Pop N Wood

Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations and is generally considered the father of capitalism. His writings were very influential in the formation of our country: http://www.dallasfed.org/research/ei/ei0201.pdf I think a number of people on this thread would strongly agree with what he says. But even Smith warned about the power of monopolies and oligarchies. To think people can “vote with their feet†when there are no other options is unrealistic. Microsoft is probably one of the smartest companies ever formed (IMO). But there comes a point where consumer options become so limited that what use to be described as “competitive business practices†more closely resembles “highway robberyâ€. Not a simple issue but at some point people have a right to protect themselves. But getting back to the point of this bill, I think it’s primary emphasis is not so much specialty tools but the computer codes used to run modern cars. Try fixing a modern car without a book telling you what the engine error codes mean. The OBDII standards force manufactures to define the basic ones, but there is still a LOT of manufacture specific output that is extremely helpful if you know how to use it. I am not a professional mechanic, but from what I have read try looking up info on a computerized transmission, ABS or air bag system. It is not as straight forward as some of the engine codes.

It happens all the time. Think Microsoft. Even the founding fathers recognized the need for a capitalist society to protect itself from monopolies. Try reading Adam Smith instead of the Ayn Rand. The profit margin on a typical SUV is somewhere around $15,000. Even more for a high end German import. Maybe the dealers aren’t getting a big chunk, but it still shoots holes in the idea above. The "intellectual property" argument is really invalid. Given adequate resources it is possible to reverse engineer just about anything on a car. So just who is GM or Ford trying to protect their "property" from? Certainly not other car manufactures. This is a growing problem, especially as cars become more technologically advanced. For the most part I don’t think car manufactures are guilty of any great conspiracy. I think they have trouble keeping up with their own technology and getting information out to the masses just gets neglected. I like the idea of having choices for car repair. And my number 1 choice is being able to fix it myself. But how can I do that if a company the size of GM decides they don't want me fixing my own car, so they purposely restrict information to force me to hire them? One would like to think the free market would force such companies out of business, but even Adam Smith recognized the limits of this. Believe me, as a card carrying member of the NRA I am highly suspect of government over regulation. But I don’t feel this law is inconsistent with the way our society operates, and as car guys it is definitely to our advantage.

Does a procharger count? http://www.darius240z.com/240z.htm

Only if you measure power in units of horsepower and torque in units of foot-pounds. Pick up a foreign car mag and you will see torque rated in Newton-meters and power in terms of kilowatts. On these graphs the power and torque curves will not cross at "5252". So by bar bet rules (where you try to sucker someone into losing on the most BS technicality possible), your buddies win. Although probably not because they know what they are talking about. Power and torque are mathematically related, just like speed and distance. That is where 5252 comes from. The link posted above tells you exactly how to compute it.

You can also do it with a torch, some people feel this is the better way of doing it: http://www.tinmantech.com/html/faq__tig_vs__gas.html

Not sure why you keep burning up starters, but have a few suggestions Heat sheilding is good' date=' but I would think wrapping the starter itself will only keep heat in. I would keep the header wrap but unwrap the starter itself. Maybe put in a metal heat sheild between the headers and the starter. Yeah, what you did sounds good. This should not be the source of your problems. There are multiple ways to wire the remote solenoid. I like this guy's way best http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cadillac_Performance_Association/message/378 Like the link above says, the big advantage of a remote solenoid is it allows you to bypass the ignition switch with all it's small gage wiring (including a fuse) to essentially wire the solenoid power directly to the battery. If you do it like the link above (and NOT like the links you posted), then you have the added advantage of bypassing the contacts in the GM solenoid altogether. This could be a fried starter (bad brushes, shorted/opened wiring in the starter, or froze bearings) OR is could be the GM solenoid is bad. When the GM solenoid is energized, it slides a piston forward that engages the starter pinion, but it also pushes a copper disk interconnecting the lugs on the back of the solenoid. This sends battery power from the BAT terminal to the starter lug. Over time this disk can become pitted from all the arcing and stop conducting. Try hooking a jumper cable up to the starter lug directly. If the motor runs then your GM solenoid needs to be taken apart and clean up with a file. If it still doesn't run with a jumper cable connected directly to the starter lug, then time for a new starter. BTW, if the motor is frozen or shorted out, then it could easily smoke your jumper cables. Maybe a high quality, gear reduction starter would be the ticket.

Anyone have any dimensions for building my own engine dolly for a SBC? Looking for dimensions and how they mount to the block. JC Whitney has the universal ones for $50 but I have enough old casters and pipe to make it for less.

Here's one thread http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9926&highlight= There are quite a few other threads, some which mention dimensions. If you remove the spare tire well, then by my measurements Summit sells a fuel cell that should be a perfect fit. Only issue then will be the fill spout. I really don't like the idea of sticking a gas hose inside my hatch to fill up. I would love to find a cell that has the fill opening on the side so I could mount the cell flush to the underside and route a fill tube to a flip down license plate. BTW, why can't you use the stock tank with the new engine?

BTW, J Taylor, beautiful car!!

I have been holding off on commenting about this whole business but it is starting to get the better of me. I went on the corner carvers site exactly one time. The first thread I opened had Dan Baldwin engaged in a running discussion with some people about an aftermarket, chrome moly A arm breaking on some guy's Mustang. Dan Baldwin also posts on this site and I have always been impressed with the quality and knowledge in his posts. Well apparently the people on the corner carvers site weren't as impressed. Dan had to endure posts like "did you type that response with your ass?" I then read the "rules". Apparently you can be banned for typing even a single post in all caps, but starting a flame war and personally attacking another member because you don't agree with his technical assessment of a very dangerous situation is OK. There are several things that really differentiate this site from others. Most have been touched on, but one of the attributes that I have always been impressed with is the respectful tone of most posts. This obviously hasn’t just happened. Kudos to the moderators for keeping things civil. But in dealing with some of the current issues, I think we have lost site of one of our basic tenets, treat others with dignity and respect. Case in point, we now have a sticky at the top of the 6 cylinder swap forum telling people to not be lazy, follow the rules or you will be banned. And if you don’t like it or complain about it, you will be banned. Oh, and by the way, Rule #1 is don’t ask any questions because chances are it has already been answered, so if you ask it you are lazy and will be banned. Such a confrontational attitude sort of makes mockery of the statement: I honestly don’t share some members sense of urgency at our current problems. I can't understand why some members continually get their "panties up in a bunch" when someone doesn't do a search. The phrase has never made any sense to me. Why does anyone feel the compulsive need to answer every post? Hit the back button and go on! And do we really want to tell people to use a spell checker? Do we really want to come off with such an elitist attitude? Having said all that, I want to add that I have followed the threads discussing our current issues. I respect the wishes of other members who want to see strong measures taken to ensure posts like “how do I tune my SU’s” or “how fast do you think I can go” don’t happen anymore. Our member ship is growing in leaps and bounds and maybe steps need to be taken to lessen the moderator’s load or to steer us in a different direction. But this shouldn’t have to come at the price of insulting people. Look what is happening now. We have long time members wondering if they are no longer welcome. We have people getting defensive because they are doing something different then the V8 mainstream. I think the attitude is not a good one. Read the post if you don’t believe me. I would like to see the proliferation of confrontationally sticky’s consolidated into one coherent message. I think some of the wording can be toned down. You don’t need to wave the big stick of being banned to get your point across.

Sounds like good advice. Would hate to lose a rear wheel at highway speeds. I do think I will pull the shafts, inspect the stubs and replace the bearings when I do the rear disks. If you look at that first site I posted, the guy is soliciting information about broken axles. He is also promising "a full article with documented solutions to the problem, will appear later"

From reading this site http://zparts.com/inprogress.html and this post http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23450&highlight=stub+axle and past comments on this board, I am getting a little worried about the 33 year old stub axles in my 240. My car is a near stock engined garage queen right now, but in the not too distant future I want to go with an LT1 upgrade. I have the parts for Ross C's 240SX rear disk upgrades and I know those will help "retain" the rear wheels should the stub axles let go, but I can't help wondering if I should go ahead and upgrade the stub axles and replace wheel bearings when I put the rear disks on. What options do you guys think I have if I upgrade? Just go with a 280 stub axle? Or are there other alternatives? John C does a good job of describing the differences in 240 vs 280 stub axles in this thread http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24034&highlight=stub+axle Since the spline count is different, does that mean I will need to upgrade half shafts too? The car already has an R200, but I swear I kept the original half shafts.

I think the top speed is more dependent upon the aerodynamics and suspension set up than the engine. The early Z's in particular catch a LOT of air under the front end and the resultant lift causes the steering to get extremely light at speed. Mike Kelly stated in an old thread that he knows how to clean up the aerodynamics on a Z so they are stable at 160 MPH. Even has evidence. I will have to talk to that man some day.

Buy all the $500 6 speeds they have. They routinely sell for $1500 on ebay.

If you read the thread I posted earlier, you will see that a Cheby 302 can be made by putting a 283 crank in a small journal 327 block. Or you could call Scat. I am sure if you pony up enough $$$ they can give you a 302 rotating assembly for a 350 block. But back to where we started from, unless you can find a deal on a 302 crank at a swap meet or something you are going to pay a premium for the smaller stroke. If you keep the 350 you started with, add a decent valve train and a single plane intake (build for high RPM power instead of street torque), then you should have an engine that revs. Put enough cam in there and you can have an engine with the same low RPM torque characteristics as a 302, but much more high end horsepower. I hear you, I have always wanted a 1969 Z28 with a 302. My original plan was to put such an engine in my Z since light weight cars have trouble making use of a lot of low end torque anyway. But since then I have decided it makes a lot more sense to throw out all the Hot Rod and Car Craft articles geared toward building street engines for a 3600# street car and instead build a 350 with a lot of cam and intake. Trade low end torque for high end HP and be dollars ahead in the process. But if you really want to put in a 215, then by all means do so. Just understand what you are trading in the process.

I have read posts on this site about the JEGS frames, but can't remember what the conclusions were. Maybe the search engine is working today.

This idea has definitely gone around several times. Here is one link about short stroke engines http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1993&highlight= You may want to search some of Grumpyvette's old posts concerning engine life and high RPM. BTW, the RPM band you are looking for is not that high. GM use to sell new LT4 engines through there catalog and listed the RPM as 6300. Valve float and a restrictive intake usually does more to limit usable RPM than piston speed. One problem with the small displacement V8’s is they generally have smaller bore diameters which limits the flow through the heads. Another issue would be the strength of the block and bottom end of a small V8 that was never built with performance in mind. General consensus of these types of discussions is yeah, you can spend a bunch of extra money to destroke an existing engine. But when you are done you will not be as fast as if you had kept the cubes, so why bother? If you want to rev, why not a 4 banger like an SR20?

I read an article that stated structurally speaking the only function a door has on a 240 is to hold up the paint. Trouble is, most cages I have seen offer little additional protection to a side impact. Like stated above, the rocker panel on a Z is below the bumper on most cars/SUV's. A 4 point will only deflect a lucky hit since they don't go forward of the B pillar. Other cages just anchor the hoops to the sheet metal at the bottom without running a bar side to side across the bottom. The diagonals most people put in the main hoop is good to protect the drivers head in a roll over, but since they usually go top to bottom from port to starboard, they won't help support the bottom of the main hoop from a side impact on the drivers side. But the biggest worry is the lack of door bars. And cages that do have them offen have removable door bars. This means they are not as strong as they could be and, more than likely, won't be in place on the street. So IMO you are not buying much additional side impact protection unless you plan to gut the doors and build a NASCAR style set of door guards that project into the door cavity. And a cage like that would be highly impractical on the street. So having said all that, the important thing to keep in mind is you are playing probablities. Like stated above, a crash in a race car is not a question of if but when. The more serious the racing, the greater the need for additional structural safety. But for a street car, it is simply not clear to me that a cage is "necessary". I don't think a Z, even an early one, is any less safe than say a convertible Miata. If I were truly that worried about it, I would be driving a Volvo instead of a Z. Two last things. I think torque stress for a V8 Z is something to worry about. I have read postings from people who have had trouble shutting their hood after a couple of spirited drives in a V8 Z. Since many of us are driving around on 30 year old chassis's, some type of reinforcement only makes sense. The thread on 240's vs. 280's is food for thought. Second, not all cages are created equal. If you read some of Katman's old posts most cages are just excess weight that only raise the car's center of gravity. Other people have raised questions about destroying crumple zones and the risk of a cage playing bumper pool with your head. There have even been recent newspaper articles stating that government crash testing methods have made vehicles more dangerous because manufacturers have started designing vehicles to do well in the tests while mortality rates have increased. A very complicated issue.

That bar has come up several times before, with mixed opinions.

There was a thread about the alternator problem some time ago. There is some type of feedback loop where the alternator somehow feeds the ignition when the switch is turned off. I forget what would caused it to occur, but I thought is happened when someone replaced the alternator? I do remember the fix was to place a diode in the alternator field circuit so the current could only flow in one direction. BUT, in the thread I am thinking of the car would not shut off. It would keep running until other measures were taken to kill it. Dieseling is very different from a running engine. If the alternator circuit were at fault then the engine would continue to run like it had never been turned off. Diesels don’t need an ignition circuit, the heat from compressing air causes self ignition. So I would be surprised if an ignition issue is the problem here. Having driven a bunch of junky old 60's vintage cars, I can say that dieseling is definitely related to high compression and low octane gas. If the engine gets old and has deposits in the combustion chamber, then dieseling is much more likely because the deposits make compression that much higher. Deposits also get hot and can cause ignition. Any kind of vacuum leak will make the dieseling worse (basically anything that would cause a lean condition, especially if it is compensated for by enriching the idle circuit). Thus SU’s that haven’t been rebuilt will have vacuum leaks around the throttle shafts exasperating the dieseling problem. Driving an old 60’s car with 70’s gas usually meant leaving the car in gear and (if possible) turning on full choke when the key is turned to off. The only real fix was to rebuild the engine, clean up any deposits, and possibly lower the compression ratio. Modern cars don’t have this problem because the fuel injection turns off the gas when the key is turned off. I had an old car that had a solenoid in the idle circuit of the carb that would do the same thing.

Make sure you clean up all the hardware and apply a synthethic grease to the sliding parts. But yeah, sounds like a defective caliper.

I have read posts concerning cages with great interest. I am of the opinion that cages really aren't necessary for everyone. Check out this thread http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22979 Another summary thread http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7409 So for a street car I feel it depends on whether the car is a 280 or 240. 240's need some type of bracing, but I am hoping subframe connectors will be sufficient. It would be nice to add some type of door bracing since the doors on a 240 offer zero crash protection. For a street 280, well then maybe nothing. Of course if you just like the look of a cage..... A cage on a street car will add a certain degree of safety, but you shouldn't be driving a car on the street in such a way that you actually need one. For a track car, then yeah, I say build a cage if not for safety, then to stiffen the chassis. This will allow you to run stiffer springs than you otherwise could with a stock, flexy chassis. It also gives you a spot to connect a 5 point harness. Also many tracks have a cage requirement for cars that run under a certain ET. So figure out what type of racing you want to do, then build something that is within the rules. The "rules" will impact your cage design. Katman one circulated an ariticle describing ITS spec cages for a Z. Those rules specifically limited the number of chassis attachment points and prohibited extending the cage through the firewall. I got the impression they wanted the cage for driver safety, but added the limits to avoid having the cage significantly stiffen the chassis thereby changing the character of the car. Just a WAG on my part.

Yes, you can. Probably the perfect welder to use.

A TIG machine is definitely nice, but as I think you are finding out a TIG is at the high end of things for a home hobbiest just starting out. Kind of like saying I want to buy my first car and I have heard Roll Royces are better than most others. A good MIG machine will probably do 95% of the things you will ever want to do. It will weld stainless easily and many will weld aluminum. They are much easier to learn on. Buy a MIG welder and if after years of use you are finding you can't get the titanium welds just right or are spending more than a dozen hours a week welding, then look into upgrading to a TIG. Besides, if you are welding at such a high level that you really need a TIG, then chances are you will still want/need a MIG also. Make sure you get a MIG with sheilding gas. Every welding supply shop I have seen will be glad to sell you a tank. If not, Harbor Frieght sells them for about $100. You will actually save money with sheilding gas because you no longer have to buy the more expensive flux core wire. If you are really resourceful, go to a vending machine company and buy a used CO2 cylinder to $20 or less. That's what my brother did. Flux core wire works well outdoors in the wind, but the smoke will flat kill you inside your shop. Shielding gas gives cleaner welds and less splatter. I would (and did) buy an oxy-acetelyne torch before I would upgrade to TIG. The torch has a million uses on a car, and actually does a better job of welding aluminum sheet than an electric. Check out Monster Garage or this site to see how http://www.metalshapers.org/ As for practice, hit the local scrap metal yard and start making your own bench. Scrap 2 1/2 inch fire sprinkler pipe makes a hell of a bench. Topping it with plate steel would be best, but if you are cheap like me (and your shop doubles as a wood shop) top it with plywood and buy some cement backer board at Home Depot. Makes a nice fire resistant welding booth that can be put away when not needed. While you are at it, buy a couple of good sized dry chemical fire extinguishers and mount one near every entrance to your shop. Keeping a bucket of water and bucket of sand in the shop is extremely useful. And don't forget a nice welding helmet (most novices will appreciate the more expensive auto darkening ones) and get a set of insulated gloves that cover the majority of your forearms. A 4 1/2 inch grinder with a wire brush attachment will prove more immediately useful than a TIG. There is more, but gives you an idea of what you need to start.

What Pete said. This was actually a pretty good thread with a number of very knowledgeable posts. But unfortunately the opening post started out with the attitude it did and kind of set the tone for the ones to follow, whether they fit or not. So didn't mean to single you out, DavD3 and sorry if I offended you. You just happened to be the last guy who posted before I decided to.