JMortensen

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I don't know if this is the "correct" way to do it, but I bet you could pack the pump with vaseline, then crank til you have oil pressure with the coil wire disconnected. The vaseline will just provide the pump with suction to pull oil out of the pan. Works for Toyotas. I think when I did my Z engine I just filled the pump with oil before starting then cranked for a while till I got some pressure, but it took longer than I expected. Jon

Yeah, the one I drove hauls balls...VERY IMPRESSIVE vs the old 350.

Just an explanation for Ivan: You: Me: I thought my comments had some bearing on the discussion. If you disagree, just ignore me like everyone else! I certainly wasn't aiming to piss you off. Jon

Not sure about Carbotech. Check the heat rating for the pad material and compare against the others. I know Ross sells them. I would use R4 or Hawk Blue pads, not sure about shoes. I think IIRC Porterfield makes an R4 shoe for the Z. Put some high temp brake fluid in there, and if the pedal starts to feel mushy ease off, pull in, and bleed the brakes. I've used ATE Super Blue and boiled it many times. I understand Ford HD has a lower boiling point, and Motul 600 has a higher boiling point. I've been very slightly mushy in one corner then went completely off the track in the next because I boiled the fluid. A buddy of mine with a 510 just went out to a track day on Blues. His gas slots were GONE at the end of the day but he had 2 drivers. Plan on replacing the rotors afterwards if you run the Blue pads. Hawk Blacks might work, but I don't know anyone who has run them on a Z to compare against. I'd be worried about overheating them. R4 never seemed to cause that much rotor wear for me FWIW, but they also didn't keep me from boiling the fluid. Have fun! Jon

I'll take another look at the Toy and Nissan for price considerations. Another fear with the Nissan is that it is generally a bad idea to buy a first model year of any vehicle. I remember my dad's 85 S10 Blazer. OMG what a POS! And when it broke (repeatedly) parts were impossible to find. We got stranded in Sandy UT for a week in the middle of summer because of that truck. I hated it. I am biased against Dodge because I saw way too many problems with brand new cars to feel comfortable when I worked for a Jeep/Eagle dealership. They may have gotten better like the Chevy and Ford trucks did, but I just don't think I'd be comfortable. As far as the twitchy throttle goes, I noticed that on my test drive but it was controllable. Jeep got in trouble for that a few years back IIRC. They want you to go drive the thing and touch the gas and have it leap forward so you think "WOW, this thing's got some power" but it can be a little dangerous. Thanks guys, keep it coming! Jon

Cost is the main issue. The Chevy runs about $25K after rebates and chiseling down the price. 0% financing too. I should probably take a look at the Japanese trucks, but if memory serves they would be $8k more or so. I will check into them though. Thanks Mike. Jon

My wife and I are considering the F150 or the 1500 Chevy or GMC trucks. Test driven both, like the Chevy better despite Motor Trend's opinion. My wife can barely see over the bed of the Ford, it has to be about 5' tall, and the cloth interior seemed cheap. Also no tach on the Ford. Looking at the 5.3L Chevy, 2wd, extra cab standard bed, or the F150 in similar trim with the 3 valve head, name escapes me right now, but the 4.8 or 4.9L motor. Anyone have any personal experience bad or good for us before we buy? I've never been a domestic truck fan, but they seem to have gotten A LOT better in the past few years... Jon

Go to Google at http://www.google.com and type in weapons of mass destruction and click on I'm feeling lucky. Pretty funny... Jon

I'm REALLY biased on this subject. Too much racing I guess. I can't stand a car that is 7 inches off the ground with no suspension travel and the wheels stuffed into the wheel wells. Too much rotating mass, no one makes brakes big enough to fill the wheels, and even if they did they would be such tremendous overkill it wouldn't be of any use anyway. Less rotating weight = faster acceleration and stopping, and brakes should be big enough for the car's usage and wheels should be big enough to fit the brakes IMO. But that's just this racer's humble perspective. I was at the track with my friend's girlfriend's brother and he was running a Civic on 18's. Full on ricer. By the end of the day he was actually pushing it pretty hard after a friend and I rode along with him for about an hour's worth of track time, showing him which one was the hole in the ground. Here's where the 18's came in handy: His brake pedal got mushy (probably from trying to stop all that rotating weight), and I was able to bleed his brakes by reaching through the spokes and attaching my bleeder bottle and cracking the lines open, from the outside of the car!!! Didn't even need to jack it up or anything!!! We joked at the time that we could have changed his brake pads without taking the wheels off! After that my friend GAVE him a set of 13 x 7 slicks, the car was MUUUCH faster, but about a month later he bought a set of 13" rotors and stuck the 18's back on the car. 13" rotors to haul a hatchback civic down from 90 mph. LAME. In his case he didn't want to go fast, he wanted to look cool to the rest of his "crew" and he told us as much, to his credit. If that's you're thing, then more power to you. Not my thing at all. Jon

I was about to order the Forza a few days ago, now I'm about to order the Ultra Shield. Anyone tried one? I've talked to 4 people who have sat in one, no one who has actually done some laps in one... Anyone with a Kirkey Intermediate Roadrace seat? Should be damn near the same thing... Thanks guys. Jon

I too am saddened by the udder lack of hooterificness on this post. I would think that akeizm is right, you overfilled the oil. The cap thing with the little stick has a dipstick on it. There is a line at the top for full and a line at the bottom for low level. I'd suggest you pull the bells off and clean up the oil from on top of the pistons. You should pull them off periodically just to clean the bells and the pistons so that everything stays clean and the pistons move up and down easily. ALWAYS be careful with the pistons so that you don't bend the needle. Don't set them down on the needle, and definitely don't drop them. I used ATF and then switched to Marvel mystery oil, both worked well for me. A friend of mine uses 20-50 in hers. When she tried a lighter oil her Z sputtered really bad. The pistons just went up too fast in hers, I think its a wear issue between the pistons and the bells on her car. As to the spark plug problem: Are you burning oil? You might want to try the next hotter plug if so. Good luck, Jon

WOW! That's really not a bad deal considering springs are included. Thanks for the follow up. Jon

Doug, that's funny. A friend of mine modded a stock seat, welded two big bolsters into the sides and covered with foam. He called it "The Iron Maiden." Aren't the OMP seats a little more expensive? At this point I think I've narrowed it down to these based on price: http://advanced-autosports.com/prod13_seats.htm http://www.soloracer.com/corbeauforza.html Forza is $200 delivered, the Ultra Shield is $280 before shipping. I know Ron C has the UltraShield in his replica. The UltraShield would be easier to mount (custom brackets for the Kirkey looks like it will work) and looks like a better constructed more purpose built race seat. Jon

I don't see why copper pipe wouldn't work. 510's have a steel pipe in the filler tube IIRC... Jon

I thought ALL L series were internally balanced... Seem to remember the stock 510 flywheels were very heavy, something like ~30 lbs. Someone explained it to me as a way to make up for the lack of torque. Not sure about the 6 bolt ones, probably the same thing the Z comes with. That's all hearsay, and relates to 5 bolt flywheels, but that's what I seem to remember.

http://www.lightningmotorsports.com/magnecor.htm I've known lots of American, Japanese, and Geman car racers, and most used Magnecor, and I've never heard a bad word about them yet. Personally I've been using NGK's, but it's time to change and I'm going with the Magnecors. Jon

Yes I have and it looks very supportive, although the huge shoulder wings look like they might cause problems. There's a similar one which I think Ron C has in his BRE replica which he says is even better although slightly more expensive but the name is escaping me right now. Main motivator for the Forza is $200 delivered! I'm going to go that way if the seat will fit. Jon

I think the Forza is a little different, has the shoulder wings on it. Here's a page with pics: http://www.4wheelerssupply.com/Products_00093/ I think I stumbled across a sweet deal on them, but I want to make sure they'll fit. Jon

So you guys were able to fit the Forza in a Z? Just trying to make sure that there are no issues with the shoulder supports hitting the door. Thanks for the info. Jon

Yeah, I know. I had a bad experience driving a friend's 510 with a Kirkey though. He is 6' 265 lbs and when I got in his car and tried to steer my elbows kept hitting the bolsters. I know the same would happen to my 5'4" 140 lb wife if I put her in a seat that fit me. She hasn't run the car in a few years, maybe I'll try to sneak it past her. Jon

The old Recaros aren't doing the job, so I'm looking for a cheap race seat that won't have me slammed up agains the door in right turns. Looking to see what people are using, how you like them, etc. I want a cheap seat, don't have money for $1000 CF seat. I think I've ruled out the Kirkey Intermediate, because my wife will occasionally run autox's too, and if I got a seat to fit me her elbows would hit the side bolsters when she steers. Thinking in the $300 or so range. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks. I'm 6' and 180 lbs, and like an upright seating position. Jon

Holy crap! That is my worst nightmare right there. If it were mine, I'd rip the whole damn harness out and start over. That is a serious rats' nest you've got there... Good luck! Jon

I love their soundboards: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/soundboards.shtml Especially the prank calls made with the soundboards. There are some REALLY funny Arnold Schwartzenegger ones. The Dr Phil stuff is pretty good, and the Jack Black stuff is hilarious too. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/morepranks.shtml

Agreed. The problem is that people BELIEVE this "news" that we get here, and if they don't, then a lot will turn to the damn BBC for "honest reporting". It's like when the war started. 3 days in and we were "hopelessly bogged down" and Bush's plan was "fatally flawed". I still can't believe how many Americans wanted America to LOSE the war, and still want us to fail in Iraq. If this were Vietnam we would have had control of Hanoi in 1966. I don't recall that happening. And Ted just sounds like an drunk idiot when he starts yelling, why his constituency hasn't figured that out I can't imagine. Maybe he just keeps getting re-elected out of reverence for his brothers... Jon