BRAAP

The link you are referencing is a question regarding basic wiring 101 stuff for stereos, along the same lines "how to add oil to your Z cars engine", or "how to inflate the tires on your Z car", not exactly HybridZ material! I agree. This thread pertains to custom speaker boxes, though not high performance in nature, it is custom Z car related. I see no reason to close this thread. Carry on…

Addendum; Some issues regarding the “installation” of these seals has been noticed… The Felpro VITON stem seals were not designed for the L-series, but for Ford V-6 engines. They will work on the L-series and are desirable as they are shorter allowing more retainer to seal clearance, the Viton material is much more resilient and a longer lasting material vs the OE specified seals which generally a Poly Carbonate that becomes brittle over time. When installing the Viton seals, extreme patience and care is required. I’ve installed literally hundreds of those stem seal on L-series heads and learned the hardway, i.e. more than few sets of stem seals trashed during the learning curve. Here is my current procedure for installing these seals. 1) Always use the stem seal condoms over the valve stem to protect the seal from being cut as it passes over the keeper groove. For the L-series, I always cut those stem condoms down to half their length. 2) The top of the guide AND the inside of the stem seal need a thin film of oil. 3) “Carefully and gently” ease the seal down the valve stem till it contacts the valve guide. Now with even more care and precision, and bare hands, grab the metal perimeter of the seal and spin it while pushing against the guide. This will help just start the seal over the guide. This is not a 100% guarantee it will go one without any issues but it does reduce the tendency of the inner rubber to tear and bunch up on top of the guide as it is being installed. Trust me on this!!! 4) Now that you have the seal started on the guide, using your seal installer, (bare hands will NOT push these seals on all the way) the normal tendency is to push them on all the way! Resist that temptation with all your might as the Datsun guides will bulge the top of these seals out, sometimes off to one side leaving a gaping hole between the seal and the valve stem for oil to drain down the guide an into the port and this is also when those springs pop off. 5) Some of these seals are green, some are black, (no idea why the difference, its just what I’ve seen in all the ones I’ve installed, all the same part number). If you notice that the green or black portion has been overly stretched, evidenced by the white stretch marks near the metal shield surrounding the seal, the seal is no longer any good and needs to be replaced. 6) When installing these seals, it is imperative you have an extra set on hand as it is inevitable one or two will get boogered up during install. Some times I can build 5 heads with not one issue, then I can build up 2 heads in a row and end up trashing a couple seals per head. 7) Again, scrutinize the installation of these seals very carefully as they are very finicky and easy to screw up. For mild lift cams on engines that wont see more than 100,000 miles, the poly carbonate seals are a no brainer choice, in my opinion. Here are a couple pics of this seal improperly installed, spring has popped off… This pic below shows the bulging of the green rubber from being installed to far; This pic below shows the gap surrounding the valve stem as a result of the bulging from being installed to far down, i.e. there is more clearance between the valve stem and seal than there is between the valve stem and the valve guide itself!!! You can make out the top of the guide through that gap!!! Oil burner for sure!!! This pic is of the condoms and also shows a normal Viton seal, i.e. NO bulge and spring is intact… This pic shows the FelPro Poly Carbonate and the Viton seal side by side. You can clearly see the height difference.

Can-Am racers used single plane cranks in some of the V-8’s? If so, that is totally cool … I thought all the domestic V-8 powered V-8 Can-Am racers of the ‘60’s utilized the dual plane crank design. I think some played with 180 degree headers?!... I’ll have to dig a bit further into Can-Am engines history. If anyone else has any info on that, please share. As far as I was aware, (till now that is), the only Domestic V-8 single plane cranks used in racing with production based blocks was a couple/few NASCAR teams using 180 degree cranks back in the mid to late ‘90’s, taking advantage of the exhaust wave tuning.

Kiwi, Thank you for the ITB induction link. IR induction would top-off a single plane V-8 perfectly! The top pic, black manifold, is that for a Rover V-8? Regarding the V-8 only posting, I want to apologize if that is how my posts came across. Personally I am preferential to the single plane V-8 topic, tough I can’t let that bias dictate this threads direction. In going back and reading the original posters posts on page 1, post #1, last sentence in post #4, the videos in post #7, that essentially defines the intent and direction of this thread. Exotic “sounding” engine, which single plane V-8’s definitely fall into, as well as the exotic V-12’s the original poster gave us video examples of in post #7. As such, pretty much any engine that mimics or resemblances "that" exhaust note, sport bikes included, should be fair game in this thread. Lately, the newbs posting in this thread are sharing really cool big power engines, worthy of threads all their own, though lacking that exotic note in the exhaust that I feel PrOxLaMuS is looking for, i.e. topic is not so much power as it is the sound. Stay tuned for a dedicated single plane/180 degree/flat plane V-8 engine design/build thread, i.e. topic will be the design and hopefully build up of a V-8 with a single plane crank, discussion of 180 degree headers on dual plane cranks welcome. (All of the rant and lecturing posts will be deleted from this thread within the next week...)

S-13 wannabe '79 Firechicken... ...Definitely' date=' struck with Awe.. [/i'] My $.02; The concept is original and unique. Approach and execution looks pretty darn good. Aesthetically?...

Dave, Did you just call that coarse tumultuous of sound, "warm"?..

Bwhahahaa..

I just figured that the quantity of September birthdays was the result of New years celebrations...

Glad to hear your success.

Happy Birthday Rick!

I’ve tried 2 different USB-serial adaptors with my WOLF V-500, one is the FTDI Chip brand as supplied through WOLF directly, the other is the DIY-AutoTune version. On my Lap top, both work and both are setup on two separate USB ports, though I’m not 100% sure the DIY–AutoTune version would still work if I didn’t install the FTDI Chip drivers first…. Now we also tried my DIY-AutoTune USB to Serial adaptor on Rons laptop for his V-500, prior to installing his WOLF supplied FTDI Chip drivers and the DIY-AutoTune version did NOT work on his lap top. He is successfully using the FTDI Chip adaptor right now. Conclusion; Gambling with a USB to serial adaptor other than the "exact model" of FTDI Chip brand that WOLF sells, appears to be hit and miss.

Welcome to HybridZ, DandyZ. I’m assuming you do not have the JTR V-8-Z conversion manual. The JTR V-8 Z car conversion manual covers in-depth ALL of the Z car gauges function with a SBC conversion, Tach, oil pressure, water temp, speedo, etc. The JTR V-8-Z conversion manual is a V-8 owners bible. I even recommend this manual for the L-6 guys with its great info from cooling to suspension. Trust me, it’s the best $38.95 you’ll spend on your V-8Z. Click ME for the JTR V-8 Z car conversion manual. As an aside, we established HybridZ rule #11 as sort of a prerequisite to those about to dive into a V-8-Z conversion, then after reading it, if any questions arise, post here… HybridZ Rules and Guidlines.

Non resistor spark plugs is one of ANY after-market EMS worst enemies. For MS, no resistor plugs is reset city!!! You'll also want to get plug wires that plays well with after-market EFI such as Nology or Magnecor. Let us know how the new plugs work...

Saturday, I went on a little hike with my middle daughter along the Roslyn Lake wooden water flume. The 3 mile long ALL wooden Flume is being decommissioned, cut into 30 foot long sections and flown out by Helicopter. I have always wanted to hike the flume since we moved here, just never got around to it, so it was no or never… Short story is, in 1906, the lake next to our house was built as a reservoir of water for the power station at the bottom of the hill. The lake was fed from a river up the mountain using a 3 mile long wooden flume. Everything, Lake, flume, power station, Dams, etc, were all built starting in 1906, online in 1913! This year, PG&E decommissioned the power station, flume, dams that fed the flume and drained the lake itself. The lake was well established, (here for 100 years), literally on the corner of our property, thousands of Canadian Geese used it all year round, deer, etc. The lake was even stocked every 2 months with trout and sometimes steel head. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslyn_Lake At any rate, Fuzzy and I, (one of her nick names), started our hike ON top of the flume, for the first mile. Then due to the work from decommissioning, the upper deck was cut out every 30 feet so we dropped down inside and walked the last 2 miles inside the flume. The first ½ mile was surreal the rest was,... you have to experience it to understand. The Flume inside is approx 12 feet across and 8 feet deep, for 3 miles!!!!!! I planned to take my Nikon D-70s, but Ron offered his Nikon D-80 w/the 18-200 VR lens, so off we went, Rons camera in hand. The D-80 is quite noticeably quicker than the D-70s. A HUGE thank you to Ron for his Post Processing efforts with the first two pics. The other three are completely untouched.

RaDeux, First off, you are making an awful lot of assumptions thus creating myths. Lets get your theories and assumptions straightened out first so that you can make and educated decision, not just a blind mythical choice. Secondly, you are doing an awful lot of day dreaming about engine conversion that DO and WILL cost considerably more than you paid for the car originally! Evaluate your financial situation, determine how much money you can contribute to such a swap. Also, when determining cost of a conversions, once that cost is totaled, all belts, hoses, etc accounted for, then double that figure cause it WILL cost twice+ what your think it will, GAURUNTEED! Trust me on this. I and several others on here have converted more than a few Z cars to various power plants, and learned this first hand! I totally sympathize with you regarding the domestic V-8 exhaust note. This is my only personal gripe with the V-8 conversion. With that said, where in the heck did you come up with a SBC not good for a corner carving Z car? A traditional SBC with aluminum heads aluminum water pump, 5 speed and light flywheel and gear-reduction starter, weighs LESS than the L-28 and 5 speed it replaces AND the cars CG will be LOWER, AND the CG generally moves rearward, typically 1-2% rearward using the JTR mounting position! An example of this is my ’75 280-Z, with a 350 SBC and 5 speed, iron heads, iron water pump, only gained 120 lbs over all after swapping out the L-28. Approx 80 of those lbs were gained on the rear tires! This was an autocross car, (corner carver, and daily driver). The N/A L-28 went from 0-60 MPH in 5.7 seconds, 1/4 mile in 14.4 seconds @ 97 MPH. SBC conversion did 0-60 MPH in 4.2 seconds, and the 1/4 mile in 12.3 @ 113 MPH. That car was still very docile, a few members here have driven that car. My wife drove it regularly. Now lets get one more thing straight before you go off on a another mythical dream adventure. All of the engines proposed in this thread have all been proven to produce beyond 500-600, which is more than you want any how. So ALL of them can fill your power needs. ALL of those engine have been swapped into Z cars on this forum in varying degrees of performance and cosmetic appeal, by members offering you advice. Keep this in mind. "A persons knowledge on a subject is only as good as their experience in that subject". Your “experience” on the topic of engine swapping, as you stated, is NIL! Those posting trying to offer help, DO have experience on this topic. Stop trusting your own judgment and stop making up misinformation such as V-8’s aren’t good corner carvers, (you can’t possibly know such things till you’ve done it), and trust what the members are trying tell you regarding engine swaps. They have actually traveled down this road, some more than once. Another big issue here, (other than misconceived ideas), is your budget… If your budget isn’t at least $10,000, (I am NOT kidding or joking here, at minimum, you’ll need $10,000), then your ONLY options for a significant improvement in performance over the stock N/A L-28 is a traditional SBC swap or turbo the L-28. If you can’t come up with at least $5000, then a stock N/A Z car is your car… Now of course, your ability and resourcefulness to scrounge will alter that budget. Everything is compromise. 1) Set your budget! 2) Then ask what might deliver the performance goals you want within your established budget, and we'll help.

Bens1088, You’ve been a HyrbidZ member long enough, you should know better by now. This thread “was” a blatant violation of HybridZ rule #3. I fixed it this time, next time it gets tossed in the shed. Click ME for the HybridZ Rules and Guidelines.

My not so humble opinion of the G-Tech-Pro… The G-Tech pro is a neat toy, and can be a useful tuning tool. But nothing more. The HP numbers from Ghetto Tech Pro is about as useful and accurate as hunting Elk with a Daisy Red-Rider bb gun. I did run my G-tech pro at the strip in the Big Block Mopar-Z at the PIR late night drags, (running the GhettoTech on all four runs, the G-tech coincided with the actual time slips on all 4 runs quite closely). That was only one car on one night. I still don't trust it 100%. The G-tech Pro is best used as a tuning tool or for entertainment purposes. As tuning tool, make a run through one gear, typically 3rd or 4th in a manual, plotting the G curve through the RPM range which pretty much mimics the torque production, minus any aero and rolling drag. Make a tuning change then run again and note any changes in the plotted G curve, i.e. is it pulling harder or less at any point, indicating improvement or loss. The plotted curve is quite coarse so the precision of the data displayed is going to be coarse, i.e. fine adjustments/changes wont register. Also as level a surface as possible, and run the same section of pavement for all runs, (preferably a two way pass). Don’t focus or trust the actual numbers themselves, just any improvement or loss. If actual HP and/or ¼ mile numbers are what you are after, you are far better off taking the car to a real dyno and real drag strip. Again, that is just my personal opinion, results may vary, this side up, batteries not included, lack of torque has been known to cause cancer in laboratory Rats, but only in the state of California.

Gut instinct says "MS resets". (MS Resets is where the ECU literally shuts off for split second and turns back on, very quickly, engine has very harsh stumble each time, and can be multiple resets, one after another, or random hit and miss resets.) MS is very sensitive to EMF interference, especially from mediocre spark plug wires, non resistor sparkplugs, noisy alternators, etc. etc. Here is a great thread covering MS reset issues and techniques employed to reduce the chances of these nasty very annoying resets. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=112407

Happy birthday Ron.

My riding mower named Loyd and my 50cc Honda MB-5 sport bike have personality... Door was wide open, couldn't resist...

Regarding the US market, in a quick search, I found the new Pontiac G-8 is the US variant of the rear drive Holden VE Commodore, 2008 model year, (2009 for Canada). I get the impression those Holden diffs were not offered in any other US vehicles prior to ‘08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_G8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore

Yeupsie doodle... Update here; http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=138675

Love it... Quote of the week.. Hope you don't mind me using that quote in my signature...

WOW That was quick! 1 hour from the change till you found it...