[Towing a Z behind an Odyssey?]

I know, not good for the drivetrain.

 

Like the snowbirds, I have flat-towed Z-Cars across the country and back. There is nothing wrong with it, and for $60 you can get a tow bar from Harbor Freight.

I got a Valley Towbar back in 95, and I tow a lot of stuff around.

 

There is just ONE issue with using a tow-bar:

 

You wreck or tweak your Z, and you're screwed!

 

I would NOT flat-tow a car to competitive events unless it was something like an Auto-X where the chance of curbing the car and bending a wheel off-line is minimal.

 

If you have a real trailer, or even a two-wheeled Tow Dolly, you're in better shape because you can winch it on and drive away. A Tow dolly, you need only two straight wheels on the car...front or back.

 

This is a serious consideration, and for a race car I expect the worst and would plan on bending the car heavily eventually. And then you will have to get it home.

 

This is aside from the fact that you would have to ramp up your coilovers to clear street obstacles flat-towing it. There is no way I could tow the LSR Car to the Event Location at it's racing height. I doubt I could tow it along many of the paved streets in some neighborhoods without it hitting heavily and severely!

 

******************************************************

 

On the subject of Flat-Towing, I have a hitch on the back of my 75, and have towed most every earlier year of Z-Car behind it with that tow-bar. I did the same with Corvairs...And did it with my Microbus towing Beetles.

 

For simple transport it's really a cheap way to go. You can get set up now with the HF Bar and a set of Mickey Mouse Lights for the top, along with the adapter for your tail lights to work a flat-4 trailer light system for under $150.

 

But you will need street tires to tow the racecar. And some jurisdictions may look at you strange. But it's within the braking capabilites of just about any vehicle through FMVSS Requirements that they be brake-capable of 2.5X their own weight. That means you can tow just about any other car that weighs less than you with a towbar.

 

And I've lived by that for close to 30 years now. One of these days I just have to get a photo from someone that shows me towing the 240 with the Fairlady 2/2! It does get looks...but I have an R200 and a diffy cooler.

 

*****************************************************************

 

On the subject of the 'streetable z' instead of packing the inside of the car with crap, buy the small Harbor Freight Trailer for $239 or whatever it is. Deck half of it, and leave the back half open. Put a Truckbed toolbox, or JoBox bolted to the front and throw all your crap in it, and use a chain with a piece of PVC through the center of your racing tire rims and stick them vertically in the open back portion. You strap em down with a single ratchet tie. I loop chain under the deck, as well as have a spare trailer tire/axle/bearing assembly under there as well. This makes race day SO easy, no cleaning stuff out of the car, no ruining any good interior you may have, and you just can't fit all the great stuff in the car that you can on a trailer. All that stuff you normally take out of the car or any valuables like wallet or registration papers are safe it's securely locked inside a 2X2X4' metal box on the trailer and you are on-track. It's nice to put the stuff you take somewhere instead of just laying it on the ground, and that toolbox works great for that. Or you stick it under the trailer, where it's shaded/out of the rain and mist... My trailer weighed 800# TOTAL loaded with three rubbermaid toolboxes that contained a spare differential, distributor, axles, gads and scads of spares along with tools to change it all, and two plastic ramps to drive the car up onto so I could work underneath it without getting the jack out. This is a very viable alternative if you are going to drive to the track in the Z. I loaded my Z up a couple of times and it was just miserable. The little trailer was like night and day. Unhook it, wrap my chain through the spokes in the wheel so nobody drives off with it (tongue lock since did away with that need, or so I thought...till someone decided it would be funny to move my trailer to the far end of the event parking lot when I was on-course...ha ha guys! Very funny!)

I've gone cross-country towing that trailer, and the one with 12" tires is safe and sure tracking during emergency manouvres to 110 mph... er... 65mph, that's what I meant to say, 65mph. (55mph in California)

[3" Exhaust L28E N/A]

"SAE: Membership Has It's Privilidges"

 

LOL

[Cold air intake idea - is this a high pressure area?]

Using the NACA Duct to a fixed insulated box plenum under the hood with a proper diffuser would give a nice diffuse pressure box effect at speed. NACA's are designed to bring in a lot of air by creating low pressure due to the shape of the duct opening, and operate best in the conditions Helix mentions: High Dynamic (fast airspeed). You will need a large duct and for all the work you will do to properly make the plenum a diffuser box for pressure, you may as well simply duct through the radiator support to a large box there...

 

A more interesting approach is as follows: Is your intake manifold symmetric? Can you make it a reward-facing throttle body by reversing the upper plenum? (Like some of the Buick GenIII 3.8 V-6's.)

Then you could use the highest pressure area in the front of the vehicle, dead center of the windshield. Several Japanese Cars I have seen did this, and at least one V-8 Hybrid Z had his aircleaner ducted to the plenum area where the wiper motor resides.

[Oil from block vent confirmed.]

On a high revving N/A 3.0L engine, a 0.63" orifice in the block hole to the manifold vacuum log was more than enough evacuation (with a K&N Filter on the top of the valve cover, or ducted to the intake filter housing for fresh-air makeup).

I think this is the same size JeffP put into his turbo car after we discussed it. Jeff went with a catch can/oil separator to prevent buildup in the intake as well.

 

If you look at the Z32TT, they are notorious for a poor PVC oil vapor separator. It's not uncommon for them when run under boost hard and often to puke the intake full of oil to the extent that it starts damaging things---if not looking like mosquito abatement in the third world.

 

For any pressurized / vacuum system, the larger area of capicitance the smaller vacuum or pressure source you need to bring it to a given pressure vacuum.

 

Usually when setting one of these up, you will put in a coalescant to knock down the vapor to droplets that won't be entrained in the airstream back to the intake manfiold. This lets you use a non-restricted vacuum line for maximum evacuation when it's needed.

 

The Mitsubishi PCV's (some of them) use a restricted PCV, but not the datsun.

 

Coincidentally, the .063 Orifice for the Mitsu PCV is pretty close to the same idea GM used on the Corvair---it's tube has a .100" hole in it down the tube, and it fed to the air cleaner and the base of both carbs.

Adding volume in the form of a separator tank will give you more time on-boost before pressure comes to a level where it causes leaks or pukeover, and will take slightly longer with a restricted vacuum source to recover to true vacuum.

[Towing a Z behind an Odyssey?]

Electric Brakes, or even a hydraulic surge brake would take most of the issue out of the braking in panic situations.

 

When I was towing with a Suzuki Samurai (Shhhh!) I had the brake controller set so that when I touched the brakes the trailer stopped the little truck! (Dual Axle Trailer)

 

If the loading wasn't right that old trailer had a nasty wag to it, and a tap on the brakes would stop it post-haste!

 

On small vehicles for towing a full sized trailer, IMO brakes on the trailer are mandatory.

 

You can tow two VW Beetles (about 2400#) in an M151 1/4 Ton Military Trailer behind a JDM Suzuki Jimny with a 550CC Two Stroke Three-Cylinder (with the back end loaded to the roof with another 250KG of Aluminum pistons and tranny cases/heads/etc)... So you can get by with small power. You just plan acceleration and don't pass a lot of people.

 

But brakes. Going downhill in the Jimny was a hairy time when loaded like that!

[Safety tips for fabricators!]

you close your eyes for a tack weld?

 

maybe that's why they get so scratchy by the end of the day....

 

(Makes mental note: "Try closing eyes before pulling trigger for tack welds...)

[Guy allegedly cuts drag coefficient from .34 to .17 in backyard]

I've seen what gets those mileages, and of the lot, the Mini Clubman Estate is the only one I'd be caught driving around!

 

I voiced my opinion of the classification of vehicles that gets that kind of mileage earlier in the thread, and the Citroen and Skodas fit that bill to a "T"!

 

Now, drop your mileage requirements into the mid 50mpg range, and a LOT of sexy cars (and performance oriented diesels) are open to you.

 

Move it to the mid 40 mpg range and you are in 7 Series BMW range! Huge Cars with excellent handling.

 

I really beat the hell out of the 320D I had earlier in the summer. I mean I hammered that car, using the 'sport shift' gate on the autobox and was four-wheel drifting around the twisties like nobody's business! It was a very rewarding car to drive at speed. Rock solid and positionable.

 

And I was getting 40mpg beating the hell out of it.

 

Oh, and did I mention it ran along from Barcelona to Valencia on the Toll Road at a GPS indicated 255KPH (speedo said 265...and curiously was 10 high throughout the whole speed range, very odd!)

 

From a 2L turbodiesel in a 3-series BMW.

 

I'd buy one.

[What is the BEST holding clutch that is street driven?]

A clutch is a wearing part. Multiple disc setups have a thinner facing simply as a function of the area allowed. I was going through a disc a month in Japan when I was running around. If it got heavy use, the single discs were wearing out sometimes 3 times a month. So frequent 'rebuilds' of a clutch that actually holds, has smooth engagement, and can shift lighning fast sounds like a good trade-off for me.

 

Multi-Discs: they hold. They won't chatter. And they're great on the synchros.

 

If you don't want to spend $1000 for a clutch that has all those attributes, I might say it's going to be tought to fill that bill.

 

Indestructible Parts with all the features you want.

Low Price.

Pick one.

 

BTW, I don't know that 200mm is considered 'small diameter', for a multi-disc that's freakin HUGE!

 

Most of the stuff for racing is 127mm, or the new carbon stuff is 101mm! I specifically said 7 3/4" multi-disc, not 5"...

 

My suggestion was to use some of the Endurance Facings more used in Rally Competition instead of the Sintered Metal facings normally used for light vehicles. As long as the bellhousing is properly ventilated, you can even use some of the lower coeficient of friction metal facings and get some slippage for street manners.

 

"On-Off" and vague engagement point is a valid concern, but with experience it gets easier to drive them right. And failing that the linkage is fairly easy to change for less advantage and more feel on the pedal.

 

It's a proven formula. No secrets here. The new frictional materials make single discs more common...but you are already seeing the issues with heavy discs...

[MS AFR Targets - opinion please]

"This is under light driving around 40-45 mph, low vac (25-35 kPa) and rpm (about 2100). Maybe I will try leaving it at 15 and targeting 16 with EGO Control. See what that buys me."

 

The answer there is 'wrong gear for speed'! Shift down one gear, raise your rpms to around 2700-2800 and try again.

 

You're lugging the car, and mistaking the bucking for 'lean surge'.

 

Do a datalog on injector pulsewidth the way your currently driving, and then make another pass under the same conditions using the lower gear and you may be suprised by what you find.

 

You should not be putting a load on an L6 much below 2500, and ideally 2700.

Same as a 5.7L V8 turning at 1200. They don't like much of a load that low in the rpm band in a stick.

[What is the BEST holding clutch that is street driven?]

7 3/4" Custom Dual Disc with inertia ring. If you have a big enough mill, you can make the flywheel from billet yourself, and utilize the same common components for the cover, disc, and slipper ring that the NASCAR guys use.

You will rebuild it for around $300 a pop, but it's a fully organic lining with the same slippability. Just make sure the splines in the center are hardened correctly as they have been know to shear well before they should!

Without the flywheel it's under $700 for the AP Multi Disc.

With flywheel, depending on who makes it, it's between $1000 to $1500.

 

I just say inertia ring because most of the multi-disc clutches get a bad name because they are low inertia units, and drivability suffers. Make that flywheel with an inertia ring (at least some, and not just a .375" vestigal flexplate looking thing to hold the ring gear in the right spot...) and it becomes easier to get good starts and slip it a bit even with the quick in/out action of the flatter diaphragm setup on the multi-disc setups.

 

They have been using that kind of setup on the street in Japan for over 25+ years. HKS has them for about the same price, but you got to go to them for the rebuild parts. With the NASCAR stuff, it's less expensive and you can easily get all the stuff redone within the USA. Even surplus NASCAR parts are available for 'econo rebuilds'.

[I have an idiot manager (daily story time)]

Coral Snake Venom in the Coffee...

 

I could tell you a story about Denial of Medical Treatment in the military by a sadistc SOB of a supervisor...

 

Matter of fact, I was almost through with it and the thing got eaten...

 

I can't relive it again right now. Even to this day, my blood pressure rises thinking about it!

[3" Exhaust L28E N/A]

"Backpressure," while not exactly a myth, is something of a red herring, as long as it is not excessively high. It is NOT the pri mary parameter to analyze when designing and sizing your exhaust system.

 

It is on a turbo, though... ZERO exhaust pressure downstream of the turbine is the ideal curcumstance.

 

On an N/A, the lowest you can get is the best, as long as you have a crossover pipe to equalize the pressure (or pulses, if you want--if this is required on the engine design you are making the exhaust system for) between the two pipes you can package equivalent cross section with lower groundclearance.

 

If you look to the Z432, which was a 2L engine that had the potential to rev to over 10K rpms in race trim, but which had to run the factory exhaust Nissan chose a twins system (twin 60mm pipes) with the resonator acting like the corssover pipe. The header on the Z432 (which was mirrored in the JDM for the L-Series) had divorced pipes at the collector, and all the way back. Any crossover was accomplished (I suppose) in the chambers of the premuffler, while the muffler out back was divorced chamber. I cut apart the muffler can once to rewrap the glassfibre and it was divorced chamber. The premuffler was not opened up, so it may be divorced there. I have said in the past it was crossing over in there in a common wrapped chamber...but that is my assumption.

 

When I cut my system apart to replicate it, I will get the information once and for all.

 

Some of the 'other' manufacturers sold the same system as Greddy/Trust and used twin glasspacks as premufflers, and the exact same can as I had out back so it may indeed be segregated all the way back as Oz Connection suggests!

[Running MSA Twice pipes with a turbo]

 

 

I mean really, this is supposed to be a PG-13 establishment, isn't it?? Your lucky I didn't include the last line from the post in the quote.

 

Ask me how I know a fart from an onion-rich meal of multiple Philly Cheesesteaks and cheese has over 590BTU's.

 

Hint: 20 something Males. Analytical Test Equipment. Flatulent Propensities. Active 'Dare Culture' at work and a locking door on the loo...

 

Somewhere, there is an annotated Infrared GCMS of a fart entered into the logbook at an institution which shall remain nameless.

 

Curiosity never sleeps.

[notching/beveling/butterfly l24 block for valve clearance]

What are we talking here, like scores or just scratches? Something a light stoning would clear up?

 

Photos would be good in this instance. Even Celphone photos! LOL

[New Number Plate]

Awesome!

[Radius Rod Failure @ 180kph]

Hey, just a suggestion, but I've seen the bits firsthand, and they are nice! They won't do what happened to you.

 

Check out the fabricator's CV from reading his website:

 

http://www.va-motorsport.com/index.php?page=1

 

For a dedicated or part-time track car, bushings at that point add un-required compliance. The only reason they are there is with the existing design, bushings are required for up and down movement of the lower arm, and the OEM rubber deadens chassis resonance with an impact. Unfortunately they let the wheel deflect under braking (sometimes at different rates!), and are just a pain to get right. Solid is nice. But you hit a whack, and you will hear it.

[MS AFR Targets - opinion please]

Yes, 16:1 at cruise is not anything untoward.

Fuel cut being properly set up will eliminate the put-put-put...and if you lean it out, chances are there won't be enough HC in the exhaust for one put, much less a three-putter.

On turbos, past the torque peak, you can pull much more fuel than you would think.

 

Even on JeffP's heavily modified setup, we were closer to 13:1 than 12:1 past the torque peak!

[I have an idiot manager (daily story time)]

I've canceled deals when the customer appeared too ignorant and I knew things would go horribly wrong once our product was installed...

 

"There are some customers you don't want!"

 

The 'salesmen' that I refer to usually don't make that distinction. My former "Bunghole Boss" was one of them.

 

(did you do it that way on purpose? LOL, JC, I've actually used that line in a 'friendly' way to try and get an honest answer...usually, if it's to that point...the answer is 'yes' and you can sit back and be entertained with the story of the logic they used to come up with whatever it was they did! LOL)

 

"She does not have a language problem"

 

LOL, I'm going to have to remember that one!

[2+ years Of My Life..Slippery Slope 400+Hp 280ZX Turbo Build. Lotsa Pics]

I'm as late as JGK is on finding this thread.

 

What did I ever do to get put on the 'blame list' for that thing?

 

Nice shots!

[Removing broken dipstick tube]

Of course if the oil pan were still on, you would have a lot of metal in the pan...

 

Not if you pack the tube with axle grease first...

 

I thought we covered chip retention procedures when using chip producing implements like taps/drills/chisels.

 

In a Cylinder, Foamy Shaving Cream works well...can't rightly pack the combustion chamber with grease when you retap the plug threads head-on-engine, now can you?

 

Sometimes, I wonder...

[Guy allegedly cuts drag coefficient from .34 to .17 in backyard]

I just happened to snag the October 2008 Top Gear Issue on the flight to Singapore yesterday, and it had a 'buyers guide' of all the cars available in europe...

The highest manufacturer's claim in those numbers was 68.9mpg. And that may be Imperial Gallons...

 

Those were the little 1.4L Citroens, a 1.4L Skoda, and curiously the Mini Diesel Clubman Estate...which got better mileage for some reason than the normal Diesel Cooper which registered something like 65.

 

So the '100mpg' claim is pretty much shot in the hiney.

 

Close to 70, yes. Driven conservatively you might eke out 85...

 

But 100? Not in a currently available production diesel, and if we are going by 'common' mileage figures, it was more 'common' to be in the 50's than anywhere else. Even large cars like BMW 7's were in the mid 40's. The BMW 180's did well, but not as good as the Citroen and Skoda.

 

Then again, who wants to buy a Citroen or Skoda?

[Carbureting a L28E]

Nice Bug!

[S30 Question]

They are all identical, up to and including the Mr. Fusion unit.

The 280 Fusion Unit is more powerful, be sure to swap the inverter assembly with the converter as well if doing a transplant...

[I have an idiot manager (daily story time)]

"Technical Sales" as you put it Markham is as much education of a customer to what their real needs are, as opposed to selling something to move iron and make your sales quota for the month/quarter/etc...

 

Sadly, with the emphasis on 'growth' driving most sectors and large companies, the focus is usually more on numbers than actually selling the people something they need. Generally, the attitude is 'Move the Iron, once it's on the site, it's theirs and the service department can sort it out.

 

This has been the universal attitude in many of the companies I have dealt with...most times either through inadequate questioning of a customer's needs (takes too much time, gotta move that iron) or at worst some incompetent/arrogant/WAG at what they need just to move something...and the customer gets someting misapplied.

 

"Application Engineer" is the term for many new grads put into sales positions. The newest company I'm with links an experienced Service Engineer to each of the new Application Engineers. Someone from Technical Services has a say on the front end of the design process when the unit is being specified, instead of just a bunch of guys who have never been in the field, and only have a 'sales' background. This unique linkup gives them someone who will tell them the mistakes of the past, and tell them what to look out for when reading specs, querying the customer, etc.

 

In many cases, the Service Engineer may go to the site and do a survey to make sure the Application is correct. There are legions of 'salesmen' out there pounding on doors and trying to sell people compressors. And they will do some amazingly stupid things and make promises that can never possibly be kept to do the deal and get the iron in place. And these are the guys who usually make it and stick around to supervise the new Ap Engineers when they start with the company.

 

Sadly, at the last three places I worked, fresh new engineers were thrown into the fray under the direct supervision of another Application Engineer (who has never set foot in the field) and they compound the same mistakes over and over and over.

 

This last place made the change when they split off from the 'old company' and it was driven by the CEO and Sales Director knowing exactly this situation exists and couldn't wait to change it. At "Big Blue" I actually had coordinators who had never seen a compressor before they got the job ("He comes to us from G.E.-angels sing-where he worked as a stockroom assistant in charge of logistics and load planning of strategic widget support parts.") and then start fielding customer calls for technical service inquiries and service calls! Some of the stuff they promised through sheer ignorance just made me shake my head. But, hey, they booked service hours, and that was their job. And it doesn't matter that a 20 minute phone call would have solved it, we billed a day labor. Course, the customer is a bit upset by our ovaricious activities...'Good Service Sells Itself'.

 

Hey, I LOVE when the new kids come ask questions...anything I can stop before it goes out the door is less issues I have to deal with during commissioning/startup/the next 20 years in service!

 

Your style of sales, while 'ideal' is far from what is practiced in many larger firms, Markham.

 

Too often it's 'move the iron and let service sort it out after we get the numbers booked'... I'd say that is the more dominant paradigm.

 

And that pretty much sums up, for the Air Compressor Industry at least, why salesmen are uinversally despised. They simply lie too damn much. They are no different than many stereotypical used-car-salesmen.

 

Now, the funny thing was, when I was in those shoes...I took a different approach. I arrived in a truck, with a tool kit. I wore proper attire for the area (not a suit and loafers), and went in the back door like some mechanic arriving for a service call. I worked with maintenance engineers setting up service plans and PM Programs...and universally I would get a comment 'Oh, you're not a salesman, you actually know what you're talking about!' I mean, that's a direct quote. It's really that bad in many industries. "I can sell ice cubes to eskimoes" Attitued. Hubris and B.S. will snow the customer long enough to make the sale...then it's the service departments problem!"

 

And I think that is what some of these guys are getting at about 'salesmen'...

 

Asking specific technical questions as a sales rep is one thing...but really, if an Engineer is worth his salt, most of the information is out there in specs on the equipment and you can base a decision on that. What the rep comes in to do is make sure they interpreted the information correctly, and look for things they may have overlooked.

 

Selling patch equipment is a bit different than buying a car, refrigerator, or T.V. set. Some principles are similar, but the application is far from universal and takes specific knowledge to apply correctly.

[list your gas prices in your area!!!!]

JUST finished filling up the Hire Car here, and paid 119,850 IdR for 20 Litres of Pertamina Solar Super 95... 6000 IrR per litre, so

 

Let's see, at 10,000 IdR for $1US that makes it slightly under $12 for 5.3 Gallons... what's that, about 0.60 Cents a litre, or about $2.40 a gallon for unleaded 95 octane super.

 

Wow, that's a big jump from the last time I was here, then it was like 0.06 cents a litre. I remember the gas riots when the price subsidies went away and the price tripled almost overnight to 0.20. Looks like it's escalated a bit...

 

This is a stone's throw from Australia, so why the price difference? 0.60 Cents per litre, compared to $1.60AU? It's all bought on the same market. The reasons Americans have 'big engines' is cheap petrol? Sure, in part. But why is your petrol almost 4X the price of your neighbors to the north?

 

 

You'll never see it itemized on the receipt.

 

 

Hell, when I visited Venezuela in 2005, it was 0.12 cents a gallon for unleaded super!