JMortensen

Get a Stone kit. Most quality machine shops will have them. Jon

Yeah, I guess I didn't realize HE was gonna do the sucking. Jon

This may have been discussed before but the offroad race trucks using this engine make HUGE power and sound insane! And they were NOT lacking top end power. Jon

Perry, if you're talking about being impaled by the strut tower bar, I think there would be other things to worry about before that. The length of my bars that go to the firewall are maybe 2' long, and they are tied into the area that ZR8ED mentioned, where there is a support underneath the cowl. For that to bar to impale the driver, it would have to move probably 4' or 5', and either come through the dash or follow it. You're already dead in that case!!! Jon

My old boss installed one of those that was given to him for free on his Astro Van 4.3. His result: no change whatsoever. He didn't dyno it or anything, but he couldn't tell the difference at all. Jon

ZX dizzy is a plug and play, and if you go MSD from there you can eliminate the module on the side of the distributor. I never had a module fail, but I did eventually eliminate the module just to take one more possible failure out of the system. The ZX has less mechanical advance than the early distributors too, so you can run more static advance. Here is a useful site that talks about 510's, but its the same stuff, just 4 pronged stator or 6 pronged stator: http://home.att.net/~jason510/Dizzy_FAQ.htm Jon

If you don't already have one get an air dam. They help a lot with crosswinds, and the floaty feeling at speed. Jon

The preload on the rear wheel bearings comes from the spacer that sits in between the bearings. The spacer is not collapsable, so no amount of torque would change the preload. You're basically just making sure that everything is TIGHT. Or am I wrong? Jon

There is a national minimum wage. I think it is $5.25, but then the states can choose to raise the minimum wage from there. If the govt took the advice you gave to give a minimum wage to every employee even in other countries, the companies would just move to the Carribean, where those laws don't apply. They already are to get away from taxes. The problem is that the tax burden on American companies is already too high. Adding costs by adding this minimum wage would drive the companies out of the US. And they would leave. "Proud to be an American" only goes so far especially when huge $$$ is on the line. Here's a scary story for you: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/08/270875.shtml That is a political forum, not a news story. Couldn't find the original CNN story... Apparenty the GOP has moved the fundraising telemarketers to INDIA. Maybe I'm the only one who is just learning about this now, but holy crap! This is bad. I can't believe that people running for political office in this country are outsourcing the campaign fundraising to other countries... apparently Ross Perot owns the company?!?! WTF!?!?! Jon

Z guy, I usually run front on 3 and back on 4 or 5, but you really have to just go and try it. You can make a significant difference in the car by changing the shock settings. Try 3 and 5 and if the back end is too loose try 3 and 4. Just go and have fun, and mess with the shock settings between runs. Don't forget your tire pressures, though. IME, they make about the same difference. So if your tires heat up and you are stuck playing with the shocks and don't pay attention to the tires, you won't be happy either. Driving on the street I usually take it down to 1 on both ends. Makes my kidneys happier. Jon

OMFG http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Oct2003/California.TMOA2003299_lrg.jpg

You may also want to consider shaving the tires as well, depending on what you decide on. My first set of comp tires were the old BFG R1's. I understand the new Kuhmos come with less tread, something like 4/32", so they don't need to be shaved. If you decide on A032's I think they would benefit from shaving as well as heat cycling. I tried to heat cycle that first set of R1's too, and that didn't work out too well. I went to the local canyon road and drove up and down and up and down, and couldn't bring them up to temp without going way past what was a safe speed on that road. Heat cycling in an oven is more even and is worth the $$$, IMO. Those R1's got the "groove of death" pretty quickly and they had 0 warning before they totally lost traction, so I ended up moving on to slicks, but shaving pretty much eliminates that groove of death problem, IIRC. Jon

I don't have a torque spec for you, but my ex-roommate and Nissan master tech always puts his impact gun on high and blasts away on them. That's how we did mine 6 years ago, probably 150 ft/lbs or 180 ft/lbs. I'm sure there is a torque spec, and I'm sure we did it the wrong way, but that's what he's done for a decade or more, and it seems to work. We peened the nut with a BFH and drift. One thing for sure, 1/2 ft/lb is not gonna cut it... Jon

Thanks. Jon

Dan, how come your hp and torque don't cross at 5252? Just curious. Jon

I don't like the huge tread blocks on the A032's. They are LOUD, especially if you run a lot of negative camber. Heard nothing but good things about the new Kuhmos, and they're cheap. I'd probably go that route myself. If you can fit a smaller wheel on there, that would give you a chance to run a much smaller diameter tire rather than just playing with the aspect ratio, and would also lower your effective gear ratio... Jon

I used to know a guy who's job was to go into the O.R. and tell the first timer surgeons where to cut, and basically walk them through the surgery. I was talking to him about it and he said to me "When you were in high school, how many of the kids that you thought were destined for medical school took shop classes?" I said none. He then told me that I was right on the mark, and that most of the surgeons he worked with didn't know which end of the hammer did what. And yes, the tools they use in the O.R. are drills, hammers, chisels, saws, etc. Every time I think of that it makes my toes curl... I wouldn't trust most of the medical school bound high school students I knew to make a LAMP for me, let alone hack thru my femur with a friggin saw. Jon

I think my second reply addressed that. This guy's chassis was TIRED, he would pull into parking lots and the thing squeaked big time. He is the guy I know who ripped off the A pillar at an autox! When that happened he welded the A pillar back on and added the bar. Made a big difference, and I think most of that came from tying into the roof and strut towers. Jon

OK, I commented on the strut tower bars, and you wanted comments on the roll bar . So I've got more for you: A friend of mine had a bar made which tied into the strut tops and had a plate welded from the map light area to the hoop. He said his plastic panels in the back no longer squeaked when he went into driveways. That's a pretty darn good indication that he had eliminated a lot of flex. Never seen another welded to the roof like his, but that's what I'm going to do when I do my cage for sure. Jon

When I installed my home made strut tower bars front and rear I went for a test drive. There was a turn in the road that I was very familiar with, a 15 mph bend over the crest of a hill, slightly off camber. The car had previously always pushed a little around that corner. When I drove it at the same speed as I always did with my strut tower bars on, I actually ran off the road on the INSIDE of the corner. What a HUGE difference they make!!! No push at all. I had to relearn the car! I never bothered with them because I had a negative attitude resulting from seeing too many Hondas with stock everything and a cold air intake and huge strut tower bar. Needless to say my prejudice against the bars was a little shortsighted. I still think you need to be pushing the car pretty hard to feel them, but when you get to that level, they are a necessity. I made mine from 5/8" ID aluminum tap tube from Coleman Racing. They were cheap to build and lightweight. Made brackets from 1/8" plate, and welded them to the strut towers. I also triangulated to the firewall in the front. Strut tower bars are now HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, IMO. Of course I have a 240, but just by the design of the strut towers I still think they will have a beneficial effect on your 280. I don't really have any comment as to how they will affect the cracking in the B pillar. Jon

FWIW I have yet to see a fast turbo'd Z at autox. I think Sleeper is right. Definitely brush up on your left foot braking. Jon

Stock tire size was 185/87/14 bias ply tire. That should pretty much cover it. Jon

Congrats to Aux for sucessfully using "f#cktards" in a sentence. I lived in Agoura Hills and watched the Malibu fire start about 1/4 mile from where I worked in what was that '95? It's just crazy how those winds can whip a fire. When the Malibu fire started there was a streak of burnt brush not more than 50 yards wide that went straight from the 101 towards the beach. It went as far as we could see from Lost Hills Rd into the canyons and out of sight in about 1 hour or so. Once it got into the canyons, that's when the firestorms started and all hell broke loose. If you live in the area and they tell you to evacuate, get the hell out. It gets crazy when the fire makes the wind that fuels the fire. Good luck CA, Jon

Maybe the "Underpants Gnomes" are diversifying... Jon

Guys, if you use a camber plate then you'll drop the height considerably without sectioning the struts. The rubber insulator at the top of the strut is really tall. I think if I remember properly my Ground Control "road race" camber plates dropped the car 1 to 1.5 inches by themselves. Then you have the threaded sleeve to adjust height on top of that, and apparently you can go about 2 inches from there before you need to consider sectioning the struts, according to the prevailing wisdom. I agree with the shop in the original post that you should get a shorter insert, just in case you decide to go lower at a later date. You then would not need to purchase new struts, just section and reinstall the inserts minus the spacers. I honestly do not know about the valving on the struts being different for different cars. I know that Tokico Illuminas are thought to be good to about 275 in/lb springs, any stiffer than that and you need Konis or better. Jon