JMortensen

It's not so much the smoking, it is the highly explosive hydrogen gas that worries me. Static electricity would pose a risk if the concentration of hydrogen got high enough. Plus it is noxious. I don't know how it could charge and not release hydrogen. Maybe it can??? Again, I don't know if it would be a risk or not, but I'd rather have the battery in a sealed compartment in any case. Same with the fuel cell. Jon

There was a V8 Z sold on ebay maybe 6 months ago or a little more, red, and it looked very similar to the pics you've got there. Particularly the flares look the same. I don't think it had a spoiler on the back, IIRC. That Z looked pretty good IMO, had a full cage, fuel cell, V8 may have been supercharged. I didn't save any pics, maybe someone has them stored somewhere. Jon

Isn't there another danger besides the battery getting torn open and spilling acid? Like the explosive hydrogen that they release when charging??? Not sure exactly how dangerous that is, but I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable smoking in my Z while sitting on the battery... Jon

This may be a stupid question, but how much coolant pressure is really needed? The pressure at the cap obviously comes from the coolant heating up, not the water pump pressure. I would think that as long as you have enough flow to keep it circulating well, pressure in a cooling system is a moot point. Or am I missing something? Jon

I PM'd you Clifton. Jon

OK. That's interesting. I've seen MANY American diffs fail when the pinion loses a tooth or the ring loses a tooth. Apparently that's not as much of a problem with our R's. Jon

I stand corrected. Don't they pretty much run 230* or more most of the time? I had heard that the thermostat opened really high, and a friend of mine with a newer Vette said that 245 was still in the middle of the gauge. It just always seemed like a bad idea to run that hot all the time. If not, then great. It's just something that's made me hesitate on the LS1 for a long time. Jon

My buddy's diesel rabbit smoked like Cheech and Chong, and it was putting out all of 45hp. I think it has to do with the fuel more than anything else. Jon

Isn't there some point at which you have to take the ring and pinion size into account? Maybe I'm not giving the R160 or the R180 enough credit, but I don't see people running 300 hp in front of Ford 6.25 rear ends, especially with a low gear ratio where you won't have very much pinion and ring contact area. Also I would like to point out that a big smoky burnout with an LSD and a bunch of autoxing won't be nearly as hard on the ring and pinion as a drag race launch with no or little tire slippage. LSD yes, R&P no. Not saying Savage is wrong (obviously experience is king), just saying that drag racing is going to stress the ring and pinion a lot, especially for people on slicks, not to mention guys with trans brakes. Jon

I eliminated the vapor tank and could only put 8 gallons of gas in the tank. Don't do it. Get a fuel cell. Jon

Aerodynamically I think that is a pretty good design. Front of the fender is bulged to push the air over the wheels. Rear is sloped into the wheel well and narrower than the front, instead of having a big lip hanging out to catch air and force it into the wheel well. I think its not terribly attractive too, BTW, but if I were gonna try for a land speed record, that's probably a lot like what I would come up with for the fenders (or closed wheel wells). Not so sure about the hood on that red one though. That one looks a little too vented. Jon

Because its a diesel. That's just what they do. Jon

I couldn't believe those stories when I first heard about them. Powerstrokes with 750 hp and 1100 ft/lb torque and crap like that. Propane injection, huge turbos, just crazy stuff. It's nice to finally see a video. You gotta wonder how many transmissions and axles those guys are going through... Looks like the hot drag tire setup may be a BFG All Terrain!!! Front and back!!! Thanks Drax. Jon

Find a different mechanic, first of all. When I worked as a mechanic if I did a job and something went wrong, I would tell the customer rather than trying to pass the buck. If anything else goes wrong when this guy works on the car you're likely not to have it tended to by him, at least not without a lot of resistance. You got cross drilled rotors from Nissan Comp? I don't even remember them carrying cross drilled rotors. Anyway, sounds like they are warped from your description. The problem is that when you lathe cross drilled rotors, you have to chamfer each hole so that there is not a sharp edge, otherwise the pads can get chewed up like a cheese grater. You can check on pricing, but it may be cheaper and easier to get new rotors. I got the PowerStop crossdrilled rotors, which are Brembos, and I've thoroughly abused them and they have yet to warp. I think I've boiled the brake fluid at least 5 times and they're still straight. Also IME Metal Masters will eat the wrong compound rotor in an amazingly short amount of time. I haven't been happy with them on the street, and they are HORRIBLE at the track, so I would suggest that you try a different pad as well. Maybe a stock nissan pad, or a Porterfield R4S pad if you're feeling racy. Jon

I think getting rid of the stock LS1 computer controls would be great for hot rodders that want to put them in an old T bucket or something. When you get an LS1 equipped car, can you tweak it so that the thermostat doesn't have to open at 245*, or is that not one of the things that you can mess with? That thermostat has got to hurt power (I know they did it for mpg), and decrease longevity of the engine, and that in and of itself might be a reason to swap out. I've always wondered how much room you have to play when you take a car to the track and it's cooling system starts to operate at 245. Seems like Vettes and Camaros would be really prone to overheating. Pretending at advocating for mephistopholes... Jon

28 Jon

What about me Bastaad? Tuning Mikunis is a little difficult, but it's not impossible. I had a buddy who knew more about it than me when I started, and I can now say with some certainty that I know more about them now than he does. It just takes some practice. I can say that a drag race style start is faster with the Mikunis than my old SU's, but if I drive an autocross and have to pull from 2K, then the SU's are faster IME. I have yet to find a shop that knows how to tune them, but I'm sure they are out there. I think I've got some more hp that I can squeeze out with a dyno day, too. Jon

I used to go shooting A LOT. I remember when I was 18 going to the gun store and asking for a box of 44 mag shells (my buddy had a T/C Contender, and we were going to the pistol silhouette range). They told me I couldn't buy "handgun" ammo but I could by rifle ammo. What kind of sense does that make??? That really pissed me off. I told them I had a Marlin lever action 44 mag rifle, so would they sell it to me? No was the answer. Then I asked for some .223 ammo. No problem. Needless to say, at the range we switched barrels and I was shooting targets with .223 out of the Contender, which is a handgun. I also asked if I could buy .22 ammo. Nope. But they had no problem selling me 20 guage shotgun shells! Freakin stupid gun laws! At 18 I could die for my country, but I couldn't buy a beer, and I could shoot shotguns all day long, but I couldn't be trusted with a .22. Before they started checking ID's when I was 16 I used to go get 500 rounds of shotgun and pistol and rifle ammo and me and my buddy would go to the range and shoot all damn day. The range wouldn't check either. I never caused a problem, so why would they??? Who comes up with these laws??? Obviously people who've never shot a gun in their lives. I guess it's my libertarian ethics or something, but I don't see a problem with 18 year olds buying whatever ammo they want. When they do something illegal, then and only then should they should be punished severely. But that all goes out the window when the laws don't make any sense!!! My still pissed off about it a decade later $.02, Jon

I put Nissan door weatherstrips on my car when I had it painted. I had to SLAM the doors to get them to close, then the weatherstrips fell apart. I took them back to Nissan, they replaced the first set saying "They've probably been on the shelf for 20 years" and gave me a new set. The second set took another year to fall apart. I've given up on the factory stuff. DON'T SPEND THE $$$ ON FACTORY W/S. My $.02, Jon

Stanza, I think. Jon

You're right Tim, but even if he's not convicted, he's still pretty damn creepy... Jon

We used to have a REALLY fast EP Ford Fiesta in our autox club. You don't know how many Vettes and Stangs I saw pointing and laughing when they came in, and crying when they went out. Another case in point is the 2 separate Vipers I beat in my Toyota P/U. They weren't too happy either... Our club rented a track and I passed that Fiesta at about 40 mph faster than him. I thought he was broken!!! Sleeper is right, autox is definitely not a hp game. Jon

Dammit! Now I gotta clean up all those icons on my desktop so I can see the dang car! Jon

Good one!!! Turbo and V8 guys can take a joke or two or three, can't they??? We'll soon see... Jon

Good to know utvolman99! Finally a law that makes sense! Jon