wheelman

What I was really trying to say was "the front of the left head". I guess I should proof read my posts a little better. I hear what you're saying about the hockey puck, I debated with myself about doing it but decided I'd rather save the $70.00 to $100.00 for something else and spend $5.00 to plug the hole. Wheelman

I think the overall car looks good, but> I'd loose that homeplate resonator that came with the Caprice LT1. The engine bay will look much better without it. I put a regulation hockey puck in the hole, sealed it right up. As stated before, route the intake through the radiator core support so the air filter is in front of the radiator. I was able to retain the freash air intake scoops and get the intake routed to the front. If you remove those fresh air scoops then you'll really want to plug the holes leading to the interior, otherwise hot air from the engine bay ends up in the car. I'd also look at moving the wire bundle on the front left head further away from the header, even with loom on it you risk melting it into one big glob. Wheelman

My wife found an electric flyswatter in one of those junk catalogs we all get and bought one for our camper (you all know how it is when camping). So we're out camping and a bunch of yellow jackets show up to share our meal with us. I grab the "Electric FlySwatter" and decide to see if it really works. There are 2 buttons on the handle that have to be pressed simultaneously to charge a big capacitor in the thing, then it stays charged until something crosses the wires that are strung across the face of the paddle. So I charge the thing and take up station in my chair to wait for the first unsuspecting yellowjacket to happen by so I can get him. I'm wearing cutoffs so my legs are bare and before you know it I start hitting the edge of the paddle on my knee, you know the nervous fidgeting we all do, and then hit the wires on my leg. I ended up bit like the guy in the first post only the flyswatter sailed across the camp ground. It's amazing how much energy can be obtained from 2 AA batteries. I still have burn marks on my knee from that thing and believe me it will kill flys, hornets, yellowjackets, bees and small birds. Now we have 2 of them in the camper but no one charges the circuit until they are ready to attack. Wheelman

It interfaces with several aftermarket electronic auto-tranny controllers. It won't work with a manual tranny at all. Wheelman

BiltWel Are you sure the diff and mustache bar are from a 260? As far as I know the R200 wasn't available in a 260. I was able to keep the strap when I put an R200 into my 73 240. Maybe your strap is newer and isn't as stretched as an older one would be. Wheelman

Did you assemble it? Did you use a stim while assembling to ensure the different circuits were good? If you don't have a stim I'd invest in one, it will make the trouble shooting much easier as you can do it at the bench and send the tach, temp and MAP signals to the MS without having to wire it to the car. What version of MS are you working with? PCB, CPU and code? If it's a version 3 PCB, did you install the flyback circuits? I got one of the diodes in backwards and had huge current draw. Wheelman

Here is a picture of how I set mine up. I agree with Bart, I don't think it would work to go under the tensioner, up to the alternator, down to the AC delete and then finally back to the drive pully. I'm pretty sure the route back to the main drive pully from the AC delete is going to interfere with the tensioner. Wheelman

jbc3, You've said a number of times in this thread that not having a speedo connected will throw a code. Where are you getting this info? I ran my car all last summer using the Datsun mechanical speedo and had no codes generated. I did have to simulate the SES light but once that was done all codes were eliminated. Wheelman

I put my computer on the right side front frame rail right behind the radiator core support. To do it I had to rebuild the wiring harness but I planned on doing that anyway. Worked out well for me. I considered putting it on the driver's side but ran the oiler cooler lines there and they interfered with where the computer would have been. The only issue I have with where I have mine is the radiator fill is on the same side, I have to be careful when putting coolant in the system. Pop, I don't think the 95 is an OBDII computer, there are no pins for the after cat O2 sensors. But you are correct about them being flash programmable. Wheelman

I used the string method and it was still a bear to get the weather strip in. I don't know if it would have been worse with the trim installed or not but it's in now and not coming back out. Mom'sZ, You described the method of install exactly as Wick Humble did in the book I have, right down to removing the excess urethane sealer with solvent when you're done. Now I just need to get some sealer and find the time to get the process completed. Wheelman

I hope you're wrong also, I really don't want to pull this thing back out. I have Wick Humble's book on restoring a Z car and he says to put the trim in after the windsheild is installed. Wheelman

I have to recommend leaving some of those wire holders as well. I used almost all of them for the wiring and am gald they were there. If I'd removed them I would've had to use some other sort of holder to contain all the wires. Of course the LT1 has about a billion wires so your mileage may vary depending on the install you're doing. Wheelman

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yes I'm planning on putting the metal trim back in but have not done it yet, wanted to put the sealer in first so I wasn't fighting the trim while trying to squirt the sealer into the gaps. I guess I'll put the trim in and then the sealer. I'm pretty sure I'll still have a gap at the top right passenger corner but the gap at the other corner has closed up after letting things sit for a day or so. Jon, I've already got the windshield back in and really don't want to pull it out to insert the butyl tape. If I'd known about that stuff before I put it in I'd have picked some up to try out. I'll go to the local paint shop and get some of that urethane stuff. That must be what was in there when I removed the orignal weather stripping. Wheelman

Jack46, I have the stock 140 amp alternator that came from the Caprice I took the engine from and am wondering if your mounting scheme would work with it. Please post the pictures so we can get a better idea of what you did. Wheelman

I pulled an re-installed my windsheild yesterday and have a question for those of you who've used the MSA kit. The kit includes 2 tubes of black weather stripping glue sold by LokTite. The original stripping around the windshield had gaps at the upper corners that were filled with silicon sealer when I pulled windshield (looked like the original factory install). There were no leaks but the stripping was coming apart and needed to be replaced. The new stripping has gaps at the same locations, is the glue included in the kit supposed to be used to fill these gaps? I put a little of the glue on a small piece of cardboard to see what it was like when it set up and found it is flexible and sort of a tar/rubber consistancy. I'd really rather use silicon sealer to fill these gaps, what did those of you who've already done this use and how did it turn out? Wheelman

Add another entry to the loaner column for me. There are several guys in my neighborhood who are car guys but all of us pretty much keep to ourselves. I know, it's kinda sad, but each of us is pursueing something a little different and we're all busy so giving time to another is tough to do. One guy is building a mini-truck and another races mini-stockers and then there's me. Of us 3 I'm the oldest but not necessarily the most experienced. I'm pretty good friends with the mini-truck guy (Phil) and have helped him and a buddy of his do some welding but I just can't get interested in those rigs and I don't feel comfortable having Phil do work on my car. My son helped me with some stuff but when it gets down to it I'm just one of those guys that has to do things himself to feel it's done right, that is unless it's something I don't know how to do. I'll help others when I have time but really want to do all the work on my car alone if it's possible, I guess it's also my escape from others demanding my time. My kids are both grown and the wife encourages me to work on it, I think she feels bad that I was forced to abandon my hobby for 13 years because we moved into a house that had no room for it and the kids were in those formative years when they need all your time. Anyway she is very supportive of me and leaves me alone when I'm in the garage and if I don't ask for help from one of the guys in the neighborhood or a buddy no help is ever offered. Maybe I'm just to hard to be around for any length of time. Wheelman

What part of the country do you live in? Have you considered going with an SBC? It's a known swap. I'm more of a Ford guy myself and intended to swap a 302 into my 240 but found an LT1 for a good price before finding a 302 so I went the Chevy route instead. I'd still like to do a 302 at some point but don't want another Z right now. Wheelman

One thing you'll find is the engine bay in the ZX is about 3" shorter than the Z. I looked at doing this swap before I got my 240 and decided to go a different direction. I don't think those type mounts will work in a ZX because the crossmember is closer to the firewall which makes it tough to get the engine far enough back to bolt the mounts to it and the frame rails. The front oil sump on the Ford 302 also causes problems. Wheelman

Those mounts aren't all that different from those used by several guys to swap ford motors into a Z. It's been reported that after a while the frame rail starts to twist as it's the only thing supporting the weight and torque of the engine. This is why Alsil built the crossmember mount he did. The ad also says it's not a rust bucket but then in an answer to a bidder says the floor is rusted through in front of both seats (driver and passegner sides). I'd stay way away from this one, but thats me. I've been through the "it's not rusty" thing on eBay and spent many months repairing the "small" amount of rust on my 240Z. Wheelman

My wife and I were out with some friends the other night when the subject of how our respective pets were doing came up. Our friends have had a pet rabbit for a year or so and they recently adopted a stray cat. Our friends have 2 young children (5, 7) and one day thier cousins were visiting so they had the rabbit out and were playing with it and the cat in the garage. Well to keep the rabbit from running off and getting under something they put it in an animal carrier along with the cat. Being young kids they got distracted and left the 2 in the carrier and started playing with other things. Not long afterward the oldest cousin (12) says, "Hey, listen, you can hear the cat making a growling sound.". The cat is emitting a low growl/moan and when the kids look in the carrier the rabbit (a male) is on the cat (a female) trying to "Make Babies". The younger kids have no clue whats happening and thinking the rabbit is attacking the cat, run to get Mom. When mom shows up she is horrified to find the rabbit "doing" the cat and separates them. The cat, seeing its opportunity, runs off with rabbit gism all over it. The kids examine the rabbit and find some blood on it but no apparent injuries. By this point in the story we are laughing so hard we can't breath. Once we had stopped laughing my wife askes the mom if she tracked the cat down and gave her a bath to which the mom answers "NAH, she just licked herself clean". I just about fell on the floor at this one, my stomach is still sore from it. Now whenever the cat sees the rabbit out it will jump up on something to stay away from it. Very agressive rabbit. Just imagine the memories that will be brought up at family gatherings in that house. "Hey Mom, remember that rabbit we had that was always trying to "do" the cat?". Wheelman

I stripped all that rubber/undercoating out of mine and found rust underneath it. I hadn't planned on pulling it out on the driver's side but did on the passenger because of repairs I was making to the firewall. When I stripped it out of the passenger side and found rust under it I decided to pull all of it out. There was rust on the seem where the floor meets the bottom of the firewall on the driver's side that I wouldn't have found had I left the undercosting there. If you are planning on putting in something like DynaMat anyway I'd pull all of it and repair any rust you find. BTW: I'm going to use FatMat, got 100 Sq feet for $135.00 shipped to my door. Wheelman

I've got one of those Iron head LT1s in my Z and it is not front heavy at all. Everything else on the engine is aluminum so there is quite a bit of weight savings over a standard SBC. I swapped the stock cam for an LT4 hot cam copy and heavier valve springs and it pulls hard to just under 6000 rpm. I also have shorty headers and a lighter 305 flywheel so it revs very quickly. It sounds to me like that car described earlier with the AFR heads had the stock cam which in puts out 265 hp with the stock heads. There's a web page somewhere that lists flow rates for the LT1 heads (OEM and aftermarket) and stock iron heads flowed 20% more than the stock aluminum. The iron heads were developed later in the life of the LT1 and the port and chamber designs are more efficient and were the basis for the Vortec heads. I agree though that you want a 95 or later with the 95 being the prefered year. It has the vented optispark, the PCM can be flashed without removing a chip and it's still OBDI so the programming is simpler. If you're serious about the Caprice you found make sure it has an LT1, most had the L99 which is a 4.3L V8. They all had the 4L60E tranny which is a computer controlled 4-speed auto. If it's a cop car (9C1 package) chances are 3rd gear is gone so be sure to check it out real good. I picked up an entire 95 model retired Montana cop car for $1000.00, 3rd gear was gone but I was able to drive it home. Get the whole car if you can as there are lots of parts that you'll want to transfer to your Z, especially the engine bay wiring harness. Wheelman

Bartman is correct, the coolent goes through the heads first and then the block but comes from the engine to the radiator the same as a standard flow setup. The radiator fills from the top and goes back to the engine from the bottom. This is part of the reason you can't use a normal thermostat on these engines, it ends up backwards and won't flow at all. As far as controlling the fan from the PCM goes I don't think it matters as long as the thermo-switch is set to the correct temp. You will want to program the fan(s) in the PCM so they won't come on otherwise it will throw a code. I also don't like the idea of running anything through the radiator to mount the fan, thats why I made some brackets that attach the fan to the upper and lower radiator mounts. Those plates you ran the bolts through, how wide are they and did you put one on each side (left and right or top and bottom)? I think this is a very bad idea, covers up some of the radiator and you need all of it, especially if your engine is modified. Wheelman