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looks good. Very clean install. The rims and the paint color are perfect.

Quartermaster makes the lowest profile bellhousings that I know of. Speedwaymotors.com sells them. I'm using a McLeod similar to the top one you posted, and it clears everything remarkably well in my 240Z.

OK, well they looked pretty indestructable when I opened my box Any ETA or details on the "next stage" stub axles? I'm making 500ft/lbs and I've got 315s under the back. I'm not going to be doing any drag race launches, but I'd hate to have one snap doing 160 down a bumpy road course in Mexico. ....And kudos to Ross for handling this in the manner he did.

If you are close to LA, I'm doing the first half of an engine swap in a 67 camaro tomorrow. I'd be more than happy to have you over and show you the ropes...(and an extra set of hands is always helpful ) A camaro is just like a Z car, just less room under the hood The best way to learn something is to watch or help someone do it. Reading about it will only get you so far. If you are going to be the owner/driver of this machine, it would be in your best interest to do the job by yourself (with assistance from friends). There will be problems with the car, and you won't like taking it to a mechanic every time something goes wrong. I have a friend with a '46 willys jeep...he bought it "restored".....which he has come to understand means "painted". I spend more time working on the jeep than he spends driving it. He has absolutely no knowledge of anything automotive, and gets frustrated constantly because the jeep is broke and he can't drive it until I have the time to fix it. He hates his jeep. If he were to go get a book on basic auto mechanics, and go to sears and spend a few hundred bucks on tools, I bet he'd learn a lot and spend a lot more time enjoying his jeep. Same thing applies to Z cars. Anyway, if you can make down tomorrow, give me a call. I'm about 5 minutes south of LAX. 310-947-7014 .... and bring beer. -Pat.

Does it appear to be some type of aftermarket performance distributor or are we talking original GM stuff? GM had 2 types of distributors that are most used on small blocks prior to about '89. Points and HEI. The Points distributor had about a 3 1/2" diameter cap, with 8 terminals for the plug wires and one in the middle for the coil wire. If this is what you have, there should also be a condenser (looks like a little metal barrel with a wire coming out of one end....the condenser is about 1 inch long by 1/2" diameter) screwed down right next to the points...visible after you remove the distributor cap. The one wire coming off the points hooks up to the negative coil terminal. HEI distributors have huge caps...about 7" around, with only 8 terminals on top for the plug wires, and a big squarish thing in the middle of the terminals....this is the coil. There is no external coil on an HEI. On one side of the cap, there is a square plastic protrusion that houses 5 female spade connectors. The 3 closest to the cap are coil, breaker, and ground connections, the two farthest from the cap are for the Tach and key hot. they are labeled if you look at the top of the cover. From what you are describing, you've got a points distributor.

There aren't really any modifications necessary. The ONLY dimentional difference I could see between the OBX diff and the stock open diff was the size of the holes for the ring gear bolts. I made bushings to compensate, but I don't really think its necessary. The bolts shouldn't be shear loaded anyway if they're torqued correctly...(or impacted on in my case). Update...since I've had the car together, I've probably made 50 or so 120+ mph passes behind our warehouse....most of first and second gear have been with tires spinning. The diff works very well. When I was bedding in the brakes, I was basically driving around powerbraking the car to get heat into the brakes. Around corners, applying power with the brakes on fooled the diff to start working and the rear of the car hopped around like crazy....thats how I know it works:mrgreen: I swapped out the 3.54 gears for 3.90s today and decided to tear into the diff to see how all the pieces looked. Everything looked good. No major wear on the washers, the gears looked a bit polished, but no real wear. I'm happy with the diff. It works as its supposed to and seems to be holding up well. PS: the 3.90 gears woke up the car something fierce.....I can't wait to try the 4.64s that I have coming in at the end of the month.

HM, interesting....I filled mine on the bench...dumped 2 quarts in and then set it down level to drain out the excess. In looking at design of the vent on another cover I had, it looks like the ring would sling oil almost straight at the vent, and there is no baffle on it...just a tube with a few holes in it. Maybe I'll try to make a baffle. Does anyone know the Factory spec for diff lube capacity? (yeah, I know....I should search for it)

Ahh, the Phantom Slip. They are a poor man's posi. They sort of work on low horsepower applications....for a little while....Mostly they just wear stuff out faster. Gather up another $60 and buy the OBX unit off of ebay (search for 240SX diff). Its a copy of the quaife unit, and the workmanship isn't the greatest, but mine works very well.

Thats disturbing....especially after I coughed up the cash for a set of Ross's indestructable stubs. Try to post pictures before and after disassmebly so we can try to piece together what went wrong. A burnout doesn't put much stress at all on a stub axle I wouldn't think....not compared to cornering loads and having the tires stick.

Well, I was using some cheapo oil from PepBoys with the 3.54 I just removed, and I dumped some Redline 75/90 (all I had at the shop) in the new 3.90 I just assembled and installed. I'm using an OBX diff setup with .005" backlash. Its not getting hot, or even warm really. I make about two 1/4 mile passes and it just drips. Redline is expensive oil to be leaking out. I guess I'll make a new breather.

Every time I come back from running the car, I see a puddle underneith the diff. Its coming from the vent. I just swapped it out for another one, and I'm having the same problem. I haven't taken the car out on the road, just doing 120 mph passes behind our shop. Is this normal? i have the fluid filled to the bottom of the fill hole...which is about 2 quarts. Do I have to modify the vent using a fitting and length of hose to raise it?

Well, the price of copper has gone absolutely nuts....All my buddies who are starter and alternator rebuilders are even having a hell of time getting cores, because the now the cores have substantially higher scrap value for the aluminum and copper than they do as cores. I know that when we were pricing out 3" copper pipe to do the airlines in our new 70K sq/ft warehouse, the prices per foot almost made me fall over. I think its just a sign of the times. Try to find some old business that are shutting down and auctioning off everything, then go bid on the wiring, tear it out, and use that....its how we ended up buying all of our copper pipe.

your car is an absolute work of art. Great job. Can't wait to see it in action....and also some dyno charts.

Engine: 355ci SBC steel lightweight crank 3.48 stroke 6" H beam steel rods Probe 11:1 pistons Brodix -11 heads 230cc, 2.10/1.60 Ti retainers, manly valves Schneider .670/.680 lift 254/260 @ .050 solid roller cam Comp Cams roller lifters and Pro Magnum roller rockers Stud Girdles MLS head gaskets Performer RPM intake Demon 850 carb Long Tube headers Trans: Tremec TKO600 Centerforce DF clutch Diff: R200 3.90:1 w/ OBX helical diff Front Brakes: 13" lincoln aviator rotors w/ Cobra 2 piston calipers Rear: Maxima rotors w/ ford taurus calipers Chrysler 1 1/32 aluminum master w/ stock booster, crane reservior, and Chevy celebrity auxilary vacuum pump. 275/40/17 front 315/35/17 rear

That'll work

Not that I know of John. The pin end should NOT be loaded under braking, and on the mustang cobra, the caliper is trailing the front spindle, so the pin has to be down, because the pad is forced up under braking. They can be assembled either way..... just switch the brackets left to right and switch the inner and outer pads in the caliper...so long as the bleeder is pointed up, and the pin is opposite the loaded end of the bracket. If one were to use the caliper in the leading position (in front of the spindle), which I imagine has been done on occasion, the pin would be on top.

The front calipers have plenty of room. That faced off spot on the caliper is where the "cobra" logo is machined on the calipers from ford. If you get them direct from PBR, they show up like this. I have about 1" of clearance between the caliper and the wheel spokes.

There are 2 different available WP pulleys...one for the long WP like you linked to, and one for the short waterpump. If you ordered the exact pulley that you linked to, then you have the correct pulley for your waterpump, and need a 3 groove crank pulley.

Get the correct pulley, don't shim it. I can't tell which WP pulley that is from the picture, but if its for a Short water pump, get the long WP pulley. If that doesn't work, go pick up a new 2 groove crank pulley w/o the serp belt grooves. That should work if you have the correct WP pulley for the WP.

Sorry, I should have left the pictures up. I did about the same thing on the rear, but ended up using a Maxima rear rotor and a ford taurus rear caliper (cheap and plentiful) They stop great, I have some proportioning adjustments to work out yet, but they don't pull or do anything wierd. I still haven't had the car on the track yet, but hopefully I will soon. I need to get rid of these 3.50 gears and get something to wake it up a bit.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/348866461.html Thought someone might be interested....

Jesus Balls this thing is fast!!!! I took a quick rocket run tonight before leaving the shop. Got about 1/2 way through 3rd and kinda scared myself. The first time I ran it, it was jetted way fat and total timing was at 51 degrees (I hadn't even bothered checking at that point). I rejetted the primaries from 72s to 68s and left the secondaries at 72, and set the total timing to 36 degrees before this last rocket run...I also raised the rev limiter to 7600 (from 6000....and at 7500something, its still pulling like dammit). I got out of the car shaking. I don't think I've ever sat in anything this fast. Apparently, I need to chain down the motor, because it flexed the poly mounts enough to dent the air cleaner element on the edge of the hole in the hood....2 inches away from the element. This is the first time I've run Kumho Ecsta V700s, and I am impressed....one little burnout in first and they turn into glue. Well see how long they last on the track before getting all greasy. Oh yeah, I had oil pressure this time

A couple of the bearing manufacturers have a misprint in the catalog, BCA lists them correctly. The first set of bearings I received were for the R180, even though I asked for R200 bearings. I'll try to post the correct BCA numbers in the morning when I get to work and have my books. Edit:...nevermind, correct BCA numbers are listed a few posts up.

Take the cap off and check the condition of the 2 rubber gaskets and also the condition of the sealing surfaces on the radiator filler neck. If the gaskets look worn, replace the cap. If the mating surfaces aren't smooth, replace the radiator. Let the engine cool off before you remove the cap.

Back up and running...75 psi on the gauge at idle cold. One of the neighbors yelled at me for firing it at midnight, and I'm dirty, tired, and have oil in my eye....