Tony D
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Posts posted by Tony D
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Its hard to justify the cost for certain Kameari items such as a R200 mustache bar which is basically a stock piece with the poly bushings for $400+ when you could get the same setup for less than $100.
You have a source for NEW NISSAN S30 R200 Moustache Bars? Praytel elaborate, as they are NLA in America...so I'd really like to know where this 'same setup' is going to be available for 1/4 the cost when the originals are not available... Also note that the Yen Price of 30,000 yen is a whole $111 in the golden days. It's not Kameari's Fault that the dollar has been floating (or sinking)... Welcome to the side effects of an empire on decline.
A thermostat for $100+ makes no sense.7500 yen=$28... again, the strong yen sucks if you aren't the dominant economic force on the face of the planet, eh?
Some of the suspension pieces like the steering knuckles for $500 you can get from Arizona Z Car for $200 for the same quality. The control arms are $850 and you can get billet ones from Arizona for $600 or similar ones from Techno Toy for $350 just like the "pillow tension rods" which are $775 but Techno Toy sells awesome ones for $225.
Only thing I can say to that is 'Billet Arizona Z Car' components look great on a show car, but there is no way in hell I would be putting them on a car driven on the street or in competition. Billet Snaps on impact... And again, any of the pricing sucks ONLY if you are an American paying in AMERICAN DOLLARS. The rest of the world it seems is getting Japanese speed parts at a cheaper and cheaper rate. To a Japanese earning Yen, these prices have REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS! Tell me (in AMERICAN DOLLARS) which speed parts can lay claim to that? I remember NEW Dobi Spoilers for under $50. Fiberglass Doors (epoxy resins used, not polyester) for $225. The prices in America for AMERICAN MADE preformance parts have skyrocketed with inflation---while the Japanese System internally to Japan has held prices relatively constant in terms of total yen price asked...
However, Kameari makes some great motor parts which no one else makes and they are definitely worth the money when you can afford them.
Gene Berg once said: "If you can't afford to do it right now, how will you find the money to do it over a second time when it all comes apart?" Same situation here...
Edit: In the end, its GREAT that there are still companies making such a breadth of performance parts for such an old car. It'd be terrible if they stopped.
And as an addendum to my commentary: there is a REASON these parts are made in JAPAN. The support for them at the relatively constant price (even though it be high initially) tends to be a REAL BARGIAN in the long-term for the long-range thinking Japanese. The buy cheap mentality prevalent in America makes such niche markets nearly impossible to cultivate in any real way. Most producers of parts for the Datsun in America have gone away, simply because of their reliance on VOLUME and CHEAP PRICE. When the volume goes away, so the product follows. It's the wrong marketing model, but hey...it's the American Way.
One little 6 month currency correction in 1988 doubled the prices of Japanese Speed Parts. You guys just never realized how good it was...-
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You need to send JeffP a PM or e-mail. I believe he did a single tap abouve 3/4 because of the proximity of the exhaust. He can tell you in thousandths of an inch where he tapped referenced off some existing hole or stud or whatever.
Thousandths of an inch...
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Two items:
RE: Limo
Lacks sufficient fun fur application to either interior or exterior to be considered truly 'chariot status'.
RE: VW Bus
Coming back to town after hiatus in the military, a youngster commented to me "Oh, you're the guy with "The Tylenol Bus" the one you can hear 1/4 mile before you see it!" Red and White, Turbo City 4BBL draw-through, and Harmon-Kardon Biamped Kraco Head Unit with Echo Box driving Kicker Kricket Speakers and a 10" Subwoofer. All in 1983...in the sticks of Michigan. Where there were many sad teenage F-Body Fans due to that bus... I still own it today in more of a 'stock' form. Probably one of two vehicles I own where I could pay someone else to do a full-on restoration and make money on the deal. The other is my 66 Bus...
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Easyjet is your friend! Buy some tickets early enough and the hack fare to the airport will be more expensive than the return ticket to Amsterdam (or any other Easyjet Destination!)
"Think Southwest Airlines of Europe...only Orange!"
I was going R/T from John Lennon Liverpool to Schipol Amsterdam for 39 Sterling, and my cab fare was 20 sterling---each way!
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"If you cannot even keep yourself in the seat in an upright position then you cannot rely on any of the safety equipment to do it's job."
Referring back to the white 240Z crash photos I posted, probably the thing that saved the driver from much more serious injury was the fact that he had fitted a proper racing seat, and harness assembly which kept him in the seat during the crash, and not slipping, sliding, submarining someplace during that time.
I like wings that deploy at speed...with proper warpage I bet it really helps with that 'floaty feeling' at speed!
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Most S30 owners are bottomfeeders when it comes to paying for parts.
Coupled with a yen that is now 79 to a dollar, compared to around 300 to a dollar when these cars were new or less than 10 years old doesn't help either. Price goes up in $$ even though yen price remains constant.
Take those Yen prices, divide by 268, and you will basically have the price in 1985...
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FSM EM Section: "Removal of Camshaft"
Reading beforehand can sometimes save extra work...
Unless you were swapping external spraybar towers onto a newer head for the extra lube, or swapping internal lubed cam towers to an earlier car to eliminate the spraybar (instead of just blocking the lube ports to the spraybar.
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that's an interesting development...
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im not saying i cant get my stuff to comply, it does. i want to do motorswaps as well though, and im not exempt from the CHP highway checks either. my main point is if i go back to georgia, or florida where my dads at, i wont have to even think twice about any of this garbage at all.
Are you saying you are somehow required to comply with CA Smog as an out-of-state resident running Georgia Plates? That was covered above pretty comprehensively.
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More uninformed paranoia. This is not hard to comply, and as a servicemember you only have to comply with the FEDERAL requirements to get the sticker if you drive off-base. There are guys on Travis with 1978 260Z's WITH CARBS that don't have a problem......
But leaving is not a bad deal, the more that leave means more space for me. I've had my issues, but if you can't make a car pipe clean you probably shouldn't be messing around under the hood anyway! This isn't rocket science.
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Be glad your carnage didn't injure anybody. When I lost the spider gear in a 71 Box Skyline, my buddy Lary Mason was standing obliquely from the launch point, and got part of the spider gear right on the right kneecap! Almost like getting shot by a mob hitman! He dropped, and picked up the offending part. While I was marvelling at the slick of Hypoid I laid in my driveway he limped up and said "missing something?" Shot that puppy right through the back cover!
Killer thing about the whole affair....It was Larry's car! "I guess you needed a new differential!"
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I chose to use a BC broncos "fuel accumulator" (http://www.bcbroncos.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=131_108&products_id=1355) as a surge tank instead of building my own. It was cheap and it seems to work great. It has a mounting flange so its only a matter of drilling a few holes to mount it.
One of the quick-n-dirty methods of making a surge tank is to take one from a later model Bronco. That setup is basically the same thing that is on the inner frame rail of any later model Bronco II --- but with a bit more capacity and a fuel filter to boot. "Accumulator" is a poor choice of words from a technical standpoint when dealing with a fuel system---generally an 'accumulator' will have a diaphragm in it to soften/smooth out pulsations on the pressure side of the system from fuel pump or injector pulses. Make no mistake, this 'accumulator' is a surge tank.
For the cost, that's actually a nice deal---if they have a longer filter for more capacity that would make a REAL nice setup! I'd reconsider mine out back with a longer filter. I may have to get one for dissection, I can get these filter units from one of our vendors for our compressors...nice adaptation of an existing product for a surge tank (better than the aquarium filter IMO...but in the same 'neat' vein!)
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I don't know which troubleshooting chart was referenced, but 'starter whirs, but engine doesn't turn over' is a solenoid replacement solution, not an entire starter.
The criteria may be slightly different with a gear reduction unit as they may use an older style Bendix Engagement, but the conventional starter has to have the solenoid engage and the solenoid pushes a fork to engage the pinion gear to engage the flywheel teeth.
Does the gear jump out the nose of the starter at all when it turns? If not, it's off to the rebuilder to complain. If there's enough juice to turn the starter, there should be enough to kick-out the Bendix or engagement yoke.
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A-1 Cardone makes rebuilts I've used in 3 different cars, and they are available for around $100...
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Ok, so just to clarify (and hopefully not muddy the waters more)–if I am swapping in a motor from a '03 350z from Michigan(for example) into my California 260z, as long as I have all the emissions equipment from the 350z it should be ok. I'll check into swaps in more detail with the refs as the time gets closer, but just wanted to see if anyone knew offhand. Also, sorry for asking about all these swaps in the L6 forum, I found this thread searching around and didn't realize it was in this section. But at least I used the search function!
Nope, a CA Spec 260 will require CA Spec 350Z donor components. How you will quantify this is beyond me. This is where the 'legwork' comes in... I don't know exactly what would qualify a 260Z as a 'CA SPEC', and my bet is that it would be classified as a FED car coming into the state, in which case the Michigan Engine Swap might fly during initial inspection/smog. If the 260 currently has CA plates....fix that quickly.
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I would love for them to check my ECU... it may LOOK like a fed spec computer, but therein lies the heart of MS1...
Some Euro Countries check stuff like that, and it was from there that I got the inspiration. Sweden I think was where the guy first did it, and posted to the old MS List on his deeds. Now they have PNP kits with all the connectors for the stock harness, it makes it easier than in the past when you had to scrounge ECU's and hack the wiring harnesses to make it work.
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Yes, in that context "SWAP" would be correct, you have to use CA Spec Engines because it's a SWAP and not a 'replacement'...
BUT, you still have that pesky NON-CATALYST sticker on a 49 state S30, and when that little thing exists it comes back to that pesky chassis component classification of the catalyst.
Frankly they make it far more difficult in this respect than they need to do IMHO. There is a 49 state emissions spec, and a Cal Spec. If you have a Cal Chassis (easily determined by the absence of the NON CATALYST STICKER) then you pipe and visual to CA SPEC for the engine you install. If you have a Fed Chassis, then regardless of which engine you put in there, you should only be required to pass Fed Spec. The visual is a 50/50 proposition. That would make it very clear and woe be to the painter that destroys that NON-CATALYST sticker!!! They really should 'register' the VINS of vehicles who smog so that the next cycle they know it should only be tested to FED spec, and if someone tries to "Change" a car illegally it would be flagged from historical records.
But that's what you get when you have a car guy with 154 I.Q. ruminating on the rules, and not some 75 I.Q. Forrest Gump BAR employee that got through school on the feel-good quota that year. But I digress into bitter commentary...
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ain't been there in 26 years, I got no clue dude...
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It was RS Okinawa, any L-Gata guy on Okinawa can send you to him. I never knew his name, I never had work done by him. I just waited for the scrap heads to be loaded on the truck and followed them to the scrap yard. Then I bought the damaged heads for scrap value (about 1000 yen each at the time) and have since resurrected three of them with bills well under $250 each---most for welding repair of dropped spark plug electrodes and some water jacket perforation when porting!
Old School JDM (which I lived through firsthand) also included an eerily stock looking HKS Cast Manifold Log of Stainless Steel and external wastegate configuration.
The turbo and manifold is hidden under the ITB's and Surge Tank anyway. Unless you got an RHD that can take one of the old takeoff R32 Turbo manifolds...and as we all know that is mostly a 'rice' addition as a single is just as efficient in that horsepower range.
You really need to look at JeffP's Extreme 280ZXT Page on Anglefire, he was at 450 to the rear wheels on the stock manifold, and since then has far surpassed that point. You can spend $1500 on an old manifold that wont get you anything in terms of performance (RICE RICE RICE) or spend that same ammount on nice new CLASSIC JDM OLD SCHOOL looking 15X8 or 16X10 Watanabes.... I know where I'd spend the money: Wats all the way. The manifold is really a red herring, you really can spend your money on things which will give you far more payback. Hell, that $1500 could get an ITB setup out of Australia (or darned near close to it!) That would be far better than the old header.
See you in the Sandbox... Das Island is on my schedule. Moldy shower, stained sheets, and no water before 1200... Gotta love camp living eh? And you thought you would get away from it when you left the war! LOL
AFSC? or MOS? -
Waitaminit here, there is NO requirement for a US Model bought in the USA from a US Distributor to be made compliant to CA Specifications. I have a (three actually) NON-CATALYST S30's out back. I have to go to the Referee EVERY time, but I pass the tailpipe and that 49-State Compliance Sticker gets me the pass at the Referee.
Now, if you are talking about having a 49 state car, and swapping in components technically you have to only comply with 49 state testing. But if you are using a Non-US engine, then you have to bring it up to CA specs (like my 73).
Good luck finding a Non-CA car in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon or Washington, though. The vast majority west of the rockies were CA-Spec.
What you CAN NOT DO is take a chassis which was CA-Specification and swap in Federal Components. That is a No-No. I think that is what the Ref was referring to above.
If you have a Federal Car to begin with, though....you don't HAVE to use CA spec parts when doing the swap.
Chevy LUV's were the same way---in 1980 they had a Catalyst in CA, but in Michigan they did not. If you get a CA Chassis and swap in a Camaro V8 (it's done, and popular) then you need the catalysts on it. If you have a 1980 Federal Chassis you enter that B.S. grey area. Like JC says, "doing the legwork ahead of time" makes these things fly smoothly through the process. Just showing up without documents, photos, etc... and you will be in for a rough inspection.
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If you get around your local tubing supplier, a single stick (20') should be more than enough. My suggestion is to make it in three parts:
The firewall forward (engine bay)
Under the car from Firewall to Differential Front Crossmember (Don't forget the heavy pipe over the tubing in the plane of rotation of the flywheel/clutch disc)
The Differential Crossmember rearward (rear section)
This will allow you to do the complex bending of each end without worrying about screwing up the under car portion (this can get complex... and that last bend always seems to make it go the wrong way and then...SHITE!) Plus, if you change configuration on the engine bay, or the fuel pump feed section you only need to replace a small section. Swagelock makes nice tube-to-tube connectors (they are not cheap) for joining them in a permanent fashion, and you can use whatever you want on the ends for tubing to flexibles...
I seem to remember I went through this recently...
I know JeffP liked the idea pretty well... He bent a few wrong bends there and if you do that as well... you will need 'more' than a 20 foot stick.0.500"X0.035" Wall Feed
0.375"X0.035" Wall Feed (or Return),
0.250"X0.035" Wall Return
This is commonly stocked and a popular industrial size. They do have thinner wall stuff, but it's not so commonly stocked. The heavier wall stuff is a PITA to bend, and tremendous overkill! You don't need anything heavier than these wall thicknesses, and even this is overkill. That stuff is good for thousands of PSI!
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Quantify the performance gain versus dollars spent...
There was a paradigm that says you 'have' to use a header. But with numbers like posted above...really what kind of gain will you realistically get? And at what cost?
There are far too many 'theoretical' rules regarding turbos. People repeat them without much regard to real-world payback. Proper engineering should always balance costs against performance gained. A lot of this stuff really seems to add up to 'incremental' improvements with costs far higher than other things you could do.
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BTW, there once was a magical porter out gate three in Chibana... he did wonderful things with the L-Head, and many of the top racers on the Japanese Mainland sent their heads to him for work.
They had an old one-eyed man there that did wonders on flat metal sheets with only a hammer and anvil. I could watch him for hours...
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"It's common knowledge that a stock turbo exhaust manifold is great for moderate power ratings, to bad they're ugly."
Yes, I guess if 750HP is 'moderate' and you are planning on building a 1500HP Turbo L28, then by all means go with a header. I would think the breaking point would be in the 800 to 900hp range.
Stock or ported US/JDM Spec Log seems to be no hindrance to 638HP, Euro Log well above that point, haven't reached a 'strangle' point there yet it's interior is considerably larger than the US manifold, equivalent to and even slightly larger than the tubular SFP header sold some time ago...
Jet Hot makes rusty castings look grand, BTW. And it doesn't cost you $1500. I guess it's more a ricer thing for appearance, eh? Functionally it doesn't seem to matter.
One little 6 month currency correction in 1988 doubled the prices of Japanese Speed Parts. You guys just never realized how good it was...
Need some suggestions on head problem
in S30 Series - 240z, 260z, 280z
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The pivot is spherical, it's more important to get it in the right spot to make the rocker arm ratio consistent with the others, than to have it straight up and down....