RPMS

Um... where in Texas are you moving, again? The first rule, no matter where you are in the state, is that you MUST have a good fan. You say you already have one. Throw it away and buy a bigger one. No, not that one, the next one up. The one that makes a Taurus cooling fan run and hide. Next, you must have light. LOTS of light. Blaine thought it was serious overkill for me to install a 4" workbench light and two 8" banks of fluorescents until he had to work in the garage one night. Things are much, much easier to do when you have good lighting, and you stop losing so many nuts and bolts in the shadows. An air compressor is a true luxury, and one which you can do without for a while. A full set of metric and SAE wrenches/sockets comes first. Buy EVERYTHING you can at a pawn shop. A full set of Craftsman (or Husky) sockets should cost you about a third of what they'd charge at Sears, and they carry the exact same warranty. Find a Harbor Freight or Northern Tool and buy your bench grinder, your vise, your 4" angle grinder, and your parts washer on sale from them. I doubt you will find them anywhere cheaper, even at pawn shops. The only other must-have is storage. Commit one wall of your garage to shelving at least 12" high per shelf, 18 inches deep, with 24" clear space on the top, and you won't regret it. If you don't have them, you'll forever be tripping over CRAP and you'll end up breaking things and cursing the day you didn't listen to Scott's advice. Good luck, and have fun!!!!

What?!? Someone got it first? Damn! MODERATOR! Delete this piece of untimely drek before anyone realizes that I haven't been paying attention!! We now return you to your scheduled programming, already in progress.

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

I saw an SHO engine pulled out at the junkyard a few weeks back. It certainly would look interesting in a Z! I agree that the Yamahammer engine is extremely cool looking. My favorite engine, though, has to be the Porsche 928s2 engine, which also had the intake runners laid out for all to see. Or how 'bout the BMW M5 engine, with 6 throttle bodies? Erotic!

Whatever you get make sure it's something that will look good on a wrinkly old 80 year old man, because one day that's exactly what you'll be!

If you like this sort of stuff, consider subscribing to TRUE and STELLA, which send insanity like this to your mailbox on a weekly basis. The free version is delivered a week after paid subscribers receive theirs. http://www.thisistrue.com http://www.stellaawards.com Personally, I'm thinking about sueing the Stanley corporation because I once had a screwdriver slip and gouge me in the palm when I was trying to use it as a chisel. I think I could make good money doing this...

You'll want to do a search. This topic came up a few weeks ago, but I don't think anyone had any earth-shattering revelations to share. I took my motor and gearbox apart and cleaned/lubed it, and I got a 10% improvement in wiper speed. I think it went from something like 25 strokes/minute to 28 or so. If you happen to find a good option that will fit w/o major mods, be sure to post it!!!

I think I'll be the chicken, in this scenario. It, at least, is still alive to enjoy breakfast the next morning, and it can continue cranking out eggs at will, whereas the pig shot his breakfast-contributing wad the first go-round. (and yes, I know what you were getting at, and I agree with the sentiment!)

I'm sorry to hear that your car was broken into, Jason. My take on things is somewhat different. Car alarms are pretty much useless to the thief intent on stealing your car, but they do a good job deterring a casual stereo thief. So the best, cheapest defense you can get yourself is a blinking light on the dash. Pagers are a bad idea, and are a good way to get yourself shot. Most thieves are quite willing and able to do you bodily harm, and they want to stay out of jail more than you want to to keep your stereo. The best defense against theft is stealth. Thieves won't steal what they can't see, so tint your windows, use sunshades, and hide your stereo behind a faceplate, if possible. And for the love of Pete, don't be stupid enough to roll through your neighborhood bumpin' and thumpin' the stereo. Play it cool until you hit the freeway, THEN crank up the tunes. Running around your home turf screaming, "Hey, I've got a nice stereo! Come and steal it, please!" is just plain stupid. These are just my thoughts - feel free to disagree.

Thanks for all the help, guys. The problem was indeed that the notches on the converter weren't aligned properly with the transmission pump. I didn't even see the keys on the pump until I got down there with a flashlight and looked close! I attached the transmission loosely and turned the crank until the keyways lined up and notched into place, then I torqued everything down. Thanks for the advice on the tranny seal, drahgonking. As long as it's out of the car, this would be an excellent time to replace it. Any idea on how much of an ordeal that might be? Thanks again -

If I'm packing tunes for a road trip involving spirited driving, I usually take along Crystal Method's 'Vegas', Bronski Beat's "Age of Consent", and a compilation CD with various songs from 38 Special, Pet Shop Boys, Philips Craig and Dean, and Madonna. Hey, life's no fun if you can't be eclectic! I'm going to have to download some of The Mars Volta's stuff, just to see what it's like. As a side note, most of the music I've downloaded off the web, I've previously purchased and either trashed or lost the CD. And as long as we're on the subject of downloading music, I don't feel bad about downloading a song off an album I won't buy anyway. 99% of the time, I'll decide that it's not worth having and delete it within a few days. But occasionally I'll try something new, and like it so much I'll buy the CD. I look at downloading as free advertising for the artist. And think about this - does it really make sense to arrest someone for downloading a song that they could legally have taped off the radio, then burned to CD? Absurd, isn't it?

Okay, so I'm supposed to put the tc on the transmission first, THEN bolt the TC to the flywheel? I've been doing it the other way - attaching the converter to the flexplate, then sliding the tranny on. I suppose I probably did have something out of alignment then. I didn't have to force the issue when I attached the tranny to the engine - it just kinda slid into place. I hope that means I didn't break anything. Thanks for the help, guys. If you can think to add anything, please do! This is my first automatic transmission in 20 years of wrenching, so I'm sure I'll do a lot of other boneheaded things!

Hey, guys. I thought I posted this message this morning, but I guess I didn't hit the "submit" button Here's the problem in a nutshell. The engine will not rotate with the transmission attached in the car. With the engine removed and the transmission pulled off, the engine rotates and the transmission input and output shafts turn smoothly but with a little resistance. The engine will turn with the torque converter bolted to the flexplate, so there doesn't seem to be a mechanical interference there. Anyone want to hazard a guess what could be going on? Thanks,

Dang, they charged me $103 for the thing, which sounds high given what y'all paid, but is still half the amount most other shops in the area estimated.

Only one. You might want to consider the caliber of parts you put on each installation, and match them accordingly so that folks can't accuse the JTR of winning because it used $200 Hooker block hugger headers, and the Scarab had a set of generic $100 long tubes, or vice versa. Just a thought.

I've had the Precision kit on my Z for a year and a half now, and here's my take on things. They included LOTS of rubber in their kit, even some pieces I'd never seen on a Z before. And there were no instructions to tell me which pieces went where. I had to install the pieces that I knew what they were, then see what was left over and figure out where they went. Some of them are shaped different than I expected. The windshield leaks at the base. I'm not sure if it's the fault of the new weatherstrip, or the new glass, or if it was just poor installation. All I know is, my floors get wet when there's the slightest bit of rain. I too had to slam my doors to get them to close. Then I had the bright idea to adjust my window frames and door latch. Voila - no more slamming, and my doors still fit flush with the body. Just loosen the bolts that hold the window frame in place, and move the whole assembly out about an eighth of an inch. See what that does for you. I didn't get the rubber pieces that fit on the front of the doors (which I've heard they now include with their kit) and I still don't have the window welting that goes inside the frame. Judging by past experience, that will make a world of difference in the noise level inside the car. The hardest pieces to install were the gaskets for the rear quarter windows. As was mentioned earlier, I had to press HARD on the windows and really work to get them into place. I don't think they'll be leaking anytime soon! My final evaluation is that the Precision kit is well worth the money if you can't afford genuine Nissan stuff.

Let's not get too technical here. .4375 is 7/16" in decimal form. Surely your shop has a 7/16" drill bit?!? In any case, making the holes a tad oversize will make absolutely no difference once everything is put together. The only way it would make a difference is if the fasteners that go in there were an interference fit, and they're not.

Just a thought here, on the scientific method. What you're trying to do is illustrate the difference between the Scarab and JTR methods, right? Well, changing ONLY the engine position won't give you the data you need to make a relevant comparison. All it will tell you is what differences can be attributed to changing your Center of Gravity and Polar Moment of Inertia. While CoG and PMoI are critical factors, they are not the ONLY factors that make differences between Scarab and JTR. What I would like to throw out for discussion is this: How about testing each car in the manner a car typical of its breed is set up? Why choke down a Scarab with block hugger headers when one of the big benefits of the Scarab setup is that it allows you to run long tubes? It doesn't make sense. Long headers are an integral part of the Scarab equation, and they should be included if the test is to be meaningful. Since JTR cars can't usually use long headers, that is a meaningful and significant difference which should be accounted for. Of course, everything else besides the driveline should remain the same in the tests. But I think you should equip the car in a manner which will allow each setup to perform in a manner typical of the breed. Otherwise, you're testing CoG and PMOI, not Scarab and JTR. Does this make sense?

I don't believe that JTR would be able to supply you, but the local AutoZone should. I believe the cable JTR recommends is from an El Camino. It's pretty short, and has to take a tortured path from the firewall to the intake bracket. A longer cable might be easier to work with. Your setup, being further from the wall, should also make it less of a PITA. I fabricated a metal bracket that bolts to the top of the gas pedal which holds the end of the cable. The only issue I have with the way JTR recommends, is that the hole in the firewall that the original linkage comes through is only about 1/8" smaller in diameter than the retaining clip of the cable. There's not much meat there to grab onto, and I'm afraid that the cable will slip loose. I'm in the process of making a thicker, smaller sheetmetal mount for the cable to snap into. Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do.

Here's my thoughts on the matter: 300Z - More a modern GT car more comfiortable More amenities (cruise, climate, pw, pl, ps, etc.) More easily serviced at chain stores Modern good looks that will leave you smiling. But... Insurance will probably be higher you're one of a million examples Might be too complex to fix yourself easily Hybrid - More a "sports car" Less comfortable, more hardcore Dirt-simple in the early cars Parts easier to come by at chain stores Classic good looks that will leave you smiling. But.... more difficult to insure for proper value with some agents Less comfortable for a daily commute Trim bits becoming less available Either one will leave you smiling, but a Hybrid will put a demonic grin on your face that the 300 will only dream about. Are you passionate enough to enjoy the compromise of a HybridZ? Can you responsibly handle the power? Are you willing to sacrifice some creature comforts for a higher level of performance? Do you like to tinker with mechanical bits? Were I in your position, I would not look at the benefits of each car, but at the negative points. What bad points would, over time, drive you crazy? Whichever car bugs you the least is the one that you'd probably be happiest with. Just my .02.

That's just a quart every 2,400 miles (or roughly four quarts a YEAR with typical driving) so I'd say to live with it. This winter your consumption will probably go down quite a bit as your oil gets thicker and your rings continue to seat. Depending on the quality of your bore honing and your top end seals, it may never go down to zero between changes, but that's okay. Just make checking your oil a religious practice when you fill up, and carry a spare quart or two with you wherever you go.

Oil consumption depends heavily on how much you drive the car. Some standards say that up to a quart every 2000 miles or so is not excessive on an older engine, but since you just rebuilt yours, different rules apply. New engines typically burn a bit of oil at first as the rings seat properly in the bores so unless it's billowing smoke out the tailpipe, wait until it's fully broken in before evaluating it. Just my .02.

Two questions: Did you replace the stock blower fan with something larger? If not, you might think about doing so. Slight modification of the housing might be necessary, but I hear it's well worth the effort. Secondly, do you have an electric fan in front of the condenser? That can make a world of difference in stop and go traffic. Just a thought or two...

I want the jet bike! I want the jet bike!!!!!

Hey, guys. Thanks for the offer of the adapter Lance, but it doesn't look like I'll need it. Both of the carbs are spreadbore, and the intake will accept either of them thanks to a dual bolt pattern on it. The Holley has only one accelerator pump on it, so I don't think this one's a double pumper. The info I've found on the web seems to point to the Q-jet being a better overall choice once it's been tuned and slightly modified, but until those modifications are made, the Holley is better. I also notice that Q-jet rebuild parts are double the cost of Holley's, and there aren't nearly as many aftermarket parts available for it. Comments?