of the old school manometers. Its super accurate and very repeatable. I built a L-Series specific test stand and replaceable cylinder bores to test the common sizes, 84mm - 240z , 86.5mm 280z, and 89mm - Big Bore. This has a considerable effect to the max flow due to bore shrouding, so its important to test on the correct size. This is the first place numbers can get "offset" If some guy is flow testing a Z head on his 4" Chevy bore, you bet the numbers will look good. More on this later. These bores are made of nylon and seal to the test stand with an o-ring. However any leakage can still occur, so the software takes a zero measurement first, and this leakage is then subtracted out automatically Next up is calibration - the bench should be calibrated on a regular basis to check for issues. You do this by bolting the supplied test plate that is matched to the machine and simply flowing it. Here you can see the plate bolted on, it has calibration flow percentages written on it to compare Ans this is the screen on the laptop, you can see the bench is within .1 percent calibration for the intake and exact for the exhaust Ill flow and document the heads I have as well as some I will borrow from friends. Some will be stock, some will be modified to various states. Ill also do some test to help point out important details. So stay tuned Thanks - monZter

couple videos the wife had taken. looking over some datalogs this morning. Car never got over 201ºF in any log that I could see. I can't find a spot in a log where the oil temp even got over 200ºF. oil pressure never dipped on any turns or hard braking. Really impressed the car didn't skip a beat. For a shakedown i was pleasantly surprised. New track for me so i worked on me as a driver rather than swings at setup changes to bandaid a driver problem but my lap times where improving fairly significantly every session and was having so much fun doing it. 20260905_111217.mp4 20260905_173624.mp4

Last weekend i got the offer to run a single day of a multi day event if I wanted to shake down the car. So i scrambled all week getting a bunch of things checked off the list. a couple days getting up at 5am and working for a couple hours before work and then to 10-11pm after work but got it so i could run it. Added a front splitter. strut bar, seat belts. fuel cell bulkhead, fire extinguisher, coolant overflow, battery tie down and kill switch, tow hook, brake bias controller, some tuning changes and im sure a few more things. But i made it. My uncle and I loaded up friday evening and saturday morning drove an hour and a half to the track. Had a great time. car was an absolute trooper and didnt skip a beat. New track for me so had some getting used to the track and the car. but i did 4 sessions problem free, I didn't change a single thing all day. found one loose bolt after session 3 that i caught before it was a problem. Car performed well. Had a fairly competitive pace by the end. Anyway. huge photo dump

09-05-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: Today was a light day for the car, with a few odds and ends, and getting ready to re-install the electric "panelboard" and begin tying all the wires in. Poured the antifreeze into the engine, I decided to use the DEX COOL as recommended by GM for their engines....A.I. also states it is better than regular old green antifreeze, so I went that route. I painted the cap on the radiator and put a Z sticker I had made for it, began the touch up on the hood, which....once hard, will be sanded with 2000 grit and polished smooth. I painted a couple Atlas Z brackets I had made earlier, and will install them in a day or so, and the last piece I needed for the panelboard, the batt power tie in arrived. Hopefully, I will separate the wires and begin wiring the car in tomorrow. PICS CompareCar Insurance

Haven't been here in a while, but I had no problems getting on today. Seems fast so far. Edit: Spoke too soon. Just came back on, and got an error, and when the site finally loaded after a few refreshes it seemed slow.

That's pretty much where I've ended up the last several years. I know some people prefer a staggered setup; but I really much prefer a square setup, for tire rotation and replacement purposes. Very much enjoying this build, and the ongoing discussion in this thread! 👍👍

Im looking for a parking brake handle & tunnel mechanism. Do you happen to have one? Ship to 46825 Pics and price please Thanks Lee

Nice! Back in 2009 I couldn't find a rebuilt 280z booster so I was going to buy a booster repair kit, but later figured that I might need special tools. I was able to find a rebuild shop in my city to rebuild my 280z brake booster. The shop specialized in rebuilding truck brake components.

I am about the furthest thing from a computer/IT expert, so I will leave it here for others more savvy than I to chime in with tech tips and advice for you. However, if you haven't already done so, click on the vertical row of three dots in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser window and that will open up your browser settings. There you can select your desired levels of security, privacy, etc. There's a "Settings" selection at the bottom of the pop-up menu that takes you to most of your selectable items. (Sorry if I'm telling you something you already know.) I should have also mentioned that your hardware and operating system can greatly affect web browsing speeds and response times. My wife's Apple Macbook Pro browses the web WAY faster, with fewer ads, than my Dell laptop....on which I've tried several web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.) Mozilla Firefox seems to give me the best overall performance for web browsing.

I figured it was necessary to keep the light on. Is it still the same as before the ads turn off with a premium membership or donation? Or are they always on no matter what? I use Chrome, so not sure what settings, do you have a page with instructions on how to set this up, membership benefits, ect? Happy to help. Thanks Jeff

Yes, unfortunately the pop-up ads are a necessary evil. Active membership and annual donations have dropped way off, so Dan has to rely on the revenue generated by ads to keep the forum going. There are ways to control it, however, depending on which web browser you use (and the default settings you've selected within the browser.) Let me know if you'd like to merge your old account with your new account....we can usually do that fairly painlessly. PM me if you'd like to. Cheers.

08-30-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: Started the day with putting some cut leather on the upholstery sections that needed to be covered. Amazing my new seat covers, have managed to have a worn spot....but it's all better now. Working in tight quarters these things happen.:) Then I went ahead and bolted the seats down in then vacuumed it all up and installed the hidden toggle switch to turn on so the car will start, my theft deterrent, and wired in the brake light switch....just running the wires over to the passenger footwell.... labeled, so I can start on that soon. I finally managed to get the last piece of the end links on the steering rack off, and then wire wheeled them down really clean, and used anti-seize and installed the Moog end links for now...I will have to adjust when I am ready to align the front wheels, but for now, a lot of progress made! The whole car is about 75% done already and it's only been a year! PICS:

I used to be a lifetime member years ago before I was away for like 10 years. Had to re-start my account since an old email was gone. So I'm no longer a life-time member, is this why I get such a ridiculous amount of pop-ups that I literally cant even read post? I hate Facebook, but its free and you can read what people post. Is there any solution, or are the ads the only thing keeping this plate alive? Thanks, I really want to be here and share content with others, but it is so frustrating. I want to do a new thread on Flow-bench testing and actual flow bench results, but its out of control. Thanks Jeff

Nope, smart idea. I’ll do that next weekend. I’ve got some shorty headers, but if I need to get a new exhaust I might go long tube. Not sure if the old exhaust clears my new fuel cell, I need to check on that.

Have you mounted the headers to the engine while on the engine stand with the cradle in place? It will be much easier to clearance your cradle before everything is in the car.

Made some progress on the engine cradle. I should be ready to drop the engine in and mark where to attach it to the frame. I’ll be using some angle iron to sit on the frame so the cradle will be welded to that then bolted to the frame.

09-29-2026 ATLAS Z UPDATE: I mounted the plate I made to cover the hole on the side of the head with some stainless bolts I got, then I mounted up both front brake calipers, tied in the brake lines and zip tied the excess up. Then I went ahead and pulled the TC rods out, cleaned them up and painted them with some rustoleum gloss black, and wire wheeled up the washer plates and installed my new Urethane bushings. I normally would have gone with rubber, but the polys were half the price, so I will use them. While under there, I pulled out the cut off pieces that were the original sway bar end links, and installed the new ones I have had waiting. They are all rubber. Then I moved on to the drive shaft. Because of my trans layout, the factory e~brake tube going across the tunnel had to be cut out. This is fine, as the way I use the car I don't need it, and I can leave it in gear when parked. I suppose at a later date I could fashion up a cable to what is left on there to tie it back in.....I left a piece of the pipe about 1/2 long sticking out for just that. I then mounted up the drive shaft and got the bolts cinched down correctly. Then the problematic part of the day, the end links on the steering rack. Well they just didn't want to come off! It is obvious they haven't ever been adjusted, so I got one off and the other is soaking in PB Blaster! I have the end links I got from Z Car Depot ready to go, they are from MOOG. While under the car, I looked up and saw a world of polished piping so I took a pic! :D PICS:

@MikerZ I'm having the exact same issue. It seems like actuating mechanism from the door handle has jammed/bound the lock as in this video - However, even after releasing the nylon nut, pulling up on the handle mechanism with thick guage wire (besically everything to operate it manually as you did) I'm getting nowhere. What did you end up doing/destroying to release the hook?

I got a tradition with my dad that I took over, every time we buy a new vehicle we stop at Mc Donalds on the way back and get a milkshake. This also gives us some time to look and admire our new purchase. We will probably continue this tradition this weekend as I’ll be looking at a 2015 BMW M550D touring (almost 400hp diesel station wagon) as a new daily driver.