BLKMGK

I've seen the prices of the high PSI fuel gauges - I have them in two cars I liek the electric ones best though to be honest. If this is a turbo car how can you NOT have one considering what will happen if you lose fuel pressure? As for pillars mounts - I had been told that a Mustang unit could be fitted. I tried it with one of mine - very poor fit. The plastic could be heated and formed I'm sure so perhaps that's an option? With as many pillar mounts as are being made these days surely one of them must work - problem is finding them to test fit without buying them first!

Okay... I've got a 351W in my Mustang, blown, and I know a little bit about Fords so here goes... Yeah, crank is heavier. Cutting it down would benefit you bearing speed wise if nothing else but are yuo really looking to spin it over 6K for long periods of time? The cost in cutting it down will be substantial an dwill weaken the crank. Why buy a forged crank? Stock 351W cranks are good to 650HP before they get iffy! This from a guy who specc'ed my motor (Steve Christ) and who has built and dyno'ed more Fords than I can imagine. If he says 650 I believe him, he also claimed my motor would make that number with just 10lbs of boost and has been able to predict other combos to within 10HP so he knows his stuff. A 347 ought to rev faster. Fine, big deal. A 347 is a grenade waiting to happen. Poor R/S ratio, some of them have pins in the ring package (no oil burning here!), and if built on a late model block it's timer is ticking. Girdle it if you want and put a forged crank in but a late model block blows the mains through the pan at about 500HP and will take that pretty girdle with it. The bolts rip right out of the block when this occurs - there's not enough meat in the later blocks for that kind of power. How much power are you looking to make? Are you going to spin it high? Is it REALLY 15lbs - after balancing too? Is that weight on the crank arms or overall? Could you runa lightweight flywheel to compensate? Is this a drag racing motor? Have you already put this motor together? Are you sticking to 351 cubes? (I did - who needs more with that much power?!). IMO - if you've already got the parts then I'd consider the stock crank unless you're shooting for 700hp and if you are how will you keep the Z on the road?! Want it to rev fast, destroke that sucker and hang on. Destroked Windsors supposedly rev like mad! For the power you're likely to be looking for I think spending a zillion on a forged crank isn't worth it or even spending a pile hacking up the stock one for that matter...

Hrm - you're racing this so I must ask, what do the class rules say about engine swaps? If this is simply open track for fun kind of thing that great, otherwise even the 3.0 might not be allowed. We've had postings of this sort in the past occasionally. Usually it's someone interested in what a 3.1 will do for them. A few 3.1 dyno pulls have been posted too and frankly for the money spent the power has been disappointing IMO. However, if your budget is firm @ $4400 or so then a V8 might not be for you. I had a pretty solid motor built for my car - $4400 was around what it cost - no carb, distributor etc.. Then I added a T56 @ $1700, now I've gone nutz with brakes, wheelstires, and on and on. Nedless to say I've blown your $4400 budget easily. However with as much power as this will make I'd have been crazy not to upgrade these things. Since you take your car to the tack you may have already done much of this or intend to anyway so perhaps that's no big deal? Cheaper motors than mine can obviously be had. So can cheaper transmissions if you shop around. GM makes a couple of nice aluminum headed crate motors that make well over 300HP and can be upgraded further. Careful hunting for a T56 could get you one for as little as $1K. Little things will eat up at least another grand IMO but say $6K and you're done if you've already got brakes. Anyway, just letting you know there's more to it than tossing the motor in. Yes, it's a little more work but the power will be incredible! I liked my car with a 2.8 and triple Webbers but I have no doubt that 450 or so horses will be much more fun. Just imagine having traction and braking as your problems rather than acceleration! And if I wish I can upgrade from there

Jeg's sells them - they're sheet meatl valve covers from Granatelli Performance They come with NO holes in them and you must drill out holes for the PCV and for th efill. In my case I had a Moroso aluminum oil fill TIG'ed in but it wasn't easy. The Moroso unit's thread's began to mel with the heat from th eTIG and I had to fix them up with a Dremal afterwards (sigh). Chevy performance parts sells a nice cast lauminum set that Jeg's also just started carryinh. It's what's on Darius' car and is what I would've gone with if I hadn't used these. Price is about the same between the two but fitting ignition looms would be easier with the cast covers - I'm not yet sure how I'm going to route the wires with these covers...

Dave's right I'm afraid. I bought into a rusty Z for much more thna $450 and it wasn't worth it. If there's rust you can see bet on finding more under the fenders, in the rockers, and all sorts of FUN places you don't want to fool with. Look longer, spend more, and get a car that doesn't require a ton of bodywork and paint - you WILL be bux up for having done so I promise. The swap is expensive enough without having to add bodywork and paint on top of it right off. Be patient, save money, hoard parts and you'll eventually find one even if you have to travel a little to get it....

well, I paid something like $300+ for my hood not counting shipping. Dunno what the materials would go for and whatnot but $500 for something like this doesn't sound too bad. Heck, if I had the molds carbon fiber would be real tempting after I'd done a few 'glass units One of these days I reall ywant to fool aournd with fiberglass just to see how hard it is - some of you guys have done some REALLY cool things with it!

One of he Summit roadster type cars used AWD and a V8 from a Typhoon I believe. One of the car mags had a writeup on it about 6months ago I think. They DID retain AWD so it IS posisble to do. Look aorund for it and perhaps that will give you some ideas..

Hrm, anyone notice the bottom of that RX7? Belly pans all along it - very nice. Looked liek he caught a gust that put him a little sideways and disrupted the wind, over he went when he presented a good neough edge. He also looked to be sitting a little high - I could swear my street driven RX7 sits lower than that one! Heh, did you know TT RX7 have some belly pans from the factory? Some of mine are apparently missing but stock they're there. Well built cars but that darned motor is so fragile!

I'd put water temp, oil pressure, fuel level in the trio of holes. I'd then put a small boost gauge someplace else liek the steering column or on the windshield where you can see it. Fuel pressure might be nice too... Boost and fuel pressure you tend to need to watch more closely when WOT than the others. If you have to put somehting in an A/C vent maybe do oil pressure or water temp and then wire a seperate warning light to it. I've seen pics of the A/C vents being used before - it looked liek a good fit. However as Owen pointed out - rollbar will block that view, and the pillar too BTW. I test fit a Mustang pillar mount in my car - way off and I couldn't see it. Oh well...

What are those relays rated at? Did this work at all - ever? It's possible the relay can't handle the juice that the hi-beams draw and that the contacts have gotten burned. A little crud in there could be the problem. I'd suggest manually putting a signal to the high beam relay to see if it works, if it does it could still be your switch...

Finally - it's mounted! I ended up using some of the chrome steel "high tech" Mr. Gasket stuff. I actually bought one bracket I didn't need too figures. All you need is th eHigh Tech "arm" piece, the chrome spacer tube - that must be trimmed, and a couple of bolts - one about 6inches long (3/8ths grade 8). Oh yeah, pulleys too. I went with 2 belt pulleys for water pump and crank in aluminum so that I can run A/C later. Naturally Jeg's has the water pump one on backorder - grr! Had to swap water pumps too - anyone want a a short one in mint condition? The long one does indeed have a boss on it that the short one doesn't so spacers wouldn't have worked. Last but not least - if you're in the same spot I was Summit sells a BILLET unit for about $60 that makes my new one look cheap(er). Had I only know (smack). I spent nearly $20 on the chrome steel one! Oh well, it's mounted and I just need for the last pulley to show up to put belts on it. Wow, I can buy hoses now!

Hrm, I've got a metal can on the passenger side just under the dash - bolted on top of that darned cardboard thing. Is that the relay? It control anything else? I also noticed for the first time that a ton of the electrical stuff under the hood is there with disconnects. Never noticed that before - kinda' crowded! If I could just find the connectors I need I could have my wiring done. Will have to hit a different stereo shop when I get home today..

Paxton or ATI should have them ATI uses them for their marine setups I believe.

John, you get those rear disks on yet? I seem to recall you were the one finally upgrading from stock and I'm really interested to know if rear disks make a big difference over drums when you use the ZX stuff So many say it doesn't but since it would seem you visit the track a good bit you will probably know best on that...

G-Nose interests me! Maybe the fenders - would depend on just how wild they were...

One of the recent mags talked about a ram-air setup on a salt lake setup. At speed it was only making a pound or two of boost! Remember - at those speeds the engine is ingesting a ton of air. Might be interesting to instrument and see though!

Pete - my green wire (only one back there) is used for a relay setup from Painless wiring. Since this car is carb'ed for now there's no big deal about it energizing right away as there SHOULD be fuel in the bowls. I guess maybe a jumper to a momentary switch might be a good idea for those times when th efuel boils out (sigh). I don't think I'll go quite as far as you did Still - where does that green wire go? What's it hooked to stock? Do we need to splice into it at all or can we use it to trigget a relay as-is?

Davy I'd do a shot of the whole car but I've not got rear brakes on it and putting wheels on, dropping it, taking shots, and then putting it back up is a PITA. Of course I already did that once but it was with the low rez camera (sigh). MikeSCCA is hard at work on my brakes. As soon as I've got them on I'll take full shots if not sooner - promise! These are actually Konig 5.0's meant for Mustangs. They come in two offsets +20mm and +40mm. I used the +40mm up front and the +20mm in back. They measure 17X8. The pic you saw is the front wheel which has the spokes MUCH closer to the edge than the back. Front has 235 45 ZR17 Nitto 555s on it. At least I'm pretty sure it's 235, I'll check and modify this if that's wrong. I've placed a thin spacer up front and will do the same in the back. Back tires are 245 45 Nitto drag radials. Just rolling these puppies down my driveway they pick up pebbles! Will try to take more pics of those too mounted on car - this camera's flash is awesome compares to the other! Will be shrinking pics as I can and will look for software like Pete mentioned. I know the site is a bear on modem users and it's not exactly a high bandwidth link either (sigh). Date for launch... I'm working on getting a TH400 yoke. Once that's here I'll get a driveshaft. Fuel is plumbed to wheelwell but not to carb, that's coming ASAP. Reordered pulleys, mount, and pump today. STILL waiting for Autometer to send back my speedo. If they've lost me I'll be royally PO'ed! Rear brakes still need assembling. Need plug wires. Need to mount bottom of fan. Need to finish up some wiring for motor - need cable lugs! Need exhaust. This weekend will be mostly shot but I 2 day expressed th eparts early today so before weekend I'll get SOME time to work on it. I'm working on it every night for an hour or two. ETA? I'm not sure but I'm working hard on it! I really want to drive it More as I progress but it's certainly close!

Hrm, if parts were available and there were people around that knew how to do it I'd go with something other than a SBC! turbo motors are awesome and while it's true you can do a turbo SBC it's not like there are stock manifolds or OEM parts laying around for the swap. Keeping the car all Japanese has some allure to me too. Nothing like blasting past a 'Vette on the strip and seeing his eyes bug when you pop the hood. With a V8 it'll be fun too but I think a 6 or 4cyl motor would be even more fun. Maybe next time around Heck, I'm still waiting for the AWD Lancer to come over and am hoping that the SkyLine makes it over too. I'd LOVE to have one of those puppies!

Fairlady - Scottie is starting to push 10s with his R200. He has a transbrake and drag radials with some decent 60fts. He's not broken the ringpinion yet but I think he's done in a few stubs and halfshafts The ring on the R200 is nearly as big as the one used in the 'Vettes so I'm not too worried about it's strength. The bigger issue is the halfshafts and whatnot including stubs that bolt to it. It's a strong rear but you need to have good stuff bolted onto it which is why CVs are so popular. When my Us break I'll worry more about it. I expect to hit low 12s at least and would like 11s. Heck the JTR book even mentions a nasty fast Z with an R200 in it. So long as we've not got axle hop or fender wells hitting the tires on launch the R200 is apparently proving pretty durable. The R230 attraction isn't so much strength as it is availability in an LSD form with differentbetter ratios for some people. I won't swap mine out without very good reason... [ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Reading through the JTR directions they mention splicing into the wiring harness to rigger the fuel pump. The JDM Zs had electric fuel pumps and the wiring in the US market versions is there too but not used. When you break into the wiring harness up front where JTR mentions you'll find at least two green wires, one is much thicker and is what you want. I checked mine with an Ohmeter to be sure Anyway, a question and a tech tip. First - where does that green wire lead to on US Zs? Is it powered from the ignition circuit or what? Did the ysimply just leave the fuel pump off the US Zs and keep the wiring there? If so why are we splicing into the circuit at all - just to get the oil pressure switch in?! Is it ignition switched on JDM Zs? Just real curious since JTR tells us to CUT the silly harness - yuck! Secondly - for those of you using this wire do NOT splice into the harness - that's silly! Follow it up under the dash on the passenger side where there's a ton of connectors from the engine bay. You'll find that the thick green wire has a bullet connector up under there and you can disconnect it, crimp on your own "bullet" and run the wire into the engine bay with NO cutting of the stock harness I checked min with an Ohm meter and it's the SAME wire but I'd suggest you do the same to be sure. Anyway, thought I'd share and was hoping osmeone else might know where else that wire gets routed. With my cage I cannot easily follow it after the bullet and I was actually pretty lucky to find that connector at all - it was a surprise when I was trying to see where that wire migh lead. I don't see a thick green wire at the fusebox (sigh). Would the wiring diagrams show us even if it's not being used? If I'd had a battery in the car I'd have simply turned the ignition on and checked but... P.S. The black wire in the back for the old fuel pump ground is grunded on my car about 6 inchs back right to the frame. That wire doesn't go far at all and is the new ground for my Holly Blue

Ya' think?

Yeah, I know it's huge. Didn't have much time to play with it last night. Took the shots at MAX resolution too I've got Photoshop but it's not real helpful in that can't see the changes until after I've saved. PITA! Will hunt up the software you mentioned and try to cut them down (sigh). Interlacing brings the file size up too! Hrm, $89... not too bad - will trial it fiorst Thanks Pete! [ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Uh boy - I didn't know there was a difference in sides. I'm not noticing any binding but I've not driven it either. Guess my chances are 50/50 huh?

Okay wait a sec - we're talking the shafts w/Ujoints or the shafts that go into the diff itself? If the diff I'm cool - I swapped those puppies one at a time! If I screwed THAT up I'm a complete moron! My fingers are crossed