BLKMGK

Go with the ARPs. It's really not that much work with the correct sized drill bit and a little elbow grease. Just make sure the hole is centered properly, one of mine was slightly off and the rotor was a bit tough to seat Bit of work with an air gun took care of it bu tit was scary for a few minutes...

Mike - PLEASe let me know about th eprice. I'll be out for a week+ but back soon after and my private E-mail as well as my HotMail will be checked out as often as possible. I'm VERY interested in these brackets and I have no doubt you'd be able to unload a pile of them both here and on ZCar.com. Also, shot you a note about the rear calipers. Did you get it? TIA! P.S. A friend brought up an interesting point - isn't the Z rear hub cast? If so, how well do welds "stick" to it and is there the possibility of distortion?

Hey, nuthin' at all wrong with a Ford 302 combo! In fact these days I'd say that with the possible exception of the machine work you could almost put one together for LESS than a SBC. Seriously, there are TONs of 302 parts around. the Mustang has really built up a following - used parts damn near fall out of trees out my way! Parts availability isn't the issue - the lack of documentation on the swap is. That T5 is nice and light too and the stock 302 will take 6500RPM pretty easily - just remember the stock EFI rev limiter kicks in at 6200 RPM (ahem).

Rags, did you get the Windows software with that puppy?

Guys - I DO remember Mike mentioning the rotor diamter months ago on this. Turning down the rotor sounds like a possibility, I'll be interested to see how this works out! Heh, I still vote for a repro Maxima bracket though but that's a purely selfish thought (lol)

Hrm, one question... this is using the stock drum backing plate in some way? Uh oh - I had to cut mine off This sounds promising though. Since I've already got my parts and am halfway there I'll probably stick with my SX calipers and solid rotor from Mike. Just need to get the darned things attached is all

Now, if we could just get PanaSport to make some of their nicer looking wheels in a 17inch size! Sorry, just bitching.

Hey, nice article! Can you post or send some pictures that are taken closer up? My existing mirrors look like crap and I'd love to find a better setup! Actually, there are several good articles on that site - I'm DL'ing them all right now I've heard Camaro and Hyundi - anyone got pics? Would want to find something that would overlap the holes I've already got drilled for my aftermarket junk mirrors... Can you give any measurements on the Mistu mirrors mount holes?

I've been wondering this myself. I've pretty much decided to use SMALL LEDs for turn signals and a blue LED for high beam indicator. However, your mentioning of fiber certainly has my interest! I can get my hands on some of this pretty easily I think, I'll have to give this some serious consideration. My only worry is that generally you must be looking dead on to it in order to see the light emissions...

Pete - where did you get the material for th eupper mountcover of your radiator? VERY clean - I want one

Wow, don't read in for a little while and miss all the fun! Coupla' things... Having owned a turbo V8, owning a turbo rotary, and owning a centrififul supercharged V8 - albeit not on the road, I think I can contribue a few things... First - Mike the RAMJET 350 GM is selling is NOT a ZZ4 that's been modified. If you've seen something I haven't please enlighten me (I'll cry). The RamJet I saw had cast pistons - ick! Second - turbo lag is a myth if the silly thing is sized right. My V8 had ZERO lag and made full boost (10lbs) by 3K - note that this was TWO turbos. My RX7 has sequential turbos - comples as hell but lag is pretty much not there in any reasonable driving RPM. It revs like mad too Centrifigul blower - yeah full boost USUALLY occurs at peak RPM and there's some "lag" but at normal RPMs on a strong base motor it's no big deal. So, why did I go from turbo to belt driven? Simple - it was complexity and packaging that pushed me. Turbo motors are GREAT but geez the heat and complexity is a bitch! I'll get about 600hp out of my 351W with the blower, do I really need more than that? I know someopne who's seeing 800RWHP on the dyno that drives his ATI blown motor on the street! blowers may not be perfect or super effecient but I'd say they certainly get the job done! Someone stated that blowers are used for competion more often for the drag race scene. Look a little closer - turbos are showing up like mad in the Ford race scene because they make insane power! They don't show up elsewhere primarily because of rules and additional weight penalties. There used to be a 6cyl Buick turbo dragster that kicked many a rear end - it was penalized right off the track by all of the complaints from it's compeitors! Given an unlimited budget a turbo is the way to go. Most of us don't have that prerequisite though Lastly - high RPM. Personally I don't see the need for the high RPM here. However not that many OEM type V8s "redline" around 6K. The Ford 302 hits the limiter at 6200RPM but it CAN rev higher if the limiter is bypassed! This likely holds true for other V8s. I've seen "older" style SBCs revved to 6K without special parts, sure sounded nice. Yeah, it probably began floating valves but for an OCCASIONAL rev a well built motor should be okay. I believe someone already ststed that their motor had hit 7K on the dyno (shrug). Keep the rotating assembly light, use good rods and pins, pay attention to the valvetrain. Given a choice I'd try not to build for that high an RPM - 6K is more reasonable (shrug). Hear a V8 at WOT hit that RPM - you'll know what high revving music REALLY sounds like V8s don't usually need to be revved real high to make power, if you're used to a GSR or say an RX7 driving a built V8 will be an eye opener I think. Displacement has it's advantages, torque out of the corner will be a really big one. P.S. Why no 6speed? Weight? Rules? P.P.S. Ever hear a rotary at about 6K? It sounds liek a baby drying under the hood - I have to laugh every time I hammer it, it's damned funny!

Backfire hard enough and YES you CAN bend a throttle plate - doh! Don't know much about these carbs, not even enough to tune the three on my car, so am looking forward to selling them to someone more knowledgable.

I THINK you might have to look at the flange on the pinion. It might be different than what you've got - especially with the later 87-89 300ZX ones. My LSD 3.7 R200 had a flange on it that looked nothing like the one I took out. Stub axles snapped right in though.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Some of the older T56's had different ratios with a slightly better 6th I think. I just hope I don't run into the issue Mikelly has with his car not being able to use 6th. My motor should be a little less high strung than his so it may indeed be able to pull a decent cruise RPM - we'll see. For now I'm not worrying abotu it. This will be something to sort out AFTER the darned car sees road duty I think. Still fun to benchrace and ponder though Thanks for the info on 1st gear!

Heh, I've just completed the removal of bushings from one of my rear arms today... If you guys are going to be close with the rear arms anytime soon let me know and I'll go with those over having the stock arms powdercoated! I'd love to use your arms but don't want to slow the progress I'm making on my car to wait (sigh). Also, if you need a sacrifical rear arm I'll have one. It's slightly damaged so I've ordered one from ZBarn - hope to see it soon. Once it's here the one I have is yours for the taking.

Hrm, perhaps I should consider the GC plates for my car then? 2inches or so would be nice to get back! These puppies real expensive? Might just see if I hit the bumpstops first before investing! BTW - I DO have to cross railroad tracks on the way to the local cruise spot so that test will be in full effect Noise isn't a real big issue, I figure the car's going to be noisy no matter what I do....

More info on the Cascade stuff plz! I like the idea for the speaker too but I'm pondering a speaker box that could be built by the tailights instead. This way the speakers fire forward instead of to the sides. Damping that area with a bag filled with foam is a great idea though! Just have to make sure the stuff won't melt the bag and make sure that it won't get punctured as it expands. Also, If you're sealing the car's floor airtight and it's dry - just how important is rust prep? Seems to me it might not be able to get anymore oxygenmoisture to continue the rust process. I really like your bedliner idea BTW. I'd have tried it if the car's interior were still apart! Can you post any pics?

Skip the SC motors, trust me. They have head gasket problems and when you spin the superchargers harder they run into heat issues on the intake charge. I've seen a couple come through my friend's shop with badly blown head gaskets and at least 2 have required new motors. No thanks! 2.3Turbo? Now you've got some potential! However I think you'd find still more powerless work with a GN or Turbo L6 instead. The 2.3 can be made to build great power, just ask your local circle track guys who run 7Krpm all night, but for the amount of work involved I'd think you'd be happier with another motor.

Hrm, so let me get this straight... you've got a 4.3 NOW, love it, but moving up to a full race setup is too expensive? Why not just really enjoy what you've got and hunt for bargains in the meantime? Are you sure the block you're using now is at it's limit? Would those nice Brodix heads fit this block? Worth the money? Seriously, I've seen lot's of Mustang guys spend silly cash on forged everything and buy race blocks only to never see more than 400HP out of their motors. A stock Ford 302 will take 450 easy before things get iffy. I overbuilt my SBC some too just for piece of mind but no way was I going to spend the money for a GM race block - I even skipped the 4bolt block! 500HP is pretty darned nice from such a light package. What sort of motorsport uses those motors? Maybe try getting to know some of the folks that race in that series would net you some cheaper sources? I didn't realize just how much power could be made from the Ford 2.3 motors or how high they could be spun with stock parts until I hung out with all the local circle track guys. Now, if I wanted a motor like that I know EXACTLY who to goto for parts and I know it'll be cheap too Heck, enjoy the ride for now and buy the paerts as you find bargains maybe?

I could be wrong but I THINK this is the same rack that's in the later model Mustangs. If it's something that someone really wants to doresearch I can speak to a friend who's got a heavily modded Merkur about it Mustang racks aren't hard to come by (shrug).

Umm okay I'll bite... What exactly are you looking for out of your ZX? HPwise that is. Set a budget and HP goal and work from there towards what you want. You do NOT have to pull the motor from a junkyard and if your budget allows you can buy a new engine with a warranty and skip the whole learning curve of building a motor! As for not modding the trans tunnel - good luck! I think most of us have had to make some mods but they are NOT hard to do and don't involve major cutting or welding. Usually you just have to bang a bit with a big hammer - not noticable from inside the car. Do you prefer an auto trans or a stick shift? Is there a stick in your car now? I guess in shoret my advice is to plan out what you want and then attack it in a systematic fashion. Buying the motor and dragging it home might not be step one

I haven't read the thread yet (anyone got a link?) but I have to chuckle. I like cars that are fun to drive and have good HP. I've been into Fords for years and have owned an '88 5.0 since it was new. However we have an Impalla SS in the family that runs pretty good, now a Mazda rotary that makes scary power from just 1.3liters, and my Z is getting a SBC. The original motor was okay but I knew from day one that it wasn't going to cut it and that making big power from it would be way expensive. I wanted six speeds and enough power to punish almost anything that pulls up. I could've done a Ford motor for less but I'm not bigoted and the SBC swap was best documented so that's what I'm doing. (shrug) Why is it such a big deal to put a motor in a car that wasn't originally in there? I'll admit to getting a little queasy when I see a SBC in a Mustang but only because they had to yank a decent motor to get it in there. And even if it makes me queasy I don't get nasty with the person who's done it - it's THWIR car not mine! In the case of the L6 there was no way I'd get 450hp from it short of a rocket booster. Why can't these clowns understand that?! 300hp isn't enough for me and I'd be shocked if any of them could get that much and keep it together....

Something's not right! When I compared their WEB cost vs the "sale" cost I could've saved like $75 last year. Maybe they raised their prices in order to help out Vic Brit and MSA? Hrm...

Heh, cancer in one form or another huh? I think I'd take rust over the other personally. Hell, I worry about all the buffing compound and aluminumstainless dust I've "consumed" in the past. Finding a good fitting dust mask is a bitch...

Mike those shouldered 10mm12mm bolts are sounding better and better all the time! Actually, the cheaper later model diffs sound the best! Good ratios, strong, and they aparently damn near fall out of trees. Kripes, I wish there was one in front of me so I could see just how tough it would be to adapt. What's the sticking point, mounting or shafts?