BLKMGK

Air chisel. Took maybe a half hour or so. It was loud but it was MUCH quicker than trying to use the Sawzall while lying on my back...

I only wish I had an ALT indicator for my car. I'm not sure how I'd wire one up with this one-wire alternator but it sure owul dbe handy. Oh, considered LEDs for the signals and whatnot. It really looks nice IMO but it's a bit more complicated to wire. Brake and highbeam use a switched GROUND as I recall. PITA to wire and I ended up using relays...

Wow, imagine the serious vaccuum on the other side of that restrictor with a nasty supercharger on it! I think I'd go super over turbo as the restriction would hurt the turbo more I think. I can just imagine the exhaust temps climbing as the turbo fought to suck air through the restrictor...

Like this?

I have to ask - why a FOX Mustang column? I've seen some pretty nice VEGA tilt columns before and it would allow you to use the Painless harness amade for GM columns. Not sure it would have all of the wiper switches and whatnot but it's worth checking into. I too am interested in rewiring but thankfully have a pretty good harness right now. I think Mikelly has done it.

This site migh tbe helpful... http://www.grapeaperacing.com/GrapeApeRacing/ If nothing the manifolds would be nice. BTW with 12PSI the guy made over 800HP with no intercooling on a 383 stroker. I think we're going to need a bigger boat!

Do you have the JTR book? It's got the wiring in it for the V8 swap. What year is your car?

Oh man - can't post a WEB site as an image but wWOW, more pics more pics! How's it run, more details Seriosuly, that looks real nice and I'd like to hear lot's about it. JDM all the way right? Power? If you've posted all this and I've been asleep I'm sorry. Looks like it fit well and around here it sure would puzzle people when you popped the hood! (lol)

Mine supposed to have gone Vroom! already but the shop still has it. Hope to get it Monday. The 3inch outlet on mine just fits on the valence with NO hacking. I've looked for bigger Folger's tips but most of the rice stuff uses a 2.25 inlet (rotfl). If anyone sees a tip with a 3inch inlet lemme' know please.

My street sees a good bit of traffic - it's a cut through. Not too many bikes though thankfully. However before my windows were changed two things really pissed me off. Bikes with loud pipes and punks with booming stereos. I literally had windows rattling in the BACK of my home when these folks rolled through. With new double pane windows and additional insulation it's not occured again but I can tell when they come through and the dogs go ballistic! At shows there are two things that people hate - booming stereos and jerks who crack the throttle on their bike or car over and over. It's not just the HD guys that tick people off doing this but they certainly can top the others for noise level. Thankfully peer pressure keeps it down mostly. Lot's of these guys just want to irritate people and draw the looks, dirty or not. It's an image thing and it turns the nicest people into jerks when they do that stuff. HDs ARE changing technology wise though. I mentioned earlier the EFI on some of them is programmable, a shame more cars aren't that way! I don't know if HD is sharing the code or if people are cracking it like they had to do with the GMs and JDM stuff though. Sure would be nice to be able to order up an intake and exhaust and have it come with it's own computer program to tune it right.... HDs are a love hate thing I guess. I don't really much like them but can admire some of the styling. I don't want to own one but then I don't think I'll ever own a bike anyway. In this area it's suicide with the clueless idiots we've got on the road...

Howe radiators run about $180 NEW. I swear that puppy sucked down 3 GALLONS of coolant and still wasn't completely full. I cannot imagine needing more capacity than that - especially with the Camaro radiators taking so much less and managing to cool V8s. I'm not sure it's just cooling on these cars. I do know someone with an SC cCougar (yes from the factory) that's got a ton of miles on it and beats it hard. That puppy still runs stong (shrug). Have you looked into any of the FWD Buick Supercharged motors? I've driven a Pontiac that had a blower too (FWD) and it moved nicely. The Eaton blower doesn't seem to be the issue but rather other things in the motor. Might be interesting to look up how many recalls Ford had on that motor...

Ah okay. This is NOT a T5 in any way shape or form. I have NO idea why they named it that! IT's got EXTERNAL rods for shifting. The older Richmond 5 speed used to have a 1:1 5th if memory serves so it looks like THAT trans with a 6th gear. Is it overdriven? They don't give ratios... At over $3K I'd stay away anyway. IT's sure not a T45. Mustang guys I know are using modified T56s from Tremec.

Do a search here on Maxima - you'll find Mike and others have really tried hard to find the bolt-on brackets. I'm not sure where you looked but the trials of several people trying to find the brackets are documented here. There are also several other rear disk options here with everything from weld-on tabs to CNC cut custom brackets using bilet calipers. You've got options... P.S. That $100 for the calipers is pretty good IMO. Even if they just end up being cores for rebuilt inits you're probably bux ahead of the game so don't feel too bad. [ August 04, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Doh, fat finegered and lost my whole reply... Blown cars I've seen with carbs (blow through) have all used a boost refrenced pressure regulator like the EFI cars use only lower pressure. 1:1 is normaly what you want. However every single guy I've talked to that has done this has told me that pressurizing a carb is a nightmare. All sorts of things get weird - for instance floats can collapse under the pressure! All of them have used carbs specially built to handle this application ($$). The last guy I spoke to was using an ATI blower and Demon carb in a pressurized bonnet. This was a super clean Mustang fastback with billet everything! I was interested in how it performed since a blower may be in my future and a carb would be cheaper. He pulled me aside out of earshot of the rest of the people checking out his car and said he hated the carb! It was either lean, or rich, or just not streetable. He was finding himself fiddling with it endlessly to get it to run. If it ran goodlow it ran poor up top and vice versa. He was pretty sick of it and about to go EFI. Sure looked REALLY nice though! He cautioned me to skip the carb as I caution you. By the time you've got a carb built and bugs worked out an SDS system using a carb intake might have ben easier. If you want to fabricate gen up a carb intake with EFI bungs and rails - that'll be fun It'll also flow as well as a carb...

Heh, and you didn't like the Northstar motor? Stock these things blow head gaskets and crack heads - no really! I THINK I might have seen someone with an ad selling aftermarket heads for these since these crack so often. I'd suggest you try to track down some old Muscle MustangFast Ford mags with build-ups of these motors. The Ford shop I deal with is almost all Mustang and yet I've seen at least 4 blown up SC motors in there so that should sort of tell you something about their track record. All required a complete motor replacement or rebuild by the time it was done. At least put a warning light on the temp so you'll be sure to spot an overheating condition. ASP or March sell overdrive pulleys for them, someone rebuilds the blowers to better than new specs, not sure about the MAF. I think Super Ford had an article about that but honestly the Ford MAFs don't always swap from app to app. Give Pro-M a shout and see what they say. I'd say put a vacuum gauge behind the stock MAF first to see if it's a restriction before swapping it. i'll see what I can dig up about them performance parts-wise bu tI think finding a site dedicated to them would be a good idea before buying it...

Umm, I believe that would be a T56 transmission. They make these for the older FOX Mustangs and for the later model Mod Motors. If it's really a T5 with a 6th gear added get out of the way as hordes of people beat down their door

Hrm, the "bolt-on" brackets are supposed to be as rare as hen's teeth - this is why Ross is going to have a CNC shop MAKe the brackets instead. You may end up wanting to contact Ross. If you search on Maxima I think you'll find many frustrated posts about this...

Eh, I don't care much for HDs. Not much engineering that I can see going on (programmable EFI tho') and it's only the "foreign" manufacturers that I can see doing things like oval pistons However, on the basis of one WEB site I'm not going to condemn the NS engine. I'm also not going to base my opinions on a race car that might not have done well. I've got no "sacred cows" nor am I so rah rah on the US engineering stuff that I'll cheer anything made in the USA. Heck, I drive a Mazda rotary! What I do consider "sacred" is that it's okay for someone to try something new. If there was a NS engine lynig on my floor I'd be pretty tempted. Heck, someone somewhere had to decide to try and stuff a SBC into a Z somewhere didn't they? Personally, I'd be more tmepted to try a Ford 4.6 Cobra motor but only because I can get them more easily. Jamie is still doing research, we'll see how it goes. I wish him the best and will support him as best I can and not try to tear down his "better idea". (Shrug) P.S. I think Scottie's comments were right on and I note no one jumped to HDs defense. I'd expect that most, but certainly not all of us, given a choice between a crotch rocket and a HD would choose the furrin' bike. I sure would! Heh, and if we're not graduating as many engineering majors it speaks of our populace but also of our teachers. Something, other than a communist dictator, must be drawing all these kids to our schools...

I'm confused - NOS injected at the turbo blades? Dry system or what? I'm trying to picture how that helps - increases volume in front of the turbo, jump starts the blades.. GN's are pretty darned cool though, a shame GM hasn't got the balls to build something like that anymore, it might actually sell to the car enthusiasts!

Hrm, okay so the motor is built "right" so that's good. Try this - set it up for say a 75 horse shot (or less) which is probably enough to "excite" the turbo's exhaust wheel and use a Hobb's switch to shut the juice off at say 3lbs of boost or so. Use the NOS to get out of lag and a soggy throttle and then shut it off before the boost comes on and you trash the bottom end. I'd also use a WOT switch, a retard, and an RPM "window" switch to make sure it doesn't come on too low or too high. Complicated, maybe overly so, but it might make for a much more responsive setup. Here's a question for ya' guys - would temporarily advancing or retarding the ignition change the exhaust flow to band-aid a soggy turbo? Something faintly ringing in the back of my head about this but I'm not sure. Retard so the fuel burns in the exhaust pipe maybe? Or is this complete B.S.?

Umm, "only" 600hp? 10lbs of boost on a Ford 351W with GOOD heads is suppposed to be good for 650HP or so. I cannot imagine the SBC being much different all things being equal. Also, why twin? Plumbing is easier with no crossover pipe and you can use smaller turbos for fast spool but it gets complicated in a hurry from there in such a small engine bay. You may find some help in the boating world so far as manifolds go or look at some of the junkyard Ford motors that have been put together with flipped over FOX shorty headers. I've actually got twin turbo headers (cast) for a 302 Ford but I've got no idea if they would fit in a Datsun (hrm!). You sure you want to use a carb too? EFI would make life easier tuning wise IMO. Higher dollar but if you're doing 2 turbos you're going to be in deep anyway. An SDS migh tbe good enough and is budget minded. Also, there's a good book out there on turbos - name escapes me - but in the section talking about SBCs there are some interesting quotes... Turbo V8s make big torque it seems (mine sure did!). The book mentions th efirst dyno pull of a turbo SBC. They used Pink rods, steel crank yadda yadda. It hit like 4K RPM and blew apart. Cranked snaped, rods toast - it was a total losss. Seems the torque made was tremendous and the parts simply not up to it! Remember this when you bolt on that 600 horse tranny as the torque will be the killer and the Z is awful light to be taking that kind of torque. Lastly, why? Is this for speed records or a street car? I personally LOVE forced induction and while I've pondered a turbo on the Z it was brief. I think I'm much more likely to end up with an intercooled ATI blower (okay, after the NOS). My reasoning is simple - cost and complexity. This stuff is off the shelf, accessible to me, and known to make more than enough power. It's not as sexy and it's louder, it also won't make the low end torque. I'll live I'm not saying a turbo motor won't work just that perhaps in the power range you can use you might find there are other possible solutions. However if you build it I promise to cheer loudest 'cause it will be one seriously cool ride

What I think I'm seeing is toe in. The fronts of the tires appear more "in" that the rear. I've got a friend with plates so maybe I'll have it measured. Since I see nowhere for adjustments to be made I'm not sure what to think. E-brake bracket is on back of strut, yes? Other than that there's really nothing I could've screwed up that I can think of. If I've got the struts on the wrong sides that'll be 2 for 2 - did that up front and then had to swap calipers too when I went to bleed things! Car hung up in shop today, ready tomorrow. No rear brake lines yet so it's not looking good for a drive this weekend unless I get bold.

Waiting on the flatbed looking at the car i th edriveway I'm noticing somehting weird I've not noticed before... The rear tires look like the front edges stick out further than the back edges. Car is at "normal" ride height but both sides seem to do this. Izzat normal?! Seems like it owould tear the tires up. I'm running through all th esuspension work I did in my mind and I just can't think of anything I did that could've caused this. Arms are symetrical, right? I'm pretty sure the struts weren't flipped side to side. I'm puzzled! Can anyone reassure me or tell me what I might have screwed up? Thanks!

Randy's right about the head gaskets. I've seen at least 4 of these puppies at my friend's shop - some of them torn up pretty badly. I didn't realize they shoehorned an intercooler in there too! Look up some SuperCoupe sites and you'll find good information on these puppies. There's at least one guy out there rebuilding their blowers to betterhigher boost specs. Occasionally SuperFord will do an article or build-up on one but they're not really well supporeted motors IMO.

The Northstar engine may be PUT in a "luxobarge" but that motor has serious potential. Remember that much stock is being placed in a story on a WEB site here - it's quite possible there's another side to this story and that not everything on the WEB is accurate (just visit a Mustang WEB site). Put into a Z some of th epackaging problems of having themotor in a Caddy can be taken care of - like the water pump motor mount. You might even be able to get the water pump down lower if a high mount is a problem. There are folks out there getting SERIOUS horsepower out of those motors and if someone wants to be different it certainly is that! Heh, and he's already bought the motor. Pretty much new in the crate too so it's seen little if any "abuse".