JMortensen

Who did you use to get the Bilsteins revalved katman?

I've driven the Subaru and was really impressed. I really liked it, although I don't think it handled terribly well. I don't think either handles really good from the factory for that matter. I'm SURE I wouldn't be leaving either one stock. So one way of looking at it is this: If you bought the Subaru and put that extra $6K into mods, where would you be? Something tells me you'd be spanking some Evo butt, unless you bought some $6K spinner rims.

Ain't that the truth... I've fought the good fight there a couple times already trying to show them the path of righteousness when people started bashing V8 conversions. Zcar.com I just can't take. Seen enough posts with WRONG info I just can't deal with it. I gotta say I was totally misinformed and pretty adamently ignorant of the V8 thing when I first came here. I came reluctantly because the zhome.com email list and classiczcars.com couldn't answer my suspension questions. Anyway when my L6 blows up (unfortunately it only has about 1000 miles on it so far) I'm going V8. After years of trying to squeeze blood from a stone I've finally figured out how ignorant the purists really are, and this included me for a long time. Anyway that is a pretty sweet looking car. Not sure that I like those tail lights, but tail lights wouldn't keep me from buying were I in the market. Looks like it has a lot of the right stuff in it.

The gaps between ratios are biggest in the lower gears so the synchros have to work harder on the lower gears. When accelerating from 1st to 2nd the engine you push in the clutch, let off the gas, and while you're shifting the gears naturally want to slow down to the correct speed to hit 2nd. Downshifting from 2nd to 1st is the hardest shift you can make because the synchro has to bring the first gear cluster up to a speed much faster than it was going. So decel is a lot harder on the synchro than accel. This is why heel/toe is SO important. If the clutch is dragging a bit the synchros might not be able to overcome that extra bit of resistance, which is why I suggested that the hydraulics might be an issue. When my hydraulics went out (immediately after installing a stiffer than stock clutch) I had a very hard time getting the car into first and it would grind into 2nd, but after that it felt reasonably normal, but it just felt like the clutch pedal didn't have quite enough resistance. It deteriorated quickly and was pretty much undriveable with 3 days though. Sounds to me more and more like the synchros might have been damaged due to lack of fluid. I'd suggest something other than what is available at your local auto parts store. Try some SWEPCO 201 or some BG Synchroshift or Amsoil or something else. A really high quality lube makes a big difference.

There are easier ways to get a heims joint into the suspension. That is rc240z's car I think. He has a BRE replica. If you're not building a replica search for "custom lca" or "rod end lca" and you'll find lots of threads on chopping the control arm in half then putting a rod end on the end of it. The advantage there is that you can change the length of the rod end (and the TC rod when you do it that way too). I drove my car on the street for years with camber plates and rod ends on the control arms and TC rods. Wasn't a problem for me.

Zcarnut to the rescue! That's the first one I've seen where you can measure with the carrier in... thanks for the correction.

Crush sleeves usually take A LOT of torque to crush IME, like 350 to 400 ft lbs. Unless you really hammered on it probably not. If you want to check, get a beam or dial style in/lb torque wrench. Then use a 1/4 to 3/8 to 1/2 inch adapter and measure the resistance to turning the pinion. Not the initial resistance, but while slowly spinning it get a reading from the torque wrench. Then check that against the factory spec. Should be able to get that from a FSM. You have to do this measurement with the carrier out, BTW.

Had to search a couple times. "VW Bug" got it: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=100967

They're similar to Mustang Cobra and Vette calipers. I don't think the caliper is a legitimate issue anymore either. Basically your down to cost, or my argument would be that I want to run 15" rims...

Sounds like a synchro to me too. Or clutch hydraulics, like the clutch won't totally disengage because the throwout bearing isn't being pushed far enough into the pp (because you have a bad clutch master or slave or something like that). Did they explain to you how the Centerforce clutch was causing the shifting problems? Was it not letting go of the flywheel or pp or something? Because once you push the clutch in assuming everything hydraulic is working correctly the clutch shouldn't have anything to do with how the car shifts at all. Clutch issues can be tough to diagnose over the net, but blaming the CF clutch doesn't sound right to me. Not a fan of CF clutches at all, but I've never heard of them causing hard shifting unless the hydraulics was not up to snuff. Not enough oil is definitely a problem. Rectify that then start in on the other stuff.

In reading this whole thread thru again it seems that there are several people who had trouble using a 4 speed shifter in a 5 speed, not just MikeC. Sorry Mike for just dismissing your comment. So it seems that at least SOME of the 4 speed shifters don't work in SOME of the 5 speeds. I am very confident that any truck shifter will work in any non-turbo 5 speed. Like I said I've seen it with my own eyes on a 280Z 5 speed, running it currently in a ZX 5 speed, and I have a friend who uses the truck shifter in a roadster trans.

Better check the link he provided, looks like MM now makes a 13" rear. That was a big gripe for me too, which is why I asked about the rear. Looks like Ross has taken care of that issue.

Where's the rear?

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105954 Crush sleeves are NEVER used for pinion depth. Ever. Shims will set pinion depth, crush sleeves will set pinion bearing preload. On the R180 and R200, pinion bearing preload isn't set with a crush sleeve either. It's set with preload shims, so there is no crush sleeve at all.

Hmm. The Big Buddy is looking better and better... http://www.mrheater.com/productdetail.asp?id=784 Preith almost had me convinced on the bigger one, but that requires hoses to be run, and I think you make a good point about leaking propane in the garage... The nice thing about the Mr. Buddy and Big Buddy as I understand it is that they use the porcelain burner which gets super friggin hot and is supposed to put off less HCs than the cheapy Wal Mart style. At least that's what I've heard. The Big Buddy is 18000 BTUs and Preith's setup is 22000, so not a huge difference there. I suppose the other thing is that I'll constantly be going through small propane bottles. Then there are many vent holes in the top of the garage walls under the eves, so I suppose I could run a 20 lb tank then just use a flexible hose and keep the cylinder outside. Big Buddy ~$130, Garage heater model ~$250... still thinking but you guys are definitely helping a lot.

Sweet!

You can also download all of the SCCA rulebooks from their website. Might be a good idea to know what you're going to build before you start building it.

You'll only get about 8 gallons of gas in the tank.

I guess I'm wrong on that one. I must be thinking Chevy...

You weren't searching for the right thing. They're called vent hoses. They're a pain in the butt. Read some of these threads. http://forums.hybridz.org/search.php?searchid=258109

Any L series variant engined truck will work. I think that pretty much includes anything from the early 70's until at least the mid to late 80s. I'm not sure of any differences between them. I've just looked for shifters from trucks.

That looks nice 2manyZs and I appreciate the response. Too bad I don't have 220 in the garage. I actually bought a big ol propane heater from Harbor Freight last year like this one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45602, but then I realized that it needed a 20 gal propane tank outside and plumbing through the garage wall, so I returned it. I guess I should have mentioned that this is a rental house, so I don't want to do any permanent mods to the house for the heater, so it's pretty much going to be space heater or smaller propane tank style.

6 lug is 4wd. If you test how long the shift is on the truck stick it seems about normal, because the truck stick is like 18" tall. Once you get it cut down you'll really notice the difference. You're right about the stick though. I don't think you can go too much farther because it bottoms on the housing. Glad to see someone else did this. Sure beats a $100 aftermarket short shifter, eh?

Need garage heater. Must have garage heater. More importantly need advice from you all about garage heaters. I was looking at the Mr Buddy heater. Propane, good BTUs, safe for inside a garage supposedly. I'm a little nervous about using flame to heat the garage as it is full of flammable stuff, but I think this might be the way to go. Alternatively there are space heaters. We have a couple in the house and they are setting off the circuit breakers quite a bit. Since I have a detached garage I'd have to go all the way across the yard to flip the switch on a broken circuit, and that would be annoying. I have lots of bare exposed metal on the car right now. This is going to sound weird, but if I heat the garage to say 60º then it falls back to 30º is there a possibility that the air in the garage might go right past the dew point and get everything wet on the inside? I don't know or not, but it was a (probably irrational) fear that I had. So questions: 1. Propane or space heater or ??? 2. CO poisoning a big issue? I think most of the heaters have a CO safety shutoff. Can they be trusted? 3. Is this going to make the car rust faster? 4. Anyone suggest anything better for a garage heater with minimal space (600 ft sq) and no gas plumbed to it? Thanks guys.

If you swap a different motor you'll be in the insanely fast class for autox or roadracing. $4K is probably enough for a good suspension setup and an LSD. That will make you go a lot faster than any engine swap, especially at an autox. I'd much rather have a really good suspension with a 150 hp L24 than a 500 hp V8 with stock suspension at an autox. Put your money in the suspension first. Then brakes. Then start thinking about the engine. Of course this advice is totally ignoring whatever cage, fire suppression system, helmet, driving suit, etc might be needed for the road racing. Search the brakes/wheels/suspension forum, there is TONS of info on suspension mods and alignment settings etc. If you just want to do gnarly burn outs go do a V8 swap or a turbo swap and get your 300 hp and you're done.