Phantom

Mike, The appraisals in this area are done much the same way as those already described. Some items, however, affect the appraisals in different ways - specifically any structure not part of the home. One example would be a swimming pool - it's worth a flat $7,000 in this area - no matter what you paid for it. Outbuildings can actually lower the appraisal value of the home if they don't compliment the architecture of the home or - if they provide something the average guy wouldn't want/need - they add very little. Landscaping will also affect it. Grass & a specified number of shrubs garners the average. If it's in poor shape it hurts "curb appeal" and lowers the appraisal - if it's really nice - just the opposite. The age of the home also affects the appraisal. The home next to me was actually built 5 years before mine. Because of that it appraises at a lower value/sq.ft. that mine. When I bought my house I got it for about $55/ft, now it's worth about $80/ft - but then I've sunk over $100,000 in upgrades and landscaping into it over the past 20 years.

David, Congratulations to you and Lisa. Our prayers go with you. Twins - WOW! When you said you were getting another car I was thinking a mini-van:twisted: rather than the "other" one. Cool. Bill & Chris

It's all a function of the radiator design. Heat transfer is a pure function of time of exposure and contact surface area. A bunch of small tubes will get you more area than a few small tubes - do the math. The longer the air is in contact with the radiator the cooler the water will become. It's all about the design "appraoch" temperature. I deal all the time with 10°F approach coils at work. That means the leaving air temperature is 10°F warmer than the entering water. In my application the goal is to cool the air, not the water. It works the same the other way. The obvious thing is that once the air temperature gets within 10° of the water it's not going to do much cooling - but by then it's probably in the neighborhood of 250°F. Thus the arguement that 4-rows aren't very effective and also the case for high-flow fans and doihng a very good job of sealing around the radiator & fan shroud to ensure all the air goes across the radiator and none around it. I guess my personal experience tends to indicate that a 4-row will work fine - since mine has been running flawlessly for over two years and 18,000 miles now. My fans don't run at highway speeds, only coming on in stop 'n go traffic or hot days whenthe AC is cranked all the way up. I even found that it only takes one of the two fans running to get the job done when one of the relays failed on a particularly hot day. On another note - if the air leaving the radiator is at 250°F think wwhat that does to the air density if your engine air intake is behind the radiator. When I was in college I did an engineering study that showed that a 100°F drop in air temperature and the resultant increase in air density was worth a 5% increase in flywheel HP. I think I just convinced myself to add item 13 to my "to do" list - move intake to in front of radiator.

For long-term reliability & fuel economy the fuel injected L28 is the better way to go. If youo're thinking about trying to develop some kind of mega horsepower then carbuation may be an option. If carburators are better then why are all the new cars fuel injected?

I'm assuming you mean a 4-row core? The more 'rows' a core has the deeper the radiator and the more heat it can transfer -thus the reason Datsun went form a 2-row to a 3-row from the L24 to the L28 - and thus the reason my L28 radiator was recored to a 4-row to run with my LS1.

I've had the car 13 1/2 years now. I've got 18,000 miles on the LS1 / T56 conversion. The car has a full custom interior and sound system - yada, yada, yada. I started thinking today and, even with all that has been done, this is the 'to do' list I still have: 1) Fix pinhole leak at radiator cap neck - installed new 18 lb. cap in place of a 16 lb. 8/27/05. Not yet sure if that really fixed the problem though. 2) Install new clock I've had for about 8 months now. 3) Reroute & trim some of the coolant hoses to clean up the engine bay and eliminate some rubbing spots. 4) Fix the windshield washer system - nozzles are plugged. 5) Replace the drivers side visor tensioning bolt - the visor is too 'floppy'. fixed 9/1/05. 6) Install the adjustable proportioning valve. 7) Find the blankety-blank OBD II connector. 8) Install a 1" steering wheel spacer to get steering wheel clear of my left thigh. 9) Adjust the seat mounts a bit more. 10) Install Roll bar cranium pads. 11) Find the funny rubbing sound in the front that comes & goes. 12) Adjust the driver's side T/C rod so it is mounted correctly 13) Move air intake to in front of the radiator. 14) Pick up a Maxima 16" mini-spare. This is pretty much the 'must' list - not the 'wish' list. It never ends. Ain't it great!

My nephew lives in Pensacola and is part of the SCC scene so I'll have to send him the link and ask about the car. He's mentioned the lack of a 1/4 mile track in the area several times so I would imagine tha the 7.8 is an 1/8 mile time. Considering the fact that mine turned 8.6 1/8 on the way to a 12.9@110 1/4, I would say that is a very respectable time.

I'm paying $224 every 6 months for full coverage - collision, liability, comprehensive, towing & uninsured motorist. I talked with them about the fact that the car is 'highly modified' and they said to just keep good records and have lots of photos. I believe them because I had a Z stolen several years ago and, because I had records and one measly photo, I got just $100 less than I'd paid for the car 3 years before. The company - USAA. They've done me well for 34 years now.

Any home improvement or hardware store like Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware.

I can't tell for certain from the photos but, if that is not a dash cap and the original dash does not have a crack, that in itself is worth the $500.

Yeah - but with long-tube headers I have a choice of a 4WD ride height or never clearing a speed bump so that lets them out. I suppose I could conceivable get to 3" diameter duals but they will come when I go to 1 3/4" primaries on the headers instead of 1 1/2" and that will probably be when I install an LS2 derivative motor - which might happen in about 8 years when I pass 100,000 on this motor! Lots of compromises in this install.

So I could say the 6 HP difference is primarily the LS6 intake but the Torque difference is primarily the larger exhaust? I'm hoping to get the car on a dyno again this coming weekend and find out if the 2 1/2" duals back to the muffler has really made a difference.

Man - no good deed goes unpunished. I spent two hours Sunday afternoon upside-down under the dash looking for the OBD II connector and didn't find it. Now I'm going to have to pull the console and lower dash area covers on both sides and spend most of a day hunting. To add insult to injury - when I got done the car wouldn't start. It would crank fine but wouldn't fire off. Since it had been running fine I figured it had to be a self-inflicted wound so back under the dash I went. It took about 3 minutes and I found a wire that had pulled out of a connector - put it back in and the car fired right up. Whew! Then I found this morning that the wire had also caused my radio to lose its memory so now I have to redo all the settings on it! At least I was able to wash the car and clean it up some.

Thanks David. I've felt a bit naked without the spare. The Maxima one sounds like an excellent option - as long as the padded well I have now isn't too small for it. Ahh - the side effects of customizing. That will make me even more tail-heavy if I stick a spare back in. Guess that would help with 1/4 track launches but I'm really strting to prok up. If I don't shave my 60' by at least a tenth I probably won't even be able to break into the 12's again.

I saw a really nice Ford 302 240Z go for just under $9K last week on Ebay. I saw the car in person about a month ago and the ebay description was pretty accurate. Dollar-wise, with a little patience, you could probably pick up a decent conversion for what you'll have. Remember - you'll be selling one set of 'opportunities to overcome' for another.

Definitely do an internet search on whatever product you choose. Also make sure that it compares equal to or greater than Dynamat or you'll either end up with less deadening or more weight by having to put in multiple layers. Look not only at sound deadening material but also at sound absorbing material. They are different and you should use both. The jute on the back of most carpet is a sound absorber. Also - plan on filling voids - like the lowerer rear fender wells and the side panel area below the quarter window - with foam. It helps make the car more rigid and reduces noise infiltration. Be careful not to block any designed in drains. All the above was done on my car - see pics in my album - and it made a huge difference. No more transmission noise, very little transient exhaust rumble and almost no tire noise. I can actually hear the wind noise at the drivers side door now - when I turn the stereo off!

We've got them down here in Texas.

I looked itno another one of these a while back. I don't know your local laws but the quick-release hub eliminates the horn function so, if that is required where you are, you'd have to devise another way to actuate it. I'd also be worried about what apears to be a very low price. Most of the ones I've seen run $40-60 US. I'm actually looking at a spacer to bring the wheel slightly closer to me - or should a say an inch further from my knees so they don't rub on the back side of the steerign wheel. I'm staying steadfast with maintaining the horn function though.

American - No title - no buy!! A guy in our club has a beautiful 240Z he can't drive because he can't get it registered because of title problems. You need to start with a rust free, clean title, shell. There are several of us in the DFW area with V8 Hybrid Z's - Zfan in Plano, Lone Star 1 in Mesquite, and myself just to name a few. Where have you been checking for a car? Have you touched base with members of the two local Z clubs? www.zcluboftexas.org and www.cowtownzclub.org They have a lot of resources and local knowledge.

Well, the Hurst shift lever started coming loose - no loctite - so it was time to pull it apart again. Almost all good news. The Hurst shift ball has the same thread as the ball on my old, modified Nissan lever so it screwed right on. The old lever took a little modifying to mate up ok with the bolt pattern on the Hurst shifter but it eventiually fit up and is now bolted in place with locktite & lock washers. WOW - what a difference! The Nissan lever is about 1 1/2"horter than the Hurst and moves the ball back about 4" from where the Hurst was. It takes a little more effort because of the shorter throw but the shifts are now all well within my arms reach, fast and precise. It relly feels good. Anyone need a pretty chrome shift lever that says "HURST" on it?

Hey Darius, I was talking to a young guy who drives a Sentra SER but works in a Mustang oriented performances shop in Arlington, TX - USA Motorsports - and he was asking me about the dude with the supercharged LT1 powered Z car video. He had just seen it. Man - that video is like the energizer bunny - it just keeps on going!!

Looks like a modernized version of the old Jaguar XK120 coupe. It was sweet in the 50's and they've made it look even nicer.

I had an '83 280ZX NA and had an opportunity to put it on a set of certified truck scales. With 3/4 tank of gas it weighed 2880 lbs. 1430 on the nose & 1450 on the tail. I would imagine your ZXT would weigh in under 3,000 lb and probably be even closer to a 50/50 weight distribution. Cool.

Since you didn't mention what car this is in reference to I'm going to assume it's a 240Z based on your avatar. The description indicates that it's some form of lash. It's either in the differential or in the driveshaft universals or in the half-shaft universals. You can jack the wheels off the ground, rotate the half shafts and find it with a little patience.

Today was the first time I had ever heard of a V3 kit too. The car was originally purchased at Bankston Nissan in Irving, TX. The V3 kit is a factory supplied, dealer installed anti vapor-lock conversion. It consists primarily of an electric fuel booster pump and some heat-wrap for the fuel line.