ZROSSA

Howdy, Go for the full x bar then. That will make it nice and stiff. As you have it drawn it doesnt do much. Douglas

Blue X, Hear is what i would do. Keep in mind that you never want to put a load into the middle of a bar. Take out the short B Take out the bar from C to the centre hoop. Join C To C. make sure its tied into the rear struts. Join C to D. This may not work in practice do to space and the need to get in and out. lower the join on a to make it as easy as you can to get in and out. If you can go through the fire wall to join the front struts then you will have a very stiff structure. One other thing yo might like to consider is to join the diaginal that goes from the main hoop to the rear struts might be better if it is the other way around, Going from the drivers head to the right rear strut. Im not 100 % sure this is better then what you have and if its already welded I wouldnt bother, But its seem to triangulate (sp) that area better. Good luck, Douglas

Howdy all, On this side of the world the 2+2 is about 1/4 the price of the coupe. They came into the country as used jap imports. I have a 2+2. I really dont like the look of the roof line and am considering choping it down a little so it has a similar profile as the coupe. The 2+2 will work better for me. I have a young family and those rear seats can almost fit the little buggers without baby seats. There is rust in the rear of the roof line so i need to attack it any way. if it wasnt rusty i dont think i would bother. Douglas

Howdy guys, I know that the gn motor has a long stroke, narrow bore and small valves compaired to a chev, but shurley you can make them rev to 6500 with a camshaft change. The local commadores here have a na. version of this engine and they rev to 6000 rpm. There is little point in doing it but they will. There was a single seater race catagory here called formula holden that reved the 3.8 to around 7500 rpm with out the stage 2 blocks. These put out around 340 bhp in na form as well. So why can you not make the gn rev a little better? Douglas

260det, Dont bother with that book unless you know absolutly nothing. It was full of information , but its all general. We have gone into things in more detail on this site. Douglas

Wise move to sell those rods! I think Ali rods are only used in drag engines, I have never heard of them being used any any thing else so thet should give you a idea of there durability. As for the pistons, if the came off a 6 inch rod they will fit. If they didnt the wont. There may be a fix buy milling them but I am not sure that it wont remove to much metal. We are talking about milling around 3mm of metal. Seems like a lot to me. Hopefully those that really know will jump in a set you straight. Douglas

Maddat, I think it cost me around $60.00 nzd to get the JTR book to NZ. Might cost you a little less. Its a good read but I dont think its going to help you out that much if you go with the lexus engine. The theory is simple, mount the engine as low and as far back as you can. You will up for custom mounts anyway. Have a look around the past post here. Its been done before. Cheers Douglas

I am really warming to the idea of the gn motor. I also wouldnt have a auto. Cant stand the things! I can see the problem with the large amount of torque low down and a manual box. Could this be worked around a bit with higher gearing or a cam shaft change to knock back some of the low end? I have only driven a N/a version in aussie commadores and some buick barge the old boy had. There was no point in taking these past 5500 rpm but the Formula Holden guys ran to 7500 rpm all day and i think the indy lights cars ran to 9000 rpm. I think you could make it work. Douglas

Assuming that the dd2000 is reasonably close, What a torque monster. 390 ft @ 2000 rpm. 412 ft beween 2500 to 6000. Thats a very nice power band and should be very easy to drive, If you get traction. I noticed that the cam was still making power past your red line. You might be able to find one that works a little better in the range you are driving in. You dont want to be tempted into pushing it into the break parts zone. Cheers Douglas

Thanks Drax, I think I thumbed through that one in a book store a while back. It was very expensive here. Might see if they have it at amazon. Douglas

Here is a quote from the latest "racetech" mag, on the IRL chevy engine: "With the flat plane crank we could optimise the intake pulses to better effect. The engine became more receptive to subtle changes of intake and exhuast lenghts. We gained perhaps 15bhp from the switch (from 90 degree cranks)." The engine was making 660 bhp so this represents a 2.2% change. I guess a 180 degree header would do the same providing the lenghs were not to long. As much as I love the sound, It doesnt seem worth it. I am still very interested in exhuast design. I have Been through Burns Stainless, Headers Buy Ed, many of the circle track suppliers and have read the Vizard books. There is a lot of different inf. out there. Any one else know of any other sites on exhuast? Cheers Douglas

I'm with you zspeed. Holden Donk would be a great swap. I thinks its lighter then the ford 302 with ali heads. Socket- I have a right hand drive 260 2+2 with sbc and a supra 5 speed. I bought it as it is but I might be able to help. Douglas

I hate it when one kills your baby. How did you manage to get a EVO 7 in the US? Douglas

Simon, Are you looking at a single turbo 3.0 lt dohc engine or a sohc single turbo engine? I think the japs mad a dohc 2.0 single turbo v6 that was in a a cedric or something. Not sure about the 3.0 Dohc with a turbo. Douglas

Thats a good point Jim. I had never thought about the strenght aspect. I wonder if that would make a flat plane crank cheeper to make. I dont care so much about the vibration, just love the sound. Douglas

I have never tried this,but here is a idea. I guy i meet once put a chev into a ford escort. This is the old english one with rear wheel drive. He useda sub frame from the front of a holden torana to get rid of the struts and make more room. So here is the idea, find a car that has a front crossmember and subframe that has the suspension bolted to it and us it. I think maybe the early f body (?) cars were like this. That might be a hell of a lot easier then custom fabrication the lot. Douglas

Was this the early 3.5 lt buick v8 or a steel block one? There are a few flat plane cranks around for the ali ones, have a look at some of the dicussions about 180 degree headers. This achives the same thing. I have never been able to find a answer on if it makes more power but it seems that it might make more torque. It would be cool if someone could explain this a bit better. It seems that there must be more power in there somewhere. Why would they bother otherwise. 180 degree headers and flat plane are out lawed in lots of class' or circle track racing as well. Douglas

Do you know if is a jap import or new Nz? I had a 79 import zx. I think thats when zx's were first made. A coupe is a good find. Not many of them around here anymore. The zx is a little squarer in design the the z. Mabye the easyest way to tell is the radiator inlet for the zx is below the bumper and on the z its above and below the bumper. Whats he asking? Dont forget to check for rust. Read through some of the old posts. They can be full of it, Rust that is. Douglas

I was always under the impression that a sla set up was a bit of a band aid to use when you couldnt run long wishbones. Audi, Honda, Aussie ford falcon all us this set up. It basicly means you can get performance of a wishbone set up in the spave of a strut. Douglas

Any Mods? Douglas

I thinks its a LS1 bored and stroked like the racing vetts. Peter Brock drove one in the targa tasmainia. Need a wagon version so I can put the dog in the back. Douglas

Dont recall seeing it. It would be a zx wouldnt it? 2+2 or coupe? Douglas

Wrc cars runing anti lag will flame throuh the exhuast. They pump fuel in before the turbo to speed it up. Most race cars will flame on lift of . Not sure why? Douglas

Jens, How much welding do you want to do? You know as well as I, that anything is possable. Move the top mounts of the struts inward, Fab adjustable lower arms. Mabye put extenstions where the strut meets the hub so you can run more back spacing? Its really not that hard when you think about it. I would sugest that you make a jig so that it doesnt move when you weld. The front strut on my race car is front a front wheel drive sentra, mated to a rx7 hub with custom a arm. All mounted in a ke35 corolla chassis. I can send you a photo or two if you would like. Let me know? Douglas

Cool idea but......... I wouldnt do it in a first gen z. Think about it. With a sbc with ali. heads the weight is close to 50/50 front to rear. Pure race cars with a front engine and rear drive try to get as close as they can to this with mabye a little more rear weight. look at the Panoz Le mans cars. Puting the engine back there would really mess this up. We are talking about around 5 ft back or close. I think you would end up with something like a 911 in weight balance. All the weight in the rear(35%). You then have to deal with a car that has a light front end at speed. The front end off the z needs downforce at speed anyway. I think you would be pulling the front wheels of the ground non stop. I have seen it done in a 944, however. It was nice. Douglas