Tony D

The stock flares are not JIC/AN, they are 45 degree SAE. The JIC/AN are 37 degree... The important number to have is the straight thread for the banjoes, so you can put on what fitting you want.

Hell, I just got released from this site! I get to go home EARLY for once. And I have it on good authority that the parts have a lead time of 5-6 weeks ARO+ so that means no return for me before the second week in May, or more likely the first week of June. WOO HOO!

Yeah, ban black leather interiors. That means we need less cows. Cows Fart. I blame the cows.

Actually, Z-Ya, Webers and most other similar carbs can be tuned across the power range for partial throttle response and power. It's just that nobody is willing to pay for the time it takes to do that! Custom porting of emulsion tubes and then trial-and-error pulls and partial throttle runs... I have said it before, anybody who professes that 'carbs are easy' hasn't tuned one for competition! Our Weber Power Pulls were like felt-tipped marker sweeps on the dyno chart. The EFI was a bit...er...'notchy' with the same dyno settings (smoothing, etc.) As for engine variation---it exists. Engines produced with identical clearances WILL make different power. Sure, as you tighten clearances the variation should get smaller. Spec Racers are decidedly NOT what this discussion is about. They are PRODUCTION ENGINES and that is the POINT of the class. They have an accepted variation and the class lives within it. When someone wins too much, they tear it down or make him chage from a random pool of spec engines for the class. Wonder why they pick from a random pool of engines? Because statistically it spreads out the odds of the variation equally amongst contestants. Why? Because they know there will be engines in the lot making marginally more than others. But when you are not restricted by class rules (and E-P DOES have rules to comply with that a street engine does not...) then you by logic restrict the output of that engine. Any racing engine can make considerably less than it's street counterpart, simply from this restriction or that. EP Runs EFI, right?

That's the standard Japanese Manifold that has been on sale in Japan for the past 39-40 years for the L-Series. Tomei makes quality pieces and is as you can see, dedicated to producing parts for out outdated engines long after the other people have stopped. Support your vendors!

I'm with Z-Ya on gearbox reliability. Though in the same breath, for the exact same reason I've prepared some Sylvia KA/SR five speeds with the L-Engine front bellhousing section simply because finding the early model boxes (in low mileage good condition) is getting tougher even in SoCal. But those KA powered Sylvias are everywhere, and the tranny came in other models, so the swap is possible with several other models as well. So for me it was more of a function of being able to find late-model Sylvia boxes easier, so what the heck. Plus, you can get decent shifters for them to make the lever action very nice indeed. I've been sacrificing L-Series Four Speed Bellhousings now for some time in support of the effort! FYI, I've run over 40,000 miles (65,000 Km's) on my turbocharged L6 putting down between 275 and 350 to the rear wheels (which are 265's) and haven't had gearbox problems like you have. I'd second the thought on getting a different gearbox guy, as well as experimenting with different lubricants to lengthen balk-ring lifetime...and make sure the oil you are using is compatible with the brass rings---the GL5 has sulphur compounds in the oil formulation that EATS the brass synchros in short order. With as quickly you are going through them, this may be part of it as well. The DID make steel synchros for some of these boxes, but the days of finding them is long past. Good Luck, it's no fun when it keeps needing repair, and you're not really doing anything untoward with it. I run redline lubes in the tranny now. Before I ran both NEO and Amsoil. For racing, synthetics are preferred.

They hang people for stealing horses...

"Black Is Beautiful" I guess Huey will have to change the name to the "Pink Panthers" in order to comply... Doesn't have the same connotations, does it? Bummer...

I'm flying in from Qatar for MSA... Along with Frank 280ZX and his Dad (owns a 260Z 2+2, 280ZXT Eurospec, and a 77 Corvette) who will be flying in from Amsterdam.

Usually the pulsation damper is closer to the source of the pulsation, and then put the orifice on the outlet to the MS like KTM mentioned. A welding tip will work, that's a good one. Beats using number drills on 1/4" brass rods chucked in a lathe...

They look like Nissan units. Really the only way to tell is remove them and check the ring construction. Or at least remove a screw. They should be M5 machine screws, and not oval headed stainless steel sheetmetal screws. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I saw OEM rings held on with the oval-headed screws because someone didn't want to mount the proper nutplates on the light bucket... The ring construction will tell. Alan Thomas posted some photos someplace about it. No doubt if you contact him he can shoot you them to assist in determining their build origin. Will this car be at the MSA West Coast Nationals April 24,25, 26th?

Not scary in the least bit to me. It's a mail carrier's vehicle, and anything done in that conversion can easily be undone. If the price is right... Personally, I'd go for the Jeep with the CNG engine since I can fill 5 miles from my house, and they go about 250 miles on a fillup. Perfect!

I didn't have a dyno access until almost 5 years after I set it up. Then it was more for a power check than anything else. Go rich and work backwards and don't get greedy. I know people in the Mid-20's, but you can make things go boom if you run a metal headgasket---much quicker than if you run something like a Fel-Pro that will let go when you detonate. Those metal head gaskets are great, but not for pistons!

This pulsing is common in ITB's because you have such a strong vacuum signal. Usually it's more of an issue when it's in a manifold runner, and not when it's vacuum-logged. Use a small engine fuel filter, one for a Briggs and Stratton. The paper element and small capacitance of the filter housing (these things are about the size of a nickel or a quarter, and looks like a vacuum chack valve that nissan used) will smooth it out. There is talk waaaay back during the original builds of the MS on how to combat that pulsing. Some use a carburettor jet, but the little filter works well and many people have used it. The pulsations will make the fuel jump around, and you should work to get it slightly smoother than what it is so the computer is not correcting for such a big consistent map jump. You DO NOT want a 'big' reservoir! You want something that allows the MAP to be read relatively close to the actual manifold pressure. The filter or a small orifice in the MAP sensing line (or simply using a longer line with a couple of loops to add volume) can dampen it out. But like I said, one of those small, plastic, gravity feed fuel filters for a Briggs and Stratton or even a weed whacker will work wonders on that pulsing. Keeps intake backfire smudge out of the MAP sensor, as well as any condensation that may accumulate as well. What injectors did you end up using sizewise again? I see you ran 6200 rpms, and the PW max was 73%, that seems pretty close on sizing, not much room for any breathing improvements and you will be out of injector! And your engine is STOCK now!

Curiously, after 5 years in the USAF, I was 25 working a full time job when the 'engineering' portion of the training started. UofMD Asian Division had great 'asian studies' cirricula, but not a damn thing towards Engineering. Business Management, Asian Studies, clerical stuff mostly. I had to get out and get back to the USA to continue study in earnest. 24 is not 'too old'... Not by a long shot. My bud is partner in a CE firm in Orange County now, and his degree was not completed (took 8 years working on it after work) till he was nearly 40. He complained that he took a cut in pay initially because as a skilled CAD Drafstman, as well as being able to do the manual revisions to older drawings, he brought down good coin. But once he made partner... So no, 24 is not 'too old'!

The SU is boost irrelevant. Blowing air through them works the same as drawing air though them. They will react similarly. The largest problem you will have is sealing the fuel system. You have to revent the bowls. The brass floats in many SU's will collapse at 8-10psi. The old plastic floats may do similar. There are no composite composition floats avaialbe for SU's that I know of, so that is the upper level of pressure. If the fuel transfer hose doesn't blow apart first... Leaks of fuel/air at the jet. Hard sealing of the throttle shafts blowing fuel/air mix under boost. Heating of the bodies if not intercooled. And adding an intercooler for a 7psi system seems a waste of time and added complexity. It's a lot of work....and then throw in the modulation rings for float bowl differential to give more enrichment on-boost so you still have a relatively normal taper for N/A operation (which is more than you will think)... It's not the route I'd take. Neither is a blowthrough Mikuini/Dellorto... but oh well. "Some things you got to learn for yourself." Masochisim is not illegal! LOL

I have run 21 psi on a stock 77 JDM N/A Block for over 40K miles since 1989. Don't Detonate.

A lathe, indexing head, and milling attachment with a very small mill is your friend in this endeavour! If you choose to make your own, and fit it to a distributor housing, that is!

Given residency has come up, given high velocity, a thicker one pass cooler will work (think vortech cooler setup). For instance, the A/C core of a 1974 Chevrolet Impala will satisfactorily cool a 300HP engine with an air velocity through it from around 140mph. Slower than that, you need a much larger cooler. But the A/C core will cool that engine just fine with that speed through that dense core very well. Looking at evaporator cores as a one-pass affair, and then properly ducting the airflow through it properly will pay dividends.

Actually many states use 7 numbers/letters. CA has original plates and numbers that changed every five years or so. From 55 or 56 to 62 the plates were yellow with black numbers (6 Digits) From 63 to 69 or so the plates were black with yellow numbers (6 Digits) From 70 to maybe 78 or 79 they were blue with yellow (7 digits) Then they went white with blue numbers and various backgrounds (7 digits) So you could have a 63 series plate with ROH685, and a 56 series plate with the same number. But when you try to get numbers issued for 'year of issue' plates (meaning putting blue plates on a 70 Z for instance) they check for the registration, and if it's not in use, and not been used for the past 5 years...you can register the car with that set of plates. The only discussion is the DMV needs to get their stuff straight and give you some new plates for free since it's causing a problem. Press it to a supervisor to make it happen. No need to pay anything, it's their mess-up.

Work in the Technical Services Department of a Centrifugal Compressor Manufacturer. When not in the field, I answer technical problems for customers. This can deal anywhere from specifying pumps and systems to rework and redesign of our machine or our machine's systems to conform to the customer's needs. Really, this happens in the field during commissioning a lot of the time. Meaning I'm at a site, halfway across the world with nobody else but myself to figure it out and tell them what to do to fix the problem. Sure, I get a lot of support if I need it... but this stuff always comes up when it's midnight, or the weekend back at the factory and nobody is around to do anything for some time...and the answer/solution is needed now. I could not work in the Engineering Department. I have a real problem coming into the office at 8am and sitting in front of the computer in a cubicle doing drawings or searching specs all day. Every day. In business casual. Argh... I come in to the 'office' which may be a sea container, and usually am in jeans and a denim shirt. I get to go out and supervise construction, all the way to commissioning and startup of the machine and handover to the customer (and training them to use it, and in some cases repair or overhaul it.) It doesn't involve working on guns, cars, or planes...but I've used all three in the performance of my job within the last 6 months! Does that count? And occasionally, I get to go to arctic places like SHO and be abused by the locals...but that was with a different compressor company (North Slope of Alaska has the largest concentration of Atlas Copco ZR machines in continental North America. Puerto Rico is #2...) Every wellhead has one or two... But that job was a long way down the feeding chain from where I am now.

From what I've seen the waveforms are identical regardless of the signalling medium. The square wave off the optical CAS is the same as the shaped waveform off the magnetic pickup CAS on the front of the engine. It's not critical, really, it's a trailing or leading edge trigger and most functions work on trigger return anyway. Gaps are not as important as how many are there. You can make the EXACT same waveform off a flywheel with 2" thick raised nubs as you do with an optical setup running 2" diameter and laser cut slots. Curiously, as speed increases the larger flywheel sensors tend to be more accurate due to the resolution. using the small chopper wheel in the distributor just wasn't reliable above 8500 rpm in our TEC2 Bonneville car, while the larger wheel on the pulley worked well above 9500...

I've done it numerous times. It makes for easy removal and fairly quick as well. If you are planning on doing engine bay cosmetics, and have a 2x4 or 4x4 cradle made up to roll it all out in one piece once it's dropped, it makes it easier. Same as the newer imports. I last did this on a 77 280Z where I was salvaging the engine/transmission/front suspension. The rear came out after the whole front was removed. Then, it got cut up with a sawzall and a torch... But you can do it for normal repairs as well. Heck, if you leave the struts hanging, with the calipers attached, you can make it quicker by just removing the two bottom strut bolts, and the T/C rod bolts...you just let the strut assemblies and brakes hang...unopened, ready for reinstall. It works for me.

I puked squid tentacles, baby octapus, and raw fish out the right rear window of a car that looked exactly like the cream coloured one with the trailer attached! That car had an L28 with Triples and a Five Speed conversion eventually...yeah, it burned up clutches something fierce when you tried to drag race it. I think there is a reason the saloons got totally different intake manifolds later in the production run---the standard manifold just wasn't cutting it. And in each instance, the runners went smaller, not larger. It was for the application as those manifolds never appeared in any Z-Car from the factory. Only the heavier bodied saloon cars and behemoths I used to call 'Japanese Impalas' That cream car have the rear seat radio option, where the back seat passengers could listen to a different station than those in the front? Talk about 'made for Taxi Service!' LOL Yeah, those are some memories there! Man that octopus was vile coming back out...

yes, the ford lightning has the bosch water pump you will likely want to use for circulation of the coolant