Scottie-GNZ

UH-HO. Am I in trouble?

Lawrence, ditto what scca said about the SDS and suspension/brakes. In addition, I have some observations that I find a little troubling. - You do not want a 4.38:1 diff with a turbo. Understandable maybe if there was a hairy cam and other things to support high RPMs, but that is N/A mentality. - I question $279 for a steel flywhel but only $99 for a clutch kit. That has to be backwards, else you will be changing out that cllutch in a week. Find a good stock 240mm flywhel and have it turned and invest in a top quality clutch kit. - Aluminum oil pan, $375. Put that money into something KEY like a top-quality I/C, DP and 3" exhaust - If you building a strong turbo engine, what pistons are you getting for only $220 and why +.040? Good luck, but there are lots of folks on here who have been that route and can really help guide you to the best setup. We enjoy spending other people's money

Not sure how I am going to integrate the rear dam with the flares or even if I can, but I have someone who would gladly take on the challenge. You would be amazed what you can fit under the stock fenders with coilovers. The key is getting the correct offset. My rear flare is unmodified with 255s (26") on 16x8s with a 6+" backspace!! and I have room to go bigger (wider, not taller).

OK, 2 thumbs and 2 big toes

Planning a vacation to Orlando soon? My RF is also "tweaked" and I could use a hand getting it corrected.

IMO, that is asking a lot of the R200, and if you are that serious, I would go R230 instead. Either way, your problem will then be the stub axles, requiring custom units there too. 750rwhp in a 2200lb car puts you in the 8.0 territory. Despite what that Japanese car is doing (and you never know the full story with those high-$$ cars), if was going that route, I would spend the money on a pro 4-link setup and never have to worry about reliability.

Are you referring to current pics or pics of the ongonig project? Once I start, the car will be with primered panels for a long time as I will not paint the car until I have all the panels. The current paint and bodywork was done in 1980. The bumpers were bent and not looking so good, so they have been removed. The RF flare is damaged from an accident and I will be replacing the fronts with stock style fenders and fiberglass would be nice. I never cared for that style flare on the front and there is nothing else I can find that will match the rear. Hood is fine but a carbon-fiber hood is less than 8lbs and a 27+lbs weight savings is tempting but the price is probably more than I want to spend. I also would like to get the MSA front dam with the integrated bumper, a fiberglass/Lexan hatch and repaint the car black or Audi blue like Dan's (74_5.0L_Z). I basically want the car to look like my 75 JTR below with the current rear flare and drop about 100lbs in the process. Somewhere down the line I will do coilovers in the front, at least 12" brakes and 5-lug to match the rear. Since the focus right now is primarily on drag racing, the 82 calipers/84 rotors will do for now. Only thing custom might be an external filler for the fuel cell.

Car is down right now. Been complaining for weeks that I keep losing boost and finally found the problem. The I/C has some pretty bad leaks and it was sent back to Corky Bell for repair. Be a while before it sees a road course. I have to redo the front suspension and brakes and get a decent set of tires. Focus right now is on starting to redo the bodywork.

Put your money elsewhere, like I/C, DP, exhaust, etc.

If you look at that plumbing carefully you will see that it has no unusual bends. I bought mandrel u-bends and did the old cut and weld method. That method, however, requires the proper saw to cut the pipes, a good eye to cut the pipes at the correct angle and someone to weld them up. On mine, the welds were cleaned up to become barely noticeable before painting the pipes. The other option is to find a shop that can mandrel bend and have them do it for you.

I have never heard of the R&P from an R200 breaking. Most powerful car I personally have seen using it is a 86 300ZXT running 10.0 with an estimated 700rwhp with a 5-spd. He got tired of breaking CVs (all used) and mostly stub axles. How quick are you looking to go? If you can truly get the running weight down to 2200lbs, you will greatly reduce the chance of breakage.

The number I have seen most often is 425lbs.

Zthang, correct about the driveshaft angle. The axle angle is another story. No doubt the CV is capable of dealing with extreme angles better, but I really have to question whether or not the angle of the halfshaft under hard squat is so extreme that it is causing the u-joint failures so many are seeing. I wonder how many have really been broken under extreme squat? Punching it at a light is not extreme as it can get. Dropping the clutch at high RPMs or after flashing a high RPM torque converter, that is extreme! How many halfshaft u-joints have been broken launching at the track? And no, I do not count cars like 1FastZ, as running u-joints in cars like that is just asking for it. I just think they break because they are old, defective, wheelspin with wheelhop or just too much HP. Ever compared a Datsun u-joint with a full-size GM unit? Of course, I could be totally off base. Super, hi-1.40s - 1.50s are not difficult with a Z. It takes HP, suspension setup and tires. NO STREET TIRES! I have run a couple of 1.55s with DRs but your best bet is 26" ET Streets or Quick Time Pros. With that, I recommend you go away from the u-joints. I do not think a solid rear is needed, so you should go with the CVs and the R200 or R230 if a R200 LSD is not available.

Vince, no surprise there. 230mm = 9+".

Congrats. Go here for all the info about Turbo Regals anyone could possibly need. www.gnttype.org. In particular, look for the "spring cleaning" article in the Tech section for starters. You also want to join up with the 2 turbo Buick boards: www.turbobuicks.com and www.turbobuick.com I have a set of stock injectors but never used them so have no chips. Check the boards as they are always available for as little as $25.

According to my formula, 2400# will get you down to the low-1.70s at about 125.5. The lighter weight will give a quicker 60' and your drivetrain will live longer and love you for it. I can only dream of a 2400# weight.

IMO, 250# springs might be a tad too stiff for a 2200# drag car. DO NOT use a heavy spring in an effort to reduce the squat. MOF, despite what many say, do not think squat about the squat. None of the Zs drag racing with the IRS that are in the 1.40s to 1.60s 60' range worry about the infamous Z squat. With sticky tires, the car just flat rockets off the line "dragging its tail" A company like QA should offer 1 free spring swapout, so remember to ask them about that. For the shocks, you want to make sure it is adjustable, specifically the rebound. You want to slow up the rebound so the rear suspension does not unload as fast.

Thanks, Clint. I have 5 more just like that one .

3 years later, "that root canal was not so bad!" Let's just say it was, harumph, a challenge, but at least it is now somewhat documented for others to follow or get scared away.

Is it actually sound like a knock? Is it always there at idle? My Miata does the same thing but it is a known problem with the hydraulic lifters. Does not sound like a knock typical of a say a rod, but it is not the light ticking typical of a hydraulic lifter either. Difference with mine is that it is not there all the time and when it is, it goes away as soon as the RPMs come up. Hope it is something that "simple".

Hey BB, note that my incident was back in '89 and if I recall, some of the older 2.0L stuff was more expensive. Ironically it looks no different than a $10 Chevy valve. No titanium glitter or sodium oozing from it

Yep, I have experienced long high speed runs in Germany. In '85 I bought a 79 911 tuner car (Max Moritz) and drove it for a week before shipping it over. On the way from a local event at Hockenheim I got into it with an Alpine A310 V6-turbo and we ran probably more than 30 miles flat-out. Never was more scared in my life behind the wheel, yet at the same time, never was more focused and with full confidence in the car. By coincidence we exited at the same time and he beckoned me over probably astututely recognizing that I was not German or even European . He was Swiss and 2 total strangers met and chatted for over an hour. That will remain etched in my memory banks forever. Anyway, I digressed again . Melted pistons. Surprise!. I will venture a guess this his turbo- converted 2.4 was a N/A engine and he was probably still running the original c.r. and ECU. The wiring for the GN in a Z was very simple. Electricals is not one of my strong suits so I had help from a friend, one of the top GN and Z gurus around. What makes it simple is that the Z did not have EFI and the GN harness was limited to mainly the EFI. Other than finding power for the ECU and some other minors, the GN harness is totally independent. What made it diificult at the time for me was an unfamiliarity with the GN setup and most of the time was spent eliminating about half of the GN harness that was not needed for the conversion. Sorry all, this thread seems to have taken a different turn.

A datalogger goes a long way in helping tune the engine. By knowing what the engine did on the previous run, you have some idea of what adjustments to make for the next run. I am certain what the tuners are referring to is running on pump gas and even at that, there are too many variables to cap the limit of non-forged pistons to a specific boost number. E.g., there could be as much as 75hp difference between a L28ET running 14psi with a stock turbo, Starion I/C, stock DP and exhaust vs one running 14psi with a hybrid turbo, Spearco-like quality I/C, good DP and 3" exhaust. But, probably the most critical factor in how much boost you can run is octane, or in a broader sense, quality of gasoline. I can barely push 16+psi on 93 octane with 18* timimg yet at the track I push 24psi with 24* timing. Eyes light up when folks hear I run that much boost with hyper-u-junk-tic, err, hypereutectic pistons . How? Lots of octane and keep turning up the wick as long as there is little or no detonation. It is not boost that kills engines, it is detonation!. The same engine that is limited to 14psi WILL run more boost with a more efficient I/C and tuning. It will also blow up at 10psi if the owner gets cheap and puts regular gas in it. It would also blow up at 11psi with a bigger turbo if nothing is changed. It would....you get the idea. I certainly will not argue with those experts, but I think non-forged pistons get a bum rap. If you can afford forged pistons, IT IS, repeat, IT IS the right way to go but there is too much focus on how a piston will hold up to detonation when the focus should be on not having any detonation at all. Avoiding detonation is how to make power in a turbo engine and the pistons contributes nada in that. It is the turbo, I/C, fuel system, exhaust and engine management and......as we all know, knowing what you are doing! As for how many minutes I could run 20psi boost, I am sure you do not mean minutes . I do not have a clue and have no intention of finding out, at least not in my Z. If it takes less than 11 secs to hit 125mph and still have OD to go, I would probably sh*t my pants if I held it for another 20 secs . If I ever put it on a road course, I would still run lots of octane and the same boost but probably 18* timing instead. If I get some detonation, I turn the boost down a tad. Yikes! I rambled and preached again. BAD turbo bigot, BAD turbo bigot.

I used one when I had my L28ET setup. It is inline.