Sam280Z

I hesitate to reply to this thread because it is all speculation. But I imagine that if *ALL* things are held equal, there would be little to no influence from the configuration. I imagine that the concepts that certain configurations are more tourqey, make more HP, etc. come form the fact that certain engine configurations lend themselves to having different manifold / bore/stroke ratios, etc. (The real drivers of engine output) For example; it is hard to put real long and straight intake runners on V engine. These are easy to do on a straight six. They also help make low end torque. If I want a low end torque application, I might tend to choose a straight six - easier to accomplish than with a V. Is it the straight six configuration that makes the low end torque? Again, *ALL* things being equal and changing just the piston locations should have negligible effect on the engines output.

Dial type pressure gauges usually do not have a diaphragm. A pressure gauge is simple a piece of bent tube that is closed on one end. When pressure is applied inside, it attempts to straighten out (try it with your garden-hose). This motion is translated by pulling on the outer edge of a small gear set to turn the shaft that the needle is on. The tubing is usually metal and therefor fuel safe. You can always open up the gauge to check. They are usually held together with a couple of screws. Sam

I had the same thing. Even after cutting the pins they would not budge. Tried air hammer, BFH, and welded up a frame to hold a 2 ton bottle-jack. Used massive angle iron (~3X3X.25) and square tubing http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=5768&cat=500. That seemed like it should have worked, but the frame would break at the welds after I put a 6ft cheater on the jack. Finally got them out with a harbor freight press, diligent soaking in kroil, and oxyacetylene torch. Even then they would just ease out one tick at a time. One thing that really helped was turning down an old spindle pin on the lathe to just under the ID of the hole in the housing. Sam

Guys, Look closely a the pictures. The radiator is totally isolated from the body of the car. The brackets are not welded to the radiator. The radiator sits in them and rides on a layer or five of foam rubber. Sam

For speed and ease of use, I use this one from Eastwood: http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=14686&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=spot+weld+cutter Use a center punch to locate the cutter in the center of each spot weld. Wedge an old wood chisel or butter knife in between the parts, and as it cuts through the parts will pop apart. It does leave a raised circle at each weld. These can be ground off if needed. (If you are putting the parts back together later they can help locate them.) I tried one like the "professional" one but I got it from toolwarehouse.net. I had trouble keeping it from "walking" across the work and leaving drill tracks... For cutting fluid, Tap Magic used to be the best - but I haven't used it in a few years - it may be reformulated. I actually have been using beef tallow I rendered by boiling some ribs. I keep it in a can in a small fridge in my garage. It works well and the garage smells like ribs when I'm drilling... Sam

you have to pull the pins to get the old control arms off

the are flare fittings

Zinc? My 78 has lots of areas that are galvanized. I don't remember if the firewall was, but the bottoms of the floor are... Sam

I've put some pics of my table in my photo album. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=4445&cat=500&page=1 http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=4444&cat=500&page=1 It is painted with silver POR15 that was left over from another project.

http://www.uniqueprojects.com/projects/weldingtable/weldingtable.htm I used these plans and scaled the table down to ~4ft X 2ft. I used 1in square tubing 1/16 thick and 1/4 in think steel plate. Took about on afternoon to assemble (did all cutting first then welded). This thing is stout. I have a vise mounted to it and can really apply torque when needed. The bottom 'shelf' is handy to stand on when you need some leverage. I added a handle on the opposite end from the bottom 'shelf' and wheels that are just off of the ground where the 'shelf' sticks out. This allows the table to be moved by lifting the table to a steep angle to put the wheels on the ground. BTW 1/4in plate is plenty unless you are making a huge table with no support underneath. Sam

Now that they are cut off there is no need to use a flare nut wrench. Just use a six point 10mm socket. If they are rounded, vise-grips will get them out. I always use never-seize on the threads when I reassemble. Just be careful not to get it in system. Sam

Greenmonster80, Why did you buy from Redline? Just curious if they have better prices. I have to purchase a few parts for my TWM ITBs, and am looking for the best suppliers. I have the older style that have the fuel rail hold downs as separate pieces that bolt to the TB then to the fuel rail. I am missing those pieces. Does anyone have recommendations on where to get them? Thanks, Sam

Hey Mobythevan, Could you post some pics of how the main hoop attaches to the floor. I am concerned about covering the seatbelt pockets in my 78... Thanks, Sam

I think the cost was around $130. I don't rmember exactly. If you email them, they will give you a quote pretty quickly...

I've ordered one from smoothline - http://www.smoothline.com/ I ordered it on Jan 12, 2005. It still has not arrived. They have not billed my credit card and did say that it would be a while, so I am not overly concerned. They make up the parts as the orders come in. I spoke with them a few weeks ago and they indicated that it would ship around middle of April. We will see. I do not know of any other suppliers of this part. I'll let you guys know how it comes out when I recieve it. You can see a pic here: http://home.earthlink.net/~kk7jo/

Well, I was doing a bit of work on the house when I looked down at those new Mikunis. Lo and behold, they still had jets in them. I thought I had taken them out to fill my little box of jets... On closer examination, the pilots were... You guessed it, 57.5s. Of course I stopped working on the house and installed them in my car. It made quite a difference. Lean pop and stumble totally gone. One thing I noticed is that it feels like I do not have to push the accelerator at all for cruise. Just the weight of my foot provides enough throttle. I hope my gas milage improves. Now my idle screws are 1 1/4 turn out to get 13.8:1 - 14:1 (it fluctuates a bit) on my WBO2. Cruise is just a bit richer than that (13.2:1 - 14:1). I will try another 1/8 turn in later this week and see if that helps. If it doesn't, What would be the first jet you would try. I know they have to be between 52.5 and 57.5. That leave 9 potential jets. I don't have a good idea of how much change each jet size imparts. I do have three 57s. And, my exhast is set up with a WBO2 for each bank of three cylinders. Would it be a good idea to try the 57s on one of those banks with the 57.5s on the other? Or, is .5 of a jets size not going to make a difference? I think the reason it was jetted so lean is because of the crap job the PO of the engine did for the header collector (). What you are looking at is the series of improvements I have made since I got the engine. The one on the left was something a muffler shop did for me because the two pipes were joined by running one into the other at a bout a 90 deg angle. The second is my handywork to deal with the collectors necking down from 3 inches to tiny pipe by flaring the tiny pipe A LOT (you can see the tiny pipe in the left one. It was like that to deal with the close fit of the Clifford Research Headers)... Now you can hold the collector up and see straight through either pipe. You could not do that before. Would excessive back pressure cause the car to like or accept leaner jets? BTW, I have had the thing run and drive well with 130 mains with that exhaust setup. I have 150s in there now. Thanks, Sam

sorry Jolane. I missed some of your questions. I haven't painted the interior yet. It is completely stripped. I carefully sanded the old respray off untill I got into the good factory paint. The amount of paint required will depend on the gun you are using. I think I used a quart for the top and a quart or so on the bottom.

I put a crankcase evacuator together from scratch when I built the collector for my Clifford Research headers. It has only been on there for a month. The valve is still good. I will keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't fail. I just have it plumbed to the breather on the side of the block and a small K&N breather filter on the valve cover. I just wanted to replace the blowby with fresh air in the crankcase to keep the oil cleaner longer. Previously there was nothing there. Mine is cobbled together. I don't get nearly the amonut of vacuum you are. You might just get an electric vacuum pump from a turbo car or deisel for the brakes. Then use an fixed orafice to control vacuum in the crankcase, like a controlled leak. That way there are seperate systems to fail and not impact each other.

There are no subframe connectors on the car right now. I'm looking to see what the best / easiest method of chasis stiffening I should do if anything really needs to be done... BTW, the engine I'm putting in is Joel's old monster stroker turbo. bjhines, I will respond to your other thread... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=98811

Thanks Magnum, I doubt that they are the same. Thanks Joel and srgunz. I'd really appreciate it if you guys have anything. The car runs and drives with the 52.5s. Just not as well as I think it could. A side note is that I bought another set of brand new Mikunis a couple of years ago fom a guy on ebay. It had a jet kit that you were supposed to use to swap out the stock jets in the carbs. The carbs had 50 pilots in them and the jet kit had 52.5s. Also, somehow in all of the jets that I do have I ended up with three 57s. I know a bunch of people must have tons of old jets lying around. I'd like to set up a deal where people can trade jets they don't need for jets they do. What do you guys think of that? Sam

OK, so I got bit by the "while I'm at it bug" a few years back, and now this is where I'm at: This car is going to have GC camber plates / coilovers with stiffer than stock springs, fat swaybars, and a mighty powerful engine (right Joel? ) It will primarily be a street car, with the speed and handling to match its good looks. I'm looking for opinions on what I should do at this point; specifically with regard to stiffening the chasis. The car had a minimum amount of rust. Everything is pretty solid. What was rusted has been cut out and I'm in the process of bringing it back to the factory level with minimum patching. To keep it from rusting more, I have cut 7/8in holes in the ends of all the frame rails and will spray POR15 in there. (You can see some of my handywork in the lower radiator support in the pic. It was surprisingly rusty in there.) Anyway, I'd like to get the car on the road soon but, while I'm at it... My thoughts from reading this list are that a roll cage is probably overkill and too much effort for a street car. What about a roll bar? Seam welding seems to be pretty common, but what about subsequent (god forbid) repairs. How long does it generally take to seam weld a car? I have also thought about just putting subframe connectors and gusseting the doors (ala convertable kits). But have no idea how much benifit that will add. Anyway, just trolling for opinions. Thanks, Sam