TimZ

Okay... tonight I started test-fitting things with the my one good CV adaptor, and I have an interference problem with the sway bar. Not a big surprise - I was pretty sure that this would happen to some extent. This is a '78 280Z, BTW, and I'm sing the ST 7/8" rear bar. Out of all the people that got in on the group purchase, somebody else must have had the same problem - any clever solutions? I could try shortening the links, but it will end up being _really_ short in order for everything to clear. Or, I could make the links longer, so that the bar is above the CV joint, but I think that the bar will crash into the underbody with suspension travel. Or, I could relocate the sway bar pickup points - ick. That's about all I could think of, offhand - any other ideas?

Andy - it's the one near Pelham and Van Born. It's pretty well known locally, and I thought it was well respected. To be fair, I took the problem piece in and showed it to the proprietor today. He quickly admitted that it was screwed up, and is going to try to fix it (cut the welds and re-center it). So, at least he didn't give me any sh#t, and is trying to make it right. The end result remains to be seen, though. In hindsight, Joint, Clutch and Gear would have been the obvious choice - it just didn't occur to me for the halfshaft adaptors for some reason. Doh. They are building me up a new driveshaft as we speak, BTW, but that's another story (hopefully not a bad one )...

I'm guessing it's roughly equivalent to having the wheel wobble back and forth by about 3/8". Pretty bad. This is just so depressing - I was only a couple of days away from having my car back on the road. Would've been the first time that I actually had it ready for spring in several years.

...for not having my own machine shop. Let's see... I received Scottie's very nicely done CV adaptors somewhere around March 15. That weekend, I disassembled the rear hubs, and took them into a local machinist to be fitted and welded up. Really, I could have done it myself, but was not confident enough in my welding skills to be able to both get the adaptors on straight, and have a strong enough weld for such a high stress application. Also, I wanted to have them balanced. Seems like a simple enough thing for a machinist to do, right? So, THREE WEEKS later (last Friday) I get them back from this guy, and promptly took them over to get them powdercoated - didn't want any nasty rust uglying up my very cool CV adaptors... Installed the first one tonight. Guess what? It has a lateral runout of about .070". I couldn't believe it. It looks like a wheel off a g@*d#mned Shriner car. So... now I'm in a quandary about what to do next. I'm definitely taking it back to the machinist tomorrow, and inquiring as to how exactly he was able to balance it. I am going to insist that he make this right, but I don't know if this part can be salvaged. I may need a new companion flange and adaptor. A couple of questions come to mind - first, did anybody get any spares? Second, if I get another companion flange, does it need to be matched with a specific distance piece, or does it matter? Sorry to rant, but I just paid good money for the privilege of waiting nearly a month for results that I am certain I could have bested with my grinder and MIG in a weekend. Grrrrr.

quote: Originally posted by 240Z Turbo: Will this require that I shorten the strut turbo by 2" in the rear? Ummm.... you mean 'strut tube'? ...somebody has turbos on the brain. The idea behind shortening the strut tube is to keep your normal ride height in the middle of the strut's travel. The Z's suspension only has about +/-3.5" of travel to begin with, and this is not counting the travel taken up by the bump stops (you DID put those in - right?). So, when you lower the suspension by 1.5", you reduce the compression travel to about 2" (probably less, due to the afore-mentioned bump stops - which really are necessary). Several years ago, when I did this mod, I actually went to stiffer springs, and the ride improved noticeably, due to the fact that I was no longer hitting the bump stops (which are necessary - hint, hint ) all the time.

I just got my CV halfshafts back from Raxles today, and they really look great. Same price as Pete mentioned. Even after starting with the used tulip receivers, they look like they are brand new. I'm pleased. There was some delay in getting them to me, though. Apparently, Mardi just started using a new machine that cinches the bands down around the boots (I think that's what it does...) for an OEM fit and finish. He had to order new tooling and bands for the ZX CV joints, so I had to wait for that. The good news is that he is now equipped for these halfshafts, and subsequent customers shouldn't have to wait.

It's in the ballpark. I paid $100 for the pair, plus shipping, as I recall.

Scottie... That's fine - since it's a MAF system, theoretically the MAT shouldn't effect your mixture, since it's the same air that the MAF measured before it got compressed. It's definitely a worry with speed-density, though. Also, I wasn't questioning the effectivness of the NPR - just the opposite. I was theorizing that perhaps once the car got moving, the intercooler could have been reducing the intake air temps from the temp while you were staging. This isn't usually what you'd expect in normal driving (usually the air temp goes up under sustained boost as the intercooler saturates), but staging with boost is a markedly different scenario.

I used to run 12-14psi through triple Mikuni 44's. It can be done, but as Drax already pointed out, it's a real bitch to tune. Full and part throttle performance was okay, but transients were terrible. Everytime I would downshift and floor it, it would bog. Badly. With EFI, I have none of these problems.

Scottie - I'd be interested to see what the manifold air temps are doing. Normally, I'd expect to see them climb as the run went on, but it's possible that since you were staging with the engine on boost, with very little airflow through the intercooler, the manifold air temps might actually come down as the car builds speed and starts cooling the intake charge more efficiently. This might explain the change in AFRs - if no corrections are done for MAT, then cooler air will run leaner. Also, I'd be interested to see your manifold pressure (are you using speed density or MAF?). Might not be anything useful the see there, but just curious...

quote: Originally posted by hybridluver: how do i make my redline 10k rpms? thanks For all practical purposes, you can't. Because of the design of the L6, the upper limit is somewhere around 8000rpm. Above that, because of the length of the crankshaft, torsional vibrations start happening in the crank, and can cause the crank to fail. Granted, at 8000 rpm with a well balanced motor, this won't happen immediately, but 10000 rpm would just be begging for trouble, IMHO. This is not to say that it's impossible to do, but you would end up spending a lot more money to make it work, and most likely end up with less power than you would by going with a well thought-out turbo setup.

quote: Originally posted by Tim78zt: Hi Simon! The simple answer is BPR-6ES, The -6ES plugs are the stock heat range. For the application that Simon is doing, the plugs should be at least one heat range colder (BPR-7ES). I currently run the -8ES plugs with no problems. As far as gap - I run a 0.030" gap, to help minimize any misfires under boost.

As I recall, I'm running NGK BPR-8ES plugs.

...you know... IdealZ sells FSMs on CDROM for ~$50. Don't remember what year Z you have but they have several model years covered. Well worth the investment.

The FSM for my 78 shows 40 to 54 lb-ft for the castle nut, and 14 to 18 lb-ft for the nuts that hold the ball joint to the transverse link, which is what I think you are looking for. Looks like Haynes might have had their nuts mixed up.

I'm using the 10mm R-100 wires.

I bought mine directly from Magnecor. I'm not sure if they still sell direct, but you should be able to find the info you need at: http://www.magnecor.com

I used Magnecor wires. You can get them individually in various lengths, so it's not too bad to come up with something that fits. These are the best wires that I have found. Don't get caught up in trying to get the lowest impedance wires that you can find - the TEC is _very_ sensitive to ignition interference, and you need all the suppression you can get. I wouldn't even mess with anything else.

Andy... Did you find anyplace local to get coatings done? I wouldn't mind having my exhaust done, if I didn't have to ship it somewhere.

Okay, this probably won't be practical for us, but kind of interesting, anyway. http://www.newtech-ibs.com/aswf/flashanglais.htm Anybody want to try to retrofit these to their Z?

Clutch Specialties web site is: http://www.clutchspecialties.com/

You should be able to purge the air out of the system by just letting the fuel pump run for a minute or so before starting the engine. The air gets pushed back through the return line, into the tank.

I was surprised, too. You would have to check with them for the rating on the 240mm clutch. Actually, the number might be a little higher - I got the figure for the DF from another clutch supplier. The CF tech did indicate that the number is nowhere near the 400lb-ft that my car dynoed at. As far as the next step, the Centerforce tech said that he had nothing to sell me that would work. He forwarded me on to ACT - same story - they had nothing to sell me, either. They then forwarded me to Clutch Specialties, who set me up with a heavier pressure plate, and a six puck, sprung hub disk. Rated for 450lb-ft. I was impressed by the technical knowledge of the guy at Clutch Specialties - he spent alot of time with me, and gave me several options in order to meet my unique requirements. He was not just looking stuff up in a book and reading it to me. Also, the clutch setup was put together, tested, and sent to me in a very acceptable time frame (in my hands in less than a week), and for less than half the cost of the DF. This included the throwout bearing, pilot bearing, and a clutch installation tool, too, BTW. I can't comment on how well the clutch works just yet, though - I have to wait till the salt is off the roads. I can say that the pedal pressure is a bit higher, but not so much so that it will be a problem.

quote: Originally posted by John Adkins: what size is the new engine? 4.2 litres

I was using a 225mm DF clutch (I have a very nice Tilton 225mm aluminum flywheel that I'd rather not part with), and when it gave up the ghost (i.e., started slipping), I called and talked to a Centerforce tech. When I told him the torque numbers that I had dynoed at, he said something to the effect of "That's way too much torque for that clutch", and that he was surprised that it had worked at all (I had about 1k miles on it). Apparently, the 225mm DF is good for around 250 lb-ft of torque. The 240mm clutch will be rated a bit higher - check with them - they were at least fairly honest with me. [This message has been edited by TimZ (edited March 06, 2001).]