jt1

In my opinion.... The control arm failed in bending due to the vertical force applied to the LCA by the sway bar. The plate was notched for the tube to be inserted and welded, and right at the end of the notch the section goes from very large to very small, near the middle of the arm, with a force applied near the minimal section. Bad design. If the TC rod doesn't transmit most of the braking force to the chassis, I don't know what else possibly could. The strut resists the caliper torque, but this force is applied to the chassis in a forward direction. The method of attaching the TC rod to the LCA is fine, and didn't contribute to the failure. jt

Check the air bleeds. You should be able to put your finger over the idle air bleeds and hear the idle rpm change. If not they're stopped up. More initial timing may help, and check to see if the blades are exposing enough of the transfer slot that you're running off the transition circuit. jt

Wally, welcome to HybridZ. We've met at VIR sometime back, I'm the guy with the white V8 240Z. Maybe we'll get to meet up at CMP sometime. Unfortunately, I know zip about RB26's. jt

That looks nice, hopefully that does the job. You going to test it out this weekend? I'm trying to make Friday. jt

Jared, do you still own the car? I thought you sold it. I hate I didn't get a chance to check it out in person while you were in NC. John

It will work fine if your deck height and head gasket choices give you the quench you desire. 0.035" is a bare minimum IMO. However, the deck might not be square with the crank, and when you correct that you will lose some deck height. Also, depending on your head and cam choices you might wind up having to flycut the pistons to give adequate PV clearance. You also need to decide what fuel and compression you want to run, and figure in the deck height, piston cc, and head cc to get to the desired compression. So, yes it can be made to work, but needs to be planned out carefully to avoid any unexpected consequences. To me, a well planned build goes fuel>compression>head>cam>stroke>rod>piston. jt

When my 73 240Z with 350 sbc was still a street car,in an approximate 300rwhp state of tune, it would get 20-22 mpg with some enthusiastic/some sensible driving. Welcome to HybridZ. jt

Clean track wheels???????? You're joking, right?????? jt

Sounds like a 650 or 700 4150 Holley would work good for you. More important than the size is the tune on the carb. None of them are going to be just right out of the box. Spending some time with a wideband O2 meter is the best thing you can do while getting the tune right. jt

I ran across a a CD that had some video on it from a March 2007 PCA event at Carolina Motorsports Park. I thought it was lost, this is the only video of the white car. First half of a late Fri afternoon session. G2X datalogger along with the camera, a friend put it together with trackvision. Second half. Sat morning, cold track, cold tires, overly optimistic driver. jt

Good looking torque curve. What's the combo on the engine? jt

Mike, it's progressing, but slowly. Between LOTS of other stuff going on in my life, and playing with the 930 some, it hasn't got the time put into it to really get completed. but, it is showing some potential and I'll get there. Just not sure when !!!! jt

Mike, how much power does your current setup make? I would have guessed it over 400 whp pretty easily. If I was going LS, there's a particular orange car I would look at pretty closely. That thing is a rocket. jt

Yeah, it's hard to find a nice 020 block, and they bring a premium when you do. The best place to look is early 70's 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. When you find one and do a complete work over, you wind up with $1000 -$1250 in it, at prices around here. That makes a SHP look pretty good. The SHP's are fine pieces from what I've seen. About the only downside is they are about 20# heavier than a stock block. jt

I broke #2 & #4 mains at about 25 hrs run time on a 500 crank hp build, road race application, 2460#. Some of them run longer than that, some don't. The 2482 caps are better material than the 3412 caps if you can find them, but billet is the best way to go for a durable 500+ hp build. Sometimes you can switch stock caps between blocks, sometimes not, depends on the registers. If I was going to spend a lot of money on a stock block, it would be an 020, not an 010. jt

Mike, I'm sorry to hear that. It's a tough time, my thoughts are with you and the family. John

Very nice looking car. Is it street only or do you track it? The V700's are pretty popular around here for track use. jt

For a daily driver type build, I think the LS is the obvious choice simply because it's easier to go EFI. EFI doesn't make any more horsepower than a carb, but the hot start, cold start, drivability in different weather conditions, and fuel mileage are all vastly superior to a carb setup. All these factors are very important to a DD, not so much to a weekend toy. You'll probably wind up with more in the LS swap, even after selling the sbc stuff, because the bits and pieces add up fast, but for a DD that's the way to go. jt

At your hp level, you don't need the Dart block, even though they're very nice pieces. If you sell your current parts, you're going to take a big hit on them. My advice is to find a good 010 sbc block, upfit it with billet center caps, and reassemble your motor. The sbc and LS mounts are totally different. Fore to aft the motors are about the same. jt

Sorry to hear that news about your Dad. Tough time, no way about it. What kind of rear flares are you going to use? Will the ZG's cover that cut? jt

Wallace Racing has a calculator to help you determine your compression ratio. Use it to determine your piston cc after you make a head choice. You will have to make an assumption on your deck height. http://www.wallaceracing.com/cr_test2.php Mike C's choice of the L98 head is a good one, and will save some weight. The 305 tpi heads would be ok, but you're better off to spend your money on an aluminum head and up the comp ratio. Not many shelf piston choices for a 283. You might have to go custom. jt

Maybe this will help: jt

You might end up with stiffer rear springs. Overall that setup sounds a little pushy to me, but you won't know for sure till you get some more track time and feel it out. First step is determine where it's rubbing. On my car the rub point isn't at the top, it's at about the 10 and 2 o'clock position. You might be able to shorten the rear lca's and move the top of the struts in to gain clearance and maintain camber, or you might just need to do a litte more trimming under the ZG's. jt

If nothing broke, fell off, or leaked, it's a pretty successful shakedown. jt