Gollum

Well, in the article it said it WAS done just to finish up the race season... Seems like this guy actually has some of his priorities straight as far as cars being truly used for what they are. Though his daily drive merc has those subtle "stance" cues that make my stomach turn.

DISCLAIMER: I have never and WILL NEVER condone any form of street racing. The most fun I've ever truly had is at the track, where it also happens to be a SAFE environment. And race admission is truly cheaper than speeding tickets and the hassle that goes with getting pulled over and dealing with cops) My story is a tad different than most, but still runs in some of the same veins. I'll be 24 in a little over a month, and as you can see from my join date, I was bit by the Z bug around 15. But here's how it all came about. It all starts I guess with my brother. He was a true "born car guy" who would call out the names of cars while sitting in his car seat (how he ever had trouble reading books is beyond me...). Where he got it our parents never had a clue, because it just isn't there in the family. Our dad once owned a mustang... it was a 6 cylinder... (head nod of shame...). To think of our dad as a car guy is like thinking of Hitler as a school yard bully. My brother quickly became infatuated with mustangs after his love of exotics like lambo's wore off. Me being 5 years younger, had almost no choice in the matter. I was going to like cars, and I was going to spend hours every day playing with hot wheels with my big bro. To complete this background we sucked in a friend who was an only child and made him an honorary brother of ours. Plus, his dad owned an auto shop. COOL!!!! We spent many summer days wasted at his dad's shop with nothing better to do than watch his workers wrench and learn what we could. Then our neighbor, a bit older than my brother, bought a del sol. This was around 97' I believe, which means I was about 10. He had a good job and nothing to spend his money on and knew almost nothing about how engines worked. But this guy had a good aptitude to figure things out and before long was installing things like "turbos" and "NOS". All new words to me. At the time I was day dreaming about owning an AC Cobra someday, as I'd made that my first real dream car. Boy did they look good to me, and as much as my brother tried to get me to like a traditional muscle car, I just wanted to like something "different". This said neighbor was quickly breaking things (surprise!) and we started a weekly ritual of tearing down his engine. As he figure more and more out I learned in the process and before long we were getting the car to make 10 second passes, with an amazing amount of stock parts in hind-sight. Because of this neighbor my "friend-brother" got into hondas and loved how simple it was to make good power and make them fast. He was and still is all about what a car can do in a street racing scenario when matched up against a complete unknown at any given speed. He didn't care that it was FWD, which never really sat right with me. Luckily he's seen the light and is now heavily into subies. Moving on. So my brother at 16 never gets money together to be able to afford a mustang, and our friend of course buys a CRX as soon as he got a shot at a good deal. Within 6 months we were pulling his engine out to make room for a B16. I'm only 13-14 at this time getting to walk through my first hands on engine swap. Neat stuff I thought. By this time I'd decided that the only "modern" car I could stand was the Miata, a fact which I still haven't lived down among my brother and friend. But I figured a miata is small, light, and I could just change the motor out for something better if I wanted. By this time I'd already researched 5.0 swaps in miatas and loved the idea to death. Well, we get the CRX together and started taking it to the track, as well as racing just about everything we came across on the street (never a good idea, I do not CONDONE!). Since my friend's dad owned a shop, a euro shop at that, we'd often offer to run and get parts all across the bay area instead of having him pay to have it over-nighted. We figured hey, money for gas and food, hang out in a car all day? Sounds GREAT! We clocked at least 25k on that car that first year. We'd been to so many friday night street races that we thought we were pretty awesome stuff since we'd never been ticket by a cop. With my friend at the helm I was his co-driver. Even to this day me and him can get in a car and it's like putting on an old jacket. We just know the way each of us drive and know exactly how to help the other out with an extra set of eyes and such. Keep in mind I'm still only 14-15 at this point and spent more time at races than I did doing school work (I was homeschooled through highschool, hence the free time). I got to see a lot of fast cars and how they really performed with the average joe behind the wheel. I was amazed to see so many muscle cars loosing races and it really put some things into perspective for me. Then one night I saw a car I'd never seen the looks of before. I heard what was definitely a V8 rumble, but to my eyes it made me think "jag"... but I knew that couldn't be it. I look over at my friend and ask "what on earth is THAT?" and he explains that he was pretty sure it was a datsun, and mentioned he's heard of people putting V8's in them. I was hooked, then and there. The thing moved with such unction I was baffled. Guy came back to our launch area and spilled the beans. He'd just gotten it running that day, and still had rotting bald tires on the thing (explains the 3rd gear tire burning...). I was amazed at how fast it was for still being so stock of a chevy 350. I already had a serious distaste for chevy (most likely due to the people I'd met who were huge fans... mostly redneck types I didn't jive with and felt they didn't know squat). I already knew at this point though that if a chevy fits in it, so does a lot of other stuff. I knew at that point I had to learn all I could about these cars. I mean, 15 was right around the corner, and thus my driving permit. I had to figure out what I was going to buy, as it was certainly going to be a project. To put things into perspective these was my thought process. Used Miatas were horribly wimpy stock, and still commanded fairly high prices in 02'-04' when I was trying to figure out what I wanted as my first car. Hondas were just not for me. As much fun as I'd had in them and around them, I really felt "called" to RWD, is the only way I could put it. 240SX's were still way overpriced for where I was at in life, and I really didn't like the crowd around them either. The import tuner craze was already going very strong (which it wasn't really when my neighbor brought home a Del Sol) and Cops were going crazy pulling over any kit with a sticker on his honda's window. I wanted something that wouldn't stick out so much, and be less susceptible to cop's interests. The more I looked, the more a Z car made sense. So as soon as I get my license I'm scouting for a Z car. I found a really clean 80' ZX and I knew a V8 would fit in there just as well. Unfortunately I made a rushed purchase and overpaid for a car just to call it my own. This was right about the time the CA smog laws changed to a fixed date, and I was completely oblivious. I figured I'd buy it and work on the stock engine until it was smog testing exempt then through in a ford big block! Boy did those plans go down in flames... Not 6 months after I'd bought my '80 I found out about the new smog ruling and I was livid. I preferred the S30 anyways, so I just figured I'd have to find one down the road one day. By being on hybridZ I was already deathly afraid I might never find a S30 with minimal rust, and also feel it was worth the price. A huge part of the lure of the Z was that it was a good bit cheaper than my other options. But 2 ZX's later I found myself needing to replace a headgasket, and I figured that if I was going to pull the engine half apart, I might as well just look for a turbo engine right? I sold the idea to my parents and they let me talk them into putting the car in our side yard and going all the work myself. I'd (for the most part) paid for my own cars and car hobby at this point, and I think they were just glad my tastes were cheap, as my brother had already bought a 93' cobra at this point, and then soon afterwards had it stolen. So I found myself a good donor car and got moving..... About a year later she fired up. Ironically I had the motor IN and READY in not long at all. Took me about a month to get them ready for the swap, but then rain came in. Covered the engines and left them all winter. Once the weather was good the swap went smooth (well, as smooth as it can when you're working on dirt). But a damn electrical problem kept me stumped for a long time. I lost momentum and just left it, and left it, and left it. I finally got motivated and got it running. And then sold it shortly after for the motor.... Because by that time I'd found a killer deal on a S30 finally, and it already had a L28ET! One of the best days of my life really. Just a few months after acquiring my first S30 someone I didn't even know GAVE me a 81' ZX that drove home under it's own power. So I currently have two Z cars and have owned 5. I've had my permit since I was 15 and I've ONLY owned Z cars. When I first heard the name Datsun, I didn't even know it was Japanese, let alone vintage nissan. I've come from a completely self-taught background and really treasure what my Z's have taught me when it comes to working on vehicles. I'm such a fanatic now that if they're still dirt cheap when I have a daughter coming of age, her first car with undoubtedly be an old Datsun. She doesn't even have a say. Sure, part of me still wants an AC Cobra. And if I'm ever a millionaire maybe I'll consider buying one. But when will it ever get driven? I'd probably have a replica as well just so I could beat the living crap out of it like I drive my Z cars and not feel bad about it. But in reality, I'd rather have 5 S30's with different purposes with different engines than 1 ac cobra, fake or not. I've said it time and time again to people that just don't get it. "Z cars are like blank canvases. Why would a true gear head rather have a paint-by-numbers picture than a blank canvas? Because that's what the Z car is, one of the best blank canvases ever made by man and it's dirt cheap at that!" The only problem I've had in my 10 years of having the Z bug, is that it's causing so many other itchings for 510's and old celicas. I never had this problem before Z cars. What the hell?! Oh, and my brother warned me constantly "you buy an old car you're going to have old car problems" and his point was that I'd never get to enjoy the car because I'd always be fixing something. That owning an older car would make me tired of working on cars. Ironically, it's been the exact opposite. My cars have been ridiculously reliable for their state of condition and age. And also the more I work on them the more I learn and the more inclined I've become to actually work on my car just for the fun of it. Working on cars doesn't scare me like it used to, and while my brother is currently becoming a smog tech like my friend-brother, I'm the only of the three of us most likely to work on a car for the simple pleasure of it, not because I "have" to. God bless Z cars!

Reading through this older thread reminded me of some information I was unaware of at the time of this thread. The difference between the 351W and 302 is closer to 50 pounds, not 75, if both engines have aluminum heads and intake. As you can see from this post from a well trusted member his difference was around 60 pounds, but the 351W block had a larger oil pan along with a main girdle that the 302 block didn't. Though he is talking about a 289, so I presume it's an older small block thus is probably slightly heavier than the later fox-era 5.0 blocks. It's still surprising where the weights end up though.

Looks like any OEM non-stock dash fitment really. It'd be just as much work to swap in just about anything of similar width, it just takes time an ingenuity to solve all those little problems. Personally though, if I was going through all the work I'd adapt something like the S13 or S14 dash. But I guess the S30 dashes are more the right feel of era for the car.

And people make how much power on those wide production tolerances?! Obviously when building a motor closer and closer to the limits of intended purpose the more fine the detail comb needs to be, I just find it ironic how you can get super anal about certain things that WILL make a difference, yet it's always amazed me how much you can get away with not doing when you know WHAT you're doing.

Highlight of my day. Thank you mike.

I think another thing about this discussion that can be a bit hard for some to understand as to why it could see the shed, is that HybridZ doesn't follow the typical "freedom of speech" american ideology in a sense. We're to stay off certain topics, and we're also to discuss all topics with a grown up perspective that's respectful of who's "house we're in" which is HybridZ. It might be my opinion that we should all sell our Z cars with those ugly V8's and buy smart cars, but sharing that opinion even in just a mildly rude manner could land me in detention. And rightly so. Reading the rules that we all agreed to it makes perfect sense. We're all guests to a party here, and we want to keep it at civil as possible. If a thread like this gets into a "my opinion is better than yours" thread then it'll get canned. As JohnC touched on, engine choice is largely emotional, with most technical "reasons" really just being justifications for your feelings. It really is a touchy subject.

You'll be able to do it, but you can't use the OEM CAS. You'll either want to adapt a more conventional 36-1 trigger wheel with sensor, or find a 82-83 turbo dizzy. Personally, I'd just go with the trigger wheel. If you're going MSII then you don't even need the EDIS module as the ECU can control the spark directly. You'll just need coils, which with MSII you have loads of options there. An over the counter, or ebay 82-83 turbo dizzy can run over $200 in some cases. Considering that, the money spent on a trigger wheel and coils seems like a bargain.

From what I understand from those that HAVE run the L motors in the lemons races, is that your #1 concern needs to be oiling. Quite a few people haven't finished the race due to oil starvation issues. Hopefully some of those people will be able to chime in to give their experience.

Like I said to begin with, if the budget was 20k I'd use 5 of it for the engine/trans budget, which I think is a fair amount. And I think quite a few motors CAN make that much power within that budget. The KA24DET is one of them. We've seen people here make similar power for pretty stupid cheap prices. As long as you get your motor for cheap and do the conversion yourself you'll have plenty of funds to play with on the go fast bits. For example, let's look at a L28ET build up to reach 350 wheel HP, which is in the ballpark the OP is shooting for. People have made this power from these motors a variety of ways, but this should be an easy way to do it within the budget. L28ET Motor ~ $500 (I actually paid just 250 for my last one, and in was in great shape) Mounts ~ Free! Trans ~ $100 (if it didn't come with the motor) Wideband ~ $250 (LC-1+Gauge) MSII ~ $450 Relay Board + Relay Cable for easy wiring ~ $170 Wiring Bundle ~ $50 Injectors ~ $300 (just found a set of 660cc supra injectors, flow matched, with plugs and new o-rings for $270 buy it now) Fuel Rail ~ $100 Fuel Pressure Regulator ~ $60 240sx TB ~ $60 GT3076R or similar ~ $1000 (could spend half of this on a used holset or t3/t4 if penny pinching) FMIC ~ $200 (or less really) Intercooler Piping ~ $100 BOV ~ $50 Downpipe ~ $150 Exhaust ~ $300 (mandrel not required, but always a good idea) Manual Boost Control ~ $50 That should be most of the list to get one started. That brings me to $3890. Still over 1k left over for tying up odds and ends. I'd bet that if you did this right you'd come in about $500 under my budget above, and you could then spend your $1.5k remaining getting a Z32 manual trans adapted on. You're going to have to add a clutch kit to the above budget anyways, might as well be on a trans that will hold the power reliably. KA24DET is almost the identical budget, just differs a little here and there. 1JZ and 2JZ are completely different in than you're spending a lot more for the motor outright, but you can use all the OEM ECU and wiring harness, then just raise the boost and tune it.. Factory turbo is capable on those, and the injectors should be fine, possibly requiring an adjustable FPR or RRFPR. RB25,26 is almost identical store as JZ motors above. VG30ET is similar to L28ET in budget layout. These motors have the option of doing an EPROM emulator for the ECU, but in the end nearly costs what MSII costs. I like this option because it's a compact motor that sits back nice and far, plus it certainly has the bottom end for the power requirements, and comes with a much better tranny than the L28ET. And it's light. But back onto the topic of the rest of the budget. rsicard - you right in that a 20k budget can be tight. But he stated it'll be a track purpose car that's also used on the street. I can see him easily reaching his budget as long as he's not planning on a full ground up restoration. Bead blasting the chassis on a rotisserie can easily eat money as it reveals more and more areas that need attending. But that being said there's plenty of people out there that have gotten by just fine on non-restored chassis. I'd say that as long as he had a quality cage installed that ties into the strut towers he can pour a good portion of his budget into suspension/brakes/wheels/tires and not worry too much about the chassis holding together as the cage should do it's job and keep a lot of the stress off the chassis. I'd break it down something like this: 20k budget: 5k engine/trans 3k suspension 2k brakes 2k wheels/Tires 1.5k cage (too much? I don't know) 2k body (fiberglass parts, basic paint prep) 1k Interior (seats, steering wheel, harnesses, dash, etc) 2.5k Rear Diff (I'd go with a subie R180 + axles conversion as it's been seen done here on these forums. Worth every penny as CLSD R200 prices rise) That puts us a 19k. Gives you some wiggle room as things go over budget, and if things are kept under control you've got money for odds and ends, like the $30 you'll spend on your throttle arrangement, the $20 you'll spend a 280ZX master cylinder, etc.

The SR makes sense and has it's merits. From what I've seen I think it should hold those power levels with lots of stock parts still, which will help cost. The 2JZ will make that power with ease, and certainly makes sense if you want more passing power without changing gears. the RB25DET would fit the bill too. Would hold that power level while being almost completely stock like the 2JZ, it just comes down to cost where you find them, and your personal preference. If you're up for something different, the VQ35DE is a great motor, and they regularly make 450+ to the wheels in 350Z's on the stock high compression pistons. I personally think that many people might find it too risky of a setup for longevity sake, but if you're looking for 450 FWHP the I'd call 400 WHP on a turbo'ed VQ quite "safe" as long as it's tuned well, which goes for ANY force induced motor. 350-500hp is right in the range that you have lots of motor options, but you definitely have to choose wisely still if you want to do it without breaking the bank. That being said though, almost any motor will get there with the aid of the turbo, so really it comes down to finding a motor that will hold the power without breaking, is available to you, is priced within reason for what it is, and the biggie - is something you like. Here's a small list of what comes to mind that people have done that could reach your power goals with minimal effort and cost. L28ET VG30ET VQ35DE(t) Buick V6 2JZGTE 1JZGTE 7MGTE RB25DET RB26DET SR20DET KA24DET (a common alternative here since they're plentiful and next to free. Makes plenty of power still with a turbo) 13B (I'm not a huge fan, but if you like rotaries they're not a bad choice, just different) I'm sure there's plenty of other options, but that's just skimming the top of what's popular. I did this just to show how many options there really are, and how easy it is to think of and find them.

He said in the first post he has 20k to spend on the car, not the engine. This might just be me, but it looks as though many of you, the OP included, needs a reality check on how much it costs to build some of these motors, especially to the 450+whp levels. Personally, if I had 20k set aside for building a S30, only 5k would be in my budget for the engine. And 5k can get pretty thin when talking power plants. I'd want a motor that didn't need to be opened up to reach those power levels, came with a transmission up to the challenge to save costs. Also, if it were a boosted motor I'd want the longblock + trans to be less than half of my 5k budget to leave room for upgraded fuel system parts, intercooler, maybe larger turbo ect. One could also shoot for a motor that's larger displacement to begin with that can reach the desired power without boost. To do that on a reasonable budget it's going to be at least 5 liters though, which starts really limiting the options. And just so we're clear, 450 wheel hp is nearly 550hp at the crank. That's a lot of power any way you slice it. So you're either going to need a BIG engine, like a large V8 with 350+cubes or you're going to need force induction. The other thing that really complicates things is that the OP is in the netherlands and the engine options there are complete unknown to me, and I'm sure others on the forums. This makes the choice that much more difficult for us here to help with. And as the wise JohnC pointed out. Engine choice is many times an emotional choice first and foremost. So asking for our help isn't usually productive unless we have a real problem to solve or a direction to go with the conversation. If we know we're just helping come up with ideas is one thing. If we're given options and asked to draw a pros and cons list is another. If you're just looking for people to agree with your choice is a completely different discussion entirely. These all revolve around the same topic, but without direction we'll just spiral needlessly. But from what I've read in this thread. I think none of us known what the OP is really looking for, and I wonder if the OP does either. I mean no disrespect. I just wonder if we have no clue what we're doing here because the OP doesn't either. I've been in that spot, and in some ways am right now. It's ok not to know what direction you want to take. I have many ideas of what engine choices the OP has to choose from, but I'm going to wait until I actually know what the OP wants from this project, and how much is really going to be spent. Here's a sample list of questions I'd be looking to be answered: 1. What's the intended use of the car? (you said track car, but how often? Trailered there? Weekend racer? Once in blue moon, street other times? What class of racing?) 2. What's the budget for the driveline? (as I've said, if it were 20k for the car, I'd only spend 5k on the engine/trans. There's lots of other areas to look into for a track car) 3. What kind of power band is the person looking for? (some people like huge power under the curve the instant you hit the throttle, others like the mellow nature of an engine off boost) 4. Is the person asking doing the work themselves, or paying someone to do it? And what is their experience level? 5. The type of person the owner is. (this is something I try very hard to find out reading between the lines. Some people should have a V8, even against their own words, because of the type of person they car. Other personality types will much more enjoyment out of other options. Point being is that everyone is different and we all enjoy our cars for different reasons in different ways. Someone who wants to build a rat rot probably doesn't want a rotary in their rod, while someone building a MR2 probably doesn't want a V8) Moat of these questions have been touched on, but I feel like we've only seen half answers to any of them. More complete knowledge would help some of us out with giving you advice.

ECU is a duh, but here's the sensors that are mandatory (from my experience). Air Flow Meter aka AFM Head Temp Sensor Throttle Position Switch aka TPS Dizzy Wiring (harness wiring to coil, coil to dizzy, dizzy to plugs - also dizzy wiring itself, like going to harness if it's a L28ET) Injectors I highly recommend O2. It'll even run off the O2 at idle if the sensor is warm enough. You don't need the oil PSI unless you want your gauge that's more accurate than a gauge on a NASA shuttle... You can delete all of the cold start system if you're in a warm weather area. Just means when it's super cold outside you get to drive with three feet for about 1-2 minutes. EGR isn't required, though it can improve gas mileage a fair bit when working right, and certainly reduces emissions. PCV isn't required either, but helps engine health enough to be worth it to most. Makes for a cleaner look to remove it though. That's enough to warrant many people removing it. I'm sure there's other stuff I haven't mentioned that can go, but I've listed all I think you really need above.

Double check all the stupid stuff. I've wired my spark plugs wrong way round the dizzy before. Damn thing started too! You never know what you might miss though. Regarding the dizzy, just set it to TDC, pull the dizzy off and check to make sure the shaft is close to vertical. Should be pointing at about 11:45 with the face of the half circle pointing towards the back of the car. If that's good, then putting the dizzy in the middle of the range should be fine.

In my experience Tony's post is spot on here. Like in the story I shared earlier about my friend's CRX, when we swapped in USDM EFI and added a CAT, the ECU used was from a Del-Sol which was NOT a CA vehicle. Ref passed it just fine. But then again the owner was WORKING for the ref, and instead of putting "Honda B16 1.6 liter" or similar on the engine title of the new label, he put "Honda 1.6 Liter" on purpose, meaning that it really could be "any" 1.6 liter and be legal. The ref broke no laws, but it shows the power they hold if they want to be really nice or mean to you. I think we can all agree, happy ref, happy inspection. They're usually great people and it definitely pays to visit them ahead of time. But come to think of it. Can you actually prove a L28ET CA-ECU is actually a CA-ECU? I recall no serial number break down in the FSM or anywhere else telling information of how to identify the difference ECU's (like how the auto box ones are slightly different and such).

Dunno tony. I see the same exact issue quite often with poor battery terminal connection. I'm just too lazy to replace my cables. tsabboi - where are you checking voltage. To rule out battery connection issues like I have, have someone turn the key over and check voltage at the terminal connections, then on the battery posts themselves. Does the battery drop to 0 volts? If there's any difference in voltage at the terminal versus the terminal connections then you have poor conductivity between the two.

Every ECU is chippable, it's just weather or not someone has done the legwork to interpret the code, which could also be encrypted. Look at the new GTR, which nissan said they were going farther than ever to make sure it's computer wasn't crackable, and companies had it figured out just months later.... Again, OBD-II isn't a huge issue for me, especially as I don't plan on going psycho crazy on it, as it would be my wife's car. Maybe I should be LOOKING for a '96 if people are scared to buy because it's "unchippable". And regarding the VVT, I'm not convinced much power was dropped, if any. Nissan rated it at 300hp at the same RPM, and by '96 SAE power testing had already gotten pretty standardized. If anything it was underrated to begin with maybe, but if nissan wasn't making their claim then people would have raised hell about it like RX8 owners did. If anything it probably decrease low end torque a little, and possibly raised boost threshold by as much as a possible 500rpm (which even that would be extreme). Peak figures are the same, indicating they probably kept the top end the same. Remember, many times VVT type technology isn't for more top end, but for more bottom end. By removing the VVT and extra low end grunt they were making it easier to pass emission standards.

Sorry, Freudian slip on the seat belts. Still looking for NON-Door mounted seatbelt, aka the later ones. I personally don't care if it's OBD-II, and actually prefer it. If I'm going to break open the OEM ECU to tune it OBD codes will be the least of my worries come time to smog.

I've always had a leveler handy and just run the brackets through head bolts. I've never had an issue. I'd imagine those bolts are one of the strongest points of the engine, and would much rather use them than the exhaust studs to life the engine.

Just proof that all of the information and wisdom you carry came at a price!!! It's ok, it was just your peter parker moment pre-spiderman.

Good point. I guess to better my statement, is that the only way you'll be getting past the law, is through the Ref. They're the ones in the doorway to keeping your car and keeping it on the road, legally.

Just to further muddy the waters... The Ref IS the law for the most part. If you get a citation sending you to him, it's HIM you have to satisfy, not just the CVC. The CVC is only in regards to inspection, not smog equipment, which is where the Ref will have you by the balls. But here's the mud I was referring to earlier. When doing an engine swap, you don't have to transfer over smog equipment deemed "hazardous" on your vehicle. This only really pertains to CATs, and if your vehicle was never installed with a CAT your floorpan could potentially overheat and cause a fire if you installed a CAT. Because of this, you CAN get away without having a CAT on that particular vehicle when swapping the motor out. But you'll still have to comply with all the EGR, EVAP, PVC, etc of the original vehicle the motor is from. At least that was the ruling when I was on a first name basis with the local ref back in '05-'06. Another thing that you have to remember, is that the ref has a lot of materials on the subject that NEVER get published in any form besides made available to smog Refs. Each year their new standards book comes out and it's a good 4" wide book with bible pages that makes any shop manual look like toilet reading. Here's an example of what the ref has on file. Story: my brother was trying to smog his new fox mustang from oregon. He had a local shop fail him because his check engine light wasn't coming on. Funny thing was we pulled the dash, and it doesn't have a light bulb installed. So we install a bulb.... no go. Doing some research it seems like this year mustang didn't have a check engine light. So we talk to the ref (since he knows us) to find out if he knew anything about the issue. So he goes and does some searching and finds out that this year was a transition year where they had the space for the light, but it wasn't actually effective yet... Go figure. Those little details they have information on, it's just an art pulling out that info. One of my best friends is a smog tech, and a good one at that. My brother is currently studying to become a smog tech. I'm even considering becoming a smog tech as well since our buddy has so much business he can't handle. Tony D's statements are all perfectly inline with our collective knowledge on smog. I've never seen him spew false info on the subject, and would almost consider it gospel. I don't assume he knows everything, but he has quite the handle on the system and how it all works. And to validate some of my experience, I've owned a couple cars with swapped engines, and I've hand first hand history (real history, not just touching from time to time) with quite a few cars with motor swaps. Here in norcal it's an extreme rarity to see a pre 76 sent to the smog ref, but not impossible. I think I feel another story coming on. Story: So that previously mentioned smog tech friend of mine was out cruising with some friends (who he happened to go to the track with on a regular basis at the time). His car was a CRX with a B16. Among the other cars is a 65 mustang with a blown 351W small block, well worked comaro, and a 1000+hp nitrous nova. Cop decides to pull ALL 4 of them over. Pops all the hoods. No ticket for the comaro and nova. Mustang got a ticket for bald tires (was running 4 slicks). My friend in his puny little crx got a plethora of tickets and had to sit there and explain how all of his parts were actually legal (some of which were not but he knew how to satisfy a cop's questions). They nickled and dimed him for every little thing from front plates not being on, to bald tires (which actually HAD tread unlike the slicks on the mustang).

He didn't buy it for tuning purposes, trust me. Actually I think the only reason he bought it was because he found a good deal on it and figured he'd be upgrading to a wideband eventually so why not do the work of mounting the same size gauge while he's got his car half apart? This friend of mine has made his fair share of "moments of stupidity" but he's the best I know when it comes to tuning. He's actually worked for a high profile subie tuning and has really shown that he knows his stuff when comparing his "uneducated" tunes versus tune files of the "pros". I'd go more into his history and how he's developed as a tuner now, but I think that'd just be getting us farther off topic.

Technically it's illegal in california, IF (and that's a big IF) it uses the factory O2 sensor. The reasoning is that even though the gauge is in parallel, not series, it can affect the O2 reading which is "smog controlling device" thus and AFR gauge is "tampering with a smog controlling device". It's complete rubbish, but it seems the smog bureau has mad it's stand on it and even if it's not something openly spoken about it's in the smog ref's reference materials.

While I was rolling my fenders a touch today I pulled off my right side axle to check out the ujoints and they actually seemed fine, though my axles seemed like they were torqued down my a shy third grade girl. Some of them came off by hand!!! That could have been some of my vibration/noise issues. It's too soon to say, but I think some of the highway vibration could have been my wheels being crazy out of balance as they were bald and have been so for a long time. Got new tires on there and bubble balanced them and there's only a small vibration under had accel in 3rd. I'll post more info as it comes.