Tony D

oooh, my wife looked over my shoulder and said "I like that interior, why don't you put one like that in the 2+2?" And thusly, it begins... though that wrecked Z32 sitting out back for free kind of has a better, more attractive price attached to it. Anybody ever see a Z32 dash in an S30?

Hey, flat panels work...and are light! No panels would be even better, but my wife likes the armrests and not getting grease on her blouse from the window mechanisim when there isn't a panel there... So flat is where it's at for me! LOL

O.K. you got the cost of wiring less than the cost of the welder (just enough!) so I don't feel so bad now! Heck, I even know where there is a Graybar I can stop in and check prices locally as well... Thanks!

Well, with Alan's Posted Photos now others can see why I have been so 'down' on US Knockoff G-Noses. They all seem half the thickness of the cheaper JDM stuff, and if you get a GOOD JDM replica, they are as Alan has shown---near exact in every respect. And the parts they cut out for making a 'cheaper' nose are the things that really affect the aero as we have now seen. I have the exact same lower section hanging in one of my Conex Containers, as well as the left headlight bucket---which I bought out of a Junkyard off a car that had a mishap with a truck...running under the axle to be specific. Paid a whole 450 yen for the two pieces because it was 'incomplete'---the same price I ended up getting my JDM One-Piece for at another yard with slight cracks from parking bumps. Worth every yen! And the new replicas from Japan are making me seriously consider a trip just to save on the shipping costs! I am unhappy with current offerings on this side of the pond to this date.

The old Cartech compressor bypass valve would hold 20psi no problem and lifted fully and completely at any lift of throttle giving a 'sigh' sound and not the current-rage psh-h-h-t-t-t! Like Clifton said, it would hold anything I threw at it, and lifted even when at idle. Matter of fact, at idle, under vacuum, it was OPEN. Let air bypass the turbo directly to the plenum (throttle plates downstream of the plenum on this application) helping spool even more by letting the turbine spin up without all the air load on it in the first place. First hint of boost, and that valve slammed shut, and stayed shut till I lifted my foot.

Somewhere, out in the shed, is a Turbo with all the guts taken out of it. A nice Plug in the center where the turbine-compressor shaft foremerly resided. Bought an 83 ZXT and was running it around the backyard trying to get boost out of it, just couldn't. Finally when I cut up the car (ZX's make such great driveline donors...) and got to removing the turbo rubber boot to the AFM, I realized the drain line was plugged, the oil feed line had been vicegripped closed, and that the turbo was indeed, EMPTY! I kept it around just because. But the car ran flawlessly through a gutted turbo housing. I'd go with the 'wire the wastegate open' and just run the thing without too much more fiddling. And YES, you can run a Megasquirt without a CAS. If you run MS only, simply stick a N/A distributor in there, and run it like that. If not, lock the advance mechanisims of the dizzy, and use IT as your CAS---it only need a signal. Where it gets it from is VERY flexible.

Cygnus stole my thunder, my first thought was 'why three conductor cable'---conduit and single wires is cheaper. When I was in the USAF the Aircraft Ground Power Cables were several large conductors, and we would band them with heavy shrink tubing every two or three feet. That kept it all fairly organized and untwisted. Make your own SO Cord for the TIG, and then you can move it around from a permanently-connected wall box disconnect. My Compressor is like that. I have a 50 Amp Rated SO Cord, of about 50 feet that hangs on a hook banded to the Vertical Tank, mounted to the base is a caster setup so I can roll the compressor out of the way, and up to 50 feet from the socket. Add to that a 100 foot roller hose, and a separate 30 gallon tank capable of running another 50 foot hose.... And I can get to most stuff in the front yard. If I only had the concrete to do it now... Working on it. Sounds like I really made a mistake not buying my TIG Machine's wiring when I got it two years ago (Hobart Cybertig 300Amp) Sounds like the cable will be more than my machine cost me!

300 mph is a tall order for a brick. Rarefied company to be sure. I'll be hoping I'm on the flats to see it run. You know there are fewer than 450 200 MPH Club Members at Bonneville, but there are over 650 people in the "I climbed Mount Everest" reunion last year? Both clubs have been extant for roughly the same time. 300mph is also even more rare. Especially if you are required to break a record there. not simply go a minim speed of 200 or 300mph. You got to break an existing record...which means since all classes are displacement indexed, it becomes harder and harder to get 'into the club'---as opposed to Climbing Everest, which has become a footrace to see who can do it the fastest...pish posh! I greive for Sir Edmund's Legacy. He did it with stone knives and bearskins...not Gore-Tex and Lightweight Oxygen Cannulas...

Oil Cooler? If your oil cooler is thermostatically controlled then no. If it is an 'all through' cooler, cooling everything it is a BAD thing! I have said this many times before: Water temperature is a VERY POOR indicator for what is going on in the engine. It has a lot of specific heat and really slowly responds. Water temperatures were usually set (in the old days) to keep oil temperatures around 180 degrees of hotter. Monitor oil temperature, and regulate it with a thermostatic valve to 180 or higher. Let the water run as cool as it is. If you really have a 180 degree thermostat it's closed, and you are simply recirculating coolant in the block, and through the bypass hose. It doesn't start to crack till 175-180, and isn't fully opened till at least 10 degrees above that.

Curiously, it is strange they would cut costs on diaphragm used. Doing a flat diaphragm when the rolling hat style is in the original style is ludicrous! I can state for the record, a flat diaphragm is NOT designed for a long-stroke actuator. That means less valve lift. Atlas Copco used a rolling diaphragm of about 6" diameter in their loading valve, and when they redesigned for a flat diaphragm doing the EXACT same job, they went to almost 18" diameter to get the same piston travel. The only thing I would do if I bought a Greddy Valve is disassemble it, and greas the heck out of the rolling diaphragm with the old tube of Atlas Copco Graphite Grease I still have laying around. That stuff greatly increases the lifespan of that particular style of rolling diaphragm. Talcum Powder is another good idea. The diaphragm will roll on itself and expose/fray the reinforcing strands, eventually leading to failure---which is why they went to the flat style like they'd used in their smaller, cheaper machines for years. To fully disclose, I am a pirate. Yes, I left Atlas Copco to work for a competitior who now manufactures their own line of parts for the Atlas Copco machine. I was instrumental in quality control and making sure our stuff in the beginning was up to snuff so we could really do damage to their aftermarket parts sales....not give me a raise, eh? We'll see who's worth what... I digress...

http://www.propanecarbs.com/impco/125carburetor.html http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/progs/res_guide.cgi?LPGRG http://www.lngplants.com/carbturbo.htm And this one is interesting since it lists current Nissan Products for Conversion: http://www.vags.net.au/LPG-product-range.htm http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/conversion.pdf http://www.primaryinfo.com/cngkits.htm http://www.impco.co.jp/index_e.htm http://www.impco-beru.nl/pdf/Leaflet%20CNG-1.pdf And if you look at #7 on this list, you will find the company where I formerly worked, actually I did work at #8 as well... They are now in Cerritos apparently. http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Technology/Energy/Transportation/Natural_Gas_Vehicles/ "Google Is Your Friend"---you just need to know what to look for!!! LOL

LPG (Propane) is the fuel of choice and legislation at the Speed Zone in Hacienda Heights. These are small Propane Powered Dragsters...V8 Powered, over the valve cover headers and mufflers. They have a standard sportsman tree for launch, and in about 100 feet do zero to 60 in around 3 seconds. Propane Powered.... Now as to the smell...my CNG Catalyzed vehicle smelled like steam. That's it. Steam. You have to understand that adulterants and refining byproducts in Gasoline make for a lot of the smell...sulfur mostly. That gives you the rotten egg smell. Forklifts are (if they are older) usually carburetted, and not fuel injected like newer ones. The newer fuel injected LPG forklifts are so safe OSHA lets you use them indoors. If you are smelling something, it's something along for the ride, or simply a carburetted truck running way rich (which they tend to do!) The old days of carburetted systems are thankfully gone. The advantage Propane has over CNG is that you can get MASSIVE range---comparable to gasoline. As stated the standard LPG tanks are all over in Japan. A 60L Donut tank would be MORE than enough to get comparable range as a petrol version. CNG range will probably be half that...5 or 6 GGE is my guess with the smaller 3600psi tanks mounted below a flattened floorboard (no spare tire). Think about it: a 10:1 CR Turbocharged Engine... Think about it.....

Some shackle bolt failures, or some spherical joints being loaded backwards and at enough speed, I could see the rear axle stopping....while the car continued for quite a distance after deployment... Having been in a vehicle that experienced a leaf spring failure under load....I would not consider the pumpkin a place to mount significant arresting force. Note the differential pictured is not the typical setup as there are rods for compression against the rear of the chassis---most differentials are mounted front-to-back with the compression members for under loading frrom acceleration---this one has extra rods to counteract compression under arresting force. At most, people run a panhard bar across the rear of the axle, and I've seen those bend quite abit when something let loose and the axle started walking around on it's own. I believe the 236 car has the pushbar (where it appears his chute is attached, or close by) integrated into his cage. I didn't post the interior photos of the car on Cardomain...I will have to see where they a re archived and see if I took specific photos of the Chute Mount. Cage or Frame would be my first choice.

Not the best photos of the #236 Car, but what I could find on short notice and not having access to my archived drive at home! This is after he got the thing painted---the earlier photos were from some time ago. I wonder what it would do in the wind tunnel... You can see he's activated the chute in this photo, the black almost directly underneath the first red balloon behind the car is the chute just before deployment. Red Balloons are marking the end of the timing traps, and you shut down and pull your chute, and hang on!

So let me get this straight, this is Z-Ya's proposal to get you out of the closet? How romantic! Snarfk!

It was my understanding that the rod bolts in the L-Series were Torque To Yield. In fact, now going and digging up the "How To Modify" booklet, they are advocating NOT torquing them, but torquing them using a rod bolt stratch gauge, and not reusing them. I believe the stock torque was at the fringes of TTY, and that for racing they 'did it right' in order to maximize the clamping force at the expense of not being able to re-use the rod bolts (which are cheap anyway). This is probably part of the impetus behind the Chevy Rod Bolt Modification. My case, I chuck the stock rod bolts, and put in the ARP's...they are cheap insurance, and then I don't have to worry about them letting go. The Studs are more convienient for racing engines that are refreshed more often. And by sinking the threads of the stud in the block you prevent the kind of repetitive deformation of the cast threads that causes them to weaken and fail later on. With a stud, you stick it in there, and the NUT is the deformable portion---at most you replace some nuts, maybe the errant stud or two...but the fragile cast threads in the block get properly stressed, lock down on the stud, and stay that way. More consistent pull-down. But overkill for the street on non-turbo engines IMO.

LOL There they have recently removed the red 'search before you post' next to the post button. BIG mistake! LOL

Our Bonneville car is a 280Z and has stopped countless runs from 170 mph+ with absolutely no distortion to anything...but that is a 'lift the car by the bumper' 280Z rear bumper! For a 240, mounting a special set of brackets from the cage might be a way to go---seems that the rearend would be a bit low for my tastes... I'll see if I can pick out some photos of the guy with the Twin Turbo SBC Hillborn Injected 240 and see if there are any good shots of his chute setup. He runs at El Mirage, car number 742. I think, now that I am thinking....car 286 has a chute too, I believe he's running a 380CID Chev in his chopped 240 as well. Let me see what I can find.

CNG, thorough the home-filling option costs around 40 cents a gallon for the equivalent energy (about 28cfm of CNG for the same BTU input of a gallon of gasoline). Commercial CNG is available from anywhere from 80 cents a GGE (Gas Gallon Equivalent) to around a 20% discount over local Petrol Prices---the cost of the CNG is dirt, really, anything over compression costs is pure profit for the vendors. Some make more than others. As for "I hope it doesn't drive like propane"---you mean a converted Gasoline to Propane Conversion. Dedicated Propane and / or CNG vehicles SMOKE Petrol engines. My F250SD Pickup had as much torque with CNG as my old F350SD 7.3L Powerstroke Turbo did! Climbed Palomar Grade on I15 easily---the petrol truck had to drop out of Overdrive to keep up with traffic. When you have a 13:1 cr motor, you got torque! As for flexible fuels, it gets touchy, In CA if you have ANY fuel in the vehicle other than the CNG or Propane, you are not eligible for the HOV lane stickers. Add to that the compromise in performance you will have to get to even have a car that will run on Gasoline and CNG---retard the timing, drop the compression ratio, or both! Dedicated and Purpose Built is the way to do it! As a commuter car daily driver you can't beat it. Of the tens of thousands of miles I put on the CNG Vehicles I used while working for Clean Energy Fuels (see their website) I never was stranded, and once you get a guide to where you can fuel---it really becomes nice to be able to zip around in the Carpool Lane and smile when the CHP pulls you over. Ever have a cop APOLOGIZE for pulling you over? I had it happen regularly, and it was a big PERK to driving a CNG vehicle! LOL There is a company AFV (Alternative Fuel Vehicles) on Gothard Street in Huntington Beach CA that specializes in conversions. If you build the engine properly (13:1 CR at least) the conversion process will give you a vehicle with better performance than a Petrol Vehicle, comparable MPG, with the only tradeoff being range. You will be limited depending on what size tanks yo ucan fit in whatever chassi you have. My F250 was around 275 miles to empty, and E350 Van about 350. Compared to my Diesel F350 at almost 575 miles to empty, and my Current F250SD Petrol with the 5.4 SOHC engine at close to 400, it's more of an 'around town' kind of proposition. Smaller cars with smaller engines will go similar distances. I believe the Honda Civics were around 275 on a fillup. Crown Vics as I recall, though only went 150 miles, unless you filled the trunk with the extended fill tanks, then you were good for 250 or 300 miles to empty. It just takes som modicum of route planning. Hell, you can buy a complete Modular Ford SOHC CNG Engine Assemly complete with 13:1 Forged Slugs right from the Ford Parts Catalog! Talk about a Hybrid Z waiting to be made!!!

My feeder/booster pump for years was the stock 240 electric pump! So that means you can get away with a VERY small 'booster' pump. Especially if your EFI return line is coming back to the surge tank.

JeffP didn't hear any pings on the dyno at JWT and it cost him 5 expensive forged pistons! At least you got the satisfaction of hearing something to satisfy your suspicions as to what happened...

Well, anybody use the SFP unit that didn't have major reqork required to make it stay on the head without warping? Given my experience with JDM Greddy stuff, I'd go that way...

"their reasoning is that why would you need 6 holes on one side, 6 on the other, and two up front, and two and back, if they were all for these "casting holes"????" It's symetrical---if you knew about how cores are positioned for the casting process, it would become evident. Sand isn't particularly strong, and needs support in lots of places. They support cores. But you still haven't answered the primary busting question: if they are 'freeze plugs' why are they in the intake manifold plenum?

why do you need an IAC? The factory bypass needle valve works wonderfully.

1352-047, right? 1252 is not on their list... Production would say anything produced after 9/83 would federally be classed as a 1984 model...so perhaps it's just a late 83 Tranny. I have seen '1984' ZXT's, titled that way at least. Federal Rules for production dates on imports usually run September to September for 'model year' changes. Why would it matter, anyway-is there an ulterior motive?