jt1

????? When I converted my 73 automatic to SD, I used pedals from a 71 and everything worked perfectly. There must be some variations along the line somewhere. My 73 didn't have the pedal stop on the floor was one. jt

Mark Donahue. Are you two related? jt

Dale, I really appreciate you looking out for me. Unfortunately that's not it. Mine was a 02 Haulmark 32' Edge tag. John

Some things to look at on a C3: -Poor function of vacumn operated stuff, particuarly the headlights. -Leaking Ttops, they are notorius for that. -Since it's had rear strut rods, look for negative camber in the rear tires. If you see any, the rear diff yokes are worn, pricey repair. -Any frame rust, usually on the rear half of the car. Very bad. -Original engine. It affects the value of vettes a lot. -Any sign of fiberglass repair. Not a big deal if properly done, but a big hit on value if sloppy. If it's done right, it's almost impossible to detect. If that's the same as US dollars, that close to double what that car would be worth here. John

Austin, I'm planning on going, plus there will be a couple of other Z guys from the Winston Salem area. If you want to come, we'll meet up, talk cars, and hang out. John

Great idea, I'll chip in. jt

The ITS record for CMP is 1:51.842. This link is from 02, but a friend who runs a ITS 240Z says it still stands, the pavement was fresh then. http://www.ccrscca.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=39 I'm confident Mark's car is faster than that, because 1) The last time we ran together at CMP I couldn't keep up with him; and 2)At the 04 THSCC time trial I turned a 1:47.630, in the same trim as running with Mark. http://www.thscc.com/timetrial/events/results/2004/results_cmp.htm Both our cars are on V700's, full interior, street legal, except the mufflers on mine are iffy. John

Jon, I haven't seen one autox, but if they pull 0.92g they no doubt have a quite capable chassis. Except for Doug, I must not have been around any of the better car/driver combos. I'm usually in the slow group anyway!!!!! John

Mark, was that a white miata with flares? After posting that I remembered Doug Gubbins- white turbo miata with big flared fenders, about 9" goodyears, and very well driven. I agree his car is real fast. His is about the only one I've seen that wasn't in the "moving cone" group. I'm looking forward to seeing how Marty- the guy bjhines is talking about- does with his at VIR in Feb. jt

I'm a little surprised everyone thinks the miatas handle so well. I've never driven one, but I've run with a bunch of them at track events, and none of them impressed me thru the turns. They definitely have some cool factor though. jt

Mine did the same thing a few months ago. Broke the starter into three pieces and bent the shaft. Luckily it didn't hurt the bellhousing, but it jerked a few of the threads out of the block. I think it's a combo of too high timing and the starter being a little loose that breaks the starter. For some unknown reason my dist. will creep up timing if I don't have the crap tightened out of the holdown, and I hadn't checked it lately. It cost me, I was using one of the small high torque starters off an 86 IROC, $265. They wouldn't take my multipiece one as a core. jt

It's almost impossible for an eddy to leak fuel into the engine unless the carb body is cracked, an if it did I doubt there would be enough for a lock to occur. Most likely the engine kicked back and broke the starter. Too much initial timing, crossed plug wires, or bad plug wires crossfiring can be the cause. The starter may have been loose, this makes it much more likely to break in case of a kickback. Check the threads in the block carefully when you replace the starter. jt

Joe, I would guess about 325 hp at a little below 5K rpm. Looks to me like that cam is pretty big for stock heads, I would imagine the lower end torque will be soft. John

I don't know if the story is true, but there are reverse rotation marine engines. Chrysler and chevy both built them. Camshaft, oil pump, and starter are different, firing order is changed on the distributor. The chrysler cranks had the oil knurls on the rear of the crank reversed; supposedly some of the reverse rotation cranks found there way into some Imperials, and they had a rear main leak that was impossible to fix! jt

Ceramic coatings help prevent detonation and make a few more hp. By preventing as much heat being transferred to the combustion chamber and reducing the temp of the combustion chamber, especially the exhaust valve, detonation occurs later than it would with an uncoated chamber. You can still get the engine to detonate, but it provides a safety margin, pushing the ragged edge a little farther away. Since less heat is lost to the chamber, more of it stays in the working fluid, the fuel/air mixture, which means the fluid has more energy and can do more work, i.e. push the piston down, which makes more power. Another benefit is that heat staying in the fluid doesn't have to dealt with by the engines cooling system, so a coated engine will run cooler. The difference isn't huge, but it's there. Practically all modern race engines make extensive use of ceramic and dry film coatings. For a serious engine, it's money well spent in terms of both durability and output. John

Pretty impressive to take a recently completed swap and have a successful cross country trip.....and pretty brave!!!! Good Job!!!! John

I got to ride in a new Z06 a couple of months ago. I was pretty impressed with it. For a production car, it's amazing. The motor was very torquey with a very flat curve. It only had 1100 miles on it and he wasn't winding it all that high, about 5K, but it would get there quickly. It reminded me a lot of riding in a big block muscle car, which considering the cubes and numbers, isn't surprising. John

Cool. I'll line up some strippers. jt

The Tiger's were basically an Alpine with the V8 dropped in. They had a terrific power to weight ratio, but had a lot of front end weight and didn't handle that well, and were prone to overheating. One of my friends used to own one, and we were lucky to live thru that experience, It would absolutely fly. There's a rusted out hulk of one sitting in a field not far from here, it's still got the v8 in it, and about a 10" pine tree growing up thru the floorboard. Unfortunately it's too far gone for even a major restoration. jt

A couple of more thoughts- Since advancing the timing helps, any possibility the TDC mark on the damper is off, maybe the ring has spun? This seems unlikely since the problems began with the cam change, but it's something to check. New cam + 1.6 rockers- Piston to valve clearance OK? Any chance of a bent valve? jt

Well grump, I'm glad I gave you good info on the shingles, you've given me a bunch. Too bad the builder insisted on more, tell him since he insisted on getting them he can pay for them!!!! John

Looking good, Grump. How did the shingle count work out? jt

Hydraulic cam? If so, check to make sure the rockers are adjusted properly, and that the plungers in the lifters aren't stuck or bottomed out. Also check to make sure the pushrods aren't binding against the heads. One thing that could cause this is the intake valves not closing completely. jt

No insurance. Last time I had anything stolen, I had a major hassle with my insurance co. The stolen stuff was at my business- where the trailer was- but they said it was personal property, so they wouldn't pay. My homeowners said since the stuff was stored at my business they wouldn't pay. I said if nobody's paying, I'm not carrying the insurance. Actual value of the trailer and contents were probably about $14K, so a pretty big hit. The only reason the car wasn't inside was the streak of teen weather recently. No antifreeze in the car, so I unloaded it into the shop. Otherwise the car would have been inside, the last event was 12/2-3-4 at VIR and I hadn't started on a few mods I want to do over the winter. I'm still remembering stuff that was inside daily. EVERYTHING you normally take to the track, plus ALL my tools. Major Suckage. VRJoe, I've got a good pressure washer, so have at it. Try to avoid any holes in the roof. jt

It had a hardened hitch lock on it, the type that blocks the ball from going into the hitch. I think they used a slide hammer to jerk the cylinder out of the lock, I found what I think are a couple of tumblers lying on the ground. No sign of it yet. jt