seanof30306

You really ought to put a bunch of pics with the ad. Always helps with a sale.

So, I drive two old cars. I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee as my daily driver, and a 1989 Firebird Formula for fun. I've been thinking a lot lately about selling the Firebird and getting an S30. I'm also going to put some money into the Jeep to bring it back up to snuff, too. The thing I dread is having to get one vehicle, or the other to places to get work done. None of my friends live anywhere near me, and it is a huge pain in the butt to drop off or pick up either of my vehicles when I have to get work done that I can't do. I was thinking of a tow bar, with quick disconnect permanent mounts on the S30 that can't be seen when the tow bar isn't hooked up. I searched "tow bar", but got no results. Has this, or can this be done?

Very nice work. Sitting in the mounted seat, do you feel you are lower than stock? if so, how much lower?

Do you have any pics of what you did? I've sat in plenty of 240, 260, and 280Zs, and I didn't experience any of the problems your friend did. I just needed more headroom. In my Firebird and jeep, I learned by dropping the rear of the seat more than the front, the angle and support on the legs was much improved. Maybe that's part of the solution here.

I've driven a number of Zs, and the issue has always been headroom, not legroom. I'm confident if I can lower the seat enough, I will be comfortable.

Directly mounting the seat, without sliders?

OK, so I'm REALLY wanting to do an S30 street driver. As the title shows, there are a few challenged. I've been kind of discouraged, but I just saw Sung Kang's 240Z on Jay Leno's Garage I was amazed at how low they sat. Leno is 6", and he has to crane his neck to see down the hood! I solved this problem in my '89 Formula Firebird by swapping over to Fiero seat braackets. They drop the seat about 1 1/2", and it makes a HUGE difference. I solved it in my Jeep Cherokee by having a fabricator cut 2" from the front of the set brackets, and 2 1/2" out of the rear, then taking a BFH to the transmission tunnel over the transfer case. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bigger challenge in the S30.If it needs fab, or the floorboards/structre cut, that's OK. I would prefer to have the seat still adjustable, but that's not a dealbreaker. Here's the Carbon Signal driver's seat from the Fugu Z. http://www.autoblog.com/article/fuguz/#slide-3786152

Great project! Any updates?

Come on, man. I agree, you have had terrible luck with this project, much of it that could fairly be attributed to either "acts of God", or acts of unscrupulous men, as your last engine builder appears to be, but a lot of the responsibility for your bad luck has to come home to roost on your own shoulders. I've been following this project since right about the time you wrote that post from 2011. I've been amazed by the quality of the work you've done, but over and over again, I've seen you hit a problem, and instead of sorting it out, make MAJOR changes to the car. Time and again, I've found myself asking "Why doesn't he just get what he's got working?" Ask yourself this. Since December 16, 2011, how many times have you ripped a subsystem you were having trouble with out, and made major changes? How different might things be if, on December 16, 2011, you had stuck with what you had, gotten it working, and driven and raced the car, making upgrades as you found weaknesses in the car, or things you wanted to improve? "There is no fate, but what we make" - John Connor You have a dog in this hunt, Mike, and you know it.

Mike, A couple of thoughts ..... First, it appears to me that the crankcase pressurization problem is one of, if not the most persistent of your gremlins. You said the other day it was pushing oil out of the front main seal, and the oil pan. Unless the problem is internal, swapping to an LS will not solve that problem, will it? Before I pulled the engine, or considered a swap, or considered selling the car, or lighting it on fire, I'd talk to the chief engineer(s) at the manufacturer(s) of the components in your oiling system, and other road racers doing dry sump oiling with the same, or similar components. There is something wrong there, and I cannot believe it is unique to your car. If you swap to an LS without resolving the problem, you'll simply go from having a 383 with overpressurization problems to an LS with overpressurization problems. I'd also recommend taking the advice you get with a grain of salt. I'm on a lot of forums, and the information shared there is awesome, but in their zeal to help, many contributors can send you off on wild goose chases. For example, I'm on a forum for my '89 Firebird. This kid asked for help with his car, which had started skipping. He was very thorough, and even posted video (with audio) of the car running poorly. A number of very knowledgable people I consider gurus of GM TBI jumped in to help him troubleshoot the problem. What followed was an ever-expanding discussion of TBI, ECM, and GM V8 theory, where the kid was directed to rebuild the throttle body (no help), replace the throttle body (no help), put in a new distributor (no help), put in new spark plugs (no help), replace the IAT (no help), replace the EGR (no help), replace the TPS (no help), put in a new ECM (no help), and on and on, and on. After several days and over 8 pages of discussion and parts replacement, the kid finally learned that a friend of his had swapped two plug wires on him as a joke while he was changing the oil. I'm not suggesting that you'd miss something so simple, I'm just saying that (A), you need to talk to experts. You've already invested serious time and resources in trying to track down this problem, and you are a detail-oriented, thorough, skilled mechanic. It's time to bring in a bigger dog, not a bunch of littler ones (no offense intended to any of the good-hearted people who offer their help so generously), and (, maybe it's time for a fresh set of eyes. Second are the electrical issues; something I have PLENTY of experience with while trying to fix my @#$%^&!!! KZ650 (now known as "Christine"). I can't tell you how many times I traced every single wire on my 30+ year-old wiring harness from the fuse box all the way to its termination point, cleaning connections and replacing wires until there was virtually no voltage drop, yet every time I thought I had it licked, within 400 miles, it ate a stator, rectifier, battery, or some combination thereof. There was no new replacement harness available, so I finally bought a repop harness for a Z1 and adapted it to fit. It was a miracle! I've followed your progress on this car closely, and the pics of the wiring you've done are beautiful. Could the problem be elsewhere in the 40+ year-old original harness you're grafting onto? Am I correct in thinking that almost all of the gremlins you've experience have been in either the oiling system or the electrical system? Regarding the LS swap: I think LSs in S30s are WAY cool, and I hope to do one some day, but you already have an awesome, 383 that makes plenty of power. On the TBI forum I'm on for my Firebird, someone will ask how to make more power with their TBI, and invariably, someone from the carb forum will jump in and say "Stick a carb on it!". The LS fanboys on here kind of remind me of that. Their solution to virtually anything is "Stick an LS in it!". They've spoken of the reliability of the LS, and yes, it is reliable (as long as we skip over the early-year LS1s and their oiling and bearing failure issues, which the LS fanboys conveniently fail to mention). But seriously, any objective comparison of the two will show that, as reliable as an LS is, it is certainly no more reliable than the venerable SBC. On top of that, your 383 is one of the coolest incarnations of the SBC, offering incredible torque. Yeah, an LS is better. It's lighter. It has a far superior head design , and on, and on, and on. The thing is, you've GOT the 383. It's paid for. It makes great power. The car handles great with that engine in it. Furthermore, you've yet to get any kind of return on your initial investment in it, or your 1500.00 reinvestment. If you were to keep the Z, an LS swap would absolutely be the next logical level of evolution for the car, but the engine you have in it makes more than enough power, and offers more than enough reliability .... for now. More importantly, the 383 is not the problem ... at least I don't think it is. Mike, people have been racing small block Chevy's for over 60 years. They've been racing them with dry sump oiling systems for at least 25 years. There are no new problems with it. I guarantee you, the trouble you're having has been run across, and solved hundreds, if not thousands of times. Your challenge is to find that pre-existing solution, not engineer a new one. Hell, if you're that disgusted with it, do away with the dry sump, and put in a high volume oil pump and a road racing oil pan with a good windage tray. People were going fast on road courses, reliably, for decades before dry sump systems came about. High technology is great, but if the tech ain't workin', go back to the old school. In the laps I've seen you turn, it doesn't sound like you're going much past 6 grand. Is the dry sump critical? Here's the one that drives me crazy ... stick an LS in it so you can get more for it on resale. Really? You estimated you could get 15 grand out of it if you parted it out as it sits. If you were to put an LS in it, would you get enough more than that out of it to cover the costs of the swap, and make back more of what you've invested? What about the time you'd have to put into it to do that? It's no longer a labor of love, what value do you place on that time? What about having to replace the front springs, and rebalance the car, the radiator, etc? Mike, I play a lot of poker. I consider myself to be a serious student of the game. I also work in the poker industry, so I see people play the game well (very few), and I see people play the game poorly (the overwhelming majority of players; 95% lose money). There are three poker axioms I feel are very relevant to your situation. The first is "Emotion is the enemy of profit." Poker places incredible psychological stress on you, and THE most important skill is emotional management. The ultimate goal is to make all decisions with your intellect, then execute them with emotion (passion). Your disgust, frustration and anger are still very evident in your posts. That's not a criticism, I completely understand how you feel. My point is, you have a ton of money and time and emotional energy invested in that car. Any decisions you make regarding it, and your future with it are best made when you don't hate the damned thing as much as you do right now. There's nothing pressing here ... throw a tarp over it and do something else for awhile if you need to. Take a break. Give yourself a little space. The second is "The moment you become convinced you can't win, get out." You often hear bad players making calls when they know they're beat because they feel they have too much "invested" in the hand to fold. If you decide to get rid of the car, investing more time and money in an effort to take less of a loss on it is a bad idea, The third applicable poker axiom is "Once you fold it, forget it." Donkeys sit around the poker table lamenting poorly played hands, or hands they folded that would have won; asking the dealer to rabbit cards after the hand is over, etc. Once a smart player dumps a hand, they hopefully learned a lesson from it, but they waste no time or energy on regret; they focus on the next hand. If, after you've had time for your emotions to subside, you decide you are done with this car, then be done with it. Don't waste any more time, money, or emotional energy trying to save some of your investment. Part it out, at fair prices, not a fire sale, but your goal should be to have it out of your life as quickly, and with as little additional grief, as possible. Honestly, I hope that's not the decision you make, but I strongly feel any decision you make right now is not an optimal one. Since you're not pressed to make one, why not wait? Best, SP

Mike, can I ask you a question? If you had not had the persistent problems with the car; if it ran like it does when it's not screwing up, with only a reasonable amount of bugs, how high would your satisfaction level with it be?

Hey Mike, I'm sorry you're so discouraged right now. I've had similar experiences with a classic motorcycle I spent years trying to sort out. I won't bore you with the details, but in over 4 years of working on it, it never went more than 400 miles without eating a battery and/or a charging system, and leaving me beside the road, jumping up and down on the kickstarter and cussing up a storm. The last time it did it, I kind of snapped, walked over a mile to a gas station, bought a gas can, filled it up, and bought a lighter. I was absolutely bound and determined to light that sumbitch on fire. As I was stomping back up the road to do it, a cop stopped and gave me a ride. "Out of gas?" he asked. "Nope" I snarled. "Watcha doin with the gas can, then?" "I'm gonna light that sumbitch on fire!" I announced, going into a long diatribe on the many evils of my devil-bike. He rode around and let me vent for awhile, occasionally commiserating with me. After I'd gotten it all out, I'd calmed down, and he lent me his phone to call AAA to tow it home ... again! Nice cop. I've been reading your thread for over a year, and I've been amazed at the craft and thought you've put into creating this amazing, unique, totally cool car. The thing I've taken away from this thread, time and again, is the enjoyment you appear to get from working on the car, not just driving it; how meticulously you go about your planning, research, and execution; how you sweat the small stuff. In a post above, Clarkspeed spoke of not being overly worried about the reliability issues he's been having lately, as he builds for it, and knows the car will eventuallyl come back around. I think there is great truth and wisdom in those words. You have definitely built for reliability in your car as well. You don't cut corners, you don't jury rig. There will eventually be a payoff for that. While a certain amount of grief and drama is to be expected in a build of such a customized work of automotive art, there is no question that you are having an inordinately high amount of it .... compare your build thread to cobramatt's, a car as unique as yours, built with the same type of thought, craftmanship, and attention to detail. He's had nowhere near the bad luck you've had, and there's nothing that explains why that is. In poker, sometime you run good, and sometimes you run bad. There's nothing you can do about that. All you can do is bring your "A" game to every hand you play. Over time, making optimal plays always pays off, no matter what happens in the short run. The mistake many players make when they're running bad is, they start doubting themselves, and changing the way they play the game. It's the worst mistake they can make. Now, I know there's nothing anyone can say right now that will change the way you're feeling. It's something that's going to have to run it's course. Set the car aside for a bit, and let your current rage and hatred for it run their course. That's what I did with that @#$%&!!! KZ650. Eventually, I started feeling the love for it again, bought a new Z1 wiring harness, and adapted it to fit. Why hadn't I done that before? Finally, after over 4 years of fighting it, it ran perfectly! On my 2nd tank of gas after finally getting the gremlis worked out, I highsided off of it, broke one arm, fractured the other, fractured 3 ribs, fractured my left kneecap, and broke my left pinky toe. They put a plate in my right arm, I missed 4 months of work, was in rehab for 8 months, and will only get about 50% of the mobility back in my right wrist. The bike bent the handlebars and the left front blinker was torn off. I've renamed it "Christine". Oh well, at least I finally solved those electrical problems! Hopefully, you've had a small laugh at my expense. Trust me, there will come a day when you will look back at your ordeal with this car and laugh as well. It will make a great story to tell in the bull sessions in the pits. I know it doesn't feel that way right now, but I definitely believe it will in the future. You have built an amazing car. You've done it with care, and thoughtfulness, and creativity. You've sweated the details, and avoided the temptation to rush it, or cut corners. At some point, that philosophy and execution ALWAYS pays off. I'm sorry for all the trouble you've been having. SP PS: I'm certainly no expert, but my impression is an inordinate amount of your problems appear to be tied to your oiling system. Good Luck!

Interesting that you should mention math, as that is essentially what I do. Regardless, here is the inescapable fact of the situation. Take two identical 3500lb cars, both making 400 RWHP and 435 torques. Identical HP and torque curves. On one, put 29" tall slicks and 3.73 gears. On the other, put 29" tall street tires, and 3.42 gears. Line them up side by side, with drivers of equal size and skill. Barring a mechanical failure, or driver error, the car with slicks will have a significantly lower 60' time, a significantly lower ET, and a significantly higher MPH every time. All of the reasons for this were explained above. Torque Multiplication Look into it.

That's a lot of information. Thanks for taking the time to share it with me. I wonder if it would make sense to compile additional information with that for the FAQs? As far as the 3.9 in the LS240, it was definitely an LSD. Both wheels were pulling, and the guy told me it was a limited slip when we were talking about it. He went through his suspension mods with me, but I don't recall what they were. Regardless, they could not have been dialed in properly, or poorly matched. He said he was an avid autocrosser and track day enthusiast, though, and said the car handled very well before the swap. My opinion, albeit based on incomplete information and low expertise on Z-cars, is that he was overpowering the tires. The LS2 crate motor he was running made over 400 ft lbs of torque. On a car that light, with that small of a tire, and that much gear, I don't think any amount of suspension work will make that rear end stick on an aggressive corner exit. V6 Camaros have significantly more tire under them than that S-30, and nearly 1500 lbs more weight to plant the car. I guess I'm sensitive to this because of my experience with my Firebird. With the near-stock L03, which made 170 ground-pounding HP, and 253 ft lbs of stump-pulling torque, I consistently ran 2.0 60' times, and it was a blast on the autocross courses. On the track, it sucked on the straightaways, but it was controllable in the corners, and fun to drive. After the 383, my 60' times never improved significantly over that 2.0 mark, and were sometimes worse. The autocross was a nightmare, and while it was more fun on the straights at the track, exiting corners sucked. The "sweet spot" was now razor thin, and even after the corner was behind me, it would still sometimes break the tires loose in 2nd, even 3rd gear. Before the 383, I could drive the car pretty close to it's limits. After, it's like trying to get along with your girlfriend after she finds your porno stash on your computer; the slightest misstep and it's rage city. My Firebird turned much faster laps with the 383 than it did with the 305, but it was nowhere near as much fun to drive. I think I would have enjoyed the car a lot more if I'd done a 350 that made around 325-350 RWHP and under 400 ft lbs torque. That would have been a power level that was more in line with the suspension and tires I had under the car. As I was following that S30 around the track that day, the first thing that occurred to me was "That thing is worse off the corners than my car!". It's what made me really rethink the LSX idea. Having owned both a V8 and an L28ET S30, can you compare your experiences/impressions of the two?

Ridiculous. Your ET tells you how quickly you go from a standing start to breaking the lights 1320 feet down the track. A large portion of how well you drive the car concerns your reaction time, which has absolutely nothing to do with your ET, or the MPH you run on the big end. Most of the rest of how well you drive the car goes into the launch. After that, a trained monkey could do it. Hell, if you have a properly set-up automatic transmission, it'll shift for you, taking almost all of the skill out of it fter the launch; certainly after the 1-2 shift. Utterly ridiculous. At it's heart, drag racing is simply an exercise in torque multiplication. In the 1320 feet you have to work with, you will arrive at the highest MPH through the most efficient torque multiplication. If you spin the tires at launch, spin the tires through 1st and 2nd gear, or have to limit throttle to keep from spinning, you are using up some of those precious 1320 feet multiplying your torque inefficiently. The most efficient multiplication of torque would be to floor it at the green light, not lift all the way down, and have no wheelspin. Anything less than that is inefficient torque multiplication, and that lost multiplication of torque cannot be recovered. As a matter of fact, since you are multiplying torque, the further down the track we go, the greater the negative effect of that poor launch/wheelspin will be on the MPH you ultimately reach. That's why you will always see not only a decrease in ET, but also an increase in MPH when the 60' times improve (unless you run out of gear and nose over before the finish line). I will absolutely guarantee you with a set of drag radials or slicks that were the exact same height as the street tires on it, the 60' times and ETs my Formula ran would have gone down significantly, and the MPH would have gone up significantly, too. Since the tires are the same height, the gearing would remain the same, so the only factor that would change is the traction. Drag Racing 101, dude. Before you go lecturing someone, you ought to know it.