Modern Motorsports Ltd

"Ross .. there are cars other than Z cars out there.. " Of course their is, ZX's "i've done a couple 510s and a older Rx7. you can bet that when i finish my 66 stang it will have outlaws on it too....." I'd use my own product line as well, only makes sense for promo and given it's wholesale cost to you. "Z32 calipers or NSX would be nice to use but the cost is $$" Hmm, haven't seen NSX yet.......what's their design like? "i'd rather have billet/stainless calipers and change seals every 2 years than use a rx7 caliper..for performance use..... just me though" What are we comparing with here?? where did RX7 come from? My PBR's have stainless pistons AND dust seals. ".... but if the price was right they could be used to replace the monster toyota ones.. thats a nice street kit but not really fancy enough in my mind for those few wild cars ..." Well what do you feel is needed for those wild cars? the Z31 rotor used in the 4 piston vented toyo swap is likely all anyone needs...works alright for Z31 racers..assuming the 10lb TOYO caliper is acceptable to Z users which is a sore point easy to understand. That rotor alone has a greater heat sink than any 12" or less 2 pc so it comes down to pad availability, which is fine for the toyo's. So how does the heat sink/fade gain vs. leverage gain of a 12" or 13" compare to those Z31 11's? It'd be interesting to have some real data on all this stuff, till then we'll just have to agree big brakes are worthwhile in any form "aww skip all this stuff.. lets just buy new AP or Brembos WITH dust seals.. only like $800 per caliper or so and we both get what we want!" well I don't want that price tag! That's 160 dust seal kits for an LS1 caliper that'd do any of us just fine. Will I Zya at the autox on Saturday? I might be driving my dad's Lt1, he said as long as I don't scratch up the body......I laughed and said....whew! I thought you didn't want me scratching the tires

"Posted by scca: Drax you NEED dust seals?? i've seen outlaws/ wilwoods on street cars for 2+ years with no signs of wear... and up here no less.... just gotta hose the crap off occasionally. " "Street cars up here"? For a few years running I've been the ONLY maintained let alone hipo Z/ZX to show up at any club meets or even known as a daily driver for the other 8 mos. of the year beyond our 'less wet' season. I'm not arguing, just saying some daily drivers aren't as daily driven as one might think. Putting 15k miles on my car/year is likley more than 3-4x's most other 'daily hypo Zs'. I've seen some fairly late model calipers quite corroded in yards and on my bench lately that had dust seals. Having rebuilt one for a friend lately it's not something I'd look fwd to even though it wasn't a great feat, I'd just rathe avoid it and know it's a non-issue. I feel strongly about dust seals on cars seeing lots of miles and in particular coastal or humid type weather where humidity and finer particles (dust/silt/sand) are more prevalent. Especially when many are removing dust shields so their calipers are that much more exposed and rotors cool easier. I have to hose off my coilovers before I adjust them each time just to remove the grit and even if it was only 2-3 wks ago, I have to do it again or I couldn't turn the collar, so I know the grime is present and want to keep it out. I built it so I could drive it and enjoy it all the time and that's why I worked so hard to do my brake setup with OE calipers. Baer's proven their OE caliper uses for a long time now on high miles multi use vehicles and using similar spec parts has worked out fine for myself. I don't feel the costs are so prohibitive with OEM stuff, my 13" Brembo/PBR setup is $825 and nothing in that setup needs any regular maintenance and the calipers are <2lbs leaving lots of room for meat in the rotors where we want it Anyone weight Toyo 4 pots? I'd guess they're 8-10lbs.

Yeah, you got it John. I can't say offhand if we need to account for the thickness of the setback plate in your shims as well....frame to Xmember spacers will help with hood clearance a LOT. I had my two sides appropriately spaced (ala JTR) but on last install I screwed up and put them in at equal height both sides , it's OK but I hope to correct it tonight or tomorrow when I hope to dive in and: -replace motor mounts -find whatever is sucessively getting 'looser' in my front end/steering rack/bearings/tc rods/control arms -rebalance my wheels -get an alignment To eliminate some bugs I've been tolerating and enjoy the autox for our event on Saturday...I'm almost hoping it rains as that can be more fun

search the archives, for a ZXV8 it's simply the truck OEM mounts and 'shims' b/t the mounts and the block (directly bolt thru mount and shims to the block, you space it same as JTR for thickness as geometry is same or very similar b/t Z & ZX. Then just one bolt from underside into the motor mount.

a higher numerical gear (ie. 4.11) allows faster acceleration as you have fewer turns of your rear wheels for same number of driveshaft turns....lower numerical (ie. 3.36) allows a higher top speed assuming all other factors allow you to reach that speed. Often a higher numerical gear will actually allow you to travel at a higher rate of speed a the increased torque rate overcomes drag issues etc that lower numeric gears might encounter (with a stock powered car). HTH

Davy, he just needs bearing spacers to run his 327 crank with 2bolt 400 mains and he's smiling I'd do that in a wink if you can have a reasonable comp. ratio without being too far out of pocket. I've had enough backend jumping shifts in mid-rpm blasts that I have no desire to run above 6000rpm, it's plenty exciting below 6000. Maybe I'm just a wuss but I love my torque as it is and wouldn't spend dough for higher rpm band......staying lower is cheaper/safer (wuss perhaps, must be as there's far stronger hybridz out their than mine) and keeps my motor plenty happy to date.

"He is referring to the change in aspect ratio relative to the rim size--the 16 inch rim has a taller (or wider) sidewall in this case even though the width of the tire remains a 245." OK, Davy, I'll bite...how is a 245/45/16 sidewall taller than a 245/45/17 sidewall? overall wheel diameter is 1" larger with 17's but tire sidewalls are numerically (ignoring manufacturer's differences) the same. If he was working to achieve the same overall diameter then sidewalls would differ. The 17 with same tread spec (ie. 245/45)as 16 would ideally have a 'longer' contact patch which is something I haven't seen discussed much (I can hear Pete typing away already I'd choose 16's myself simply for the weight savings (in rims and tires) and more reasonably priced tires/rims.....17's are typically stepped to when you're going wider than the 16" treads are available in or for their appearance IMHO. I have a camaro roadracing friend who's spent thousands on his Z28 but has been running the same heavy 17" OZ wheels for years....he's finally coming around to the idea of lighter wheels equals greater acceleration AND deceleration.....(we had to to cement 10 lb gloves to his arms and make him walk like an ape for a week before he believed us ) Many 17" rims are literally 8-10lbs heavier than easily available OEM 16's weighing 15-17lbs.

quote: Originally posted by James M: Well, I noticed that the engine compartment looks bigger in my ZX than in my Z if that means anything to you. it's a nice engine bay, ZX crossmember is 3" closer to firewall than that of a Z, and steering (if you have a rack, and not the idler setup) is rear mount (Z's are front mounts) so oilpan clearance/hood clearance etc are tighter in a ZX but can all be dealt with like any other tighter tolearances. I have the manual Rack/n/pinion in my setup and I prefer the feel of the road it gives me vs. a power setup, being a somewhat inexperienced track driver I just feel more in tune with it, just my preference. you can achieve the same optimal weight distribution as a Z with same OR less effort, I have a rear weight bias and am lighter than stock FWIW in my 80coupe.

"I imagine its really light too..." Is a VG30DETT a light setup? I'd of guessed it'd be fairly heavy?? Beautiful swap, just curious on weights as Drax commented.

You certainly won't lose money on it. Although a 2bolt 400 is stronger than an OEM 4 bolt 400 as two of the 4 bolts on the 400 caps go into weak areas and actually promote a failure AIR. I'd jump on a 2bolt block and crank like that, 4bolt I'd likely still jump, just not leap as fast You could let your machine shop know you might want to sell your 327 as you never know what buyer you might find that would appreciate the effort and $ you have into it.

Some 'high heat' booties might be in order(Taylor etc)....I haven't burnt a wire since I installed mine, ~$50US I've paid. I gave my dad a set for father's day as his LT1 setup would benefit from them too. Bit pricey but cheap when looked at long term to protect the $$ wireset and potential hassles. I use dielectric silicone inside the plug boots (and many other ee parts)as well which keeps them quite happy I've found. I've got the booties leaning on headers etc without troubles. Still only 2-300ohm's resist. per wire.

I'd guess same as Pete, C clip and shaft splined end aren't cooperating....1/4" is the ~ distance to the snapring groove is it not (just by memory here). Some snap clips are thicker (200SXT) but not typically a problem at all (just open up grooves on halfshaft) and only encountered by 4.11R200200SXT users that are aware of the difference. You're running posi additive right? no crabbing on corners etc...(separate issue from above/just asking)

quote: Originally posted by Super280z: Ross, there is no way that the phiberglass heating in these things will have any effect on the flow numbers. i dont know if you've ever seen one of these things but its literally a piece of 3" pipe with some fiberglass packed around it. Thanks for the feedback, I used one like that up front as a resonator with a muffler out back. It was so restrictive even my wife driving my car sedately one night asked me what happened to the power.......even if the model you speak up flowed same as non-fibreglass I'd be concerned about the glass rusting out inside as something inside glasspacks seems to rust rather quickly in our climate that's typically 99% humidity 8mos. of the year.

quote: Originally posted by 383 240z: Ok you convinced me to go to rear disks now what do I need and where do I get it? It's all detailed on my web with spec'd parts etc. The brackets Mike and I are doing cost more than the rare maxima brackets, BUT you get to a larger rotor/newer caliper/etc etc...brackets are $150US and you can source the rest used if you want or buy it new.... www.modern-motorsports.com.

Yes, intake sbc bolts need to be sealed. Perhaps not all as some go into blind holes in the heads whereas others pass thru areas exposed to oil. And you can get oil seeping up those bolts, a common leak on sbc's. And if you get that leak, one fix can be placing a couple soft (brass/copper caliper washers) under the leaking bolt head.....can work quite well. The end bolts AIR just go into blind holes, all others go into oil exposed and some may go into coolant exposed passages but not sure. If I were you, I'd remove your current bolts -clean bolts with brake cleaner/wire wheel to degrease -brake cleaner on a rag poked into each hole to soak up some oil......then carefully spray a bit of cleaner (for this I use electrical contact clearn, it's less abrasive than brake cleaner I think.....as it's non-destructive on rubbers/plastics etc) into each tapped hole, drys quick.. -use the loctite PST (same as GM stuff, just cheaper) on the threads and reinstall good luck.

" On an 8inch wide wheel the ideal backspacing should be 4 inches, or zero offset as some refer to it." Just to be clear for others, Mike means a 7" width wheel which is typically 8" overall (ie. outside lip to outside lip) when he says 4" backspacing/zero offset etc. If you use bolt on wheel spacers then longer studs shouldn't be needed, although you should be sure the condition of current studs is good. If the required spacers are quite thin (ie. <1") then slipons and long studs can be a lot easier. I hope to have some pricing for the wheel spacers up on my site by the end of the wknd.

Well I took a couple items of a friends to be machined that he'd put por15 on....machinist had to file off some extra POR15 'blobs' that interfered with him setting the pieces up in his machine, so strength is certainly their (it was like a JB weld chunk). I had to do the same in working with it....(ie. if it was poorly applied to a hub face your wheel would not sit flush!). Some classic camaro owners have been v. impressed with its durability.

Those 84 Z31 4lug wheels are likely ~+20mm offset. Did you write down the specs cast on the wheel? 15JJ 6 20 or similar whill be written somewhere.....they're a bolt on swap for a 510, and they like some positive offset....they may fit on yours or tuck in too tight.....a 10mm spacer may be all you'd need to have them fit if they don't fit as is.

anyone know the centrebore hub dimension for a 70-78 Z? ( I assume they're all the same?) for some reason 66.2mm comes to mind.....thing that make you go hmmm...at work, thanks in advance

Whichever you prefer, you can kit out the TH400 (or most any auto trans) for rowing your own when you like or leaving it in D at the end of a marathon day etc. If you have a stick preference don't let extra install work hold you back....it's all worth it in the end and I've redone enough items on my own so hindsight's 20-20. (on occasion during a marathon of car mods I've wondered if I've spent more hours altering the beast than I'll ever drive it , not the true case but can seem that way when you get in a phaze of mods)

thanks for the help Terry

I've heard back an ~72.6 from one friend. Thanks for your input Terry.

quote: Originally posted by jens: A th700r4 with a 85$ electolock from johns car would be a lot cheaper http://www.johnscars.com/zcar/zcar.htm For simple convertor lockup you can wire your own for <$10 if you want. What Scotties asking about though requires a 8-900US TCI control unit, $400 speedo electrical signal unit, and a $50 speedo wiring harness (I talked to TCI yesterday, feel free to drop them an email, they responded by phone within an hour!) www.tciauto.com 700R4 is very sensitive to TV adjustment...been living with that for 5-6 yrs which was why I'd looked into a 4L60E. 700R4 is still a fine trans, initial setup can be a bit tricky if you're picky about shiftpoints and quality of shift, lots in archives on this as some members posted some FINE firsthand info on the governor kits/parts/influence. ahh, here's the PN's 377000 control unit $900 retail (cheaper elsewhere etc) 377302 speedo wiring harness (for newer clip style/not threaded pre '72 style) $50 377300 speedo control unit $400 [ August 31, 2001: Message edited by: Ross C ]

search the archives, been discussed a lot, you can go b/t ring gear bolt sizes with simple bushings (you can use 10mm ring gear sets in a 12mm carrier, but you cannot use a 12mm gearset in a 10mm carrier (unless you drill out the carrier)), I assume it's a 3.36 you're talking about? if not new you may want to consider my new 3.36 gearset.

Ahh man, BLKMGK, sorry you have to share in the pain I've been enduring for a few years now. THAT is EXACTLY what I have installed, rpm heads/that gasket and 1.5 roundport headers...choking my motor BIGTIME and it won't stay sealed no matter how much effort. I need to put together my diagrams/pics and send off to rewarder for the 1-3/4's......I have that exact same gasket mismatch....I built up my header port to better seal my gasket but it didn't work so well I'm not aware of what headers others are running with RPM heads? (if you swap, do please go 1-3/4's...your motor will thank you PS smoked a honduhhhh at <1/2 throttle today..something funny about that...and yup he was racing...