jeromio

I agree with Phantom, though I have no tech to back it up. Shorty or stock manifold are gonna be virtually the same - larger primaries are not going to do much when you're talking 5 inches of tube before the collector. Maybe if you're spooling a turbo or have a honkin big collector it matters. On my car the manifolds go to 2.5 inch and then 3. The 2.5 is the restriction and larger primaries are not going to make a noticeable difference. Long tubes are talked up quite alot as an HP adder, but there is no possible way you're gonna fit them on a Z.

Possible, but very much not recommended. You can get it editted for $250-$300. The various magical black boxes you would need to buy or create would eat up way more than that investment. If you go to ls1tech.com or speartech.com you can find a list of the swap issues that the typical "swap edit" addresses.

Keep in mind that speedo thing-a-ma-bob is more expensive than a brand new electronic speedo. Also, I see no mention of a sump for the fuel tank which I would recommend. Plus, you should factor in fuel lines and a regulator (unless he includes that - not mentioned). Also, those shorty headers probably do not perform better than the regular exhaust manifolds. The only modification is to lop off the stock flanges which any exhaust shop could do along with the rest of the exhaust system. Obviously the headers will look much better though and it is pretty cool that such a specific piece is even available. I think buying an aftermarket Alum. radiator is a better idea than recoring the stocker. Cheaper too. Not tryna be negative, just informative. Although, this does almost make me consider selling crossmember/mount kits. Almost. Not quite.

Yeah, but you gotta buy two. I only want one. Well, change "want" to "can afford". I really wish there was a place somewhat local to me that had some selection to actually try out. I'm very nervous about buying a seat without sitting in it first.

If you poke around ls1tech.com there's lots of info on various ways of getting more performance out of an LS1. Actually, you're in luck because there are quite a few tuners in Texas. Personally, I have yet to get used to the car with a totally stock, un-tuned LS1. I'll be addressing tire issues (wider wheels and flares) before climbing any further up the power ladder.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Plasma Torch Is In My Basement !

Well, that's the great thing about these internet boards - and this one especially: I can't reallly take credit for the idea either. I searched and found the post that inspired the idea: http://hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26070&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 So really it was just an extension of Rick Johnson's idea of slotting the holes in the uprights. I do like Terry's idea of having a way to bolt the cross bar back together. I do agree with Jon that it's not necessarily needed for strength, but it would certainly make things go more smoothly in a tech inspection. My graduation present for myself is gonna be HPDE at VIR the last weekend in August.

I ordered some parts from Coleman. I need to track down my old R180 cross bar to use as a victim (it's buried someplace in my messy garage I'm sure). I'm going to start by making a bump out so that the new bar will fit around an LSD cover - in case I ever do manage to affford an LSD. Of course, if I could afford an LSD, I could probably afford some of those nice arms that Mac is selling.....

Locknuts or some type of jamnut will be necessary. Where does one get wrong threaded nuts, bolts, taps and dies?

I don't want to have to remove the thing to adjust it, so I need a turnbuckle. I could use something like a tierod from a straight axle truck. Something with a half right thread, half left thread, wrenchable hex in the middle, and then 2 pieces of tubing, one with female left threads, one with female right threads. Haven't found that yet though. Here's a representation:

What Terry said. It doesn't need to be load bearing (although this unit is rated for like 2400lbs of stretch). The turnbuckle is there to make fine adjustment easier and also keep the geometry correct. Without the turnbuckle, the pivots would be held in place only by the friction of the bolts, which I don't think is adequate. The problem with adjusting toe this way is that the angle being adjusted is the really big one formed by the 2 long lines: pivot to spindle pin and pivot rear to pivot front (bushing ends of control arm). So it takes a big change in my proposed adjuster to cause a noticeable change in toe. I'm guesstimating it's a 1:2 ratio. IOWs, about 1/2" adjustment by turning the turnbuckle and you see about 1 degree change in toe - and the wheels move about 1/2inch too. I still think it's worthwhile, if only because it shold be a very easy mod. Much easier than making adjustable control arms.

I may have found a source for turnbuckles. It's a boating hardware supply place: http://www.suncorstainless.com. They have some nice looking turnbuckles in stainless steel, either forged or welded. They even had a "clearance" section with prices. I sent an email to see if it's possible to order stuff via CC (since it seems as though they mostly deal with re-sellers). I'm after this unit: with 1/2 inch threads it is just the right size. I am a bit worried about one aspect of this concept however. Adjusting the one pivot will make the arm arc over on the front pivot, moving the wheel forward or back within the wheel well. Edit: Added this diagram:

One way to think about it is this: imagine your uprights are stable and strong, independent of that stock cross brace. Further imagine that the stock cross brace is not even used. Instead, in order to complete the bottom of the pivot holes for the rear control arm bushings, you use the same little metal brackets as are used on the tops of the pivot holes. Except that thes actually bolt to the uprights. These lower holes of the uproghts are ovalled to allow for side to side adjustment. So now, in order to make sure that the to pivot hole bushing holders don't manage to slide back and forth (since bolt clamping friction will not be sufficient by itself), you connect these 2 by a turnbuckle. Or some other adjustable mechanism. I am definately gonna be doing this mod.

Heeey. I think I'm catching on. So the uprights stay put. Preferably with a welded cross brace for stability. Then the strength of the turnbuckle, or whatever adjustment mechanism is used (tie-rod adjuster?) is not an issue. Especially if an all out TerryO one piece upright setup. This looks do-able.

I have a completely different idea inspired by a member here (whose name escapes me but his car was published in SportCompact). I would like to leave the control arms alone, but get some toe adjustability (because for whatever reason, my car is tweaked out of alignment back there and it's too squirrely). So, I am considering making the rear transverse 'bar', that folded steel piece of metal that caps off the pivots for the rear bushes and rides right behind the diff cover, adjustable. I would like to cut out a section and replace it with a turnbuckle. The upper part is the head scratcher. I could just oval the holes in the vertical plates where they attach to the frame. But then adjustment would require loosening the 4 bolts and then taking care to make sure those verticals slide in (or out) when adjusting the turnbuckle. I don't think making a pivoting connection for those would be a good idea - unless it could be rigidly fixed in place. Kinda stumped. Seems like an easy way to gain the adjustability I need - just modify one easy to remove and replace part. But there is this one puzzler....

I disagree. The wiper motor does not require the control box. That is there to perform the interval wiper functionality. I'm curious about this - although I'm too cheap to pay $80 for a new motor, I wouldn't mind picking up the ZX motor from a yard.

If you buy new bolts from GM, they come coated with a threadlock compound. It may also have some anti-corrosion properties as well - I dunno. At any rate, I used lock washers on my exhaust manifold bolts as well as a bit of anti-seize on the threads. I've not noticed this problem on my setup. I did have a hose clamp come loose and cause a leak. I'm not sure what to do about that. As you probably know, it's sometimes hard to know if the problem is the bolt actually loosening, or stretching, or gasket or other materials compressing/contracting. In other words, the bolt could be locked in place with thread compound, but still require re-torquing after some time. For my drivetrain stuff, I have lock washers on both ends and thread compound.

I've had the adjustment failure as well as just plain fluid leakage. The whole reason for this thread is to advise people against this swap. These calipers are crap when used or even rebuilt and crazy expensive when bought new. Also, you run into little annoyances like the cable routing. Plus, since "L" is on the right and vise-versa, it can be confusing. As in, I go to the counter and say "I need a Driver's side rear caliper", and they go and get it and I realize, Doh! I need a Passenger side cal. to put on the Driver's side of my car. Also, you just can't find stock (early Maxima) brackets. So you gotta make some. And if yer gonna make brackets, well, why use these crappy calipers? There's gotta be lots of others to choose from that work better and cost less.

I'm interested in this 240SX ebrake cable mod. Did you use the whole cable mechanism from the handle back? BTW, as to Dan's point, I'm not basing my complaint on a single failure. We're talking THREE failures here. Disappointing to hear that the 240SX calipers are the same. Interesting to hear that the non-turbo units are more reliable? Mine are Turbo calipers.

Firstly: this is not so. The thermostat opens at about 180* on my LS1. Thermo is a plane old mechanical jobby mounted in the water pump - no computer controls involved. Now the fans are programmed from the factory to come on fairly late - I think it is 236 or something. This is an emissions dealio meant to keep the system hot. The shop that editted my ECU adjusted this down to 210. Secondly, I agree with many of the points here. But I wonder about the cost of this manifold + carb vs. the cost of a swapper's wiring harness such as the one Lonestar1 used. I didn't buy one because I am poor and so I had to go thru the stock harness and hook stuff up, which was time consuming. But with the swapper harness, from Speartech, GM, Painless, etc. - everything just connects up very simply. Thirdly, I hate hate hate carburetors.

I had that exact same problem. Except I clackerlated 4200 RPM - I could obviously have been wrong, math is not my friend. At any rate, here's how my sitch went. I went to what I thought were great lengths to ensure drive angle alignment per Pete's website. Also, when I got my shaft shortened, I think there was some confusion and I think it did not get balanced. When I picked it up, he didn't charge me enough (or at least, he charged less than he had in the past for other projects). I guess I got greedy and didn't question. To continue, another thing that went wrong for me was that I switched from Automatic 4l60e to T56. I had to make a new mount, and I used the old one as reference. I guess I was not very meticulous. After I had all these problems, and while I was waiting for the DS to be balanced (took it back in), I went over all the measurements. Trans was almost 2 degrees out of phase with diff. Not good. So, I decided to leave the trans alone and move the diff instead. I removed the washers above the mustache bushings. I dunno why I thought this would be easier. Anyway, that 1/4 inch was enough. The verical flat of the trans (using rear tailshaft machined end as a ref.) and the pinion flange (also vertical) are basically parallel. So, with shaft back in, I made my first highway ride again today. No vibration. None. It's such an amazing difference. Used to rattle like crazy. So much so in fact that the quick release for my mountain bike seat (I keep my bike in the back) had rattled loose this past summer. Now it is smooooooth.

Are you going to at least ask her first?

I'm just saying, if you're going to go to the trouble of replacing something, upgrade as much as possible. I think 12 would just be too heavy and difficult to work with. IMO, 14 is the last size of sheet metal that I can still consider sheet metal. 18 is pretty thin. My guess is the stock floors (and most everything else) are 20. I can bend 18 easily by hand and cut it with snips. It's not much of an upgrade. 14 is much more rigid and does not require any beading to reduce flex. It's obviously heavier, but I seriously doubt it will add noticable weight when you'r just replacing bits and parts like framerails and floors, etc. It's possible to do basic bends on narrow pieces of 14ga. But I don't have a brake, so I had a local shop do the longer folds I needed. You have to use a sawzall, skilsaw or other power tool to cut it (unless you're lucky enough to have a plasma. There again though, I specified sizes from the shop and only had to do minor trimming. Although, for the piece I used to patch the spare tire hole, I didn't want to wait, so I just used my sawzall to cut out the big ol' circle.

14. If yer gonna do it, do it. 14 is also easier to find (at least in my area). Don't bother with 18.