Phantom

Wow - wish I hadn't missed this string of posts. I already knew the stuff on the synthetic vs standard oils but was unsure of the grade to use. Anyway, I just came out of AutoZone a short while ago after buying 5 quarts of 15W-50 Mobil 1. They were out of the 5W-30 and 10W-40 so my other choice was a 0W-30 or 40. Since I'm new to the LS1 and this is Texas and it is summer I opted for the 15W-50. One comment, however. One thing no filter will do is remove the acids that are byproducts of combustion from the oil. They will continually build up over time and willl start to corrode the internals of the engine. - unless you regularly change out the oil whcih takes the acid build-up out with it. That is why, even with the Mobil 1, I'll be changing my oil every 5,000 miles or 6 months.

What? We're thinking maybe we need 3.70:1? Vindication!!!!!! Gary - Where do you have your rev limiter set? Stock heads & valve train? I'm limited to 6,000 rpm which puts me right at 120 mph in 4th with 225/50-16's and the 3.70:1 R200.

Try http://www.ChipsByAl.com. He did the programming on my LS1 ECM and it has been flawless. I have also sent him a bunch of emails and he has replied to all of them in less than a day. LS1 guys thought my engine was an '01 or '02 model based on its performance rather than a '98 model.

So are you going to the JC there in Lewistown or U of I in Moscow? Have they fixed the hill out of Lewiston headed north on 95 or is it still a mini Pike's Peak? Speaking of that, have you ever run Cabbage Hill (replaced by the long grade) south of Lewiston? All really good roads for a guy with a car that likes Twisties. I used to average 5 hours flat from Moscow to Boise using 80 as my top end. Lot's of fun at Lewiston, Whitebird & Horseshoe Bend as well as down along the river.

Will the 245's work with stock 14" wheels without coil-overs or flaring the rear wells? I have heard that it can be done but haven't seen anyone do it yet. Wouldn't a 60 series be better to get a little more sidewall action? Show the wife the pro-charge first. It's about $8,000 so $5,000 will almost seem a bargain by comparison.

All the known stars are aligned for me to be there Saturday evening - may even have both cars if I can get my son to go too. got the windshield seal replaced last week so now the car is weathertight. If I can get the hatch lock rplaced this week I may even be able to have the rear strut tower brace installed by saturday. No promises at this point - just that I intend to be there.

My '83Zx has just over 205,000 on it right now and runs very well for an NA motor. It has surprised more than its share of ricers who thought their fart can would give them the edge they needed to school me. Guess who was the teacher!?!

http://www.projecttransam.com Guys on http://www.LS1tech.com also got real interested in the car and one of them even posted pictures for me. On that site I have to go under "Texas Shadow" as someone else is the 'Phantom' already. So far everyone has been really polite and exibited a fair amount of interest in what I've done. Another guy even posted a video of a LT1 equipped 240Z claiming it could outrun a sport bike.

Gary, How you going to hook up all that HP? You must be doing something serious under the rear fender wells. Also - did you look at the http://www.procharger.com site? The "Import Night" at Ennis is this July 26th?

Couldn't resist. I was over on a LS1 site where a lot of WS-6 guys hang out and read a thread about one putting the hurt on a guy with a new C-5. Several others proceeded to chime in about how the C-5 guys always underestimate the "much less expensive" WS-6 and then get it handed to them. Sounds familiear to some strings I've seen on this site. Anyway, I dropped a post into the string that said: "You should remember your comments the next ime you come alongside a little Datsun. 1977 Datsun 280Z, LS1, T56, 3.70:1 LSD, 2,830 lbs, 311RWHP, 326RWTQ" That got them stirred up! They were nice about it though.

I'm running 311 RWHP (366 flywheel), 326 RWTQ with the original 4-lug pattern. You'll have to tub the car, get really wide tires , and more HP/torque than I have to break them. With the T56 and 3.70:1 differential I'm putting over 3,200 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels in 1st.

The problem you'll deal with in most cases, though, is that the ones that are all show and no go just cruise and won't race while the ones that will race want to do it for $$$ and they've usually got serious HP under the hood. Tricky ground to tread on.

But where was the aluminum wing, the 15 or so decals, fart can & extreeeeme ground effects? Obviously an ignoramous that doesn't understand the true definition of "rice".

So today I have a 35th anniversary Camaro SS pull up next to me. Gorgeous car! That very bright 'vette orange-red with dual silver racing stripes, chromed wheels, and totally immaculate. 30 year old woman at the wheel already driving it like she was 85. It definitely had the T56 becasue of the way she accellerated it but evidently the throttle was limited to about 2,000 rpm.

LS1 T56 input shaft is larger in diameter and will carry more torque than LT1 T56.

I've noticed that most of the "ricers" in this area cruise but don't race. It's all about the look not the performance. Then there are the F&F ricers - that is a different story. They are just harder to find and generally only race for $$$.

And the beat goes on. Several more days and haven't gotten alongside anything worth my time. I've hardly even seen anything. Even the route home from my mothers nursing home where I used to get inot it all the time has dried up. The up side, however, is that I've gotten much better acquainted with the car and have improved my control and speed/gear selection knowledge significantly. 3rd is such a wonder at about 60 mph!

If you get into trouble on the ECM contact ChipsbyAl@aol.com. He set my LS1 ECM up and it has been perfect.

Cyrus, Talked with the guy who edited my ECM. Turns out the "Predator" is a performance chip for the LS1 ECM which is designed to enhance the HP & torque curves. Looks like it's worth about 5-7%.

I was merging onto the highway last night and came up alonside a guy on a Yamaha that looked kind of like a Harley sportster. Anyway, it was pretty quick and he knew it so it really ticked him off whenI goosed the Z in 5th and forced him to fall in behind me to get around the car in front of him. When I got up a bit further he jumped back into the lane beside me and I repeated the maneuver which cause him to repeat his. Only this time he really nailed it, passed & jumped in front of me and wove thru about 8-10 cars all the while accellerating to at least 100 mph - only to run into a Texas thunderstorm cell where he got hit with giant rain drops that totally soaked him to the skin in about 5 seconds - and of course were impacting him at at least 100 mph because he had no windscreen on the bike. That had to be one really unhappy dude!

Update - setting on ring got screwed up so it got returned for full cash refund - including a separate appraisal we'd had done on it. Replacement is a special deal through a friend of mine who is a gemologist and has "connections" with the diamond brokers in Boston. Picture in my album. Center stone is 5 carats.

Know the feeling. Passed the 11 year mark myself back on March 11th with my 77. It has been daily driver the whole time except for 5 weeks down in '97 for the paint job and 11 months down just recently for the LS1 conversion. It's a gift that just keeps on giving!

Yeah - my car is stripped of all its insignia too except for the Z on the roof columns where the air vent is. Had a nice Prelude cruise by me last night and then stick out a big thumbs up once he got past. I was motoring in 6th at about 1,500 at the time so I downshifted to 5th, caught up with him, gave him a wave, downshifted to 3rd and nailed it. Grabbed a little scratch going into 4th at about 95 and was gone. He exited the highway before I got slowed back down but figure at least he knows that the car is more than just pretty.

Gee - and I always thought it was the speed at which the airflow across the wings became insufficient to create enough lift to maintain level flight.

Turns out that it's the DFCO - Decel Fuel Cut-out - function of the ECM. It is not usually noticable on a car with OEM exhaust but becomes apparent on one with a less restrictive exhaust. Bottom line - it's supposed to do it, I'm just not supposed to be able to hear it.