Mike C

I hate having a car without LSD. I like how they drive/handle under power. I think it is a must have for autocross or drag racing and I like my street cars to have them as well. In a nutshell, yes, it's worth it. There is a 5% gain in gear goinng from 3.5 to 3.7 or 10% from 3.5 to 3.9. I would do the 3.7's from a $ perspective as adding an LSD to another case seems to be cost prohibitive relative to my wallet...

Buy the JTR manual. (Jags that run) It covers all of these questions and many more. IMO, this book is worthwhile for any Z owner and not just V8 swappers. The 327 and 350 are dimensionally the same, just like all gen I and gen II motors (LT1). 350 rebuild kits are cheaper, but the slightly reduced torque output of the 327 might be easier on a T5 if you go that way.

I bought a Hurst Competition plus shifter for my T5. The one for 83-85 Mustangs. It came with a lower boot for the shifter, an upper boot and plate designed for the mustang console, but I think I will try and adapt to my car then put a new leather boot on. I haven't got the trans in the car yet, but it is absolutely amazing the difference in feel. It's a completely different trans, and the stops on the shifter should prevent the most common failure in these trans, over shifting and damaging.

I make my own cables. Home depot has 2ga welding cable for 90 cents a foot(unbelieveabley fine conductors and really good insulation) and I have a GIANT set of crimpers (designed for wire rope ferrules). Get some lug terminals from the welding section and I use the expensive but nice waterproof battery cable heat shrink from Jegs. In my experience, the fender mounted solenoid is not needed with a gear reduction solenoid.

Thanks for looking Tim one more for you. Does it have the stamped plate covering the end or is it the ~2" long "stage"? I got some more starters from my boat buddy and looks like there are at LEAST 3 different motor bodies in addition to at least two noses. I'm curious as to which ones people have had troubles with since they seem to be excellent little units. (Submerging them not withstanding! )

Doug is spot on about the rod bolts. Pressure isn't the killer but tension at high rpm. When my L28 was built, there were no aftermarket bolts for Nissans. It has the turned down big block chevy ARP bolts, but that wasn't cheap! Contemplating all of the ARP fasteners? FWIW, I just put an ARP 8mm stud setup on the intake/exhasut. It had to be added to the system at Summit with a part# I got straight from ARP. SO I didn't know the cost until it showed up at the door. $114 for 16 studs (the biggest package they sell.) Ouch. And the stupid motor needs 17! (I used an original one under the water neck since you can't see it.) They are slightly shorter than stock so I bought arp 13/16 hardened washers .125 thick, but not available in stainless so I had to go black oxide. Looks pretty, though... I would like to replace all of the Nissan hardware as it seems really soft, but at those prices I'll deal with it!

Keep your head and go to the junkyard to buy a ZX motor with flat tops. Then put your head on the flat top motor to boost compression to around 10:1. There is a junkyard in Leander (Cantwell's) that has several L series motors you could probably get cheap. Including one in like an '80 model car with an auto that looks to be in good shape. (Thought about getting it myself...)

If you are going to do it yourself, you can get parts a lot cheaper than that. Northernautoparts.com has a complete high perf SBC rebuild kit with hypereutectic pistons for $300 including a Crane cam and lifters. $450 will get you forged pistons. There are two ways to rebuild an engine, the right way and the cheap way. To do it right, you want to replace rod bolts and resize rods, bore, hone, square the decks, etc. Then there is the take it apart and put rings and bearings in it with a dingle berry hone. This sort of rebuild can be done for $200, but to do it right with the cheap rebuild kit will be nearly $1000. Vat, $50, Bore & hone @$15 a hole=$120, surface the deck $100($50 side), rebuild rods including bolts, $150 3 angle valve job, seats, guides, and springs another $300. I'd buy the Vortecs here for $425. Add an aluminum intake, some gasket sealer and paint and you're around $1200 with a pretty darn good motor. But don't fail to figure in things like ignition, exhuast, carburetor, accessories, balancer since likely the old one is about cooked. These can easily double the amount you figured for.

OK, got some more starters today. Looks like there aare at least 3 different ones. The multiple stage ones with bolts inside and the mult stage with bolts outside, then the slightly shorter one with just the stamped cover over the end. Be interesting to here which ones people have used and what the successes were.

Tim, is this the starter with the stamped cap on the rear and the bolts that hold it together run outside of the case? (see discussion in Chevy V8 on LT1 starter)

The Hemi Turbo is great (like Pete said) but it is BIG. I have a pair on my Jimmy, but It won't fit on an early Z without some mods, not sure about your ZX. I ended up with a 2 1/2" Dynomax Super Turbo with a 14" case instead of the 20" case of the Hemi Turbo. Center in offset out. This allows the muffler shop to put the offset oulet at the bottom and rotate the case to ~45 degrees. This means the muffler hangs no lower than a round center in/out muffler. I am quite pleased with the tone and volume.

There are two different ways the bushings are done. If your new ones have metal shells, the old ones have to come out. If the new ones are just urethane (like the mustache bushings come) then you have to burn the old ones out and reuse the shell. When I put them in my Camaro in '85 they only came without the shells. Was a first class pain in the rear. If you do have to do it this way, lube the hell out of the bushinng then press/pound it in WITHOUT the bolt sleeve. Then you can hammer the bolt sleeve in last, this will save you a big headache and maybe a vise handle (long story, but they don't like a big cheater.)

The only carbureted intake I know of is the GM performance parts one. You cannot use a regular intake for the same reason you can't use the LT1 intake on an older small block without significant mods. I have a pair of LT1s. ! from a 96 SS Camaro with 30k miles on it, CNC aluminum heads, crane rockers, and a crane cam. The other a high(er?) mileage one from a cop car. I only have 1 complete set of accessories, fuel rails, and computer. I bought the GM intake to get the aluminum head motor running in my convertible. Then after that I'll pony up the bucks for a high psi fuel system and DFI. That leaves me the iron head motor and the intake, which will probably wind up in my Z. Lone is right however, if you can keep it FI, I would. The great thing about the LT1 for a Z (actually quite a few of them...)is no distribuor so no need to modify hood latch.

I've been surfin' the net a little, and it looks like there may have been a couple of different starters. The GM starters I have have a tail piece (about 2" thick) a middle piece (also about 2" thick) and then the nose. The bolts that hold it together run INSIDE the case. This is the gear reduction starter. The other one looks like a regular GM starter with just a steel cap over the back and the bolts that hold it together are OUTSIDE the case. Which one did you have Blkmgk?

I'm pretty sure that's the personal car of the GM designer responsible for the Avalanche...

All of the cars were competitive with each other during their day. Pick the car you like the best IMO. My '69 Camaro had Guldstrand road race springs and urethane control arm bushings in the front, Rancho military wrap springs with urethane bushings in the rear, Herb Adams sway bars and KYB shocks. Coupled with the subframe connectors and aluminum subframe bushings, it handled quite well. Especially after converting to a manual trans. This was all done around '85 or so. At the local autocrosses it would out run most Z's, especially on a long course. (notice outrun and not outhandle...)No doubt that even the 60's unequal length control arm suspension is better than struts for the most part. One thing you haven't talked about is weight. It's easier to make a light car out-handle, out-brake, and out-run a heavy car. Especially if this is a driver and not a "race car" that has to meet certain class guidelines.

If you have an air compressor, you can get an air hammer at Home Depot for less than $20 that'll make quick work of removing those otherwise obstinate bushing sleeves. And you get a new tool!

Man, talk about hitting a bees nest with a stick! It depends. You need to build a matching combination, not just a cam/intake package. Displacement is one consideration, but most importantly is airflow. What kind of cylinder heads do you have? How much compression? How heavy is the car? What is the gearing? Hydraulic flat tappet? Solid flat tappet? Hydraulic roller? Mechanical roller? What are your goals? Making some assumptions (6500 rpm redline, 9.5:1 compression, 2500# car with 3.5-3.7 final drive) Here are my suggestions... Don't go less than 110 deg lobe separation if you are building a street car. Hydraulic flat tappet 230 deg at .050 and .480 lift. Mechnical flat tappet 240 deg at .050 .525 lift. Hydraulic roller 230 deg at .050 .550 lift. Mechanical roller 240 deg at .050 and .570 lift. All of these will have similar power bands, because of the effects of valve lash, ADVERTISED duration of mechanical cams is difficult to compare to hydraulic and not all manfs. measure advertised duration at the same tappet lift. (.001 for GM, .005 for Crane, .006 for Comp if memory serves.)Hydraulic obviously takes some routine maintenance out of the picture. The solid flat tappet will approximate the power output of the hydraulic roller for significantly less money. In my discussions with Comp, they say with equal cam specs, the mechanical roller makes 50hp more than the hydraulic roller which should be 50hp more than the hydraulic flat tappet. These are generalizations obviously, but based on experience.

bleed down is when the valvetrain pushes harder against the lifter than the oil pressure does inside. Usually the motor will just fall on its face since the lift and duration on the cam are significantly reduced.

If it is the Nippondenso motor (like the one in the 89 Corvette in the JTR manual) it is made by CVR. I have one on each of my trucks. Work great for the $150. I'm hoping to have better luck with the Delco starters as my boat mechanic buddy will give them to me.

Kind of a strange question since engine displacement has only a little to do with overall dimensions. ie a 426 Hemi is way too wide, but a 434 SBC fits easy...and both are $. I assume you mean just readily available OEM displacements? A stock Vortec 350 will run circles around a stock low compression Pontiac or Oldsmobile regardless of their displacement,(STOCK to STOCK)and this swap is well documented... Big block chevys can be had in displacements to 600ci with stock deck height, more with tall deck, but makes the install in a narrow car more difficult.

Since the location of the hub assembly is fixed, the length of the CV axle has to fit between the diff and the hub, so being too long is not an option.

Adjustable camber bushings can help with this when its time for the front end alignment so it can match side to side. You can also get another crossmember fairly easily and do this mod out of the car it seems. After center punching your holes, make a starter hole with an 1/8" drill bit or so, then hit it with a 1/4" before drilling your final hole. That should control the bit placement much better.

To use a GM throttle body on a 4 barrel intake requires an adapter plate. Turbo City once again. Throttle bore spacing might be an issue which may require a single plane intake. Check out Turbo City's web site and see what they say. Also, the DIYfuelinjection page should have some stuff on this.

The late model LT1 starter IS a gear reduction starter. It's pretty neat. Uses a bunch of little planet gears keyed to the armature shaft then rotating inside a sun gear. (I've got one on the bench MOSTLY disassembled, can't find a female torx driver that is small enough. Lisle set available at sears-craftsman doesn't make one-was able to get the brushes out but not the solenoid off. Highly irritating. Has a short in it from corrosion, came out of a boat but was free!)The LT4 is something like 10.5:1 and uses that starter, the LS1 is 11:1 and my guess uses the same motor but different mounting. Should work great. GM performance parts gets $189 for the 168 tooth flywheel starter, but they have the 153 rebuilt for $89!