jhaag

I bought and then returned Griffin's 26" x 19" radiator recently. I can't remember the part number but it was their basic model. My car is a 79 so I don't know if there are any changes in measurements. The 26 x 19 fit beautifully. However, I wanted to mount a Flexalite dual fan arrangement on it but the lower right hose attachment point on the radiator is angled somewhat (not perpendicular to the radiator) which interfered with mounting the dual fans. I decided to spend some more time thinking about options and returned the radiator and fan to Summit. I thought it was a bit cheesy, though, that the radiator didn't have a drain **** on it. Ross Corrigan in Vancouver has a Griffin radiator. My car has AC and power steering so it's more cramped in the engine compartment than his. John Haag

MSA used my car as the prototype for making their ZX V8 conversion kit. I've never seen the mounts they now have for sale so I can't swear that they are the same but logic would suggest they're the same. I tried to take some decent photos (with a borrowed camera) of my mounts but all I got were some very marginal photos that probably wouldn't be very helpful. If you have some specific questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them. John Haag

If all other conditions were equal, would a longer glass pack be quieter than a shorter one? I've seen some that are 25" and 40". If all other conditions were equal, would a glasspack with a larger pipe diameter (3" versus 2") be quieter? I'm trying to get a handle on how side exhausts could be made quieter than the ones I've heard on Cobras. Thanks John

Fast Frog: I'm not a Denver native. Moved here in 1981 after living in Wisconsin and Minnesota for 30 years-brrrrr. Went to aircraft mechanic school here before I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. John

Fast Frog: Here is some info that might get you an answer to your question. You can probably tell I've been thinking about the side exhaust idea for some time I've done some digging on several of the Cobra web sites: http://www.cobraforum.com/ http://www.cobracountry.com/ http://www.clubcobra.com/ http://www.cobrarestorers.com/ I'm guessing that since Cobras and side exhausts seem to go hand in hand, you'd be able to get some answers to your question. I think a lot of the Cobra replica companies make their own side exhausts. I don't know the size, or whether they sell only the side exhaust (minus the Cobra!) but I've always liked the look of these "swirled" (for lack of a better word) pipes. http://vipercarparts.com/group/cobrette.html Cobra Accessories sells side pipes at http://www.cobraaccessories.com/ (see page 9) but I don't know what size. Continuing on the Cobra idea as a source of side exhaust info, I've gotten some fast, friendly answers from the Mile High Cobra Club at http://www.milehicobraclub.com/ The "Real KitCar Online" site (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2021/bgcobra.html) is from a guy in Ontario. He lists links to many of the Cobra kit builders, many of whom probably make their own side exhausts.

My '79 ZX has power steering w/ an '89 350 engine. I'm leaning toward removing it, though, since I'd like to free up some room in the engine compartment plus I don't think I'll need it. However, removing it isn't a project I'm going to do in the next month or two. John

I found the series of four magazines at a place called Car Books in Denver. He sells new and used books, magazines, posters, etc. I don't have the phone number handy but I suspect he'd ship. There were duplicate copies of at least one of the magazines in the series. As I recall, several of the articles were only in black and white--I'd have to check when I get home. The Hot Rod's cost me $2 each. John

Thanks for the reference to the book. I'll start looking for it. I was able to get a copy of the Popular Hot Rodding magazine and the Hot Rod (four part series on the car) article(s). John

Thanks for the reference to the magazine. I'm off to the used magazine store now. John

I'm interested in seeing pictures of the car described here. Could you tell me the name and date of the '78 magazine? What is the title and who is the author of the customizing book? There are several good used magazine/book stores around here. Thanks. John Haag

Apparently the standards for how much pollution is allowable are tightened frequently (yearly?) and when his instruments measured my emissions in 1995, they qualified as 'gross polluter." Of course, my emissions were in complete compliance with the 1979 standards but in relation to the small amounts of pollution that were allowed on 1995 cars, my car (with the stock 79 engine) got labeled as a polluter. With my 89 engine, I FAR exceed what is necessary for a 79 vintage car. The professor is nationally known but there are some who call him Dr. Quack too, so there certainly is a difference of opinion on what is good or not good. I mostly found the whole episode to be amusing.

Vinh: When I saw your message, I wondered if you might be the same Vinh who owns the yellow ZX with the nice bodywork. I had saved some photos you'd posted somewhere else. Sure enough, when I went to your web site, you turned out to be the one. Welcome! I like what you've done with the rear of the car--no bumper and with the aero rear quarter panels. I also like the vents you put in the sides of the front fenders. As far as your question, I chose to put in a later model (89) 350 with the pollution control equipment. Why? One reason (not the main one) is that I work at a university where there is a nationally known air quality scientist. He had his monitors set up to check the cars entering the parking lot one day. My stock 79 engine, while it was well tuned, qualified as a "gross polluter" in his measurement system. Ouch!! The real reason I chose my engine, however, is because I wanted fuel injection and there happened to be an 89 at the local junk yard. The price would be a lot lower now (!) than it was 5 years ago. Radically reducing my pollution levels was a nice side benefit. However, I drive my car so little that even with the original engine, the volume of pollutants I was putting into the air was small. I live in Denver which has a serious air quality problem in the winter. John

Dan: Coincidences! My TPI is out of a GTA Firebird as well, except it's an '89. Scanning pages of the book would be nice but the only one I have access to is at work and I haven't used it yet (it's currently not hooked up to a computer--it's a long story...). So for me, faxing is best if you want some pages. Anything in particular? John

Offhand, I'm not sure of the model of Mustang (SVO?) but I've read that they come with 13" brakes. Has anyone tried converting these to a Z (or ZX in my case)?

Does anyone know what wheels are in the photo or have any information on this car? http://www.overboost.com/pix.asp?image=./images/216/full/DSCN3671.jpg I'm also curious if anyone knows why the photo won't print. Is it encrypted? All I get is a completely black page when I try to print it. Thanks John

I called a car book store here in Denver (called Car Books!) but they said they were out of stock and probably wouldn't get any in until early to mid-January. I've got a copy but I don't want to sell it. I'd be happy to copy some pages for you if you send me your fax number but I know that isn't nearly as good as having your own copy. John

I'd be happy to fax copies of some pages of the JTR book on TPI swaps. Send me your fax number (my email address is jhaag@du.edu ) or call me (home is 303-781-3184). I only have email access at work so I won't be able to see any emails from you over the holidays. but I'll see any emails sent before the end of Friday 12/22. John Haag

While I have a V8 in my '79 Zx, I can't answer your questions. A new wire harness was used (from Ron Francis' Wire Works) along with the GM computer (my engine was an 89 TPI 350 out of a Firebird) being reprogrammed to be a speed density system. If you are planning to use a GM 350 with tuned port injection, you may want to get the other JTR book on TPI swaps. I wish I could answer your questions but..... John Haag

Head: My ZX has power steering (recirculating ball) so the steering box (not sure if this is the right term) is mounted to the subframe near where the steering shaft enters the engine compartment. The recirculating ball steering seems like a more complicated (space consuming) system than the rack & pinion. I suspect it would be a lot of work to convert to non-power rack & pinion steering (I'm not sure what options were offered) but I've always wondered about the room that might be freed up. Someone (Ross?) has looked into doing this on his ZX - I doubt the the car would be much harder to steer but it would be hard to tell without a side-by-side comparison. I know I've saved several posts on this topic from the IZCC list.

Not sure if this long post will be of any use to anyone but here goes. Would I have done things differently if I knew then what I know now and IF the HybridZ forum existed back then? Yes. But that was then and this is now--this is the route I took, given that I didn't have a garage or many tools at that time either. About 6 years ago I approached Motorsport Auto about using my 79 280 ZX as the prototype for developing their V8 conversion kit for the second generation Zs. They agreed after we talked about it for some time so I dropped my car off in LA (I live in the Denver area), paid for the parts/engine/trans (they paid for the labor of putting it together) and took a plane home. A California speed shop actually did the work and after about three months I picked up the car. I was mostly satisfied with how it all worked out although there were several areas that left me rolling my eyes. The engine/trans is a 350 TPI/700R4 from an 89 Firebird Trans-Am GTA (245hp stock--the original engine had 130 hp which was the lowest, I think, of any Z/ZX). The computer was modified to make it a speed density system rather than a mass air flow system--I was too ignorant at the time to know that I wouldn't have made this change but a lot of street rodders do this. The engine sits low enough in the car that the only mod necessary to close the stock hood was to grind about 1/8" off of the corner of the alternator housing. To date the car remains virtually stock except for poly bushings and stainless brake lines. Since Datsun went towards the luxury performance market with the ZX in 1979, the car had air conditioning, power steering (recirculating ball), power brakes, electric windows, power mirrors, etc. etc. I happen to like the 79-83 ZX 'look' the best (but not necessarily all the options) of any of the different generations of Z cars [i know I'm in the minority on this ]. All the options, however, make access in the engine compartment a little (!) difficult. What I didn't like about the the conversion was how much of the wiring/hoses could have been hidden or routed in such a way as to free up a lot of space in the engine compartment. I was also not impressed by the fact that they used stock exhaust manifolds instead of fabricating headers which is what I thought they agreed to do. Ah well....what's done is done. I'm not ragging on MSA since I think both of us could have done a better job of putting on paper exactly what we were agreeing to. Live and learn! I REALLY like the car a lot and now that I've just finished my garage, bought a mig welder/air compressor/more tools, I feel able to dig into modifying the car to how I think it should have been done in the first place. I just purchased a Griffin radiator and twin puller fans--MSA used the stock radiator with a small puller fan which worked OK but not well. I pulled the battery out last night and cut out the old battery tray. I'm leaning towards Ross Corrigan's technique of mounting the battery (an Optima--no fumes or acid to leak out) in the storage compartment behind the passenger seat with a battery cut-off switch. I saw his car this summer and really liked what he had done--a great deal of thought went into it. I'm going to fabricate some kind of air intake from the area in front of the radiator. I have a million ideas but have just gotten to the point where I am ready to start doing something. Headers are high on my list (as are side exhausts) but I think they'll have to be custom made. Living in the metro Denver area and having a 79 model car mean I need to use cats to be legal. I've found a place that sells round cats and I have some ideas (we'll see how goothey are!). It's a labor of love like all of our cars. Some ideas will work and some won't. I often need to remind myself that enjoying the process is just as important as the eventual outcome. Whew, this was a long post! John Haag

I like the "twisted" look of the pipes going into the collector in this photo of a Group 5 Cobra kit car. http://www.vipercarparts.com/group5/images/cob2.jpg It's a nice twist (pun intended) on the standard side exhaust. I've been thinking about the idea of situating the side exhaust into the area behind the rocker panel so it doesn't stick down so far. I've also been considering the collector pipes exiting through the lower part of the fender rather than under the car. I've got several photos at home and tomorrow I'll see if someone can show me how to use the scanner at my office. And thanks to dewzenol for posting the Overboost.com web site address. There are some nice looking Zs there!

Al: I live in Englewood (near the University of Denver) and have the JTR V8 Z book and the JTR Tuned Port Injection (TPI) swap book (also excellent). I'd be happy to let you look at either one. My work number is 303-871-4309 (the best way to reach me) and my home number is 303-781-3184.

Someone informed me that there is another photo of the side exhausts at http://www.2xtreme.net/fredkatz/sfrun400.html It's the second photo at the top of the page. Double click on it to enlarge it. I'm told the photo was taken by Fred Katz who is a member of the Roadster club.

Several people think the Z in the photo ( http://www.jps.net/zparts/sidebars/sb_fantasy/bo_v8_blue_l.htm )is mine. Unfortunately, it is not. I merely posted the photo for everyone's enjoyment. The caption says it is owned by Mark Owens and that is all I know about it. Eric Nyerlin took the photo and may have more details if you are interested. His email is zparts@jps.net and his web address is http://www.jps.net/zparts

Eric Nyerlin is a pretty good photographer. A number of times people have thought his photos were too good to be true. He says the only thing he retouches is stuff around the photo (oil stains on the pavement, etc.) but never the photo itself unless he clearly indicates what's been done. He showed me a photo of this same car that he used Adobe Photoshop to play around on it. It looked nice but was pretty different--I prefer the real photo. I wish I had the talent to take such nice shots; I'm sure it takes tons of practice.