Drax240z

I've known plenty of people dissatisfied with Taylor, but have yet to hear any complaints about Magnecor. I'llbuy Magnecor the next time I need good wires.

I've had less than impressive results with this, but it might work. You could make some kind of template, and then sandblast the exposed portion of the chrome to achieve a "frosting" in any design you choose. The problem is in my experience chrome is really tough and doesn't sandblast well... and you'd have to make a template from something that won't get destroyed too fast by the sand. Anyway, that's what they do with glass a lot of times to make a design on it.

Take a look at Blueovalz's pictures...

I think all 3 of the triple weber/solex/mikuni cars we've had in the shop here have been a dead-head setup. However, at least one of them has some issue with temps and vapour lock that would probably be cured with a return system. So... either way works, but the return line is likely a better choice all else being equal.

Well my thoughts coincide with Jon's on this. I'm not sure what you are running for a manifold Lockjaw, but I would think that if its stock then you'd see far more gains porting it... I guess you have to ask yourself what else you could do to make more power with $550. If you are at the point where there isn't much else to do to squeeze power out of the engine with that much money, then go for it. Sorry this is not a terribly informative reply, just throwing in my 2 cents.

Well I am getting somewhere for sure. Unfortunately it has been a bit damp here lately, and traction is NIL. The car is very quick, but not in the wet. It just makes a lot of noise and goes sideways in the wet. I think my values are pretty good now for the stock injectors. (though 137 is a little high still... but I'm erring on the rich side) Now that I've got that figured out I am going to pull the car off the road and do a bunch of changes. Finally my 440cc/min injectors, polished intake, walbro pump, etc are going to go in the car. I figure I'll pretty safely be able to run 15psi at that point. (right now I am running ~12psi) I have the middle size NPR to put in (from the small one) as well. One way or another I am going to compete in autocrosses with this car and engine. (coilovers, vented brakes, 5 bolt conversion, roll cage are also going in this winter) Gotta find me a wideband...

That aston is sooooo gorgeous...

I use redline as well. I am just wondering how much money the nissan stuff costs.

You best path to more power is a great intercooler... what are you using now? (even with the methenol injection I'd have a killer IC) What size is your IC piping? Sounds like you are well on your way to 400hp with the mods you are listing... The SDS will be a huge help as well.

No doubt about it, the stock ZXT engine makes a lot more power than a stock NA 2.8L...

Anyway, my 1st statement still stands. Up to ~300rwhp the costs are about equal. Which is.... NOT $300-$500. The two statements were intended to be seperate: a) you can get a JY L28T for $300-$500. Up to about 300rwhp the swaps cost about an equal amount. To get 300rwhp (reliably)? Probably $2000-$3000 in either case. Some have done it for less, some for much more. I know some L6 guys are running 18psi on their stock turbo's with JY intercoolers, and modified AFM's, running high 12's and putting down nearly (or over) 300rwhp. The stock turbo at 18psi doesn't strike me as a reliable source of power though... As for your comment: I think you are pretty far off base honestly. I could easily interject that "anyone can put in an L6 Turbo in a Z and make it quick" Because honestly there isn't much to it... To each his own...

Wow, exceptionally clean install. Very nice indeed!

Mostly because there aren't enough posts on interior to warrent a single forum for it. For the time being, this is probably the best place to put such posts. I've often thought about updating my interior. I'd be wary about putting anything shiny on the dash though, the first time you hit direct sunlight you'll blind yourself. There is a reason why all dashes are textured and matte finish. In my opinion, wood could look good if used sparingly. I'd be careful about building a "wooden car". Some light accents in the door panels and dash could look tasteful, combined with a wood steering wheel and shifter knob. As far as the center console goes, I'd stay away from making it out of a block of wood... Fiberglass, aluminum, or steel upholstered afterwards would be my suggestion. I'd like to make a center console for the Z that was more modern in appearance, swept back from the dash and was angled towards the driver slightly. I'd likely design a shifter linkage to move the shifter up and back a little as well as reducing the throw. Its a big undertaking! My only suggestion for such things is mock it up with cardboard, duct tape, whatever the first time and see how you like it. Once you have it how you want, then take that template and build the real thing.

Its probably chassis flex. Often the interior panels in the rear of the Z will rub each other as the unibody flexes, giving sounds as you describe. However, a littlle more description of the problem wouldn't hurt... are we talking sqeaking with driveshaft revolutions? Could be your diff, u-joints, etc. Best bet is to jack up the car, do an inspection of the rear, check u-joints, bushings, etc. If the sound is coming from the interior of the car though I'd suggest adding a cage/strut tower bar in the rear to stiffen things up.

How much $$$? Quality lubricants aren't cheap.... And remember that this is something you aren't going to have to change that often.

A JY L28 should run you between $300-$500 with wiring. I'd say up to about 300rwhp the costs between swaps are pretty much equal. After 300rwhp the chevy becomes cheaper.

OK, well I've been playing some more. Not that the car was running badly on the old map I was using, but you know... gotta tinker. I found out that transitions of ~8 or more between RPM FUEL vales tended to make the car cough and sputter a bit between transitions. SDS's suggestion is to find an injector value based on 1 cylinders displacement (466cc) and your injector flow rate. (260cc) On one of their web pages they have a graph... you need to do a dual linear interpolation to get the exact vales. From there you should punch in your exact values (mine works out to 131 for RPM FUEL) into the SDS, -20% at low RPM, +20% at high RPM. This is SDS's suggestion for a base. It didn't work out that well for me. I found it was too rich at idle and too lean on the top end... Right now I am running something like: 500 095 750 098 1000 103 1250 108 1500 113 1750 119 2000 124 2250 129 2500 133 2750 137 3000 137 3250 137 3500 137 3750 137 4000 137 4250 137 4500 137 4750 137 5000 137 5250 137 5500 137 5750 137 6000 137 6250 137 Seems to be not too bad. I still pretty much have the mixture meter pegged at full rich. (narrow band, unheated) I'm relying on closed loop mode to give me decent fuel economy, and right now its pretty much pig rich everywhere else. Query: Thoughts as to whether a EGT/narrowband combo would be better than just a wideband? I'm pondering that now...

Haha... that is quite something. Probably won't break... but sheesh I'd take it easy on that poor 3cylinder.

Well I'm not sure what good that CNC plasma cutter will do for your intercooler... I'd love one in my shop though! I'd buy mandrel bent tubing and fab it up from that. Yeah it costs... but why put out any money if you aren't going to do it right? The pie cuts would be my second choice. As for material, either can be made to look killer with a bit of time polishing. I'd go for what you can find cheaper in a mandrel bend.

http://www.modern-motorsports.com has the info on the rotors on their brake page... also you can buy the machined spacer you need from there as well. I did!

Wow, now that is a comprehensive reply. Thank you very much Scottie! Can I ASSume that the shape of your RPM FUEL curve shown here is similar to what you were running? The reason I ask, is I have gotten someone conflicting stories on how to set it. I realize that you should have RPM FUEL the highest at the torque peak. Mine looks something like this: 500 100 750 100 1000 100 1250 105 1500 110 1750 115 2000 120 2250 125 2500 130 2750 135 3000 140 3250 145 3500 145 3750 145 4000 145 4250 145 4500 145 4750 145 5000 145 5250 145 5500 145 5750 145 6000 145 6250 145 Which seems quite a bit more abrupt and varied than what others are doing. I'm going to tinker a bit more, but perhaps increments of 5 are too much. SDS suggests you find your injector value, and -10% at low rpm, +10% at high rpm or something like that. (its escapes me at the moment) I pretty much followed their instructions, adding in a somewhat smooth transition. Comments welcome.

These would be things that float... Yeah, yeah, I'm a nerd.

Like I said in the first post (though it wasn't terribly clear) I am going from 260cc/min to 440cc/min injectors. Running stock fuel pressure. Spreadsheets... yeah I've seen one before I think. I followed your description though it's a bit easier for me to visualize as a fuel curve, and basically keeping the same first derivative throughout the values on the fuel curve, even with the larger injectors. Ya, ya, silly engineers. So Scottie, if I am following you right then you are only reducing the RPM FUEL values to compensate for the larger injectors... I guess regardless I am just going to have to try it and see. I would think the MAP FUEL values will also need to be reduced... no? And START, and TEMP... I guess its sortof back to square 1, though I guess I know the shape of the curve that works for me for MAP FUEL so I could continue with that shape as well. On a side note, I removed my muffler a couple days ago and picked up gobs more power... Combined with the near freezing temps here, and the dry roads, things are fun.

*Bump* I know a couple of you have done this... Doug? Scottie? Bueller...?

James, I'd be interested in hearing your review of this machine after you've used it a bit. I'm in the market for a TIG myself right now. I want AC/DC, high freq, adjustable pre and post flow... other than that I am pretty much up for anything. How much extra was the water cooled torch? Sounds like a really sweet price...