JMortensen

Why not just use the stock intake manifold (maybe port it a bit) and run an aftermarket computer? I haven't looked into this too far, but that would be my best suggestion for building on a budget. Something like a Megasquirt N Spark or something, then all you need is a custom header for the exhaust and whatever sensors are necessary for the intake. BTW are you SURE that you have 45 mm Webers with 32mm venturis? You measured the holes on the MANIFOLD side of the carburetors, right??? The carb throat has a bell shape to it and the holes are larger on the air horn side than the intake manifold side.

Read the complaint to find out what the specific problem was: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1124041declar1.html If you look at Statement of Fact 40 it says that the following were prohibited: a. Excerpts from the "Frame of Government of Pennsylvania" by William Penn b. Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence c. Excerpts from various state constitutions d. A handout entitled "What Great Leaders Have Said About The Bible" e. "The Rights of Colonists" by Samuel Adams f. Excerpts from George Washington's journal g. Excerpts from John Adam's diary h. Excerpts from "The Principles of Natural Law" by Jean-Jaques Burlamaqui i. A handout entitled "Fact Sheet: Currency & Coins - History of "In God We Trust" As far as I can tell the only one of these that isn't a PRIMARY SOURCE is the Fact Sheet handout. We've got really serious problems when we turn away from learning history through primary sources because they aren't politically correct. Of course this is the statement of facts from one side only, so there may be more to learn about it, but I can't see ANY reason why ANY part of the Declaration of Independence should be off limits for study or discussion.

I saw the Nissan Motorsports 240SX from a couple years back at Buttonwillow and peeked underneath to find a quick change solid rear axle. Trans Am has solid rear axles. You can definitely make a solid axle handle. The only thing that weirds me out about the solid axle is the model he chose...57 Olds??? Wonder how hard it is to get parts for that one... Still, if I were in the market I'd look at that Z really hard. Looks pretty damn good on the surface.

I think he's talking ITB's, or individual throttle bodies like this: http://www.twminduction.com/ThrottleBody/ThrottleBody-FR.html The only thing similar between triples and throttle bodies is the intake manifold. Since you would have to make your own manifold, they would have absolutely nothing in common. You might want to try selling the webers to offset the cost of the ITBs if you really want to do this. Just as a reminder though, John Coffey doesn't have ITB's on his 320hp NA L series. I think with a properly sized and designed intake manifold the single throttle body isn't the restriction.

Apparently you can only polish a turd up to the A pillar...

MSD unit: http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=110&Ntk=KeywordSearch&Ntt=msd+6&x=13&y=14 MSD coil: http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=110&Ntk=KeywordSearch&Ntt=msd+blaster Crap, that didn't work. Well click on the first link and look down the page a little and find the MSD 6A or the MSD 6AL units and check em out. Then click on the second and look for the MSD Blaster II coil, and check it out.

Just wanted to clarify something... The MSD (Multiple Spark Discharge) 6 or 7 units fire three times up to 3000 rpm. After that it does the normal spark thing, but it does put out more voltage than the stock ignition system. These units run anywhere from $120 to ~$250. The MSD COIL is a high voltage coil, but does not get you three sparks. It just gives you a higher than stock voltage spark if used in a stock system. Also I would be shocked if the stock ignition system put out 50K volts. I would suspect 25,000 or 30,000 volts. Having been hit with both the stock system and the MSD, the MSD is DEFINITELY making a hotter spark. EDIT-- One more thing. The MSD unit will make a difference. On a stock system just changing to a higher voltage coil won't do much of anything at all. So do the MSD and the coil or don't bother would be my advice.

From the auction: The most expensive thing he's got on there is the Weber carb setup, or maybe the seats. The roadrace V8 that just got posted might very well be worth $15K. This one is not. EDIT--Yeah, what you said!!!

This is a pretty constant thread on the IZCC email list. I can't believe what people think their Z is worth. I sure as hell hope that he doesn't get $15K for that car, not because I don't like the guy (I don't know him or anything about him), but because I want to keep my parts cars cheap. I've bought 6 Z's and ZX's for parts for under $500 each now. That's the good thing about Z's IMO. The first Z I bought was an unmolested '72 that I bought from the original owner, always garaged, no rust, paid $2000. My current Z was bought for $1250. Seems the "collectors" have unrealistic expectations for the value of a Z. The problem will come when ratty Z's actually start selling for $10K... Then I'll have to switch to RX7's or Miatas or something... Then there is my friend's '69. She ended up selling it about a year ago for $7 or $8K IIRC, and it was SWEET. Had a couple very minor rust issues, 60K original miles, numbers matched, had the early crankshaft, etc. I had believed all the hype and thought she would get $10K or $12K for it, ended up quite a bit less than that even though it was genuinely a rare car.

The pivot height doesn't determine the shift throw. The distance from the pivot to the ball (or the cup shaped bushing) at the end of the shifter does. The distance between the pivot and the ball is longer on the truck shifter. I see why you would ask if you need to raise the pivot. You would think that the shift linkage is solid and that you would need the higher pivot to hook up a longer shifter, or else it wouldn't fit. For whatever reason this is not the case. It just plugs in. There is no interference, and no vertical pressure on the pin that goes thru the shaft. I would think that the shift linkage inside the trans moves up and down a little bit because no matter what shifter you have the ball is going to be lower in neutral than when it is in gear. But that is just a guess, I don't know for sure. What I do know is that the truck shifter works, and that it is a lot longer between the pivot and the ball than the regular Z shifter. I learned about the truck shifter from a Nissan Master tech, and I've used one since I got my ZX 5 speed ~8 years ago. All of my friends use this same shifter in 510s and Z's as well. So that's probably 12 transmissions over the years (Z, ZX, 4 speed, 5 speed) using this shifter. None has moved the pivot.

What is up with Juan lately? Juan, you out there??? I've been getting emails back whenever I try to contact him...

Nope. Just plug and play.

I've never done it myself and I'm no expert, but I used to order glass on a weekly basis, and I thought that tempered glass could be cut with a water jet saw. That was the impression I got from the glass company anyway.

I took a friend for a ride on a twisty road in my Z. Coming up over a rise with a little lip at the top I got slightly out of shape, I took the 15 mph turn at ~50, etc. It was fun. We get back to his place and he says: "You wanna ride in a really fast Z you should get a ride with Jason... his still has all the stock suspension but he's got a V8 and he just steps on the gas and it goes completely sideways!" Different strokes for different folks I guess. I'm at ~240whp and I wish I had 300, but I think it helped that I built it up really slowly and didn't just jump into a Z with a whole buttload of power and then try to figure out how to drive it.

The companies offer the warranties because nobody takes them up on it. I warrantied a Tokico strut and they were pretty particular. I had to give a copy of the original receipt and get a return number. When the strut blew I sent it to them and they refused it. When I got it back I called, then I got a specific set of instructions on how to return it for warranty work.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm

Look in the album section under video and "powerslide" and you'll see my Z getting sideways then accelerating and decelerating right in front of the camera. I'm running a MSA P.O.S. 6-1 header with 2.5 mandrel exhaust into the SuperTurbo. JC Whitney used to have them for ~$30.

From Gordon's website because I haven't seen a more thorough explanation anywhere: The website has pics too and you can really see what he's talking about.

I think if the A arm was bent you'd see it. I think it is the spindle pin hole that is misaligned. It only has to be a bit off and by the time you get all the way out to the end of the tire that little error is magnified a lot. If it makes you feel any better I bought a new rear sway bar that I can't use and a bunch of material that I can't use too, so you're not the only one having trouble with this project...

Sounds like another one of those badly manufactured struts to me. They basically drill the hole for the spindle pin is drilled at an angle. This small error is magnified by the time you get to the end of the tire. I don't know if there is a test to see if the hole is drilled wrong, or if it is more of a "if everything else looks straight it's probably a manufacturing error" thing. EDIT--You might PM John Coffey. I know he's seen this firsthand. I'm not sure about fixing this with our toe adjuster either. That is a lot of misalignment on the bushings...

That's a great story Alex. I'm not sure I could have taken the high road like you did, I think the urge to spell it out that he lost the job because he was an ass would have overtaken me.

The few pilots that I've seen with problems never made audible noise, but they all had trouble getting into 1st gear from neutral, because the input shaft didn't want to disengage from the flywheel even with the clutch pedal depressed. FWIW, I've never seen the bronze bushing fail, but I've seen several pilot bearings fail in this manner. I don't know what perceived benefit the bearing is supposed to provide over the bushing, but I don't run a bearing for that reason. Sounds like stuff coming loose to me Dan. Maybe its time to safety wire the crank bolts or get one of those high dollar harmonic dampeners.

I dug up that pic... You can see that the ramps and the pin are the same on both sides which makes it a 2 way.

Yep, it's a 2 way. Here's a link to my pics of mine that I got from a 300ZXT: http://hybridz.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=34048 Oops, pics aren't there anymore since the switch. It was definitely a 2 way.

I believe that was Lou Gigliotti from the Speed World Challenge series. Definitely a road race car, looked like it had a super tall 1st gear in the first video, something good for those 50 mph rolling starts.