BRAAP

NO turbo, (have never had a Turbo Z car, at least yet any how) This was an N/A '75 L-28 short block dished pistons. Head was an N-47 from a '77 car, (same as the '75-'76 N-42, but with round exhaust ports with liners). Here is a picture of that engine as it ran described above. The EFI is bone stock, AFM, injectors, manifold throttle valve, etc all original '75 parts, just cleaned up cosmetically with a 1" diameter aluminum tube as a fuel rail, nothing special. Oh, I forgot to mention one little detail (sorry guys). I did un-shroud the valves in the head and blended the back side of the exhaust seat into the liner, no work in the intake, valve job was just a kiss on the valves and seats. For those keeping score at home, that cylinder head was my VERY first attempt at enhancing cylinder head flow, and what started the ball rolling for our business as it is today.

So who wants Oxy Moronic?

I need to back up. Sorry about that. As Jon mentioned above, first off verify your timing and AFR’s are in check using a dyno. That will give you a good solid baseline for verifying if changes in tuning either improved or hurt, and where those improvements were made or lost. If your timing and AFR’s are not in check, just throwing parts at it won’t help. Tune tune tune… That is how I get a BONE stock, 8.1: compression L-28 in 2800 lbs Z car with stock EFI, stock throttle stock cam, to run 14.4 @ 97. It took me 3 years of tuning, but for a stock L-28, it ran REALLY well, and even got 28 MPG on the freeway! Again, take it to a dyno and verify AFRs are correct and you are getting adequate ignition timing, (34-36 degrees btdc) by 3000 RPM and up.

Uhm yeah, that is stock slow. What was your MPH? I’ve seen un touched L-28 powered 280-Z’s running mid to high 16’s in the mid to high 80 MPH range. For what its worth, a “dialed in” bone stock low compression N/A L-28 with the stock L-28 cam, stock EFI and stock throttle valve, ran 14.4 sec @ 97 MPH, in my ’75 280 that weighed 2800 lbs with me and half tank of gas. It did have a header, recurved ignition, light flywheel, and over 3 years of “dialing it in”. I’d expect a stroker with cam, headers, etc to run at least mid to low 15’s, though mid to low 14’s is attainable. If you are using the stock ECU, one thing that stands out as mismatched is the stock ECU and performance cam. The stock ECU does NOT play well with big cams. Best bet is to keep the cam and step up to aftermarket EFI to make use of that cam and get rid of the AFM from the air steam. That and making sure you are able to run between 34-36 degrees total ignition timing will more than likely get you where that motor should be running, which is a lot better than it is now. By the way, what is your total mechanical advance right now? By that I mean, with the engine is at say 3500-400 RPM, vacuum advance disconnected, how much advance is there? Max power will be 34-36 degrees. That 34-36 degrees should be in by no more than 3000 RPM, more like 2500 rpm or so. If you don’t have a dial-back-to-zero timing light to verify this, typically having the stock distributor set at between 15-17 degrees advance at idle, vs the stock 10-12 degrees is ball park, so long as the mechanical flyweights are working and allowing the timing to advance as RPMS rise. If the engine rattles/pings at this timing setting with pump gas, then your comp ratio is too high and possibly mixture is little lean, as such you'll have to back timing out till it doesn’t rattle anymore, which will be giving up power that engine is capable of producing. Good luck, Paul

WOW!!! Of all the off the wall projects that I’ve seen finished, let alone started, that were done for no other reason than “because it can be done” this one takes first prize. By its design, it is a pretty good show case for the builders/fabricators skills. This is just my personal opinion, but on a scale of 1-10… Execution; 8.5 Aesthetics of the fabrication; 8.0 WOW factor; 9.5 Practicality/functionality; 2-2.5 This sort of project, in my mind anyway, would be more suited to a Chevy Vega, Monza, AMC Gremlin or Pacer, Ford Pinto, Mustang II, Mini Copper, Honda 600, etc. Thank you for sharing.

Miles, VERY nice. Thank you for sharing. Love the video tour. Welcome to HybridZ, Paul Ruschman

How did I miss this...

By the by, yours was altered almost two weeks ago.

Here ye go matey.. Follow da-linky if-ya dare… As thou clickity, all will then be disclosed… Arrghh… Click ME for de title change info...

’70-76 had the deep well, and as far as I know, is the same shape, mold etc. ’77-’78 is a MUCH shallower spare tire well. I can go out and take exact depth measurements with pics of the depth measurements but it will cost you. (We just happen to have an early ’70, a ’72, a ‘73’ early a ’74, a ’75, a ’76, a couple ’77, a couple ’78 cars in various conditions behind and in the shop currently.) ’75-’76 deep spare tire well and full size spare tire ’77-’78 false rear floor with shallow spare tire well/space saver tire

Looking GOOD Gary! Any more pics?

So is this aerodynamic device going to function as designed, to add some down force/add stability at high track speeds, or for "ahem" cosmetic reasons?

Boy, girls, you too Ron, Sup-dejour is still working diligently on the server upgrade, so don’t be surprised if you get blank pages or "Server not available." messages from time to time. I’m sure that when Chicken-Noodle finds his keyboard from under the bundle of wires/cables, he’ll give us an update, till he comes up for air and with a public “everything’s A-OK”, lets try not to pester him too much. Thank you to all who donated and continue to donate. This new server wouldn't be possible without your help. HybridZ staff

There is no cut and dry answer to your question. Price required to get the job done depends on several variables such as your ability scrounge, the quality of the project, and level of WOW factor you will be satisfied with, how much time you are willing to allow this project to consume, etc. The most accurate answer you’ll get, (not knowing your annual disposable income that you are willing to throw at a project like this), is between $852.73 - $37,689.23. Outside of that, start here with the advice given in #11 in this link. After you have done that, then #2 in that same link will help you narrow down the figures quoted above to a much narrower window. http://forums.hybridz.org/announcement.php?f=135&a=2 Good luck.

If this was a car and/or engine swap that is rare, not covered well already on the internet, etc, we would turn a blind eye and let it run its course. A Honda CRX engine swap isn’t going to be hard to find info about, As such…

Found this thread here with a review; http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123246&highlight=Hood+Shocks

The sheer loads of the washers, even if they are loose, shouldn't affect the bolt/stud. Over time maybe they could rub through the bolt/stud, but unlikely as they are being clamped and by design, when the perimeter bolts are tightened, this brace is slightly preloading that clamping force. Interesting. I could see that approach having a bit more benefit by isolating the clamping loads for the main caps and the girdle individually. Good thinking. To make that concept a reality would also mean having to machine the tops of the front 6 main caps, (rear main cap wouldn’t need this). With main caps bolted in the block, the block then on the mill table, machine the flat on the top of the caps to the exact same depth below the pan rail. Then those plates that are welded to the girdle (that sit atop the main caps themselves) all need to be the exact same thickness, (depth below the girdle perimeter after being welded to the girdle). Doable? Yes. Beneficial? In theory looks like it adds a tad more cap stability. Worth the extra fab/machining and time? Maybe not in this application, but for the mega RPM Bonneville racers, I’d put forth that extra effort. This plate in its original design, as Raami has implemented it here, should help keep the main caps themselves from flexing fore and aft in the block, and to a lesser degree, side to side, (there is not much in way of the main caps trying to escape the block vertically so no real need to add vertical support) and also makes the block overall, more rigid, there by allowing the crank main-line to remain truer, especially in heavily loaded conditions such high RPM. For Raami's application, his brace/girdle should add some rigidity to the main line and block structure, full filling its intended purpose with little to no drawbacks, other than an extra gasket surface to seal.

Hmmm... something isn't quite right here. Either the parts quoted, or missing info, or a typo. At least with what I understand of the L-6 and available pistons, head gaskets, cylinder heads, the info you posted above doesn't add up. What engine, what over bore if any, what stroke, what pistons, and what rods, are you using with this N-42 head? Regards, Paul

Hmmm... Lets see here.. '77 or '78 L28, (leaning towards '78 on this one), judging by blur of the valve cover, (and the fan is spinning), crankshaft is rotating at approx 750-800 RPM, transmission is in Neutral, and the parking brake had best be set!!! .

In looking closer, as OTM mentioned, that scuffing could be caused by a broken top ring… At any rate, hope you are able to get it back up and running soon. Take care, Paul

Yeah that does suck for sure. Sorry to see that. I realize this doesn’t matter as the short lock needs to be torn down and rebuilt regardless, I just want point out what that scuffing really is, it is not your wrist pin. 1) Not how the scuff is wide! The wrist pin would leave two narrow gauges in the cylinder wall from the sided of the wrist pin contacting the cylinder wall. 2) Also note that scrape is offset, i.e. not in the same plane as the wrist pin. If looking straight down on the block, standing on the passenger side of the engines, that gouge is closer to the 10:00 position. Wrist pin would gouge the 9:00 position. 3) Also note, that gouge comes up as high as the top ring! Writ pin much lower in the piston. What happened in that cylinder is the top ring expanded to the point the ends butted up together and the ring was “seizing” in the cylinder, yet the piston was still dragging it up and down cylinder causing that scoring. Depending on many how tight that ring was during this, could also break or crack the ring lands on the piston. Yours looks to be pretty mild, pistons “might” be ok, though if you are considering reusing those pistons, they need to be scrutinized “very” carefully. What causes this situation is too much combustion chamber heat, (abnormal combustion which is most likely the cause here hence the blown head gasket), or inadequate cylinder cooling, or ring end gaps too close for the intended application, or any combination of the above. Depending on how long that excess combustion temp was taking place, the piston itself may have also expanded to the point it contacted the cylinder wall. Generally around the wrist pin region of the pistons is where you will see piston scuffing from that situation. For boosted engines, ring end gaps must be a wider due to higher cylinder temps. N/A ring end gaps will due this in a boosted application. As the ring heats up, it expands, you want that gap to be as tight as possible while in operation to minimize blow by, but not to butt together, as this will be the result. Always follow the ring manufactures ring end gap recommendations for the pistons you are using. Again, at this point it really doesn’t matter a whole lot as the short block needs to come down regardless. Just wanted point out what those scuff marks were really caused from.

Wasn't me, this time. . .

You need the length of the bottom so it goes down deep enough to hold the tensioner. The narrow portion must have some length to allow it to go deep enough, approx 4" of straight and narrow, then flair out towards the top. FWIW, Mine is only 9" long, (Blue Point). If yours looks in shape like this one below, then trim the top down so it will clear the cam gear and sit under the cam gear, between the tension and slack side of the chain itself. Hope that helps, Paul