blueovalz

I'm using an UR underdrive on my 240SX, and found that it did indeed make a small difference. It was comparable to a hard pull with the A/C turned on verses turned off. That's about the difference the pulley made in the SX motor. One other bennefit I see is the reduced rpm beating on the water pump, alternator, and AC pulleys. Perhaps this is one reason I've gone 196K with only a change of a water pump. It did not reduce the effectiveness of the A/C, nor charging, at idle as best as I could tell. Mine was was a 23% reduction. The only challenge to it all was finding a correct set of belts to use on it.

Fascinating work! Please keep us posted and updated with more photos.

True, I didn't think about the SX cradle being set behind the Z crossmember, but: The SX "cradle" as termed is designed similar to the Z in that it's a full crossmember which holds the motor mounts. I've not measured, or compared the Z crossmember to the SX crossmember, but I'm almost sure the SX crossmember is wider. And being the SX crossmember angles upward for the motor mounts just inside the frame rails, this would require very similar dimensions between the two sets of frame rails to make it viable (without a lot of modifying). I'll measure my '92 later today and come up with some dimensions.

They? Who were "they"? What was motivating it? The search for truth? I think not. Nothing in Washington is investigated for it's truth, anymore.

Good, clean job. Thanks for sharing this with us. BTW, this is the king of the "tail light" threads: http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=11275 and it would be great to have this information posted to it as well, just to keep all this related data on one string for future searches.

The truth is we don't know what would have happened if we had waited longer, prior to invading Iraq or who would do what in the same situation (as much as we would like to believe that we do). In fact no one knows if we matched the "70/30" solution in Iraq. Many war supporters feel we had an 90/10 match, and many opponents think we've started with a 40/60 match. Yeah, the 70% makes sense, but it in no way can it be assumed that we've met this solution (which I realize you are not proposing here John). None the less, this story rings true to a certain degree.

I view economics in much the same light as the 2nd law of thermodynamics in regards to this outsourcing issue. Concentrations of high income within the same environment of low income (globally speaking) will eventually mix and even out. The low income sector will have its income raised wilst the high income sector will see an overall lowering of income. We've been on the high end for a long time (again, globally) and it's finally taking it's toll. It won't matter who claims he will improve the economy. With jobs going to the lowest bidder (except you know who), and a new resource of extremely low bidding is introduced, only the low bidders will win. Per capita income (in the US) is going to go down, and in India, it's going to go up (as it will anywhere the income is significantly less than the highest income country). Baby boomers retiring, job outsourcing, and increasingly limited opportunities for expansion makes me feel we've seen the best no matter who is in office.

From a viewpoint that the jury is still out on global warming, my big concern is, "what if it's true". Yes, over thousands of years there were heat cycles, but human development and (and what I believe as significant impact) upon a closed loop environment is only 100 years old. The two must be carefully compared. I would hate to know that 100 years from now our offspring might look at human development as a "cancer" that consumed every resource accessible simply for economic growth, leaving a home much less appealing than previous generations had. This can be seen in nature all the time. An organism finds a favorable environment, prospers until it grows beyond the local environment's ability to sustain the organism, and then it either dwindles down to a sustainable size or it kills its environment (or host) and thus the organism dies out as well. Is it not better to side with caution, whether than wait until we indeed see the damage done and find out it's too late to fix it? The human impact upon the earth and it's life are unquestionable, so why are we so naive to think that the air and water are immune to our "insults'. Siding with caution is the ONLY wise choice, but unfortunately if does nothing for the bottom line, and after all, isn't that the only thing that matters? Why exactly did we walk away from the Kyoto accord? Did we feel "mistreated" because we were asked to do our fair share? What is our fair share as a "leader" and a primary consumer, and as a country who has already done what other countries are now trying to do (to develop).

Sounds like a good idea. From personal experience I'd say that the most common comment I receive on the BlueOvalZ is about the exhausts. They seem to be a favorite with everybody. The only re-consideration I would have with what I did was going slightly smaller. Currently I'm using 4" SS tips with the rings around them. A 4" tip without the rings looks good, and a 3" (with or without the framing) may even look better. So when you review your options, change the size around (not just the location) a bit. The higher they are, the more effective they seem to be visually as well. I had to stop at the bottom of the boxed lip as far as how high they were. On the 240, the bumper brakets overlaped the holes, thus adding a bit of extra work in cutting the holes, and lastly, take special care in shaping the exhaust holes (if you continue on at the location you mentioned) because the angle and curve of the panel can give it an egg shape when viewed from behind. This "perfect and round" hole was the largest challenge (which was solved with a small filiment light bulb-to minimize distortion-and a round disk template to make the shadow).

Looks great. Ah...The rear-end shot looks almost like it was polished aluminum or chome plated

A lubricant (oil) is a key, both inside the hose and outside. I like to mark the SS braid before getting any oil on it so that I can visually see if the hose has been pushed outward of the AN housing while tightening the housing. I clamp the housing in a vise, and then turn the fitting "in" rather than the other way around, and this seems to be the easiest way.

Great lead-in to getting back to the original question, which I feel was not answered, and most likely, cannot be answered to any degree of satisfaction. My assumption here is that being left or right is not solely a matter of logical thinking on a broad spectrum of issues because what's one man's meat, is another man's poison. Being left or right may be more a factor of personal preference rather than anything that can be logically argued. Much like trying to explain to a purist the reason that a HybridZ is better than the OEM product. So do I feel any animosity for the purist? No, and I let it go. So with that said, I feel the same result of this string will mimic the purist/Hybridz argument string as well.

It will look even better with bodywork and engine in place. One thing for sure, you wont cry every time you drop a wrench onto the frame rails Please post a photo of it when it's all back together again.

Great story! I've met some humble Z33 owners that were great to talk to, but the majority I meet have been infected with the "Mustang Cobra/Supra" virus.

I get it, you're riding the fence and need just enough justification to "go for it and vote Democrat." I also commend you on your unbiased, unwavering, and eager desire to see the other side's point of view.

I cannot believe this was an "accident". I'm more willing to believe the driver and his buddy figured, "hey, see that wooden post over there sticking out of the sand, (he he), lets go over there and plow over it and snap that baby off! ."

They'll be plenty big if'n you don't bust that speed limit! Affordable big brakes are also dependent on one's capability to fabricate. Anything can be adapted to anything else with the right forethought, and a little bit of coin. I've got '87 supra brakes on the front of my Z ($100 for drilled rotors on Ebay, $60 for the machine shop to do the rotor work so that they centered and bolted onto the hubs correctly, and $30 for the salvage calipers, and 2 days cutting and welding new ears on the strut housing. These are 12" rotors with a nice OEM caliper that, for the first time, have shown no fade on repeated high speed stops with street pads (kinda depressing in that I want to experiment with even larger front brakes, but no longer have any reason to. 8) ).

Too funny, LOL I love the lighter side of this site!

oops, double posted. Sorry

What bothers me about this issue is the labeling. I consider myself an independent, but am labeled a liberal or Democrat if I don't back the current administration. Now, with that said, from a strictly unbiased point of view, any incumbent that must struggle this hard to be re-elected must not have done a decent job in the first place. To be neck and neck with an opponent like Kerry, well...obviously Bush didn't do the job right. Even a fair job would have garnered Bush a 10 point advantage over even a good opponent (which Kerry is not), and I contend that the only reason Bush won't be booted out of office is not because of his stellar performance, but rather the lack of any options aside from him, which is indeed a sad situation for this country. Yeah, Bush likes guns, but if all the woods are paved with parking lots, then it won't matter, will it? Does this make me a Democrat? No, but it makes me re-consider what unrestrained business does if not regulated. When Ethics had it's proper place in business decisions, big business was great, and hence, I was for it (Yes I voted for Reagan and for Bush Sr). But ethics has no place in business decisions anymore, and a President (or Congress) that does not realize this fact is one that has his (its) head in the sand. I know that 20 years ago, any President in office would have called our current pharmaceutical stranglehold a national disgrace, that forces Americans to cross the border to buy affordable medicine. But now, we call these same Americans outlaws, and for the sake of big business our President looks the other way. 20 years ago, health care was largely "not for profit" in its aim to cure disease. Now days, a cure for a disease requires the group of "diseased" to be able to afford the drugs it needs, otherwise the research is dropped for a more profitable drug, like Viagra (give me a break!). Am I Democrat for feeling this way? No, instead I'm compassionate, something that Bush says he is, but has yet to provide even one single example of extraordinary compassion (and don't insult my intelligence by bringing up the Iraq fiasco as an example of compassion).

Cool!!!

Actually, it could. After performing some thought experiments, I've determined the the size of the head is directly proportional to the square of the number of posts and inversly proportional to the number of times one's car has rolled into another in the driveway. Hb= Post Whore X Post Whore / embarrassing incidents

Okay, I give up! Where's the picture?

Again, I'm no expert, but I believe a carb spacer between the manifold and the carb will help there, but hood clearance issues may prevent this in a Z.

Old school, no doubt (but that's what mine is as well). I believe the plenum divider will slightly improve torque below the peak of your torque curve. It's been a long time since I've kept up with this issue, but I believe it's characteristics make a manifold behave in the relm between a dual plane and a single plane intake.