boodlefoof

I've seen the show once and that was enough for me... it was kind of worthless in my opinion. I thought it was probably a lie that you actually got the losing car. Glad to hear that debunked... particularly where you spanked that Honda! Congrats on the win! Sell that sucker to some unassuming rice boy and buy some parts for that Firebird!

Thanks Alf! I love the first gen Camaros. That is the first car I ever renovated... Learned a lot doing it, and will probably redo it once my Datsun is finished. Nope, haven't had it down the 1320 yet... I've wanted to for awhile now, but if it isn't one thing it is another. Hopefully I'll be able to get it out some year! My goal with the current engine is mid 12s at 110-115mph.

Desktop dyno says... 301 horses @ 5000rpm and 350 # torque @ 3500rpm. I used Comp's 260H (which is 210* @ .050) and used the head file for the 882 casting's flow numbers.

When all is said and done I'm hoping for 2000 pounds or less. I could probably do less... but I really don't need to, and having some creature comfort would be nice. = )

Sleeper-Z I am using a freeware program called GRAPE. It isn't really meant for automotive chassis design, but it fits the bill... and it is free! You can download it here... http://www.grapesoftware.mb.ca/ Here is a link on how to use the program. It is a little tricky... and I admittedly had an engineer friend help out with calculating the j-inertia and all that jazz. http://corner-carvers.com/forums/sh...=grape+analysis When all is said and done, my frame looks somewhat like this fellow's. He is the one who began the thread on using grape that I linked to above. http://www.carter-engineering.com/preston67compcoupe.htm

I always toss a bottle of GM EOS (engine oil supplement) in with the oil on initial break in. Be sure to pre-lube until you've got oil coming out at all of the rockers and make sure you've got the ignition roughly dialed in so it will fire up quick (especially be sure you haven't reversed your coil... d'oh!). Follow cam manufacturer's recommended break in rpm and time. Have a fire extinguisher handy.

What does your spaceframe design look like and what wall thickness of steel are you using? I've pretty much finalized the design for my build, and mapped it out in a spaceframe design program to eliminate superfluous weight where there was minimal rigidity gain... Still looks like my spaceframe is going to tip the scales at about 300 pounds.

I just bought a JVC TH-M505. Very pleased with it for the price.

Just to clarify, I think Leith is referring to higher and lower numerical values for gear ratios in his post. The terminology does get confusing. A lower gear ratio has a higher number. E.g., 4.11 gears are actually fairly low ratio even though they have a higher number. A lower gear doesn't always equal better accelleration though... you want to match your gear to the powerband of your engine. You can "over gear." A higher gear ratio has a lower number. I actually usually heard the term "tall" refer to higher gear ratios (lower number). Also commonly referred to as "highway gears." I really wouldn't know what would be best for drifting.

Ditto 2126, It should be a Sig.

Hope you didn't sign any non-compete agreements or anything when you joined up with the company though... or confidentiality agreements...

Durrr! If somebody was planning on using that for home defense they might be a little disappointed. = )

I stand corrected. = )

Scottie, You're right, I'm assuming drag racing. I didn't know we were necessarily talking about a turbo engine here. Even so, I still think that given adequate traction and maintaining a load on the engine to spool the turbo (i.e., not over gearing), that having more gears in close ratio to play with will still get you better accelleration by keeping you in your best powerband for more of your run. I could be wrong. Most times I've seen people run quicker with a PG swap is where they were over-geared previously or having traction problems with the setup.

I don't know about bolting a PG up to your I6, but I have to ask "why?" Granted, the Z is a pretty light car... but the gearing in the PG just isn't very condusive to accelleration. The only drag racers I see using them are running very light cars with enough power that having a lower first gear would only hurt them. I'd go with a built TH-350 or 400 if you really want a durable automatic trans for the strip.

Glad you're interested Gollum. It is still going to be awhile before I get to the glass. I'm going to finish the rest of the bodywork first. You can read all about the plans for the car on my website. Unfortunately though, I do have limited bandwidth... and with all of the pictures it tends to shut down after awhile. Usually goes back up in an hour or two though... http://www.geocities.com/boodlefoof/Project_Racer-Z.html

Thanks for the tip Brad-Man, I'm still keeping my options open... I've unfortunately had to put the car on hold a little recently. Hopefully I'll get a little time to work on it before Christmas.

Seems that install would probably be easier actually because of the dry sump. Less worry about oil pan interference.

Too tight a torque converter? Timing outta wack?

I have toyed with using the C5 transaxle and driveshaft tube... but with the rear axle centerline so close behind the driver, packaging might be difficult. I don't think shortening the torque tube would be too difficult though... Also, not to knock the C5 at all, but I'm not certain to what extent the rear suspension could be improved upon... they may have had some design constraints in putting it together. Don't know yet if a well-designed 3-link would be better or not.

I have Desktop Dyno. Here are the assumptions... You'll be running 10:1 compression with either head, you're using the XR288 cam (I don't have a file for a XR286 and can't find one). With the AFR 190 head = 545 HP at 6500rpm and 510 # torque at 5000rpm (torque is over 400 # at 2500rpm). With AFR 210 head = 552 HP at 6500rpm and 516 # torque at 5000rpm (torque is higher across the board by about 5-10 #). Either combo looks excellent, The 210 heads are definitely not too big (just right in my opinion), but if you've already got the 190 heads... might as well use them! Caveat: Desktop Dyno isn't 100% accurate...

Davy is correct. "Lower gears" = numerically higher (4.11, etc) = higher rpms at freeway speeds, but lots of accelleration. "higher gears" = numerically lower (2.56, etc) = lower rpms at freeway speed, but less accelleration. When you've got a boatload of torque anyway... you probably don't need the lower gears to get scooting. As for spinning tires... lower gears are typically associated with spinning tires... but with higher gears if you break them loose... you typically have more trouble regaining traction than with lower gears. About your 383 conversion... I have read some negative reviews of Speed-O-Motive's machine work (balancing, etc). Good luck with the project.

SBC 400, Sounds like you and I are in the same boat... I'm going to be building a tube frame and plan on grafting in some C5 front suspension pieces and building a 3-link with a solid axle out back. Keep me posted! I'd love to see your ideas.

Ditto awesome job SBC 400! There is a good writeup on how to give stock sheetmetal fenders a nice bulge by cutting, bending and welding in patch panels on the Gale Banks website. They have a project Camaro that is getting their twin turbo treatment and in the bodywork section they show a step by step... You can find the info at... http://www.bankspower.com/camaro-FrontFenders.cfm I was considering going that route, but decided that fiberglass would be easier.

Hi American, welcome to the club! I just bought my '73 240-Z a few months back. My situation was this... I wanted to just get a rolling shell because I planned to change literally everything... by the time I am done, the car will probably be less than 1% original... So, I poked around on this forum and Zcar.com for awhile and finally found the right car... only $150! Well, it needed lots of bodywork and was completely stripped... just had enough suspension to hold on the tires and did have the steering equipment, and the body was complete (albeit rusty). Now, to facilitate street legality, I went for the oldest I could find... so I got the '73. In Virginia, this allows me to get antique plates = no more safety or emissions inspection ever. '76 is getting a bit late... I don't know precisely when catalytic converters first hit the scene on the Zs... Good luck. They are out there. You can read about my project by clicking the link in my sig.