randy 77zt

the old huge k&n i had on my 77z with 81 zxt engine wont fit in the space that i needed it to be in after megasquirt and intercooler install.clamping a filter on the turbo wont work since i run a/c/.went on k&n website-site is very good .found a filter and ordered it directly from the site.after i cut and weld some of that old ford diesel f250 intercooler piping i will have an air filter.if you go on the k&n website you can look in the universal section and find something to fit.

the need for speed is always there.since there is always speed limits on the street i being the gearhead that i am have a weakness for driving anything with a motor clamped on it.the motor is 300hp of mercury on a 1200 lb boat.winter in the delta in central california in not really that cold.so sunday was the day to hit the delta with some friends in thier boats.

my machinist is on a team that uses that engine in a bonnieville salt flat car.engine is making close to 500 hp normally asperated.engine will rev to 10,000 rpm but was limited to save alternators and a/c compressors.you need a bellhousing from a v6 5spd aerostar.good luck

my electrical system is modified but it seems to work good.car is a 77.i run a zxt internal regulated alternator.the output of the alternator goes on a short #10 wire directly to the bat terminal on the starter.the battery is in the back but i ran it on #2 welding cable and soldered lugs on.battery is a 925 amp odyssey dry cell i bought from john c.the ground side cable runs complete to the starter bolt on the engine.i have seen many problems with using car body for a high amperage ground.there is also a ground from the battery to the body and from the engine to the body.the megasquirt is mounted on the bulkhead behind passenger seat and the ms relay board is mounted behind the driver seat.the ms relay board is wired directly to the battery.all of my ms system run independantly of the old datsun wiring.do not buy alternators from kragens or discount places.a good alternator-starter shop is better.

i have some form of ms&se installed but bought the ms preassembled from foundsoul on msefi.com.tanks to mr.moby for posting his z file.i downloaded it and made a floppy for my 1996 vintage ibm laptop.since the injectors were the same size car runs fine in garage but i have been working on intercooler tubing.since i am a auto tecnician i have a hard time working on my car much.i am kind of burnt out after doing it all day.hope to make the car a 60 mile a day daily driver .will know soon.

bring lots of cd's or get xm or sirius-middle america has 2 kinds of music.country or western.some states are very anal about speeding.so if the locals are all doing 53 in a 55 take the hint.i wish you good luck.i co-drove a vette from orlando to sf bay area in 42 hours straight once but i will never do that again.didnt see much.

renting trucks-too much money.if you can put your stuff on palets and have it shipped on a freight truck it will be the cheapest way to go.if you do rent a truck stay away from uhaul.i rented a truck with a 24' box from ryder for a local move and was very happy with it.autotrans,turbodiesel and cold a/c.maybe if you rented a 24' box truck and put 1 car inside with your stuff and towed the other 1.car can loaded on a loading dock.i am wanting to move out of california myself.

mike -i hope your dad gets better soon.with your work schedule maybe you should try to make sure to take at least 1 day a week off.sometimes it is better to step back and get a better view of things.

225/50-15=shorter tire sidewalls.looks good but rougher ride than a 60 series tire.in run 215/60-15 on 15x7 wheels.but i run real stiff springs becuase i have a part time track car.the tires are part of the suspension.you have to have a priority.looks or function.my track tires are 225/50-15.car feels like it is on skateboard wheels.

get a 4 wheel alignment-if rear is toed out it will handle funny.get some tall skinny rally tires on steel wheels and put some studs in the tires.even if old tires have tread the rubber gets hard.

the infinity g35 is outselling them-i think it is a nicer looking car but if you are pure performance i would get a track version 350z .some places in the usa used sports cars dont resell well.how high will gas have to go before people give up on suv's.

is it 1 of those bolt on for 280z/zx motor?somebody doing a turbo/aftermarkit efi system will want it.i have an old twm 60mm on my car.if you are going to build your car up some day save it.otherwise its probably worth $50-$100 bucks.the intake manifold really needs to be worked on behind the throttle body ( porting work) to make it work.

the 82-83 trans has best 5th gear ratio.i use the 82-83 trans behind my turbo engine.i like how it shifts -and redline oil helps.i found the big ratio gap in early z 5 speed at sears point.2nd to 3rd is too far apart.good set up in a na car is 82/83 trans and 3.9 zx rear diff.in run a 3.7 lsd and car works good.

check fuel pressure under load.replace the fuel filter.the fuel pump is in the tank with the sender.you can replace it with a mustang pump.if want the car to run like new it will take some work.before obd2(1996) fords gave very little data output for diagnostics except for dtc's.if you have fuel pressure it could be a maf problem.these engines lived on the maf.try pricing some ford spark plug wires??$250+.cars were rev limited to save alternators and a/c compressors.dont use anything but motorcraft or ngk spark plugs.these cars are a major pain to work on .i work as a ford dealer tech.if you have to put a clutch in it the motor has to be hanged on a engine bar and the subframe has to be pulled.only real problem besides driveability was water pumps at about 120k miles.water pump runs on timing belt.clutch was to small for the engine.a/c systems always leaked.good luck.

a carb works from manifold vacuem.if you open up all those throttle blades you get no manifold vacuem.then you get bog.smaller chokes make more vacuem in the carb.the webers work best at very high rpms when used for some kind of closed course track racing.if you got 1 of those innovate lm1 mixture meters it would help on tuning by data logging the mixture while you drive.but carb guys are usually hardcore anti-electronic types.my choice of carbs for a street z would be some z-therapy modded su's.or efi.some help can be had by running some low gears in the rear like 3.9 and checking the advance curve in the distributor.

351w is the only motor to consider.i work as a ford tech.the late model ohc motors are junk compared to a 351w.example of ohc motor junk-connecting rods made of powdered metal.if you had yout heart set on a ohc motor i would get a motor from a lincoln navigator-5.4 liter with dohc heads.a set of cams and a aftermarkit efi system and it will make some hp.the ohc motors are huge in size because 1/2 of the motor is the heads.the 351w has as much aftermarket support as a sbc.all of the parts are in summit catalog.

if you put on a p90 head you might lose hp-p90 has a huge low compression combustion chamber.alot of people building full tilt turbo l28 use a n42 head.p90 with flat pistons would work.turbo pistons are dished.

make sure you have ms wired with a good ground(should be to battery) and power.do not trust grounding to car body.

not much to do on a diesel.just change the oil,air filter and make sure the fuel is clean with no water.europe has great diesel cars-i have heard of a 5 series bmw that gets 30+ mpg cruising at 100mph.its the nox emissions standards that kill diesel cars here.

i got one of those off of ebay.they are made for a 240sx.some body on the east coast was selling them.for $250 it looks like a $1000 spearco unit.very big.had to cut off the ends and weld on aluminum turbonetics elbows though .it covers about %80 of radiator.i am making the ic piping at this time.i am going to see how much hp a stock zxt motor will make with modern ic and efi system.

i would guess the country to be great britan-there are a lot of government supported people there.many woman make side money on top of government checks.

looks like a motorcycle exhaust-i wouldnt bother with titanium on a car.unless maybe a race car to get it to minimum weight spec for a class rule.

high nox is created by high combution chamber temps.the overheating didnt help it.it is usually the lack of egr flow that causes high nox.check by using a hand vacuem pump on egr valve at idle.engine should run rough or stall-indicating exhaust gas leaned out the engine.if the engine stumbled i connect a vacuem gauge with a t to egr valve and test drive-watch for vacuem at a steady speed.it might not be 15 or 30 mph though-the egr solonoid is ran by the ecm.sometimes doing a combustion chamber decarbonizing and getting the cooling system working properly will work-this is usually done on cars with no egr system.so make sure the egr system is operating as it was designed to when car was new and get the overheating fixed.egr is exhaust gas recirculation for non smog members..some countries are more concerned about unburnt hc and some about nox.nox is what makes a brown sky in southern california.every body should be concerned about unbunrt hc-its gas that didnt get burned-but you payed for it.proper tuning of your efi system will help.

i would probably suspect that since the lotus is an expensive little car it is bought by a few people with more money than driving talent.it is very easy to wreck any car if driven incorrectly on the street.at least at a race track you might only have to pull the weeds and mud out of it.if you try to drive any car at the limit on the street you can see the results on the elise door.i have not drove an elise.so i cannot have an honest opinion about 1.every thing is bs unless i have had a chance to drive 1 on a track i have driving time at.it would be great fun to line up an elise,2004 z06,subaru wrx sti,350z track edition,honda s2000,rx8,or anything else at my local track(thunderhill) for 10 timed laps.then i would have an honest opinion-not speculation.looks to me like the elise driver was lacking talent or common sense.

pull up next to dweeb with new civic si at stop light.light turns green-he lights it up and i crawl out of the light becuase i suspect cops are around.next light he does it again-i take off normal and nail it at the cross walk at the other side of the intersection.see ya.i ask him at the 3rd intersection if his car is fast.he shuts up.another dweeb in very ricey prelude pulls up net to me.i was driving girlfriends 2000 maxima.it was on the expressway at 12am sunday.take care of that buffoon to.i ask him if i need to go home and get my good car.a bunch of those fools live around my house.i really like the cars with the fart can mufflers that run automatic trans-seems like they hold 2nd gear for 30 seconds or so.if i was on my street bike i would be going 140mph and be in the next county by then.one of these days when i tow my friends car to the drag strip with my van i will clean it out and beat a honda with it-its a 96 ford e150 with a 5.8l and a few minor mods-it tows real good.