capt_furious

Man alive...that is one hell of a ITB setup! Incredible work, Derek! PLEASE arrange a HybridZ group buy if you plan a production run and prices end up in the 3 digit range (one can hope). This is worth going EFI for!

Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you're going to buy that car, you've got more to be concerned with than fitting a new set of flares. According to the ad, it's been used to race and the engine is about to go out. Concentrate on getting the car in a state of reliability first. If you're going to install ZG flares, do it properly - cut, bend and weld. Read through Austin's thread on how to do it properly and ask yourself if it's worth the work to remove what's already there and do it properly. You said yourself you want the function, not just style. That would include the proper set of wide wheels to take advantage of the flares, and proper installation.

I'd speculate it's for the original nameplate, which is likely much bigger than the script that's on there. That car needs a lot of changes to be a 'Devil Z'. People seem to miss a lot of details in that regard. It's getting to the point that any blue Z gets that moniker now.

...nope, but a Ridgeline 3.5 V6 with a turbo might not be a bad combo for under the hood of a Z. Already makes some decent hp & torque numbers, and with some forced induction, it might just be a beast.

They're a fairly rare sight these days. Like Ralph Nader's book to the Corvair, the installation of a pair of gas tank hold down bolts from the wrong direction (which were fixed in a recall - evidently the bean counters found out these bolts took too long to install the right way, to prevent them from camming down into the fuel tank in a collision, and told the factory to flip them around to save assembly time - BIG mistake) spelled the death knell for what was otherwise a pretty good little car. Once a reputation for explosion - warranted or not - gets published in a magazine like Consumer Reports, it's all over. Seeing a Pinto, or even one in decent shape, is a more and more uncommon occurance these days. ...but to answer your question further, it sounds as if you're looking for a Weber DGAV, which is not the same beast in your photos. Those are Weber IDFs or IDAs.

Careful. Trash talk and brand loyalty don't fly here. Anything goes in the name of speed, both lateral and longitudinal.

I've really wondered about this. Pretty much any design / diameter / bolt pattern /offset you can CAD up as long as it's spun / stamped steel. Wonder what it would cost.

I know this will sound a bit like bragging, but I managed to get everything I needed for Christmas off of eBay this year, almost all of it prior to Black Friday. I was inspired by an article that one of my company's clients had us put on their site: The $100 Christmas. I managed to buy for everyone on my list and spend less than $100, allowing a little extra for myself or other related expense. Personally, I'm tired of the Christmas blitz, the campy music, the manufactured enthusiasm and the yearly repetition of tired and hokey traditions, the useless extravagance...how many more times do I really want to sit through A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and all of the really BAD children's fantasy stop-motion animation specials from the '60s? Do I really need to hear three different versions of Jose Feliciano's Feliz Navidad over and over and over again, in every freakin' store? If I hear John Lennon sing And So This is Chritsmas one more time, I'm going to HURT someone. I like Thanksgiving a lot more. Two days. No hype. A Friday off of work afterward and a whole weekend to get home. Good food and time with the family without expectations of fufilling obligations to give someone a gift you've got no guarantee they like, simply because that's what we do this time of year. Why screw up Thanksgiving for yourself by running around the next day like a maniac, risking life and limb(quite literally now), just to save a few bucks? Play it safe and smart folks, and take it easy. Enjoy Chistmas for what it should be. One day off with the family. It's not about the gifts...or the two-month-long madness leading up to it.

Holy cow, what a run of rotten luck. I can't say I've ever had it that bad, but I'm sure there are plenty of us here that have had a spate of misfortunes, one after the other. When aux and I swapped the L28 and trans in my Z earlier this year, it was stretched to three days, when it could have been done in a day and a half. It had a few 'Oh, !@#$, we are screwed' moments. With help from friends and some time to breathe, things worked out. Hang in there.

Looking back on my first car and how I did things, I should have got a dirt cheap, economical, easy to insure beater to begin with / learn with, and then saved up to something I *really* wanted, something that needed far less work and was in much better condition. I bought a project car instead, and while insurance was cheap, the learning process wasn't. Poor maintenance, accidents and hotheaded driving took their toll, and that car only lasted 3 years before it was a wreck. I couldn't put the car down to work on it because I was driving it all the time. I know this is unsolicited advice and probably something a teen looking for something 'cool' as their first car doesn't want to hear, but believe me when I say you'll be thankful later. Use a more practical car to get some experience under your belt while you look for / save up / work on the car you REALLY want. It'll be cheaper and faster in the long run. Find a car that's inexpensive to buy, good on gas, durable and inexpensive to insure while the gem's at home to get worked on and built up for the day that insurance is affordable, the project's completed, and all the guess work of learning good maintenance is out of the way. It'll keep the parents happy, as well.

Finish what you've already got. This isn't meant to be offensive - if you've run out of steam on your current project, how do you know you won't on the next? You're further along with the S30 now than you would be to sell it all off and start all over with the other car. Finish it and enjoy both. Start on the Z32 when you're done with the S30, if you're so inclined after finishing a project.

Must have been a slightly corroded connection on the positive battery terminal. Cleaned it up yesterday before leaving and haven't had a problem with it since.

Richard (manager) said business is slow, but everything is still there, rickety as ever. Love the atmosphere and the remnants of what used to be one hell of a '30s or '40s art deco / streamline bar.

Just got back from Henry's Hi-Life in San Jose. Medium rare ribeye to chase the turkey lunch. URP.

Never stop dating your girlfriend, even after you're married. So many people notice that the spark goes out of their relationship after they've married, because they assume that there's no need to chase after or impress the other person anymore. Not true - women enjoy the idea that they're desired after and pursued. That said, also realize that both of you need 'you' time - time alone to do your own thing and be yourself. Find a balance, and remember, it's just a car. The car won't leave you, but she can, and she can put pressure on you to get rid of the car.

I experienced something very similar to this tonight. I noticed a spike in my lights, then about 1/4 mile down the road, when I signaled a turn, my lights dimmed and flickered with the load from my brakelights and turn signal. I brought the revs up, and the lights brightened. All of the lights later dimmed and then nearly died as I was coming to a stop, and the engine nearly cut out. A quick rev to bring the power back up and everything brightened up. Turning off items or turning them back on seems to bring spikes / jumps in the electrical power. It's very strange. I just tried to reproduce the problem and got it only once. All electrical power dimmed out over about 3 seconds until it killed the engine. Further attempts couldn't reproduce it. I've got to drive to my parents' place in two days (125 miles) and I'm nervous about the car cutting out on me on the road. I've already used up my free towing for the month. I'd really like to find a definite fix for this.

Just Dremeled open the filter that was upstream from the pump. Lots of gunk in there. Filter element doesn't exactly look loaded up or clogged, but it definitely stopped a bunch of junk that would have made a mess of the pump. Glad I had a look.

I think it's fixed! I had a hell of a time getting to work this morning. Stall city. I installed the inline gauge at lunch and fired the car up, and figured, 'crap, so much for that....the gauge is faulty.' It wasn't even registering pressure. Then I hiked the car up on a curb, clambered under and swapped out the filter upstream from the pump. I fired the car back up, kept an eye on the gauge - hopefully - and the filter in the engine bay. I noticed the engine bay filter barely had fuel in it, then a surge of fuel came through, and a glace at the gauge told me exactly what I wanted - pressure! A jaunt down to the bank and to get food, the car seems to run just fine again. I'm tempted to Dremel open the old filter and see what's in it. I'll keep a jaundiced eye on her for the next few days, but I suspect my problems are over.

I picked up two new fuel filters to replace the current ones, and I got a little inline FP gauge as you suggested. I tore out the easy to get to filter and replaced it, then took the car for a ride - no issues. I decided I wanted to see what the filter looked like inside, so I stomped it open(plastic housing). Not much there, a little bit of sediment in the bottom. I'm going to assume the other filter caught most of it, so that one gets replaced when I've got the time. Haven't put in the pressure gauge yet, I don't like the looks of the housing. It's just plastic, and that bugs me. I'd much prefer metal. I might be able to put some brass fittings together, t-fitting in the middle and nipples on the ends.

Hey folks, (let me preface this - it's a 260 Z with a swapped in L28 running '72 round tops, and a Carter electric fuel pump at the tank, filters just before the pump and the fuel rail on the engine) Was driving home from Sacramento yesterday, cruising along at 70 mph when out of the blue the Z lost power, started sputtering and eventually caught again. It then repeated the process and forced me to pull over. I got out, checked everything I could, brought the revs up, everything seemed fine. It'll free rev just fine while standing still. I called AAA, got towed home(AAA Plus pays for itself without fail, every year. I paid nothing except a driver tip last night. It would have cost me $400 otherwise!). I let the car sit for a while, got changed, hopped in and drove off to dinner, and stuck to the back roads. No issues on the way there, tried to keep fuel demand low with the revs down and the gears high. On the way back I had a little coughing at first, but the rest of the trip was uneventful and I even jammed on the gears a bit. Fired her up for work this morning, had some trouble getting out of the driveway. 4 false starts, then she didn't give me any more problems except a sputter or two while cold. So, filters? I'll change them anyway. Fuel pump? It's less than a year old. Carbs throwing a fit? No idea. Thoughts?

I'm a Pepper, too! I loves me some Dr. Pepper. Gums & Posers, not so much, but their stock just went up a bit in my book.

Wow. Clean! Except for the cosmetic wear on the original barrel, it looks brand new. Nice score.

The Catera was built on the Holden Commodore / Monaro / Opel Omega MV6 platform. It's essentially(at a very basic level) the same vehicle as a Pontiac GTO. There's likely a lot of shared components, although the Catera had the 3.0L L81 V6(200 hp in its strongest form). Transmission was a four-speed auto GM 4L30E. Whether or not the third member was a less beefy unit compared to its V8 cousins, no idea.

Congrats! Sounds as if you've got a nice shooter there. ...and now, it's pet peeve time! THIS is a clip. THIS is a magazine, specifically, a detachable box magazine, which your Sig uses. 'Mag' is fine vernacular.

When the first one come out (holy crap, it was close to 10 years ago!), I took my '68 440-powered Plymouth Fury to opening night and carted some friends along. The parking lot was a madhouse, and abuzz with fartcans. The Fury stood out like the proverbial sore thumb, but it didn't get any guff. Fishtailing and tire smoke was the order of the night after the movie ended. One friend enjoyed sliding across the back seat through the turns, and hearing him say 'Wheeeeee!' as his grinning face flew by in the rear view mirror was hilarious. ...I DO NOT condone such behavior now. It's the reason that car is now rusting all over the world in the form of cheap razor blades. The Mazda 626 that it impaled itself upon added insult to fatal injury by DRIVING AWAY with nothing more than a couple of messed up bumpers and a leaking radiator.