Leon

Agreed. Looks ready to ride on some railways! I like the wheels but they really need wider tires.

Seconded, for emphasis. It's a great book and it's not expensive at all (~$20). if you want a step by step guide, this is the top dog.

Do you have an extra tie rod to measure? Maybe you can measure the one on your car. Just find the thread pitch and that's how much translational movement you'll get, per turn. Then find out what that equals to in degrees by measuring the steering arm radius and approximating the toe angle change as arcsin(thread pitch/arm length). I think that should work, my Z isn't near me now, so just going off the top of my head. Sorry that I don't have actual numbers. *Of course, it would be wise to measure once you're done as well.

I don't know if I'd wait for it to become an issue with the wife and kids! Nevertheless, lookin' good!

Link removed per request...

Cool, I didn't even realize stores carry pre-flared lines! Good luck!

I just hate when they call and automatically ask for a lower price. I agree to it and they don't show up!

Some links: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-240Z-69-72-STAINLESS-STEEL-BRAKE-LINES-8-PCS_W0QQitemZ320538609336QQihZ011QQcategoryZ33562QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m444QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DCRX%26its%3DC%252BS%26itu%3DSI%252BUA%252BLM%252BLA%26otn%3D5%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8251009899107877143 http://www.classictube.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=75012 Pre-bent, flared and ready to go. If you want to make your own, might as well get a flaring tool. They're not very expensive.

2nd that...

John brings up a good point. Why did you route the lines across the crossmember and not the firewall, as was originally done? Trying to save on materials?

Get the Y-pipe. As long as the design is not restrictive (I don't think it should be because the MSA one collects into 2.5" piping, I believe) then it should be beneficial. You will gain cylinder scavenging from having the exhaust flow collect into one pipe.

That's really high compression for an L engine. I would suspect detonation issues unless you are using high octane gasoline.

Looks like a mini-C3 'Vette with an ugly top. It's not horrid, and the 351 is a nice touch. I have to agree with Geking in that it interrupts the natural flow of the Z, especially with that nasty top up!

Yeah, Tony just told you exactly what you need to do. Check out the cam degreeing sticky in this section.

I have a urethane BRE "Spook" type air dam. I'm located on the peninsula, and I'll be up there for memorial day weekend at the soonest. How's $75 sound?

That looks fantastic!!! Can't wait to see it mounted and in action!

Video says it is a one-off 600hp car. We need videos, it's pretty sweet!!!

Cold turkey. I like your style!

As discussed in the thread, there is a significant distinction between the job of the header and collector and the long exhaust pipe. If you size your exhaust pipe to "keep velocities up" you are robbing yourself of torque, since frictional losses are increased by both decreasing pipe diameter and increasing velocity. Frictional losses go up with velocity squared. Add in the long length of the pipe and some bends, and even more torque is lost. Thus, with a properly designed exhaust, there is no "too big" when it comes to performance. Otherwise, there is a "too big" and it's when you can't fit it under the car anymore! Of course, there comes a point of diminishing returns (upping diameter has negligible gain) and that's when you've sized the pipe properly. Scavenging is the purpose of the header and collector, and possibly a tuned length of exhaust, not your long pipe that goes out back!

Right. As I've said, we need the pipe because its purpose is to route the gasses to the back of the car. We need exhaust pipes, and you are right in that a "properly" designed exhaust system won't have a performance hit, besides the weight. I've been jumping around it, but what I'm trying to do here is construct an explanation dispelling the myth that a big exhaust pipe will hurt low end torque, or that you need a stock style exhaust or else you lose power. It will do nothing but help torque over the entire rpm range when compared to a smaller pipe.

I agree with that John, and I wasn't trying to imply that open headers is the "best" exhaust design. I think I should have clarified my statement a bit better. A stock car (i.e. a Z) will make more power with a 6-into-1 header without a "typical" pipe (say 2.5" with the tip at the rear bumper) than with the pipe. That's what I meant by my vague description of a "pipe connected to the exhaust." Now when you get into exhaust tuning, of course you tune for certain lengths which give you resonance effects at certain engine speeds. The megaphone can be thought of as a bell-mouth for the exhaust. Megaphones help broaden the bandwidth, if you will, of the pressure wave reflection (resonance effect) as the taper of the megaphone pipe can be thought of as infinitesimal "steps" with a pressure wave reflection at each step. It's the same deal with intake bell mouths. Megaphones are surely beneficial, but sadly you don't find megaphones attached post collector on most factory cars, and they are even excluded from many custom built street exhausts! Hence, taking off the long exhaust pipe, and leaving an open header increases torque. Now, this leaves the option of building a new exhaust that can make performance even better, but the original point I wanted to make was that a long "typical" (no megaphones, no specifically tuned lengths, etc.) exhaust pipe is detrimental to performance. You gain torque by removing the pipe and running open headers, and then even more torque can be found when you add things like megaphones and tuned lengths post collector, as John mentioned. Thus as already mentioned above, when people are having 2.25" or 2.5" "typical" NA exhausts built, they are still making a performance sacrifice (and no, you don't lose low end torque ).

Those are good points, and are topics that people usually don't consider when talking about exhaust design. I agree that large exhausts definitely help a turbo spool faster, but I also think that they help naturally aspirated engines. There is a lot of evidence that a properly tuned engine makes more power with open headers vs. having a pipe connected to the exhaust (contrary to internet myths). I believe the reason for those results is that a lot of the cylinder scavenging occurs in the headers (given that they are adequately long and merge into one pipe), and the exhaust pipe is mostly just there to route the gasses to the back of the car. There may be some resonance effects dependent on pipe length, but as I've implied, given the header is adequately long (length is dependent on where you want your powerband), any effects generated by the pipe are likely negated by frictional losses. Thus, this long skinny pipe increases frictional losses in the exhaust flow, increasing pumping losses and decreasing volumetric efficiency while not really helping anything. So, you want as little friction loss as possible, while maintaining ground clearance. Essentially, you want the pipe to act as the atmosphere. Another point that was made is that friction in the pipe(s) is dependent on surface area. The flow sticking to the pipe is a good way to visualize it. This is the concern I have in using MSA twice pipes, as that is what I plan on getting when my Z is built. The cross sectional area is roughly equivalent to a single 2.5" but the twin 1.75" pipes have more combined inner surface area, and thus there will be more losses. Whether performance is affected much, I don't know. When I'm ready, I do want to do some exhaust dyno testing to show myself which setup works best. Keep in mind, my post is based on a combination of theoretical knowledge and experimental data. If someone has done some relevant dyno testing that would be great! If I missed anything, feel free to contribute.

Good find! Any guinea pigs takers? I'm curious as to what the weight difference would be when compared to a factory shell...

Here is the free one: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/1724090801.html It looks like it needs a lot of work (and parts) though. I'll keep you posted on mine as I have another shell, so one of them has to go. The reason I can't sell it now is because I'm in SLO and the shell is in the bay area. Once I put the suspension back on it should be ready to go, unless you want the shell and suspension separate, in which case the shell has to be able to roll around somehow.

I'll likely be selling a 1971 240Z shell pretty cheap this summer, in the SF bay area.