1 tuff z

thanks, i'll do that.

on my relatively stock 83 zxt 2+2 [only mods are 3" exhaust no cat from downpipe back and cold air intake] i am burning oil. she goes thru about 1qt/1000 miles. if sitting for a long time, like over the winter-burns oil at startup, but then is clean once warmed up. daily driving, nothing at idle or normal cruise. but when i get the boost on, that's when visible oil consumption is noted from the exhaust pipe. the turbo spool up and progression thru the rpm range isn't as smooth as other stock turbo zx's i've driven. i've heard 2 possible problems-valve stem seals or she needs a turbo rebuild. help?!

it is all about sharing, isn't it...

ben, simple suggestion for i/c clearance. remove your spring steel hood springs. i did it years ago on my car, i had mounted a zx turbo air cleaner forward of the radiator as a cold air intake [this was before the cone filters were available]. adjusted my hood latch spring a bit and simply and manually open my hood, hold it momentarily and put the prop rod in place. it'll make quite a bit of room for you. david

thanks mike, i'll take compliments when i can get 'em. i really had a blast removing the old rubber off those tires. they came off an old parts car we affectionally called "the pimpmobile". it's the car that u see in my signature. rumors have it that the 'pimp' was jazzed up to co-star in some rap video a few years back...

the link points u to a few different shots and size clips-just click on one of the "movie camera" images. http://www.zccr.net/site/modules.php?set_albumName=album26&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php&page=2

more searching on the www i found the following; for the tremec 6spd [1st] 2.66 [2nd] 1.78 [3rd] 1.30 [4th] 1.00 [5th]0.74 [6th]0.50 Stock GM axle ratio is 3.42, curb weight approximately 3400 lbs. so if my 240 weighs around 2500 lbs, has a 3.9 and the 83 na zx 5spd [5th is about the same ratio as the t56], it looks like a 3.36 or 3.54 diff would work pretty well. if i keep the 3.9, i'd think that 1st gear would b pretty useless, except for cleaning old rubber off the tires... i'm no engineer so if someone has some input, i'd certainly appreciate it.

i've read that the swap from 8/74-8/76 tank into a pre-8/74 carb'd car works fine and most have used that swap when moving to a fi setup. i also have the datsun parts cd and the 2 tanks look almost identical in shape. the change occured with the 9/76+ tanks that [as stated earlier] used a space saver spare, higher rear deck area and larger tank.

perhaps i should've given a bit more info. i've only gone down the strip once...about 10 years ago and it was an 1/8th in north carolina when i was stationed at cherry point. since then my driving is a combination of street [fun!], autocrossing [fun+] and on track driving at schools [most fun++!] and plan to continue. home track-watkins glen international. swap going into my 73 240z. jim cook racing supercharged L28 coming out. i don't anticipate doing much to the engine above it's stock condition.

hey all, i did a few searches to see what the current opinion is on what diff ratio to use with the t56 ls1 swap and came up with...nada. anyway, phantom, mas280 & others that have already logged some drive time with the swap i'd like to hear your thoughts as to which...3.9, 3.7, 3.54 or? thanks! finally got the donor car...'01 firebird ws6, 20k miles, wrecked and nervously waiting to have it's heart pulled out!

ok, now that i've finally picked my jaw off the floor...what else do i say but WOW! i couldn't even dream about possessing the skills to perform that kind of work, much less actually do it. Very nice indeed!

that's one way to do it i guess. i was able to raise the engine/tranny cash by selling z parts i pulled from parts cars. just picked up my donor car-01 firebird with 20k miles on it, hit right front but runs & drives but doesn't steer! i'll try to part out the f-bird after i pull what i need to raise funds for the rest of the swap. spent the last few nights reading a hour or so a nite on the ls1 posts here. tons of great info!

got to the track 2 weeks ago for the second time on the new suspension. last fall went to toronto motorsports park, no problems. watkins glen 2 weeks ago for a 2 day school. updated the alignment and the car has NEVER handled better. running [mike kelly] adjustable control arms and t/c rods in front. checked everything before, during and after running some hot laps. mike, i'm thrilled with the front suspension! thanks...my z handles great on and off the track. david ps-i'm the '05 convention track day co-chair along with chris holmes from zany [albany, ny]. come to upstate ny next year to run your z at "the glen"!

that interesting hood scoop that's on your z was actually [some time ago] available directly from nissan thru the dealers. it was developed to help allieviate the vapor lock that used to develop on the 73-74 hitachi carb'd cars. both functional & funky. like to know what the rear bumper is from... david

has anyone looked into swapping the ls1/t56 from the new pont gto? thought i read the hp is around 350 and didn't know whether the hp bump was from factory mods to the engine or computer enhancements. figured if i found a wreck that it might be a candidate for my swap. thoughts?

when i graduated from college i worked the summer as a formula car mech/crew-chief and learned a great deal about vehicle dynamics and when this opportunity came about to purchase the modded pedal box/dual master setup w/balance bar [that i was told came out of a gt2 240] along with the used rear arizona z control arms, i thought-we used this same basic setup in the formula continentals, why not in my z. and so it began.

i picked up a modded pedal box along with the arizona z rear arms. the pedal box was modded to accept a tilton balance bar with a cable adj bias [http://www.tiltonracing.com/brake/accessories.html]. you need to calculate the pedal ratio for that of a non-boosted system. i'm still fine tuning that part for optimum pedal feel. there's the backing plate which mounts on the engine side of the firewall-powdercoated 1/4" steel cut to conform with the factory "lines" on the firewall. holes bored in the backing plate for the masters and mounting holes, along with corresponding holes in the firewall itself. the pedal box was modified to accommodate the balance bar and reinforced once material was removed. the clutch assy is unchanged. the brake pedal itself was modded to accept a sleeve for the balance bar. pedal effort was about that of a boosted car with no vacuum initially when the pedal ratio was about 4:1, now at 5.46:1 it's close to what i'm looking for. pedal effort higher than normal on the street but very acceptable on the track. tilton individual master cylinders-front is 5/8, rear 3/4. after the next pedal adjustment i may also swap the rear for next size smaller. going to call the tilton engineer again today for some help-they've been great![http://www.tiltonracing.com/brake/995/index.htm] you may be better off by looking at a tilton pedal set-may save some time. otherwise you'll be pulling the pedal box in and out several times [yes, it's a real pain without removing the dash-but possible] oh, keeping the wife happy. selling z parts on ebay to finance the project, doing the work while she watches rented "chick flicks", rationalizing that at least you're home and not out with your hoodlem friends drinking or... well, it's worked so far. maybe since i had the z before we got married she's just used to it. or, i'm just really fortunate to be married to a terriffic woman who accepts my z oddities!

last winter i took up the task of updating my underpinnings. this included completely removing my suspension/brakes. i used mike kelly's front setup to allow camber/caster/toe adjustments and found a used pair of arizona zcar rear chromoly control arms. i then did some research to determine what "kit" to use for the brakes. wound up using ross corrigans setup-biggest reason, it was a complete setup. i also picked up the cv halfshaft adaptors, new bearings all around packed with synthetic grease and to further complicate matters, upgraded my single master cylinder with separate tilton masters with a brake bias adjustor. after getting all the pieces back together, doing a rough "string" in the garage alignment i had it professionally aligned [thanks john coffey for your guidance in the specs!]. i was suprised how much of a difference the suspension changes made. the turn in response is amazing, light effort-considering my rather large 215.45.17 tires and the handling is great. the best part however, was at my first drivers school this past summer once i had put some miles on the setup. i was running in the open group at toronto motorsports park and was chasing this 600hp ac cobra replica. he'd walk me like a cheap cigar on the straights and i'd reel him in on the rest of the track. finally i got by him-by out braking his car. eventually he cooked his brakes and put it in the weeds. funny, my brakes never even had a hint of fade. once the event was over i packed my car up [his went back on the trailer] and drove 3 hours home. it was a thing of beauty. there were others i lapped as well, but the cobra felt the best. here's a link to pics of my setup. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=1750&cat=500

i flew huey medevac uh-1h's while in college [after my 3 yr stint on active duty as a mech] and then kc130's in the corps after college. my ticket; commercial, instrument, single & multi engine land & rotorcraft. not flown since i left the marines in 94.

brad, love the ride!! i'm interested in seeing more detailed pics of your z. the center console/heat control panel. which gauges you used and how were they to install. left/right engine bay pics would b great too. what brake upgrade did you use? how cool is it to literally walk away from almost anything around?!?!?! thanks-

latest. i removed and cleaned the 4 way switch assy. [on firewall]. it had some dirt and what looked like an ivory colored grease inside. re-installed, test drove and...same problem. any ideas, cause i'm fresh out?!

i've recently upgraded to ross' [modern motorsports] big brake kit [rotors-13's front 11's rear] and my car at threshold still wants to lock the right front first. it has done this since i've owned it and i always assumed that it was an imbalance in the calipers or...something i couldn't determine. the following are new-flex brake lines [braided stainless], all calipers, rotors, wheel bearings, master cylinder. now as i try to pin this gremlin down i'm considering that potentially one of those 'junction blocks' [for lack of a better term] under the hood may be the culprit. in the vic brit catalog they are labeled; brake switch assy [the one on the left side fenderwell fwd and below the master cyl] and the 4 way valve assy [the one on the firewall below the fixed portion of the hood latch assy. i wanted to know if anyone else has run into this problem before and if there's a way to test/service either of these components. any help, greatly appreciated!

i didn't use a baseball bat or other long rolling tool. we carefully relief cut [perpendicular to] the fender lip along the perimeter spaced equally and [carefully] hammered with a metal forming hammer along the lip to get it to where we wanted. prior to doing that we also trimmed it so it was all equal. once cut, trimmed and peened back it was all then prepped and painted. i did this about 10 years ago when i painted the whole car.

very nice and clean. i like the low, hunkered down look.

i'm running a yoko avs in a 235/40/17 size on a 17x8.5 compomotive wheel. no flares, no rubbing, nice. i have ground control coilovers though and the rear lips are rolled. it appears that i still have about 1/2" clearance both inboard and out front & rear.