randy 77zt

Before I sold my z I used to run open track days with it.I used to like turn 10 at thunderhill-110 mph into a left hand 90 degree corner typical of a residential neighborhood.You could feel yourself being restrained by the seat belts .The hot track dot slicks(kumho v700) gave me traction that wasnt available on the street with cold street tires and inconsistant surface.I put some huge (345/35-17) rear tires and a disc brake kit on the rear of a fox body mustang for a friend.The huge rear tires got less grip under braking than the smaller tires that were on the car before the swap-the only way the huge tires would work would be under a road course condition where they were heated by use.Basically for looks only.I think a fair way of measuring a cars braking performance would be to measure g force under braking.I think there is an app for this on i-phones.Under some form of heavy duty use most people will find their brake system has been thrown out of balence (front x rear) by the brake mods they have chosen for their car.It took me 3 years of track days (3 or 4 times a year) to get my car to run with slower classes of trailered in race cars and pull decent lap times.My car could brake very hard on the street.I liked to scare passengers by running down freeway off ramps at 110 mph and pulling about 1g+ coming into a stop light with out any tire squeel.But if you jabbed the pedal or couldnt modulate the braking the car could have swapped ends becuase of too much rear brake bias-car was set up for track days.The brake set up on my car- 280 zx 15/16 master cylinder.4 piston toyota truck calipers.Drlled 84 300 zx rotors in front wih porterfield r4 pads.New brake line ran to the rear with Willwood proportioning valve by the gear shifter.84 300 zx rear rotors with 2 piston Willwood calipers with porterfield r4s pads.Ford motorcraft fluid-good stuff for free from work.The fluid was flushed before each track day.Brakes could be used with out thinking about overheating.My car was heavy-2650 lbs-1977 z with zxt motor and a/c.Stock s30 brakes will overheat and fade -or warp rotors.I did it.

If the crank you found local has a problem I have 1 in Modesto

I do work on cars -semi retired dealer tech.Pm if interested.

I usually run a tap down the holes.Then clean with brake parts cleaner and compressed air.If any of the shank(unthreaded section) of the bolts have rust pits they are trash-thats where they will snap.Alot of modern engines have torque to yield bolts that are not reusable.The arp head stud set isnt that expensive from Summit Racing-About $120-$150.That seems like alot but you have to consider if you want to do the job perfect the 1st time or end up doing the job over 2 weeks later.

http://jimroal.com/repair.html I used to work as a ford dealer tech for many years.This article is the truth.So you young guys that see the tech school commercials read up befroe going $30k in debt. http://www.martindale.com/appellate-practice-law/article_Fisher-Phillips-LLP_1702562.htm Some good news maybe?

Do use any kind of friction modifier in the oil?I used to use ford friction modifier with 90wt non-synth gear lube in mine-no noises.If you preload the clutch packs with the throttle while turning you are essentially locking the rear wheels together.You have alot of horsepower on tap so you have set up your clutch packs to grab .The clsd unit is a compromise-an all-gear gleason-torson unit would be smoother..If you use the car for drag strips then do any kind of road course/auto x the car set up will be a compromise-its a matter of personal taste.

I made a block off plate for the water pump and filled a crusty l28 block with the clr stuff you get at hardware stores.The soak time was 3 days.All rust was removed and results looks like a good old school hot tank job-bare grey metal.Stuff was $26/gallon though.I was %100 happy with the results.Rinsed very well with water when done.I would try vinegar becuse its cheaper bit I am kind of skeptical about it beating the clr.

If it goes through to the port it will be common pipe thread.You can get brass plugs at any hardware store.If it was a mounting boss for something it wont go into the port and will have a straight thread for a bolt-and wont need to be plugged

Best wires are made by a company called magnecor.Used on nascars and all forms of racing.All the wires are custom made.These wires emit very little rfi interference.No chinese junk from Summit Racing.

I have a set .Send pm if interested

I currently have a l28 block in my garage . am making a block off plate for the water pump and I am filling it with that CLR stuff from the hardware store.Stuff was $26/gallon though.Next time will try vinegar.

You can take the old z distributors apart and adjust the advance curves.That little plug on the back of the vacuem advance can has an adjustment under it.a l28 motor with 10-10.5 -1 compression will need a sorted distributor to work.Probably would need a retard down to 26-28 btdc at wot.That is what the vacuem can on the dizzy if for.The engine will criuse better at 36 btdc or so.Another problem is old injectors.There is a point in time where you have to quit buying used parts .Back in the 70's the gas didint have injector cleaner.If you pulled out the injectors and sent them to a good shop like Kinsler or Rc Engineering for a flow test you would probably find a big difference in flow on the set that came out of the car.Some flowing %60 -some flowing %90+ .If a guy knows how to tune the car It can be made to run well and pass smog.The gasoline is supposed to be burnt in the engine -not in a cat.A cat convertor is not a band aid for poor tuning.If you run a bunch of unburnt fuel through a convertor it will run hot and plug.A cam might reduce some Nox emissions becuase it would reduce cylinder pressure at the 15/25 mpg dyno test.but it usually will increase CO and unburnt Hc.I ran my 77 with a stock l28e for awhile with some clean up mods-like new injectors and a custom rebuilt distributor by me with a new advance curve.The car was very nice and smooth-but would run if you needed it too.

Becuase of hazmat disposal problems alot of machine shops dont have the good old caustic soda hot tanks anymore.It was well worth the $40 or so for a good hot tank cleaning-everything stripped to clean shiny metal.I have heard that clr stuff you get at the hardware store works on rusty water jackets.Trying that next week.

I cant say anthing about engineering but I can tell you about about working as a mechanic/technician on cars and light trucks .It sucks.Its all piece work-if the shop has no work you go home with no money.All of the labor operations have a set amount of time-if you run into a problem its your dime.I spent 20 years as a Ford dealer tech.The guys that do heavy engine repair and trans repair have it the worst.I missed a broken sealing ring on a transmission rebuild 1 time and since the vehicle was a comeback I spent a whole day correcting the problem-for free.I laugh at those tech college ads on tv.They wont teach you how to pencil whip a repair order .The guys I know still working at dealerships are making less now than in the early 2000's.My opinion on aerospace-alot of it is related to defense spending in the federal government.The democrats hate defense spending.There are still a few places in california that companies like Lockheed or Boeing are doing R&D.Your best bet would be to take any kind of summer job or take some summer school to try and graduate early.

Make sure your fuel pressure stays up at high rpm-if not you are paying dyno time for a problem you missed .I am guilty of this.In a powerful car on the street this is hard to catch.Its cheaper to learn from other peoples mistakes..The dyno will find all the weakness in your set up.

The big end on the rods probably are 3mm smaller than stock.The rod journals were ground off center-the side of the crank throw in the center has had the 3 mm gorund off-Not 1.5 mm all around.Most modern high rpm engines have the wrist pin mounted close close to the ring stack and the pistons are short to reduce weight.Having a smaller rod bearing inside diameter reudces friction.If you build a stroker motor with a diesel crank if the rotating assembly(pistons,rods,crank) is balenced alot of weight has to be removed from the crank counterweights.Its probably cheaper in the end to just offset grind a standard common l28 crank.

Part not found-refer to Mr Zen

I might have 1-I will check

Mattsun-if you use chevy ls coils you dont need coil drivers.The ls coils have built in drivers.I wired an old ms1 directly to the ls coils.But they had to be run in waste spark mode.cylinder 1+6 2+5 3+4.The ms 1 did not have the capability to run a full sequential efi system.To go full sequential(spark + injectors) you need a more advanced ecm with more inputs and outputs.+ you need a cam position sensor.the ms1 will drive a stock 280xzxt coil+ power transistor.Those super coils that diy efi sells with the built in coil driver can be used as a single coil wired to a distributor.If you know your electronic parts well you will find many ways to solve a problem.My zxt engine was originally an 81 so I had the 81 90 tooth crank pulley laying around.I have seen many very nice builds of crank wheels and sensors on this site but I prefer to use as few parts as possable.

I have a pair of 280zxt cv axles for sale

I have a rh door for a 75 -free you pick up missing lock cyl-complete with hinges glass door panel

You would get more power from some well tuned su carbs.The oem intake manifold is restrictive-study the bend that the air has to take for #1 cylinder .A year or 2 back another member on here welded some injector bungs into a l24 dual carb manifold and used 2 l28et throttle bodies on it and got good results.There are no easy bolt on parts for z's=its fab it your self.To get max power from the 3.1 you would need an itb intake /manifold combo + some kind of modern(not 20 year old junk) efi system.No buying ready made parts from a magazine.Any modern efi system will require you to build a custom wire harness for it.A stout 3.1 should see 250+rwhp.

I have a set of 81-83 zxt cv axles but no adaptors.If you want them send me a pm.

Good write up-info.My opinion would be that most cars are designed to understeer at the limit in stock condition.And the suspension pivot points are usually higher from the ground in the rear than in the front of an average front motor-trar drive car.on my z I raised the roll center on the front.

I have found mustangs on the copart(salvage/insurence auction) website for $1500.That is for a complete car as a wrecker would get it.Problem is you need a license to bid on them.510six bought a complete gm 5.3 engine/trans/wiring package down in Fresno for $1300.If you get away from the bay area things get cheaper.With the modern engines around it really doesnt pay to mess with old school stuff anymore.http://www.copart.com/c2/homeSearch.html?_eventId=changePage&execution=e4s1&_lastAction=lotCompare&listType=&highlightedLotId=0&currentPage=1&currentPageSet=0&sortColumn=&ascending=true&showImage=true&freshRequired=true&eventId=&searchType=ON_SALE_NOW&omniSorting=&omniSortZipClicked=&subfilterForceRequery=false&subfilterYear=&subfilterMake=&subfilterModel=&subfilterFacility=&subfilterSaleDate=&subfilterStateType=&subfilterPrimaryDamage=&resetChosenFilters=&returnPage=SEARCH_RESULTS&mainFilterSelect=%23&filterZipCode=