Daeron

What you do is machine a relief in the flat top of your piston that mirrors the combustion chamber in the head. It will be similar in shape, but probably much shallower and definitely much smaller in perimeter (a smaller peanut, as it were.) Get your piston to kiss the quench pad as close as you want, (I always blow the clearance b/c I cannot remember whether its metric or standard) then from there determine the volume of a relief needed, and get to work carving out a smaller peanut centered over the same point as the CC in the head is centered (the little peanut is off-center, but you get my drift) and there you have your lowered compression, high quench P-90 setup.

Go Into The Light...

I skimmed most of this thread and want to go re read it in detail, but it seems to me the overall point (and the answer to the questionin the subject line) got missed.. HP=Tq*RPM/5252. If you can make your engine make 250 lb-ft, at any given RPM, then your HP numbers are as follows at RPM: 5252 RPM=250 HP 7300 RPM=347 HP 9500 RPM=452 HP Just to illustrate scale, here are the numbers for a mythical engine holding 200 lb-ft: 5252 RPM=200 HP 7300 RPM=277 HP 9500 RPM=361 HP Holding 300 lb-ft: 5252 RPM=300 HP 7300 RPM=416 HP 9500 RPM=542 HP So, as you can see, if you can get an engine to generate 250 lb-ft by 5200 RPM, get it up to the 300 range by 7 grand, and hold it above 250 to ten grand, you can hit over 400-500+ horse usable. Now, how to achieve that is obviously a HUGE endeavour... BUT you need to look at it in this light FIRST, and then you see what you want your goals to be. Hence, expand your mind. Remember: Rev Through the harmonic as quickly as possible!!!!! Thats IT! Edit-- After re reading in greater detail, the point wasn't quite as missed as I had thought it was, but the numbers are still good to have.

Welded diff is a royal PITA on the street, especially in a car with no power steering to boot.

Likewise! I even have a wood frame I built from a couple pieces of scrap I happened to notice would be the perfect size for such a thing. Add a stack or two of stock 280ZX fuel rails, a junkyard pump, and you're 70% there. Just, power and control.....

No! I was assuring the OP had a good idea what exactly he had in his hands!! Its a GOOD DEAL more than just some paper gaskets, a manifold and a carb! I *thought* my numerous disclaimers might make it clear that I was playing devil's advocate and making the OP as completely well-informed to make his decision as could be.

Definitely true, and as much as I have argued for the point of keeping them, I wanted to clarify that I'm just making the argument so the OP can make an informed decision; whether he keeps them for a while or sells them, or decides to use them, or holds them until all of a sudden he meets this beautiful woman with a younger brother whose got this rusted up Z car but he's always dreamed of it and he could get the girl by helping her little bro build some wicked cool hi-po ugly ratrod 240Z....... There is no "wrong" choice.

Because they will fetch a higher price in a better market. I wouldn't push this point if it was just a set of triples with a manifold and some new gaskets, but the jetting kit and the scope of the parts included makes this Box O' Parts a premium item, and nobody is paying such premium prices right now: Now, whether or not the OP holds them or sells them, is up to him (obviously) but I was answering the question. If he would rather be rid of them and get his shelf space back as soon as possible, then sell it. If you've got the space, and you'd rather maximize your selling price, it would be worthwhile to hold it.

Well shoot me for jumping to conclusions then,

Yep. I'm not 100% certain which other Datsuns did and did not have this feature, but I know 280ZXs did not. I *should* know whether Roadsters did, and whether the 77-78 cars were the same, but I do not... yet. Must check.

Thats just sick....

The MSA twice pipes system begins as a single pipe. It already has an X-pipe integrated into it. The 3 into 2 header has a 2 into 1 Y pipe, and the twice pipes exhaust has a very similar Y pipe that it starts with before exhaust flow splits in twain.

That pretty much is everything you could need... Of course, with a set of triples, you can never have a wide enough variety, nor an adequate stock of jets. Those are the binary digits used to tune your metered fuel leaks, right there!!! I'm the type of guy who hoards and packrats stuff as second nature, so my typical advice would be in favor of "hanging on to it" whatever it might be, and whatever "times might be like..." ...but even so, rationally, and from an objective point of view, you will make more money selling that if you wait for the market in general to improve. It will always be easy to sell in the future, and the price you can ask sure isn't dropping any time soon.

They are all SU's, they are all made by Hitachi. SOME SU's are made by Skinner's Union, but those are usually found on British cars. Not all flat tops are even that crappy, but any USDM ones (that haven't been gutted and re configured) pretty much are.

Also meaning, that the ONLY WAY for anyone to lock the keys in your 70's Datsun is to: A: allow the passenger to exit, and lock the passenger door after it is shut. B: exit and shut the driver door C: lock the driver door with the key from the outside D: open the hatch E: lock the hatch with the key (which I am not sure can be done when the hatch is open, but maybe) F: throw your keys into the car and then finally G: close the hatch. In other words, if every car manufacturer did this, nobody would EVER lock their keys in the car. It would take a willful act of masochism. BUT, since we here in modern Western culture are too D@$% lazy to wait until the door is shut to lock it, we get inferior products. Remind me again why its nice when Capitalists cater to the lowest common denominator?? Disclaimer to the OP: this is a subject I have ranted about before. No angst or malice is directed at you by any means; I am sure there is plenty of angst and malice in my words, but its directed at all of us equally

No, it bolts to the steering column...... I know what you mean, talking about getting "mentally tired..." I had an 87 Subaru that was my DD for about 3-4 years. That car was an ugly, automatic transmissioned, rusted piece of front wheel drive junk but I loved it to death. (My individual car was this crappy; I wouldnt bash the model ) Anyhow, one of the things I LOVED about it was how easy everything was. Even the drum brakes; the retainer clip spingy thing that holds the pin on, that goes through the shoe and the backing plate? that spring was SO MUCH easier to use on the soobie than on the Datsuns that we have re engineered our rear brakes to use them. (Simple job, replace pin and spring and cap from Datsun with pin and spring from Subaru) Anyhow, I did Axles, timing belts, head gasket, water pump, radiator... I had to do alot of stuff to that car. The single most difficult job I had working on it was... (drumroll) Replacing the bloody Turn Signal Blinker. I'm not a big guy, and my hands are small and its easy for me to reach up into narrow crevasses.... but to get to that thing I had to go up to my elbod in a dashboard that was smaller than in our Z-cars!! It took me 6-8 hours of fighting, cursing, searching, and taking breaks to cool off before I got the old one out, and I leftthe new one dangling, unsecured except for the plug. It was fine until the A/T gave out on me three years later, and the car got parted and crushed. The head job took me one easy, six hour day of disassembly, a day of machine shop jail, and another easy, six hour day of re assembly. (She cranked up on the first shot; i remember being real proud of that.) Mind boggling sometimes. Stupid flasher can.

Necro-post or not, this is a point that is NOT brought up plainly enough very often.

Is the intercooler BEHIND THE RADIATOR there?!?!?!?!?!?! (sorta makes you wonder if this cat used a returnless fuel delivery system, to boot... boiling fuel, boiling intercooler... )

Tim, thinking about it more, what you need to do is run from the fuel pump to the junction block, and run two lines (plus the pressure gauge) out of the junction block. Each line goes to a Tee at the carb; one branch goes into the carb, the other goes out to a FPR with two "inlets." Two backpressure regulated circuits, and then one fuel return line from the regulator. Seeing the graphic; and recognizing that we were running #5 ( ) helped me visualize the system much more.

Combination switch = headlight/wipers/washer/turn signal/high beam switch. Sometimes it means both sides, sometimes its just the headlight side (at least, thats how the term gets thrown about; they may be a bit more anal retentive about how the terms are applied in the FSM, I never really bothered to check.) Have you pulled the dashboard yet? If it is REALLY jacked up, the task of repairing it is much easier if you can actually see what you are working with plainly and NOT feet up, bent in half, holding a flashlight in your teeth. It might seem like more trouble than it is worth, but I have never heard anyone say "Gee, I didn't really *need* to pull the dash out to do that, it would have been easier if I hadn't!!"

How many cans per coat? How much per can? You're supposed to sand between coats, right? Shall we say, a nice, conservative estimate of ten cans per coat, (I know it took at least 1.5 full-sized cans to do a good coat on my hood when I rattled it.) Three bucks per can. Ten coats. Ignoring any possible price increase for clear, you are at $300 in rattlecan paint (and when I rattlecan a car I get $4-6/can stuff, so for "good stuff" paint double that) Oh yes, lets not forget sandpaper to deal with after each coat.... It isn't as cheap as it seems when you're just spending $30-40 more at Wal-Mart weekend after weekend than you would be if you saved your money and got decent paint. Getting cans of Rustoleum lacquer paint, thinning it and rolling it or spraying it on with a cheapo gun is one thing. Rattlecanning a full car is another. To me, rattlecanning a car (beyond just an isolated area) is a way of saying to the car, "Attention Car!!!! You are receiving a BARE MINIMUM of attention from Me!! Good luck, because you will Need It!!"

John: Some of us find that the perception of financial savings is as attractive as tinkering with the cars is in the first place. There is a MASSIVE gap between my brother and I that I feel can be traced directly back to our wallets; my younger brother (from my point of view) thinks that any problem can be solved by spending the money to get the product proven to be engineered best for the purpose. I (from my brother's point of view) re-use garbage to a dangerous point near-yield, then go looking for more junk to replace it with when it fails on me. I'm a packrat, he throws EVERYTHING away. My point is, there are many, many of us who pretty much would never get a Quaife simply for the nonrational reason that it IS the upper-crust, top dollar solution to the problem. -EDIT-I am grossly oversimplifying a complex point here, which is something I hate to do, but I'll leave it at that. -end edit- That being said, I'm sure most of those who have gotten their knuckles busted on this endeavour are more than happy to go through the minimal effort of disassembling and inspecting (and if necessary, properly re assembling) their rear axle in exchange for the price.... (wait for it..) Differential. (pause for audience groan) And anyway, it never hurts to eyeball everything on any performance car you are building.

I didn't want to say that (because you had specifically enumerated it before) but I KNEW I felt like an old lady repeating to myself "It just sounds like more than an unbalanced wheel..." My uncle, years ago, ground down a 12mm (?) box wrench so that it was only 3-4" long, and specially clearanced on the outer edge from about 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock, specifically for the axles. I find I tighten them best by fitting the wrench onto the nut, finding a place for it to jam up against, then rotating the axle with force to tighten it. Make sense?? you can find other ways to apply significant torque to the SHAFT, while the wrench butts against something and tightens down each nut in turn. Of course, its old hat and if you already knew about it, nevermind... but tips like that never hurt. Glad to see you found it before it went critical at highway speeds or something!!!! Crap like that always makes you knock on wood, huh?

Ohmygod, I thought that might work but I never thought it would work that WELL!!!!! Whats the diameter on those things, it was like, just under 2" IIRC but I never had a ruler to check it.... You friggin got me, now. The engine bay looks BEAUTIFUL.

Wow, I have somehow completely missed this one so far.. Must follow closely!! Braap: I doubt I will find the time to do it, but might I have your permission to alter the above photos indicating coolant vs oil passages and whatnot?? It may show my lack of experience in building, but I still have no idea which holes is which yet and if I can get all that info I'd be happy to do the legwork myself to make those pictures a little more data-rich at a glance for those who like me, are not yet quite on such intimate terms with the holes in our engines