BLKMGK

Tere are wedl on O2 "bungs" available at any exhaust shop. They cost all of about $8 apiece and can easily be welded into the pipes by the exhaust folks. I used shorty block huggers on mine and had a set of these done on the pipes below the headers. No reason it couldn't be done in the collector as well but ceramic coating might make it slightly more difficult. I did have some welding done on my coated headers so it CAN be done (shrug). Not to worry, you've not run into a big obstacle there. Oh and welcome to HybridZ Whoops - you wanted to know what fit too (doh). Search on headers and you'll find info for both longtube and short. In my case I'm using FlowTech 1 5/8ths headers but they're supposed to be for straight plug only. Sanderson shorties won't work unless you run the cast ones. S&S makes some longtubes that work I think - search will show them. MSA sells those too it looks like. You may hae to work with a company to get them customized for final fit. I'm working with Rewarder myself on some straight plug shorties with 1 3/4 primaries. What heads are you going to run? [ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Buyer beware with T56 We've seen them go from the $700 to the $2K range here. Both of the ones I've gotten have had some problems with one being a near total loss. IF you buy a trans from a slavage yard either buy it from a well known one OR buy it locally. If you buy it local you might pay more but you'll have someone to throttle if it comes up lame. New prices in my neck of the woods for a T56 were $3K but I'm betting that was sans sensors and bellhousing Sensors no biggie, bellhousing would be good (ahem). Engine, either a reputable local builder (the throttle thing again) or a well known mail order builder. Frankly, with what you've gone horugh I'd be seriously looking at a ZZ4 crate motor or one of th eother lower powered GM crate motors. They've got a WARRANTY and can be gotten from your local dealer etc. EFI is nice, this is true, but not really required. Maybe look at the RamJet 350? Not super high powered or cheap but it's EFI and ready to roll out of the box for the most part Congrats on the find!

Better yet - do they still stock it? Lot's of those parts are oout of production but still in the catalog I'm told None of their gearsets are particularly cheap either I'm betting...

If this is going to be a "driver" do the 700R4. In stock form it may not be as strong as the TH350 but that overdrive will be really nice on the highway! Get someone who knows what they're doing to beef it up and make sure you install it correctly (TV Cable adjustment). Done "right" I think yopu'll find that the 700R4 is a superior transmission for a street driven vehicle.

Front windshield and rear hatch glass isn't too bad. It won't cover as much paint as th eNissan stuff but it fits okay. Unfortunatly if you've had paint work done with the glass in you'll have a stripe of oddly colored paint...

Hrm, and don't forget while you're figuring this all out that the Z weighs a bunch less than some other cars. Figure what would work in a Pinto or Vega maybe? Heh, then again my Vega had a 9inch in it Scottie, you researched this a ton - what did you find? i think you were looking hard at 8.8s right?

I'll try and snap some pics but it migh tnot be tonight. I've got a spare one kicking around

Several places sell them. MikeSCCA has them for sale at http://www.fonebooth.com/suspension.html His setup his what I've used on mine at all four corners. Requires some welding and some cuttinggrinding of the old perches but the ability to adjust ride height in minutes is awesome! I think MSA may also sell coil-overs as does Ground Control. Mike posts and conributes here though Hrm, Ross may also sell a coil-over setup, I'm not sure. Ross? I'd buy from one of those two guys...

Ya, and use some gasket silicon on them before putting them on withthe ty-wrap. They do this on RX7 to keep the hoses on

Understand that the 8.8 uses C-clips and that you'd have to run C-lip "eliminators" - these have a reputation for leaking and can't take side loads. You CAN run an 8.8 with 9inch ends though. Not sure what the total cost is but this is how some folks get around the c-clip issue. I want to say it was Baer doing this but I'm not sure. Will try to remember. Will this be drag only or street too? And are you sure the 9inch went out of production? What are the F350 trucks using? The big vans? Not that it really matters in this case to be honest. Guys I know simply goto the junkyard, grab rears, and shorten them up on the shop floor. They don't mind 5lugs though (lol).

Supply and demand... And it's not really free to him - he's got to store it, pay taxes, insurance, and who knows what sorts of EPA stuff he has to worry about. Best yard around here now has a shopping mall on top of it! I've not seen anything that good since, most of the yards around here are small that I've seen. Really need to get out and visit one - tons of fun just walking around in them (lol)

Hrm, may be a DNS problem. Works on some accounts for me but NOT on others.

Hrm, I agree and don't. I can hear and feel the regulator cycling - I think that it is what's sending pressure waves down the hose. You can put your hand on the pump and it barely vibrates but the hose feels like it's humming. The Blue pumps supposedly have a bypass in them but I'm pretty sure it's set for something like 14PSI. IF that's the case a lower pressure bypass would probably allow the regulator to stay open longer and not shock everything quite so frequently. I may shock mount the regulator, I've not decided. I've got a bulkhead fitting that I cannot easily shock mount that I'm sure will be making noise too. I want to get to EFI anyway but if I end up with the carb for awhile longer I'll have to do something about the noise. Heh, after the exhaust that is. Right now the noise is finally bearable I think, when the exhaust is quieted it could be too loud again. Putting a stereo in the car is pointless right now unless I want to go deaf trying to hear it P.S. The damper you're talking about - seen those in A/C systems too. Not sure how easy that would be to do effectively but it might be worth a shot if nothing else works. A regulator with a return line might also be a good way to reduce the vibration? [ September 30, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

ArizonaZ used to sell a complete tube chassis for the Z. IF that were still available or he could be convinced to cough up the plans you'd be way ahead of having to do it from scratch...

I know it's supposed to be stronger but I think I'd feel much better if the weld weren't put in a position where it would receive stress Only possible issue would be slipping the coil-over pipe over the weld...

Can ya' shoot us some pics of the pipes? Would love to see how it all worked out. Will peek under the hood of my car ASAP to see if I can visualize what you're talking about. Would be one sweet setup!

I've been pondering a setup much like you describe. Issues that I see are height that the headers place their outlets and space to run the exhaust back. I don't think there's room under the motor mount area and running under the crossmember would screw up ground clearance. Guess I need to do some more poking around but those were the first things that occured to me (shrug). Sounds like you've thought about this alot - going to make a kit?

Working on my fuel pump today I noted that I've got maybe two fingers worth of space on the passenger's side - that's the one with a spacer. I didn't get a good look on the other side but I expect it was closer. I HAVE found that my rear suspension seems to be shifted slightly to the driver's side by a touch - just enough that when both were setup the same the driver's side rubbed slightly. (shrug) I'll try to snap a pic of my setup under there next time I get a chance just for folks to compare... P.S. I always thought it was best to weld and section struts above the spring perch? Wouldn't making mods below it put added stress on the welded area? [ September 30, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

I'm getting the pics fine in IE but they're so big it's like looking at them through a peephole

Engine was running, regulator opens and closes to allow fuel through. It does this VERY rapidly and I've got no return line so it sends shock waves through the lines and into the firewall. It's not very noisy up front really but it has become more noticable since I quieted it down some in back. Still have a ways to go before I'm 100% happy and that probably won't happen until I'm running EFI with a return line to the back (shrug).

Okay, today I decided to try and tackle the Holly Blue Pump noise. I hope to get my exhaust done soon and know that the buzz from that sucker will drive me nuts afterwards - it annoys me now! After standing in my garage and pondering the piles of junk I began digging around. After I ran across the third set of sway bar end links from various cars I decided to try using them. I put a bolt through the frame where the bracket is now and used the end links on either side. I also used a piece of rubber under one of the bolt heads on the pump bracket but was unable to do so on both sides. Cranked the car up all proud of myself and STILL had buzzing! Puzzled I crawled under there with the car running. I found that the pump and the area around it didn't seem to be vibrating much at all?! Then I put my hand on the braided line - it was humming like a bass string! Looking along the line I found where I'd used a stock hose hanger to suspend a portion of the hose - temporarily removing this I found the noise GREATLY reduced! I shut the car off and proceded to make some insulators from the high pressure rubber hose I'd used for my oil lines. I slit the hose to slide it over the hose wherever it contacted the body. I also suspended the hose where it used the old hanger using zip ties - it's now isolated from the body completely. The fact that I used adel clamps to mount the hose to the body helped too as I didn't have many places to insulate as I moved forward. Unfortunatly I mounted the regulator to my firewall sans rubber insulation, so now with everything insulated I have figured out what that strange background noise up front is - it's the regulator! It still buzzes some in the back. My next step if I decide to do it will be to hang the pump from an aluminum plate and isolate it fully. However I have a feeling that the fuel cell mounting points could turn out to be the next area that's conducting the vibration Hope this helps others since I know quite a few of us have bitched about this pump. It seems it's not completely the pumps fault!

My understanding is that paint ends up acting as an insulator. However there are some paints made for this application so perhaps that woud work better. I've heard so many different points of views and opinions on the subject that I just generally leave them alone - both radiators and intercoolers. If it comes painted I leave it that way, otherwise I leave it bare

I didn't know about putting stiffer springs in the rear until after I'd done my setup - doh! I think that 250s would probably be good but I'm not looking to do it just yet. The bumpstops are stock thickness up front and that's where I find them pushed to the top. Sectioning those could be done without moving my coil-over perch and I don't think I'd go more than 1inch anyway. What's considered "normal" to use a decent strut? I guess I'm just not sure I want that trouble just yet - especially with brand new struts all around. Oh, and the "old" struts I pulled out were toast completely - I ASSume it was from bottoming as they didn't look heavily used. They were silver and I think bottom of the line Tokicos. Still have them if you want me to look (shrug). Anyway, the car seems to launch well and a bump in spring rate would probably be perfect for what Z'ya wants. With 225 up front it doesn't seem to ride harsh at all. Maybe I can get someone to take a pic of it launching to see how much it squats...

Hrm, I was right. Removing the vac advance allows the motor to pull cleanly at part throttle Now what? Obviously part throttle advance under cruise is hosed but this isn't EFI where I can simply plug in a number to fix it (soon!). Heh, I'm beginning to appreciate the Holley programmable ignition setups now Shoudl I simply leave it disconnected? Seems "wrong" to me. I can adjust it for less advance easily enough and that would add some advance at idle at least? I don't want to monkey with mecahnical advance if I can help it - getting to it requires a ton of work and resetting the mag trigger when I'm done. I think I'll watch my MPG this time around as well as get a dyno pull to help figure this out...

Randy, supposedly waste fire can bring the torque up and clean up the emissions. Electromotive made some claims to that effect if I recall some years ago. IMO it certainly shouldn't hurt anything so what the heck - sounds good to me! Who besides Motec, OEMs, and Electromotive can fire coil on plug ignitions? Can DFI or the Holley unit? SpeedProFelPro? I'm not sure I've heard of DataFast before - can you give more info please?