Gollum

z-gad, was your head stock on the 3.1 liter? Was it ported and polished? I'd assume this would make a bit of a difference. But I see your point. And once again, most of the problems with the L series come down to the head....

Well, if it does last, I'd still recomend fixing it this winter for one reason... In case it fails next summer. Then you'd be in the same mess all over. But I might consider this as well. My exhast manifold's futhest back mount has cracked and warped, thus unabling me to properly mount it. I passed smog, wich detects exhast leaks, so it must not be that bad, but it's noticable audible. If it wasn't there, you'd barelly hear the engine, but it's enough to almost overpower the exhast in low RPM. Maybe this stuff would be a good solution until I can afford a new exhast manifold.

I'd assume best bet would be shop manuals. But I'd also assume there to be a good amount of online info on the RB head. I wonder how well that would work NA.... would be perfect for CA. No cop could tell that it's wasn't OEM.

could be a fuel pressure regulator. Did you replace that? And yes, limp mode sucks. honda motors have CRAP limp modes. They run ultra rich and limit rev to 3k. It's basically made as a secondary mode in case anything stops working, so you won't loose your car off the side of the road. Basically, it's made to get you home, and then to the mechanic. But on some cares, it's not so bad.

Although yes, it's playing russian roulette, the odds are in your favor quite a bit. Most of the motors being shipped out of japan are being shipped out because the older a car gets the more likelly that it'll be cheeper to get a new engine than rebuilding the old one, due to labor costs and where the car is located in japan. So although the motor might have been rebuilt before, odds are it was just pulled out becuase a brand new oem one was cheeper for the owner. But just as aux said, you never really DO know the condition of the motor. But you also have to consider other factors. Like what could be done to thrash the motor? Most honda motors have rev limiters and don't have a problem with oil starvation, so one of the few things that could ever be wrong with it is the break in process. So there are things like that to consider as well.

Ok, I think I know what I'm going to do. 1) Paint, If i'm gonna keep it the surface rust needs to come off ASAP! 2) Fix my start/fuel issues. 3) Replace clutch & flywheel to give me more engine responce 4) Intake and Exhast (probly opt for a larger throttle body, maybe change the injectors, and modify the air box and somehow keep it legal) 5) Install a tow hitch (for carrying a SMALL trailer for those loads that just don't seem to fit) 6) 'IF' I'm still unhappy at this point with the gas milage I'll figure out a way to change the final gear ratio, weather through the tranny or the rear end, maybe both. Maybe a 6 speed... mmm, overkill maybe. So stock is 3.545 i think, and I'd shoot for something closer to 3.15 to get freeway 80mph cruise down to 2200rpm or so. Now, you might think "don't change the clutch and fly if you're gonna change the tranny." Well, just so you get an idea of my time table, paint is probly still 6-10 months away. Tranny would be at least a year after that, if I even do it. I like the idea of figuring what to swap the rear end out with, although the tranny probly needs a rebuild anyways since the syncros need to be replaced. So, flaws, thoughts, suggestions? I can't find any cars in the same price range that have the same mpg ability in the same tow/power potencial that are still fun cars (read, RWD). I could always get an 80's toyota pick up but that just makes me want to vomit. So odds are, i'm keeping this car for some time yet.

Personally, I'd go with the 302/5.0 motor for the reasons ferd was saying. You can get 350NA on the stock bottom end and there's more parts for those than almost any other ford motor, and tons of junkyard support. It's ford equivalant of the chevy 350, it's just the "Do anything" motor. And it's ultra lite for a cast iron block too.

Well, BMW's scheduled maintenance oil changes are at 15k on new cars. Now that says something. My father bought an explorer not that long ago and went ahead and boght x amount of years free maintenance and they had him go in for an oil change at 1k miles, so I had him show me the recipt, and sure enough, they break the motor in on nonsynthetic then change it over to synthetic. Kinda smart if you ask me.

Reading back on this thred i feel i have to say this. /*Sorry for the thred hijack* Any yes, because of the whole F&F and 2F2F type craze cops have become ricist (yes, means what you might think)

johnc.... i totally respect your wisdom. I need to meet you in person to see if some of it rubs off on my. I saved that post in a .txt. Now I need to go do even MORE research on damper design. Gosh...

What it really comes down to is that open source should rule the world. For instance, why should we pay to see commecials? (refference to cable & satellite) It just doesn't make any sence. Open source is about one thing, dedication. If you get software that's open source it was created by someone who loves what they do. where as a $300 dollor product from MS can't make the same claim beucase the people who made the software only make it because they don't want to loose thier job. I'm gonna look for a copy of my own though. There are some stores in my area I can check around. Odds are I'll either find it or find someone who can get it for me. Oh, and for the ultamite ^ptwo*p rush try m!rc. If you're really interested IM me at gollumthesage for aim.

I didn't even see the wheel stop until drax mentioned it. I got a real kick outta that. So yes, please explain why he has so many, if you don't mind.

so who has 10k to spend on coilovers alone??? Well, i'm just gonna go put 10k down on an elise.... j/k. seriously though, that's a nice chunk of change.

Filefront.com will host the file for free as long as you want, but you won't be able to direct link download. People will have to go to the site link you post and go through a download que for the file (usualy isn't any wait, unless you've got 50 people downloading). CLEAN Z though man. And I believe that 360HP would be plenty to scare the crap out of most people, even car guys. Ever seen what 100hp over stock will do in an old MR2? Dang, with light cars that have the right suspention setup, it'll feel like the car's pulling your gut apart. I'd love to take a ride in that Z. Now that I think about it... between all the car i've race in, i can't recall street racing anyone you wouldn't be able to beat. Fastest car I ever street raced was a 13B powered triumph, and you could have killed it, considering I beat it with a 93 cobra. Forget street racing man, that thing is track bound for glory.

@ forest, I was making the suggestion to SAVE money, time, and effort for owen & everyone, not just myself like you make it sound. Now that I have a responce, I'll let it be. And I DID offer to pay for it, just not today or this week. Hope there's no hard feeling, Gollum

LOL, well, depends on how much you drive. 5 oil changes for me is about a year and a half going 3k between oil changes. Sometimes I only go 2k though.

True, but cops here are jap car racist. And no i'm not being sarcastic, or exaggerative. Me and a friend were driving back from the batman premiere at 3 am or so in a stock color yellow crx with the only visible mod being a chrome muffle slightly visible from the back, almost stock looking tip. He's keeping it under 3k cruising at a nice 2,300 or so, sounds absolutlly stock. And everything he's done is legal, motor swap and all. Two cops saw us get off the freeway and turned the opposite direction they were going to go (they were in a left hand turn lane and turned right to fallow us) and fallowed us at an obvious 20 feet away. We continue to drive calm going where we were going to go, and the continue to fallow us up through this neighborhood. We stop and park, and the cop pull up next to us and say "pop your hood." We spent the next 3 hours till the next days sun was starting to show explaining the the cop about the smog laws about motor swaps and telling him to call the reff who did the bar lable (good friend and previous eployeer of my friend) to check legality. The cop was also up in arms about the intake, wich had a 50 state legal CARB sticker. The cop was an ***, and was really ticked off after 3 hours that he couldn't give us a ticket. With cops like that in my area, why would I want to spend 3k+ on a swap just to loose it becuase some cop want to pic on someone? CA just sucks big balls. PS I also have some awsome stories about cops going easy on people becuase the cars where american. I've also raced a cop several mustangs, with the cops being the ones starting the whole things. Cops here are just very anti-rice and take it out on all japanese cars.

Well, depending on where you live, if you use too much water in your mix for too long you could develop rust in your system. I've now seen 3 cars from oregon with this problem. One, unluckly enough was my brother 87 stang gt. We sold it since it basically needed a new motor. At any rate, you need to make sure you're running a good 50/50 60/40 mix and change it often. I ususally change mine every 5 oil changes.

nope. in california ANY motor swap needs to be checked by a reff. Now, since it would be a car that doesn't need to be smogged you might get away with it for longer, but if you get pulled over you're screwed. If the cop wants to REALLY be a pain, you could have tons of issues. If the motor has EVER BEEN CHANGED it has to go by the ref. Even if you say, put a 427 in a 68 stang that came with a 289. Regardless, you have to get a bar lable.

(This post has been edited for the sake or coperation) Edit: and about the 3.0L supra smacking.... I've seen (in person) a supra on a stock bottom end (rebuilt with stock parts) run a 9.825. Not many cars ever made can run in the 9s on a stock bottom end. Only other car i've seen in person do it was an 03 cobra. (although there are other cars that can do it). It's one of the most builet proof blocks in the world. There's no replacement for displacement, but no cure for technology.

what the?! Wow, I never would have thought of that. That's awsome. So what would be the significant benefits to doing this?

Good luck with the build. If those motors where legal in california i'd consdier doing it myself. There's such a large presence of SR gurus here I would be able to start with confidence. And I'm glad you're going with the S13 motor. It'll be much cheeper initially, and have just about the same potential if you want to drop more money into it later. Dang, why couldn't nissan have put these motors in a production car in the US? Jerks.

Well, a couple of launches he's fine. Then he has clutch cable issues that are kinda strange. It's cable, (non hydraulic) and after a hard run he can't get full engaugment for some reason. At first it's like 90% and it will only slip a little and then later at the end of bracets at the strip closer to 60% and it's slipping like crazy. Becuase of this he runs slow his first couple of runs. I don't know what the REAL issues it, but he's thinking about changing the tranny out to hydraulic anyways, since he grinds almost every gear (problem he's had with the tranny ever since we got the motor running out of japan) and probly needs to be replaced anyways. He told me that origonally he'd gotten the strongest clutch he could without going to a puck type clutch. As it is he has a hard time driving it in SF due to no torque at the bottom end, in wich case his clutch likes to slip as well. Anyways, enough with HIS problems, he's buying a RX7 FD soon anyways, so forget him. I'll just have to go and steal the motor....

So, in other words, get a strong enough clutch to match? If i'm thinking this right, it's harder on your clutch because it has to move the same amount of mass quicker thus slipping easier, wich is what causes your flywheel temp to raise. Hmm, makes sence I guess. Always something new to learn. I should tell my buddy about that fact with his 8 lb. honda fly.... His clutch slips everytime he's hard on the car.

This is a good point.... ...except for ONE thing.... ...Two cabs have a higher resonate frequency vs one single 4x12. Oh, and I guess there's a second thing. Not as many companies make good 2x12 cabs. Although I could always make them myself. Hmm, maybe I could install a tow hitch on my Z and get a little trailer.