Andrew Bayley

Brian, I've seen it work in both configurations: before and after the turbo. It's ideal to have the MAF before the turbo, but in some applications, this is not achievable. When the MAF is placed after the turbo, more tuning and tweaking will be required from the ECM. This is because of the way the MAF works. Basically, a wire is heated inside the MAF and as air moves past it, the cooler it will become. When the MAF is placed after the turbo, the air is already pressurized. The MAF will not know what the pressure of the air is flowing through. It assumes the air is 1 bar (normal atmospheric pressure). The "flow" of air through the engine will theoretically be the same at different pressures. Also, compressed air creates heat. Even with an intercooler, a MAF placed after the turbo can give false readings of flow. By placing the MAF before the turbo, the flow measurement will be much more accurate. This is because all the air the turbo(s) is(are) using flows through the MAF first, before it is compressed. Placing the MAF before the turbo will make tuning and drivability much, much, easier to deal with. Personally, I would seriously think of an aftermarket EFI system that would eliminate the MAF entirely. If this kind of money is not in the budget, seriously consider putting the MAF before the turbo(s). Good Luck -Andy

Jeff, I've ran both the TH350 and the 700R4 in my 74 260Z so I've seen both sides of the fence. Both transmissions are equally strong as each other. The 700R4 initially got a bad rap because of inferior clutch packs and lack-luster valve bodies in 84, 85, and 86. Most of these issues were resolved in the 87.5 model year. As for which is better suited in a Z, more of a personal and financial decision. TH350 - Pro's Very easy to find and even cheaper to build. High stall torque converters can be had for as cheap as $100. Also, every transmission shop will know how to rebuild a TH350 in their sleep. In fact, I think there is VIDEO kit from Summit that walks through a complete rebuild of this transmission. Aftermarket shifters for 3 speeds are also plentiful and cheap. TH350 - Con's NO OVERDRIVE!!! I cannot stress how much of a pain in the ass it was not having an overdrive. Even cruising at a conservative 65 mph, the engine would over heat and oil would be spewing out of the valve cover breathers (the engine had 5000 miles at the time... barely broken in). Top speed was only 110 mph bouncing off the 6K rev limiter. Don't forget that the looser the converter is, the further away from 1:1 the drive ratio becomes... even above stall speed. All TH350's will have less than a 1:1 final drive ratio in third gear. 700R4 - Pro's OVERDRIVE!!! With the overdrive, my overheating problem disappeared and my valve covers once again were clean (and stayed clean). I'm not sure what the top speed is now, but 150 mph is VERY obtainable. Also, these transmissions are becoming more and more popular in the "Hot Rodding" scene so it seems like more and more aftermarket parts are popping up for this transmission daily. Another cool feature is the ability to use (you don't have to if you don't want) a lock-up torque converter. Once locked up in fourth gear, the final drive ratio will be a true 0.7:1. 7000R4 - Con's More difficult to come by than the 3-speed. Knowledgeable people towards this transmission can be hard to come by. A throttle valve cable MUST be used (similar to a kickdown for the TH350). Torque converters are usually three times more expensive. Drivability, although just as capable as a TH350, requires more tuning and modifications. The price is usually more than a TH350. Finally, shifters for the 4 speed are far and few between. It seems that B&M is the only manufacturer that makes a somewhat OK looking shifter (The Hammer). I've got this unit in my Z and it fit's OK, but is not my first choice for styles. Was the extra cost of the overdrive worth the drivability? Absolutely! Before the overdrive, highway driving (over 60mph) was something I dreaded. Now, highway driving is actually fun. The exhaust isn't wailing and the economy is now comparable to a full sized truck... wait, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not Seriously though, mpg went from 10 to something like 16 or 17. Another thing that turned out better than I thought was all the additional requirements for the 700R4. The T.V. cable is a no-brainer (which is the only reason I was able to accomplish it) to install and adjust and the lockup converter can easily be wired with the Painless wiring kit that you find in Summit or Jegs. One more thing that I think you should re-consider is the price. $700 sounds a little high for a 700R4. I bought mine four years ago for $250 out of a junked 1987 Z28 Camaro. They are a little difficult to find... but they are out there. Good luck in whatever you decide. -Andy

I'm not exactly sure either, but I think Pete is on the right track here. I believe the SBC Chevy head is a good example of a wedge head where the intake and exhaust valves are at the same angle to the head. A BBC would be a good example of a canted head where the valves are not at the same angle. I'm sure someone can explain this better. -Andy

Pete, When I was working for what used to be Holley, I talked this system over quite a bit with one of the original Technicians on the projects (the engineers were long gone). This indiviual was(is) a DIE HARD carb man, but he would stand by the Pro-Jection. His major comments were to get an O2 sensor and make it into a closed loop system. I'm not sure if all newer systems run closed loop or not, but it's something you might want to check out. Also commented were the factory fuel maps. I guess the maps and tables were layed out rather simply and they are "supposed" to be rather easy to modify. One gripe, however, that he did have with the system wazs that beyween 30 and 35 degrees, the throttle body would occasionally freeze over. Ah, the wonders of having vaporized fuel spraying all over a rotating shaft. Now I remember why I switched to software... Anyway, contact me off-line if you want this guys e-mail address. I don't think he would BS'ing about it. (use this address, the one on this board is out-dated) agbayley@hotmail.com -Andy P.S. Hey look, I eclipsed the 200 posts mark! Only 1000 more to catch up with Mike! [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited January 10, 2001).]

Micheal, Mike, Dave and whoever else is still following this thread- I too mounted the driver side bar where the dead pedal used to be. I welded a 1/4" thick 5 x 8 plate to the floor then attached the side bar to that. MY hypothosis on why the side bars didn't do much, is because most of the body flex comes from behind the B-pillars. By adding the main loop alone, a HUGE amount of "twisting" was eliminated. Adding the rear bars to the floor near the spare tire well also helped this effect. I really haven't tossed the Z around very heard yet (thanks to a very leaky gas cap and lousy street tires) but I'm sure the side bars have had some effect on the breaking characterists. Once I get access to a digital camera, I will post some pictures on my Web site. No, really... I will! As for the interior, I still run with 100% of the original interior. The doors just barely close with the original arm rest in place. I thought abour removing the armrest... but then why? Looks ugly without it and I also need something to grab onto when closing the door. Once that 5-point is locked in, my movement is very limited. Again... once I get a camera... yadda yadda yadda... Thanks for the kind words DavyZ. -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited January 09, 2001).]

Even for some of us weekend warriors, a 4.11 is too much. Let's hope they offer at least a 3.7 -Andy

If it's just an indicator you want, I'd consider using just one light as an indicator for both. My Merkur has this. At first I was a little annoyed, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. You have a 50/50 shot of guessing which directional signal you insipidly left on. Just another option. -Andy

For anyone considering doing the S&W roll bar/cage check out the following archieve. I installed an S&W kit this past summer and wrote a little on my experiences. Also, I'm 6'3" tall, so I can sympathise with crawling over the side bars. S&W Write Up -Andy

FWIW, The very first 280Z I bought had left and right mirrors off a 1977 Z28 Camaro. The previous owner managed to keep the cable adjusters and mounted them nicely in the door. Just another option for those considering. -Andy

Last night my Talon decided to go exploring in a pot hole roughly the size of a small New England state. The tire was destroyed but the Konig Wheels seemed to have held up just fine. Just a little real world data about their durability. I'm fairly certain that the original wheels would have not have stood up to a hit that hard. -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited December 22, 2000).]

Ok, I'm going to add another stupid question... Are you 110% sure that your floats are set high enough? I had a similar problem that stumped me for weeks on end. Everyone would ask me "Did you check your floats?" I always told them yes. Well, one day out of desperation, I checked them (as a sanity check). Way too low. A few turns of a screwdriver and all was well. Sometimes, the solution is so simple, it's sitting right under our noses. -Andy

Yes... The wide open fields of farms, that is.... OHIO. Truly an American experience. I'm glad to hear you are thinking about putting some money into a set of heads. The heads I got would have worked, but they really could use a $300 - $400 "touch up". Let me know if you change your mind. As for midi files, my recording days have gone the way of the Dodo for the past three years. I started playing around with cars, and at the same time, my recording partner (who owned the studio) had a nervous breakdown. It was time for me to get out. Sorry, no old midi files. -Andy

Oh come on Jim, Climbing over rollbars to get into cars is what keeps us all so young I've only got an 8 point "bar" (not cage), but I tried to weld as much as I could outside of the car. However, the only thing I could possibly do outside of the car was weld the down tubes and seat bar to the main hoop. It was a major P.I.T.A. getting in there once it was welded, but I would not have wanted to make those beads with the main inside the car. Just my $0.02 Also, I was thinking about getting "swing-out" side bars, but since I've got used to climbing over the bar... I figure it's a good theft deterrant. -Andy

Jeff, I think I may have a $50 solution for you. I currently have a set of Cast Iron 1977 Camaro Z28 heads sitting in my shed collecting dust. I'd be willing to get rid of them for $50. They are a little "grungy" and could use a touch up, but they don't leak and they lay flat. The chamber size is 76cc and the valves are 1.90 in, 1.50 out. Obviously not the choice for high performance, but I'm trying to provide a cheap alternative. The springs are original and have never been replace, as are the valves. The water passages look ugly and there is a bit of carbon in the chambers. I think a good hot tanking at your local shop will take care of this nicely. While these heads are not all about high performance, I still managed to run off a couple of high eleven second quarter mile passes with these heads. Let me know if you are interested. I don't think shipping them would be the greatest option, as the courier (sp?) chargers would be greater than the price of the heads themself. If you are interested, I could possibly meet somehwere in Ohio and drop them off (I live in Detroit). E-mail me off line if this sounds like something you would like to pursue. Otherwise, You might want to check your MIDI sync track on the auxillary loop channel and make sure your effects (I assume your running some sort of DSP) aren't feeding back into the monitor lines... I hate it when that happens -Andy

I will totally agree with John, the carbs are a distant second next to EFI. However, carbs are a heck of a whole lot cheaper. Back in the days, I ran a draw-through L28 turbo system. I'll agree that it wasn't the best way to do it, but it did work. I never had any problems with icing, even at temperatures below 20F. I used to drive this setup 500 miles once every month driving to/from school in the dead of Michigan winters (three feet of snow, uphill, both ways, yadda yadda yadda). The reason I decided to go with draw-through, is for the ease of air / fuel mixture control. Basically, the turbo would pull as much air as it needed from the carb. Therefore, I didn't need to do anything too fancy to the carb. I did richen up things a bit, but I later found out that was just fouling out plugs and causing me to run too rich. It was a good system. Not great, just good. Even though it never iced, there would be a VERY long period of warmup time before I could drive it without stalling. Also, throttle response was totally lacking. In the end, I debated about switching over to a blow - through (I even bought the 4 barrel manifold for the L28) but I eventually "saw the light" and put in a V8 In my "retirement" garage though, I see at least one turbo L28 Z. -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited December 11, 2000).]

Scottie, I TOTALLY feel your pain. I had an almost identical experience with ARP head studs. A friend and I built up a 406 sbc with ARP head studs and the damn thing leaked like a siv. I don't think it's a fault of ARP. Head studs just plain leak... no matter who you use. We tried all sort of sealers and what-not to stop the leaks. Fianlly, we just bolted on normal head BOLTS and were done with it. No more leaks and $250 wasted (gaskets and studs). As for the cooling tabs, I'm not sure if you are talking about the "drop in" clay tablets. If you are, make sure you are NOT using Dex-Cool. Back in 1994 GM added these little tabs into the cooling system on the factory floor (because GM quality is a laughing joke) in all the Impala SS and Caprice modles with the LT1. After a few years, these car owners were noticing that their heaters were no longer working. As it turned out, the tablets reacted with the Dex-Cool and turned into a VERY thick mud like substance cloggin everything in the cooling system up. I know this first hand because I spent an entire Saturday flushing my Impala's cooling system. ...it was not pretty ...be careful -Andy

I guess I'll try to defend the old Holley's here. This past summer I was at a local track and I was having (what I thought was) carb troubles. Within five minutes, I had the entire carb pulled apart, then rebuilt with different components. Took a run... nope, didn't fix it. Tore it apart, put different components in again, took another run... nope. I must have done this six or seven times that day (problem turned out to be the distributor was loose and retarded itself 20 degrees). All the parts I used for the carb were from friends, or total strangers that I met that day at the track. I guess my argument is that the Holley is such a widely used aftermarket carb, one could rebuilt a dozen of these thing from scratch at any local race track. The main reason people talk about "tearing them down" in order to do maintanence is because there's only a few parts in these units. Holley's are very module and can have parts swapped from all across the product board. However, this means that "dialing" these things in requires a lot more dedication and patience. It's not impossible, it just takes time. Good luck with whatever you choose. -Andy

..I'll agree that most engineers try. Wether their voice is heard from upper managment or not, is a whole 'nother story. Randy, I've worked out of some TSM's before and I'll have to agree... the numbers are a joke. Oh by the way Tim, I work as a Software Engineer at the Lear Corporation at Southfield and Ford (across from the Mustang Bar... everyone seems to know where that place is and live at Rotunda and Greenfield. -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited December 04, 2000).]

Who makes a trans "break" (I like that) for the 700R4? -Andy

Jeff, How are you setting the line lock? I've tried all sorts of ways, but the only successful method I've found is to "pump" the pedal. I'm 99% sure that the Moroso unit is a one-was solonoid (just like my B & M). Try pumping the $hit out of it and see what happens. I usually have to apply the brakes VERY hard a few times, after I've already engaged the line lock. Unless I do this, the line lock wont do a damn thing. Oh yeah, I'm also running OEM sized front brake (260) as well. -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited December 01, 2000).]

If you get any air what-so-ever underneath those tires, I'm gonna want to see pictures damnit!!! -Andy [This message has been edited by Andrew Bayley (edited November 29, 2000).]

I have had excellent success drag racing without a rear sway bar. My basic "belief" is that if any side or torsional loading occurs on the back half of the car, the rear sway bar would want to raise the tire that is higher than the other. This is not good for our single slide pigs. I've had more people tell me that what I've done has horribly affected the handling of the car. In all honesty, I hardly even notice thew sway bar is gone, unless I'm REALLY pushing it through a turn. However, keep in mind that without a rear sway bar, the car will tend to understeer (off power, of course) more than before. this is something that I have indeed noticed... but it's minimal. Get rid of that rear sway bar entirely... it's dead weight!!! No sway bar, Line Lock, Drag Radials... Hmmm... sounds a little familiar. Let us know how you run. -Andy P.S. Check out my two wheel single-slide burnout in the readers rides section.

I realize this isn't wastegate related, but I tried screwing some (don't laugh) pipe caps into my exhaust manifoldson my LT1 where the A.I.R. fittings "used" to go. After torquing these fittings on with +100 ft*lbs of torque, they will still loosen themselves up after a week of hard driving. I can't imagine a turbo application being any friendlier. However, if you aren't too concerned with looks, an alternitive would be to use the threaded manifold with pipe idea, then weld a bead where the pipe meets the manifold. This way, the weld strenght would be less critical. TimZ, Where in Dearborn are you located?!?!? -Andy

Myron, Have you checked the fuel pressure lately? My LT1 did exactly what you just described (missing at all rpm's, made it feel like an ignition problem) and it turned out that my fuel pump was pushing out waaay low pressure. ...just a thought. I was certin that my problem was in the ignition, until I noticed about 8 psi on the fuel rail. I'm surprised it ever ran! -Andy

Yup, Those LT1 water pumps sure do suck-ith royally. I replaced mine after 70,000 highway miles. That's about par for 1970's engineering... but totally unacceptable for modern design. The thing I like best about that "wonderful" GM LT1 design is the fact that when the water pump pukes it's guts out, coolant immediately contamitnates the entire ignition system, forcing an expensive replacement of that ever-so-wonderful "Opti-crap" igntion system. It really chaps my ass when I see an OEM bludgen Sorry, I just had to vent. -Andy