Alf

Hey guys and gals, The task of building a set of headers for the VG30 hot rod is quickly aproaching and depending on what kind of answers I get here could greatly affect the design. My question is this: Is it acceptable to run the O2 sensor on only one bank of the engine? I know stock the VG has joined manifolds and the O2 sensor is directly after they join. The engine I am using is a bone stock NA VG30e from an 84 300ZX. The reason I'm asking is because connecting the pipes is going to require some extra work, but I want to do this the right way. So is it good practice to run the O2 on only one bank of cylinders?? Thanks.

I run an M20 Muncie in my 69 Camaro. It's a good tranny, but I can only go about 65 comfortably with 3.73 gears and 28" tires. I run a Saginaw three speed in my 300ZX which is also 1:1 final drive ratio. That car has 3.70 gears and 26" tires, I screamed that engine from KS to NJ at about 4,000 RPMs, I was doing 71 mph. The good thing about the Muncie is that it is small and light, somewhere in the range of 85lbs, and pretty darn tough. I've dumpped the clutch in my Camaro at five grand with slicks, it just lifts the left front and books. In a small car like a Z I think it would be really hard to break. The way to tell them apart is the stamping where the two halfs join, there will be a few numbers and either an A, M20, B, M21, or C, M22. M20 - wide ratio - 2.201.641.281.00 M21 - close ratio - 2.521.881.461.00 M22 - "rock crusher" - 2.521.881.461.00 As can be seen the M22 and M21 have the same "close" ratios. A commom misconception is that "close ratio" reffers to the shifter throw and that it is shorter, it's not, all transmissions have the same shifter throw with the same shifter. Close ratio just means the ratios are more tightly spread. The M22 is called the rock crusher because the gears are straighter cut, they are NOT straight cut, just straighter than the M20 and 21. From what I've heard from old muscle car guys is that when a Muncie breaks it blows up the cluster gear and usually takes out the main case.

You ever try to adjust one of those? Taking the transmission out three times in one afternoon to adjust free play isn't my cup of tea. Besides, you could make that bracket yourself and adapt a common or universal slave cylinder, it would be much cheaper.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_hcr3.htm Found this on the HAMB, looks nice and simple.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/eritchie/ http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/chevy/1059600939/1059600939ss.htm http://www.camaromustangchallenge.com/ http://www.geckoranch.com/cars/gekko_racing.html I too have been searching for info on this topic. I have an 84 Z28 HO that I want to run in the SCCA American Sedan class, looks like alot of fun.

Update #9 3/6/07 Good day everyone, Well Monday has come, the body isn't finished, but progress has been made. It has consumed about 60 ft. of 1/2 square tube in roughly two days, it doesn't go as far as one might think. However, it is starting to look like something, even though it's just a skeleton, you can see the finished product emerging. Did I mention this thing is tiny? The seat width for two people and a d-shaft tunnell is only about 42", good thing I'm skinny. I'm thinking another 48 ft. of tubing should be enough to finish the cowl skeleton and floor, then I need to make some sort of fastening system for the body. Another project coming up is the pedal assembly. I'm planning on using the 300ZX pedals out of my donor car, though, by time I'm finished with them they most likely will not be recognizable anymore. Enough with the chit-chat already, check out the pics... My dad sent me some goodies from home last week, which included the Pathfinder rear d-shaft yoke. Here you can see the difference in size compared to the 300ZX R200 yoke. For the time being, I cobbled the two shafts together for mock up of the body. Check it out... structure. The old cowl was still good for something. This is how I fabbed the radiused bars for my new cowl, after cutting slits through three of the four sides of the tube every half inch for about eight inches I could bend it to the shape I needed. It was a little tricky getting matched pairs, but it's not a bad way to go about it. Once welded and ground smooth you'll never know. BAM! Now that's more like it. To get to this point I tacked the front hoop (for lack of a better name) right to the frame, it leans back at a five degree angle. The rear hoop was tacked to the rear section of the body at the desired height. Then, I just connected them with some lengths of straight tube, then proceeded to run out of tubing right as I was getting into the swing of things. Side view. They turned out very symmetrical. The green bar is a street sign post I found on the side of the road (okay, so I ripped it out of the ground, I needed it) it's tacked in place to keep everything stable and square. The rear section of the body is also tacked to the frame so nothing can move. So that's where it stands at the moment. The body shouldn't take too much longer to complete, but when it's done, I'm going to need help taking it off the frame. Spring break is coming up in a couple of weeks and instead of driving south and partying for the week I'm staying in the shop, and the old man's coming out to give me a hand, so stuff is really gonna start to come together. My goal is to have it driveable by May 5, which is a car show here at my college. It's ussually freaquented by some super high dollar cars like; Maybach's, Mercedes, Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, Lotus', and others, I'm looking forward to pulling in with open pipes on the VG and stealing all the attention haha, I can't wait. Thanks for the visit, till next time. Alf *SIDE NOTE* Some of you may be wondering what a hot rod has to do with a Z forum, or why I'm posting all this stuff. Besides the fact that the car has many Z and Nissan related components in it, I wanted to show this project so that maybe someone can learn something from it. In the process of building this car I have come across many obstacles and I've ended up doing things twice many times. By showing what I have done and the processes that are involved, I hope to eliminate that for the people that may be doing the same general project. Besides, fabrication is fabrication, and I just thought you guys might want to see what is possible with a welder, a right angle grinder, and a colorfull imagination. So to anyone wondering, there's why. I hope you guys and gals are enjoying this project and if you have any questions, comments, or criticism feel free to PM me. Thanks.

If you don't mind front wheel drive or Fords you may want to check into Escorts, which may be easier to find in the mid west. I have a 92 with the indestructable 1.9 with 150 thousand miles, I paid $500 and maybe another $100 on a timing belt and other misc. parts. I get anywhere from 32-38 mpgs, handles pretty good too.

Thanks for the reply. A nice light Fox body Mustang would probably run good, but I already have three third generation Camaros, one of which is a 84 hard top Z/28 HO which I plan on using. The rules on engine specs seem pretty basic, they even give casting numbers of blocks and heads that can be used which should keep the cost down, plus you can only run 305's which nobody wants anyway. All said I will not be doing this alone, a good friend of mine whos been racing a Corvette in autocross for three or four years is going to team up with me. He's got some pretty extensive knowledge on chassis setup, I'm fairly good at building and tuning carbed SBC's, and were both good at fab work, so I think we can do it. Plus we have access to a full shop, complete with lifts, lathes, presses, welders, and a full engine room and dyno, so we have the resources. Not saying that we'll be competitive at first, but who cares, I just want to build a race car and run around a track, sounds fun.

I've been looking into this lately for the sole reason that I have basically everything I need to build a car and I realy dig the 60's style trans am vibe this series has. Has anyone had any experience with something like this? I know that it is a pretty serious racing series and the cars are true race cars and take alot of work to make ready (I've already read the rules twice and it seems very doable) which I am prepared for. I also know that you must have a licence to run in American Sedan. How difficult is it to obtain a licence? Expenses of licence? Just thought I'de shoot it by you guys as I know many of you race SCCA. Thanks for any info.

Update #8 2/26/07 Greetings to all, There hasn't been much progress lately due to much figuring and indecision. I have never built a hot rod before, let alone a car from scratch so this is a serious learning experience on both accounts, and the process can be slow at times. I basically have the blue print of the body in my head, and now I'm just waiting on more 1/2" tube and some sheet steel. I figure within a week I should maybe have a body, we'll see. I'm still pondering my options on the front axle and trying to scrape up some money to buy what I need to get it together, I'll probably sand-blast and detail what I have in the meantime. Sadly, for now all I have are three measly pictures... This is how she looks at the moment, notice there's no more wood, rivits, or green paint. You can see the beginnings of the 1/2" tube frame, when finished it will cross the floor and incorporate the cowl all in one welded unit. The last couple of days I was really searching for something to do, so I decided to fab up my oil pan bash guard. It's just some 1/16" plate and 3/4" tube, and to all the eagle eyed readers, yes it is offset on purpose. Guard tacked in place, this should even provide some chassis stiffening also. That's all folks, be sure to check back for updates. So long. Alf

Check these links out, they should be helpfull. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=118962 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=104866 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116185 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108065

Update #7 2/21/07 Hello Everyone, Well, big changes are afoot, don't worry they're for the best. I had a revalation late one night while I was staring at the little roadster. All I saw was hundreds of rivits, wood I found on the side of the road, and rust holes and patches everywhere. I figured all the work I had put into this thing and it looked like I pulled it from a lake. So I decided to start from scratch and rebuild the body, and fab my own cowl that doesn't make the car look so fat. So, after I tore everything apart, and wondered what the hell I was doing, things started to come together. The rear section and "doors" are all one peice now with a frame work of half inch tube. I'm still waiting on the sheet metal for the cowl so I'm not sure how that will turn out. I also decided that I'm going to paint it, I had originally planned to leave it because of the lettering on the doors, but its just too rusty and ugly. As for the front suspension, me and a friend spent three hours with a torch and a hammer to get the king pins out. The spindles turned out to be junk, now I need more parts so I set that aside and turned to the body which can be done rather cheaply. Hang in there, pictures are coming soon, thanks for stopping by.

I'm a full time student attending McPherson College for my bachelors degree in auto restoration. http://www.mcpherson.edu/technology/ During the summer I work with my father as an operator/ diesel truck and farm implement mechanic. I've also been working full time on the VG30 hot rod project, it needs to be done by May.http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116127