randy 77zt

probably more cars built in mexico than in usa.just got back from cabo san lucas.lots of new cars there.used to be a tech at ford dealers.ford focus is built in mexico.since most cars are assembled from out sourced parts it would be hard for somebody to build a completely mexican car

my fav tool-ingersol rand ir244 1/2 impact gun-if it dosent come off it breaks it .there are newer -lighter guns.but the 244 works for years.used to do alot of work on motorhome suspensions and you couldnt get a 3/4 gun in tight spots.

i am surprised that more stuff like that dosnt happen in california

i have a few 81-82-83 zxt ecu.do you have a box #?i had 81zxt efi in my 77 for many years and found i could use any 81-83 zxt box

i was down in sydney in june of 2008 for a 2 week vacation.those holden pick-ups should be imported to the usa.the new chevy elcamino?the gto's werent as popular as gm hoped they would be.what makes the lsx swap expensive is finding a t56 trans

tempered-can i come over to check out your parts stash-i have a friend who is starting a v8 z project in tulare.send me a pm

if you just put some channel for the wheels on the boat trailer it shouldnt weigh more than 1000lb.i tow my car with a ford e150 van.5.8l with the big e4od trans.tows great .engine has bigger exhaust and a ecm reflash.i have had to pick-ups before this and i like the van better.i sleep in it in the pits at 2 day events.no need for motel room.

mine had 1 of those space savers you have to inflate .i cant use it because it woont fit over my brakes.never been inflated-like new condition.pm if interested

send an email to randy3116@sbcglobal.net and i will reply with pics

i have a few but i need the number.i used to run 81zxt efi and found any 81-83zxt ecm would work

i dont run camber plates in back .but i have coil overs.the aluminum spring seat rides on the old rubber spring isolator.no problems.i had camber plates but the monoball was rattling and it drove me nuts-those things were right behind my head

i have 1 that needs no work -i wouldnt even regrind it.send me a pm.located in modesto ca

if you back east guys knew how the weather works in bakersfield you would probably give up on welding in rusted floors and buy those cars.cars dont rust there.it rains about 8" a year in bakersfield..then the sun comes out and dries the water up.problem is the sun eats up all plastic parts.i have parted out z's that had rust free bodies.my 77 has lived all of its life here in central california(dry farming area) and has only surface rust in places like the battery box.we dont all surf everyday here in cali.i have dairy farms 3 miles from my house

the engine probably has a 82-83 dizzy on it .i have a zxt crank sensor if you want 1.i modded my 81zxt crank wheel to a 30-1 by grinding out every 2nd& 3rd tooth.the i mounted a hall effect gear tooth sensor to run aftermarket efi system.some efi systems could read 81 zxt crank sensor

the problem with bikes is that the cool looking fast bikes suck to ride for a long ride and the good long distance bikes are ugly.i bought a 2002 yamaha fz1 new and still have it.currently has about 22k miles on it.the bike works great but-the seat is too close to the pegs or my legs are too long.i was in las vegas for a week and rented a bmw r1200gs(so called adventure bike)for 2 days and did a ride through death valley.did about 150 miles of dirt.bike is very tall and you would have to be at least 5'8" to ride it.i really like that bike.its kind of ugly.but it settled into a good 90 mph criuse with the grip warmers on no problem.young guys buy sport bikes but eventually they either give up on bikes or move out of sport bikes.the insurence is only expensive if you want full coverage.my fz1 has never had full coverage because when it was new i was quoted $2400 a year.at 42 years old with no tickets i wasnt going to pay that much.i got basic pl/pd with a big uninsured motorist coverage instead.most of the young guys with liter bikes if i check out the tires they have squid strips-they are only worn in the middle

i need to get 1 of those license plate frames that says i am the stig.maybe the american version will get it together but i doubt it.i will watch both but prefer bbc version

i think that what you will find is that anything with a small motor will get 13-17 mpg towing on level ground.a late model chevy with 4.8 or 5.3 will get the same and have power to pull around trucks.if you get a small truck with an auto trans dont exxpect it to last long.it just gets down to how often and what kind of terrain you are towing on.if you only have a track event 4 or 5 times a year and its all flat freeway there a small truck will work .anything else will cause excess wear on the little truck.i used to do side work repairing boats and towed the with a 1988 ford ranger with a 2.9v6.it got 14 mpg while towing at 65mph.the is no way anything will break 20 or even 18 mpg loaded

later model 1/2 ton chevy with a 5.3 makes a good tow rig for something under 5000 lbs.any trailer more than 3000lbs is required to have brakes in california -probably is the same i most other states.i got the crap scared out of me 1 time towing a z out of laguna seca with no trailer brakes behind a ford ranger.road out of laguna is very steep-no stoppy on truck.i currently use a ford e150 van with a 5.8 and e4od trans.van has good towing power and is good to sleep in at night to save on motels.you will not get gas mileage on anything while towing-gas mileage is a function of moving weight-you will burn just as much gas with a v6 mini truck towing 3500lbs as you would a full sized modern pu.stay away from ford diesel trucks with 6.0 engine

the first megasquirt install i did on my car i triggered the ms with magnets in my flywheel .the ms fired the oem turbo power transistor/coil assembly.becuase of wear and the amount of parts involved i had about 4 degrees of timing jump when checking ign timing.now i run the 81zxt toothed crank wheel with 61 teeth removed to make a 30-1 pattern with a cherry gear tooth sensor.coils are chevy lsx

since timz works in the engineering end of auto manufacturing he would have inside knowledge of the dbw throttle.i worked as a ford dealer tecnhnician for 20 years plus have a 2 year electronics degree.lets say somebody swaps in a chevy lsx dbw motor into a z.they get lazy and dont hook up the brake light switch,speed sensors and other inputs.in a stock oem car if the throttle went wot and the driver hit the brake pedal the ecm would probably shut the car down if it couldnt return the engine back to idle speed.in the car with the engine swap the ecm wouldnt know what was going due to the lack of input sensors and somebody would get a wild ride.the programming in the oem ecm's doesnt operate the dbw throttle blade in a linear response compared to what you are doing to the gas pedal.the gas pedal input to the ecm isnt the only sensor the ecm uses to compute dbw throttle blade angle.the ecm in a modern car does many things you dont know about while you are driving.my work with ford is a good example of non-linear throttle feel-fords fell very soft from a take off.my stepson had a 2001 nissan senta ser-the throttle would spin the tire at low throttle settings to make you think it was a fast car.i use a vipec v44 efi computor to run my z engine.the vipec v88 will operate a dbw throttle body.i have 10 thumbs with software-if i put dbw into my car it would probably never be working correctly-i lose patience with software

bikes are like tools -you buy them for the type of riding you will do.of the 1300cc sport touring bikes that would be my pick.unless you had wads of money then it would be a bwm k bike.rode a honda st1300 2 weeks ago when i swapped with my fz1 for awhile.found it to work well but very boring.according to that bike spec sheet on the back page of cycle world your bike has the same ergos as mine.i found the leg space a little cramped.i rented a bmw r1200gs in las vegas last winter for 2 days and did a overnighter to death valley-including 100 miles of dirt road .i need the leg room of a more upright kind of bike -like a r1200 gs,ktm 990 adv,or suzuki v-strom..if you ever want to ride the west you can ship it to me and fly out-i can handle the pick-up and reship back for you.i am currently prepping a honda xr650r for a trip from san felipe to cabo in baja.i am sure you will be happy with the fjr.it will just need tires and oil changes.i got my fz1 in 2002 and its never had a spark plug pulled out of it

newer cars use the dbw throttle system for many functions .like cruise control,traction control and emission control.remember back in the 70's and 80's that belt driven smog air pump that dumped air into the exhaust?job is now handled by the efi ecm and the dbw throttle.when you let off of the gas rolling down to a stop sign the ecm cuts the fuel but the dbw leaves the throttle open-same job performed with less parts.

putting my turbo motor back together after i cracked a piston ring land.cam is the isky 290/280 duration 490/480 lift turbo cam.intake valve is suposed to open at 26btdc and close at 74 after bottem dead center.exhaust is suposed to open at 74 before bottem dead center and close at 26 after tdc.these specs are at .050 lift.problem is if i set the cam up for the intake valve to close at the spec on the cam card the intake valve opens at 32 after tdc.the exhaust valve will close at spec but opens at 10 before bottem dead center.to get the cam to these specs i had to retard the cam gear 2 teeth from the normal line up the links/dots settings.cam was not checked before removal-i dont know what the cam timing was set at.i have been playing with this thing for hours-i am just happy its not in the car.somehow i dont agree with the cam card on the exhaust opening -74 before bottem dead center-seems like the piston is still in the middle of the power/combustion stroke.any body had this problem?

gm pcm would be good-it has readily available software

gm pcm would be good-it has readily available software