circinus

So after some studing of what I have going on I figured out if I put in longer wheel studs in the 5 lug hubs and run a spacer, that should be just fine. I'll use some 300zx rotors and some yota calipers for the front and just run the drums in the back with those 2" adapters. The brakes were always good on the car so why mess around with them since the car will only be a fun driver and not a track monster or anything like that. Yeah the cobra brakes are begging to look cool behind my rims but that will be another day. Now that the tires are going to be pushed out time to figure aout the flairs.

Thanks. I kinda understand what your saying. When it comes to engines,body and those aspects of the car I have no problem understanding what I need to do. But wheel offsets become greekto me. on the front i have less than a 1/16 of an inch between the rim and cradel for the spring on the strut housing. All I did to the backs so far was tap out 3 studs and let it rest on the one stud and set the wheel on it. I have the car supported so it didnt have its weight on 1 stud. I havnt got in there to measure how far out it has to come to clear the strut and spring. If I had coilovers these suckers would fit nice and snug without flairs and I would just have to get the good old bat out and roll the lips. Thats what I was really wishing was goin to happen. When I bought these rims the guy told me they were 8" rims so thats why I though they were going to work. After today I found out they were 9" wide. 1" screws everything up.

So It was nice enough here in ohio today to dig my z out of the corner clean the garage up and get ready to start working on it. Quick run down of car. was going to be a v-8 conversion. Coilovers all the way around adjustable suspention. Well here it is 10yrs later and I just want to get it back together. I got some 5 lug hubs and swaped them out today on the front and realized I have to have coilovers in order to make them work at all 4 corners. I have 17x9 saleen rims and I'm going to run flairs. well in the 10yr span its been sitting, life happened with kids and so on. So I guess I'm going to pull the 5 lug hubs off the front and put back on the 4 luggers and buy adapters because I dont have the extra change for coil overs, new rotors,calipers and all that other good jazz. My problem is I cant find any 4lug to 5lug adapters. and the one set I did find were $495. If I'm going to spend that then I might as well do coil overs and brakes. Does anyone know where I can pick up a set cheap. The car isnt going to be raced or daily driven. I just want my fun little car back to drive around in the summer and nice days and next summer I'll do my m/s and turbo. So nothing too powerful just enough to whomp on every now and then at stoplights. I dont see why adapters wouldnt hold up for that. BTW i did use the search button and all I'm getting is old ebay postings for them and a few 4-4 honda patterns.

I really thought my wife was going to like it. I guess just because I love something doesnt mean she will like it too. I build guitars for a living and just recently finished one in original 50's daphine blue and thats what she though would look good on it. I know its my car but its that much cooler when your wife is into it too. And I was that close to going over to my brother in laws store and start messing around getting the color down. Guess I'm going to have to work on her a little.

I set that as my background I like it so much. I think I'm going to print off some pictures of that and play around drawing some stripes or accents on it and see what I can come up with. Man, that's got me motivated. Gonna be jonesin to work on my car now. What do you guys think would look good for some kind of flat black accent stipe or whatever. I think I little something maybe a cool single down the hood or maybe even and old mopar style since I'm using one of their colors like on the old challengers from the 70's. I can only make my car so cool. I think having other people's input is going to make that much cooler.

Heck yeah! that looks sweet! I'm sold. Now my problem is I was going to put on a ms3 front on it, but the 240 chrome bumper adds the right amount of chrome to the front. And I also think it would be cool to get my rims that black chrome finish. I've seen it around on a few cars and I bought my rims for a song and dance on craigslist so it might be an option. Thanks for doing that. Thats cool as all get out in my books. I cant wait to show my wife. Purples her favorite color but she was convinced it would be dog ugly on my car.

Thanks xkne. I didnt know if I opened up any of those heads It would give me good enough flow where p90 wasnt needed. Its one of those things where between the wife, kids, and everything else when I found some free time here and there I would try to go to town and go thru one of those heads while its cold out and nothing can be done on the car because of that. When I threw that post up i typed first ran out the door and read it when I got home so It didnt even realize the shroud/unshroud. I grew up always hearing shroud out the head. But I think 75% of the terminalogy I grew up hearing is prob wrong. I have enough exp. to not think twice about digging in on a head but not enough where I'd go out and start a buissness doing it. And your right about Braap. I've had my car since 1990 and up until around 2000ish I didnt know jack about turboing my car or even upgrasdes exp. for your oldies sbc,stroker,p/p, and gasket matching. Thats when I started going to the library and used the computers and found this site and got educated on my z real quick. And he's one of the big ones who schooled me well. So I Finally got my own computer somewhere around 2005-2006 and I finnaly got to have my own login here. And the car became one of those projects where everythings there to do it , now I just have to do it. Not really into welding up the head. I have the resources to do it but thats starts getting into more than here and there nights in the basement. It seems like the n42 being a sweet head for n/a isn't going to give me any advantages with that high of comp. I was really hoping to read yeah open up the one of the heads and it makes the perfect turbo head. Looks like that head is the p90.

I would do a p90 if I could find one cheap and thats not happing for me right now. I've been looking. I already have those 3 heads and since its so cold outside here in ohio I can do one of those heads in my free time in my basement. I will get one down the road but for now I was focused on doing up one that I already have.

Should I repost this in the turbo section? Head work is head work no matter which way you look at it and thats why I put it here.

WOW! That car looks like a Beast. I like the type 3 front. Thank you very much. My cars been copper, white, red, black, yellow. This will be its last paint job though. My wife isnt sold on plum crazy yet, she wants it to be a deep met. blue but I think after seeing that beast I'm about 90% sold thats my color. Now if the weather here in ohio would let up a little bit I can get it in the booth and get her sprayed. Wish I had better heat in my shop. It gets warm enough to work comfortably but not enough for me to gamble a paint job on. And I think it will compliment my white engine bay very nicely.

Ive been kicking colors around for my car. I really like the retro dodge colors and after seeing big phils done in the lime-green I was wondering if anyone has seen a z in the plum crazy purple. I dont have photoshop or any good pics of my car right now to have someone photoshop so sol there. Its kinda tore apart waiting for the weather to break so we can get some color on her. Really like the color but liking a color and it looking good on my car are 2 different things. I was going to paint it yellow like it use to be but I just got some nice chrome saleen rims for it and would like accent them off a little. Also I have to run flairs due to tire size so I'm thinking flat black flairs, tail-light area and maybe some stripes or accents somewhere with all my chrome trim on that purple might be the ticket. Just throwing it out there to see if there's anyone who has one or can photoshop a pic for me. I'm open to suggestions too. In the last 3mths I think I've changed my mind a dozen times. My brother-in-law has a paint store and I have a paint booth so anything is possible and thats my biggest problem. lol

I have a n42 head that got all fubbed up when a valve broke. I thought it was just junk aluminum until the other day. My dad came over and started dinking around with it and shrouded it out and said there ya go now you can use it again. Well it got me to thinking, if I'm going to spend my time on finish shrouding out a head, I've got 3 and which one would be my better choice to spend my time on. Heres what the engine plan is for the car. I have a stock 81' f54/p79 engine right now together. I plan on installing a turbo w/ megasquirt, 2mm head gasket. Now I planned on just p/p the p79 and call it a day and be done. Now I'm thinking if I'm going to spend the time shrouding the n42 would that be the better head, or I have the a n47 and should I spend my time doing that one or the p79? Or is it not worth all the efforts to shroud any of them. I've been wearing out my search bar for days now and not finding much of anything on this certain topic. Alot of p90 info out there. So I guess question is If these are my head choices for my flattop turbo and I am going to spend the time shrouding and p/p them which one would be the best choice for what I'm building. Btw this isn't a daily driver so I plan on it being as much of a beast as it can be up to the point I'm not busting rear-ends and cv's. Its my 10yr sbc z project that went a whole diff direction 6 mths ago. Stupid turbo's

Yeah my 42 had valves and the whole nine yards done. I think the shop was called Dr. Z's or something like that. He was in Orlando Fl. Thats who did it for me. Its a nice head and I'm very lucky I was able to hang on to it all these years. I had triples at one point with that head. I had to sell them when I was 21 to pay for a plane ticket home to ohio for a funeral. Thats when I went back to the dvg's. I did try the 42 with the dvg's but I was getting popping and backfire thru the carbs and I didnt have enough know how back then to figure out the right vac, adj, and so on. So the 47 went back on. Do wish I still had the triples. But when your young and poor and an emergency comes up you do what you gotta.

I've been reading up on the megasquirt. Wow there is a lot to read there. Plan is for now, Run 54 block with 79 head with the downdrafts to get started. Remember its been 10yrs since I drove it so this is a starting point. And I get to drive it while I get rid of all the sbc crap and raise some $. During this time I can get my research done on intakes, rails and so on. Really sucks that I learn now the dvg's are ok carbs. I always thought it was a performance upgrade. Lucky for me my original efi wiring was chopped at the big part before it splits to go to the contacts. And during this time while I'm getting the efi around get my 42 head on my work bench and look it over. Its been sitting for almost 15yrs. The 47 always ran better on my engine back then for me. Not as hot of a set up as my 42 but I got better mpg. Car use to be a dd. The thread got off track a little bit going in the head/block thing but What I really wanted to know was about the carbs and Got my answers I needed. And with that I thank you guys. Its been a long time since I played with a l6 and I cant beleive I was going to dump it for a sbc over some wrecked pistons. What was I thinking? lol. Thanks guys.

I really want to drive my car. its been over 10 yrs since I drove it and I have the itch. Bad! My 5 lug conversion is done and paint is in the spring. I dont know much about the megasquirt systems at all. For right now my goal is to buy a victor r gasket kit, Throw a quick hone in it to freshen it up if needed but really dont want to remove the crank. Leave it together if it looks good. I was going to spend a couple of hundred and get a cam and put it in. I have a couple grand in sbc stuff laying around so as I sell that crap off I will have more money to put back in my z. So thats my goals. As for power, sure everyone wants 400-500hp but lets get real. 250 would be awesome for me. heck even 200 would be good. If the megasquirts are only a few hundred and it gives me more options I'm in. I always thought they were a couple of grand, so, I just have to learn it. Back in the late 80's early 90's I didnt understand injection and computers and turbo's and to get more power was to stroke your l6 (big$) or to (little$) sbc it and you have 300hp like that. In 20yrs I never messed with the efi cause I thought it was too complicated and stuck with the dvg's cause I thought they were better. Little did I know.

I should have thought this thread out better. It is beating a dead horse. Thats what happens when you are on here at 1am. It all sounds good to me tired thinking. I know all about the heads and and it was more what would work with the carbs and I was hoping to hear something I haven't read. I didn't realize till last night that they really are not anything special. I always thought they were. I've spent the last 8 yrs focused on a v-8 swap that never got done so It is all a big refresher on the l6. There was no internet back when I was running a l6, so I didnt know about the efi/carb systems. We had az zcar, msa and victoria brittish catalogs to tell us and car shows. Looks like efi will be the route I take. I have 2 of them and money is an issue. What are the carbs worth and who uses them? P.s. you can shed this I never ment for it to be another head/block combo thread. More a what works best with dvg's and I found my answers. Really nothing. Just glad I never got rid of my l6 parts during my v-8 gather. And thanks for the input guys.

I had a feeling I was going to see dump the downdrafts. I do like them I just never got them to run right and learned what I needed to do after the car was tore apart. My only other option for fuel is the efi and I would have to figure out where the wires were cut and so on. My n42 is all ported out I just remember I always had timing problems with the head. but than again it was a stock cam and the carbs were a factor. Any feedback on these carbs. I've seen them bashed up pretty good but never highlighted. There had to be an advantage to them at one point. Going to do some google searches on them and see what I can learn. I realized this topic has been covered a billion times and sorry for that. Its kinda going to what would work best for my carbs thread. How do I change the title?

I've spent 10 yrs. searching these threads. That thread thats linked here is one of the few that got me started thinking about this. The only thing I guess I'm having problems with is my carb set up. Theres not alot out there on these carbs. How close to su's are they and so on. Now that I read my thread after I posted it I see my wrong. I never really new how to dial this car in with these carbs. And still dont. I always had problems with them. If I had tripples I know what I would do. If I had injection I know what route I would go. With these carbs I'm spinning circles. And with the harness missing some wires The injection system isnt going on. For at least now it isnt till I sort the wiring out one day.

I hope the title is ok. I really didn't know how to title for this post so feel free to change it. Long story short. Original 6 in car blew up its pistons. Take engine out. Was going to replace with a v-8. Fast forward 10 years I now have a bunch of parts and thats it. Found an engine for $50 and headed out and got it. Now here is my question. Got the engine home and did the look over. I haven't cracked a bolt on it except for the clutch assm. It's a 81' f54 block with a p79 head. And by the looks of it its never been apart. But I have no idea of the history. It turns by hand and feels good with the way it turns. If that makes any sense. You can feel its smooth and has good comp. At this point I have a few options in front of me and here they are. When I got my original car it had the twin weber downdrafts that came from victoria british. The original owner hacked the injection system off. Remember this is back in the early 90's and I was 18 when I bought it so it happened. I also have a nice header and exst to put on it as well. Now the big question. I have my bare n42 block. I also have a n42 head and a n47 head. Should I leave well enough alone and just put a new gasket kit on the engine I just got and throw in a new bumpstick and be done or start swapping things out for one another. Heres what I'm looking for. Good power without dumping a fortune in the engine. Real life comes first thats why its sat for 10 yrs. $100 buys a gasket kit from northern auto so if I'm going that far swapping heads or blocks and so on is an option. I plan on buying a cam and thats going to be about it for the engine. With the carbs, header, and stuff I have I was looking for your guys recommendations and what you would use if it were you. I've done plenty of searches since I decided to stick with the l6, I guess I need a push in what direction to take.

Well I cleaned the spindle up and it was still not letting the bearing fit on. I took a closer look and measured it and it wasnt true around. Since I build guitars for a living I just decided to true it out by hand. I prob. wouldn't recommend for anyone to do it this way but I build precision necks for guitars so I felt comfortable doing it that way. Now it fits like a glove and measure's the same all the way around. I decided to take pictures of all this so I was wondering should I do a new thread and a write up on my budget 5 lug conversion?

All the research that Ive done you cant use a chevy mounting kit with a ford. You might want to hit up guys like Braap, Johnc, Grumpyvette. Ive seen those guys one here for 10+ yrs and they have far more knowledge than I do and prob know the answers better than me. My advise, unless you have a good amount of disposable income building the perfect engine and perfect zcar wont happen. I thought that was what I was going to do. Arizona z car parts at each corner a new rear , etc. The problem with me and prob a lot of guys here life happened. I had to get a new mower, kids needed this. At one point I had enough money to buy all 4 corners complete and ended up spending that on a new roof for our house. 10yrs has passed me by and I still dont have an engine in the car let alone all of the other stuff I wanted. Thats why I'm leaning, or I should say falling towards an engine thats all ready together. get it in there and worry about the ponies later. I just have to stop dragging my feet when I come across good deals on engines. lol. but thats me.

I've had almost 10yrs of swaying and reading post here and I was always going to go chevy. Now 10yrs later alots changed in engines. I remember when a tpi engine was big $ and the hot ticket. I have 3 sbc in my garage in 5 gallon buckets. And I always intended to use them and make one great engine. My first thing is getting my 5 lug hubs on. So this got me started looking on craigslist for my rims and started to notice lt1's for $250 $300 and so on. 5.0's going for a few hundred. In my head I start thinking thats pretty cheap for complete engines that run. And thats when I got all car geeked out and glued myself to the computer. And the thought of getting my car back on the road cheap after more than 10yrs got the juices flowing again. Pro's of a 5.0 in my book- Dist up front, Weight of engine and how you can set it in the engine bay to get the balance right. Sound, 5.0's have always had a good sound. And their are so many mustangs around you'll never have a prob finding anything for it. Lt1's are cheap now but if you dont have all the harness and computer there it can start to get pricey and at that point if you start getting into lsx engines territory which is the ticket every which way you can think of but its going to cost you. A sbc is just that. easy, everywhere, cheap, how much power you want cause anything you can dream of is out there for them and been done. But my problem was I have to rebuild mine. And if I'm going to do that, I'm going to do it right once and now were talking money again for that. When I noticed I can get a decent engine cheap it started sounding pretty apealing to go that route. I started this thread because I was a phone call away from owning a b-body lt1 and thought if I start a quick thread I might get some feedback on these engines from guys who have them in their cars.. Then I got wind of a 5.0 for cheap. Story short drug my feet and didnt end up with either. I would like to have a ford in my car just because I think its a great fit for a s30. But if I didnt have alot of exp w/engines I would stay with a sbc. Its the standard engine.

My original plan was to go with what I have, (the big but) all my engines are tore apart and need rebuilt and so on. Thats why I was looking for a new engine. Get it in there and going then start adding goodies later and sell off my parts. Bad thing is I have tried to sell my stuff on craigslist with no luck. It is what it is and I'm not worried about it. The cars been sitting for 10yrs and it wasnt until recently I got motivated to do something to it. Theres plenty of work.

Sorry about that Braap. An update on my engine dilemma. I drug my feet to long and missed out on the mustang engine. Same with the lt1. I still have my sbc though. I think I'm going to take a time out on the engine and get the suspention together and weigh my options out during that time.