RPMS

I'm curious whether other folks have the same feeling that it might not portend good things that dozens of other Hybrid builders have found our little oasis of (in)sanity on the web. I'm of two minds on the subject. 1) No matter what you drive, it's all good, and the more help we can give, the better it will be for everyone, since everyone has something to add in one way or another, and 2) Uh oh.... here come the idiots. Maybe I'm just being stingy and selfish, but it seems that we've formed a great community here, one where VERY few people have had to be blacklisted or banned, and part of me sees these folks coming in and fears that they will bring bad behavior with them. One thing that keeps most of us grounded here on HybridZ is the fact that we have one thing in common - Datsun Z cars. We might not agree on much else at times, but we all share that in common. It's the bedrock on which this site was built. Now, with other makes and models making appearances, that one commonality is going away, and I can see "my hybrid is better than your hybrid" arguments coming up. I don't want to be a jerk and say "No, you can't come in here", but at the same time I don't want my little corner of the world polluted. That's happened to me too many other times on too many other boards not to worry about it. What do y'all think?

511 horsepower and 494 ft/lbs of torque in an M3 body? 194mph, huh. With an otherwise stock driveline, at that speed it's spinning over 7,100 RPM. I wonder how they built it up? Not many V8's on the street can spin like that.

Thanks man, you're too kind! It's time for a major update. I think it's been over a year since I posted anything. When I finally get the V8 sorted out and it stops occupying my every waking moment, I'll get in there and do an overhaul on the site and add the 15 or 16 pages of stuff I've written for it!!

Hey, guys! This is the first time I've welded up my own exhaust system, and I have a few questions: 1) How does pipe length/diameter affect the tone? 2) How does muffler placement (ie near the collectors, near the tailpipe, or somewhere in between) affect the tone? 3) How effective will an X-pipe be in mellowing out the tone? Right now I've got 2 SpinTech low-profile Cruiser series mufflers, an X-pipe, fresh muffler bearings (the guy at the parts store said I needed new ones), enough 2 1/4" diameter pipe to plumb the system with duals from front to back, and PLENTY of acetylene! So here I sit, DUNCE cap on my head. Who's willing to educate me?

One thing to keep in mind is that no matter what someone tells you, not all block huggers hug the block the same way! I bought a pair of cheap headers off eBay, and they interfered SEVERELY with the steering shaft. I tried dinging them. Then I tried whacking them, then I mauled the hell out of them until the two outer tubes were all but smashed flat, and then they BARELY fit. Not what I'd call "free flowing" Since you have a ZX, your mileage may vary. What I'm trying to say is, check the fit BEFORE you buy if at all possible. Or make sure you can get your money back if they don't fit. Or invest sixty bucks in a steering shaft u-joint!

NO WAY. With another car and a truck in the driveway, I now have the luxury of being picky about which days I drive the Z. Back when my Z was my only transportation, I did drive it through several ice storms. Yeah, it was a handful, but it did better than several other cars I've owned. It was stable and predictable, and I think I only spun it once doing something stupid. But then again, I drive like a granny - a granny who now has a big honkin' V8 engine, thank you very much!!!

Remember the lady that went crazy over your car, and forget the one who dissed it. 1) there's no accounting for taste, 2) she was drunk, and 3) EVERYONE has said something he/she shouldn't have, and the memory of her faux-pas (assuming she was capable of remembering anything to begin with) will possibly haunt her for years!

Get a gallon of Castrol Super Clean at your local parts store and spray it all over your underside. No, no, not YOUR underside, the CAR'S underside. Then scrub it with a brush. Spray. Scrub. Spray more. Scrub more. Then hose off with high pressure water. Keep in mind that wherever the Super Clean sits on your skin for over a minute or two, it will eat off the top layer of skin. It's nasty, but it's by far the best thing I've found for removing greasy crap. Your car looks great! The color is different, and I like it. The only other thing I'd do to it if I were you would be to polish the wheels, and put larger tires on it the next time you need rubber.

Dang, oldguy, you don't pull many punches, do you? Oh well, I can't say much. Diplomacy isn't my strong suit either. Mike. CALM DOWN. If all else fails, you don't need struts to put a car on a trailer. Yes, it will bounce around. No, that won't kill it. Just strap it down to the bump stops and you'll be okay. My best suggestion is to go back to the welder and ask him to re-section the struts to the correct length. Maybe he'll take pity on you and do it for free or for a 6-pack. If he doesn't, aren't 240 struts shorter than 280 struts? Maybe you can substitute them and put a spacer in the bottom of the strut tube to make up the difference? This honestly is not a deal-breaker, you know. As others have suggested, get creative and you'll be miles ahead.

Damn, I didn't realize I was throwing such a pot of gasoline on this particular fire. In all honesty, all I meant to say by the biblical quote was, "Don't worry - God will get him in the end, and he will get everything he richly deserves." Oh, and the way I understand the documents which founded the US and the context in which they were written, the whole purpose behind the separation of church and state was to keep the government out of religion - not the other way around. The founding fathers realized the importance of not instituting a state religion, but I don't think they meant us to ignore God in our governmental processes.

I thought I'd share with my friends on the HybridZ foum! After four years of battle, today my car finally moved under V8 power! As many of you know, I've been collecting parts for years now, waiting for the right time to do the conversion. 30 days ago, I decided to put up or shut up, and I started work in earnest. I borrowed an industrial engine hoist from a friend and went to work. I spent my first day pulling the inline, and the first week cleaning the engine bay within an inch of its life! I painted the car two years ago with the engine still in it, so the engine bay was still the original silver color. Now it's black, painted entirely with gloss black POR15. If I wanted to I could wet sand out the crap in the paint and make it purty, but frankly, I don't want to. It's an engine bay, for God's sake. The second week I spent doing the JTR mods - putting in the spacers and brackets and other bits, slotting the engine mount holes, modding the auto shifter to work right, etc. This was when my blood started pumping, and I started getting excited. I was making progress! The third week I got the driveshaft made, replumbed the brake lines that were removed for painting, and pulled out as much wiring as I could from the engine bay. An astonishing amount came out! The fourth week I replaced some of the wiring that I erroneously pulled out in week three, and I went on a quest for radiator hoses that would work. I ended up splicing together two different hoses to get the angle I needed. I also put the tranny on the engine,and stabbed it into place so I could know where to put the tranny mount. Last Friday I welded up the Spintech mufflers that Mike in Dallas so generously sold to me, and this morning I fired it up for the first time. Damn, it sounds good! No way is this car ever going to be mistaken as having the original inline six! It rolled out of the garage under its own power at 3:30 pm Sunday, September 28, 2003. Rolling it back into the garage after running it for 30 minutes or so it ripped loose one of the mufflers, so obviously it's not fully finished! Things are hanging too low underneath. But it did nontheless move via the V8, and I'm very pleased! Thanks so much for all the help and inspiration I've gotten from this forum over the years. Without y'all, it would never have been possible! You're a great bunch of guys, no doubt about it.

There is a logical order in which to work on things, and you're wise to ask before diving in. I think your best bet is to work on safety items first. You're less likely to be impatient if you handle them first thing while you're still fresh, and you can drive the car for a while after you get the brakes/steering/basic suspension and structure sorted out, but before you dive into the driveline or bodywork. Do the work in logical order, where you don't have to remove the pieces tomorrow that you just put back on today. There are several must-haves, in my mind. You can not paint the engine bay with an engine in it. Well, you CAN, but it's a horrible pain in the ass, and it won't look as good as it would have if the engine were pulled first. The interior should be pulled before you paint, or you run the significant risk that when you paint your doorjambs there will be a hole in the masking and you'll inadvertently spray paint inside. And doing bodywork makes a HYOOOGE amount of dust that will get everywhere, including your interior. And it doesn't make any sense to spend months painting your car before you fix the interior rust, because there's a good chance you'll bung up the paint while you're welding things and moving in and out of the interior. If you convert a 260 or 280, you'll have a large amount of unnecessary wiring to remove, and this is best done with the interior (passenger side, at least) removed. So here's the logical order: 1) Pull interior, cleaning each piece thoroughly as you remove it. 2) Fix all rusty spots inside the car, as well as any mechanical bits in the interior that don't work. 3) Do all bodywork and modification. 4) Pull the engine and detail the engine bay. Remove unnecessary wiring. 5) Paint the car. 6) Replace driveline 7) Reinstall the interior, making upgrades as necessary. Please note that if you do the work yourself, items 1,2,3,and 4 take very little money, but take the longest time. That way, you can gradually buy your engine parts as they come on sale, and you can work out the kinks in your plan before you get to the tough stuff. Keep in mind that you can do suspension work at any time in the process and it won't interfere with anything. The more you screw around with it, the greater chance you have of messing it up. So do it right the first time, and you'll thank yourself. Greimann also had a very good point when he talked about motivation. The best advice I can give you is to not do all the simple things first. Wait until you're at your wits end with another project, then take a break and treat yourself to a simple, rewarding project. That way you won't go to bed that night feeling like you'd done nothing productive. If you're about to light your car on fire because you can't get the bodywork straight the fifth time you've tried it, stop working on that and replace the broken maplight, or paint your wiper arms, or something. That keeps things fun, and that's what this is all about, isn't it?

"Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" (LV 19:18 ) That said, just because we have to yield our worldly right to retribution doesn't mean we have to share our society with sick people who don't play by the rules of common decency and compassion. I say it would probably behoove us to designate one remote island where folks like this who JUST DON'T GET IT can live out their lives together, raping, murdering, and sodomizing each other as much as they want to. I have a tough time killing off even the most twisted bullies out there, but I don't have a tough time at all removing them from my particular sandbox. Prisons don't work, so why keep up the charade? Certainly if someone has a REALISTIC chance to be reformed, every opportunity should be availed of them. But those who commit the most heinous crimes, against the helpless and weak among us, should be removed permanently and left to fend for themselves. If you can't agree to live by society's rules, then maybe you should try living without society for a while and see how you like it.

I feel your excitement! I just finished the nuts and bolts of my install today, after working on it bit by bit for four years. Go slow, and catch your problems while they're still small ones. It would suck to find out 10 miles from home that in your excitement, you forgot to tighten the oilpan drain bolt!! Good luck, and Happy Birthday to your Hybrid!!!

Thanks, Dave. I appreciate the info! And you're right about the valve covers. Every import I've owned has had a nice, substantial aluminum valve cover that seals well and is easy to install with easy to reach bolts up top. Too bad Chevy doesn't pop for nice covers very often. Scott

Hooray! I'm glad to hear your only problem was with the timing. Cheap fix!!! I can't pass up this opportunity to get on my soapbox. This is the way life is with a lot of things - it looks hopeless and all is lost, then when you calm down and think things through, you find that the answer was under your nose all along. The next time you get so frustrated and angry you want to give up, FORCE yourself to calm down and take a breather. Almost always there's another solution you just haven't thought of yet, and you won't think of it while you're upset. I'm glad you're on the road again!

Looks like it's amazingly clean inside! I don't know what it was about those cars, but they seem to show the passing years much more quickly than other Z's. I look forward to reading more about it, and what your perceptions are about it. Does it handle well? What have you owned before? And where did you find it so cheap?

On the cover of David Vizard's book "How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget "( the engine has two different casting marks on the front of the heads. Does this mean that those are two different style heads, or does Chevy put the significant casting mark on only one of them?Take a look at the picture in question here Thanks!

I think Grumpy has recommended Smokey Yunick's book "Smokey Yunick's power secrets", and I enjoyed reading "John Lingenfelter on Modifying Small-Block Chevy Engines" It's a bit biased towards his own equipment (big surprise), but it does cover all the bases. I've also read "How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget" and "How to Rebuild your Small Block Chevy", both by David Vizard. To my surprise, the dyno testing that each book does yields very similar results. I think small block performance has been honed over the years to the point where it's a fairly exact science instead of the secret art it used to be. Any of the books is an entertaining read, and all of them are quite functional as spooge-mag replacements for gearheads.

Kevin! Where ya been, bud? I've missed your witty repartee and effervescent conversation!

Just my opinion, but I think skinny chrome bumpers look REALLY sexy on a screaming yellow Z. They're just like jewelry on a beautiful woman. I hear what you're saying about rechroming, though. It's enough to suck the spit right out of your mouth. Too bad it's so expensive.

Beautiful! I love the color!!! You gonna put chrome bumpers on it? I hope? I hope?

Hey, wurt. Let me shoot you some straight dope here. You need to bone up on these cars before you go shooting your daily-driver wad on one. These cars are thirty years old, and require more commitment than your Integra-motored Honda ever did. Don't get me wrong - your ride is probably quite nice, but you are going to screw yourself to the wall if you go purchasing a classic car without knowing LOTS about it. You could easily buy a moneypit if you're not VERY careful. You're doing the right thing by coming to an enthusiast group FIRST and learning what you can before you buy. Do a site-wide search (only available from the intro page) on buying a Z and see what you find. In short, the advice will go like this: Floors and wheelwells will rust out, dashes crack, weatherseals crumble, and suspension rubber wears out. All can be fixed for relatively low cost, depending on how much labor you're willing to put into it. All can be learned by anyone with moderate intelligence and above average patience. You can do it, if you want to. Oh, and you won't find any 1970 280 Zs. In the US, Datsun sold only the carbureted 240Z from 1969 to 1973. The 260Z had a troublesome carburetor and sold in 1974. The 280Z had fuel injection, and sold from 1975 to 1978. Now you know a little bit more than you did 10 minutes ago! Also, this thread should have been posted in the non-tech forum, since it has nothing to do with Chevy V8's. If it disappears, that means that the moderators moved it to where it belongs. Lurk and learn, my friend!

Aaw, man! You're moving down there after the fun of Summer is pretty much over. You can't claimed to have lived in Texas until you've broken a hard sweat walking the ten feet to your mailbox, or turned the A/C in your car on full blast while going to work in the morning. Seriously - Houston is a great city, with all the amenities one could want, and relatively inexpensive country living not too far away. You'll have a blast! When is the date for the housewarming BBQ, so all us Texas HybridZ members can welcome you to the neighborhood?

Hey, CSTurbo! I *really* want to ask you WHY you prefer converting the civic over the 240, but that's none of my business, so don't feel compelled to answer. I guess it's pretty much the same thing most other hybrid folks feel - a fondness for one particular body style, combined with an insatiable need for more power. I've seen pictures of the car BWD's talking about, and he's right - it's hardly something you want your great aunt Ethyl driving down to the store in to get some milk! I think your greatest challenge will be moving the firewall back to allow space for the engine and transmission. And once you move the firewall back, you move the dash back (if you keep it, that is) then you move the seats back, etc. etc. etc. You know, I can't remember anyone converting a transverse front wheel drive 4 cylinder car into a longitudinal V8 daily driver. Everything I've seen, Porsches, Jags, Austins, Datsuns, Volvos, etc. have been longitudinal from the start. It makes the engineering SO much simpler. Oh, and this thread probably belongs in the "other engines" section