Tim240z

It's not hard at all. just practice with some scap metal of the same thickness to get the amperage setting and speed right. It is harder than welding really thick material, but only because if your hand speed is too slow or amperage setting too high, you will blow holes through the steel. You want to find the sweet spot where you are getting good penetration of the weld, but not too much that you are blowing through. Do a search on welders, this topic on recommending good units has been beat to death several times. You'll at least want one that has a shielding gas.(MIG) Tim

Crap, it still has the I6!! That thing needs a V8 Tim

Mike you have left in for both numbers of caster! Tim

Mike,I am going to assume that your front suspension is stock and that you don't have any adjustment except for toe?! General rule of thumb (at least mine, and I've never had a come-back on any of my non-factory alignment specs (which BTW, factory specs are in many cases terrible) that I've done), is always run a little toe in when running -ve camber on a RWD car. From that standpoint, what you have looks fine. I would bet that the car now pulls to left (assuming that you meant to type "right" instead of "left" for the 3.6 deg caster figure) when you let go the steering wheel !! Those caster numbers should be opposite (bigger number on the left) to overcome road crown/camber. As for the tight steering, nothing in those alignment data show that symptom would arise. The caster is a little high, but not really enough to make a marked difference, and probably hasn't changed significantly since your alignment was done (since it's not adjustable). Could be something was loose (rack pre-load or something) which the alignment tech 'fixed' for you. See if you can find out from the tech. Also, do you have the specs before adjustment? That would help to narrow down what has changed and what the effects could be. Also, I am assuming that you (or some ballast) wasn't in the car!? If you plan to go back for a recheck, sit in the car. If they give you some crap about insurance not allowing that, time to find another alignment shop that at the very least has sand bags or some kind of weight to mimick driver. Most places don't have a problem with letting you sit in the car, and most places will recheck/readjust for free within a short period of time since the last check. BTW, did you change ride height? If you raised the rear (or lowered the front), that would put more weight in the front....... HTH Tim

Mike, It is the caster that makes the steering more difficult. The higher the caster angle the more stable the car will be, but the tradeoff is more steering effort. With the stock setup, you can obviously only adjust toe. I definitely don't agree with having neg. toe on a RWD car. Assuming all the angles being adjustable, I would set my car up thus: Camber: Slightly on the negative side of neutral (-0.05 to 0.10 degree) Toe: Slighty positive (0.5 to 0.1mm toe in) Caster: Max of 2 degrees. Dial in 1/3 to 1/2 degree more on driver's side to overcome road crown/camber. Always set alignment with driver in the car (or at least balast). HTH. Tim

Online wagering?

Jumbo, What tranny are you running? Is this a directbolt in for the T56? Tim

Why not just make a LED panel and use a set of micro switches (6 for a 5 speed + Reverse and 7 for a T56 + Reverse). Actually, you could probably, just tap into the reverse light switch for the reverse LED. All it would take would be a bracket to hold the switches by the shift lever. I made one of these for my land rover, but not for the 1 through 4 gears, but rather for the overdrive, which was a seperate lever and I didn't use LEDs, but rather regular dash pilot lights, but not all that different. Tim

Last I heard you car was complete (or at least 99.9%). So where are the pictures Man? Gotta have something more complete than the painted shell in your signature?! Not trying to keep your Z a secret from the rest of us are you? Tim

Rated, Yeah, I would just cover it with a plastic bag so that it's not getting blasted by the water. I found a product at Costco called 'Oil Eater' which works very well. Comes in a 1 gallon jug with a squirt bottle. I usually let this soak on the motor for 10-15 minutes, then rinse with simple green, then with water (hot). Always does the trick for me. Tim

Hi Paul, I am in the throws of the LT1/T56 conversion. I have the engine in and the mount for the gearbox in place. I am 85% complete with the engine wiring harness (decided to do it myself with the FSM in hand). Still working on the header situation...blockhuggers come very (too)close to the plugs, water temp sender and the knock sensor would have to be relocated, so I am having some custom tri-y's made up. I think that the biggest obstacle, at least for me, has been figuring out the wiring. There are several options, from a new Painless harness ($600) to sending in the oem to have reconfigured, or DIY. A member here offered to do mine for a VERY reasonable price, but unless I am on the completely wrong path, it isn't that difficult, although time consuming....very time consuming. I think that by going the DIY route, I will have a much better understanding of all the functions controlled by the PCM, which can only be a benefit in the long run. Tim

Hi Juan, Since you have all the accessories for the donor engine, you might well be able to do a 'legal' conversion, shouldn't be too hard, that way you could use a newer model, but you might want to consider the 73 and older 240, just because it exempts you from testing like Dan already mentioned. You should be able to find a car for relatively cheap, I see them in the classifieds all the time. Tim

Lone, It isn't much better if you go there (MSA) in person. There can be 50 people in the shop (which can only hold about 5),and have one guy behind the counter. Worst part is, there can be 1/2 dozen other employees milling around, but will they help?....no. Tim

Al, Did you find the problem...curious as to the final determination. Tim

Yeah....I signed up a few days ago, least I could do when a request comes from the mighty GrumpyVette!!!!, but unless there is a section other than Vette specific,I won't post there.Tim

Charles, I, like the other guys that have one this swap, am going to use the inners on the outside too with an adapter plate to the stock companion flanges. Tim

This makes sense but then what is it measuring, ID or OD?By looking at the specs on Earls SS hose, the -8AN hose has an ID of 7/16 inch and the -6AN hose has an ID of 11/32 inch. So if the OD of the fittings are 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch respectively, will they fit? I know that SS braided hose does not stretch very much. Tim

Mike, Do I sense a little bias here considering how their main competition has treated you? I don't disagree though...I have only bought some very small items from VB, mainly because MSA is within driving distance for me, but all the VB stuff has been good, as well as the stuff I have bought for my 71 truck. Tim

Ya know these right coast guys fly in, start picking fights with the locals, then fly back....sheesh Mike, can't take you anywhere!! BLK, check out one of the MSA posts, Mike touched on it a bit, not my place to tell the story.... Tim

ta, I used the cowling and fan from a camaro which has the rubber pads that hold the rad at the top incorporated in it. I just drilled some holes in the top of the radiator mount panel of the Z and mounted it. Holds it very firmly. Think I have pics on my site. Tim

'can't we just get a.a.along?!' Lets play nicely guys....it's all good. Tim

They don't have aluminum in the correct sizes, so I am getting the 'double wall' steel lines, which is bendable and flareable (not a real word I'm sure). I have a tube bender and tube flarer from summit. Tim

Duck, There are a couple of pics of mine on my site if you want a visual. Tim

Jim, While I agree with you somewhat in principle, I don't think, from what Scottie has described, you acessment is correct. Generally the only variable in wheel alignment that will cause a vibration would be a high caster angle and then that would show itself as an increasing vibration as speed increases, not a speed segment as described. Also, a drivetrain, or rear wheel imbalance for that matter, would not tend to show up as a steering wheel vibration, but rather a whole car vibration that will generally be felt in the seat (or seat of your pants). If the front tires are out of round, that may create a steering wheel vibration, but will also make the front of the car appear as if it is hopping. Bad shocks will cause a scalloping of the tires and will cause bad tire/road noise, but generally no vibration. Just my 2c worth. Tim

Tony, If you're going to make it out of aluminum, then just weld in some baffles inside it. Make sure the catch can is in some cool airflow and the vapors will condense on the baffles and drip down to the bottom. I would have the inlet tube come in about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the can an point down slightly. That should cause enough of a vortex to have the 'fumes' contact a larger surface area of the baffles. Then have the outlet on the top and plumbed to the inlet manifold so that you still get the positive crankcase ventilation. That should work well. Tim