randy 77zt

in an early (70 to 73) light weight z a sr20 det set way back against the fire wall would make a great track car.suggestions for mounting engine-cut off oem mounts from cross member and put engine on a new cross member behind original.you could put some angle iron on top of frame rails and build a tubular crossmember/engine brackit with some urathene bushings.i have many fabrication tools-send me an email when ready.car will probably end up 45%/55% front to rear.the engine bay will have lots of room.could probably move radiator back and run a huge intercooler and have it all hidden.

my 77 z has working factory a/c.it blows real cold but would like more volume/air speed from vents.heard a zx blower motor is better and is a bolt in .any other suggestions?will probaly set it up with a relay on the high blow position like a gm.

when i put an i/c in my i probably will use steel mandrel bends from summit then have them coated with a thin coat of that truck bed coating for looks and insulation.i have a mig welder-i dont want to try aluminum.but i have some i/c tuubing out of ford powerstroke truck engines.

i have a set of blue print /plans for a mini off road car that uses a street bike motor like a hyabusa.the sand dune guys run a lot of single seat sand cars with bike motors.get as much suspension travel as possable.if you want a set of plans i could have them copies at kinkos but i dont know what cost will be.

i have not tried this yet but 90's ford ranger 2.3 had rollar cam followers.i will have to get a ford part and try it on my spare motor.

i wish you luck .i have worked on cars as a profession for 20 years and am looking for a way to quit.when you do it for a living after awhile it kills working on cars for a hobby.i use a hunter 4 wheel alighnment machine at work and it would work good for race car use if it had some wheel scale pads on it.you might try doing a corner weight/set up service for local racers that are busy.most alignment shops dont like working on lowered/modified cars so if you can carve a niche for your business you will be busy.

the manifolds shrink from the heat and a lot of them cracked from uneven exhaust port temps from gas that had no injector cleaner add in early 80's.i have 2 besides the 1 on my car and 1 of them has been machined flat at by my machinest.i think cartech in texas makes a turbo header but it is bucks.

aod has perf parts out for it thanks to the 5.0 stang crowd.if rebuilt with correct parts it will work well.a rod can be made to use a auto trans z car shifter for that oem sleeper look.aod would work great with 3.55 r200 or a 3.7 r200 lsd.

these engines like to rev and work with a 3.55 rear well.engine is wide .sump on oil pan is in rear.block is aluminum.you would need to buy an evtm manual(ford wiring harness diagram) book for a 98 mustang.probably not the most powerfull but would run good in light car and a good install job would be a show stopper at next motorsport show.

went to a ford factory training school last thursday/friday.found out the instructor has a NEW (not fired up yet) dohc 4.6 cobra engine+trans and all ecm,wiring ,afm,h-pipe,air filter housing,throttle cable.engine has serpentine belt on and has a/c and power steering pump & alternator mounted.he wants $6500 for all parts .i cant afford this but i thought i would pass it along in case a member is looking for nice clean parts.send email if needed.

i have a lot of track time in my 77/81zxt but if i was to do it again i would build a 5.0 ford with aluminum heads.the 5.0 ford is lighter than a zxt engine and can be shoved back into chassis very far back.i have a friend with aa chevy v8 z and it came out heavier in rear and same in front but he built custom motor mounts and runs motor very far back.i can lift and carry a 5.0 block.i cant lift a l28 block.it is much easier getting out of a corner with torque.

bosch # for merc injectors is 0 280 50036 060.does any body know of a website to decode bosch part #?

the injectors on my boat are barb style like the mercedes 450 and oem z car injectors.engine is a 2.5 liter merc 2 stroke v6 outboard .injectors are supposed to be 50 lbs /hour.engine makes 260 hp out of 150 cubes at 8000 rpm.injectors have to be big since motor fires on every stroke-not much time for the on pulse to work with at 8000rpm.i will post the bosch # soon.your local air cooled vw shop can usually order bosch parts by part #.

beware that a 77 or 78 tank is different.that is why trunk floor is different in a 77 or 78-the tank is bigger.the 75 up tank has baffles in side.the only time my 77 starves out is below 1/4 tank at sears point on turn 6 .the out line for pump is an odd size but very large -about 7/16 inch.plus tank has return line .the easiest way to go unless you want to saw out trunk floor and install fuel cell.

i have a 81zxt motor in my 77.i have looked at all the replacment solutions and have decided that adding electronic add-ons to nissan ecm is a band aid approach.better to just by sds or tec and use gm sensors that you can buy on sunday and be able to tune out flat spots and tune your ignition advance curve for the gas that you run.i saw an add for a maf to replace afm on bmw and it was $500+ .

motec is VERY expensive.i think an ecu with no harness is about $3000.they are used mostly in professional racing because of the data logging capabilities.some even come with telemetry for remote adjustment by your engineers in the pits.twm induction has some throttle body units with injectors that will bolt to oem su manifold.thay also have tb units that bolt up in place of weber side draft for 6 throttles.best result for street would probably be a 75 to 78 z efi manifold with sds system and bigger throttle body.

thurem-what do you think of those new yamaha fz1-i like power but i am to old to ride bent over very far.i have a buddy with a harley/s&s 105" and need to smoke um.

mike hope the mrs gets better.the problem at work will go away with time.there is no such thing as a secure job any more.my own problem is how to make a career change at 42 because i am in a job where you dont get promoted.dragging my butt to work is tough but at least they leave me alone.next worst thing is finding out that my best friend from high school that i used to smoke tons of pot with is already retired and owns property in hawaii.

see page 6 of april 8th issue of autoweek.a full page article with names of people that have had problems with mr.hennessey.i have heard of the same kind of problems with a certain import performance shop in hollywood ca.best to build your own car or buy a new car the does what you need it to do with out modifications.piant shops are the worst for screwing around with cars.

donna -you need to look at my car.the vac lines from the evap canister can have pipe plugs installed in intake manifold.the line from tank at cannister just needs a loop in it and be left open to vent tank.i can come over and fix lines if you want.cant make it to rio vista this weekend-have to work.

i have a ca smog license.if its a 73 or older it doesnt need a smog test-so dont tell dmv you changed engine.i have a 77z with 81 zxt motor.it has been to ref and is certified.the bad part about this set up is i cant hop up the zxt engine.i might sell this car and build a pre 73 car.i have 2 separate exhaust systems -a cat exhaust and a 3" mandrel bent system.most people can guess which system is on the car most of the time.some parts of ca have road side testing but i dont think they will test a pre 73 car.

i have bought enough wiesco pistons for my jetski,atv,dirt bikes to almost own the company.pistons are very good- all forged.that piston would probably be about $100 .just rebuilt my xr 600.have old piston laying around.when you mess with 2 strokes and run them lean you learn lots of EXPENSIVE lessons.i just cringe when i hear people ask tuning questions on a turbo engine cause when engines are making 2hp/cubic inch you dont get any time to adjust before meltdown.

in california if you install a late model engine into a chassis that did not have a cat you dont have to run a cat.the reason is the older car does not have heat shields for cat.but if you use a 96+ engine with no cat you will get trouble codes because obd 2 has cat effiency monitor (downstream o2) sensors.cat back pressure is due to design and pipe diameter.na cars usually need a little back pressure but any exhaust system on a turbo usually slows down exhaust flow-slower turbo spool up.i run a 3" system with mandrel bends and a non baffled muffler on my 77.

the original round top z carb are much better on the street .when you open 6 carb throats at same time you get NO manifold vacuem.what does it take to draw gas through a carb?manifold vacuem-thats why they stumble until about 4000 rpm.the weber/mikuni 3x2 set ups are really for high rpm only like a scca track car.the oem carbs were of a constant velocity design to keep bogging to a minimum.the 2 oem carbs will flow around 500 cfm. robello builds a killer 3.1 liter street z motor that runs oem round tops and makes about 225 usable horsepower.i know -i have had one outrun my turbo77/81 on the straight at thunderhill.

once car is a gross pollutor in california it has to be inspected every year at a test only station.the vin on the car is branded for life in ca.you are running lean.check o-rings around injectors by squirting them with carb spray.make sure there are NO vacuem leaks or air intake boot leaks.the air flow meter has an adjustment in it but that is used only if all other parts are to new specs.i put new injectors in my 77 and it ran like a new car.remember that when 280z"s came out the gas had no injector cleaner in it.back in early 80's there were a rash of 280 exhaust manifolds cracking.it was caused by heat from a lean cylinder from clogged injectors.if car is running properly they will sometimes pass with a hollow convertor because all of the fuel is burnt in engine .convertors are a mop up for poor combustion and any mechanic that says throw a new cat on it doesnt know how totune an engine.