heavy85

If you look at the stock crossmember and mine really close you will see what I did. Hint - it uses 100% of the stock crossmember plus just a little extra. I had to slightly trim a couple of the fins but not enough to make a difference. Cameron

There is nothing followed by even less through most of Wyoming. I'm sure there are many more Antelope than people. It's the most 'nothing as far as the eye can see' drive I've ever been on. My stock OG high-school vintage 260Z went to 120 indicated once but it took a long time to get there and didn't feel too swell. My current 240Z has gone somewhere north of 130 at Milwaukee Mile, is perfectly stable, and gets there much faster. You can say it's just a little off stock though Cameron

I see that in SCCA but nothing in NASA. It also doesn't mention if that tube can be bent or has to be straight? I assume this means I can't add bars from the b-post back to the strut bar like 74_5.0L_Z did then run a diagonal off that? Wouldn't attach to the main hoop directly but would avoid have to add bends in the diagonal. Cameron

Yep - that's why I chose 1.75x0.095 Cameron

Some progress finally. Open for comments before I stick it in for good. Also still debating adding the bars from the b-pillar bend back to the rear strut tower (like 74_5.0L_Z) and how to handle the harness bar unless I just keep it like this and use the rear strut tower bar for the harness like I have been doing. Like that run-on sentence Cameron

OBD1 - Autozone doesn't have a scanner for OBD1 unless you want to buy one ... guess there's not many Ford tech on the board? Cameron

I just bought a '92 E-150 with a 5.0 (302) to tow the Z. It's only got 80,000 miles and in general is in cherry condition. However, when cold it starts right up then dies several seconds later. It floods out and I know that because when it restarts you can smell the half burnt fuel. If you try to start it back up it just cranks unless you floor it then it will start right back up. You have to keep it reved otherwise it will die again. Once it's a bit warm it runs and idles smooth. There are no lights on the dash other than the rear ABS and the temp gauge bounces around. Any ideas where to start? Since it's fuel injected I'm confused why flooring it allow it to start right back up like it's got a carb? Since this is Ford V-8 tech land I was hoping there would be someone who have seen this before. Thanks Cameron

I guess his rear brakes work ... better than his clutch

I would be worried with structural integrity of the mesh unless it's fairly thick. Exhaust heat and vibration can fatigue things relatively quick.

If you want to add a baffled muffler then good luck with the science there. If you want a straight through we built one for our FSAE car that worked pretty well. Take a 4" in your case tube and drill a zillion ~1/8" holes in it, wrap in some type of insulation (imagine thick steel wool might work, we permanently borrowed some fiberglass insulation off the steam pipes in a maintenance room off the shop), weld on outer however big tube that will fit with some end plates. It's just a basic straight through muffler. Or better yet just buy one and cut it to the length that will fit. Cameron

See if we can revive this. So did anyone do any additional testing as was discussed? Jon - did you get those mounted? I just bid a on gauge to do some testing this spring. I also bought some 280 hood vents so need to decide where to put then on my 240 hood. I think it will be pretty far forward but we'll see after testing. Cameron

My 3.7 LSD out of an '88 300 ZX is much louder than the lightly muffled LS1 at cruise. It's brutal loud and gives you a headache without earplugs. I bought all new bearings to rebuild a 3.54 this winter to swap it out with. After your experience I hope it's not the LSD unit itself as I wasn't planning to touch it. Cameron

Well I looked at that van today. It's real nice. Just about perfect interior and exterior. Drives nice but get as low as 11-13 short in town driving and 16-17 interstate. It seems very well maintained. Its only got 80,000 miles. He said he's had problems in the past with it running hot so it has a new radiatior which seems to have fixed it. That scares me a bit but the gauge is flaky and jumps around which may have been the problem all along. It's got the factory tow package but he took the hitch off. Anyway he said $3k I offered $2k but he didn't bite. Kbb is $2400-2800 Only thing wrong is an ac leak the temp gauge and he took the hitch off. What do you guys think? It would be perfect IMO with the fold down bed, lots of space, etc. I would like to haul the kids daily in it if it got better mileage!

I have wondered how much air to the wing you would lose if vented out the sides instead of over the top? Cameron

I'm not hooked on a diesel just was looking at Suburbans which you can find cherry one's for around $3k but they get 11 city /15 hwy MPG. That my fiends just sucks IMO. Something closer to 20 highway would be the desire so diesels are closest or go to smaller V6. So how much does towing reduce the highway MPG typically? Would it be closer to the 'city' or even lower? This one caught my eye. Ridiculously low miles, KBB ~$2400 so it's overpriced and need to negotiate, queen bed nice for camping, comfortably hauls kids when needed. Rated at 13/17 MPH which does not sound like much but that's almost 20% better than Suburban. Again I wonder what mileage would be towing the Z? If it's in the middle say ~15 mpg then I could be temped but if it's down in single digits then I need to keep looking for diesel ... http://decatur.craigslist.org/cto/1490894763.html Cameron

If it's primarily a kid hauler you cant beat a minivan. I have five kids so ask me how I know. If you still want a fun car that can seat more than two then just pick whatever you want just make sure the carseat fits. JonM has good points that you dont think about until your there - backwards car seats are HUGE. Hell, I haul four in my SVT Focus and they they only mildly complain. Cameron

Interesting Jon. That's probably why it's so low priced for a diesel. Cameron

You mean like this? http://chambana.craigslist.org/ctd/1487832882.html Hard to haul the kids but this could otherwise pretty decent.

It's not going to be a daily driver, just to tow the Z. Never thought of V6. How would that pull? I'm in the midwest so dont have mountains to deal with but would like to be able to maintain reasonable highway speed. Budget is a couple grand. I've been looking at 90's diesels like preith suggested but there are not any around here without being dually which I would rather not have. From past experience anything much over 120k mile starts to have maintenance so 200k definitely scares me. I'll only use maybe 4k miles a year so I wont add many miles and dont want to have to nickle and dime my time away keeping it going. My goals are not too lofty huh .... Cameron

Bringing one up from the dead. So a year later and I'm still debating on buying a tow rig. I've been looking around and late '90s trucks / vans are cheap - $3-4k can buy a lot. It will be to tow my Z on a most likely open steel trailer. Requirements are reliable - I dont want to spend time working on the damn thing, seats 5 for when I take the kids, has working A/C, and gets as good of gas mileage as possible. I've been thinking either 1) conversion van - super cheap, usually low miles, can comfortably camp at the track in the fold down rear seat (currently tent it at the track) 2) Suburban - comfortably seats kids if needed, hauls lots, it's a truck more or less so should tow, possibly fold down rear seats and camp inside on rainy nights?? 3) extended / super cab pick-up - less useful but can tow. The gas mileage is killing me. Closest tracks are 150-200 miles one way and I currently drive the Z with 20 something MPG. Most of the options above get ~11 MPG in town, maybe 16 on highway and I'm assuming single digits towing. That leaves a diesel but they are much more expensive. Although there are several mid 80's military trucks / blazers with diesels for sale in the $1-3k range with very low <100k miles. I doubt they have A/C though. Government must have just spent all our excess $ on new trucks .... I'll end for now by saying I've never even owned a truck. It's always been minivan or compact cars so this is all new to me. When I raced go-karts I towed a small trailer with my Rabbit then my Focus if that counts . Any additional experiences to share? Thanks Cameron

After my winter engine swap project turned into two winters and a summer I suggest you tackle as much as you can this winter. Drive it like that next year then start the rest next winter. What good is finishing the build next fall - just in time to park it for the winter? It sucked being without a toy for that long and the motivation shrinks the longer it's on stands. Those are my 'words of wisdom' after having been in similar but less ambitious situation. I only swapped engine and did some frame work let alone new rear end, turbo, cage that you are planning. Cameron