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Pop N Wood

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Posts posted by Pop N Wood

  1. Didn't Ron Tyler document a swap that was something like $1500? This was complete. The link I use to have to his site doesn't seem to work anymore or I would post it.

     

    Depends on how resourceful you are and what you have to start with. The biggest budget buster seems to be the "snowball" factor or the "while I'm at it" factor. You can do a no frills swap fairly cheaply.

     

    For example, JTR says get a complete motor and trans out of a late 70 carburated car and drop it in as is. They give a number of soemthing like $1000. But most people can't stop at that.

    It is when you start adding things like ceramic coated headers, custom gages and a few grand in wheels and tires that the expenses bloom. Paint alone could eat up a $5k budget (but that is not really part of a swap).

     

    In your case you have the majority of the expenses covered. I see complete LT1 engines and automatic transmission on ebay for $1500. This will get you near the 300 crank HP you want. Add another $300 for the JTR kit, $200 for a Griffin radiator (or get your stock one re-cored for half that), another $400 for exhaust, budget maybe $150 to have the computer reprogramed, $200 for driveshaft work and lets say $100 for a FI tank. The only thing left will be the gages and the swap itself. Offset this with the at least $500 you will get for your old engine and trans and it comes up to around $3300 (including the ~$1000 of labor). There are all sorts of misc expenses, but that is part of the labor.

     

    Not bad for a fuel injected, sweet running street motor. Just make sure the "guy" doing the swap has done a FI swap before and knows what he is getting into.

  2. Oil free = BAD

     

    Oil type = GOOD

     

    220 volt = MUCH MUCH Better

     

    Vertical or horizontal? Doesn't matter if you mount the compressor in the rafters of your garage and run PVC pipe around. Some people don't like the PVC. Galvanized pipe cools better and will never shatter. But is more expensive and more difficult to install. With the compressor up high you can attach an air hose to the drain for easy draining. Just be sure to put a ground level switch on the power (or use a dedicated breaker).

  3. My guess is the loose wire is cause the engine to run too rich when the engine is warm.

     

    When the car is cold the computer "puts on the choke", i.e. makes the mixture richer to burn better. Car gets warm, the computer needs to take the choke off. But with a bad connection, the computer may think the car is still cold so it keeps the mixture too rich.

     

    Sooo when the car is cold, it doesn't matter what the temperature sender is reading. The computer correctly enriches the mixture. But when the car is warm moving the wire disrupts the temp signal causing the computer to think it is cold.

     

    BTW, I am now sure about your Z but many cars use 2 temperature senders, one for the gage and the other for the computer. so your gage reading right may not tell you anything about the signal getting to the computer.

  4. I honestly think they should require a special license to own and drive a 4WD. People don't seem to realize that stepping on the brake will only lock up the same number of wheels as the POS Yugo in the lane next to them. 4WD lets you go like mad but doesn't improve the stopping.

     

    Having grown up in Nebraska I was always impressed by the number of 4WD's in the ditch. They seem to be the first to go. And now in Maryland (where it doesn't snow as much or as often) I am scared to death of all Yuppies in speeding SUV's thinking the 4WD makes them invincible.

     

    BTW, few things are more fun than driving a FWD car with the rear parking brake on in a parking lot full of snow. Get up some speed in a straight line then turn the wheel 1/8 th of a turn and hold on!

  5. I get nervous when I here people talking about using a long extension cord to reduce the welder heat. I can't believe this would work with a quality welder that uses a proper line current regulator. But maybe that is the flaw in my logic. Maybe low buck welders are just tapped transformers. I guess what ever works.

     

    Want to reiterate the execelent advice from Guycali. Get everything CLEAN. Were talking bare metal.

     

    The problem I have is with tall beads. Slowing down the wire speed causes the arc to snap and pop, requiring a lower heat setting to get the proper "buzz". This puts me back where I was. Tall beads.

     

    Once thing that does work is to follow the advice in a sheet metal book and keep a hammer and dolly near by. Weld and inch or two then hammer the still hot weld flat. Obviously can't always be done.

  6. It's called Hooke's law. Here are some cartoons

     

    http://www.sciencejoywagon.com/physicszone/lesson/02forces/hookeslaw.htm

     

    This one is interactive and shows how the spring goes "nonlinear" if you stretch or compress it too much

     

    http://webphysics.davidson.edu/Applets/animator4/demo_hook.html

     

    Now what this doesn't say is what happens to the spring constant if the spring is shortened or lengthened. I have always been told (but have no idea if it is true) that cutting a coil or two off a spring to lower a car will increase the spring constant K. This is what Mudge said also. If this is true, than wouldn't it also be true that the longer, uncut spring actually has a lower spring constant? So if the turbo sping was wound out of exactly the same material than it should be softer? My guess is the turbo spring uses different material (thicker, different alloy or more/less turns per inch).

  7. You said this is a donor car. Donor for what? If you are putting in a V8 than the stock transmission is an ebay item anyway. Or do you want this car for the engine and transmission?

     

    The Datsun 5 speeds are relatively cheap and not expensive to rebuild. I had mine done years ago and I don't remember it costing more than a clutch job.

  8. The 305 may not be the best performance engine, but I have always liked the way the TPI runners look under a hood. The LT1's and LS1's runners don't have the same look. They just get lost in all the other piping (IMO)

     

    Besides, I am sure the 305 will produce enough oomph for you to lose your license in at least 49 of the 50 states. flamedevil.gifflamedevil.gif I would say all 50 states but some of the ones out west I am not so sure about.

     

    I am planning a somewhat similar swap. Stock V8 initially, then once it all runs right pull the engine for performance mods and while it’s out do the paint.

     

    BTW, your idea on a clutch prone to slipping may be a stroke of genius. But it doesn’t seem like a good idea to me (just an opinion). The thing is just going to wear faster, and I don’t see that helping much of anything.

  9. Pressure gages usually measure differential pressure, i.e. the pressure difference between your intake manifold and the outside ambient pressure. So "0" means you have the same pressure inside your intake as outside of it. Negative readings means the pressure inside the manifold is less than ambient: a vacuum.

  10. Ditto what johnc said, but I would question the assumption that a high compression engine will draw a higher vacuum during deceleration.

     

    The compression ratio can be increased by milling the head to create a smaller combustion chamber. However, I wouldn’t expect this to affect the vacuum in the cylinder during the intake stroke since this is more a function of the valve timing and the flow capacity of the intake path. Changing the volume of the combustion chamber shouldn't affect this.

  11. I originally tried to get a full converage policy on my 25 year old Z. Along the way I managed to get an honest, independent insurance broker. He told me the only way to get full coverage on a car so old was to get a stated value policy. This required getting the car appraised, then the premiums would be based upon this value.

     

    He also told me (and this was the honest part) if I did all that and later made a claim, that (and I quote) "let's just say questions would be raised". A polite way of saying "good luck collecting". I don't have such a policy for just that reason.

     

    This is more a question of what will happen than what should happen. All I can say is get some legal advice before undergoing the expense of a court battle. Those people play by their own set of rules and what seems obvious to you may be humerous to them.

     

    And why do you think people fall down holding their necks when they get hit? Insurance companies are a lot more flexible determining appraised values if they fear a personal injury suit.

  12. The early Z's did not have one. They had a solenoid switch that vents the tank to the intake when the engine is running and to the crankcase when the engine is off. Would be simple to recreate.

     

    The only real disadvantage to a charcoal can (IMO) is size. If it is installed in an out of the way place, then there is no great advantage to deleting it.

  13. The gear is cogged for the diff, but the 5 speed may have come out of a car with a different rear end ratio. So changing the tranny will often throw off the speedo (mine did).

     

    If you still have the 4 speed, perhaps you could swap the speedo gears with 5 speed and get your calibration back. Be sure to get both the drive and cable gear.

     

    A link to I believe zcar.com has been posted giving the part numbers and ratios of Datsun speedo gear ratios and part numbers. Try a search. Should help you get what you need from the part place if your 4 speed gears won't transplant.

  14. If you took a $6k car and added everything I have it comes out in the $14-16k range.
    but unfortunately if you went to sell it on ebay you would be lucky to get $7k for it...

     

    The car is only worth what someone will pay for it, not what you have invested in it.

     

    That statement works both ways. Old Ferrari's that originally sold for several thousand dollars are now worth millions because that is what they have been selling for. Modify them and they lose most of their value.

     

    Old Z cars with bitchin V8 transplants and over $10K in mods are selling on this site (and slowly I might add) for 4 to 5 thousand bucks.

     

    Don't get me wrong, fight the insurance company for all it's worth. But just don't take it personnaly if it doesn't turn out the way you think it should. Also follow the advice posted above and buy the salvage rights to the old car.

  15. Are you guys pulling our legs?

     

    I am looking on ebay and seeing heads that cost more than $850 and T56 trannys for $1500, and none of those are installed prices.

     

    If the engine is rebuilt, ask to see the receipts. At 500 HP there should be a huge number of name brand parts. Then talk to the machine shop. See what type of guarantee will transfer from the machinist.

     

    If there are no reciepts, then check with your local law enforcement agency to see if they know where the 500 HP, freshly rebuilt 350 came from.

  16. Just read your post again. Are you doing a V8 swap, or a stock L6 swap? If it's a stock engine that you are sure will fit, then there is no sense taking it apart twice. Now if your are fitting a V8 (like me) then do all of the fabricating with bad paint.

     

    BTW, good luck on the insurance thing. As we all know, the value of a car is MUCH less than the sum of it's parts. If you can buy a decent 240Z for $4000, then why would they pay you for 10 grand worth of parts? What were the particulars of your 240 that made it worth 10 grand?

  17. There is a wealth of knowledge in the archives. Just do a search on LS1 in the Chevy V8 forum.

     

    Phantom recently had one done using a conversion kit from John's cars. Made it sound like all of the kinks were worked out and the overall installation was truely fine. Here is the post

     

    http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003039#000001

     

    jeromio has a truely entertaining web site detailing his conversion in progress. Check it out:

     

    http://240z.jeromio.com/

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