RebekahsZ

Thanks for the experienced advice, I'll move on and put the money into my merge collector. Also planning to have Blake ceramic coat my headers. Will build my exhaust with v-bands and maybe I can just drop a section of exhaust pipe easily when loading car onto my trailer to have same effect as cutouts. Anybody have any experience with v-bands? I'm kind of fantasizing that they allow easy exhaust maintnenace for removal of parts like driveshaft, diff and sway bar. The bands are stainless, but the weld on sections seem to be raw steel, I'm planning to run aluminized tubing but hoping to find some v-band kits that are 100% stainless.

All this talk about preload, blah, blah, blah. Just screw the lower spring perch down and you'll go lower. Coil overs are simple, why does everybody make it so complicated? Screw perch down to lower the car, screw perch up to raise car. Unless your car routinely flies thru the air with the greatest of ease, the preload doesn't matter as much as everybody makes it out to be. I have zero preload and I have never had a spring cock off the perch in flight. Comic, your car is preloaded by the earth, so handling discussions are just so much bench racing. Drop the spring perches for crying out loud and get you some of that oilpan lovin!

When I ask too many stupid questions or don't use the search button effectively, the forum kind of snubs me and stops replying to PMs, etc. It is ok, it lets me know when I've gone to far or been too pushy or stupid. I wait a while, ponder the worth of my posts, then I try again and try to be a better forum member. Pretty effective way to keep me in line. On the lowrider stuff: I like to look at it, but I don't want one. But, I hope the lowrider crew isn't consuming many cherry bodies. If it is too rusty to restore, might as well enjoy it as you like, but I would hate to see good vintage tin being beaten to death. If the post has something that will edify the forum, it is good. All of our posts should seek to help other people, answer questions and teach, not just play show and tell.

Consider keeping the auto transmission and installing a steering wheel paddle shifter kit. I haven't seen anyone do that before. You'll be better off for drag racing, it will be easier on your drivetrain (axles and diff) and you will be doing something totally unique to this forum. You'd have lots of hits on your project because lots of folks will want to see how it goes for you. You really need to go back to your donor car and try to get the wiring harness, computer, data port, radiator fans, fuel tank and fuel pumps, and as much wiring as possible.

Have a bunch of electrical supplies ready to install, but i spent last night in the hospital caring for my father in law. He declined over night and just got moved to the ICU. I'm shot and probably wont get anything done this weekend, off for a nap. My buddy who I gave my L24 engine to plans to go pick up a R200 LSD from a '88 300zxt tomorrow. He is swapping 240sx parts for it then passing it on to me gratis! Pass along the z-car good will!

You need more balance in your life. Very cool. I got the Lokar dipstick too-the stock dipstick looked like "a dipstick with an awesome motor attached to it," instead of "an awesome motor with a dipstick attached to it." I guess some American car buyers need a neon yellow dipstick handle a foot above the motor in order to remember to check the oil.

What if I was running duals?

Thanks guys, I was thinking of having the Admins move this to the Member Projects forum since it seemed like I was just talking to myself. Bring on the advice, I still don't have a primary build mentor (although I am PM-ing a handfull of guys for specific advice) and I'm kind of just working thru this bit by bit. I really do want as much help as I can get, because I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm just not afraid to go for it.

Hurst Sidewinder shifter ball handle with line-lock button on MGW T56 Camaro shifter. Handle to the right is hydraulic drifting handbrake-Hurst lever with a simple black knob. Hurst pistol grip shifter handle replacing sun-baked black plastic handle on e-brake. I want to bend T56 shifter closer to the steering wheel before I'm done. Idle hands run the devils workshop.

When Cable started this whole thing (before 1tuffz) he talked about planning the headers such that one could install exhaust cut-outs. Anybody got any pictures of a z-car with exhaust cut-outs? I can't imagine where there would be room....Ideas, anybody? I'd like to have that option if it is possible.

ZT-R I have GC-supplied coilover kit, sectioned struts w/ Tokico Illuminas w/ 225# front and 250# rear with spherical bearing camber plates front and rear, 1" swaybar up front and 3/4" swaybar in back with Poly bushings and my car rides awesome on the street. And I'm pretty much on the pavement. I do have some tire sidewall with 225/50/15s and 225/50/16 tires and that probably helps absorb some bumps. I may have to drive it over to SC when I get the LS2 done and see what you mean by diving like anus! -I wouldn't shy away from a 12-hour trip, it rides that good. Check your gland nuts (funny name for a car part) on your struts to make sure your struts are in nice and tight-I had one get loose once and it sounded like my car was coming apart. Fixed it with a pair of channel lock pliers in 5 minutes. I'm even planning to switch to aluminum offset bushings in the rear to de-camber a bit due to lowering. How are your door seals, could a loose door be banging around making noise? I've also had a loose tail pipe hitting the chassis which made the car really jar when hitting bumps. Now, in all reality, I can't drink coffee on the way to work in my car without wearing it, but I don't really understand why you don't like the way your car drives. When I want to drink coffee, I drive my truck. If you really want somebody to help you with your problem, PM me and try to really describe the problem well; maybe I can help? PS-Wait, I just remembered something. When GC first supplied my kit, they gave me "progressive" rear springs (maybe fronts too-it has been 15 years). If you have them, you need to chunk them-they TOTALLY SUCKED and were always coil-bound. Coil bound springs totally negates the work you did to section your struts-coil bound means no travel (or maybe just not enought) due to one coil sitting on top of the one below it. Look under your car and see if there is any space between your individual coils with weight on the car. Have them send you non-progressive springs and that may totally cure your problem. If it has been too long to do an exchange, just buy new ones-they are pretty cheap as car parts go. GC swapped them at no charge and I mean it was like night and day. Whoever came up with the "progressive" spring concept was on some serious crack. While you are at it, check your remaining threads on your threaded collar. I am all the way at the top just to keep 4-5" of ground clearance due to the lost thickness of the stock top insulator, bump steer spacers, etc. Next time I buy springs, I will go 2" longer, but at the same spring rates as I currently have. That will allow me to bring the car up a bit more. Low cars kind of suck if you drive them very much-it looks cool, but gets old pretty quick, scraping all over town and tearing up your airdam, tire/wheel fitment becomes more critical, etc. Let me know what you find out. And, we better finish this via PM (I should have just pm'd you) or we'll get acused of thread jacking.

Wow-congrats! How much (approx) have you got invested in that motor? I'm just curious of how much it costs to get 300hp out of a L28+. I'm spending money like water on this V8 project. Nice whater pump pulley, by the way!

I'm sorry, Mike. One of the reasons it is taking me so long to get my car done is that we've had some tragedy here too, granted not nearly as much. We moved my in laws into assisted living fron Mississippi. Mother in law made it about 6 months and died a month ago, (stopped eating, got bed sores couldn't control her spit and basically drowned in her saliva)then two weeks later my father in law has a heart attack, but survives. He's really declined a lot. I spent today cleaning **** out of his carpet where he lost control, then stepped in it and tracked it through his apartment, but he didn't have the strength to clean it up or the confidence to tell us so that we could help. It won't be long before I'm having to physically carry him around because his legs are so weak. We are hoping to move him in with us, but my wife insists on having a room "renovated" instead of just moving him in-she seems to get distracted by trivial stuff. If I don't get the z-car done before he moves in, I'll have to move it to storage and shuttle parts and tools back and forth, because he'll get my side of the garage for his car. Life is not for the weak. I'm a doctor, so I'm supposed to be able to fix this stuff, right? I've seen what you can do with metal, I know you can do it with anything, even family stuff. It doesn't change or fix anything, but you are not alone. Alright, now back to cars....thank God we have that.

Hmmm...wheels and tires? What brand and aspect ratio of tires you running? I'm running 225/50/15 BFG R1 all the way around (they were on sale). I think for autocross go with either BFG R1 or Hoosier A6. I've never understood the concept of "staggered" wheels and tires on a sports car that you plan to drive at the lateral traction limit. They do look cool, that's for sure! But, I wonder if they are really necessary for a car w/ approx 50/50 weight distribution. I wonder if your car is rough just due to your tires? Those are awefully wide rims for such small tires-perhaps your car drives rough because of really short, stretched sidewalls? My car feels great on any road with the same spring rates-I'd rather drive it than any other car I own, including my wife's minivan. The ride is firm, but nice, neither rough nor rigid. The only reason I could see for staggering wheels is if there is a big weight distribution problem to be masked. If it was due to high power (which I think is what we all subconsciously assume), then you would only want the stagger when exiting a turn, but not all the way through the turn. So, the stagger could have you upset going into the turn, understeering through the turn, then perhaps finally balanced flogging it out of the turn, but only if you are like a totally amazing driver. Perhaps JohnC could comment on the "staggered" concept and when we should and shouldn't stagger our wheels and tires? I recall that his alignment settings don't suggest a staggered setup.

I asked him for more pics, this is what he gave me in a PM. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Had a death and a heart attack in the family, so I haven't been working much overtime to pay for project-ran out of money for a few weeks. Getting some overtime this week and put 2 sets of SUs, the GTO oil pan, and my old Dellorto sidedraft carbs on ebay. Still waiting for 2 items to sell and I've already got over $1500 in my Paypal account! The GTO oilpan was worth $270. Time to go shopping!!!! The fan relays I ordered are on back-order and Haywire is holding my last pile of wiring parts until the order is complete, so I'm kind of frozen on the fans. Weekend goal (in addition to getting a Christmas tree up) is to get remote battery cables in and attached to bulkhead connectors on the firewall closed to the starter and fuse block, locate the CableX box, and mock up some temporary header extensions with PVC so that I can see if my O2 sensors wires need to be lengthened. Really wanted to have side-exit exhaust, but I just can't see a practical way to do it without it scraping the ground all the time, plus it is something that a cone could catch on (not that I ever hit any cones)! Hoping to get this thing cranked before the new year. I welcome all LS1/2 wiring advise-any helpful tips you want to throw at me.

My z-car is set up pretty much the same as yours and i love it. It drives and autocrosses "great." I don't have any pictures of it on a course, so it may look all screwed up. What I see in your picture is that you are probably hard on the brakes and turning at the same time, which will upset any car. I bet your car looks much more composed in other pictures where you have already slowed the car before entering a turn and then are driving the car thru the turn. Check it out, I bet things are not as bad as they look in this picture. Now on the class thing: screw 'em. You kind of turned your back on classes the day you put a v-8 in your car, along with composite body panels. Classes were meant to slow you down! Be free and run in an exibition class (if your club will allow it) and just enjoy the satisfaction of beating everybody and walking away without a trophy. Spend more time at the drag strip and make new friends, we rednecks hate classes-it is hard to hear someone complaining about what class you are in when they are in your rear-view. Strangely enough, the best drivers in my club beat us all in stock cars, sometimes on street tires.

The owner probably has $8.5k in it, but that is probably not the right price to buy it for. Really nice V8 z-cars often sell more in the $5K range. The $10-15k cars are usually restored to museum quality or are total customs with $60,000 invested in them. Look for rust and walk away if rust is present. Rust is the only problem that can't really be fixed. Save some money for new valve covers and wheels-those components on that car are dated and ugly no matter how fast it is! Finally, be sure you are ok with an automatic. The z-car was built to have a manual trans, don't turn a sportscar into a minivan. Buy whatever turns YOU on and we will be here to help you survive it.

If there is no rust, we should all want it at $1600-that is a steal for that car-jump on it. But if there is any rust, walk away at any price, unless you are a really good welder, and even then you might want to walk away. Take a good look at it. Take cash and keep half of it in your pocket: if he just dropped his price 50% once, he might do it again.

"I hate snakes." -Indiana Jones

Got some wiring done today. Nothing is connected, but I have several electrical components located and installed onto the car. DBW pedal, Fuel pump relay, PCM, Painless 7-circuit fuse block. That may be it for the week. Next is to install battery cables while awaiting fan relays. Finally put a bunch of L24 parts on ebay.

Let me see if I understand correctly: The carbs will run fine without the velocity stacks? Sorry, I just don't know ANYTHING about weber side drafts... And I am SO thankful to be out of the side draft game myself.

My buddy had same problem a few nights ago-new engine running great for two days, then dead in an instant! He figured wiring and checked everything-nothing loose. I went to his house and pulled a plug to check spark and the damn thing cranked! Put the plug wire back on and it has been running for 2 days. Gremlins.....

Inspiration. Post more!

johnc-thanks for the advice-you are the bomb! Thanks for weighing in. Anyway, I have a synch-ing tool similar to the one you linked me to, but I haven't been able to use it on my buddy's car due to very long intake manifold runners and long velocity stacks-the stacks are against the brake master cyl and the inner fender-it is a tight fit even with his unisys bubble-type meter. We don't know if we can just remove the velocity stacks since they slide into the carbs instead of just bolting on like my Dellorto velocity stacks (I dont know what else they influence internally). Let me know if we can just pull them and we will use my meter directly on the carb body. I tried to get him to take one of my SU carb sets, but like me, he likes the pretty triples. Is a bouncing flow indicative of anything other than a vacuum leak? Would miss-firing cause it? My buddy lives about 20 minutes from me. I've got him checking compression, switching to my newer plug wires (he installed his old ones) and re-checking the capping of his brake booster port (it is already capped-thanks cygnusx1!). The car blows a little black smoke (not bad) under hard throttle, but no blue smoke. I test drove it last night and it drove pretty well under load at higher rpm, but we all know that seat-o-pants dyno means nothing and that high rpm can just mask a problem. I understand that a bad cylinder/valve can affect flow, but it is the fast-frequency fluttering or bouncing that has me stumped. Hoping for more advice. The plus side of this story is that in exchange for my help and a bunch of my old parts, Jacob is in the process of trading some 240sx tuner parts for an '88 ZXT LSD for me! Cast your bread upon the waters...