DemonZ

I don't really like changing the oil and filter every 3-5K, so for me the higher intervals of synthetic pays off. I seem to recall that from 2 separate studies, bang for the buck in general all around use, you could not beat Mobil 1, specifically in the 0-40 weight. In one home brew study, they took samples of oil at various intervals and had them analyzed by an independent lab. They only tested M1 and Amsoil. Not totally scientific, but pretty good. http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html The other study, was done by a Chemistry Phd. who specialized in lubricants and worked for McLaren's F1 program sometime around Y2k when he published his piece. I believe he lives in AU. He published a 10? page article that had all the major brands, and many foreign ones I've never heard of. The tests were exclusively synthetics. He charted the results and it seemed like the de-facto study at the time. He stated that the oil corporations did not like publishing such research, but that this was all his own extensive independent research. Of interest was engineering different lubes in qualifying vs. actual racing in F1 cars. Unfortunately the link is dead and the chart attachment I saved doesn't work. What I came away with was M1 0-40 was the best all around oil for general purpose grocery getter, hammer it on the street, extended drain interval, kind of driving. As an aside, my personal observation with Castrol Syntec on a carbed 88 Tercel (used GF's as test car for Castrol) was that "crud" built up under the oil cap, where as when I switched to M1, the valve cover seemed to stay much cleaner. Another hear say story was my dad's friend was a semi-pro racer in the 80's, he swore by M1. --I don't own their stock, or have any financial connection with them.

The standard 2000 was rated at 135, and Solex option was 150 which included a different cam. I'm guessing U20 parts are more expensive than L-series or maybe SR20. It was about 10 years ago that a U20 timing chain set was around $475, but have heard prices have come down quite a bit since then. http://www.risensonracing.com/phpBB2/ http://www.311s.org/phpBB2/

1 front, 1 rear, please.

Bose car active suspension. It surely will be more comfy, but wonder how well it would be for performance, on a race car, or even F1 http://www.automobilemag.com/news/0410_bose_bumps.wmv

I covet the GNZ. Something about that Darth Vader, SR-71 look of Scottie's car.

sorry about the typo, yes pumper= bumper (took me 5 min before it hit me) I forgot that I had previously reinforced my sway bar mounts with 1/8 plate, (one side ripped after a pot hole). So I felt pretty good attaching the roto to it.

I built mine so it would attach to the front sway bar nuts in the frame rails. The pumper attachments look like they'll take a lot of vertical load, but not as much sideways. If your body is totally stripped I'm sure it will be fine. It you wanted more safety, it would not take much to build the "fork" and weld it to your existing turret. BTW, isn't that a 280 with bumper shocks in the pic?

Yeah, for some reason I found it some what sickening. That is an accident waiting to happen, a rolling blind spot.

That is an Arizona Z manifold. I recognize it from an old catalogue of theirs. It's designed for more even air distribution. That's all I know.

RacerX, That's what my buddy said. He used the same paint in dark blue and said he had to really bear down on it to get a shine. He used a 3M product. For some reason, back when I did mine, I used 2 PPG products, 1 compound and 1 polishing product specific for my freshly laid paint. It was some special "chemical" process as it had no real grit residue on my buffing wheel later. I used the wool and waffle sponge pad with it. I wouldn't buy that again. That was 12 years ago. So the details are a little foggy... Anyhow, since then I've noticed on the hood very fine hairline sanding scratches! They are from the body work . The thing was like glass when I did the wet 400/500 guide coat, I swear they weren't there on color sand. I used K36 primer/surfacer, it's lower build than K200 but it sands smoother. So, I'm guessing that either the filler or the primer surfacer shrank. I allowed ample time for each product to catalyze and for solvents to vent and was very conscious of this. I think I even put a heat lamp on it. From the looks of it, they could be 36/80 grit scratches. Which would mean it was the "pinhole" ultra smooth bondo that shrank, --ironic, that is exactly what I used it for!! When I finally get the car together...(I know, I know 12 years?!!) I will hit it hard with the 3M stuff, and see if I can live with the shine and sanding scratches. If not, I will go over it with another couple coats of Concept single. I'll post picks when I'm finally done.

The roof in particular is a big piece to get straight if you mess with the middle. It will oil can on you when you goto sand it unless reinforced from the inside, or spend long hours massaging it straight and much foul language. (Before I got my Z, someone must have sat/jumped on it) You can graft the roof in close to where the factory did it. The factory leaded the roof in just at the opening of the hatch, and somewhere along the front lower pillar. You'll know when you sand through it. The sand paper will run into more resistance, instead of gliding over bare steel. It looks different too. You won't want any lead near your welding joint, as it won't really weld, and will contaminate the weld and undermine it's strength. When creating the joint, try and use lap joints whenever possible, instead of butt, as they are stronger, especially considering you may have to grind down most of the weld and thus strength. A good idea is to use some reinforcing steel or tabs behind where you weld for added strength. Also, I'd build a solid jig that squared up some datum points from a straight z, that way when you frankenstein the Z, you don't have to worry about suspension and drivetrain lining up.

I went through your dilemma and ended up spraying single stage black PPG Concept incase of repair work. It can be clear coated if you want. My regret is I wish I wasn't so concerned with running the paint. The last coat had some orange peel, so I ended up color sanding almost the whole car and compound/buffing it. I really wanted a black glass look. Compared to the non cut paint, the gloss is noticeable. Mostly the depth is gone. The difference is about the same as a washed car, vs a car washed and waxed. I tried to power compound the hell out of it too, still no match for the uncut paint. I will prolly end up clear coating it. If I had to do it again, I'd lay down the last coat fairly wet and worry about the hangers/drips later. Cutting down a couple of drips (you don't want the paint oozing off either) is much better than doing the whole car.

I agree with Jeff,... I believe what causes the bubbling is that most fillers are made of talc and is porous. Like a sponge, the bondo/filler will soak up water from the atmosphere, or from direct rain exposure. The process is, the bondo/filler gets baked by the car sitting in the sun, and the water inside the bondo turns to vapor that cannot escape fast enough through the entry point (paint chip, pin hole, exposed back side, etc...). The resulting water vapor causes the bubbling. If the underlying metal is unprotected, it's even worse, as the metal underneath the bondo will rust, and will pop off from the forces of the rusting metal. So what I do whenever I can is use fiberglass bondo/filler as the base/sealer coat, then follow up with easier sanding/lighter bondo later. That way, water cannot get at the metal as easy. I can't remember the name of the product, but you can buy it at the automotive refinishing store, or a boating store. Basically what you want is a water impervious bondo. Also, if you don't let the bondo fully cure before topcoating, the great vapor escape process also applies.

these wheels are labeled for race use only. Would they bend easily or crack in street use?

ROFL!!! Life can be so much stranger than fiction.

Very sorry for your loss.

I bought a set. They seem decent, but the exhaust is oversized by 3mm. They are the longer non-p90 length. Not sure if they are worth the trouble of fitting new seats and extra machine work.

I'll take a set. For stock fenders.

Congrats!! Hey do they have any ABC stores out there?

Nice job on the cam swap. What size lash caps you have to use? I have a hydro head that was pegged for porting practice, but if you have an economical solution for the conversion to mech. I'm all ears.

Seems like some 4 post lifts are designed for car storage also. I don't know if the 2 post are as safe for holding a car for an indefinite amount of time. I really don't know, but I would feel better being under a 4 poster in the event of an earth quake. Those 2 post Rotary's look nice though... 3k is lowest I could find...hmm..

"...a stock intake from a turbo engine (the turbo manifold actually has 17% larger runners!). I measured all the different manifolds, and found that the stock non-turbo FI manifolds are about 2mm smaller than the intake ports in the head." http://zhome.com/rnt/StealthZ/swebbA1A.htm

Was wondering if there would be any detriment in using the stock intake 44mm valves while going oversized to 38mm on the exhaust. How would that affect drivability/performance? I thought I heard of there being some theoretical ratio for int. to exh? Also, would I have to get new seats, or can they just machine them to fit. I mistakenly bought this oversized set thinking they were stock. They were to go into an otherwise stock P90 rebuild for a turbo street application.

Nice job. Reminds me of Scottie GNZ Darth Vader look, pretty cool. Your milage may vary, but I don't think DP has any UV protection since it's meant as a primer/sealer, so it might degrade (flake off) if exposed to prolonged sunlight. I had DP unprotected on some interior panels and it did this within a couple years. That's what I attribute it to, anyways.

I stayed in HK for about 3 weeks and in China Beijing area for 3 weeks last fall. HK is pretty cosmopolitan. HK is still an international hub, so business people of all kinds are there, however the minority. In HK, I saw possibly 10% non-chinese? Most of the bigger hotels and shops speak english. You can find steak, spaghetti, lobster, sushi, fried chicken, KFC, Mickey D's, 7-11's, etc.... most anything to eat there. It is pretty humid and hot in the summers, like DC, I am told. Felt pretty safe there. Beijing and the mainland is a different story. The main cities are OK, smaller towns would be iffy. I would absolutely get a tour guide/bus tour from a reputable source. Buy a couple of travel books (Frommers). Definitely much more of an effort finding english speakers, as everyone speaks Mandarin. The hygiene can be sorta scary by US standards sometimes. Bring sanitary gel/wet wipes when you go out. Many restaurants and public bathrooms don't supply toilet paper and sometimes paper napkins, so always pack your own toilet paper. Don't drink the tap water. Taxis and sub-way (Octopus Card in HK) are cheap. Subway is a snap once you get the hang of it. Internet access in bigger hotels, some HK coffee shops, and very hard to find scuzzy cyber cafes on Mainland. Certainly an adventure!