Mikelly

Yup, that is correct and you don't have tokico springs...Likely you have tokico struts... Progressive springs are a preferance thing. If you are driving the car on the street, you'll probably like them as they are VERY compliant. But as Mike/SCCA mentioned, the ride height is altered when you change anything in the car...like adding a passenger or a tank of gas, or luggage.... Mike

Yup...Today or Monday I'll be shipping out two more sets of rear adjustable control arms for Dan and Tom S. Tracking numbers will be forthcoming... Ruben and Craig, Your rear arms will head to Richmond this coming week to be powder coated..Please send your payment (And Craig, Your TC ROds) to me ASAP so I can pay Jamie T. Others, I'll be fabing up a new design this coming week on the rears, very similar to the existing design with a couple of minor tweeks!Pics to Follow! Also DON'T forget MY SALE!!! Following prices are good through December 31: Front Arms $300- regularly $340 Front TC ROds $150-Regularly $175 Rear Arms $475-Regular price is $550 Complete Kit $800 *Prices DO NOT Include Shipping* Mike Kelly ZF RACING LLC

Adam, I had the same trouble with our 4.3L Blazer...It turned out to be the EGR Valve sticking... Pull that and clean it first before you screw around with the Cat... Search elsewhere here for my many horror stories about the Blazer from this past summer... Mike

Yup, Jegs has had the 240Z template/ blueprint since the early 90s and their cages are NHRA spec. Mike

Stony, There in lays the problem...The main hoop will require atleast 12 ft. and UPS won't ship anything larger than 8ft. You may want to try and get it locally... Find a welding shop or machine shop. Or just order the Kit from S&W...FedEx shipped Chris Cloude's to him with no problems. Mike

Guy I used to live with back in the early 90's (Barry Brickner new him) had a Notch back (COUPE) 88 'stang that ran 13.50's all day long with an MSD box, 3.73s, no cats, an Hpipe, and underdrive pulleys. Car was unbelievable for the mods, but those were it (I know 'cause I helped wrench the car). This was at sea level at Maryland International Raceway. Not likely your buddy will break into the 12s at that altitude... I know nothing about Mustangs, but I know about two. The one mentioned above, and the one my best friend ownes! His is a 426 Stroker and it is currently in pieces... Mike Kelly

OK Guys...I have an outstanding bill to my machinist and a BUNCH of stock to build with... I have four more sets of rears to get out, and I'm offering a new service (Actually someone else is, I'm just passing the money to him), I can get your stuff powder coated before I ship...I'm also sizing bushings for the rears for free... I'm having an XMAS/ Move inventory sale so contact me offline for adjustable front control arms, TC Rod Kits, and rear adjustable control arms.. Mike Kelly ZF Racing LLC

JIm, That is exactly what I would do... Buy a kit and extend the front to rear tubes... Replacing the "Halo" Mike

OK, also here is the other issue with black pipe...It isn't designed for this stuff.. You need STRUCTURAL tubing... S&W can deliver 8 ft. sections of it to your door cheap... Also check with Coleman Racing (Link is on my site, click at the bottom of this post on the link) and they probably sell a kit. I know Jegs has an NHRA Kit for the Zcar. It is cheap considering and I'd bet in the long run that you wished you just bought a kit pre-cut. It would save the hassle of tube bending and the like... Some guys have good success, and others don't. Mike

Idaho Z, Hmm, I take issue with calling Lone out like that. Lone only stated what makes sense to him and others here. He isn't claiming to be the authority on anything. He is also not looking for a fight here... He joined a thoughtfull discussion and thought he could add something... Your comments caused him to feel like HE couldn't add further to the discussion...Congratulations in making him feel the exact way that you voiced concern over Scarab members feeling.... Your conversion is a scarab...Others who have owned that conversion and switched have given their reasons for switching. You don't like the JTR Manual..If you have a copy, put it on the board here for sale...Others could use it... You have a Scarab conversion which is fine, no harm no foul..works for you.. On to JTR and Mike Knell, Lets remember that Mike Knell isn't a voice here on this board, and just like many others, I don't agree with everything written in his books. Not unlike Mike Knell, I have written my own experiences down for others to use. Have they been "Expert opinions"? No. They have been what I thought made sense to me, and wanted to share with others. Based on this thread alone, I'm glad I scrapped the idea of writing a book on modifying the Z, as I'm sure I would have caught such critisism. Mike Knell Wrote what he wrote and many here have put his examples to use. You take issue with that, and your concerns have been answered repeatedly. Not sure what else can be gained from this discusion. There is NOTHING to be gained by pitting the scarab guys against the JTR guys. As for making it an issue, I said MANY posts back that it all boiles down to preference and driving style. However, from an engineering standpoint alone, Lowering the center of mass and getting it to a 50/50 IS the proper way to setup a car P-E-R-I-O-D. As someone else posted...Its YOUR car. Build it to suit YOUR needs. This discussion has run its course guys... I think it is time we put this (3 page) thread to bed. Mike Kelly

I'm all for tolerance. I'm also all for open ended, thought proviking discussions. I'm also up for a REAL & QUANTIFIABLE Test that would be able to accurately measure the right way to set a V8 Zcar up. Puhn says it best in his book on handling and it is backed up EVERY weekend at every padock in the world. Lower the motor and get it as near 50/50 as possible for road course handling, or best balanced for launch if doing the 1320 shuffle. Does this mean the scarab kit isn't viable? NO. It is still a MUCH better alternative than no alternative at all, which is what we had in 1975. Is it for everybody? No. Is that bad? No. Is the JTR manual the bible? Yes, in my opinion it is. And just like the bible, I use what makes sense to me and scrap the rest. I Hope that EVERYONE HERE realizes that we all have a voice. I'm all for all of us voicing our opinions politely and with civility, be us turbo, straight L6, Buick Huffers, Ford, or chevy V8s. Guys we are all n the same team and that is the bottom line. Mike Knell makes it clear in his book and he make it clear to me when I blasted him for his POOR work in the T56 department... He wrote down only what HE knew to work at the time. Things change, and more information is found... Good for us all... Mike Kelly

The main cage should all be the same size, which is minimum 1 5/8th inch diameter (Recommended is 1 3/4) with .120 wall thickness minimum. I'll get you the length for the overall tomorrow. Going to bed in a minute... Mike

Well Mike that beggs another question... I'm swapping to programmable fuel injection.. You guys think this will help solve that surge issue? Mike

I can get you those measurements as I have mine set up (Mine is also a late 74), including pics, but you can see a lot of it at: http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z Mike

Very interesting...Maybe I'll get my stub axles done... Mike

I have a pair of camber plates I'll sell cheap... Mike

Wait a minute...What do you mean I can't have my cake and eat it to???? What I would really like is to be able to use sixth gear cruising below 2K.. I'm really not sure what to do at this point...I'm gonna call Ron's contact later this week and see what his recommendation is. Might have to go solid or get a different set of heads... Thinking the cost would be about the same. If I go solid I'll try selling my valve train again HERE first... Mike

I called and talked to their rep and he said it was slated for 02. Said the feedback they had was positive... this was THIS PAST WEEK, so I assume it is a go... 02 isn't that much a show stopper for me personally, but it would be nice to have as well... Mike

82, Who told you ya had to bend the frame??? I would think doing the ford conversion would give you more space than the chevy, as the block is a little narrower, and there are guys here with chevys who didn't have to bend their frame. If your car is running, why don't you take an hour and a half drive up to see me some time. I'll look at your car and tell you what to expect on doing the mod. Regardless, it will be a lot of work, and if you have emissions testing in Portsmouth (We don't in Fredericksburg) it would be a problem for sure. This has kept me from doing the 2nd generation 300ZX swap for a while... Mike

Well Isky hasn't contacted me in a while, so I'm gonna be looking elsewhere for a cam. I think I'm leaning towards KEEPing the hydraulic roller setup and just swapping the cam out. I'll be giving competition cams a call in the near future, as I want to swap that cam and go through the bottom end in December. What do you guys think would be a good cam choice (Hydraulic) with a 383 stroker using final compression of 10.1:1, dart aluminum heds with 72cc chambers, 215 cc runners, amd 1.5 roller rockers with hydraulic lifters... I'm currently running Isky cam # 201282294. My motor surges in 6th gear running anything less than 2000RPMs.. Mike

...And remember, you can recoup some of that price when you sell you intake and carb... that should knock a little bit off... I was a total of about $115 out of pocket before I upgraded my injectors to 42# units. I still have to sort my headers, cam, and ecu issues out though. I'm still on the Commander 950 band wagon, and with wide band 02 becoming available in 2002, I'm close to a purchase there... Mike

Jim, They are here and ready for you. I think your car likes the view from the back of a flat bed!!! Mike [ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Mikelly ]

Drax, Sorry, mis-lead you in the above post. The front control arms are VERY similar and allow for the same type of mod. I'm not about to touch the rears on a 510! I got two sets completed today and ready to ship out on Monday! Mike

Well Thursday night Jamie T. came up from Richmond and we knocked around some ideas. We are looking at a re-design of the rear configuration down the road. My rear arms are bullet proof, but no asthetically pleasing to the eye. We'll try something different with that after I get the sets I promised out. Jamie is a professional welder by trade, and a machinist, so I appreciate his looking over my design work. It is nice to have someone else confirm that the product is sufficiant, if not overkill! My current plan is to finish the 4 sets I need to complete this weekend, finish the other 3 sets by next weekend, and then take a breather to get my car where it needs to be. After that, I plan to start addressing the 280ZX front design, and I'm searching for some parts to address the front and rear of the 300ZX, both first and 2nd generations! The 510 suspension is identical to the first generation Z, so I already have that model covered... From there I'm gonna start looking at the market and try to figure out which makes and models of cars I'll be shooting for next. I suspect I can get into the import marklet, as I'm noticing few options for hondas and Mitsubishies... I'm also considering buying the next generation Z to use for future suspension designs.. If that car takes off in sales, it could be 1970 all over again.. So tell me what you guys think about the idea... I've been off the board all week since I've been VERY busy at work, and in the garage in the evenings. Mike Kelly