jt1

Back to the discussion- I am not saying Johnc is wrong, he probably knows more about Z suspensions than I ever will, but isn't the angle between the strut and spindle fixed, with the ball joint below attaching to the LCA? I thought the strut could only pivot at the top-- maybe I just don't understand. John

Glad to see you're coming to VIR in Feb, Bob. I'll see you there, look forward to checking your car out. I guess you don't want to be my instructor again, huh??? John

With about 1/4 tank of gas, dump a gallon of methanol in it. Drive like a maniac on the way to the test and fill it up after the test. Methanol is the active ingredient in the "guaranted to pass" stuff. John

That's a pretty nice looking car, at least in the pictures. If you can go look at it and it's as nice as it looks, I'd buy it if the price is reasonable. You can drive it a while and decide if you want to move it. Making it a JTR will be less trouble than a complete new conversion. If what's there is nicely done, it's probably OK. If it's butchered, hunt another one. John

Dan: I'm running the Black Magic, with a 24 x 19 Griffin. My 355 is in the low 400hp range, and even at open track events in the summer, I rarely go over 210deg. I'm a big fan of the hole in the thermostat flange because the radiators in our cars sit so low. I also have the moroso filler neck that mounts in the upper radiator hose. This makes the fill point the highest point in the system and the air gets out a lot easier. Denny411's suggestion to jack up the front of the car and fill it while running is also a good one, as the thermostat cycles that will help purge the cooling system. Try to jack it up enough the cap is the highest point. Hope this helps. John

YeeeHaaa!!!! Beat Pete on the tree!!!!!!

Yep, Alyson is a hottie. To use the code, if you order online on the last page of the checkout where you put in your CC number, there is a box that says something like "special source code". Enter the discount code there. If by phone, just tell the salesperson you have a discount code. John

I always use the lifters and springs the cam manufacturer recommends for that cam. Try www.compcams.com and look in their online catalog. John

I think Greimann is right on about the spike situation. I also think you have a slow/sticking thermostat that's making it worse, and probably some air in the system adding to the problem. The upper hose should never suck shut. Try a new thermostat and drill a 3/32 hole in the flange so it won't trap air when closed. This will let air bleed out of the block as you slowly fill the system. Also make sure your filler cap is at the highest point in the system. John

quote: " Why yes, my passingers scream and on lookers hoot and holler" That's a good one, Dan!!!!! lol John

That's a new one on me. My GUESS would be a combo of too much rear toe in, worn/soft rear suspension bushings, and worn/soft shocks. Any unusual noises when it does it?

Joe, if I were going to have the heads professionlly ported, I'd go with the bigger valves. Your porter would probably want to do that anyway. If it's a DIY job, might stick with what you've got. Aren't the L98's designed for the TPI system? If so, they probably aren't going to flow enough to match up with the rest of your stuff even if pro-ported. To match up with that cam and intake, you want something that will flow 270-280 cfm, and I don't know if the L98's will get there. Might want to trade them off and go with some Ebrocks or AFR's, or if you want to use the heads, tone down the cam and go with a dual plane intake like a performer rpm or a air gap. John

I'm replacing my 700R4 with a Tremec TKO-II. Can anyone give me some clutch suggestions? Diaphragm style or borg & beck type? Clutch disc material? Button disc or full disc? Ram or Mcleod or Other? My use of the car is 4K -5K street miles a year and 7 -8 open track/HPDE events a year. I don't plan on any serious drag racing, so that's not a concern. Car is a 73 240Z with a 400-420 hp SBC. I want to use an aluminum flywheel for quicker accel/deccel on the track, and a hydraulic throwout brg. Any ideas or experiences? Thanks. John

Hmmmmm.... Well, I don't know if the factory springs are progressive or not. If they are, the rate would increase as they are compressed. I would guess they are linear, because all the progressive's I saw in my circle tracking days were wound a lot tighter on one end than the other. I think all the factory springs I have seen have the coils equally spaced, but I'm really not sure. Like Bob, I'd like to thank David for starting all this. David's found something that he's happy with on his car, regardless of the theories and conventions involved, and I know I've learned from reading everyone else's thoughts. Isn't that what we're all here for? John

David, first of all let's define terms. "Spring Rate" is how much a given spring deflects under a given load. It is commonly expressed in the units of pounds per inch (#/in). For instance, a 200 #/in spring will compress 1" under a 200# load, 2" under a 400# load, 3" for 600#, etc. Mudge and Katman have stated the factors that affect spring rate, wire dia., number of coils, etc. LENGHT of the spring does not affect the rate. You can have a 200 #/in spring that is 8" overall or 12" overall. It will still take 200# to compress the spring 1", and an additional 200# for every additional in. of compression. Universally in the world of high performance cars, if someone says a "stiffer" spring, they mean a spring of a higher rate, for instance, a 300#/in spring is stiffer than a 200#/in. Remember that lenght of the spring is not a factor. I think MiKelly is right that you have been given some bad information that you believed, so lets talk about what happened. You put some springs off another car onto yours and the car felt better in turns. Cool, you like it. Someone told you compressing these longer springs more would make them stiffer, i.e., increase the spring rate. Wrong. Compressing the spring more just increases the load on the spring. Since the force (the weight on the rear of your car) compressing the spring is the same, if the springs are the same rate, a spring with a longer free lenght will still be longer than a shorter spring. This will increase the ride height of the car, since the longer spring is still longer under compression. The force required to assemble the strut has nothing to do with this, only the spring lenght, rate, and load. The fatal assumption is that the new springs were stiffer. Since they were longer, it probably took more force to assemble the strut, but that doesn't make them stiffer. The only way to be sure of spring rate is to test them on a spring checker. Then you know. Probably what happened is that your old springs were fatigued. As springs are used, they wear out. They get shorter and the rate decreases. Since the new springs were longer, they were probably in better condition that your old ones. The newer springs made your car feel better. That's good. I am not being critical, just trying to help you understand some of the terms and physics involved. Many books have been written about suspensions, and many more will be. There are a lot of people more knowledgable than me. You made a change to your car and liked it. Keep working on it and learning about it. John

David, I disagree, BUT I'm glad you're happy with how that setup works on your car. Nice burnout pic BTW. John

Compressing a spring more does not increase the rate of the spring. If you're using the same mounting perches as the previous springs, all you did was increase the ride height a little.

A NAPA store can order the flex hones for you out of their tools catalog, but they're pretty pricey at about $100 IIRC. Maybe you could find one to borrow or find someone to do it for you for less than the cost of the hone if it's a one time deal.

A small leak in the heater core can do that. Just a little water escaping and then vaporizing. You might try bypassing the heater core and see if it still does it.

I like the look of the molded hose a lot better too. The molded hoses are a lot better quality than the flex ones anyway; flex hoses are intended to be a stopgap repair. They start cracking pretty soon. I can email a pic of mine if you want it. John

A good friend had a similar situation come up. He works for a large company, managing about 40 people in a manufacturing plant here in NC. Two women got pissed at him about their schedules and assignments, banded together and charged him with sexual harrassment. I have known him and his wife for years, they are both very religious people who do a lot in the church and community. There was no way he would ever do anything like that. The HR investigation cleared him completely, one of the women finally admitted the whole thing was a hoax to get even with him for changing their schedules so they couldn't work together. After he was cleared and the dust settled, his employer transferred him to another dept. with a big cut in pay. The only reason was they said they had to "take action" to defend against sexual harrassment lawsuits. The whole thing caused him a huge amount of grief, worry, and embarrasment. I told him he should get his own lawyer and sue all concerned, but he is just not the type of guy to do that. Life, lawyers, and our court system really sucks sometimes.

I'm running the 24 x 19 Griffin w/ a SBC with an Edelbrock aluminum water pump w/1 3/4 inlet, JTR position, in a 73 240Z. My Griffin has the odd looking angled lower outlet, 1 3/4" Dia. A friend that runs a NAPA store let me root thru his hoses for about half a day & take several home to try, & bring back what didn't work. I used a NAPA # 8948. It has a crook in the last 6 or so inches that you have to cut off, then it works fine. I have no idea what it fits. It DOES NOT have a "spring" in it to keep the hose from collapsing at high RPM. You need the spring in the lower hose, so I used the one out of the universal flex hose I used to run. If you don't have a spring, you may have to buy another hose to get the spring. I don't know of a source for the spring separately, maybe someone else does. Hope this helps. John

I've got 225/60-15 Yoko AVSI's on 15x7 Panasports w/ zero offset, but I had to roll the rear wheelwell lips and also the lip on the front valence to get rid of a little rub.

Anyone using a circle track triple disc clutch, like a tilton or quartermaster? I'm putting a Tremec in where the 700R4 was, and considering a triple disc, mainly because they let the motor rev so much quicker. Back when I circle track raced, the difference a stock type clutch and a small one was amazing. The car will be street driven some, and used for open track events, not planning on any drag action. The 3.27 first gear will help out getting started, easy on the clutch, but I wonder about longevity and street drivability? Anyone done this? Thanks John

Sounds great to me, Pete. If your machinest has built previous 400's he probably knows this, but with any 400 with aftermarket rods sometimes the rod to cam clearance is very tight. In some combos the rods have to be massaged a little to clear the cam, dependent of course on the particular rods & cam. IIRC #2 is usually the closest, and you look for about 0.050 clearance. If the rods have to be cut, this needs to be done before before balancing. Just a little something else to check. John