Tony D

Try driving an 0.060 overbored, cammed Corvair in So Cal on 87 octane in the Summer... You quickly realize the advantages of the old Spearco "Dual Stage" Vacuum-Boost activated Water Injection Unit. If your car is pinging on 'normal' advance settings, and you don't want to shell out $4 a gallon for Premium, then distilled water is a CHEAP alternative that will work long term (been on the Vair now since I upgraded to the "Dual Stage" from the P.O.'s installed outdated "Single Stage" Spearco unit in 1990) Running on 87 sure beats running on 91 any day. At 20 cents a gallon more, I can get by with a lot of distilled Sparkletts (or hork it from work for free....) One tank every other fillup in normal driving. On a Z, I'd probably use Methanol or Windshield Washer Fluid that is Alcohol-Based. I don't like the effects of water on the Nissan Head's Alloy.

Properly stated, the K24 (sic) or the z24 (sic) head look like the LY head, as it predates them by about a decade or more! Not vice-versa! Looking forward to more Blake Machine Photos for sure...

From subjective viewpoint at El Mirage and Bonneville, when we run in ALT class instead of PRO, the car seems to be FAR better planted up front. The basic difference between the PRO class and ALT is that we totally block the radiator inlet on the G-Nose with sheetmetal, flush to the sides and bumper. no air whatsoever is allowed into the radiator during the run. Yeah, it gets hot, but something is cooling it.... GCC class has us running a full underbelly pan, and it doesn't seem to make mumch difference between the ALT configuration at all. You can see in the Record Books that the difference between PRO and ALT configurations is about 10mph (163 in PRO, 173 in ALT) at Bonneville. GCC was in the same area as ALT, so that kind of lends credence to what the Aerodyn operator was seeing. The test data also reveals why we had less wheelspin when adding 200# of ballast in the spare tire well...and went faster. I do know from a video we recently did, that in ALT configuration--even with all the radiator opening blocked off, the safety latch on the hood will keep the hood latched if the idiot strapping in the driver forgets to 'beat it' for good luck just before making the pass---so there is STILL pressure under that hood in a stock 280Z, even with the radiator opening of the G-Nose blocked off---anyone care to venture a guess how THAT is happening? We run no splash pan, either BTW, as it makes for a difficult installation of the bellypan. The only time the splash pan area is covered is when we run the GCC class, full belly pan, and covered radiator inlet on the G-Nose.

Don't vent the carbon cannister line to the manifold! Vent it to the air cleaner, or stick one of those small K&N Keychain filters on the end. If you attach the vapor line to the manifold, it will SUCK the tank in---there is enough vacuum during deceleration that if all your other hoses are properly sealed, you will crush the gas tank like a tin can! Just vent it to atmosphere with a small filter to let air out when you fill it, and air back into the tank when you are dsriving and sucking gas out. the Benefit of the carbon cannister is that it's filled with about a milloin square feet of activated carbon surface area to adsprb fuel vapors, and then liberates them during startup and run of the engine without you smelling all that raw gas around the car after a hot shutdown. As above, don't vent it to the manfiold. simply vent it to the air cleaner.

Don't misinterpret what I said, now! ANY movement before impact with any thing increases the incidence of injury. The Volvo Engineer used the example of a corrugated cardboard tube used to take up the 'couple of inches' between a knee and the door panel. Simply by placing a slowly deformable object directly against the leg, instead of letting it accelerate for 'a couple of inches' before hitting a soft and deformable door panel GREATLY reduced the traumatic injury. This is why even though cars are getting 'bigger' they are getting 'smaller' on the inside. They WANT everything close to the body, and deformable so it spreads the impact out immediately and over the longest possible period of time without ANY chance for unchecked bodily acceleration. A good way to make the door panels in a Z safe, and actually look good is to use that dense, polyurethane spray foam on top of the cardboard panel. You spray it on and sculpt it and stick your speaker in there. You cover over it with door covering, and make it very close to your knees or elbows. That dense foam will collapse if you start flopping around and spread out the impact---and by using it to hold your speaker in a free-formed enclosure is also performs another function instead of having 'blobby' door panels without any function. The worst thing I can think of doing would be fiberglassing over the top of it and making a HARD door panel on the interior. That would be an example of 'bad' interior design. If you want fire extinguishers, look for the newer style AFFF style (Aqueous Fire Fighting Foam) for the footwell on a pushbotton actuator, along with the standard ABC style mini extingusiher on the floorboard. The AFFF is water based, you can recharge it yourself, and if you use some of the nozzle kits, can make it spray under the hood. Nice touch if you want to flood the engine compartment with extinguishant before opening the hood. Open a hood ONE time to a flash fire that takes off your eyebrows and you will say "oh, that is a good idea!" LOL (well, maybe not eyebrows, but singes the beard and takes all the hair off your extinguisher-arm...)

Gotta love that HKS Type 2 Surge Tank! Period Correct, for sure.

That's really too bad. 1766 and 2176 just got bought as complete rolling chassis from a shop here in SoCal for under $1000 for the pair. I hear #305 is up for sale as well. I will probably see it within the next two days.

Think Dale Earnhardt. Stiff chassis, LOOSE BELTS. If you have every safety feature in the world, and let your belts loose so you can internally accelerate BEFORE being stopped by either the belts or another piece of the car, you are almost better off with nothing. This may sound strange, but put cardboard rolls in the door. (Extreme Example) I had a chance to dissect some Volvo Doors once, and found the surface under the door panel was basically made of some corrugated carbboard rolls. I asked about it, and what was said made sense---and you can see this in today's cars more and more: The further you are from an internal component before you hit it, the faster you go, and the more injury results. By adding a relatively rigid, yet deformable substance (cardboard) the occupant's extremities never accelerate more than a couple of inches before contacting and deforming the panel. This spreads the forces of impact out over a longer period, resulting in less traumatic injury, bruising, etc. I note in rentals a lot that in vehicles FAR larger than my Z, I am continually rubbing my knees on door panels, elbow room is less.... I mean I have more room to move around in my Z than I do in a new Crown Vic when I'm in a comfortable driving position. It's that space that hurts you! A Stiff car is not necessarily a safe car---a compliant car is much safer. When you are on a track, and belted in with your HANS device, a stiff car will keep structural integrity, and the HANS will keep your head from flopping around and 'doing a Dale', the limb restraints will keep your hands inside from being caught outside and crushed. But on the street, lacking all that restraint if you have a stiff car and are hit hard---while your car may have structural integrity, that shock is going to be transmitted somewhere and it almost always is evidenced by flailing limbs and traumatic injuries. Having been in some rollovers, as well as a concrete wall impact, from what I remember I was flopping around like a rag doll. Make the interior soft, limit your limb movements with thickly padded, semi-dense foam door panels, and padding wherever you can put it, keep a good seat and good belts in the car, and don't do stupid things. Given enough momentum (as John C said earlier) any idiot can break anything---that includes YOURSELF! I watched a slow rollover and impact on Cal Rte 60 some years back. A Toyota Tacoma Parts runner passed me while I was doing 80. Weaving, jigging, really 'making time'... Until it tried to pass a car coming up an onramp (passed on the RIGHT Unpaved Shoulder) and lost total control. it was like slow motion---I watched the parts boxes go to the roof, as the driver put their hand up unsuccessfully as they followed to the roof. Then they repeated this one more time, before the truck landed on it's wheels, and went in a "T-Bone" direction into the RIGHT side of a small Nissan Stanza travelling in the fast lane. I estimate the speed of side impact was somewhere in the 30-40mph range by that time. I watched the passenger's head AND SHOULDER come out through the right side window doorglass when they got hit. This person was belted in with standard lap belts. The amount you can flop around should never be underestimated. I was shocked to physically see someone's body almost come completely out of the car from a side impact! They never saw it coming either. And of course, the Parts Truck Driver blamed the guy 1/4 mile up the road for 'pulling off the shoulder into traffic' when she was coming. Me? My statement started to the CHP "Well, I was Westbound in the #2 lane at 80mph"... Cop couldn't believe I said that. Never underestimate the stupidity of the driver's around you---many times it is they who will be your undoing!

What JeffP found when he scoped his setup was due to the longer dwell times, once you hit a particular rpm, depending on the coils loading of the ignitor, it (the ignitor) will not be able to handle the gating of the coil properly, and you get a sawtooth pattern on the ignitor signal to the coil. So it doesn't fully saturate. Another problem he noticed is that around 6K, the scoped pattern looked almost like pure DC, and the transistor could not handle the input---instead treating it like a single DC pulse...or constant power to the thing. He was very suprised to find the Non-OEM coil he was using was loading up the stock ignitor he had so badly. Really overloading it. So that is something to keep in mind as well---if you have an aftermarket coil, it can kill your ignitor due to over working it's internal bits. As a curious side note, anybody ever take a look at what coil Nissan used on the NPTI car that made gobs of horsepower? A SINGLE small, delicate Bosch coil (part number is around someplace, but I can't reference it right now). JeffP burned that coil up with the dwell setting he was using for the Mallory coil he had, but the very fine windings and fast response of that Bosch would allow megaspark with minimal dwell times. This would work well with the stock ECU (which they used for a while) whose gating pulses seem to be consistent, but stay well within the stock ignitor's range of operation even at very high rpms and boost loadings. I mean, it was running enduros at over 750hp, and made 1100hp terminally, so if that itty bitty Bosch Coil can handle that load it kind of makes you think about all these big honking coils everybody thinks they 'need' to fire off turbo cars (or N/A's for that matter).

If you are casting hard urethane, probably yes. But you can pour any number of durometers, and with a captive mount like the above shown, making a pourable mould and experimenting with a mix of different durometers for different damping characteristics would be possible. Using that mount, it would even be feasible to replace the mounts with aluminum for a solid mount as well. This setup gives many possibilities, not the least of which is the ready availability of pre-cast hard urethane parts for initial fabrication and replacement. You can always make up a mold and pour your own of a softer durometer and then do a road test to see if you want the lesser damping force of the softer Urethane. The real question is: How is the Trans mounted in that beast? Because as stated earlier, you really should use all three mounts of similar material---though it is not a stretch to see the same/similar mounts retrofitted and used on the ends of the tranny crossmember with a solid connection to the tranny from the X-Member. Then you are using one 'universal' mounting bushing for basically the whole drivetrain. Engine, Tranny, and Differential. Probably overkill in some of the places, but that's not necessarily a concern when you are not producing millions of vehicles a year.

Only 11 hours? That explains how you have som much time for the Z-Work! LOL "I got plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead, boy, just hand me the damn wrench!" Overheard Trackside Commentary

Read and understand the instructions of the harness manufacturer. If you are in SoCal, take the time to drive up to Glendale, and buy a set of harnesses from Jim Deist. The instructions are very clear, and you can ask the man himself about any concerns you have. If I lived in Texas, I would probably go to Impact PArts, and buy something off Bill Simpson. When you can talk to the man who makes it, there is not a single reason you can't have all the questions answered. As an aside, Dave and I both can feel Svelte when talking with Jim Deist. LOL Take a look at various sanctioning bodies rulebooks for rollbar/harness mounting ideas. Many copy manufacturers information, it really doesn't vary much from companyn to company. The LAST thing you want to do is anchor those shoulder harnesses on the floor behind the driver---TOTALLY useless. Lets' not turn anyone here into the next "Dale Earnhardt" because the 'feel' of the harness isn't right---there is an engineering reason you need to anchor the belts the way the manufacturer recommends.

LOL, yeah, that guy had way to much time on his hands... (he he he!) Scalloped the fuel rail as well! I want a photo of the combustion chambers---I hear good things...

Some strange facts from the Air Cooled World: Long has the time been that Corvair People paint the top half of the pushrods (under the head) with white ceramic based paint to reduce oil temperatures. I thought "B.S." but damned if I didn't notice the Finch-Claimed 10-15 Degree reduction in oil temperatures. Did the same thing on my VW, and sure enough, same / similar reduction, though for some reason the VW guys aren't into painting their pushrod tubes like the Corvair guys are...probably has something to do with a properly designed VW oil cooling system compared to the Corvair... Similarly, Gene Berg was big on lightly painting, or having the case anodized flat black for heat reduction. Similar kind of oil temperature reduction. Milspec Anodizing somehow helps in the transfer/emissivity of Aluminum Cases. Another strange one because HP VW guys do the case Painting/Anodizing on an Aluminum/Magnesium AS41 Casing----while the Corvair Guys with a real Aluminum Alloy case don't. As for Techline Coatings, they are about 20 minutes from the house, and a division of our company uses their abradable coatings in rebuilding Lysholm Screw Compressor Elements, as well as some 'side work' dealing with the Project Manager's Nova... Probably one of my Manifolds will get done there some time in the future (our shop) as they have all the facilities to properly apply the Techline Stuff, and the offer has been made to 'send in whatever you want coated'---terrible when you have a fellow who is a gearhead, and has access to production coating equipment ! LOL

I'm going to throw out something as well: We are currently running an L20A Six, using L20B rods. Something like 145mm length... But they are stock Nissan Rods from two different 720 Trucks (if I recall) weight matched, and prepped. This engine is running an offset ground (destroked slightly) L20A crankshaft and makes peak power at 8750rpms. Dyno pulls have been done to 9500 rpms for evaluation of the assembly. For some applications (N/A Particularly) doing rods may be a bit of overkill unless, as Braap stated, you want some 540 Gram Merchart Investment-Cast Lightweight assemblies to absolutely minimize the weight of the rotating / reciprocating assembly. And like he mentioned, then you cut down the counterweights, use Mallory Metal (Tungsten) to balance the thing with the shorter counterweight throws... etc etc etc... Assembly care makes more of a difference when using comparable pieces than anything else under the sun. There is a reason a Nissan engine lasts for 200K+ Miles, and makes 120 hp. And there is a reason that same engine, when assembled to ITS Specification makes 208 hp, and lasts only slightly less... Attention to the small details. Same parts, just attention to every stinking little detail under the sun. Chamfer on the oil holes, deburring oil pump gears and drive spindles, polished bearing areas, etc. Details are much more important in the end for longterm durability than which quality parts you use. Any of the quality manufacturers will have a good part, details and attention to them will determine total power output and longevity far more than the difference between Tier-1 Manufacturer "A" and Manufacturer "B". And when that L20A lets go...well the L28 Shortblock is ready to go back together and we can go back to "F" class to bump our own records some more. But for now, we shall seeeeeee how long a stock rodded, stock cranked, stock blocked L20A will last twisting to 9000+ rpms. I got to find a place to host the Helmet Cam Videos from last weekend....muahahahahaa!

I was recently under a Hybrid Z and noticed 'Made in India' on one of the motor mounts. Now I am not casting aspersions, but I have dealt with stuff my company has sourced there, and for some reason the durometer of the rubber used was not up to spec with the OEM we were knocking off (a competitior) so the Aftermarket stuff we made just tore apart under load. This may be the case there, I don't know where MSA sources their motor mounts, but for some stuff I go OEM. For the cost of a motor mount, I would probably go OEM, or at least put a limiting chain on the engine to the unit-body. Even with stock OEM Chevy mounts, a good hook can rip a mount in short order. My old 67 Shortbed pickup did it regularly enough that I gave up and just chained the damn thing down in perpituity... The Urethane Mounts transfer some noise, but in my experience are much more durable, and not nearly as harsh as Solid Aluminim Units.

Tec 2, Replaced with ECU-882 SDS Fuel Only Hacked GM TBI... I am diseased! LOL

JeffP is running Nisstune as well. Bernard has had his hand in Jeff's box as well... Er....waitaminit, that didn't come out right... Let's bag on Jeff for his Chickenwing Technique....(inside joke)

Talk to JeffP about dwell and toasting Coils. He found the section in the Z31 code that adjusts dwell, and he started dicking with it to get rid of a misfire at 17psi... Poof! New coil time. Back to square one. Believe you me, he hears no end of it from me! LOL

I have seen re-engineered mounts that utilize the Moustache Bar Urethane Bushings (where the bar mounts to the body) as Engine mounts. Captive bolt system, very sanitary, the mounts I saw. Kind of negated the need for a reaction bar to brace the engine from rocking as well.

I wonder if Keith followed the R230 conversion thread, since the Armada has an optional 2.72 R230 available? Keith, if you see this, e-mail me again, I somehow flushed your e-mail addy, and I got this terrible feeling I owe you some photos from the Rochester Convention---particularly of your Diesel Z kicking it around the Auto-X course. I am a witness, it kicked butt that day for sure!!!

"You stated PVC was a bad idea in this application due to it breaking down from oil?" Your facts are not straight. PVC is not suitable for Air Compressor Lines due to some synthetic oils causing degredation of the piping and resultant burst-strength reduction, but as an oil-free (and give the look of that engine bay, I HIGHLY doubt he's using synthetic) turbine discharge pipe, heat will become more of an issue than burst strength reduction. What I said in no way endorses the engineering of the project, nor does it detract from it's effort. If he's only boosting 2-3 psi, the heat may even be within the piping's rating, and even up to 10-12psi is should work if he has the 300 F rated hot water piping (usually cream colored)... Key word here is "work"---I have made a considerable distinction between people making claims of things 'working' and things being done correctly. There usually exists a considerable gap amongst people who will settle for 'works' and those who want something produced 'correctly'. In this case, given the fence post piping, PVC solvent welded nature of the photo, I can say nothing other than what I posted: "I love it!" I made no technical commentary whatsoever on the design, nor did I intend to---I'll leave stonethrowing on this one to others...

There is a telescoping shaft that came on many cars that will accomodate both setups simply by moving the arm in or out of the piece bolted to the firewall. It's what I have on mine...I think it came from a later 280Z.

Oh, the Lysholm Screw is far superior to the Roots Blowers. A division of the company I work for reuilds industrial compressor elements, including Roots and Lysholm Screw units---the project engineer formerly had a company that did custom blower work for NHRA teams. Yeah, whenever I go there it's always two things: "How is the race car?" and "When will you come work for me?" Buffalo is a damsite colder than SoCal in Febuary, and a far longer drive to Bonneville....but the working perks would start to pay dividends I think...

I love it!