blueovalz

I've been requested by Ernie to post a response to all. I feel it would be better to simple quote Ernie rather than paraphrase his statement. What I will paraphrase though is that Ernie has a lot of irons in the fire in regards to family and career that demand his attention, and that he hopes to be back on some time in the future (no mention when though). Now, straight from Ernie's fingers: Ernie has always been a stickler for accurate information and I can understand his desire to keep his recommendations and information accurate, especially in light of the fast-paced world of autobody finishes. The guy hasn't got a vindictive bone in his body, so I hope his actions will not be misconstrued.

I've got 1/8" aluminum rivets holding the entire quarter (no bonding at all) onto my car and have never, in 15 years had one work loose or move.

I hate to see Ernie leave. Not only was he gifted in his talents and knowledge in the realm of bodywork, but he was a great person as well. My only experience with chocolate fortune cookies was a result of Ernie's friendship in sending me a large bag of them (and I've never personally met Ernie). He was humble beyond words, and was more than willing to help any who needed it, and never passed up that opportunity. Good luck Ernie!

Take lots of photos and document the process, 'cause this one's good! Just last night I was looking at the history of the LS1 heads, their flow, and some other data, and was very impressed with everything I read.

That double/double shear ought to hold up to anything now!

It's very close to 1". I've got this MC on mine and have at least a 3/8" of leftover travel with a fully functioning brake system on the caliper pistons listed previously. So... (check my math)... A 15/16" MC has a piston area of .690^2", which gives it a swept volume of .690^3" at a 1" stroke. My Front 1.75", 4 piston calipers have a total (left and right side - 8 pistons total) area of 19.24^2", and the rear 1.25" 4 piston calipers have a total area (left and right side - 8 pistons total) of 9.80^2". The sum of these two areas are 29.04^2" for the entire brake system. Multiply this total by .010" (an assumed value that represents the piston movement to move the brake pad from the at-rest state to contact with the rotor) to get the total volume needed to close the gap between the pad and the rotor at all wheels, which equals .29^3" of fluid volume. This means that the ZX MC moves roughly 1/3 of its full stroke to effect a full piston movement at the caliper of each wheel. Add a little more for a binding pressure (the brake fluid is non-compressable), and I would guess you're only using 1/2 of the capacity of the ZX MC. So yes, the ZX MC has plenty of volume to handle the big brakes.

Mark, I must respectfully disagree with this in part. The smaller piston will indeed increase the clamping speed as you say, but will REDUCE the clamping force. With less piston area, more pressure (pedal pressure) will be required to clamp the rotor. This line of thinking would mean a piston of 1/2" in diameter would outperform a 3" diameter piston in a caliper. Yes, the smaller piston would move quickly toward the rotor, but wouldn't have any clamping force. It's all about ratios; Increasing the slave cylinder size in relationship to the master cylinder size will provide less movement at the slave, but more pressure, and visa-versa. Doing this also increases the required stroke at the pedal will reducing the amount of pressure required on the pedal. It's just like a cheater bar; A long bar requires a lot of movement on the end of the bar, but for the same pressure on the end of that bar, more torque is provided. In regards to the original post, I've run into the same issue that Marcg posted with my first conversion (which was very similar to this one). I found that without the proportioning valve, the balance was almost neutral, but when I started using wider rear tires, I found I needed larger calipers (read piston diameter) in the rear. Eventually I went to 1 3/4" front, and 1 1/4' rear (same size tires on all four corners at this time). Weight bias, suspension geometry, and other things will alter the ideal setup, but it sounds to me like you've assessed you problem correctly. Reducing the front piston diameter would provide the improved balance, but would require a little more pedal pressure overall. This wouldn't really be a problem using the OEM booster though, and if it did, you could regain some of that pressure by returning back to the 7/8" MC (which would lengthen the pedal stroke slightly, but provide good modulation).

I do not believe this will cause a problem. I don't know what material you'll be using (cloth, mat, or weight, etc), but you should be fine regardless. I assume no separation has occured anywhere on this quarterpanel?

Lord, what a nightmare. Think about the poor sap that purchases these heads to bolt onto his hotrod, and doesn't have a dyno to fall back on for analysis. I wonder how many other vendor heads have this same issue. I hope and pray (and honestly believe) that the AFR heads I bought match my expectations and promotional data.

If you've lowered the car any appreciable amount, you'll notice that you've also helped straightened out the halfshafts as well. I raised my differential 1" just for that purpose, but you also find that the vent tube may contact the subframe over the top of the differential.

I can't imagine what this thing will pull like (if you can get any traction).

I may be confused with all of the brake work I've done. I was thinking that there was a copper washer between the caliper and the fitting that screws into it, but now I remember that the rubber hose does not connect directly to the caliper on the S30. My bad.

Depending on the coilover spring length, you may gain some additional clearance by positioning the tire under the lower spring perch. I've purchased some 7" springs for this purpose, but have not installed them as yet.

Did you flare the new lines or were they OEM replacements? I ask because sometimes when one flares a tube, the end will split and cause a leak. At the caliper...Did you make sure the copper washers were inserted between the hose and the caliper? That's all I could come up with for the leaks.

Something I looked into when I first started my Z life was inserting a aluminum spacer between the two halfs of the OEM calipers, and then using the 300ZX "vented" rotor. It would have been unique, but no better than many alternative set-ups.

Looks good! How much clearance do you have between the air cleaner and the hood scoop?

When I did that many years back, I did not need the proportioning valve being the bias was pretty close to the OEM balance. This was with the 280ZX turbo rear calipers on the 300ZX rotors. If you're using different calipers, then you'll need to look at the difference in piston diameter, but just a guess would tell me that you'll be fine for normal driving.

When you replace the bushings, did you check to see if the inner sleeve was a tight fit over the pin? My personal experience on this was that the ID of the steel sleeve was about .010" larger than the OD of the pin. If the end bolts are not TIGHT (which binds the sleeve against the strut boss), then this sleeve may move in relationship to the strut, causing not only the clunking sound, but an issue with rear toe movign around for that wheel. This has been an issue for several of us who've purchased this kit. Some get a sleeve that's a tight fit, others (like me) get a sloppy fit.

I'm listening. Still not sure yet. I like the idea of stronger materials, and wonder if the splined end could be cut (larger diameter) so that it the OEM bearings could still slip over the splines and onto the the races and have a matching companion flange using the existing OEM bolt pattern.

http://www.gmmodernmuscle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2779&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0url I love the first response to this suggestion. First time I've laughed out lout on a post in a while.

An acquaintance I raced against at one time is in the process of doing the same swap. This link has the photos of his work placed throughout the string describing his project. It is interesting to note he has solidly mounted the engine and transmission, thus reducing greatly the potential of the motor's torque and/or weight to twist the frame rails. http://www.midsouthscca.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=112. A quick review of the work thus far:

The 289 already has a pretty nice RL/S ratio as is. The heavier weight of the Windsor block, larger external dimensions (I'm swapping my 289 out for a 383 Windsor), and heavier rods may negate any expected gains from the even larger ratio. I can appreciate a nice ratio being I opted for the 383 instead of the 427 stroked Windsors, but my guess is that you'd be happy with the 289 as is, and it will be a lot simpler to find good components. I twist mine to 7500 almost every time I crank it up, and this is with stock rods and crank (ARP 5/16" rod bolts).

You'll need to calculate the difference in height between the new tire size and the OEM tire size. The ratio between those two will determine which speedometer gear you will need to install. A 10% taller tire will require roughly) 10% less teeth on the speedo cable gear. I've never had to make the correction, but I believe that in some situations, the gear on the mainshaft must be changed as well. Wheels will be close. You'll have a 7mm offset when all is said and done on a wheel that is 8.5" wide. On an OEM set-up, my experience has been a zero offset on an 9" wide wheel provided little margin on either side. Your larger tire may rub the front fender opening while turning if you've got too large a tire as well. Lastly, there are several strings dealing with the "fit" issue of countless wheels and tires. A search should give you all the info you need.

Depending on other factors, I've used a combination of 1" front 3/4" rear, but the current set-up has a 1" front and no rear. The rear springs are 17% stiffer than the front are 225/265.

That was my intention as well. Mine actually prevented the front lip from folding or breaking when I hit a big-rig tire carcass in the middle of the lane on the interstate on night. Yes, the lip suffered enough damage to create spider cracks, but it all stayed in one piece, and the damage was limited to a small area.