heavy85

"For those looking for the convenience of an electric valve and the fast refill rate required in racing applications our (electric pressure control) E.P.C. electric valves are recommended. The pressure control system keeps the electric valve in the off position during times of normal oil pressure. With the valve in the off position it is able to quickly recharge the Accusump with oil pressure after discharge, thus being ready for the next oil surge. When the engine's oil pressure drops below the EPC Valve's preset level the valve opens and releases the stored oil in to the system. Like our standard electric valve the EPC valve can be wired to a remote dash-mounted switch or can be wired directly into the ignition so it will turn on and off automatically when the ignition is in the 'on' or the 'off' position." Hmm. Sounds like just using the electric without the EPC is not recommended as the valve flows more when its turned off. This doesnt make any sense since the accumulator will start recharging as soon as the pump recovers and that would happen with the switch still on for either system. So it will be slow to refill until after the switch turns it off. It actually seems like a good feature that you want it to refill slower so the engine can build full oil pressure faster but want it to dump fast. As I read this, the best off all might just be the electric switch version without EPC. I know there is debate if accumulators are adiabatic and therefore if there is an exponent in there but they are controlled by the ideal gas law so (assuming no exponent) Pressure 1 * Volume 1 = Pressure 2 * Volume 2. Say a 2 qt * air precharg at 7 PSI = 14. So if you use EPC valve and have say 80 PSI stored in there then the air volume would be 14/80= 0.175 qt with the remaining 1.825 qts being oil stored at 80 PSI waiting for whenever the EPC switch turns it on. Say you dont use EPC and its just open all the time, at the say 25 PSI point that the switch would have openend had it been EPC system you instead have 14/25 = 0.56 qt of air or 1.44 qts of oil stored and its only at 25 PSI as its come down as the oil preasure dropped. What does this mean I dont know but on the surface you can see why the EPC switch system with more oil stored at higher pressure would be a good thing. However I have to wonder if you had the accumulator on all the time if the oil pressure would have even got below the switch setting in the first place? Say it takes 5 sec of sustained high G corner to lose oil pressure and assume you want to keep min of 25 PSI to keep the bearing happy, and if you are up in revs are up at the peak 80 PSI when the pump starts to starve.... then you have 1.825 - 1.44 = 0.384 qts to work with in the accumulator to supplement the oil pump. You would have to be losing almost 0.384 qt / (5 sec* 1 min/60 sec) = 4.6 qt/min through the engine for the accumulator allows the engine to get below 25 PSI. Whats a typical oil pump flowrate? Either system you have the similar amount of oil to use but is it better to wait until the oil pressure to drop before using it or use it right away to help keep the pressure from dropping in the first place?

Cary - which accumulator set-up did you use on the blown up engine? Going back through rereading this thread. Back a couple of pages ago there was debate on open vs vacuum CCV. When I had my engine rebuilt a couple years ago (broken ring land causing lowish compression on one cylinder and starting to scratch cyl wall) the head and combusion chamber looked really nice with minimal carbon buildup on anything. This was on a closed CCV system that I know consumes oil through it (see posts in this thread for more discussion).

Does anyone have part numbers for the right bits to convert from LS1 pan to this? Im liking the better baffling, better ground clearance, and using factory parts this option provides and am curious the cost involved.

Same here - 2" is too much for the Koni's See http://mcscc.org/Gal.../DSC0085?full=1 from this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/119304-may-have-figured-out-corner-exit-wheel-spin-issue-now-how-to-fix/?hl=cameron&do=findComment&comment=1118089 Not in that thread but I am still having corner exit wheel spin issues in one particular corner even with roll center changes.

Thats interesting RebekahsZ. I dont really understand the purpose on a car you right foot brake on but Pikes Peak requires it. LSR I get it but otherwise it has to be so far out of the way and even then it wouldn't be intuitive to put your foot back on the gas to go digging for hook to pull it up. By then I think I would have just switched off the ignition but rules so there it is. CAD (that's cereal box aided design in this case) at boxing in the footwell to connect the rocker wth the subframe. Would fill that little open triangle area in but dobt know still dont really like it.

Interesting. Will it accomodate LS1 oil pump? How does the windage tray between the two compare and will the C6 tray fit an older LS block?

If you are going to build a road race car step 1 is to pick a class. The only classes Im aware of that allows cross manufacturer engine swaps are unlimited. In that case none of the commercially available packages is the right answer if you want to be competitive.

Thanks Cary for all the input. Now for the most complex Z gas pedal ever ... top modified and reinforced to connect to push/pull cable and the growth in the middle is the required toe strap. In the process found the plastic hingle was cracked at each of the three mounting holes so now on quest for new pedal hinge.

The plastic piece that the gas pedal rotates about. It has three holes that mounts to the firewall and is held to the throttle pedal with a circlip. Just found mine to be cracked around each mounting hole. The bushing area the pedal rotates through must still be tight with low signs of wear. Shipped to 62521.

Looking for ideas about connecting rocker to subframe. The two round tubes are existing, one goes up to the frame horn while the more visible one connects the rocker to the rail. The bottom square tube is just sitting there but dont like it. Ideas? The distraction in the foreground with the square hole is the fender.

Required push / pull throttle complete but still need to add toe strap after I figure out how to keep it out of the way for normal braking but still 'cover half' of my foot? Added jack points under the front downtubes.

If you are moderately handy, here is my modified stock arms. The inner pivots are offset bushings so can be rotated to adjust roll center. Gets the inherent bind out of the h-arm design and makes toe adjustment significantly easier. I can't understand why anyone would want to go through the cost and time of converting to heims and keep the h-arm design. Before this I simply used the offset inner bushings to set toe. Rear toe is very important IME.

I meant cut back, add 90 elbows first, then add collector - would that work? Rotate the 90s so the collector pointed angled down and back. Dont know what you mean about tri-y when there are only 4 cyl to work with?

Considering switching to side pipes myself to get long tube and ground clearance. It looks like the original circle track headers would of worked if you cut them back, added 90 elbows to point them down and back, then added the collector and a single pipe over to the mufflers. Did you try this or think it could work?

Project Binky is the best thing on youtube - been following for a while but thanks for the reminder as they have a new episode. They are nuts but entertaining and skilled. I noticed the BMW turned the cross member into a k-member and it looks almost exactly like mine . Im amazed by the number of tubed behind the dash on the V8 supercar - that just seems like extra weight? Also looking at that and many other cages and there is no way you could weld 360 deg around each tube. How do people get away with this as I read rules they pretty much all say must weld all the way around the tubes. Is this only for the mandatory tubes and the optional tubes just weld as much as you can? Good to see the strut brace on the Mustang had such a big impact. Due to wanting long tube headers and having cronic ground clearance issues with under car exhaust I keep thinking about side exhaust similar to what Jon did. You have any pics of your side exhaust?

Thanks Cary - a lot to absorb there. I thought long and hard about the Prodrive door bars before going with the X. One thing is relatively speaking they are longer than a Z and go around and tie into the b pillar. I therefore assumed some of this design was specific to the geometry and constraints of the mini which dont really apply to the Z. That plus it looked really challenging to fabricate and I just went with the standard X. Im also still toying with connecting the front hoop pads with the SFC by boxing it in underneath the floor. I already have a beefy transmission mount that connects the two SFC so the car is connected across the tunnel just not (yet) all the way out to the rockers except for the front rocker to TC bucket tube. On the mockup pics you made I wonder if instead of tubes you just box in the underside of the frame horn. I saw that on vintage racecar build pics someone posted and have thought about it ever since. The M4 video was quite interesting. I have to think the basic unibody structure is key to getting that stiffness with the extra bracing just the last bit. Some of those braces look like they couldnt take much load but Im sure they are well engineered. This is why I wonder how to strengthen and leverage the unibody instead of just dragging the dead weight shell around attached to tube frame. I see you cut out the inner wheel arch both in front of and behind the strut - if that functional or just weight reduction? I also keep looking at the front cross bar and wonder if I should somehow attach it to the firewall and tunnel but fail to come up with good idea. I would love to see/read a full build thread on your car

Cary - if you have any ideas on the cage or otherwise I would be glad to hear them. On the other side of the footwell bar are two tubes, one the goes sideways to the TC bucket and one diagonal up to the frame horn so while not ideal for adding stuffness at least it ties into other bracing. You have a picture of the side tube you mention? My seat is mounted to 1" square tubes across the floor and it all the way down against them height wise to get the hoop 2" above my helmet so there isnt much room that would add height. I also have a full length 1x3x0.083 subframe (would do that different and lighter if I could do over buts it's there). Yes dimple sheer plates added from the main hoop to the roof. It's complete except for paint! I have some time until Spring when it gets warm enough but now what color to paint it?

No. I bought one but never installed as was concerned with the extra pressure drop in normal operation with adding a check valve and cooler. I have the Datsun pressure gauge hooked up at the little cover plate above the oil filter adapter and see that gauge rise up close to the middle while prelubing before startup so wasnt too concerned not having one. Without the check valve you do lose some flow but since it has to go backwards across a gear pump was not too concerned given only lose oil pressure from the pump for a couple seconds and its 2 qts and will provide reasonable oil pressure for much more time than that. The only unknown in my mind is how much oil pressure do you need? With the solenoid set for 45 PSI with it only coming on for a brief period I doubt the engine sees too much less than that. I also short shift in long left high RPM turns to be conservative as well. This crank scraper stuff has me very interested. Wonder if I can remove the pan in the car ...

Because nothing says racecar like dimple plates ... Footwell protection. Much debate here but in the end decided I wanted to keep the wheel out of my feet more than connecting to the strut towers. Plus I have other reinforcements to the tower.

Ditto and the pressure sensor that controls the solenoid is at the accumulator which is mounted under the dash on top of the tunnel. There is an adapter that goes where the original oil filter went then the reote filter base has an extra port on top where the accumulator feeds. This circuit also has the oil cooler in it.

Been all paved for a couple years. Couldnt tear it up worse than the Dragon hillclimb though. That road is made of some rediculously hard rock that likes to come up. We will see with elbow room but the door bars dish out. Feels good making racecar noises sitting in it in the garage. My seat is ALL the way back - like about touching the rear wheel well far back so steering wheel position is good. That is a collapsible Momo adapter but I just added a quick release. Its a super thin one and only added around and inch of length but again it feels good.

I too look forward to seeing you finished product Jon. Here is a pic before putting away for the winter Some of the in process rollcage pics. Just down to finishing the front top of the x door bars then some misc dimple plate gussets then paint.

For those that dont know me I've been on here since before Jon Mortensen started his build (sorry Jon ). Im only on here occassionaly and dont post that often but thought I would share and seek input on the Pikes Peak conversion. '72 240Z that I've had since maybe 2006 (dont recall exact dates). Ran it autox for a couple years with the 6 and tripple Mikunis then converted to LS1 power in 2008. Running mostly doing HPDE / Time Trial / Hill climb ever since. Rebuit the LS with mild cam a couple years ago where it made 364 SAE corrected WHP. Also been adding aero and lots of other development over the years. I've always been fascinated with Pikes Peak then three years ago ran my first hill climb and was hooked. Reviewing the rules looks like I'll fit in the 'open' class which includes some whicked fast cars so has some higher level safety requirements. I have no dilusion of winning but just want to experience PIkes Peak then take it where it will. Here are the basics needing updated to meet safety / rule requirements: - From just rollbar to full cage w/ 3/16 mounting plates (almost complete) - Push/pull throttle cable (almost complete) - Second extinguisher or fire system - Misc safety wire on suspension - Fuel cell (using '02 Camaro tank now) - Narrower wing More to come with pics.

Mike - if I remember correctly many moons back you tried to make a dash out of just a cap with a light frame but scrapped the idea. One of the thing I've always liked since I got my first one way back in HS (third digit is an 8) is the cockpit feeling you get with the dash but the stock one is about 25 lb. The cap only/light frame idea seems to fix that so if my memory was correct you mind saying what caused you to ditch that idea before I try to recreate the wheel here?

Yes. It comes on maybe a second or less. Before startup I turn on the solenoid to prelube the engine. When I do it will hold oilf pressure on the gauge for 10s of seconds so I think it works well.