Mikelly

Oil. That wonderful golden colored stuff we change every XXXX miles to keep our bearings and other moving parts cool, wet, and lubricated....Sounds like the beginning of a harlequin novel! Oil systems have come a long way since the beginning, and along the way many myths have come about. Oil coolers, oil filters, heat exchangers, oil temperature in a given engine, design of different oil pans, accumulators, and the gizmos we put in them and our blocks all contribute to happy solutions or tremendous headaches! What is the absolute best thing you can do for your oiling system? Biggest bang for the buck? Depends on the engine and who you ask.... My current engine has all the oil journals screened. I had the internal block etched and painted, and all journals were de-burred and radioused, as well as the crank Journals. My Oil Pan is a Milodon "T" sump pan with windage tray, crank scrapper, baffels, and trap doors placed around the oil pickup. I use a Milodon Hi volume pump and pickup. The pan is a 7 quart pan. I relocated the the oil filter to in front of the radiator core support, mounted on the frame rail that the bumper struts would be afixed to. I used a 1/8th inch piece of aluminum for a mount for the filter relocation mount, and I have 8AN lines running from the block up to that location. I use a Canton Mecca Billet filter housing and 8 Micron filter elements. This location puts the filter out front and allows for a cool filtration of all oil that passes through the filter. Hanging off the Filter relocation mount is a line that runs to a Canton Meccu Accusump Accumulator with an electric "Pre-Lube" valve. The unit is a two quart unit that holds 80PSI and will automatically dump two quarts into the pan if pressure drops below 10psi. I have a toggle switch wired at the cage (Morosso 5 switch cage mount box with Starter Button) that allows me to pre-lube the engine before ignition... I usually have 20-30 PSI running through the block before I ever start it up. This reading comes from my Autometer Mechanical oil pressure gauge nestled in to the dash. This system has prooven to be very usefull, keeping the oil temps cool, and the lubricant circulating properly! I will switch to Synthetic Moble 1 oil at the 3000 mile mark! I'm a big fan of synthetic motor oil.... Some folks use Dry Sump Systems, of which I have no experience... Hopefully we can get some of the engineer types to also chime in on the oil Temp issue! What works best, why, and for which motors.... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I also use antifreeze.. That tip was from Dave at Arizona Zcar and I have followed it since... Mike

The same time I ordered my 383 stroker and paid $3900 for it, oil pan to intake, delivered to my door step, My best friend built up a 426 Stroker Ford motor based on a 351 Windsor truck block. We used the same type of build, aluminum heads and such, but his was fuel injected and mine is carbed... His cost over $10,000 to build through a friend... Fords are great, I'm not a "Brand" basher, but beware that tech data is limited and it will absolutley cost you much more... Headers alone for our respective builds cost my buddy more than double what they cost me, and his were not ceramic coated.... Now, my recommendation is to build your shortblock with a forged crank. I don't care which "Brand". The rods should be good race prepped units, and as for pistons, don't use cast, but I personally think Hypereutiectics are fine... Use ARP bolts and studs, quality bearings and Total Seal or C&A Zgap rings... Finish it with a quality Hi Vol oil pump and Tsump pan with the goodies installed. Heads..Aluminum, period. Get a nice set of aluminum heads and a roller (I use a roller Hydraulic) valve train. Elsewhere in this category I give a more detailed description of why I strongly recommend a crate motor... Find it, read it, then ask some more questions! Even if you go the Ford route, buy the JTR maual and read it 10 times. Then read it again. Trust me on that one! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

There was no modification made to the Diff cross member in my car and I had 2.5 inch duals run all the way back with NO ground clearance issues at all. You could do a two into one, but I personally don't think it is a good idea. It is a little more restricting and if you are thinking "Sleeper" mode, unless the other guy is deaf, forget fooling anyone when you throw fire to it! Find a good exhaust shop and take your JTR book with you... Maybe later on I can get some pics of my exhaust taken with the car on the lift, and I'll post them. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Do you need an E-brake for inspections? If so, you might be relegated to running a factory style setup on the rear. Go with the 82-86 ZX style rear if you can. As for what really works...I took my car with its setup and did 10 repeated stops from 60 with the brake setup I have listed below... I set the cones at 100 ft apart... Every time I was able to haul the car to zero in less than 100ft. What I have: ZX Mastercylinder Wilwood Proportioning valve braided lines from Earl's Front 1988 Toyota V6 truck Calipers KVR Kevlar pads Russel Speed Bleeds 84 300ZX rotors, cross drilled (I don't recommend cross drilling... go veined if you can!@) Rear 81ZX calipers W/ JCR mounts Earls Braided lines Russel Speed bleeds JCR Rear Cross drilled rotors...(Read in Parens above) KVR Rear pads The car brakes awesome, PERIOD! All the parts are stock like off the shelf parts... Look at the Brakes 101 thread for brake fluid recommendations... this is critical! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk [This message has been edited by Mikelly (edited April 12, 2000).]

One thing you want to do is get the toe to "0". None in, none out. Zs like 0 toe. I'd look seriously at the Arizona Zcar style tubular Lower control arms. I'm using those "Type" units on the front, and I'm using the aluminum bushings on the rear, and the aluminum bushing on the rear are only good for about 3/4 - 1 full degree of negative camber, but do a great job of getting toe to zero. My future upgrade is to the Arizona Zcar rear control arms. I'm currently running 1 1/4 degree of negative camber up front and 3/4 degree in the rear. Positive camber is set at 6 and toe is at Zero. The car tracks wonderfully and is precise. As for coilovers, Ground Control makes a nice setup as well as Carrera. I currently do not have them, as I'm running Koni D series shocks with Motorsport springs. Regardles of which way you go, I'd recommend using a good progressive rate spring. You will be much happier than with a stright rate spring. Talk to the techs at Ground Control and Carrera, as they will have a lot of wonderful advice. Also, several guys here and on Zcar.com are running those kits. I'm sure several will chime in here! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Dayton? Hell Michael, I might drive out one weekend and give you a hand if you need it... Let me know! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

The case of the R180 isn't the issue. Bob Sharp and others commented to this issue and what the real problem was when they were running R180s in the early days of racing. Heat is one big factor. The other is Ujoints. You always hear people refer to half shaft failures, but most of the time it isn't the actual half shaft, but the Ujoint. Heat related cracks in the case is the other, cooking the internals and causing bearing failures. Sounds like you are gonna be doing the same type of events I'm doing, so here is what I have done so far: I'm using the beefy R200 rear out of the 300ZXT with the factory LSD and 3:7 gears. I'm using 280ZX rear half shafts with Spicer Ujoints for now, and if this rear (Which has lasted two cars, and won me a championship in the regional Solo2 events) holds up, I plan to plumb in a Diff cooler and fabricate some safety hoops for the axle shaxts so they won't take out the brake lines if they fail. The cooler will address heat related stress cracks in the diff case that plagued Sharp and others in the early days, and the Spicer joints will help combat the failed axle issue. IF I run into problems, I'll be looking into other alternatives for axles first, then other options for rears second... I have no plans of serious drag racing, but will take it to the strip with street tires, so I won't put as much stress on the rear as running drag radials or full on drag slicks. I am running a 265-50-15 on the rear, which will put a little more stress on the axle shafts though. I might run a road race slick, or a BFG R1 type tire for some of the high speed event, but like yourself, I'm gonna be road coursing and autoXing it, with the occassional hill climb or top end run. Glad to see someone doing the 302 swap. I think the Ford is a very formidable option in the Swap arena! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

The 86 and Newer flywheels are significantly larger in thickness and all of them are counter-balanced. As to the rest of your questions... I don't knw, but someone out there must have installed a later model 305 or 350..... ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I have a Griffen aluminum racing radiator and I also had problems until I got a fan shroud for it. I'm using a Hayden Semi-Flex 17inch fan and I had to get the shroud so I could mpull more air through the radiator... The fan blades are over 5 inches form the radiator surface, and that is just too far back from the radiator to pull any significant air through it. If you are running a mechanical fan, get yourself a shroud and this problem will go away... Others will speak on the electrical fan issue... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

One thing you should consider if you are doing a chevy swap, is a remote starter solenoid. I'm suffering from heat soak of the starter and am in the middle of re-doing the wiring to the starter because of this. E-mail me and I'll Xerox some copies of the electrical section and stick them in the mail...But it being Wednesday and me being in Va., you probably won't see them before Monday.... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Top of strut is further back, with the axle center moving forward towards the bumper. I'd shoot for 5-8 degrees of positive caster! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I hope so, because regardless of which way was right, my documentation will need to reflect it... I have way to many people asking about that article and tech info. I want it to be right... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Robert's custom exhaust in Woodbridge, Va made me a work of art. I'm running 2.5inch pipes all the way back with the H pipe flange bolted at the four corners and in the middle of the H. I also have Flowmasters running to Corvette SS round tips out the back, exiting either side of my fuel cell. It was such a nice job that the guy that did it took pictures of the work and had them blown up and put on his wall, and I'm not joking! Amazing... Whole thing, including all matterials ran a cool $600!! OUCH! But it was worth it! Looks factory and sounds mean! Mike

If you have a later model Z, the strut tubes are longer than the earlier model. This becomes an issue when using stock like springs and inserts. I have in the past lowered early Zs by well over 2 inches without bottoming out the suspension. However, I would go with a coil over like setup with the trick setup you are going to have. That is the only way to go in my opinion if you plan to use the stock style design! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

In the front you might want to work on getting more positive caster. raising the strut mounting points would not affect the strut cartridge issue, since you should be using those anyway, but you might be able to get away with factory height in the spring department, so long as you have fender clearance to the tires you are planning to run. I also like the Vette front end suggestion. You could also run a complete Mustang II setup with power steering. Now that you are reconstructing your own front end, you could make several innovative changes! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Exactly....Reverse is strang to find at first.... But then you get the hang of it! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I'm with you, I'd like more info. I haven't had issues with the rear yet, but I'm doing research for the day when an axle shaft does snap. I currently have a 300zxT LSD rear, and I have no intentions of running slicks, which cause serious problems with breaking solid axle rears as well. However, I suspect that the rear wil eventually become an issue for me as well. Hope not, but..... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I'd go with the sway bars. They come wuth end link and mounting block bushings anyway... Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

The shift pattern is a double "H" with the reverse to the right of where 5th gear is. It is a very tight shift gate, and very smooth if you use the GM syncromesh fluid. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I use the Aluminum Diff mount sold by MSA. The vibration issue went away for me whenI did the mustach bar mod. I'd do the Ujoints and then recheck yuour pinion angle. I'd also get that Trans mount someone recommended. Nice unit. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I'm running #8 braided and 1/2inch line all the way. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

Ron, you was right! That fitting is absolutely critical. Had to get one today! My fuel presure was way to low, with no way of getting it up above 6psi! Got one and it is fixed! BG should sell it with the regulator and just charge more and save the consumer time! Mike

Usefull? Ah hel! SpencZ, now you tell me.... I was just using it as a way to justify the expense and headache! Seriously, You are absolutley right, there is now way of measuring it. We had mine in a craddle before the floorpans and subframes were put in and we wondered them same thing! Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk

I had an "X" brace in the last car and had to cutit out to get to the trans... Make sure you have clearance for the tail shaft... Also, I chose to hand form the pans, because you could then contour the metal for your specific mods. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk