JMortensen

No one that I've known with an aluminum radiator has bolted it on with a flange. Seems like a REALLY bad idea to me, especially since my Z tore up a brass radiator, and I'm thinking it was from flexing the rad support. The people I know who have installed alum radiators made a couple of mounts about 6 inches wide that sat under the bottom corners of the radiator. The mounts were intentionally made big, so that they could use foam weatherstrip tape to line the mounts. They then used mounts that clamped down on the top of the radiator, also with foam weatherstrip. I know AZC's alum radiator bolts in, and I guess the MSA does too, but it never looked like a good idea to me. Jon

An 80 or newer will have reverse lockout, so you can stick a shifter in it and check for that. You could also mark the input shaft and the output shaft, turn the input and see if you can see a difference on the output. Might not be a big enough difference to see easily, but it is worth a shot. Jon

I feel like I'm responding to every post you put up. Just trying to help. Anyway, the 280Z and 280ZX NA will bolt right up. No halfshaft issues, no driveshaft issues. You'll need a mustache bar from a 280Z with R200. I think the R180 and R200 mounts are different, but I can't say 100% on that. If you get the 300ZXT diff, then you need the rear cover, side shafts, and yoke from a 280Z or ZX R200. If you get a 280ZXT then you just need the side shafts, or one of Ross's kits to convert to the CV's, or follow Pete Paraska's instructions on his website http://home.comcast.net/~pparaska/240ZCVHalfshaftConversion.htm if you're ok using the stock 25 spline 240 stub axles. Jon PS I think we've pretty much built the same car. PM me if you want to talk about that more, but aside from some minor differences we seem to be on the same page...

Mine works with the early booster. Maybe you didn't make the rod long enough??? Jon

Carb cleaner? Jon

Are you thinking of Dzus fasteners? Try racing outlets like Coleman or Racer Parts Wholesale, or Pegasus. Jon

The light is somewhat useful since it will basically be an idiot light to tell you if something goes wrong with the charging system. The light I got doesn't pull enough juice to excite the alternator, but a blip on the gas does. I wired mine inside the car and drilled a hole in the ashtray for it. I also had to use a diode like Moby since I had run-on problems when I first started out. Jon

If Clinton had gone into Iraq in '94 instead of sending in a couple of cruise missiles, no one would have any gripes about this whole thing. I think the WMD pretense for this is BS, and we had justification regardless of WMD's. Hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have taken him out in '91, but NO ONE wanted to do that back then. Funny to listen to Gore a few years back blaming Bush Sr, then look back a couple more years to his "We should not take out Saddam" stance from '91. I don't think Iraq has to be justified as part of the "war on terror". I think there was ample justification since Saddam didn't keep his end of the cease fire agreement from '91. IMO Dubya's biggest mistake was trying to justify this as part of the war on terror, and making such a big deal out of the WMD's. But that is just my interpretation. And calling Iraq a quagmire or comparing it to Vietnam is laughable. McNamara would have killed (maybe I should say would have killed MORE) for the type of gains we've made in Iraq in the timeframe that we have made them. I'm not happy that we are there either, but I think the opposition is on shaky ground with a lot of the rote arguments... As to why we supported Saddam or Usama in the past, people again look at the situation from the present viewpoint. At the time, Iran was a much bigger threat to us being a fundamentalist dictatorship than secular Iraq, so we supported Iraq. Same with Usama. It wasn't that we liked him, it was that we were fighting the cold war against Russia. The Northern Alliance guys aren't going to win any popularity contests here either, but they were the group best suited to fighting the Taliban. The US does this all the time. We have a choice of being isolationists which sucks, or getting into everyone's business which sucks. I can't tell whether we're making the right decisions or the wrong decisions in all of these cases, but it's more complicated than I think some of you are making it out to be. My $.02 political sense... Jon

How about rolling the fenders instead of replacing the tires? Jon

400 ps is 394.52 hp.

I think that post was by Terry (BlueOvalZ). I have stock not rolled fenders and 8" rims. I can stuff my 250 wide slicks on those tires and they still clear the struts and the fenders. You are right that I do have just a gnat's butt of clearance on the inside. I think my backspace is 5.25", because when I got my rims I realized that they were just a hair too offset to the inside, so I have to run a 1/4" spacer. I am not the best with this stuff, but I think you can fit a 10" rim with 4.5" or 4" BS and it will clear a ZG flare. ON3GO would probably have some good thoughts on this, and I know Terry is pretty knowledgeable in this area too, and Tim240z. Let me know what happens with this, if you don't mind. I've been considering the ZG's for a long time, and I know my tires would perform better on a 9.5" rim. Jon

Thanks guys. That's the info I was looking for DAW. Now I can look a little more intelligently. Jon

Nice numbers John!

You should have a little free play between the two. I think I set mine at about 1/8" free play. Also when I did mine a buddy and I made a new pushrod out of a bolt, because the stock rod was too short. We cut the bolt to the right length and ground the head off and made it smooth and round, and stuck a little grease in there so that it didn't wear the cup out. Jon

I assume by 10mm you mean 10mm fitting or nut. If that's the case, you can buy SAE size tube with a 10mm fitting on it, but I think you'd be OK with just using the closest SAE flare fitting, which I thought was 1/8", but it's been a while. If you haven't done double flared brake lines before the key is to chamfer the end of the tube before flaring it. I used a big drill bit. I think it was a 3/8" bit. Just stick it in the end of the tube and spin it with your fingers until it chamfers the end of the tube. Without the chamfer you'll never get a good flare, and it took me a while to figure that one out (no one there to show me). Jon

The speedo cable is wound the "wrong" way, so that if you have a leak at the tranny end, it will pull the oil out of the tranny right up the cable and dump it on your foot. I bought the seals and resealed mine about 5 years ago, and never had a problem since. Jon

I know this thing has a certain bling factor, and I know that 13000 rpm is ridiculous, but this would allow you to mill a head and not bother with shimming the cam towers and changing lash pads, assuming you had an adj cam gear. Plus should eliminate worn chain guides and tensioners, tensioner popping out on accident (I know there are other fixes for that) and should be quieter, more reliable (not really an issue, but looks more reliable) and would possibly eliminate some chain wear over time by controlling it better. EDIT-Did I mention more accurate timing? Or am I wrong? Jon

That tensioner setup is AWESOME!!! $383 according to a yen/dollar conversion calc. Has anyone seen a similar part in the US? Jon

Oh, that's a little different. I can't wait for the switch so the search works again. And thanks for the warning. Jon

If you're referring to the lack of customer service, I would imagine that a camshaft is a pretty safe bet. Just don't expect TEP to set it up for you over the phone. I think that is the cam I've been looking for all these years (specs look good). Gotta file this away and start saving... Jon

Majik, watch it again and take a look how some of the cars flip 5 times and have no real damage to the roof, then build your cage accordingly. Jon

Some really crazy crashes. Gotta be some deaths in here. Also, the world's crappiest house music is in the background, so mute it if you hate listening to the chipmunks on helium like I do. http://www.grandmasterspianos.com/rallymasters.wmv Jon

I bet the weight is pretty close to the vented 4x4 setup he took off. Those calipers are surprisingly light, and it is an aluminum hat setup. I probably wouldn't go that big either, but I don't think the weight penalty is that bad in comparison to what he had before. It could even be lighter. Jon

The early 70 and 71 boosters were a smaller size booster. I think in 72 they went to a larger diameter booster and I think the 2+2's had an even larger booster IIRC. I'm not sure if there is a clearance issue with a bigger booster in an earlier car, but I seem to remember my ex-roommate swapping with no problems. If you have a balance tube on your manifold then you'll be drawing vacuum from all cylinders. Sure a vacuum port in each runner would probably be more equal, but a balance tube does a reasonable job of pulling from all 6. I assume that you have a ZX master to go with your brake upgrade. That would increase your pedal effort quite a bit. The leverage ratio built into the pedal is for the smaller stock master. I have to hit my brake pedal hard, and yeah, it does get tiring after a 30 min track session. I would suggest that you get a bigger vacuum booster if you have the small one like I do, and see how that affects pedal effort. If you run into problems getting enough vacuum to the larger booster, then run the reservoir or the pump or both. I would think not enough vacuum would show up as a soft pedal that gets harder and harder the more times you step on it, with the engine running of course. You can try that with the engine off to see what I mean though. You'll probably get 3 or 4 pumps then it will be hard as a rock, and that's what it will feel like if the master isn't helping when the car is running. Jon

I've seen them on Z's owned by people who have said that they were necessary. I don't run one on my Z and my booster works the same as when I had a smaller cam and SU's, so I don't need one. I've got a .490/280 cam in my Z. I have the small booster, so that may make a difference. To me this is one of those things people buy because they are told they need it, and lots of times they don't. Kinda like oil coolers. There may be a need for one in my Z at some stage, but I'm not there yet... Jon