Dragonfly
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Posts posted by Dragonfly
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I wish you were correct but it is a manual transmission, the tech inspector had me turn the key with the car in gear and without the clutch engaged, the car of course lurched forward and that was when he had to go to someone else who had the authority to sign off my tech sheet whith this discrepancy.
They refered to it as a nuteral safety switch because they probably (like myself) did not know what else to call it. I would expect that a factory switch for something like that would either be on the clutch pedal (like the brake light switch on the brake pedal) or somewhere on the transmission and the only wires on the tranny are for the reverse lights and I have not seen any kind of switch etc. around the clutch pedal.
I guess what I would like to know is if anyone else who is running an L series engine with a manual Z tranny is able to engage the starter without depressing the clutch.
Thanks
Dragonfly
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Do the early z cars have a nuteral safety switch? My car (72' 240) does not have one and I do not recall ever seeing an early z with one.
I was told during a tech inspection that they will let me slide this time but next time I will be failed. If anyone knows how to retro fit one please let me know.
Dragonfly
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I found a good link for T5 info for anyone else who may be working on or messing with a T5.
http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/borg.html
I am still open to comments suggestions and advice for anyone who feels like handing some out.
Dragonfly
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I saw a zxt with an auto the other day in the wrecking yard so I will go out and take another look tommorow and see if its crossmember will help me.
Dragonfly
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I've got a 72' 240z and I just picked up a BW T5 transmision for it, when I went to put it in I found that the mount on the transmission is about 1 inch further back than the bracket in the tunnel. I compared the mount that was on the tranny with the mount that I had on my previous tranny and there is about 1 inch offset between them, I am not able to use the one that came with the T5 as the bracket in my transmission tunnel is different.
I know I am not the first one to have this problem so if someone else who has gone through this before can let me know what you did I will be grateful.
Thanks
Dragonfly
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Here is the trick I use: I have several 9/16" wrenches so I took two of them and ground the wall of the box side down just enough to fit over the bolt on one side and the nut on the other. I put the wrenches on so that the angle of the wrenches cause them to cross over (I know it is hard to picture what I am talking about) then I use a large screw driver as a pry bar between the wrenches to break the bolt loose, doing this I can pull all four bolts out in under 5 minutes.
Dragonfly
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Gage accuracy 101: Nearly every gage that has a 2.5" face or smaller has an accuracy of + or - 6% full scale (ie 100psi = + or - 6psi), if the gage is larger than 2.5" your accuracy is + or - 4% full scale. When using a compound gage (vacuum and pressure on same gage) the vacuum side is + or - 8% to 10% and the pressure side is as stated above. There are mechanical gages more accurite than that but they are not generaly durable enough to be used in a car.
The electrical gages work in a different manner using a diaphram connected to a rheostat (simplest example - they are not all like that), because of the way they are made the electrical gages usualy have an accuracy of 2% to 4% indicated value (ie 10psi is + or - .2psi, and 20psi is + or - .4psi). With that said I can tell you that the more accurite reading is coming from the electrical gage, so your next concern is the source for your signal as said in a previous post.
If you have concerns about the accuracy of your gages check your phone book for metrology labs, these are calibration labs and they can tell you exactly what your gage is reading at any given pressure.
Dragonfly
13 years mechanical and dimensional calibration tech.
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When I got mine I took them out of the box to exam them and I found that each threaded sleave had a small diameter rubber ring taped to the inside. I looked in all the instructions and pictures and did not see anything about this rubber ring so I called ground control and was told to put the rubber ring over the strut tube at the top then put the threaded sleave over the ring/tube and push the sleave down to the welded on stop ring. When I did this it took some force to push the sleave down but it keeps the sleave from rotating when you adjust the collar and it also keeps the sleave from moving if you fully unload the suspension.
If you did not get the rubber ring (O-ring) call ground control and ask them about it I am sure they will take care of you as they are very reputable.
Dragonfly
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OK 2 things come to my mind (if these are ground control) did you fully loosen the allen head set screw on the coller? When you put everyting together initially did you put the rubber ring over the strut tube and slide the threaded coller over the rubber ring?
Dragonfly
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Why is that things like that always seem to be in the speed range that you have to drive in when there is a cop around
Just my suspesions here but is it possible that you have a small amount of play in your steering rack that allows you to feel an amplified resonance. There is a chance that your rims, rotor, or hub could have a certain rpm range that causes them to go into a harmonic resonance creating your vibration and as soon as you get past that rpm range (wheel rpm) it goes away.
A good way to test this is to see if it starts at exactly 65 when slowing down then ends at 55, if it starts and stops at the exact same rpm range in both directions that could be your source.
Dragonfly
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First I would like to commend Pete for doing such a good job with his son.
the one and only time I watched someone door ding my car: My wife and I went to Marrie Callenders to pick up a pie, when we pulled into the parking lot there were only 2 spaces open so I pulled into one of them and got the car centered perfectly in the space (small spaces), just as I was opening my door another car pulled into the space beside me so when he shut off his engine I finished getting out while holding my hand over the edge of my door so as not to have my door hit their car. When we stepped into the resteraunt I looked back into the parking lot and watched the lady (passenger) fling her door open with as much force as she could muster, then she did it again, after getting out of her car she slammed her big ass into her door to add to the crease now in my door. I came unglued and my wife would not let me confront them for fear of me being arrested.
After we got our pie and the moron couple had come in to eat I pulled my car out of the parking space got out and kicked the entire passenger side door in on thier car, made me feel better but I was still pissed.
Dragonfly
That was my 260Z.
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You have run across a great piece of information there. Not only have I read it I printed it out and put it into its own section of my "Z notes" and I still referance it on a pretty regular basis. Bob also has some great info on heads for the L-series engines.
Dragonfly
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Mike, I feel that you are doing the best thing you can considering the circumstances, to me I think they are starting to get to big and they are forgeting who put them where they are. After they piss off enough people and it starts to hurt there business things will change.
I will still go to there show each year because I live so close and it is a great Z gathering, if I had to travel anything even remotely close to what you did I would not be back after your ordeal with them.
Dragonfly
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I think you should go ahead and use the top of the line system, the reason for this is that the predominant engine changes in the past several decades have been in the electronics and management and not in the actual engine.
For an L series engine you are far ahead by improving the engine management (electronics) and putting some work into the head ie port/polish good valve job etc. You will find that you will have a very reliable and enjoyable engine.
Dragonfly
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Great show, I was very happy to be able to meet you guys there. I can not say for sure but I believe that I got to meet all the HybridZ guys who made it to the show.
I was so hyped over all the amazing cars in particular the ones with double or more than stock hp for a Z, I found that on my drive back down to San Diego I was in triple digits nearly all the way (and I did not see a single cop). I love driving a car thats got balls.
Dragonfly
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That is interesting that you say I may have over filled it. I noticed that when I filled it to just below the fill hole like it stated in the FSM that some fluid started to leak out the back over the drive shaft seal (the drive shaft was not installed) even though the tranny was sitting flat. Because I use a small fluid pump I can easily take some of the fluid back out without making a mess.
The fluid I used was one of the multi weight types and I believe that it was 85-130 or something like that. I actualy took my FSM to the store when I bought the fluid but they did not have any single weights there so I used a multi weight that covered two of the operating temp ranges covered in the manual.
Dragonfly
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I put a 83' 280zx 5spd tranny into my car about a week ago the tranny came from the wrecking yard and seems to be in very good condition. What I have found with this tranny is that when the car is cold it is very difficult to shift gears but after the car is at operating temp the tranny shifts just fine.
Before I installed this tranny I drained the old fluid out and put in new fluid exactly as the FSM describes. The primary reason for my concern is that I have a 30 exchange warranty on this tranny and if this is a sign that the tranny is about to kick the bucket (in 31 days) I want to exchange it but if it is something from a lack of use (I think the donor car sat unstarted for quite some time) and will work fine in no time that would save me pulling the tranny again.
Thanks
Dragonfly
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Well the good news is that the 240 door is quite a bit lighter than the 280 door (my guess is about 20lbs). The bad news is that the latch mechinism is completely different from one to the other.
I am sure you can change out the latching mechinism but it is probably going to be alot of work that will return some of the weight that you are trying to get rid of. Most of the weight difference is in the reinforcement beam in the door, the 240 has a stamped piece of metal that you could bend over your knee while the 280 has a bar in there that would break your knee if you tried to bend it.
My thoughts are that unless you are racing and need to pick up a tenth of a second the work would not be worth it.
Dragonfly
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As I read this guys rants I felt that he must be smoking some of the good stuff, but then I got to the part where he wants money for the secret which tells me that he is looking to make some money on the "sucker born every minute" system. I have read alot about the BRE car and some of the stuff I have done to my z is from there info, the secret to the BRE car was attention to detail, weight, and a good driver.
The other thing I noticed was that the Farrari(sp) he used in his picture is a kit on a z car (doors are a dead give away).
Do not buy into that crap, if it was real it would have never stayed a secret this long.
Dragonfly
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I don't have a formula for you but I have some comments. I have several books on handling, suspension, tires/wheels etc. one of the things that these books have in common is they refer to the molecular structure of the rubber in the tire and how each molecule caries a certian amount of load and reinforces the molecules around it therefore the more molecules of rubber you have creating friction between the torque and the road the more traction you are going to have. The trade off (there is always a trade off) is that the more traction you have the more friction you have which means more heat and lower fuel economy as well as more power required to move from point A to point B.
Dragonfly
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Just call it a hunch but I got the impression you've been in more than one race
. I do know the limitations of my car that is why I have commented in the past that I have to beat the driver and not the car . Any way I figured you were just having fun with me.I used to have (many years ago) a 68' mustang that pulled very consistant mid 10's in the quarter and every time I start to feel like my Z is the fastest thing on the road I think back to how fast that car was and I drove it on the street all the time.
Dragonfly
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SCCA I would have to say it would be in my best interest if you race the mustang in your zstang then if you win I will be vendicated and if he beats you by more than he beat me I will race you stangz
. I am not much for going against someone who will win unless something breaks, but if I am going against someone who has the advantage but I have a reasonable chance at winning then I go for it.BTW from looking at your pictures and your handle I suspect you know how to put the power down and shift gears which means I do not have the same advantage over you that I have over some of these kids.
Dragonfly
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I do not have any real numbers on my car yet as I have had so many other things going on since I got the car running but I will be doing some 1/8 mile runs in May to get an idea of what my times are. I do know that at this time I am replacing my transmission because on the drive home after the race with the mustang my tranny kicked the bucket. I swapped out my R180 rear diff for an R200 two weeks ago because I killed the R180.
As soon as I get some real numbers on the car I will be posting them. I do have one real number though, I stopped at a weigh station just before the tranny gave out and with me the wife and the back of the car loaded with stuff (shopping in P.S.) the car tipped the scale at 2720lbs, if you knock off the wheight of the driver and passenger that goes down to 2450lbs, so I am going to round it out to 2400lbs with a full tank of gas and no occupants or bags of stuff.
Dragonfly
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When the hit man is here let me know I want to watch.
I keep waiting for those darn ricers to chalenge me so I don't have to work so hard but I keep getting mustangs. I told my wife that if I see a Saleen pull up I'm just going to say thank you but no, on the other hand any n/a mustang is fair game.
Dragonfly
. I do know the limitations of my car that is why I have commented in the past that I have to beat the driver and not the car 
. Any way I figured you were just having fun with me.
. I am not much for going against someone who will win unless something breaks, but if I am going against someone who has the advantage but I have a reasonable chance at winning then I go for it.
Nuteral safety switch????
in Drivetrain
Posted
Pete,
I have been all over the car looking for the wires and or switch in which you describe and I have not found it, after re reading your post about 6 times I remembered that I have an FSM so when I get home I am going to crack that thing open and see what it says.
If I can't make any headway from the FSM I will be hitting you guys up tommorow for ideas about how to wire in a starter interupt switch for the clutch.
Thanks
Dragonfly