blueovalz

That was fast. I only wish I could see this thing when you are finished (does that ever happen though?). Anyway, I wanted to tell you how I Dzuesed my hood on. I made a lip (your clip may have one on it already) that fits over the lip that the OEM fenders bolted on to on both sides of the engine bay. I then made 1-1/4" angle pieces of fiberglass angle, that were about 3" long and about 1/8" thick (long enough to pop rivet the Dzues springs too). Then I bonded these onto the clip's edge lip. The hood sits on these (8 on each side and 2 extra in the front mid portion of the hood, with the fasteners holding the hood down onto them. 10 fasteners was maybe an overkill, but I've seen what happens when air gets under a hood. Anyway, once they were bonded (recessed about the thichness of the hood + another 1/16" or so) onto the edge of the clip, I then put a couple more layers of wet mat on top of these tabs where the hood rests, then laid pieces of wax paper onto the wet glass (acts as mold release), and then laid the hood down on top of this paper (the backing of stickybacked sandpaper works very well for this too) and let it sit till the glass "kicked". The reason for this last step is so that the surface of the new tabs are in perfect agreement with the undersurface of the hood. If not, the tabs will be pulled or bent to conform with the underhood shape when the Dzues fastener is tightened down, and this will in time distort the hood and could cause the bonded tab to separate from the front clip as well. One last note, If you do Dzues it, check on the size the Dzues is made for (1/8" is the most common) because if the hood is thicker than this in the Dzue fastener area, the assembly will not go as smoothly (spring will have to be bent in order to work correctly). Terry

Lookin' good. What material did you use for the shaft, and how far does the OEM end screw into the shaft? Looks like a lot of work it going to pan out!!! Terry

We all have varied experiences, but the 383 magnum comes to mind for me. I know it is a wide motor, and somewhat heavy, but gobs of power can be had easily. And that 727 tranny is about as bullit proof as a transmission can be. Terry

This is a very important point to bring up. The axis of the tranny output shaft and the axis of the pinion gear must be parallel for smooth and reliable operation. These two might be offset a few inches, but must (or should) be parallel non-the-less. Terry

On my stock '75, I used 8" X 16" wheels with 245/45ZR16 Comp T/A tires. I had 1/4" on both sides of the tire sidwalls, which was sufficient what with the stiff sidewall on these tires. The wheels were custom made though with (hope my memory is right) 4.440" back spacing on one end, and 4.560" back spacing on the other end. I know this is splitting hairs, but I wanted the max with the OEM spring diameter and stock fenders and quarter panels (and the car was lowered about 1.5"). Terry

With that big ol' intercooler in my mirror, I'd be worried. Looks good!! Terry

I used to use Imron only, and now go with a good generic single stage polyurethane enamal that is half the price and covers in 2 coats (very high solids content). I personally shy away from 2 stage paints, especially on garage paint jobs because the more coats you apply, the more chance of trash getting into the paint. Terry

The Cleveland is heavier than the Windsor 351, which again is heavier than the 302. I believe the Cleveland is in the weight range of the bow-tie counterpart, which would put it at 100+lbs more? IMHO engine weight is very important because it also effects braking and handling as well as acceleration. And if you do not want a lot of low end grunt (more than the Z could handle), than a moderately built up 302 would be my choice (since you were asking). Terry

I'll let some of the more knowledgable "pan" experts give a final answer to your question, but my experience has been: The rear sump pan I thought about using had a small sump up front to cover the oil pump, and then the main sump in the rear for the oil. With the engine properly positioned, the high spot in the middle of this pan will fit over the crossmember. Now if Ford makes (made) a conventional rear sump pan, then I don't know of it. With that said, I'll let the experts take it from here. Terry

IMHO if the carb set-up is done right, you will not notice any difference in performance. It may not be as versatile, so you will want to know what characteristics you desire (horsepower vs torque), but if you have all these perameters figured out, and you pick the appropriate carb, then this set-up should work as well for this particualar range. I think most of the Ford guys will recommend a rear sump pan (used on the later model vehicles) because of crossmember interference. I personally used a front sump, but I built my crossmember with more room just ahead of the pan. Note: The rear sump pans do also have a small sump in the front to cover the oil pump, so it's not a traditional rear sump pan, but kind'a double-humped instead. A dry sump would be super nice, and I can't imagine anyone not wanting one, but they are quite expensive, and require additional work to install tank, hose, etc. Terry

It's been a long time since I looked for these but I remember that most if not all the German makes had these. I especially noticed this in the Audi make. Terry

Richard, My blue paint also had a bit of a purple tint to it also, which made me a bit uneasy, but you would never know until you look at it real close. Good choice on color, but I may be a bit biased. Terry

This guy may not live in Tulsa any more, but I know that he had a vett rear end in his car and made vett/Datsun hybrid (pardon the pun) half shafts. I raced against him a couple of times, and it seemed to work well. His name is Doug Turner. I'll send his (it's been a few years) phone number to your email address.

At the risk of over simplifying this or any swap, I would say any engine that will physically fit in the confines of the Z engine bay, can be made to work. Get some friends with you (that have good mechanical skills) and take a good look at this engine. With enough thought you (they) will undoubtably find a good way to shoehorn just about any engine in your Z. Don't let anyone tell you it won't work without a fight. Terry

Now doubt. I got tired of the anti-sieze and finally just put helicoils in the aluminum parts. Funny thing, after all the on-and-off of trial fitting and finally in the end, putting the coils in, I find now that I haven't had to take those pieces apart anymore. But now that I am removing the Zeus fasteners off of my bodywork, I am once again using the coils in the fiberglass itself so that I can bolt the body on from underneath. Terry

hey Mike, I looked at your site and saw the brake pictures. Now my advise is to take that whole strut and brake assembly off the car, clear coat it with some nice polyurethane, and donated it to an art museum. Looks great. Terry

Sorry about that last post. I finally found the site (with a /brakes.html added to it) from another older posting. I also realized the rotor must be steel with an aluminum hat (did read it right). Terry

Am I missing something here? fonebooth.com is a cell phone site, and after much inspection I cannot find a link to brakes. Anyway, I think I've seen that brake site before and have a question. Is the 12.2" rotors made out of aluminum, or am I miss-reading this too. Terry

BLKMGK says it pretty plainly. IMHO the hydraulic throwout bearing is the way to go. The master that I used with this eventually went to a Girling 3/4" and it had the same bolt pattern as the Z OEM one did. The only difference was some minor work on the end of the pushrod where it connects to the Z pedal. Terry

If the output flanges are bolted in and not held in by clips, my initial thought is that you currently have an R180, not an R200. Anybody else got an opinion? Terry

I know from past experience that the piston will jam on the adjusting mechanism. It has two tapered pieces fitting inside each other and the tapered parts will jam. I could never (polished it, then brushed it with sandpaper too) get them to release once they were put together (first adjustment). No matter what I did, it still jammed upon the first use. Eventually I replaced the caliper. Terry

My suspension is set up for road racing, but all the same, I get two perfectly even marks on burn-outs. Not even 3" difference over several yards. Terry

I've got a 240sx with a home made ram air on it that works very well. I made a fiberglass canister that completely enclose the K&N filter. This sealed canister then was ducted to the front of the car with 4" ducting to a fake (now turned operational) air scoop. Initially I ran a 3" line, but testing indicated very little pressure rise. After enlarging it to 4", the pressure in the canister became measureable (was greater than the normal outside air pressure). This is a fixed system with no doors (completely air tight). Performance increase: Acceleration at highway speeds (i.e passing power)is now as quick in 5th gear as it used to be in 4th, but not much help at any speed less than 40mph. Disadvantages: More trouble to clean the filter, and the filter gets REAL dirty after about 20K miles. I never had to adjust the EFI system for it because the ram effect is just not that much, and ventury operated devices (carbs) are self metering so no jet changes will be needed for them. Terry

I'm going to step in here too. I had some very nice "Duralight" wheels, that were a racing wheel designed for road course racing. Two wheels (not at the same time) developed cracks due to having street tires and street duty on them. Being I thought "racing" was better and tougher that DOT, I was a bit perplexed. The manufacturer then told me the additional weight, and air pressure of the DOT tires is what will kill a light (read racing) wheel. The cracks could have been catastrophic had I not found them when I did. And a drag racing wheel "was even more dangerous on the street" than what I had. Just my $.02 worth. Terry

I was refering to the diff plug. If it has some larger pieces than the normal "silt" type of material on it, then I would say it's about shot. Terry