DAW

If you look back through the Mopar site threads there are a few links to Rustoleum Canada and you can click a tab for Tremclad and there are different color chips than the US Rustoleum colors. Choose the basic blue, gray, etc from the left table and several shades of each color come up. It's possible that the Tremclad is a non-US formula due to different EPA regs, etc. A good excuse for a Canadian ski trip for me.

P90.

I appreciate the post on the early/late R180 swap. I'd figured that the swap could be done by swapping side gears but I never realized that there was a removeable "button that makes it far easier. If I'm reading the post right, you are describing how easy it is to swap, say an R180 "K" 4.38 front differential from a 720 4WD pick-up (which uses CV's) into a 240Z while retaining the stock axle shafts (U-joint, bolt-in)...am I correct? Thanks for the info. DAW

There was a schizophrenic lady that used to walk around our town talking to herself. One time I was driving my Datsun pick-up at night with my three little boys in it and we went by her and my dash lights just happened to cut out right then. I figured out later that I could put some pressure on the light switch and make it happen at will. Several times thereafter when we happen to pass the woman walking at night the dash lights "spontaneously" went out and the lady became known as the "Light Lady" because I told my boys that she had a force-field around her and it made the lights go out. You'd think they'd figure it out...DAW

drzed, you said the rods are 9mm bolt but didn't say whether they are L18/28 or L16/24 rods. If they are L28 (L28ET rods come shot-peened) then a set of L24 rods will help (then you have to deal with positive deck ht but the right gasket will fix that. Assuming you have L24 (133mm c-c) rods in there and have that much piston dish and additional below-deck volume, I think you should forget an N42/47 L28E head and consider a Maxima L24E N47 head. You can keep your O-ringed block and end up with a workable c.r. You'd need to install L28 (N42-length) intake valves/seats and valvesprings but I think it's a better solution than decking the block. Toyota 3S-GTE rods are 138mm and the right BE width and 9mm bolts but have a smaller BE dia. (0.080" smaller than the L6's) so you could have your LD28 crank offset-ground to use those rods...it would have to be in the "destroke" direction...you'd lose one mm off the top-extent of the crankthrow so you'd be down in the hole just over 2mm instead of the one...and you are adding 5mm rod length (assuming you have L24 rods) which would then bring the piston almost 3mm positive deck...any room to trim the top edge of the piston to reduce compression ht? The Toyota rods use 22mm floating pins so you'd have to bush down to 21mm if the JE pistons have 21mm pins. You need to know the compression ht. of the pistons you have and verify that there are L24 rods in there and not L28. DAW

Cameron, the L28ET shortblock uses stronger shot-peened rods (L28E does not) and even thought he pistons both have 10.9cc dish, they are different part #s between the P90 turbo engine and older N42/47 na engine. That is not the big issue, though, between hanging a turbo exhaust manifold/turbo onto your engine (even with a P90 head on it and therefore same c.r. as a L28ET) and a factory L28ET engine...it is all in the engine mgmt. You can probably get by with what you are considerring doing if, AND ONLY IF, you use turbo injectors and fuel pump AND a Nissan ECCS for an L28ET, OR you go to a stand-alone engine mgmt system such as Mega Squirt-and-Spark or SDS or similar system. Don't waste your time and money trying to run a turbo engine (especially without intercooler) with an analog-based systen from '75 vintage L28E because you are going to melt the pistons in short order if you do. Piston preservation is your goal and the L28ET ECCS or better is the only way your are going to accomplish this. Knock-sensing is critical, without it, it's not if, but when; your engine is toast. If you can pull the injectors, fuel pump, ECCS (ECU and harness), turbo exhaust manifold/turbo, (just pull the whole P90 top-half...leave the manifolds on and pull head bolts and put the P90 top onto your N42 shortblock) and install an intercooler then you'll be in pretty good shape as long as you pay attention to turbo engine mgmt. Unless you do all of this...then you'd be better off using your N42 top-half on an F54 flat-top piston shortblock from an '81-'83 L28E and going the na route at 10:1+ compression.

Oops, try: http://www.autohausaz.com/mitsubishi-auto-parts/mitsubishi-starion-parts.html DAW

No, I know what it is...check the last few sentences of the last paragraph of this article...http://www.autohausaz.com/mitsubishi-auto-parts/mitsubishi-starion-parts.html...there is an electrical solenoid that is rpm-actuated that then hydraulically actuates a second (larger) intake valve into action which increases breathing dramatically. 350hp from the 2L Sirius DASH turbo engine which uses a throttle-body injector system. I'm going to use the head on a 2.4L and multi-port injection turbo set-up. DAW

So do you know what the DASH head is? DAW

I've got a Mercedes 3.2 V6 dohc aluminum-block engine that has a front-sump oilpan that could possibly be a candidate for the Starion. It is a very lightweight engine...the last thing that car needs is more weight. It seems like everything in that car is too heavy; bumpers, seats, dashboard, etc. It would be a fun car to gut. I was toying with the idea of putting a mid-engine/transaxle in a Starion parts car I have but that is so far down on my list that I doubt it will happen. I think it's possible though. There was a guy autocrossing a Civic around here that had an Acura V6/transaxle instead of a backseat and it worked well. DAW

I've got one and it's a great car at speed but cumbersome and heavy feeling around town. Mine's an '87 and I've heard the '89 steering is quicker so I'd like to convert if any of you have spare parts? I am going to switch engines at some point, the G54B 2.6L just doesn't seem too refined. I just bought a Sirius Turbo DASH head (do you know what that is?) for $50 off Ebay and picked it up locally so I plan on building an engine around a G64 base engine to use the head on. I'm too lazy to make a rear-sump pan to build that engine for a Z car (unless someone knows if there's a Mitsubishi applic for rear-sump G64??) DAW

I'm building an L4 for my Zcar using an LZ22S block and L20B crank and I'm looking for an LD20T exhaust (turbo) manifold. I'd like to get an LD20 intake manifold also but the exhaust is the main thing. There's a complete set of both manifolds and turbo as an assembly on the NZ site TradeMe.co.nz right now for "Buy-Now" for $80 NZ dollars (no bids at $50 NZ so far). The problem is I can't bid because I can't register/log-on unless I'm a NZ resident; which I'm not, plus ad states local pick-up so I need a middle-man. Why don't one of you offer to buy this item for me, once I PayPal you 50% of the amount as a down payment and you C.O.D. the item for the balance as a gesture of your warm international diplomacy, fellow-Z'ophile comradarie, and general good-naturedness? DAW

Rear sump, motor mounts at the front of the block, bulletproof overbuilt engine, fairly abundant parts out there (factory option twin Solex sidedrafts, performance cam, etc.)... Probably heavy for a 4 cyl, but 87mm bore, 83mm stroke, OHC,...turbocharge? I searched and didn't see much. Has anyone done it? DAW

Do you have the overall dimensions for the Neon conversion lights? DAW

I don't know what the hinges supplied with the front-end look like, but on a car (non-Z) that I put a one-piece front-end on I reversed and adapted a set of hood hinges from a rear-hinged hood car to serve as the hinges for the front-end unit. The advantage was that as the front-end tilted forward, it also moved up and away from the chassis which avoided some interference problems. I don't know what source to suggest, you'd just have to start looking at JYs and get creative. I like the design of the hinges on my Mercedes because there is a method of releasing the normal stop which then allows the hood to open 90 degrees and lock there (I can pull the engine/trans without removing the hood. I don't know if this helps at all, but food for thought. DAW

Speaking of Turbo Tom, I read he died, along with his wife or girlfriend, in a car accident...I think it was about 6 months ago. That guy is a legend. DAW

Rudypoochris, I was thinking like you and was checking out my Maserati Biturbo Spyder wanting to lower the underhood temp. I found two rubber plugs about 2x3" each at the trailing edge of the underside of the hood. These plugs were located over the cowl/wiper linkage area but the space they plugged comunicates with the space between the hood surface and the structural webbing (which is like a ductwork since it is open to engine compartment air in some places). Long story short; after removing the two plugs in my hood which established ducting between the top of the engine compartment and the cowling area, my underhood temperature is lower than before removing the plugs as evidenced by the less frequent operation of the automatic thermostatically-controlled electric fans at shutdown of the engine. Prior to removing the plugs the fans used to run for 3-5 min after shutdown; now they seldom run at all. I do note that the in-cabin ventilation is not as fresh (not surprising since the vents are now sampling underhood air instead of 100% outside air). I'll run it like this for top-down weather and replace the plugs for colder weather. Something tells me that the two plugs weren't arbitrarily put there. DAW

I'm far less concerned about the trim pieces (I'll settle for trimming them with chrome-plastic door edging as I did on the 240Z plexiglass covers)...I think the big thing is the clear covers themselves. Nissan-style trim rings would be great but the covers are what I'm after most. If someone could fabricate some decent G-nose headlight covers at a reasonable price it seems like there is demand enough to make it worthwhile. Trim rings could follow. DAW

The nismo Y-pipe is a thing of beauty. Flowmaster sells junctions that are nicely made and will merge two 2 1/2" pipes into one 3", and from that you can taper down to a single 2 1/2" or 2 1/4". The stock 240Z exhaust is about sufficient for one set of 3 cyls., so you could get creative and bolt two systems together for dual exhaust, but the single is less fuss and less weight. DAW

I'm not trying to or risking being rude, your comment had been covered in my initial post and I'd abandoned that evolution long-since within the thread itself... There's a space issue, a system capacity issue (turbos are twin, one per bank of V-6 18-valve heads...I'm abandoning this thread becvause I just remembered there's a Z-Hybrider stationed in Naples, Italy looking out for Euro Zcar parts for me...I've got to get in touch and have him look for the dohc 24-valve heads for me which I believe just bolt-on to the block Aluminum block). Hey, you also just gave me a great idea! For some reason this just popped into my head... we inline 6 cyl'ers should look to esoteric or little-appreciated V-12 aluminum heads in interesting configurations (Jag, BMW, Bentley, Lamborgini, Ferrarri, etc).

You missed the detail...totally.

I appreciate the input and now that I've pondered it, I've even reconsidered using the 1st gen DSM bov in the left post-intercooler tubing (that's most accessible). There's an auxilliary air source tube about 7/8" dia. which runs from the junction of the two post-intercooler pipes (one from each turbo) right before the throttle valve, to an electric solenoid valve which allows auxilliary air into the plenum under cold-start conditions (normally closed when at operating temp). I'm just going to plumb in a Porsche/Saab type Bosch compressor by-pass valve (about 1" inlet/outlet) with a tee fitting into the line I've described. I think this will provide a suitably-sized relief for the turbo(s) sizes and provide a balanced relief for both turbos. I know that it's not a huge amount of surge I'm dealing with but I see no rationale to not eliminate it when it can be done so easily. If it works well I'll pass it along as it may be an easy route to plumb a bov without going to a lot of hardware and hassles for lower p.s.i. street-purpose cars. DAW

Make sure your cyl head or water temp sensor is plugged in, or if it is, make sure it is not defective and giving an infinite ohm (open) signal to the CPU. DAW

I thought I'd pass this along as a public service announcement... I bought a set of wheels recently for one of my non-Z cars and was amazed at the quality and price. They are a discontinued style but I think they look better than some of the current ones. I bought 4 new TSW Hockenheim 9x16" wheels complete with lugs, center caps and valve stems, all new in sealed boxes for $299 plus shipping...the whole thing to my door was $350 total. Company name is . I haven't checked what's available for my 4 and 5-lug Z cars from them but what a deal I got for my Mercedes! DAW

Thanks, Jon. I'm relieved to hear that and it just doesn't seem like something catastrophic is wrong because it drives fine, makes no noise, and doesn't feel like there's any excess driveline lash when driving. This is the first Torsen design LSD I've driven so I don't know what to expect. BTW, when running a viscous LSD is there any reason or justification to using a LSD additive/modifier to the differential fluid? My impression is that there is no need to use an additive since the LSD function is accomplished by silicone viscosity properties within a self-contained case and is independent of the properties of the diff fluid used (re LSD properties). Naturally, you'd want a high quality diff fluid to manager heat/friction in the diff, but LSD additives? DAW