SpeedRacer

Yeah, one of the greatest cars I ever owned was a black 1994 300ZX TT. It's an amazing car - very comfortable but went like stink and cornered like it was on rails. Remember the 300ZX TT had very sophisticated aluminum suspension and "Super HICAS" which was rear wheel steering. It was always strange to look under the rear of the car and see a steering rack! R&T Road Test summary indicates the car pulled .91g in stock form. When the car came out in 1990 that was a very impressive number. Actually today that’s still a pretty impressive number and I think just a set of today’s tires with there improved compounds/tread would improve on that number. Anyway, it was a huge jump for the Z car as an earlier copy of the magazine listed that the 1987 300ZXT could only pull .79g. BTW, the 300ZX TT was also speed limited by the ECU chip to 155 MPH! Change the chip, (which eliminated the speed restriction, added a bit of timing and boost) and it would easily do over 185 MPH. When you drove it, it didn't feel as heavy as it was because of the excellent power to weight ratio and superb suspension. Even with some aluminum body panels, mine weighed in at just over 3,400 lbs. All in all the 300ZX TT was (and still is) one of the most impressive sports cars ever made.

I find the comment "Kim is a unique guy. He believes that as much weight as absolutely possible should be added to the FRONT axle, as it makes the z-car more stable at speed. Kinda like a Formula 1 race car is setup. Because of this, he always does Scarab Style conversions." Maybe the old Formula 1 cars but they switched to mid-engine years ago. Hmmmm... why would they put the engine in the middle of all places? BTW, those F1 guys are so nuts that some teams are considering designing a new V-10 (the rules now require a V-10) with a wider V angle so it will lower the CG of the car! Some of those 3.0 litre engines are rumored to weigh just over 100 lbs., produce almost 800 HP @ 19,000 RPM !!! Thanks Pete, we can always rely on you for a level headed analytical response.

Idaho Z Car - No flames here but a couple of comments. I happen to be one of the few that tried the Scarab conversion first and did not like it's effect on the handling or ride of the car so I went through the trouble of switching to the JTR position. You should drive a JTR car sometime. If you drive both hard (and all other things being equal) you will notice a significant difference in the handling of the car. Believe me, there is enough of a difference that you can actually feel it. Sorry, I never ran my car on a track so I can not provide comparison times, etc. Oh, BTW, you don't "lose" the hood latch mechanism - you just have to make a different bracket for it. Also, with a SBC, there is no ground clearence problem with if you stock oil pan. Also, the reason the battery makes such a difference is that it's a heavy sucker and, if you mounted it in the rear, you moved it about 8 feet compared to about 6 inches!

Actually I'm going to cheat a bit on the "Polar Moment" answer by using the Yahoo search engine. Here is a pretty good description: "Rather than some scientific explanation, let’s look at an example that illustrates the concept. Picture your car as a set of barbells with 50 pounds of weights at each end. Picture trying to quickly turn and stop the bar bell while holding it. Because of momentum, it’s hard to turn, and hard to stop turning once it starts. Now, move the weights in close to the center of the bar and try it again. The bar turns, and stops turning, much more easily because the weights have less distance to travel. Reduced polar moment of inertia makes a car feel like it "wants" to change direction. The car feels better and the suspension is easier to tune." BTW, while I was on that web site there was something titled "Stupid Cars" so here is the link. http://www.bryanf.com/cars/stupid.htm Seen the first one here before ut the others are worth the trip!

Here we go again. OK, first, use light weight parts so the engine will weigh about what the L6 you take out weighs. Cool - no change there. Second, if you use the JTR method of conversion, the short (four cyliders long vs. 6 cylinders long) V8 will be completely behind the front axle. This provides about 50-50% weight distribution (vs. 52-48% stock). Hmmmm... improved traction on the rear wheels. Also, they probably won't unstand it, but this improves the polar moment of the car. That's cool too because the car will turn better and be more responsive. Third is the V8 is much lower than the really tall L6 engine that used to be in the car. They might understand that this lowers the center of gravity of the vehicle which will further enhance the handling. Depends an the engine you install but you will have much more torque and horsepower! Sounds like a winner to me. Do it and you will drive circles around them. Then they'll have something different to talk about.

Take a doctor’s tongue depressor, hold in place, scribe outline and cut.

Hmmmmmmmm....... where have I seen those wheels before? http://www.kitcars.com/classifieds/classifieddetails.asp?ClassifiedID=2061 Yup Frank - they look like copies of the late model Ferrari wheels used on the Testarossa or F-40. http://www.motorcities.com/contents/00FQJ353102157.html

BTW, I use a 7/8" Tilton master cylinder with the stock Corvette slave cylinder. It needed just a touch more throw so I also removed the the clutch pedal stop located on the floor under the pedal. This provided a bit more travel and makes engaging the clutch real smooth. A braided stainless steel lines runs between the master and slave cylinder. I'm not sure what Mike C means by drilling out the trans ears because I don't remeber drilling out anything - but then, I could just be having another senior moment! The Vette bellhousiing/slave cyl/fork was made for the very tight quarters of the Corvette tunnel and is absolutely no problem in the Z. I even slotted my motor mounts and set the engine a little farther back (about 1/2") than some.

BTW, I use a 7/8" Tilton master cylinder with the stock Corvette slave cylinder. It needed just a touch more throw so I also removed the the clutch pedal stop located on the floor under the pedal. This provided a bit more travel and makes engaging the clutch real smooth. A braided stainless steel lines runs between the master and slave cylinder. I'm not sure what Mike C means by drilling out the trans ears because I don't remeber drilling out anything - but then, I could just be having another senior moment! The Vette bellhousiing/slave cyl/fork was made for the very tight quarters of the Corvette tunnel and is absolutely no problem in the Z. I even slotted my motor mounts and set the engine a little farther back (about 1/2") than some.

I have a 327 with a T-5 in my car (which is - or was - also a '71 Z) but I used a 1984 and up Corvette bellhousing. It works great and I think it's a cleaner installation compared to the Camaro. Speaking of Camaro, if you use an T-5 from one that was tilted over you will have to make the trans mount a little different to accomidate the 14 degree tilt removal. Also, I had to heat up and bend the shifter straight. The good news is the shifter comes right up through the center of the stock shifter hole and looks like a factory installation. You can check out how it looks inside the car by looking at the picture in the Featured Cars section on this site.

Yes, check out your local glass shop - Guardian Auto Glass came to my house and installed (yes - installed at my house) a brand new tinted windshield for $106. I did however, provide the new rubber seal.

The old JTR manual talks about the engine being offset to the passanger side for steering shaft clearance. Actually this is not unique as quite a few production cars do this as well. The engine should not be rotated though. It should be level in the car. Do you have slots or holes in the old Z car mounting points? Sounds to me like something isn't right with the mounts and/or monuting points.

I think MSA http://www.zcarparts.com/ carries the wiring but you will find it very expensive. I used the 18 circuit Painless harness in my car and found it easy to install. I placed the fuse box over the dead pedal on the drivers side and went from there. I have never had a problem since.

I've got the street/strip Carter pump on my car. I mounted it on the outside of the spare tire well using stove bolts. First I installed some heavy rubber stick-on insulation (same as used inside on floor - picked it up from JC Whitney http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=5312&BQ=jcw2) on both the inside and outside of the well. I also glued some Dynamat to the spare tire cover. The Carter bracket that came with the pump has rubber gromments in it so the pump is "suspended" in rubber. It makes very little noise inside the car and you have to really listen for it once the engine is running.

Check the casting numbers on MorTec http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm If they are: 3932441....69-70...350..........76cc chambers 3932441X...69-70...350/400......80cc chambers On a 305 you will have no compression unless you use pistons with very large pop-up's. Sorry but I would pass BTW, Trickflow Aluminum 23 degree heads have 2.02"/1.60" valves, 64cc chambers and will fit a 305 CID SBC http://www.trickflow.com/product/prfeature_index.htm oooooooooooh - light and fast.

Go to Parr Automotive http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.asp?ZTM=cadefhdb&GHOME=www.parrautomotive.com&TITLE=Parr_Automotive an buy a Alan Grove AGC-AL-215R and a long waterpump. If you don't have the tapped hole in the head you will need a AGC-AL-215RO to go with it. Don't forget you will need a new crank and waterpump pulley so it's a good time to go billet!

They look like Talbot http://www.talbotco.com/talbot_mirror.htm mirrors but if they are they won't be cheap.

Thanks Pete - Actually it's my fault because I should have let you know when Zing closed down. BTW, I think your site is pretty darn good. Fast and easy to navigate plus tons of great information. Also, your car is lookin' really good and I love the awesome paint job!!

Hi Pete - yeah Zing sent me a notice that they where sutting down. I tried PhotoPoint http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1743399 but they only allow 10 pics with a paying membership. I also tried ofoto but it doesn't look like they allow anything other that a title on the pictures. I guess I'll have to breakdown and build a real web page. I've just been to busy and a photo album was easy. A anybody here have any other suggestions? So thanks Pete and, if you would mind, please change the link on your site to the PhotoPoint URL for now and I'll let you know what I come up with. It's about time I worked on some new pictures anyway. Since I live near Meadow Brook Hall I think I will take it over there for some shots.

You might want to pick up some Crane (or similar) Engine Assembly Lube. A quote from their site: "Crane Engine Assembly Lube is specially formulated to provide extra lubrication protection to engine components during assembly, and to provide outstanding resistance to scuffing, wear and friction during critical break-in. This lubricant is recommended for use on several different engine components, such as: rocker arm fulcrum balls, needle bearings, roller tips or rocker shafts; timing chain sprockets and gears; roller lifters and roller camshafts; engine bearing surfaces; outer surface of hydraulic or mechanical lifter bodies (use Super Moly Lube [paste] on face of these lifters)." I don't know if the moly grease you used will penetrate the pores of the metal. If it doesn't the rocker or ball will fail. There is a huge amount of sliding force on those two pieces. If Molybdenum Di-Sulfide isn't properly applied to the cam as well as the ball and rocker than there is a very, very good chance that they will fail at low mileage. If it was my engine I would pick up the proper lube, remove the rockers, clean them up and re-lube them with a right Moly lube. Just my $.02

Summit has one - part # SUM-G1660 $157.95 http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=Department.asp?d=11 I've got one on my car and it works fine.

Hi staledale - my wheels are custom made by Dayton Wire for the GTO kit. They are chrome 15x8" up front and 15x10 in the rear Just like the real GTO they have 72 stainless steel spokes and real knock-offs. I bought them from Jim Simpson http://www.simpsondesign.net/ who gave me a really good deal on them. BTW, Jim is a great guy and used to sell the GTO kit as a Rhino a few years ago before he sold the molds to Stable Autoworks. Thanks for the compliments on my car but please don't blame me! BTW, I dug out my old notes and Fred Wynkoop's phone number is (was a few years ago) (813) 343-9229. Good luck on your project and let me know if I can be of any help.

I have the GTO dash from John Washington (VR Engineering)in my car. Check out the picture in the 'Featured Cars" section on this site. Sorry, I don't have a shot of the Jim Simpson type GTO dash.

Fred Wynkoop has a Jag V12 with a T-5 in his Ferrari GTO replicar based on a '74 Z. He used to live at 7955 3rd Ave., St. Petersburg, FL but I don't know if he is still there.

BTW, John Washington at VR Engineering has two different fiberglass dashboards. One like mine (Alphabet GTO) and a different GTO type made originally by Jim Simpson. The Alpha dash is designed to use the original guages and looks like leather but is really black fiberglass. You remove all the vinyl and foam from the stock dash all the way down to the metal skeleton. Then you mount the new dash to the old frame and fill in the gaps with expanding foam (i.e. Great Stuff). Both dash boards are nice but don't have glove compartments (but you coud make one). I just bought an MSA armrest and put everything in the center console.