veritech-z

Bj, you seem to have some....strong?....feelings about what the z-car should be. For curiosity's sake, run down how you would build your ideal 350z replacement. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, I really want to know how you would do it. I would say instead of like "must have a turbo" or stuff like that, what performance figures should it be able to meet off the showroom floor (keep in mind this would be a mass produced car and not a one off dream machine just for you) and for what price? I find that people start to say stuff like "It HAS to have an RB in it" and stuff like that, but for it to be a real production car, I don't think that is nearly as useful as saying "It should make Xhp per pound" or whatever. Anyway, I would like to see it be about the size of a miata, sub-3000lbs (as light as possible, but that seems like a realistic weight cap to me), preferably in the 200-270 hp range (whether that is 4, 6, or whatever cylinders doesn't matter to me too much) with a starting price of $22k-25k. Let all the accessories be optional, that way if I want one with manual windows and no ac, I could have one and not have to strip it down for competition. Anyway, that's what I'd like to see. Anybody else?

I love the search function, there is some classic stuff hiding in the Hybridz archives. I ran a search for S20 just to see what came up, and got to read a great back and forth about the usefulness of the Kameari belt tensioner and whether or not it works better than a motorcycle tensioner. Also there is a ton of stuff on here about the OS Giken head. I guess when your car has been around as long as the Z, EVERYTHING is old news to SOMEBODY.

I believe those were the same wheels being talked about on this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114522 The concensus was CCW wheels, I believe. Those wheels look like 18's, As for Offset, that's going to vary with width. With a standard suspension, you need to maintain about a 4.5" backspace. I've got the 1" drop on mine, and that's about all the room I've got for my 17s. Talk to Oldestzguy about what size wheels he was running on his old IMSA bodykit. To calculate what offset you would need and still fit: Add 1 inch to the advertised width to account for the bead of the wheel, then divide by two. If the number you get is 4.5" or less, this is acceptable backspacing so you need a 0 offset wheel. If it is more than that, subtract the difference between what you get and 4.5", and convert it to millimeters (just type it in google -like this: 3in to mm- and hit search, it will convert for you). This is your required negative offset.

did the aristo come stick, Terry? I know the GS didn't, so most people that do the swap just stay automatic.

Like I said, I've SEEN both of those cars driving around town (been next to them in traffic), both with tags, but I never actually spoke to the owners, so it is entirely possible they were driving illegally with plates from another car or the like. I hate to think what happened to the guy with the TK skyline when he totalled it if the insurance company was going to deny his claim though... I've got a friend that's heavy into Mini coopers, and he said a common way to sneak them in under the radar is to buy a late model one (they still made them in europe right up until the BMW version came out) and badge it as a pre-emissions car. Much like the Mexican VW bugs, the design was mostly unchanged externally all the way up to the day they stopped production. This is highly illegal, and really not an option for us anyway. Isn't there some way to import front and rear half cuts for parts only? Then Terry could just find whatever the comparable lexus model was at the car auction and clip it out with all the components from his Aristo and be the king of the street once again!

I prefer the coupe, but yes, yes it would. Especially if you got one of those 240z front clip body kits.

Speaking of looking at other companies, what was Toyota THINKING when they just gave that entire segment to the 350z without even trying? I think what bothers me the most is the clever new rebadging of the z as a skyline. I don't believe those two cars ever really shared platforms like that, and I don't think they look different enough to justify two different models (much like the current generation Maxima and Altima). I test drove a 350z, and my wife probably would have bought one if it had more trunk space. I like the ride, I'm not completely down on it. I also think it's got potential to be more than what it is off the showroom floor (a trait that the prior z-cars all exhibited). Am I going to buy one? Probably not, but I'm not going to hate on someone that does either. I would say the 240sx was probably a lot closer in concept to the original z (accessable performance for joe everyman-not too much money, and not too much car either, but the potential was there) than most subsequent models that actually carried the Z badge. There is a market for entry level RWD sports cars, and there is a huge void that is waiting to be filled by an actual sports coupe (why are the miata and the solstice/sky-the only options in this category-all roadsters?). A back to basics 240z would be a great entry into that market. Not too complicated, normal sized wheel and tire package, not too hard on the wallet. That's all I ask...

Can you post a picture? I've never heard of a reversable wheel...If they were designed to be mounted both ways, I suppose as long as you don't have directional tires? I asked one of the techs at my dealership if it was safe to mount the face of my wheels inside out to use the lip as the inside, and they said that they couldn't get the balancing machine to balance one when they mounted it backwards. I would guess that's just because the part that would normally be flat wasn't making full contact, but I would still be very hesitant to do something like that. Just my $.02.

There's no such thing as good or bad, only different. That's what my mom always told me.

I'd be in if it was $15 or so. That seems reasonable to me for a novelty badge...

Here is John from www.baddogparts.com 's other other car. this one was built from the leftovers of the gnose car, and features a supercharged L28 to the tune of 245whp or so.

here's Larry: Here's me: I think I understood that...Who's on first again?

Huh. I was thinking of using a full size injector in place of the cold start injector and using megasquirt to deal with it, but I really haven't gotten that far with my MS install yet. And since I haven't built my turbo manifold yet, I guess it's all armchair academic at this point in time anyway. I'm hoping to make some more progress with my wiring harness tomorrow, and MAYBE have it running this tuesday if I'm lucky...

"You guys wanna get high?" "No, towlie, we don't want to get high." "Towlie, you're the worst character ever!" "....I know."

Larry's right, I had that happen once on my old 280, and I disconnected the tps and it ran fine until it was dry.

It does seem a bit like gouging when you put it that way, doesn't it?

I beg to differ, but I was born with inate wiring ability. That's why the wiring in my car looks like that part in Empire Strikes Back when 3-PO gets blown apart, and all his wiring is bundled up on Chewbacca's back? Yeah, that takes talent to be able to make a snake pit on that level...I'm like the Swedish Chef tossing speghetti all over the place!

I'm kind of off the radar until my car is running again, but hopefully that won't be too much longer. I've never been to sunshine, only DeSoto. Isn't that 1/8 mile? I'm all for going to the track one of these days. I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'd love to see the rex. Greywolf, are you going to put that in a Z? I think that would look great in an early mustang, or maybe a maverick. Oh wait, a ford capri! You could be all "Yeah, it's just a six cylinder" and under your breath you could be like "turbo...heh heh"... That would be awesome.

While doing a google image search for draw through SU turbo pics, I cam across this GEM of WTF!?-ery that just boggles my mind. It appears to be in Spanish, and mine is not good enough to make out just what exactly is happening on this page...anyway, enjoy: http://www.autoblog.com.es/?p=49 here are some highlights: Of particular note is this car that seems to have a spoiler in place of a wheel hub? Must be chain drive or something... And last but certainly not least, the family truckster 2.0:

If you stop and think about it for a second, you'll probably kick yourself: the two types of turbo carb systems are either blow-through or draw through. In a blow through, the turbo blows air through a carb that's in the standard location. In order for this to work, the carb has to be prepped so that it doesn't leak boost and the fuel float won't collapse. It's do-able, and is done all the time. The other way is a draw through, where the carb goes BEFORE the turbo, and the air/fuel mixture actually passes through the turbo before going directly to the engine. This was was really common before EFI, and at least one kit existed to do this on an L series (in fact, last time I checked at least one of these was for sale in the classifieds here). One of the advantages to a draw through is that you don't have to do much prep work to the fuel system, the carb is going to act just like it normally would. It will just "think" it's attatched to a larger engine. One of the major disadvantages is the fact that they can't be intercooled in any traditional way, leaving you really only the option of using an anti-detonant like water/methanol injection or something like it. The ones you saw on SBCs were blow through by the sound of it. I've got a buddy who was trying to do the blow through on a 4-barrell conversion L28, but his holley would never run correctly NA, so he went back to his su's. He had the old cartech su to 4-barrell adapter. Blow through: draw through:

There IS a way to do it though, I'm just not sure of the specifics. There was a guy here in Tampa with a Tommy Kaira Skyline for awhile, and he drove it all around until I heard he totalled it. Also there is a Pulsar GTi-R driving around as well, so I know it can be done. I've personally seen both these cars on the road here, so I know it's not hearsay. The skyline was in one of the import mags at one time too, I want to say super street. Anyway, Motorex is the company that used to bring in the skylines you guys are all trying to remember.

Thats a photoshop, the hatch lines don't lne up, and the tail lights are stretched.

If the carbs were in the standard location, they were blow-through. I think you can do it if you pressurize the fuel bowls too, but it's not common at all to see SUs that way. Most people have a single draw through when they do turbo SUs.

The ignition control module is powered through the defroster, then the fuel pump is on it's own switch, and the gauges and alternator run through the hazard switch. It's been awhile since I wired it, so I don't remember exactly which wire from the ignition plug I used for what. It's not really crap talk, it's just how my car is wired. If it were still stock, I'd be the first in line to tell Olie what relays click when I turn the key...but since I don't have one, somebody else will have to take the reigns on this one.

So you were using the old single SU draw through on top of the stock fuel injection? That's genious...