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RebekahsZ

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Everything posted by RebekahsZ

  1. Roll steer and anti squat are terms that relate to suspension movement and design. Google them for a much better description than I can give. First of all, awesome job: I hope to do a similar conversion in the future and yours looks great. But, either you had a cracked shock to start with, or you have some sort of binding problem. It may be that you need to redesign your plan for limiting lateral movement of the rear end. Try this: replace the shock and install the suspension without the springs. Put the car securely on jackstands. Then, using a couple jacks, put the suspension thru all kinds of imagineavle contortions to find your binding condition, then reconfigure.
  2. zguy-how high does that raise up? It looks like a back-killer (?)
  3. I just got my S10 back from a marathon LS swap with stainless long tubes. They are NOISY! I can hear every valve open and close. I wish I had cast iron manifolds, if only they had fit. I hate how noisy they are.
  4. Good to know. I went big after cracking a driveshaft where the tube welds to the flanges and twisting off 2 yokes, so I may be guilty of going over-board. Can you draw out what you mean about orienting the u-joints in compression?
  5. That's freakin awesome. Does the loss of the radiator support result in a noticeable loss of torsional strength? If not, I want to copy someday.
  6. I thought mine was big, till I added a cage. Tiny and cramped now. Wish I had started a love affair with Novas or Chevy- IIs
  7. Your town may have a driveshaft shop that can build you something. But mine does not. So, I bought my first driveshaft thru Johns cars Inc. it was great. Call John and he will tell you just what you need. I would not, however get a driveshaft from JCI if you plan to race-that driveshaft is for a street car only. If racing, call The Driveshaft Shop (google them). If you want to do this and do it once, get a steel shaft with either a forged or billet yoke. 1350 front u-joint. I think the largest rear ujoint that will fit the Datsun flange is a 1310. The auto guys can use a weaker driveshaft than us manual guys. A 240z really only has room in the tunnel for a 3" driveshaft, but a 280z has room for 3-1/2" driveshaft.
  8. Most of the guys on this site think their front end has been heavily modified. That's why we can't come together, join hands and sing "Kumbaya" like my wife's coupon and recipe club. That was a joke, sorry, back to our regular programming.....
  9. If you can find a custom car parts fabricator who isn't a little eccentric, I'll run naked thru the streets of San Francisco in cowboy chaps with an Obama-Biden bumper sticker stuck to one butt cheek and Boxer-Pelosi lapel pin on the other. Ever met a sober surfboard shaper? Polyester resin ain't too good for the gray matter.
  10. I hope to spray mine in 3rd 4th and 5th at some point. Or maybe just in the top gear for the distance to avoid any shifting impact.
  11. Truck is back and seems good. Shop owner had one of his guys take the car home to put some shake-down miles on it. He hit a dog. It only took out the front valance, which is plastic, so I have that to fix. And the typical hose clamp left laying on the inner fender, and the radiator not completely filled. Other than that its awesome. Heat works and a/c seems to work, but it's winter so Im not sure how we it works, but it de-fogs the windshield so I know the compressor is working. Would like to tear into the Zbut my wife's van goes into the body shop for a fender bender thanks to Rebekah backing into my trailer, and my younger daughter has a low-speed head on collision and bent up her jeep pretty bad. She is ok, so who cares about the car, but I'm gonna still be daily-ing the Z for at least a couple more weeks. As usual, it's gonna be a lot of all-night thrashes to be ready for ECTA in May.
  12. I'm so far from making this a reality that tire technology may be totally different by the time I get to it! I'm not set on radials, but I am set on a solid axle. Not sure if I want to do stock Mustang style or a true 4-link. Wow, that's one heck of a wheelie! Did you break anything (rear valance, bumper or oil pan)?
  13. Are you a licensed racer trying to win points and a championship? Or are you like me, just having fun when your family and job will allow it? Have you seen CobraMatt's projects thread? He is a national champ in NASA and races almost every weekend in either his Z (down now for heavy mods) or his Corvette. He is super nice, but he won't give you much info cause he is racing for trophies and sponsorship, so learn what you can from his build, but don't expect anything when it comes to exact specs. I have two track days with him as instructor and he is super nice and generous, but he is very direct and doesn't like to waste one minute of time.
  14. Thanks for those name brands on the data loggers. I will look at them. Gotta have something to do NEXT winter! This winters list is packed, but I do plan to get the oil pan baffling done this winter.
  15. What will really piss you off is when you go to your first show: stay up all night cleaning with a tooth pick, trailer the car to the show, wipe her down with a million-dollar cloth and product from Griotts Garage and some guy with a total POS with no paint and holes in the quarters parks next to you and gets all the lookers, questions and trophies. That was the situation at my one-and-only car show with my Z. 25 years of work on my machine, and it might as well have been garbage. My buddy, Adam, won the whole f-ing show with a car that he pulled out of a salvage yard, stuck some eBay flares. He didnt even wash it. Or take the beer cans out of the floor board. Do it the way YOU like it, and the hell with everybody else. If you want straight stitching and it took $4500 to get it, then it was money well spent. I can't wait to see your car.
  16. 98-02 camaro should work. The header question is more complicated. Depends on the motor mount system you use. If you are using Hawks mounts get their headers. If using JCI mounts, use JCI headers. I really like my JTR headers because they are easy to work with. It is really crowded under the Z but the 280 does have more room than a 240z. There was a long tube header group buy a few years ago for JCI mounted cars and those should fit (try placing a wanted ad in the classifieds). BUT, none of these systems are guaranteed fit. Don't pre-order your headers coated. Buy them un-coated and be prepared to have to modify ANY of them. Mock up the car, modify as needed, THEN have them coated. The stock bell housing is the most slim, so if you never plan to race, stick to it. But if you plan to race, the only bellhousing to get is the Quick Time. I think the part number ends with -8020. It is wider than the stock bell, so expect header conflicts but just be prepared to deal with them, I don't think it can be avoided. There are enough quality control issues with after market race parts that some guys have header clearance trouble and some guys don't. Cool project-hope that helps.
  17. Unless this fabricators first name starts with the letter J and his last name starts with C.... You would be time and money ahead to buy a tig welder, spend 3 years taking classes and practicing, buy a tubing bender and three tons of tubing of various sizes to practice with and build them yourself. If you then buy 2 chassis and mock up motors LSx with accessory drives for every imagineable combination from truck to Corvette for both a 1970 240z and 1978 280z, and buy mock up trannys ranging from T56 to include T400, power glide, and the range of newer LS-associated trannys, and could demonstrate in photos that the headers would clear ALL of these combinations, Im in. Otherwise, we've been down this road before where we wait over a year, pay in advance and get a part we can't use. I'm not meaning to seem angry. But that is the kind of actual kind of investment that is needed to make this group buy thing work. I've just found that each of our cars differ just enough for this to not work out like we dream that it would. I have found a local fabricator in my area that (when I need them) can fab up a set based on my car. But this is the same guy who turned a 6-pt roll cage project from a 1-week job to an 11-week job and cost me most of a racing season. I'm good with my simple JTR headers that can be installed or removed in 15 minutes and don't burn my feet. Please forgive me: Im a little down on automotive "professionals" at the moment. If I recall, the last set of group buy headers made like 11hp over baseline. I recently did a standing 1/2-mile event and ran against a Z that had a souped up LS6 with FAST intake, a cam, and Hawks 3rd Gen LT headers ( beautiful pieces to behold). He went 147mph. I went 148 with my bone-stock LS2 with JTR headers and single exhaust. My recommendation is to buy a Flowmaster and find a more worthy project. But I won't hate you if you do this, and long tubes do definitely look and sound cool.
  18. I really appreciate all the input, but those of you who know me know that this discussion is getting a bit over my head and is exceeding my level if commitment and the time I'm willing to devote to my Z. I don't know if this should be a different thread, or if I need to just do some googling on this related, and oft referred to subject: data logging. Where should I look to learn how data logging works and the systems that are available? How complicated and expensive is it to buy and install a data logging system? What data can be collected? I know there are systems that can allow a driver to collect data that can be re-examined to help you find errors in braking, turning and acceleration. I guess there is also mechanical performance data logging? Are there all-in-one systems that do it all, and how complicated are they to install? I hope you guys know that I've asked all my questions BEFORE having any problems myself. I'm still on engine number 1 in my Z and its running like a top! For some crazy reason, my truck has had 3 sets of bearings in 1000 miles, all bearings were wrecked either on the dyno or at steady cruise on the highway. Just got it back and for the moment it is fine with 60psi at idle cold, 45 psi at idle hot and 60 psi cruising down the highway. Most recent rebuild got align-bored (don't know if misalignment was found or if just for good measure), magna fluxed and re-cleaned, crank turned (I presume checked for straightness), reassembled with a new pump that was disassembled, de-burred and got 3 washers (thickness) put under the pressure relief spring (all according to the guy getting my money). So, I haven't actually wrecked an engine via abuse (yet).
  19. In the immortal words of the great prophet T. Swift: "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.. I just wanna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.. Shake it off! Shake it off!" For goodness sake, I hope that chicken bone doesn't start taking her clothes off, next. Hang in there buddy. You likely to come to the big shin-dig this coming summer in Memphis? I'm hoping to participate in all 3 events and could use a co-driver or even somebody with a good sense of humor just to laugh at my flailings. That is: if my car isn't in a million pieces!
  20. Don't you love the car shows on TV where they say: "SEMA is in 2-weeks, we gotta have this car done!" And the car is all full of rat shit out of a barn. Then after 16 commercial breaks and a half hour, the car is done by a bunch of ass holes who bitch, complain and play practical jokes on each other, going into the trailer on its way to the show! Why can't I find THAT shop? Why can't my wife get MY car pit on Overhaulin' or Pimp My Ride? Instead, it gets shoved in a corner at a "professional" shop. I asked my builder to drive my truck all this week to find any bugs before I find them. I called to check in it and the guy on the phone tells me the owner has been sick and that the truck has been fired up once. I bet that after sitting there another week that I put the first damn mile on it when I drive it home.
  21. Going thru the long delay of having someone do the LS swap in my S10 has totally sucked. I don't know how you guys have tolerated this kind of waiting for your car. I' SO glad I did my own LS swap in my Z (yeah, it took 2 winters, but at least I wasn't paying somebody to do it). How do you stand it (?) I'm going crazy! Started in July, $13,000 and 3 engine rebuilds later I still don't have a truck! AAAAAAAARGH!!!! Thank goodness I can still climb over the door bar on my Z to daily drive it. How the heck can they wrap your Z in bubble wrap - they should be WORKING on it! I F-ing hate automotive "professionals."
  22. Tony D-make a recommendation on compressor?
  23. Garage is framed; waiting on trusses. The 30X30 shop seems both huge and small, all at the same time. The shop called Friday and said re-re-rebuilt motor is ready to go back in the truck; hoping to pick it up Friday. Then-I can tear into the Z for the winter-I'm SO ready. Still unclear why truck has lost oil pressure TWICE. Lots to do on the Z and it seems that every year I get a late start. Ordered shortened steering wheel adapter today to improve poor arm positioning that was identified at AMP during Z Nationals. Ordered Mooneyes wheel discs, a jig and dzus tab parts to get started on my landspeed wheels. First major event is May 2-3, Hot Rod Top Speed Challenge at Wilmington, OH. Hoping to get a few passes toward my ECTA licenses. Then, I hope to return to ECTA June 6-7 to try to set a class record. Lots to do, but I can't start until my other vehicle is back. Oops, forgot: I have to take my Z to my fabricator before I put it on jacks. The inner door skin has fatigued and cracked, so I gotta get that patched up before my driver-side door falls off: #oldcarproblems (I know I'm too old to be doing #s).
  24. I have taken several of these apart and never had any spacers. However, my passenger side has some axial play in it. The driver side is tight. Winter project to eliminate play in pass side....
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