BLKMGK

Thanks Pete! I JUST got my (very) short answer from the Autometer folks. It was "You could easily convert the 5795 to a in dash mount. Simply loosen the strap and mount in dash." Sounds good to me! that tach has what I want even if the Ultra in-dash version looks slightly better. I'll deal

Al, my motor should make between 400 and 450HP. It was built by a bunch of Ford guys out West They had built a similiar motor for one of the work trucks only with 35cubes - it made 425 on their dyno so they figured the same combo at 383cubes would hit my 450HP requirement. If you look elsewhere in the forum you'll fnd my specs. In short it was Eagle rods, Eagle forged crank, Forged pistons - an Eagle stroker kit is what it was That's from memory though so what you see in my other post is probably more accurate since the receipts were right in front of me. The intake is a single plane Edelbrock RPM if memory serves - this was done to kill some low end torque intentionally. The heads are aluminum Edelbrock but there are several competitor's heads that are at least as good if not better. Again my previous post has the part numbers - they're straight plug heads too. I tried to build a fairly docile motor with a solid bottom end for upgrades later on. Some advice - if you go the route I did do NOT worry about buying a one piece rear seal block as I did. The Eagle crank uses the old style flywheel despite having a one piece seal - I had to buy a $250 Centerforce flywheel to work with the T56 anyway (sigh). An older block would've probably been stronger too (shrug). For my HP goals this block should be fine. My cam is flat tappet not a roller. We pretty much decided that the added cost wasn't needed for my HP goal but I DID go with roller rockers. Go with a long pump - pulley selection is better as are brackets than with my short pump. Lastly, if you're on a budget look closely at the GM catalog. Their PM rods are supposed to be stronger than the old GM "pink" rods and are dirt cheap. They've also got some decent cranks in there - you could make one nasty 350 without the added trickery of going to a 383. I think that motor could make as much power as a 383 but maybe not as much torque. I would do forged pistons though no matter what - others may disagree.

Okay, I give up - how did the Maxima bracket relate to WillwoodOutlaw brackets? Ya' confused me there - not hard mind you - but right now brackets for Outlaw brakes are near and dear to my heart (lol).

The article on doing the harness is on this site. If you've burned two switches out already you're PAST due for the swap! It took me less than an evening to do the swap and in that article I recomend a company who's harness will cost less and work better... For those of you running "normal" lights - consider it too. I'll bet if you check the voltage at your lights and at your battery it's SEVERAL volts LOWER! The reason is the resistance in the harness and in the switch - stock it runs ALL juice through the stalk - not good. By using relays you'll find that the voltage comes up and the lights are brighter without ever having to swap bulbs. I was AMAZED at the difference with my Hela's... P.S. I checked my Hela's - no adjustment lugs at all. Gues they're Euro huh?

Do my headlight harness mod - I'm telling you that you'll be MUCH happier! BRIGHT lites and no more worries about burning up th ewiring if you switch to higher wattage bulbs. I see you've got a post above concerning the nice blue looking bulbs - you'll want the harness for that - trust me

Grumble - edit the silly post and the URL stuff stopped working.... Sweet gauge for the street oriented but Mike actually wants to hit 200mph I just wish they had a Phantom that looked like the Ultra with the tach recall (shrug). No response from them on that or from Energy on a motor mount. Anyone put one of the regualr tachs into the dash? I think I've asked before but spending serious coin on a tach, taking it apart, and then not having it fit right would "suck". Thankfully I'm not to that point yet - still got to get the motor in and I'm making progress on that just fine!

Beware of putting the pins up into the ring lands. Talking to guys who've worked with sort of stuff it's a nightmare that they'd only advise doing for a full race motor. Ring sealing goes down while oil burning goes up - not cool. Lastly, have you considered scaling back the engine size and slapping a blower on a milder motor? I'm not sure what your goal is but blowers really aren't that bad so long as it's not a cog pulley and massive amounts of boost. Not as much fun as a turbo but much less complex. (shrug) I'm curious as to why this idea has been rejected. I believe you could keep the engine bay intact... That's going to be one nasty Z

I think to make a truly streetable 500HP without the noise and bother of th eblower would be to take a 375horse 350 and add a shot of NOS to it. There when you need it and you can wait until the tires hook to hit the button I've got a NOS bottle here I use as a doorstop and a friend sells the stuff so don't think I'm not tempted to fool with it. I still like blowers better for their "always there" benefit but they're NOT cheap nor are they silent. Honestly, if a 400 or so horse Z can run in the 11's as I know it can, why do you really want 500hp? Is it a mine's bigger thing or do you really feel the need for 10's? It sounds great on paper but it could be a real handful on the street - Darius and Mike can both break the tires loose at some pretty scary speeds with that kind of power...

Kevin - it's a turbo Z so I'm sure the compression isn't sky high. (shrug) Very pretty, same color as my RX7, same wheels as on my Z. Heh, I paid less than that for the RX7 too I'm pretty sure the RX7 would outbrake and outhandle it but I'm not sure about outrun. Anyway, different strokes for different folks. I'd be afraid to drive that car daily as I know some jerk would trash it just for fun. That's the sad part about buying or building something nice like that - I have to park my cars way out just to avoid door dings and watch the driveway liek a hawk.

YES! The Autometer tech told me late last year that I migth want to hold off buying my speedo if I wanted a trip meter. He said they would be moving the Carbon Fiber gauge's LCD trip meter and odo over to the Phantom line "soon". Well, I just checked their pages and the new lineup is in! Oh yeah - I love it. Waiting paid off for once! [url=http://www.autometer.com/hp/2001_catalog/competition/competition_closeups/5887_89.html]http://www.autometer.com/hp/2001_catalog/competition/competition_closeups/5887_89.html[/ URL] Hey, it's the little things in life ya' know? They still don't have what I want in an in-dash tach though unless I buy the carbon fiber gauge - doh! They DO have an Ultralight that goes to 200mph for Mr. Kelly though Also, I've E-mailed EnergySuspension to ask them what flippin' motor mount they sell that will replace the GM mount JTR specs. They've got a mount that looks "close" and the description fits but looking at the pic I just don't see how it'll work mounting to the setback plate - does anyone else? Theirs have these "ears" that stick up and don't mount flat.... [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited February 12, 2001).]

Heh, and if the dollars work out and I upgrade to the Outlaw stuff there may be some 5lug Toyota stuff going up for sale soon too Seriously, what these guys have said is true. Remember the Whoa! when you up the Go!

Mike, you've got wehat looks like 4lug on the back still - does my rotor fit okay? Looking at th eJCR brackets it looks like the could be made from flat steel. Say 3 pieces. One that mounts to the strut, another piece as a spacer to space it out, and another for the caliper - yes? Would it be possible to secure it with just 2 bolts to the strut so the stub wouldn't have to come out? What about a second mount for the Willwood spots mounted to the lower 2 bolts? I've asked SCCA to price up a set of bolt-ons for the rear using Outlaw calipers and Willwood spots I've got this sinking feeling I'll be selling my 4Runner front calipers, 240SX calipers, and 5lug rotors up front. Anyone interested?

Hrm, do you REALLY want this as a daily driver? Done right it could get decent MPG, handle like mad, and be pretty reliable - but for daily use? Rust is a big issue with these cars, buy one in great shape, drive it in the saltsnow, and pretty soon you'l have BIG problems. You're in Texas so that shouldn't be a big deal but A/C sure will be! Finding a car just the way you want it will take some time and I'd say go for it but be realistic about it's daily use. Perhaps a small commuter as a primary and the Z as a fun secondary? For 17K you could certainly have both IMO.

I'll bet that after awhile you'll want aftermarket gauges anyway - right? Th eholes are a perfect fit for 25/8th and 5inch gauges... I'd suggest going with AutoMeter 5inch gauges in the dash and making one of them an electronic speedo - problem solved. No goofy adapters to worry about and no mods to th etailshaft housing...

$200 huh? Hrm, that's a touch steep but that is for a PAIR right? The regular Maxima brackets that no one can find were a bit over $100 for a pair or was that even higher? If there was an E-brake in the mix I might be able to hack something in the $150 range maybe. That's hoping that I'd not have to pull the stub axle to install them - a problem with the Maxima brackets I believe. As it stands now JCR has yet to respond to my message to them. I indicated that there might be some demand here for them - I guess they're not real interested. Snap some pics Mike, let us take a gander!

Mikelly - you're a very mean man!

The swaybar that came off did NOT use the body at all. It sort of clamped to the risers out back that held the rear crossmember. Now that I've swapped those out in order to run the "billet back brace" the old mount will no longer work. Considering the apparent binding and damage it did to the one control arm I'd prefer not to use it anyway! Appreciate you taking a look for me. If it would help I can take pics of my existing mount up front but not the rear (easily). The rear suspension is in a million pieces right now - most of which are out getting coated.

Ah, but the bracket cost is the BIG question. So long as I could use my existing rotors and E-brake cable without too much monkeying around the cost of the calipers and spots isn't too hateful. I'd even be willing to send the SX calipers (and ears if you want them) back as cores (grin). Then to make it a true bolt on we'd just need hoses to adapt over. I'd pick up some speedbleeders too FWIW those puppies are listed as being billet, 2 piston (stainless), and weighing 1.75lbs in Pegusus. They want $108 for them so if you're getting them to us for $80someodd that's a pretty good deal IMO! Is the 1000 the best choice? Prices go up quickly on the others and they're all 4piston. How hard are pads to find? Which Outlaws are you using up front? What size difference are the front rotors with the Outlaw over what I've got now? What else aside from rotors and calipers would I need up front IF I did that too? Matching isn't that big a deal to me honestly and I think the Toyrunner stuff up front is likely big enough but... while I'm at it I might as well inquire Heh, I'm used to the big 13inch stuff on the Mustang and whatever crossdrilled things are on the RX7 so looking at my current stuff here it looks small but I know it's likely good enough for my use. I don't know that I'll ever really hit the track hard but it could happen. Lastly, is anyone else interested in the OutlawWillwood spot solution? IMO it would make the most sense if several of us got together on this so that Mike's labor to build the brackets wouldn't be just for me ($). It's pretty obvious that a good rear solution needs to be built and when you compare the COST of the SX and ZX calipers over the performance and looks of the OutlawWillwood combo it damn near makes economic sense too if the brackets aren't too expensive. If you can work up a price Mike I'll bet the guys over on ZCar would be interested too (shrug). Should we ask? P.S. Pegasus sells Z camber plates for $140 too - a decent price?

I have a solution for the sticky goo that's left over that beats steel wool! Get out a can of carb cleaner and a razor blade - spray it! The stuff turns to something akin to rubber cement and scrapes right off. It will even ball up like rubber cement does! Have had to emply this nearly a dozen times, wokrs great for me but I'd advise having towels close by, some Windex, and trying to keep the carb cleaner off the upholstry.

Have a look at Spintech's OVAL tubing if ground clearance is an issue They start their tubing at 3inches and go UPWARDS from there. They sell adapters, mufflers, and tubing. I've seen their ads in several mags so finding them shjouldn't be hard - bound to be a WEB site for them but I've not looked.

How is th esway bar on th e73 Z supposed to be mounted up front? On the driver's side mine looks like bolts have been run through the rail with backing plates - not welded on. The passenger side has a mount that's been welded on - with some gussets too. Is this normal? In the rear - how mount a sway bar? Needed? My car's bar looked to be aftermarket and had rubbed on the control arm pretty good. It will no longer fit with my aluminum brace for the finned LSD cover. Looking at VB drawings my sway bar was mounted bassackwards but I'm not sure I've got mounts to do it any other way. What to do?

Correct - the Pro 5.0 shifter and the shifters done by Steeda are some of th ebest T5 shifters out there. Same with the Tremec - go Pro 5.0 I'm told. The Hurst isn't bad but I'd not pay much for it As for working on a Datsun T5 - I'm not sure. If you've got any Mustang friends ask to borrow their old stock shifter and see if it fits - if it does then the aftermarket one shoud too...

Welll... IF we do a bolt on bracket for the 240SX would it be easy to swap to the Outlaws? Part of th eattraction to the Outlaws is looks - aluminum over iron. I'd like to stick with the rotors I've got too What would a suitable set of calipers for the rear (Outlaw) run? Brackets? I don't recall the cost on the spot calipers either. I'm not real hot on the hydraulic E-brake. This is because of both safety and because I'm anal about a useless brake handle in the car when I know the woman might actually drive the car once or twice. Bad enough she had to learn to keep the RX7 in neutral after turning it off thanks to the turbo timer (ahem). Ya' know you want to make brackets anyway Mikelly - you say the JCR's work with the rotor I lent you?

2 chambers?! Oh I nkow better - had those on the Mustang for awhile - ouch! Once th eturboes went on it was much better but then the damned things rusted out - grr! Some neat videos over there - am grabbing a bunch Have you seen the Lexus aka Supra vs viper and 2 3rd gen RX7? Spank Spank! I've got the dyno run of that Lexus too - it's SICK! Very nice car though...

YES! That's the guy! Very helpful used to do all sorts of weirdo stroker stuff for people and had built up his own machine shop on his property because he could never get anyone else to do it his way! Neat guy!