rsicard

44magnum: First look for rust or damage in the drivers and passengers floors. Check the condition of the sub-frame rails for any extensive damage. Check all the other nooks and crannies for rust. If these are OK then aske which differential, half shafts and stub axles are installed. For a 383 stroker those should be R200, CV half shafts and beefed up stub axles. Next ask what transmission is behind the 383. Ask what has been done to the suspension all the way around. Ask about the front brakes. Originals or replacements with more braking power. Next ask for a complete list of components replaced in the 383 and machining done to it. 8.5K is not bad if the body, suspension are OK. The rear drive-train may need beefing up. The brakes may need beefing up. Need to ask about the radiator to see if it is adequate for cooling the engine. These are some of the more important aspects to ask about. And especially make a list from this post before calling the seller and make good notes on his answers. Suspect that this may be a so - so build that can be improved upon.

All other factors being the same between the engines, the one with more parts Will Have a Greater Failure Rate.

BIGJIM: That is exactly the way I want to do the exhaust system on my 240Z with a 383 SBC stroker engine. 2.5 inch pipe along side the transmission back into a 3 inch out "Y". Thanks very much for the photographs. Is there room on yours to put a 3 inch bullet in-line behind the "Y" and the muffler? Please advise. Thanks.

It is doubtful that you will achieve 11's with a Datsun 6 cylinder engine unless a lot of money is put into it. 11's are more easily achieved using a V8.

The Craigslist ad list the pistons "Pistons new 12.5-1 keith black hyper popups". These are domed pistons for higher compression ratio. It is better to deck the block and use pistons with a dish and still have a good quench/squish pad to maximize squish in conjunction with appropriate cylinder heads. Better to start off with a similar block, proper machining, crankshaft, pistons with a definite plan to achieve specific results with specific cylinder heads installed.

Where do the statistics come from for the more complicated engines? The number of parts IS RELEVANT to failure rate. Don't know the VE numbers for the corvette engines yet GM engineers use CFD software to design intake and exhaust ports. Just know that HP and TQ numbers are very good for a pushrod V8 engine.

To keep from detonation keep the heat in the cylinder head chamber and cylinder head as cool as possible. Use pistons that provide the greatest amount of squish possible with partial dish to achieve proper static compression ratio. Good squish makes for turbulence within the cylinder chamber which keeps fuel in vapor form and away from detonation.

CamH: That car looks fantastic. Very nice outside rear view mirrors. Which air dam do you have installed and how far from the bottom edge of same to the ground?

Wheelman: Go back and rework your Math for stroke, rod length and piston compression height. Rod Stroker ratio has NOTHING to do with resistance to detonation. Maximize squish to increase resistance to detonation. Follow my previous suggestions. The biggest increase in HP and TQ, for any displacement, will come from cylinder heads, camshaft and induction system. If the bottom end is not solid other work may be in vain. Good bearings, oil pump and good piston rings etc.

Bjhines: Very nice datsun! Where did you find the front fender vents (Fish Gills)? Am very interested in using these also on my 71 240Z.

Wheelman: Usable safe RPM range? Don't quite understand what the goals or budget is. What is the goal with the 6" rods? Weight should not be the only consideration for going to aluminum cylinder heads. What are the thoughts concerning these items? If you want to keep the same tune and injectors then go with 6" rods and appropriate pistons. This along with reworked LT-1 heads will the the economical way to go. Suggest ceramic coating the piston crowns, cylinder head chamber, faces of valves and exhaust ports. This will only yield a modest amount of HP and TQ. If serious about HP and TQ then stroker and HP heads need to be considered.

Wheelman: If you are going to do a rebuild, it does not cost that much more to go to a 383 stroker. A $200.00 stroker crank, con rods and pistons and machine work and you have a 383 stroker. More displacement at a reasonable cost. More horsepower and Torque at a reasonable cost. Then the proper cylinder heads and camshaft make more HP + TQ.

900SS: That 260Z is just as NEAT as a PIN. You should be very PROUD of the results.

Mike: Does the BMW have a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engine?

The R180 will likely go south in a hurry. It will be interesting to see the car after the IMSA kit is installed. Did you buy the ZZ383 as a long or short block assembly? Which cylinder heads are on the ZZ383? Which intake manifold are you going to use for the TEC3 system? Please advise. Thanks.

There is a lot of work to be done on my 240Z. I need to remove the sub-frame rails as both sides of these are bent upwards. I have the Bad Dog frame rails that need to be installed. Also need to precision align the rear of the T56 trans in relation to the R200 differential. Then fab the rear trans mount to the Bad Dog frame rails. Need to convert the front brakes to much better ones. Fix the cracked Dash. Put a new fuse panel and several relays and wiring. Reinstall the Dash and new gauges. Fab roll cage. New seats. Just a lot of stuff to do. The engine is done and run-in with the TEC3 system. The T56 trans needs some weak spots fixed. Suspension has been modified all around. So, there is still a lot of work to be done. Finally the temperature is starting to go down into the moderate range. I am limited on income as I am retired and on Social Security. Wanted to road race but my wife says I am too old for that. I differ. It is really good to carry on these discussions with you. Thanks a bunch.

There is not anything better than Arizona Z Car Wilwood front brakes. Understand the R200 is expensive. The Dana 44 rear setup should be fine. Not sure what type of cam sensor you have in a ZZ383 engine. The type of fuel injection system I use is the same as yours an Electromotive TEC3 system set up as sequential injection. Without the cam sensor hooked up it is wired as 4 cylinders injected at the same time in a batch mode. This means that fuel is being injected to 4 at a time, then the other 4 are injected. In this mode there is fuel injected when the some of the cylinders have the intake valve closed. In the sequential mode it is individual cylinders that are injected one at a time at the proper induction intake time to an open intake valve on each cylinder. I have researched many fuel injection systems for GM engines and the TEC3 is by far the most configurable and tunable be it normally aspirated or boosted. No hassle with MAF sensors. The blend of Throttle position and MAP sensor is absolutely fantastic for high performance engines. The basic timing structure is very solid for both ignition and fuel. Back when, GM was not as advanced as Electromotive concerning both timed ignition and fuel injection. Nice to have easily tunable ignition and fuel curves.

The Fluidamper is built by Fluidamper. I know that the 8" damper and trigger wheel will cause interference. Therefore went with 6 1/4" damper and 7" trigger wheel. The TEC3 multi-port fuel injection without a cam sensor is a batch fired injection system. The TEC3 with a cam sensor is a SEQUENTIAL multi-port fuel injection system. Using the R200 and CV half-shaft conversion takes much less fabrication. What type of pictures do you want? The original drum brakes should be sufficient. It is the front brakes that will need upgrade because CG will shift forward under braking with more weight on the front versus the rear.

myzblubyu: I went the same route with a 383 stroker and TEC3. Used 6 1/4" fluidamper balancer and 7" trigger wheel. Used a '96-'99 Vortec Distributor as the camshaft sensor so as to enable sequential fuel injection. With the Vortec Distributor the cap and rotor can be thrown away and a top plate can be purchased. Need to obtain a mating connector for the distributor and supply +12volts to the distributor Hall Effect sensor. Also running a T56 6 speed. Swapped in a R200 Clutch Limited Slip Diff, beefy stub axles and CV joint half shafts. Still working on the subframe and rear trans mount.

Dan: How does one get in contact with Rory concerning the custom dash? Cannot find the dash on Ebay. Please advise. Thanks.

Wheelman: As long as you are building up the engine, spending a small amount ($200.00) for a stroker crank yields more cubic inches. With 6" rods pistons with 1.25" compression height can be used. I picked SRP Professional pistons with this spec and they are lightest weight on the market. Admittedly they are expensive but with forged rods you will have a bullet proof bottom end. Some grinding must be done to the bottom of the cylinder bores and pan rails to provide clearance for the stroked crank. Scat has good forged rods for $300.00 and a cast crank for $200.00. If you are doing the rebuild, do it RIGHT. Then with lightweight pistons the rotating assembly can be neutrally balanced. The front balancer and flywheel/flexplate both can be neutrally balanced. With a LT-1 that factory compression ratio is 10.0:1. The pistons and cylinder heads can still be coated with ceramic to avoid detonation. The LT-1 is unique in that the cylinder heads get cooling fluid FIRST then the block gets cooling fluid second. This in and of itself allows running 87 octane fuel with 10.0:1 static compression without detonation. Decking the block such that pistons are flush or .005 in the hole boosts the compression ratio providing more power and it still may allow running 87 octane. Ceramic coating adds insurance against detonation. Pay close attention to my previous post as it is TOTALLY ACCURATE based on EXPERIENCE.

Wheelman: With 6" connecting rods, pistons with 1.125" compression height are needed. Divide 3.75" stroke by 1/2, then add the connecting rod length than add the 1.125 compression height and it should come out 9.00". The block deck height is 9.025". This leaves the piston .025" in the hole which is undesirable. The block should be milled to deck height or .005" in the hole or flush with the block deck. I used SRP professional pistons which are forged, forged rods and forged 3.75" stroke crank. With all this there is little expansion of reciprocating components such that fairly tight clearances can be used between the piston top and cylinder head face. The closer the clearance the more resistance to detonation. To further keep detonation to a minimum, ceramic coat the piston crown, cylinder head combustion space, valve faces and exhaust port wall common with intake port. Use high quality AFR-195 cylinder heads as these flow the best on the market. Then top it off with a good cam, lifters and pushrods.

For $10,000.00 a stroked 383 cu in Small Block Chevrolet with fuel injection can be constructed and tuned for 500+ HP and TQ.

I used Modern Motorsports for BEEFY stub axles. Worked with them to come up with as bullet proof axles as possible. Eliminated the undercut between the splines and inboard bearing mount on the axle as this may be the weakest spot when much torque is applied. Also went with the Z31 Turbo CV four bolt flange half shafts and Clutch Limited Slip 3.70 differential.

The headlight circuit on the 240Z has high current going through the headlight combination switch/stalk on the steering column. With age and usage the contacts in the switch get really dirty from all the power being drawn through them. This is really a design problem. Adding HID headlights just makes the problem WORSE for the switch. Need to add headlight relays that are controlled by the combination switch such that a small current through the switch controls a high current through the properly rated relay for the headlights. Putting LEDs on the other lights is the proper way to go as they reduce the amount of current and power through the steering column stalk switches. Quiet likely these switches need to be gone through and cleaned up and then the headlight relays installed. There is a kit for the headlight relays available. First best remove both headlights and check for power at the three prong connector with the headlight switch on. If +12 volts is present there then the fuses and wiring to that point is OK. There is a 12 volt return (ground) wire back to the headlight switch. This can be found by doing a continuity check from the headlight three prong connector back to the headlight switch connector on the steering column. If those connections are OK then applying a ground to those pins should light each headlight as each has a separate fuse for left and right headlights. Go to classiczcars.com and find the gentleman that rebuilds the combination switches and send yours to him for rebuild. He does a good job and can also help you with your electrical system.