RTz

Dawn dish soap.

I no longer intend to use it, so I would be willing to sell it. $175 shipped.

You don't need it. In fact it may CAUSE trouble. Run a small gauge wire, that's hot with the key on, to the field terminal of an LT1 alternator and it will work beautifully. Depending on how the car is wired you may need to put a diode in line. You'll know you need it when you turn the key off, and the car keeps running

They are not. The 510 is considerably narrower. It was irrelevant in my case because I used nearly the entire BMW front suspension, including crossmember, and left the geometry fairly close to stock BMW. The BMW racks are a much closer match to the S30 geometry than a 510.

I haven't installed one in a Z, only a 510... http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/74875-510-bart-sr20det-powered-wbmw-suspension/ It was a rack from a 3.2 liter E36 M3 ('96+) ZF quotes their rack ratio's in millimeters per revolution, from the on-center position. Here are a few choices... 3.0 liter E36 M3 ('95) - 39mm/rev. It is variable ratio and gets much quicker near the ends of it's travel. 3.2 liter E36 M3 ('96+) - 45.5 mm/rev. Z3 (4cylinder) - 53.5mm/rev. I put one of these in my E30 M3 and loved it. Reduced the lock-to-lock from 3.5 turns down to 2.75 There are several others available and they are externally 'similar' (it's common for people to swap them between BMW models with little effort). Also, from what I've witnessed they typically have a little more total travel than an S30, so you shouldn't loose any turning radius. Here is a picture of a 1995 M3 rack I have here...

Surprisingly, that doesn't help. 1998 was the one year you could get BOTH the Gen 2 AND the Gen 3 motors. Give us a picture and we can confirm what gen. you have. It might be a good idea to send a picture of the heads you're talking about, too.

It's only been two day's, Chief. Sit back, relax, and practice your Zen. Since you have not mentioned what vintage car this is for, we are left guessing it's the '78 in your signature. If so, you have misinterpreted the FSM. The stock gauges have their own dedicated senders for both water temp and oil pressure. They are independent of the sensors for the EFI. I'll give you a hint... the water temp sender for the water temp gauge is a one-wire. The water temp sensor for the EFI is two-wire. There is a safety switch in the oil pressure sender that can be delt with different way's, but that is up to you. Go back and have another look.

My highly honed opinion is... put the dust cap back and you'll be fine.

No, it doesn't say that. It says "No thoughtful modification that enhances performance or styling will be put down" It also says "But the emphasis is on FUNCTION, not the addition of graphics, wings, etc. to only make the Z LOOK like it is a high performance car." You must take the whole rule and not single out the bit that fits your agenda best. You don't get to omit verbage that doesn't suit you. We wrote the rules. We understand their intent. Okay? No. We're here because there is a portion of Z owners that believe in brand loyalty. We don't. Hence, this forum was born to serve a specific purpose for like minded enthusiasts. Rendering a Z useless for anything other than a photograph isn't cohesive with the purpose of this forum, any more than purism is. Why are you taking this personally? I think no more, and no less of you because of what you've done to your car. It's yours for petes sake. Do as you like. Just have the sense to realize that it doesn't fit in to this forums objectives. And it doesn't have to.

1) "stance"... Subjective 2) "eye of the beholder"... Subjective 3) "abstract painting"... Subjective 4) "music"... Subjective 5) "The ride, while stiffer than stock, is comfortable"... Subjective 6) "drifting"... Subjective You did mention MPG, so I'll concede that one. I see what you did there

Ben, Every example you've given is subjective. Performance is generally more tangible or objective... Did you improve your fuel economy, grip, down force, dyno sheet, structural rigidity, lighting, braking, interior noise levels, lap times, HVAC, etc, etc, etc. Many of these things can easily (or reasonably) be quantified. Unlike art. But, if you want to use subjectivity as a marker, then let's approach it from this perspective. I'm a guy that can appreciate nearly all genre's of music. However, when I tune to KROQ, I don't expect to hear Rachmaninoff. Mind you, I enjoy Rachmaninoff, but not mixed in with my Queensryche. I tune to a different station when I want to hear Dizzy Gillespie. It's not hard, and not unreasonable, in my opinion.

Ouch!

Form over function is fine. It has it's place. Further, it's your car, so do with it what you like regardless of what others think. HOWEVER, when it becomes extreme it doesn't belong here. When your mindset is this... ...you're in the wrong place. There are other forums that cater to that life style, and they'd love to have you. It's out of context here.

For those of you with an interest in automotive 3D modeling, this company takes their work pretty seriously... http://www.3dengineers.co.uk/

Of production car racks, I like the BMW stuff. They are only a smidge wider (inner joint to inner joint) than an S30 rack, come in a variety of ratios, and have good feel/feedback. I don't care for the way Subaru racks feel. As mentioned, the mid-80's Mustang/T-bird rack is a choice. They come in at least two ratios (the quicker ratio being quite quick), and are slightly wider than an S30. I don't have an opinion on their feel. This is the rack blueovalz used. I'm not sure how much he's documented it here, though. It was a write-up in his book that I bought about 2 century's ago. Now that I think about it, I have one of these floating around the shop that I had intended to use and never got around to it.

Nice find, Mike! My '98 coupe is mostly stock, with exception of Vorshlag's AST & spring package. I find it takes a little more coaxing in the twisties than a well prepped street S30, but it's a terrific compromise between civility and capability, and the feel is still reasonably direct.

I've got a used one in good condition. $40 shipped.

That's correct, but I didn't really say anything to give it away. If my rain comment threw you, sorry. I'll say it differently... with more aggressive ramps, you should get a higher TBR at the same preload setting. I was able to get good lock up under accel, without running the excessively high preloads that can cause a car to push on turn-in, particularly in lower traction conditions. If you shallow out all the ramps to the same degree, the accel/decel bias should remain unchanged. In my case, I only shallow'd out the ramps that are active under acceleration. That changed the bias. I'm not sure if it technically became a 1.5, but it should tilt it in that direction.

Jon is half right. I didn't make one, but I did re-cut the ramps of an E30 M3 diff. It's do-able, but you've gotta want it. Trying to keep the tangential intersects intact takes a little forethought and respect for what you're doing. Also, I threw a fairly expensive carbide end mill in the garbage. I violated this particular diff for my own car. It was worth it. I had the corner exit bite of a more aggressive diff, but I hadn't lost drive-ability in slippery conditions (it occasionally rains in the Pacific NW). If I were to do it again, I would consider making a pair from scratch. Jon would know better than I, but I'm guessing a quality case harden would probably be up to the task. If so, an ambitious guy could spend a great deal of time tuning his car via the diff. Sorry for the hi-jack, Jon. I haven't yet come to terms with the helical diff. Not because it can't work, but because if it doesn't, I'm not experienced with them enough to deal with it. A CLSD, on the other hand, is very tunable, as you know.

12" Crescent wrench on the cam lugs (lugs, not lobes) and a 1/2" breaker bar/socket on the bolt.

Someone buy this man a beer.

Figured it was about time to post up drawings/dimensions of the motor mounts and diff adapter. PDF's attached at the end. These will print in their intended scale on 11x17 paper... Motor Mounts & Diff Adapter.pdf

Dang Bo, no grass growing under your feet. Looks very nice!