blueovalz

Is that what those are? They certainly don't look like any I've seen, but perhaps VG design has changed lately (like everything else these days). These simply look like nubs stuck along the top of the car. Perhaps these operate much like the ubiquitous supply of the so-called "ground effects" that can be stuck on any car.

Interesting thought. Provided the mounting bolt spacing (e.g. frame rail spacing) can be accomodated, this should work well. The greatest concern is not whether the engine will mount, or even if the crossmember (cradle) will, but what is the spacing for the front control arms. The inner bushing spacing will need to be close to the OEM Z spacing. I believe the SX is a good bit wider in this respect, which would push the suspension further outboard.

Very nice! It appears the motor mounts are attached to the front of the block? Great looking detail.

Even with flat panels and good tape, a straight line is an "art". But add curves and bumps and what-not, and it gets even harder (especially with the hood center bulge). My first stripe job looked okay, but under scrutiny, it lacked the straight and smooth lines I wanted. This was why I took on the job of using a laser level to find the lines for me on my latest job. Even the most intricate of bodywork shapes can have straight lines with a laser level marking the way. It perhaps is a bit of overkill with the stock Z body, but it will help. Aside from that, keys to straight lines are: 1) Constant tension on the tape, but not so much that the tape stretches (which then makes a bow out of a straight line), and at the same time... 2) After affixing the tape at one end of stripe, pull the tape out the entire length of the panel, then above the end point of the stripe, drop the tape down in a purely vertical motion with no sideways movement. Relax, don't tense up. If the start was not perfectly square with the stripe direction, then a curve will be at the very begining, but this can be pulled up and retacked after an otherwise straight line is completed. 3) Pull from the center of the tape and not from one side or the other (which causes the tape to bow out as well). Using the tape roll itself (properly squared up with the direction you are pulling) helps a lot here. 4) At the end of the stripe, start easing up on the tension until there is pratically no pulling being done on the tape at the end. 5) Most important...patience. Sometimes I'd spend 20 minutes on just one side of a stripe. Pay attention to what the tape is doing as you pull it in different ways and you'll soon learn how to manipulate the tape into doing what you want it to do.

Thanks for beating me to this issue. Silicon, over bare metal is a big no-no. It will cause rust under the silicon over time.

Don't ask me to provide a link, but I've read serveral sources stating the metal temperature has an effect on wear characteristics. In a nutshell, the higher temperatures promote less wear. The implication was a colder running motor has a higher cylinder wall wear than the same block running at a higher temperature.

I would think that if one were successful in creating a pan, tray, sheet, etc, under the car that met all the characteristics of "ground effects", that it would require quite a bit of rigidity and a strong means of attachment. Otherwise, higher pressure above the pan, tray, sheet, would force it to separate from the unibody. A very small amount of pressure difference over the broad bottom panel's area would seem to make for easy separation.

I see I'm logged in (with ON3GO) but that is as far as it will take me.

Yeah, the last time I chatted was with the old format. I can't seem to get into this one either. I suppose I should look for some instructions.

Sounds like she needs a good lawyer and show what America really is all about. Public school administrators like this is why we finally put our teenager into private school.

Yeah!! Lookin' good

74_5.0L_Z; I think we need more pics to understand what you're saying

Good to hear you like it (duhhh). I wonder why the oil level was so low?

My '71 240z, COMPLETELY gutted, with entire fiberglass body (doors with no glass), hatch with lexan window, front clip, and quarters), no bumbers (basic race-only set-up) and a lightweight SBF (aluminum everything except the block) without the cage was 2060, and I felt this was as light as it would ever be able to go without some exotic materials. My goal was 2k but this was not going to happen. Then I added the cage, and it went up almost 100 lbs (to 2150). This same car in street trim, with DOT wheels and tires, headlights, and miscellaneous street items (cooling fans, alternator, wiring, heavier but more comfortable seats, etc) now weighs 2320 lbs. Thin carbon fiber body parts would have given me an additional 60-70 lbs, but then any small ding would have been certain death for that part, which is why my panels may be thicker than needed for race-only duty, but I needed durability being this body is a one-off creation.

My "personal moment" of the so called "debate" was when Kerry addressed the "flip flop" issue. Direct and to the point. I always felt that if I had two guys with guns approach me, and both of them point their guns to my head: one gunman waffling on whether or not to shoot me, verses the other guy that simply walks up and pulls the trigger; I'd pick the guy who's at least going to wrestle with the idea of whether to shoot or not verses the guy who simply walks up and pulls the trigger regardless of any possibility he might be wrong. Decisiveness is good, if its the right decision. But I don't want to get this headed into whether it's right or wrong (that was covered in another string). I was just FINALLY happy to see Kerry address this "flip-flop" issue directly. Now I'm ready to get off the Iraq topic and head home with the domestic problems at hand.

There would be one heck of a weight bias toward the rear, what with the engine and driver being set that far back. From a handling perspect I feel it would hurt. From a hole-shot perspective, what could be better

Good breakdown on the variables. My "low torque" 289 in my Z (2470 lbs w/driver) provides a 0-60 time (averaged over 3 runs) of 4.2 seconds with a 7500 rpm shift using 4:11 gearing. Very slight spin up front (again, this motor is not a stump puller), and none on the 1-2 shift with a peak torque around 4900 rpm. I've driven the S2000 and it has a nice constant smooth pull over a long rpm range, but it's got nothing for a V8 Z.

Again, I've no numbers to illustrate this statement, but the quench area and design (of it) in the heads has a lot to do with compression ratio tolerance as well. A good, tight quench area (oh, that sounded good!) will allow one to run a higher compression ratio because it staves off detonation, verses a relatively small (or thick) quench area. If memory serves me correctly, once the quench area thickness (or height) gets deeper than about .040", it is just about useless, so this needs to be as tight as possible and I believe cover as much piston area as possible as well. But Dan's philosophy is right in that you can do so much research and thinking about this subject until you eventually may give up (unless you want that very last 10 ft/lbs) and just simply look at the cam manufacturers specs (or talk to them on the phone) and see what they recommend on CR for a specific cam and it's application, and then go with that.

No one knows for sure. The R200 is stout by any small car standards, and very rarely do we hear of a failure behind any SB V8. The half-shafts will be the weak link instead of the center section. There is also search information on the R230 (which is larger than the R200) and what is needed to install it into the S30 as well. One member installed a Corvette rear end (entire rear), a 240SX rear sub-frame assembly has been installed, and then you have the straight axle back-halfs as well. A search will give you a lot of hits on this subject.

It seems a National Security Letter (official request for private information) can be processed for any investigation, regardless of any terrorism investigative ties or not, plus the recipient of the NSL is barred from disclosing the letter was received, ever. I know, I know, the first fireball coming out will have the 4 letter word "ACLU" on it, but I think we can all admit that overall, the benefits of the ACLU to this country far outweigh the harm.

What a project! I envy you

This string has taken a decidedly lighter (and welcomed) tone. Too funny

Yes, but it's not a political bonanza if kept secret. Now that an "Act" is passed we can tout that we've done something to make everyone feel more secure and insure a public approval rating increase of, say 15 points? And thus is the root of my frustration. I've become so jaded over the decades watching our government and politicians migrate along a continuum from one end of ethical and humble behavior, toward the other end of outright corruption and overt brazen behavior (to hell with compromise, it's my way or the highway). Yeah my vote counts. Right, I just keep telling myself that. And this filters down to everyday life. "Thank God," I tell myself that I've got a triad of financial resources to retire on, because with the market is now below 10000 again, and SS going down the tubes, and corrupt book-cooking is stealing my pension, I need everything I can get my hands on because Washington is doing nothing substantial to prevent these trends from continuing. Yeah Kevin, I'll be greeting you at Wal-mart when I'm 91, and just then getting my first SS check, that I can use on this hermaphrodite prescription medicine health plan that the pharmaceuticals hatched out while the CFO overseeing my destroyed pension gets 3 months probation for greed, and ruining my last vestige of financial well being. Yeah, I'm jaded all right.

Well now, just because the rules state "such and such" doesn't necessarily mean they will be followed to the letter (especially for a government that feels the means justify the end), and that issue is part of the point being argued. If you are sooo trusting that Uncle Sam would do nothing outside of the rules set before it, then I've got some great ocean front property in Arkansas I'll sell ya . Same for the abuse reports. Just because there are no reports of abuse doesn't mean it doesn't exist as well. In twenty years time, if no reports of abuse appear, then it will still be too early to tell. Remember the wonderful reports of how the incident rate for terrorist events dropped in the time since 9/11 because of our administration's actions? Lots of hype, but when the new revised numbers (by our own government) came out showing a marked increase, nothing was said. "The truth is the first casualty of war."

Grumpy (haven't seen him in a while) would have a plethora of great links for you to read, as this is a simple set of questions with no simple answers. My simple understanding of the difference between static and dynamic CR is this: Static is the resultant ratio between the volumes of the space above the piston at BDC/same space at TDC (simple math). Dynamic compression ratio is the pressure change in the gas volume at RPM between the same two locations prior to ignition. If the real world engine was always operating at 100% volumetric efficiency (VE), then the two would be identical (is that correct?), but most engines operate at less than this. Valve timing at low rpms allow some of the air pushed into the cylinder (on the intake stroke) to be pushed back out of the intake on the compression stroke, which results in a lower dynamic compression ratio (almost like decreasing the stroke of an engine, but not reducing the combustion chamber volume in the head). On the flip side, a properly tuned intake system may increase the intake charge to the point of pushing more than the normal amount of air into the cylinder resulting in a higher dynamic CR. Valve timing, I believe, will have a substantial effect on this. Valve size could affect the CR. But a concave valve head, or deep valve seats would change that as well. My experience has been that valve size and shape are rather insignificant in regards to their effect in measured static CR being there is so little volume that is affected by this. Then you can get into valve shrouding, etc, and open a real can of worms. Lastly, the compression test in itself will not tell you what the compression ratio is. This is really a dynamic measurement in that it can change with different cams even though nothing else is changed. I hope I've not misled you on this topic and I'm sure better educated responses will follow.