JMortensen

So to sum up, I've read many many articles on rod ratio in the past few days, and I've searched this forum as well. It appears that despite the worse rod ratio of a stroker, the limits of rpms seems to be more connected to the oiling capacity than the rod ratio itself. That being said, more displacement gives more power, so the stroker seems to be the best way to go, and using the longest rod available for the stroker motor is a good idea. Anyone think I need a rectal/cranium extraction for saying the above??? Jon

I am really curious about this subject. What I wanna know is about rod ratios. If your rod ratio is 1.5, then you are subjecting the pistons to a lot of side load, and your pistons move faster, and they do not stay at TDC as long so aren't able to take advantage of the burn as much. Better rod ratio, say 1.8 means that the pistons move slower (higher redline), you have more leverage on the crank, and less side load on the pistons. How big a difference does that make??? Apparently most don't think that a 383 is a bad idea despite a less desireable rod ratio. Is .2 or .3 difference in the ratio a deal breaker??? Does this only come into play at 5000 rpm and higher? Still confused about rod ratios... Jon

I'm no big fan of TEP, but I've been to their shop and they know what they are doing, at least to some extent. Just don't believe their hp ratings. I would bet that they had a set of duals for a 510 or a 2002, and they grabbed another carb to throw in the box they sent to you. Sounds like maybe the third was a return... or maybe they ran out of the proper length stud??? I still can't understand exactly what the problem is, and I know that others have had problems of one sort or another with them previously, but this sounds like a simple mistake. Steve is the owner, and he'll usually listen to you if you are spending money there. He's given one friend of mine completely incorrect advice, and sent another the wrong parts, but in general he's not a complete idiot. Jon

Funny that this should come up. I just PM'd Jeromio this morning asking if he tried to find a poly bushing that would be small enough so that you don't have to cut the top of the crossmember. This post answers all of the questions I had. I like PParaska's mount or Ron Tyler's if you prefer, but I think I'm going to go with Matt's because I have an extra crossmember and diff mount to take measurements from... I love this forum, Jon

Are they the ones selling you a new windshield when it scratches so bad you can't see out of it anymore??? I would not use wipers on Lexan. I wouldn't even use paper towels on Lexan. Soft cloth and soap and water only!!! Jon

Yeah, go register for the draft too... Jon

ON3GO, weren't you just recently talking about putting a playstation in your car? Which way do you want to go? Lightweight, or electronics? No stereo, no speakers, no DVD, no Playstation no Monster Cables. That will save a lot of weight. I don't think the stock tank is all that heavy either. Maybe 15 lbs??? Lexan saves weight, but it scratches REALLY EASILY (even the "scratch resistant stuff), and when exposed to chemicals like gas fumes eventually gets a rainbow effect a lot like oil on water. I've got an extra set of quarter windows, and was thinking of putting Lexan in them, but then I thought that I might save 1 lb in glass on a good day and the effort involved wasn't worth it. The hatch glass would be worth it, but not on a street driver, not if you like to see behind you... Interesting side note about ADDING weight: I used to autox with this group that had 3 Manx VWs on slicks. They were really fast. One of the guys had 40lbs of barbell weights welded to the left front bumper. He said his Manx ran 11's, and I believe him. He also said that it was impossible to control at the strip without the weights on the front bumper, and without the tire pressures being something like 12 lbs left rear and 20 lbs right rear. Anything else and the car would lift the front end and make a sharp right turn right into the wall!!! Jon

What??? I don't get it??? Jon

That looks like very clean work! Are you going to relocate the battery? Doesn't look like you left room, and by your sig I'm thinking maybe you wanted space on either side for dual exhaust for a V8. Good job! Jon

Someone brought up before that the 12.19" rotors are used in circle track with steel wheels. He said it, and it made sense, but I never heard a confirmation on that from anyone else that this combo would work on a Z. If they would fit under 15" steel wheels that would probably be my route anyway, since the kit is already available and yes, the bigger rotor would be a huge advantage. Plus you can order any offset you want, and if you bend one it's $50 to replace... Jon

Juan, I really want to see what you come up with on this one. My beef with the Toy calipers is WEIGHT! If you do a Wilwood caliper you can probably cut 8 or 9 lbs off each corner vs Toyota. Jon

You would need shims under the valve springs because of the longer valves, which will get you the correct seat pressure, but it still won't help them with the main problem, which is coil bind. If you run a cam with anything over about .460 lift you'll need aftermarket springs. The aftermarket springs are actually longer, and the retainers are differently shaped to accomodate them. This and the higher spring rate (less coils per inch) allows the valve to move farther before the coils bind. I put Schneider valve springs and retainers from MSA in my last buildup, and so far have not had any problems, except that when my machinist was working on the head he found that at full lift the retainer actually hit the valve seal, so he had to turn down the bottom part of the retainers in a lathe to fix. Make sure you don't get a spring that is too stiff, as they will wear out the rockers and cam quickly, some of the aftermarket stuff is really stiff, but I can't remember which. I also can't remember the seat pressures and the compressed pressures of my Schneider stuff, but my machinist thought they would be fine for a long time. This stuff can get pretty complicated. Ask as many questions as you can if you're in doubt at all... Jon

OK but how about the way the intake tubing is bent all over the place like a bad exhaust system? I know what the engineers are doing, they are using the bends and sometimes pieces of tubing that come off the intake and go nowhere to cancel sound resonance, but surely the convoluted SHAPE has to hurt performance. Just a little devil's advocate here... BTW, I love the drop in K&N's and have put them in every car I've owned, except my Z which has an ITG. The only reason I buy them though is to save $$$. Use and clean vs. use and trash... Jon

Sectioning the struts would be WAY easier IMO, and you'd get the same effect. The rally cars do it for more travel without really raising the ride height and cg too much, IIRC, so the car doesn't look and drive like its on stilts. If you aren't looking for 9" of travel, then you can section the struts, run the struts closer to the top of the travel, and have more bump travel available. If you aren't hitting the bumpstops then I don't suggest you do any of this. Maybe switch to a softer spring or different strut cartridge. I don't know what your spring rates are, but not everyone wants to drive around in a Z with 300 lb springs and Illuminas on 5. Jon

You describe getting "reflective" paint because your Z got hot in the sun. But your engine isn't going to get hot from the outside. It will be cooled by the outside, since the underhood temps should in every case be lower than the water temperature. So you want the block surface to get as much of the water temp heat as possible, so the air coming through the radiator and past the block can take it away. The answer is black. Speed Racer is right. You probably read black was best in How to Hotrod, BTW. BRE used to paint all of their motors black. Jon

Lots of rally cars do that, so the idea at least is good, but how far can you go before you hit the hood? Not too far, I think. Jon

Look at the gear ratios too, not just the 2 overdrive thing. There is a T56 with a very tall 1st gear. That is the one to buy IMO. You could put seriously low rear gears in and still be able to cruise on the freeway without annoyingly high rpms, and since 1st is so tall and the gear spacing so tight, it would be really cool for a car with a big cam or something that has a narrower powerband. The T56C as listed on the following page would be a total waste IMO unless you wanted to try and get 40 mpg while cruising down the freeway at 800 rpm. I can't imagine 1st gear being usable beyond 20 mph with a reasonable rear gear in a V8. http://www.bigfastcar.com/transmissions.asp Jon

Good to know. Thanks, Jon

Kinda like Desmotronic pistons in a weird way. Too bad they use a standard cylinder head. You would think that with a Desmotronic head or rotary valves you could get some serious rpms going. Jon

Ground Control now makes a strut that is good enough for super high spring rates. Price is high (compared to a set of Tokicos or Konis), and if I recall correctly they only fit 280Z tubes. Also, front springs seem long. Not sure if you'll have a problem, just commenting. Jon

Also you could put a cyl at TDC then use an air gun in the spark plug hole. If the air comes right out the intake or exhaust port, that would be a pretty good sign. Jon

Check the valve lash. Should be way outta whack if the valves are bent. I suppose that if they just barely hit then they could still be pretty close, but if pistons and valves smacked hard they should be pretty easy to tell. Jon

Cool! If you have any questions shoot me a PM. If I knew then what I know now I could have saved 1000's of $$$. Jon

That's interesting, as I had heard that you could not swap the pivots out. Sounds like you have done this before, or are at least sure that it will work on the head you are building. One more rumor debunked! Jon

Check this out: http://www.geocities.com/zgarage2001/p90.html If you haven't already seen it it has some good info. Also, I thought P90a was the hydraulic head. Jon