Pop N Wood
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Posts posted by Pop N Wood
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While we are on this subject, anybody know what firefighters think of cages? I often wonder if their "jaws of life" will work to cut through a cage. Or do they just pull out the gas powered cut off saw?
Going to have to respectfully disagree with the shape issue. Like someone said, it is not the fall that hurts you it is the sudden stop at the end. Most brain deaths occur when the internal organ slams into the front of your quickly decelerating skull. This bruises the brain, causing it to swell and bleed, which in turn creates additional pressure and further cuts off blood flow. Not trying to be condescending, just thinking through the issue.
What the cage does do is give your head less room to decelerate. Scrubbing off the same speed in less distance means higher G’s, thus more damage. One could argue that wearing a helmet further complicates the encroachment issue. Wearing a helmet gives up as much head room as a cage built tight to the sheet metal. Granted if I am going to bump my head I would rather be wearing helmet than not, but this could also mean the forces are just transferred to my neck making me a quadriplegic rather than an organ donor.
And there is a huge difference between bumping your head when you get into a car and slamming into a structural member in a wreck. If the cage is such that you bump your head while seated, then that is another issue.
I think there are a lot of valid points being made, but I don’t see this issue as a simple one with an obvious answer. But I will say that I am not a big fan of cages on street cars for a number of different reasons.
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Hey, I posted that exact same idea some time ago!
http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=24120&highlight=laser
Great idea! Good to see someone actually implemented it!
To simplify things slightly, you can go to a gun store and by laser pointers that are built into a pistol cartridge. They are used for boresighting gun optics. Nice thing about those is they have a flat base and should be already calibrated (i.e perpendicular). don't know what they cost, but my guess is your approach is cheaper.
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I did nearly the same thing when I was 17. Swapped a 425 into my 65 Olds and on the initial run I fixed a leak near the oil filter by loosening it a 1/4 turn (the mount was bent from the engine laying on it's side). In the excitement of my first engine swap I didn't keep an eye on the oil level and turned the engine into a mosquito fogger within 2 weeks.
You are doing the right thing by not giving up on the kid. Don't know where any of us would be if our parents had given up on us.
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Might as well throw in my admittedly uneducated opinion as well.
IMO, if you drive you car on the street in such a way that you think you need a cage to be safe, then the safety problem lies between your ears and not with your car. Most street cages are for looks and not performance (my opinion). And like the one guy's signature says, who needs to explain why you have a roll cage to the officer who has just pulled you over for a traffic violation?
People go on about a "properly installed cage designed by a professional cage builder". Yeah, nice words but truth be known that anyone with an ebay account, a chop saw and a tubing bender can become a "professional cage designer". Even the established cage manufactures build "kits" that fit a class of cars. And unless you want a lot of returns, you are going to design that cage slightly undersized to ease installation on slightly out of dimension cars.
Also the idea that by installing a cage you somehow have made your car too unsafe to drive without a helmet just doesn't make sense to me. Like ZR8ED says, steel tube or stock sheet metal the effect will be the same. So the issue comes down to one of encroachment. I have said this before, but I feel many people (not all) have a naive belief in the safety benefits of helmets. If you think wearing a helmet will overcome the impact of a poorly designed cage or reckless driving....
As for rectangular tubing, may not be sanctioned but if you only want to stiffen the chassis without calling unnecessary police attention to yourself, then I am thinking this might be a viable option. Auto manufactures build safe cars using only sheet metal stampings. I don't have enough tools for that, but I'll bet I can strengthen the stock sheet metal with some subframe connectors, strut bars and some yet to be designed bracing of the rear hatch area. One Austrailian HybridZ member posted he got rid of the body panel creaking and paint cracks on his 240 with a formed sheet metal brace.
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I have a el-cheapo auto darkening helmet from Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47277
A good budget helmet. My only complaint is the quality of the headband is such that I can see it breaking before too long. The electronics are fine.
Having said that, a lot of the old timers don't like the autodarkening lenses. My brother preferrs flipping his head. Something about 30+ years of welding tank trucks. And I have to take exception to the notion that an auto darkening set is somehow safer to use. It is simply more convenient.
You also need to be concerned about reflections causing sunburn on your backside. A welding hat or do rag is also helpful.
Finally, people always seem to overlook a good oxy-acetelyne torch. If you can only afford a single welder, then the torch should be the first thing you buy. A torch will weld mild steel, sheet aluminum and chrome moly. It will braze stainless steel. You can do a lot of other things with a torch, like annealing aluminum, cutting off stuck bolts, and bending metal. It is also much quicker to use when you want to make one or two small welds without the trial an error of setting up the MIG. I also find it easier to balance the weld pool when trying to weld a thin piece of steel to a thicker piece. It also doesn't require a 30 amp 220 volt outlet (like all good welders do) and is completely portable.
And the up side is if you get good at running a bead with a torch, then you will take to TIG welding like a duck to water.
But everybody wants that Monster Garage/American Chopper and even HGTV look of striking an arc.
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Do you feel better now?
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I know there is a 35 mm difference between the early 240's and later 240's due to the differential mounting. I think it was in mid 72 that they remounted the diffs. Beyond that I think the shafts for the Z cars are the same. Don't know anything about ZX's.
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From “I have been Demoted!â€
There is some madness behind our methods.In the past there were a few "Hybridz Overlords/Guru's" that figured because they had made a lot of posts and become "Overlords" they actually ran the joint. Just because you make a lot of posts doesn't give you to any more right to be here than anyone else. (especially if those posts are non-technical in nature) I believe that the "Overlord" title is for Dan and Dan alone' date=' because last time I checked he was the only guy that owned this site.
Unfortunately once again the vocal minority causes changes that effect the entire Hybridz population.[/quote']
I think I now know why I lost my Guru status.
The guy used the word dick, as in don't be a dick. Hardly anything to get all worked up about.
We have a no ******* shit curse filter. (Guess what THAT is a translation of.) Maybe we should exand the dictionary if it is such a problem.
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Corvettes use aluminum suspension parts' date=' so if done right I have would have no worries.
[/quote']
Yes, but they aren't welded, they are cast or forged. Welding will anneal 6061-T6.
Sort of the point I was trying to make. Lots of different types of aluminum. The type you can weld doesn't have the same properties as the stuff you can't. The upshot is you had better know what you are doing.
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Somebody brought up such a possiblity once before. The problem for a Z is you now have to bolt these adapter plates up to the JTR plates, and before you know it you have the motor mounts a long way behind the crossmember.
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Corvettes use aluminum suspension parts, so if done right I have would have no worries.
It is the "done right" part that is worrisome.
I have to admit I don't have a good mental picture of what you are trying to do, but I can say it would scare me to no end. This isn't an area where you can afford a failure of an untested component. Chevy has buildings full of metallurgists, engineers and lawyers. Guys like you and I have a welder, a hammer and a pile of 30 year old car parts. I am not saying don’t do it, but I would seek out a competent machinist and run tests of some kind before I would drive on modified suspension components like that.
You know I look at some of the adjustable control arms shown on this site and I think I could easily make that for less money. But there is something to be said for buying something that has stood the test of time. The parts don’t seem quite as expensive when viewed in that light.
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Whatever damage you inflicted probably happend when it hit the floor (or will happen when you try to pick it up). Can't see how not moving it could hurt.
I would, however, pull all the spark plugs before I would crank it over again. If one of the cylinders fills with some type of fluid, well let's just say I know first hand that the starter motor on a Chevy 396 has enough torque to bend a rod on a cylinder that is full of fuel from a stuck float and an electric fuel pump.
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Mike Kelly just had someone test drive his for sale Mustang right through his patio doors. Said the guy was trying to find park (on a manual transmission) when it happened.
Maybe a clutch switch had nothing to do with it, but the point is it might help someone who is unfamiliar with your car from doing something stupid. I say it can't hurt so why not put one on?
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Sounds like if you just don't try and date the girl across the street you should be OK.
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Cool. Thanks for the info. I copied that optispark upgrade article some time ago. The upgrade seems pretty bullet proof. So now you have just doubled the size of my "desired" engine base!
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Good to know. But I assume the 94 still had the older PROM style ECM. But if I got a deal on a 94, any idea if I could swap out the later ECM (and vent the optispark) to essentialy have athe progamability of the 95?
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Thanks for the advice. I bid on the 93 because it was looking extremely cheap up until an hour or so before the end of the auction. Kind of a pisser to be limited to a single year of engine. Maybe I should research all the different years some more so I will know what I can live with when a deal comes along.
What is the advantage of a 94 over a 93?
My Z is smog exempt, but I still want to do a 100% legal swap. I have read that 96 and greater is OBDII, which could result in cats, both O2 sensors and possibly the ABS wheel sensors (at least on the LS1's).
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This week end I tried to buy an LT1 out of a 93 vette. Got outbid, but during the auction I started doing web searches on the engine. From what I read, the 93 is a speed density system with the old chip type computer. I would really like to have a flash programable ECM like the 95's did since the thought of paying $150 for a new chip everytime I change something is not appealing.
Any body know what would be involved with a conversion like this? Or should I hold out for the correct year of engine?
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Venting the engine bay is always a good idea, but you should not have to do so to stay cool. You most definitely have something else wrong.
Make sure you have a spring in your lower radiator hose. At highway speeds the water pump can draw enough suction to collapse the hose cutting off coolant flow. I would also make sure there are no air paths around the radiator. Seal the gaps between the radiator and the body.
Also calibrate both your thermostat and temp gage. Get a $5 thermometer at Pep Boys or a kitchen store, heat your thermostat in a pan of water and see what temp it opens. Make sure it fully opens. Then disconnect your temp sensor and use the pan of hot water to check it's accuracy.
Finally, what brand of electric fan do you have? A lot of people have had major problems with aftermarket fans, so make sure yours is a good one.
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Insurance definitely follows the car and not the driver. When my neighbor borrowed my truck to go to the dump and backed into a BMW, it was my insurance and not his that covered it. Have know quite a few other people who have loaned out a car and ended up holding the stick.
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Yeah, Charlie Starkweather liked those remote farmhouses.
Sorry. Gallows humor. But it seems like no place is ever truely safe. I just like the idea of having neighbors I can trust close by.
Can't imagine having something like that happen across the street.
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If you want to weld CroMoly then you don't need a TIG. An oxy-acetylene torch will weld 4130. Some people claim it even does a better job of it:
http://www.tinmantech.com/html/faq__tig_vs__gas_on_4130.html
Here is another good link about welding 4130
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/chrome-moly.asp
Gotta worry about cracks.
Beyond that, if you truely want a TIG, then I say don't skimp.
If you want to consolidate welders, then Lincoln makes some motor driven welders that will do both MIG and TIG as well as power your house during a hurricane.
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentseries.asp?browse=101|307|
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Bummer. But still, you gotta admit, too funny.
Actually I think your car insurance, not your home owners insurance, will be responsible for fixing the damage. Hopefully the guy who did the damage will offer to pay out of pocket and you could sue him directly if he doesn't. But I doubt there is any type of insurance he could have that would cover him in this situation.
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There has been quite a bit of discussion on this particular engine in past posts. A quick search should yield volumes. The engine I always wanted to build was a ZZ430. That is the fast burn 385 version with the hot cam and GM supplied carb. IMO kind of the ultimate ZZ4 crate version. Grumpyvette once told me that for the same amount it would cost to build a complete ZZ430 (check out Scroggins Dickey), that I could build a better engine from scratch. Keep in mind the ZZ4 is going to need quite a few additional pieces to complete.
Grumpyvette definitely knows more than I. But at least the crate engine is a known cost. If you build your own you always have to worry about getting bad parts that aren't rebuildable (like a cracked block). On the other hand, building one from scratch lets you use things like forged pistons and a cam more suitable to our low weight Z's. We don't need the low end torque like a heavier car, so putting in sligtly more cam and a Vic Jr. intake yields more HP with sufficient low end torque. Grumpyvette had specific combinations of parts.
There are a number of guys who have used the ZZ4. Hopefully they will chime in also.
Rant - Current use of language
in Non Tech Board
Posted
You guys are getting a little too personal.