Mudge

I read that it was 20ºBTDC even after the 83 cars(?)

I believe what he may be eluding too, is not killing yourself by headbutting your own bars without a helmet.

I forget which heads are closed chamber besides the P90, but you can use the engine calc to figure compression ratio. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1292

Thanks Randy. I know the ZF on the Vettes was a larger bellhousing and such, different flywheel/clutch setup too I think, so I wanted to be sure to ask. Suppose I have to look for a simple T5 and a WC down the road or Tremec, I know they go for a few pennies though. I think I'd only want a crazy first gear if I went with a really freaky cam, and I probably would stick to something 230/240ish which is not really freaky IMO.

Crap on the exaust valves (hot), bad plugs, or leaky carbs - sometimes these cars dont shut down if the alternator is not wired properly.

Not exactly sure what trucks honestly but I would generically say 90s-ish 5.0 and 5.8L trucks, I am actually starting to think about a late model 351 since they have a near 6" rod and have more stroke-ability. I am curious though if the deck is taller on the block and/or realistically how much is the expense going to go up trying to chase one down, I am checking eBay and it looks like I can get one from an F-150 reasonably cheap, hopefully the local yards will be as forgiving, but we shall see. I am not used to seeing small block-big block stick shift trucks period, so I dont know how many ZFs I'd find in actual donor pickups with V8s, but it was a curiosity since maybe I could get one cheaper than a WC T5.

Anyone know if the casing on this is flat too big for a 240Z or if it would be useable in a 5 liter swap? If its useable, how does it compare to the WC T5 as far as friction through the gears (needle bearings etc)?

The 4.6 has a long rod it looks like, but all that friggin weight of the OHC and the size, and the difficulty of playing with OHC, forget it

I saw a 390 block on eBay and doggon that thing is WIDE, I wonder what kind of degree block that is. How about looking at the 351s? I have been wondering about a more recent 5.8L myself. They have a 5.9xx" rod and I think the stroke is 3.5" which is very nice, the 302 once you get into the stroker category you are pretty much stuck with a 5.4" rod although its not terrible.

You rate a trans by torque, usually this denotes first gear strength. However, the lighter the car, the easier it is on the trans. If you dont drag race again, easier on the car, less shock force. But remember back then these cars didn't put out power, 225HP is a snooze these days. Look at a T56 and it weighs about 150 pounds, not 80ish like a T5.

Your sure they stayed pushrod for that long? Was that to clear out old blocks or something? I am just curious because GM puts engines in trucks basically the year after the Camaro gets them, and the 5.0 Pushrod was last seen in the stang in 94? If the Ford flat tappet setups accept a roller setup that is great, because the GM blocks do NOT, they must be machined.

96 is most likely going to be SOHC not pushrod though. The cams in trucks are usually torquey, i.e. "motorhome" cams, low lift and duration. So the cam is probably part of it, exaust perhaps another, and sometimes even just unflattering numbers for people who want to believe the muscle car is that much better. I dont know how Ford was about that though, but between the Camaro/Corvette the Camaro was always underrated. Thats not max RPM just means thats peak power output RPM, which is very low yes. Some of this is exaust some is camshaft and perhaps some is intake as well, an engine has to breath and if it can't breath them its going to run out of steam. This is where headers, and the intake come in, as well as a cam that doesn't die off. 5th gear on the T5 I think is .68? If you can find the #s you can plug them in here, the lower gears should probably be kind of close to the Nissan T5. http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ T5 history stuff http://moderndriveline.tripod.com/moderndriveline/id14.html Maybe something of value here, not sure http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13299

4L60/4L60E are automatic 4 speeds with overdrive, he is using a Vette LT1 engine.

Dave, HO = High Output, it probably means something like 20 more HP than the base, anyone know for certain? Back then in the late 80s the cars weren't all that potent so nowdays our average V8 is more than HO of the old days. Blk, do you know what year spread on those Exploder engines? Sounds like a good deal, the negative side to that is I'd still have to find a T5 seperately.

1/4" does not sound all that bad, as long as its not in the motor mount area - it sounds like something I can cut into and re-weld? It would be rather nice to at least have shorties, or workable block huggers with a 1 5/8" primary, I am not going to be happy with 225 HP forever

Stick to pushrod for weight and size concerns, OHC is kind of a pain once you start modding the cam and heads too, they are heavy and large engines. Sounds like 88-93 are the 'best years' to pick from, which is going to of course be EFI and MAF but you can throw carbs on them if you want to buy the manifold/setup for them.

I also considered using an NA dis, or you can simply keep the stock computer/dis for the ignition.

Mine is a 73, the oil cooler is on the passenger side extended with some 6" steel pipe from Home Depot. I have it going through a body hole, next to the radiator. I am using the stock connection thingy, but yeah it does not fit terribly well. I had it tied in place with some solid strand copper wire, near the coil area. If you mean at the key, I compared the key on the 280ZXT and my 240Z since the wiring color scheme is different, and then connected the appropriate wires. I could swear it was 5 wires, not 4.

I'm using mine with the early 5 speed?

I saw a backshot of the intake, from the front it looks really tall, but yeah from the back it looks good

6 wires? Sounds like your talking about the ignition, anywho, surf zcar.com as the I believe 3 neccessary parts are listed there. I have a 73 so I'm not sure how much less work you may have to do.

The picture set I saw had one that says "look at the firewall, no removing that trans with the engine still in the car."

You can unplug the MAF to short cut that process of course it will set a code though.

I have an early 5 speed with a 3.90, I know the feeling. On the street 5th is for anything over 35 MPH

No removing that T5 with the engine in the car huh, bummer