wheelman

OK, I haven't read the whole thread yet but I wanted to post before going out to New Years-Eve dinner with my wife. I'm 42 and have had several car and motorcycle accidents over the years as well as a weight lifting accident. The lifting accident messed up my lower back for a short time right after I got out of HS but it healed enough for me to join the military and not suffer any ill effects. The car and cycle accidents are another story. The pain reported by Jersey has been a part of my life for years now but it feels to me like a sword has been run through me. I feel pain between my shoulder blades and at the co-responding spot on my chest. Yeah it's very disconcerting but "only" a pinched never and I've gotten used to it. I finally went to see a chiropractor about 6 months ago and it helped alot but the pain has not disappeared and probably never will. The vertebra in my neck are misaligned pinching one or more of the nerves there, they are slowly moving back into place but it takes time. My advice to everyone is when you are in any type of car or cycle accident go see a doctor as soon as possible I'm convinced that had I done that I would have been able to avoid the pain I have now. Also as others have said stay in shape, eat right and don't be a couch potato. Wheelman

The old proportioning valve might have gone bad. I have the Toyota calipers on my car but stuck with the stock 240 master and booster, they are new along with all the rear drum hardware. I have noticed that if I really get on the brakes the fronts will lock up way before the rears but thats how you want it. Wheelman

Have you made a list of the performance items you'd require if you swapped in a VG30ET? Maybe that and a list of the same basic items involved in the V8 swap would help your dad understand that the basic cost of the 2 are very similar. Doing that would be a good thing anyway so your sponser has an idea of how much you need and what you plan to use it for. It might be just that your dad is hung-up on the idea of a non-Nissan engine in your ZX. Good luck with your project and your dad. BTW: Are you going to race this car professionally? If not what will the sponsor gain from your project? I'm just curious. Wheelman

What is your dad's primary arguement against the V8? Seems to me 500hp is 500hp and if one motor can produce that level in a more reliable, streetable form then it would be a better choice. Not that a 500hp V8 will be much more streetable than a 500hp turbo motor. The amount of work to swap the V8 in would be about the same as a VG30ET. The VG will require replacing the front crossmember and if you run enough boost to produce 500hp you need an intercooler, boost control, enhanced fuel supply capabilites and after market engine control. Anyway, either project is a lot of work and won't be cheap and whether its a 500hp V8 or VG30ET you'll still be able to go fast enough to kill yourself. Wheelman

Tuner Cat is what I use as well. I looked at LT1Edit as well but I liked Tuner Cat's interface better and the program appeared to be more comprehensive in it's programming ability, just my impression though as I didn't work with LT1Edit much. As for using a MAC, you are REALLY going to want a laptop so I would strongly consider an older Intel machine that has a real serial port and doesn't cost much money. I have an old DELL that surprisingly enough still works but I wouldn't be heart broken if it fell on the garage floor or got cooked in the car while it sits in a parking lot. I can just pull the HD and stick it in another intel based laptop and off I go, try that with a MAC HD. My point is if you want to use it to program the PCM you'll also want to use some logging/scanning software such as DataMaster so you can take the car for a spin and log the pertinent data to track how the changes affected performance. The environment this machine will live in is very harsh compared to a nice indoor office and new expensive equipment doesn't last much longer than old cheap equipment. Just a thought. Wheelman

Several guys have put power racks into these Z cars. The ones I've seen used on this site are Mustang, Subaru and Miata racks. Do a search and you should be able to find the threads that discuss this conversion. Wheelman

As well as the dowel pin he might have to drill out the hole in the nose of the cam. The later model opti had a shaft that slid into a 1" X .5" hole in the cam that helped with alignment. I'm not positive of those exact dimensions but they are close to that, if you decide to swap to the 95 or later opti just measure the size of the shaft. Wheelman

All the manual V6 cars of that era had 5s and the V8s all had 6s. It sounds like the prior Camaro owner put together a setup similar to the one I'm using in my Z. I have a 95 LT1 mated to a WC T5 from an 89 TransAm. I used a flywheel meant for an 86 and later 305 that is externally balanced like the LT1 and a standard V8 clutch setup. The flywheel is only 16 lbs so the engine revs very quickly. I think you'll probably have to convert to the setback mounting position to get the shifter to come out in the right place. The primary things that will be affected are the length on the driveshaft, the tranny mounting method and the exhaust. I'm guessing the M21 thats in there now is using the stock Datsun tranny mount which won't work for the T5. You can use the JTR tranny mount or fab one of your own. Wheelman

I've owned several rental properties for the last 4 years, the local PD presented a class on how to spot Meth labs and abuse of the drug. What an eye opener that was for me, it's been many years since I was exposed to much info about drugs and their affects. (Health class in JR High, back when POT was the thing). Meth is absolutely the worst drug a person can get involved with, either use or manufacture. It's the most addictve drug known (even more so than Nicotine) and causes the user to become violent and paranoid along with many other bizarre behaviors. Fortunately I haven't had any users or labs in my properties but WA state (particularly south eastern WA) ranks at the top of the list of problem areas for this drug. Brandon, I'm very sorry for your lose and that you had to live through it, thanks for sharing it with us and we'll keep your niece in our prayers. Sometimes we all need to have the ugly reality of things placed before us to get our attention and remind us that some things are best left alone. Wheelman

It can't be a T5 from a 93 V8 Camaro, they came with T56 transmissions, that is unless the owner of the Camaro swapped in the T5. Could it be an 83 Camaro? To answer the basic question about fitment, based on how mine ended up using the JTR set back position your shifter would end up coming up right through the fuse box. I have my engine set back as far it can go and the T5 shifter came up right in the center of the stock hole. I had to clearance the left side of the hole a bit as I'm using the stock Camaro bellhousing that tilts the tranny. Where is the shift handle positioned now and is it bent so it comes up through the stock shifter hole? Wheelman

I have one question, is that T5 from a V6 car? If it is you don't want to/probably can't use it. The input shaft should be 14 spline and the bellhousing won't bolt to a V8. From the research I did while looking for my T5 the V6 versions use the same bolt pattern as the Ford T5 and it's a much lighter duty tranny than the V8 model, which isn't a very strong tranny anyway. Wheelman

Nicola Tesla, At first I thought this was kinda cool but then I read the short bio and decided I was to hasty in that decision. I've always sort of admired Tesla for his inventive genius but the guy was a certified wack-job, even forgot who he was at one point while concentrating on a problem he was trying to solve. Ok, after reading several of the other bios Tesla wasn't any worse than the others, I'm surprised any of you would admit to any connection with Charles VI or Cavendish. At least Caligula was Emporer of the World. Wheelman

lesd, It might be possible to run a cam for a later model SBC that is a roller but you'll need to modify it to drive the opti-spark. Not sure about specifics on this but the 96 opti will use the shorter of the 2 dowel pin lengths the LT1 had and will require a hole about 1" long and .5" diameter drilled into the front of the cam for the opti shaft to slide into. You'd might need to run an electric water pump as well because the LT1 cam gear may not bolt to an earlier cam and the water pump is driven off the cam gear. By the time you do all that it would probably be as expensive as buying an LT1 cam to start with. Have you thought much about what you'll do with the PCM to provide more fuel based on boost? A rising rate fuel pressure regulator might work but it's not as accurate as adjusting the programming in the PCM if it's possible. As for the CR, it should be possible to have the combustion chambers opened up to get it down or even use the iron LT1 heads which have 63CC chambers (I think, might be 58CC). Anyway lots of options here. Wheelman

Kenai, Check the settings in TunerCat again, my engine did the same thing when I first started it. I have an LT1 from a 95 Caprice 9C1 which is not supposed to have VATS but I had to program it out anyway. If you can't get it running post your bin file and I'll take a look at it, or I can send you one I use. Wheelman

CBL, Where in Washington are you, or is it DC? BTW: I don't ask for car stuff for christmas either. I used to and I'd get that dumb founded "What the hell are you talking about." look so I gave up and just ask for money, or tell the person asking me to be creative. Wheelman

I got my Caprice for $1000.00 and that was a bargain for the area I live. I used almost everything from the engine compartment and agree with Piston that it would have cost me well over that to buy just the engine, harness and other things I took as separate parts. I sold it to a local JY for $100.00 after I was done with it. From I've seen these cars are becoming more desirable and the prices are rising or holding steady. For what it's worth I argued with myself for a couple weeks about keeping the Caprice and finding another donor. It was a blast to drive (even with a bad 3rd gear). It drove like a small sports car with the responsive engine and tightly tuned suspension. My wife was the deciding factor, she said I could only have 1 project car so I had to choose one or the other, obviously the Z won out. Wheelman

Here is a link to a short wav file of my exhaust. It's just at idle with a couple blips of the throttle but it will give you an idea of how the Aero-Chamber sounds. http://www.vikingds.com/zcarguy/z_exhaust.wav Wheelman

I've never liked the rattly, poppy sound of the Flowmasters, in fact I removed a couple from my 93 Mustang right after I bought it. I have basically the same exhaust you have. Headman tight tubes into 2 1/2" pipe into a Y-Pipe (right in front of the diff) and 2 1/2" into Hooker Aero-Chamber muffler. I have a very slight drone around 1500 RPM but the sound out the back is deep and throaty not rattly and poppy like the Flowmasters. You should check into the Aero-Chamber muffler, I think you'd like it. Wheelman

I did this swap into my 240Z except I didn't use the 4L60E transmission as 3rd gear was shot and I wanted a manual. Be sure to check the tranny real good as this is the weak spot in the drive train. I know several guys who are cops and they all say the engine is nearly indestructable but the trannies are garbage. You can get very decent power from that LT1 with a simple cam swap. It will have the iron heads which are supposed to flow about 20% better than the aluminum ones but the compression ratio is down a bit from 10.5:1 to 10:1. Anyway thats a good deal if the car is in decent shape and the swap into the Z is not very hard. The worst part of it for me was rebuilding the wiring harness. It wasn't hard just time consuming. Wheelman

They are wrong. You can run the 700R4 but it obviously won't be computer controlled and you'll have to figure out some way to get a Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) signal to the computer so it can manage the Idle Air Control. If the transmission already has one you're good to go or you can do what I did and put one inline with the speedo cable. I'm not running an auto but a T-5 thats not computer controlled. My engine, computer and harness came from a 95 Caprice cop car and other than the OBD-II stuff your's has they are the same. OBD-II had the second set of O2 sensors after the CATS. I stripped out the tranny control wiring and loaded a program from a manual Camaro as a starting point. I put the VSS in so the IAC would work and the car wouldn't die if I shifted down to slow the car. Everything works great and you should be able to set yours up the same way. You want a 95 computer, it's OBD-I and can be reprogrammed without replacing a ROM chip. Wheelman

When I was going through my Airforce tech school we used to tell guys from other sections of the base that we were being trained as "Inflight ICBM refueling technicians" or "Onboard satellite navigation and repair specialists" or "Ground Zero landscape re-design specialists". They would believe us because the training I went through was classified at a level the normal base training squadrons weren't able to handle so we had a separate school squadron and nobody else knew what we did. They called us the "Secret Squirrels". OK, enough of this thread hi-jack. BTW: I need a canutor valve and some high speed spinner bolts. Wheelman

Fortunately for me the local club combines all modified and prepared classes into one and uses PAX to make things a little more equal. I still get hammered with the PAX though so you're right Clifton I'll probably never really be competitive. I try to tell myself it's for fun and not to worry about whether I win or how I place but you know how well that works. That good old competitive spirit rears it's head and I start thinking "OK, I need to do this and that to the car and I'll be able to beat that guy." "Resistance is Futile" Anyway I am going to convert to coilovers so I might as well do it right and set the car up in a way that works best for me, thats what prompted the original question. I'm thinking the "West Coast" setup is better for Auto-X and fits my driving style a little better as well so I'll choose spring rates accordingly and retain the relatively large ARBs I already have, possibly adding adjustable end links to the rear bar. I will run Kumho Ecsta MXs next season and switch to slicks when I starting running E-Mod. Wheelman

If I go straight to slicks I can't run in Novice class. When I do move to E-Mod I plan to run slicks, I just don't want to make that move yet. If I win an event as a Novice I will be forced to run E-Mod so I may have to do that sooner than I plan. When the time comes I'll have to figure out a way to get the car and the extra tires to the track. Getting the wife out of bed to drive the pickup with the tires will be a bit of a fight. I guess I'll have to get a trailer or dolly so I can tow the car. Thanks for the suggestion to look at used tires as well. I tend to always think I have to buy new so this will help me save a little money for other mods. Wheelman

Bart is partially right about how the system works. The PCM powers the relay (provides a ground) for 2 seconds to prime the system and while cranking. Once the engine fires the oil pressure switch keeps the relay closed (provides a ground) unless the engine dies and the oil pressure drops below a set level (4 psi). The pressure switch is a safety device in case a fuel line is cut in an accident. The premise is that the engine stops, oil pressure drops, switch opens, relay opens, fuel pump stops, fuel stops flowing in a matter of seconds. I'm not sure about the wire colors in the corvette harness but that yellow wire should be connected to the same terminal on the relay that the PCM is connected to. The switch is supposed to provide a path to ground and power comes from the fuse. Hope this helps. Wheelman

There are no kits specific to the LT1 but the mounts are identical to the first gen SBC so MSA and JTR mounts for the V8 into ZX will work fine. I'm not familiar with what JCI makes for the ZX but if it's for a gen 1 SBC then it should work as well. As for headers, no one makes them but you might talk to 80LT1. He made a set for his car and might be willing to make a set for you or at least send you some pictures. Good Luck with the swap and keep us informed. Wheelman