Mikelly

Following...

if it is still in the fall, yes... I expect that I will have it running in June.... maybe on the track in July...

Made some decent progress yesterday afternoon with the PCV plumbing. Unfortunately my Nick Williams Throttle Body Vacuum port doesn't have the port fitting on it. Looking to resolve that issue asap. Today I'm hoping to getn the soldering done on the last three dash connectors, and the 7 wires that need to be extended under hood. I'm seriously running into "looking for things to do" before I have to tackle the last big part, the Alternatore mounting... This car may actually live one day! Did my NASA instructor clinic last weekend and will be mentoring new instructors next weekend with PCA. After that it is full time back on the Zcar until it is Done Done Done!!

I'll try to make that one as well...

Pete I went back and "added" everything up to date... $13608 total spent, and I sold my motor for $2500, plus I sold the LS1 I parted out and made $1200 off it. I sold the old ignition parts and fuel parts I had from past iterations of the Zcar and that ended up netting me another $400 total. I still have some parts to sell off once the dust settles. Mike

Car is back in mobile storage while I prep the Focus ST for 6 days at the track coming up over the next four weekends. I'll get back to the Zcar shortly after the weekend of the 16-18th, unless I change my mind.

I'm probably $4000 into the drysump now with all the fittings and other related parts... I already had the oil cooler and remote Canton filter. But the tank, all lines, the on/off valve from peterson, all lines, having the oil pan modified, and the kit from NRP are not cheap... NRP Kit for LS motor - $1680 shipped (included pump, damper, hardware, mandrel, and pump belt/cog) Tank - $225 shipped Pan and modifications - $850 Peterson Valve - $105 -16 fittings (4 of them) - $140 -16 line (15 ft. parker pushlok) - $100 -12 fittings (12 of them total) - $180 -12 Pan Screen fittings (3) - $60 -12 High temp line - $105 4 rollcage mount brackets for the tank - $75 -16 breather tank and fittings - $110 Total - $3525 Breakdown on the PLUMBING total is $695. This was a very frustrating part of the process because I kept having to order more... And I probably should have followed Carey's advice and gone used. I also could have skipped the parker pushlok stuff all together... Pain in the ARSE to assemble. My hands throb everytime I look at one of those lines. This doesn't include the dual PCV tanks I will be installing as well, and that is running an additional $200. Some speculation about if it is needed by some, but the guys at MTI swear it is a must. They have a pretty good batch of happy custmers that run every weekend without issues, so I'm running one. Mike

Matt, Stop, you are making to much sense...

Pete. I Spent about $11K but also I sold a lot of stuff off to offset it...

Got a bunch of stuff done on the car today...The FAST XFi, XIM, and touch screen dash all integrate well. The only things required is to connect the CAN links, two keyed on wires to existing power wires left over from the MSD, and connect the tach wire where the MSD fed the tach signal to the touchscreen dash. I'll need to run two additional wires to the analog connections for two temp senders, one for trans and one for differential. I also need to solder two wires where the connectors were brittle on the brake light switch at the brake pedal and make a better extension for the coolsuit box wiring. Getting there...

Got some progress over the weekend and this evening I got some more wiring out of the way, and the valve covers swapped...

Got the LS XFi and XIM harnesses run through the firewall on Saturday. Made a little extra time on a few other components and lay out of a few things related to planning the additional wiring I will add for Diff and trans fluid temp sensors as well!

Found a T56 from a good friend of mine today. Needs 2nd gear syncro and some other upgrades to make it live... Now to find an 8.8 IRS!

I appreciate the comments both on and offline and I have no interest in not finishing the car at this point. Everyone knows where I stand and my intentions and goals. We will eventually enter the car in The UTCC and NASAs timetrial series. The series it would classify in allows vehicles based on power to weight. Once the car is shaken down appropriately, it will need other changes before it enters Nasa wheel to wheel racing class, probably Vintage outlaw with Matt or another class... The project has changed over the years, as have my desires. It is not a street car and has ZERO interior. It is not enjoyable to drive on the street since it is a TUB with rollcage and no sound deadening or interior. It has evolved and changed due to the scope creep that others have so well documented in their responses. I live it, I know it... Enjoy the updates... More to follow.

Clive, I dont want you not posting in my thread and that isnt what I am saying. What I AM saying is I dont want to always feel like I am on the defensive. Everything I listed as LONG Term will be done OVER time. The motor will likely fire up this month. I have 6 days next month I will be at the track instructing and I hope that at least 3 of them are in the Zcar. Time will tell. I commented about the data because it is real and it tells the truth. I spent forever thinking my cars were doing one thing only to have the data from a cheap ($900) logger show that in every car I have driven I was doing something else. If you are driving a roadcourse properly and at anywhere near 8-10ths at a trackday you shouldnt have the foggiest idea how fast you are truly running. My point is I was shocked at how fast I wasnt going until I started focusing more on the driver and less on the car, Stepping out of the 996Turbo and into that SpecMiata showed me everywhere I needed to pick up speed, not because of the video, but because of the data. I meant no disrespect to anyone in this thread, but sometimes I feel like everything I say or do has been parsed to hell and back. Its not why I come here and type the text. I come here to share. I dont like feeling like there are 800 JonMortensens out there trying to show me for the idiot he would love to think I am. Sure it is long and frustrating. I live it everyday and somedays I want to sell the car and move on with life, espeically when nothing goes right... But I know a lot of us feel that way. I want this car on track as soon as possible and it will be. And then it will come off over the period of a few hours to have the trans swapped. And then it will go back on the track... Probably for the rest of the season if I am lucky enough to have the Q45 live that long. Cory Brown doesnt think it will. Fortunately I have two diffs. My car isnt Matt's. I get that... Appreciate pointing that out... Not trying to be Matts. I am simply planning for the other eventualities...And there are obviously reasons I am rethinking the gearing and reasons the gearing wont be sufficient if I'm actually thinking it. A 3.7 will limit you significantly OR stress the car even more, and even more to the point, those rears are not as strong as we have been lead to believe. Talking to Cory about Matt's Q45 failures was an eye opener. Is it the Gs? The massive tires? total stress on the driveline? According to Cory and armed with Matt's data, it isn't heat. So I am personally planning to address the rear diff. I am also going to go ahead and add a 6th gear because I know I can sell my trans and not lose much time or money swapping to a 6speed.

...And I will add this... We are all hobbyists here and we are passionate about these cars. I am aware of ONE Datsun Zcar that has the performance to do the things I want my car to be able to do. One car has proven on track that it can outrun the caliber vehicles I am used to running with. One. That cars owner, and his team have opened up their brains to me. Those guys have a proven record with that car. That is why I am changing my direction, guys. It is simple, Cory and the guys at MTI do this for a living. I would be stupid not to listen to their advice and heed their guidance.

Better yet, maybe someone could just buy this one off me and do with it what they will. I keep this as a log for the project, and I appreciate some input, but jesus... You'd think I was killing kittens talking about swapping out the trans and diff...And honestly without data to show what the car is really doing at any point on a given circuit, nobody actually knows what their cars are doing... Dont want to upset anyone here, but those are the sad facts.

Why do I feel like I am getting the fifth degree from you guys? The car hasnt run with the new motor... The car ran poorly with the old motor, however, based on the data I collected I can deduce what the car ACTUALLY did based on that data. Clive I plan to do the 8.8 rear gearing later this year, into the fall. I plan to get a T56 ASAP so I can start going through the box and sorting gearing. As I said above, I will post my data I collected over the last few years from the runs I made. I know what Cory at MTI has datawise and I know what I felt driving the car, and more importantly what the data logs showed. Clive, VIR has three potential places to make serious speed. Front straight you can hit 150+mph if you are doing it right. Bridge straight and into the uphill esses I have been in the low 130smph range CLIMBING. Back straight, you can let it fly. Summit Point Main Circuit you can hit deep into the 150s on thr front straight. Road ATlanta you are banging the rev limiter... WGI I was seeing in excess of 160 before the busstop in the 996TT. I hope to be in the 160s in the Zcar.

Phantom have you got any data on that? In my car I wasnt seeing anywhere near 150MPH in 5th gear with the 25.5 hoosier and the .3.54 and .85 5th. I will dig up the actual data from the traqmate and post it in a few days. Fortunately I data logged the computer and will be able to map the RPMs to confirm the exact points. Matt Isbell has a very similar trans *TKO and had a Q45 setup in his with the 3.54 so drawing comparisons to his car is very easy. And you can take this to the bank. If My car will hold together on VIRs long straights, I will see what it will redline at. More than a few laps I ran the Black twin turbo up in the upper 170s and a few times in the low 180s MPH.

Couple comments here...You guys did see "longer term"? right ?? I wont be installing a stock geared T56 in the car... I also wont keep the 3.54 Q45. Whether or not I will or wont be faster isnt the point. I am working with the same guy who built Matt's car and quite frankly their data shows Matt running out of gear at a number of tracks. Sure the T56 6th gear is worthless... You guys wont remember this because it has been so long, but I did have a T56 in my last V8Zcar and I also owned a C5 Vette. We arent talking about a lot to swap out either. The clutch and flywheel, as well as the Hydraulics swap over directly. The bigger challenge will be the 8.8 IRS... NONE of this will slow down the current progress of getting the car running. I have some time until I swap it over. Regardless I am doing this because I know the car will run out of gear. It WAS running out of gear in 5th gear on VIR and on Summit. The TKO is a GREAT trans for street and strip and isnt bad overall for many uses. I will work around this until I source a T56 and have the gearing and internals gone through. As for what the car will top out at with those calculators... They dont work out properly when you apply them to real world aerodynamics on the Zcar. I wont see 160MPH. MATT doesnt see that when you view his incar video.

Yea I dont' want to be gear limited and from Matt's folks at MTI, the Q45 and TKO600 combo will limit you on the bigger straights...They have a ton of data to show him running out of rpm.

The list: 1. Coolant lines, routing, catchcan plumbing 2. PCV routing/plumbing 3. Alternator mounting/Serp belt 4. XFi/XIM Harness mounting 5. Tune Longer term: 1. Source Ford 8.8 Rear 2. Source T-56 Mike

Making huge progress in the Zcar now... Major momentum swing... Brake lines are re-routed, the cutch hydraulics are done, drysump is plumbed, vented, and all mounting hardware for the driveline is done, and the small block Chevy XFi wiring harness is removed and ready to be replaced with the LS3 XFi harness on the way!

It's going to go low on the passenger side. There is a kit that you can buy. If I had it to do over, I would have winged it and mounted the drysump pump on the passenger side. I wasn't sure at the time if it would clear the motor mounts and header. Turns out it does. But to swap it I would have to send the pump back.

In my case the drysump required some mount option that would clear the pump and alternator location options.