BLKMGK

I THINK I'd vote for the 74 260. Get the smaller bumpers, get the emissions exemption, and get the nicer (IMO) 260Z console. IF your emission exemption is a "rolling" one like we've got in VA buy as late as say a '76, figure on getting it smogged when you buy it, "renew for two" if you can, and it will be exempt by the time the next test rolls around Oh, I'd replace the bumpers with 'glass ones as they look really nice and are feather light - just don't hit anything! FWIW - I've got a '72 but like the console setup in Mikelly's car much better - stereo is in there better IMO. I'll deal

At this point I've not yet got headers but my next order may include a set - probably 1 5/8ths. Very tempting to get painted ones and then consider something "better" later but... I could get some cheap ones for around $100 and wrap them. Sure, they won't last but geez that's a cheap solution and will keep the heat down better than ceramic coatings would. I'm also beginning to give up on running dual exhaust. I know a single 3inch would make good power and having that room on the passenger side for fuel components is starting to appeal to me right now. I could then run some sort of monster stainless muffler and not cut the valence. Running a single muffler would allow it to look pretty ricey which is what I want Pretty frustrated with the lack o' progress right now!

Go for the new Lightning - it screams! I'm going to wait and see if th enew WRX STI makes it over here - if it does I might buy my first new car in over 12 years....

Can another trans be used, say a T5? Sure! How long do you want it to last and how much power are you putting down? I had a stock '88 T5 last for over 2 years behind a twin turbo 302 in a fat Mustang, 3rd died after I beat on it a little too hard one day I went to a Tremec and have yet to be able to speed shift 3rd since. The Tremec on the other hand is a much stronger trans! However it weighs more, is noisier, and in my case was notchy. Some of the prices being found here for T56s are as low as what I paid for my Tremec way back when too (sigh). So, yes a T5 can be made to survive. Beat on it too hard and it will bite back though. Tremec is even stronger but it costs a bunch too. Lastly, the "custom work" that Jim B. had on his car most certainly effected the torque handling of the trans. One of the things that changes the torque ratings on various transmissions like the T5, the WC T5, the Tremec, and the various T56 are the gear ratios - especially 1st gear as I recall. The lower the 1st gear the more torque stress things see and the lower the rating (as I recall)....

I gotta' tell you guys - I'm starting to consider a single 3inch setup myself (sigh). Finding decent room on the passenger side for a fuel pump is a PITA in my car even with the fuel cell. I could run a single 3inch system into a nice big ricey stainless muffler and save all that room on the passenger side for filters and whatnot. Plus I wouldn't have to cut up the rear valence back there for the muffler pipe. How much clearance under the car would a 3inch pipe really eat up? Fit with a T56?

Just checked out mine - it's not as bad as yours but I'll need a spatula to get it in I think. Before the new pins go in I'll be removing all rust from inside the holes with a wire bottle brush. There will be LOT'S of anti-seize in there. If I've got to bang on it I'll remove it and polish the pin until it goes in properly, I don't think it should require a force fit....

Hrm, I'm wondering about the relocation of the front mounting points. That could account for much of this - 15/16th sounds high to me for some reason, I thought JTR said a lesser amount and not to move it out or in? There could be some whacky htings going on there. As fo airdams - if you're ever up my way I've got a brand new one in the box here from MSA I've not got th ename of their supplier too so going direct might save some cash - don't have the name handy in front of me at the moment though so ask me later and I'll provide.

I'd suggest that you look at the Brembo rotors in thesize Mike sells in order to get an idea as to pricing. Yup, Mike might be a bit higher but realize that you're also paying for the fact that he's already puzzled all this stuff out. As for the backspacing - by virtue of the fact that you'll wind up with 300Z hubs up front your backspacing WILL change - I'm not sure you'll be able to compensate with a machined adapter for the rotor as I believe the hub moves the rotor in a direction that cannot be compensated for with the rotor's hub. You'll also complicate the issue of mounting the caliper to the spindle when you do this IF you can move the rotor to were you want it. I've got Mike's setup for my car now - it's VERY beefy. I'm still waiting for the pads and hoses - no biggie. He's also working out a setup for the rear of my car using an OEM rotor with Outlaw calipers and Wilwood stuff, as I believe I stated above I don't think the rear rotors are as critical a piece. Can you duplicate Mike's stuff and possibly pay less? Sure that might be possible but what's your time worth? If you're really interested in a cheaper rotor maybe check into some of the roundy round boards and see what their experiences have been. For $120 I honestly don't expect I'll be replacing this rotor for many years to come ! Oh, and I wouldn't suggest redrilling the front hub. I'm not sure there's enough material but I DO know that the front hub appeared to be MUCH softer when I drilled it for larger studs. The material on the rear hubs is some serious stuff - tough as nails. Front hubs felt more like soft cast iron. Drilled like butter!

Terry, I've got that setup now and am owrking to bolt it all together - need bearings. Those front rotors are MASSIVE! Calipers are darned light tho' Lil2qwk - head to fonebooth.com and skip down to the Auto related stuff at the bottom. MikeSCCA has pics on his site of his offerings - I cannot imagine needing bigger up front than his setup. The rear on mine will be a Hybrid of 300Z and Outlaw with Wilwood spots for an E-Brake. Do not forget the E-brake as most "racing rotors" don't have them (or dust seals for that matter). I'll be running Coleman rotors up front with wipers and an aluminum hat that's been custom made.

Checked with my friend the Ford mechanic with regards to putting later model heads on an '86 motor. He says that while that would sure help breathing you'll have to FLYCUT the damned pistons - no valve reliefs! Doh! I know at least one of us was looking at an '86 motor. Looks like that sucker ought to have some new postins before it goes in...

You can use the 'Vette oil pan for clearance if you want - the T56 actually ends up hanging lower than th efront crossmember if you run one of those. My oil pan is a bit low, I'll be watching out for those sky high manhole covers. If I whack it I'll go with the 'Vette pan or something like it.

I THINK that ALL of th eRichmond trannies are external. Further - I believe the top gear is 1:1. Why are you considering that trans? The T56 ought to hold what you throw at it and if it can't you've got too much motor and no traction I'd bet

Lone, I'm tempted to try blue - can you say El Marko? I'm not to that pont yet but I've been pondering choices and th ecar WILL be driven at night home from cruises pretty often. I've got red in the RX7 and it is pretty easy on the eyes but a bit ugly I think... A shame the Japanese EL gauges either cost too much or are super ugly....

Pete, VA is no better. They now have a dyno test for emissions - I've yet to go through it with my car but I worry that the RX7 might not pass. This is one of the primary reasons I'm working on a '72.

In my case I chose the Blue because it was a proven combination. I'm willing to switch if something else has been found that's going to work, can be mounted with AN fittings, and isn't noisy. I DO want a safety margin though and 10GPH might not be neough. With lights on, A/C, wipers, and who knows what else th evoltage may drop - that's when a safety margin helps!

93's were "weaker" and had a different 6th gear. Later models had a taller 6th and a higher torque rating. Fkywheels - 2 piece oil seal cranks require the $250 SFI rated Centerforce flywheel. Later one piece blocks can use the one piece seal flywheel - I've got one BTW. Tricky part - I've got a 383 and while the cranks uses a one piece rear seal the danred flywheel is the old 2piece style! So, new style block, new stroker crank (Eagle), and I STILL had to buy the Centerforce flywheel! After seeing what happens when a clutch or flywheel explodes I feel better having an SFI rated part. Clutch - I've got an OEM McLeod (think that's it - think Jegs) replacement - nothing fancy. Others are using Centerforce DF setups that run about double what mine did. Mine is NOT yet on the road but I figure with 450hp or so (I hope) and the weight of my car it'll survive. The original OEM clutches are supposed to take quite a bit of punishment and live - this one is slightly upgraded and the car is lighter so.... We'll see if I'm right soon I hope That help?

An FYI about that GM -4 hose... On the later LS1 cars an dpossibly the ones we're looking to it has a RESTRICTOR in it. This is causing BIG problems at the drags with those trannies as after the 1-2 shift and heading for third all of the fluid has yet to return to the resevior and the shift isn't clean. This was talked about in this month's Super Chevy (think that's it). They also had some real nice pics of th eLS1 throwout - it looks like the Tilton stuff we're considering for the T5s! If it's throw is correct that migh tbe a VERY good TO to consider for hydraulic setups....

MSA guy gave me a tip on this but I've yet to use it... He said to take two spatuals, like paint scrapers, and place them on the bushings to compress and guide the strut into place. I didn't pay much attention to him as I figured I'd have room but your's looks quite a bit like mine - uh oh! Hope that helps you out...

Hrm, my one comment - why size front and rear the same? The front does WAY more braking - is this a looks thing? I'm going to run a solid rotor in the rear and a BIG rotor up front. The rear rotor is 11inches or so from a 300Z I believe. Rotors are NOT custom so that replacing them later isn't a big chore. A prop valve will be plumbed if needed to get balance "right".

FYI - FOX Mustangs use a restrictor. It looks like a pipe plug with a hole drilled in it an dit comes with new Mustang cores usually. Parts guy should be able to dig one up or you can make one - be SURE to put it on INLET side or you'll blow it real fast...

Thank you Lone - I'm hunting one now Too cold out there right now though, I'm a wimp!

Ross, down low works fine? SWP? Driver's side right? That would be sweet, we'll see what my friend turns up. This will be a new piece BTW. I'd like room up top for the A/C down the road.

Honestly... don't F* with the sensors like that! There's a bunch of tricks like that that th eMustang guys do too - it's STUPID. The computer needs to see accurate data. If ynking sensors makes th ecar faster than the ECU programming isn't optimized. In Scottie's case and in the case of the Impallas it's actually possible to modify the stock programming - bonus! Until recently doing this on a Mustang was nearly impossible - the SpeedBrain and some other boxes have helped a great deal. Custom chips are a great idea too but only if you've got someone you can work with like Scottie does. Fooling sensors is a little risky on a N/A car but death defying on a forced induction vehicle (shiver). Always understand what it is that you're doing when fooling around like this - pulling an air temp sensor makes the car run richer when it sees cooler air - terrific if you've uped airflow and it's NOT a MAF based car (Scotties is and so are the Impallas). O2 sensor being pulled makes it go "limp home" I think - no telling what curves it'll be but expect conservative. Water temps changes from thermostats and whatnot also make it go rich usually - it will often think warmup mode and this effects ignition timing too (doh!). The "recurved" MAFs that Ford guys use are also a BIG mistake - hard to explain quickly but it also totally changes the ignition curve - BAD idea! Ahem, I've got one on my car with a custom chip - I know it's not optimal, I can explain if anyone needs it. Anyway, you get the ideas - best to tune the chip and not voodoo the sensors IMO.

I'd think the throw for th e6cyl shoudl be about the same. Th eSC had a V6 and a supercharger - no V8. It's tranny was NOT a T5 though I don't believe so beware. MerKur is also not a candidate - I've checked

Heh, I say go Buick GN and a 6speed (lol).