Modern Motorsports Ltd

Those must be rare earth magnets. Their 25pounder might be too strong on a pan, I'd have mine external so I can remove the magnet and then drain debris with my oil (in the hopes of avoiding a 'hump' affecting oil flow if it was built into my pan). (epoxy a nut on it so you can pull it off straight away, otherwise you usually have to slide these strong magnets off and that would drag the attracted debris around your pan) I also use them on the side of my tool cabinets to hang my prybars too long to fit in the drawers, they work great. Mine are 'only' 1/2" ODx1/8" thick or less and hold over 5lbs each. In Canada we can buy them from Lee Valley Tools who I'm pretty sure are online somewhere but I've never looked. Similar pricing to the URL above. Some epoxy them along with mesh into the oil drainback holes in their heads to protect their motors.

" How about making a bolt-on 5 lug adaptor with an integral hat for the brakedisc, ie. an 8 bolt hat for Wilwoods." I'm not a big fan of wilwood or others fairly affordable stockcar type calipers. I much prefer those with outer dust seals, of DOT origin (whether brembo/PBR or 240sx etc), and if possible to retain ebrake out back which my customers have continuously requested. I try and stay with parts easily replaceable and available. I don't typically tech/go through my car a few weeks in advance of an event. It's generally the week or two ahead in which I go hard at it, going thru all systems etc and if I might have any needs I want to be able to get them quickly. Then again that's why I built my front 13" setup healthily above min. spec so servicing/parts would be greatly minimized. "Then we could convert the front with a 84 turbo hub, and the rear with your adaptor, this way we could use the same wheels front and rear + combined with coilovers fit large wheels and trick brakes." Well front and rear on Z's for max tire/rim aren't symmetrical in my experience. So even if I made a front and rear (swap to 5lug) package with identical offset from OEM offset, their would be buyers still wanting to stagger their wheels differently to make the most of their fenderwells whether they had flairs or not. I'd like to avoid seeing anyone 'stackup' spacers, ie. use a 4 to 5lug bolt on and then shim it out further.......I prefer a single spacer of exact thickness required ( not much public info on spacer requirements with 5lug setups on Z's) It seems quite rare that any three or more guys run the same thickness spacer/wheels/tires etc. The 4 to 5 lug bolt on adaptor for the rears I have fully designed and it might see production early spring. RIght now I'm fully concentrating on seeing my two CNC projects underway to production. FWIW, the rear disks are in the machine shop queueue and the prototype pair is supposed to be made at the end of this week. Then a check to see if geometry is ideal, revise anything needing a touch up and they'll see production. Personally I think 11-3/8's brembo disks paired with suitable pads should satisify most all Z rear braking needs, but that's flexible as the customer is always right I've had a few 13" rear disk requests but once we covered over some general braking requirements they decided it was overkill and unneccessary. I still might do something like that on mine at some point but it's a ways off. On your same note the 4 to 5 lug bolt on adaptor when used out back, does not alter the brake setup at all if it's only for a lug pattern change (ie. bolt on over the rear brake disk).

" I find this hard to believe due to the fact that they are cast iron and are about $500.00 for a brand new pair(cheap). " they work as others have stated, GM's made tons of them, v. similar to Lt1 alum. head. Main points to watch are 1) use a vortec intake, matching with an oldstyle intake knocks out many of the gains 2) be aware of their overall lift limits/springs etc and be sure to package your cam/springs etc they outflow the ported (lazy on the exhaust) vette L98(ZZ4) alum. heads and quite a few others

Pete, a bud's race car took a big hit and the Optima was seriously dented. Out of curiousity they touched both terminals with booster cables (same wire) and it spotwelded an end;^) Durable and keeps on ticking it seems. I've killed mine to nothing innumerable times with dead alts etc and it's alwasy come back nicely. Good point about flying objects though.....I might add some more bracing to mine, although being right behind a seat and sunken it doesn't have much of a runway.

"I have an optima also for that reason...but does that fly with tech at the track or does it still have to be in a box???? " Good question, for my lapping day events at Seattle International Raceway and Thunderhill it's never been a problem. They had a good rule at Thill/Mt. Shasta (perhaps a common one), to have your battery posts covered. I have side mounted solder on lugs with header bolts going into my battery so 6 layers of duct tape on the ends themselves satisfied them. Autox's it's never been an issue. IMO the tech's check more seriously to see that it's very solidly mounted when it's an internal battery...I keep thinking one of those big lugs (tech inspectors) might just rip it out one of these times as they lean down full body weight etc.....

"a local shop quoted me $50 to redrill the heads to take the older intakes" if you use an 'old bolt pattern/port' intake you lose the gains of the vortecs runner design as was chimed in above, misalignment might seem slight, but it's enough to knock out some nice power just sitting their that makes Lt1's work so fine with mild cams. "valve in there but the friend that "claimed" he had that done also claimed that that in the flow bench they outflowed AFR heads" the smaller street AFR heads (can't recall numbers, was a couple years ago now) were relatively easy to outflow below .450/.500 lift where vortec's do very well. My RPM's outflowed a set of 2.06/1.60 AFR's I'd picked up, tested in a respectable bench to bench comparison, and promptly resold.

"I need it sealed because it will be sitting in the trunk" Doesn't matter where it's located if it's an optima, no outgassing to be concerned with and a very tough casing/construction. Mine's right behind my pass. seat(280ZX) in toolwell almost flush with rear deck and my fathers is flush with his rear deck(240Z)in his toolwell behind pass. seat. FWIW, mid car can be favourable over rear of car if you desire nimbler handling vs. max. ass-end weight.

"according to Ross, if we were to use mufflers with fiberglass in them close to the headers, the fiberglass would expand and severly constrict the flow" I said nothing of fiberglass expanding as I recall. I live in a very humid climate so the breakdown of the fiberglass/it's tendency to attract moisture is a concern of mine. In those archived threads I also posted a PN for a non-packed resonator. I used a 2.5" in/out fiberglass packed resonator on a 2.5" single system and that resonator was hugely restrictive. At present it's removed and just a 2.5" muffler on my 2.5" system. I'll go to a straight thru resonator (no glass) and decent rear muffler (sebring perhaps) on my next (3rd) system. I'll basically be duplicating my fathers LT1/240Z exhaust which I really like.........nothing annoying about it at all, surprisingly quiet and decent flowing. Single 3" to large resonator (red devil) and then a 3" in/out walker turbo muffler. only downside is ground clearance to the large bottle mid car.

Chris T., does your setup justify/require a high volume pump? Just checking as that and too large a cam are two of the most common 'oops'/didn't need it' errors. Not saying you don't need it...just asking.

"Keep in mind that for a 'few bucks more' you can get the heads from GM with upgraded valve train that can handle higher lift cams." Yup, guide bases/spring seat machined down/opened up/offset keepers etc....I just wanted to point out their various stages have limits typically a bit lower than the $1k aftermarket heads. These limits may not affect most builds as they still allow a fine cam, just wanted to raise the question if someone might want 550/600 lift etc out of them. what lift is the GM package allowing now? Their's more than a few 400hp+ vortec topend packages running around.

"Stock converter...??? Just kidding. I remember when my '87 700R4 had the OEM converter in it. Totally sucked! I could not get out of the hole if my life depended on it." You must have a healthier cam Andrew. Or quite a different torque band. Mine will shred from 700 idle out of the hole, not as easily on the R compounds but it'll still do it (ie. I have that impending 'oh shit something broke' feeling with the R's and a full launch). I have a stock TC.

What battery do you have Nathan? if you don't have one already I'd rec'd putting the dough towards an Optima for which you don't need a box, just the usual decent mount. Great batt's/~35lbs and a nice smaller size.

quote: Originally posted by 280 NOTPD4: I forgot to mention that my car is an 82 280 ZX. but I guess it doesn't make a difference huh. 70-89 front spindle/bearings are the same, some other variations but all hubs slide on, offsets etc vary.....you then need brakes up front as the 5lug hubs will alter that on your 280ZX.

Your cam will have a rec'd spring range for it. If you already have the springs then they'll have their own reccomended install height for which they have a spec'd pressure. You should only have to measure the install height. (if springs aren't new I'd have them tested...cheap insurance that paid off for me before). Cutting a piece of coat hanger wire to proper length for install height once you have it figured out is a handy measurement method. I prefer the 'overhead' KD tools compact spring compressor, can work on most any head and you don't need 'fulcrum' room. Bit of wrist work that might tire you after 16 but that's wrenching;^) Once spring is off I always twist a stiff piece of wire around the valve retainer groove just in case it wants to drop (yes, even with compressed air hooked up) [FWIW, even with assembled heads on my bench and swapping springs the valves never wanted to drop but can't hurt to be careful] Be sure to seat new valve seats down fully. As well on some of my retainers it took a swift smack of a real hammer to break their 'bond'. It's like a drumset, some sound dull and they're not 'bonded' the 'tinks' are bonded and need a swifter smack(or vice versa, it'll be obvious), an angular blow with your hammer is more likely to break that bond....done this a few times now. good luck PS A couple of those extremely handy small rare earth magnets on the tip of needle nose visegrips (or any magnet, but re magnets are v. strong) work great for grabbing the retainers/valve locks (can't recall term?) out once your valve spring is compressed far enough. I hate chasing potential lost parts.....replacing valve locks is always a good thing as well...

I"m not familiar with the dominator single plane, look for a smooth transition as the runners square up to the intake ports......V.Jr. has this, Weiand Xcelerator does not have a smooth turn/quite angular. On a roller cam...LT1-4 OEM roller cams (yes used/cheap) are great with 1.6 rockers if your mill has higher compression. ZZ4 cam is a little larger and still has fine idle with 509/521 lift AIR with 1.5 rockers. Keep in mind you can run more attitude with a roller in comparison to non-roller and have same manners (ie. a roller will idle smoother with same spec'd lift vs. a non-roller). Lt1's/ZZ4 cams can be had for cheap from used mills and these cams were made from billet steel and are generally in as new shape. $50 is not an uncommon price

Is there any danger to "dimpling" the oilpan all the way across. You'll only dimple it to aid clearing the 'u' retainers on steering rack bushings if you have R&P. one can't dimple it fully across in any functional way that I can picture..you need to alter the pan completely by moving the diagonal 'drop down' rearward on the pan to gain that much more clearance

As Mike said, the rotor won't slip over the stub axle. The rotor centrebore ID is smaller than the stub axle 'lip'. Take yours apart and have a look (or goto a yard and check parts on yard cars...can be easier to do for some) and some of the fitment/packaging issues will be more easily understood.

" And the guy at Carerra suggested going to at least a 275 lb/in spring to keep it from coil binding on bumps." Pete, you mean on big bumps at speed? That would not bind on normal road bumps etc....my 8" rear 250's very rarely bind up IME, I'd rather have coilbind the very odd time than a rock ride 100% of the time.....I'll be switching out my 375lb/in front springs shortly for the 'winter/wet' season for some improved comfort.

Labrat...it's ~2.25" of spacer on each side that I run.....they SHOULD be staggered for correct offset but I haven't gotten to correcting that...(they were staggered correctly at one time....last install they got put on 'even'). Don't fear long bolts....as long as items are torqued properly they all work the same. I 'flattened' the manual R&P 'lips' of the steering rack top clamps/brackets to gain 1/4 more room as well as had my oilpan modified. The chevy mount literally bolts right to my ZX crossmember....chevy mount is first bolted to chevy block with ~2.25" spacer and then set in position and single bolt from underside into chevy mount (check chevy mount threads FIRST to ensure all are well before working from underside). good luck

Single plane sbc's rock in our light Z's IMO. I ran my V.Jr. 2975 with the performer carb and loved it...would shred from a 725rpm idle with no trouble. Idle was fine and I had no problems/issues with the single plane. I believe their conveyed poorly for the differences b/t them and dual planes....some guys run V.Jr's on trucks with milder cams and have no issues at all etc. They're not for 8k rpm race setups only by any means.....I just think if joe public new how streetable they were and they were so common on mild mills then a hardcore racer would feel he'd need something different which edelbrock would like to avoid...(like a super victor ) Your idle won't be the most fuel efficient but we're not comparing ourselves to Geo Metro's now so who cares I run the V.Jr. now with my EFI and am still loving it.

for 1320 or curvy stuff? For curvy (ie. fore/aft hung floats) stuff I loved my edelbrock squarebore performer (600?). Easy to tune with independent idle/primary/secondary circuits.....their tuning guide complements it nicely as well.

BLKMGK, I thought you'd redrilled your rear stubs already? (and successfully on the car as I recall?) or you swapping 240 to 280 stuff? In later discussion with Scottie I was informed his original adaptors were made to be a tight fit and some grinding may be required.....you're right it could be out of centre afterwards...I talk about this on my web and its the reason I've altered the mechanism which centres the flanges on the 'revised' adaptors I"ll be making with Scotties blessing.

Is the Howe vaccuum welded? I'm quite certain the Griffin is not and that's a difference I'd switch brands over...

"and Ross REAL brembos are a LOT more than 2-3x the wilwood or outlaw price......" I'm not here to argue pricing at all, my pricing is as stated above.

The LT4 is v. similar to the 'lt1' label and is of the same engine family. cams changed slightly a few times and valvetrain throught the years...You'll see Lt4 heads offered as an Lt1 upgrade etc....FWIW, I've seen a complete '97 fbody with good powertrain for $3500US for the car complete. Better than your typical deal but a comparision anyhow. Try Graham's Salvage, popular amongst 4th gen fbodies for their pricing and service (I don't have any contact info).