silicone boy

I had Ross do a set of stub axles for me. Before I pulled my motor for my rebuild, they did fine.

I agree with using the OEM harness, but if you go with the Painless harness, I would say that their products are about as advertised. They are pretty painless (except in the wallet), the wires are well marked, and the directions are straightforward. I admit that fear and ignorance of electrical stuff in general lead met to buy one of their harnesses.

Like I said, it's almost cheaper to make more horsepower than to lose weight.

I would hate to see anything that upsets the dynamic of this site. This is the best automotive site I'm a member of, mainly because the members are so knowledgeable (inliners, turbo inliners, V8'ers,etc). I have been a member for 3 years ago and I have learned so much because of the wealth of expertise here. You don't see people asking "what is that knocking sound I hear from my engine" or some basic question like that. Yes, the method of propulsion may differ, but an inliner also has contributions to make in the braking forums, body forums, or whatever. Losing them would be a shame.

I've always wondered how you could boost an LT1 with either turbos or a blower given it's fairly high compression ratio. Sure it has aluminum heads that are reverse cooled, but isn't the ratio close to 11:1? I guess that's why you see a lot more blown Mustangs than Chevys. For my turbo project, I'm worried that my 9.7:1 ratio is too high (I didn't plan well-I have dished pistons, but I'm using a set of heads that I had shaved for higher compression prior to my decision to try forced induction). I will definitely intercool, and probably water inject also. The problem I'm finding with intercooling is that there is not a whole lot of room for one large enough to handle the airflow that a turbo V8 can produce.

I was cleaning up my garage tonite for once (wife insisted). I picked up my old exhaust system (it's off the car during my complete re-build, and I noticed how heavy it was, especially on the muffler end. I'm of the belief that one of the reasons why Z conversions are so great is because they are probably one of the lightest cars that can easily accept a V8. That's why I'm always trying to save weight, although I know it's not easy or cheap. I would say that it's cheaper to build horsepower than to add expensive fiberglass body panels, plastic windshields, etc. The exhaust is one area where it might be fairly inexpensive to save weight. I'm looking for suggestions for lightweight performance mufflers. I was thinking of dual Supertrapps, but they're almost too ricey--I love the sleeper look.

The compression is a little high because I'm using my original heads (AFR 195's that were shaved down to 64 cc's). With the dished pistons I got, that gives me a compression of 9.7:1 . My original pistons gave me a compression of 10.8:1, but I trashed one of them when I fired up my motor for the first time, not realizing that I dropped a bolt into one of the cylinders. That gave me the excuse to get the lower compression forged pistons. The compression of the new setup is a little high, but I hope I can prevent detonation with a good engine management system, a junkyard intercooler, and a $70 water injection setup I found on Ebay.

I love EBay. I picked up a '93 twin turbo RX7 with a little body damage on the driver side rear for just $6000 (that's not a misprint). I've noticed that the prices have been going up for perfect specimens since a recent movie about ricemobiles came out. Unfortunately, I found out that there is no such thing as a little bit of body damage and I'm paying more than I thought I would at the body shop. . Can't wait till it's done though.

Holy smokes! I never even realized that my website was accessible from here. Now you know why I always say: there's no replacement for displacement. Then again, a little bit of boost can't hurt.

Higher rated springs are stiffer. A stock Z has springs at about 140 lb/in I believe (actually, that's not quite right, but I never use stock rate springs anyway, so I don't really know the exact number-its in the ballpark). 225 lb/in springs are therefore 60% stiffer than stock (approx.). That's about as stiff as is comfortable on the street. Street prepared autocross and improved touring racers usually go much stiffer-sometimes double these rates (ouch!)

2. If you do the JTR setback conversion FOLLOW THERE DIRECTIONS especially the setting up the engine bay for install. 3. Its not a stright drop in (don't plain for to be easy) 4. It may look cheap on paper, but its not (the nickle and dime stuff is going to kill you trust me ) 5. THE DAY YOU FIRE THE ENGINE UP IS BEYOND FEELING (you'll have perma smile for at least a week or two Great advice, especially number 4. Also, #6 should be: set up your plan and stick with it. Otherwise, these things get out of control. I'm still waiting for #5 because of #6.

I've recently decided to add a pair of T04b's to my 383, and I hope that I don't make anywhere near that much horsepewer. Me thinks is would greatly reduce my life expectancy. Love those stainless steel headers. They must cost a fortune and are beyone my skills to make. I'll have to go with stock cast iron manifolds flipped over or turned around.

Thunder, I would go with the coilovers from Ross if you can "spring" for it (pardon the pun). You'll get the ride height adjustment that you want (trust me, this is can save a lot of headache if you are dropped too low by non-adjustable springs-this can happen with if your frame isn't straight, or with an "incorrect" tire and wheel combination). You sound as if you are not sure about spring rates. It's a personal taste-I like 225 lbs. If you find that your spring rates are not right, you can always switch them out for other springs. As an added bonus, you get more space for wider tires. It's the best of all worlds for about $200-$300 more than regular springs that are only marginally stiffer than stock (such as the ones you mention).

I have decided to take the plunge and add a couple of turbo's to my chevy motor (a 383). I might as well because the motor is out of the car. I know that some of you are considering the same thing. My chassis is about as prepped as I can get it, including stouter rear diff, brakes, suspension, and most recently, subframes and a rollbar (what a PITA-it's been a lot of tough and dirty work). My question is regarding type of turbocharger. Some have talked about using Garrett T03's that are found commonly in junkyards. They look like hairdryers to me. I'm not sure if they're big enough for a high horsepower V8. I was thinking about Garrett T04B's (especially since I already have one). Do you think this is appropriate? A couple of turbo calculators on the web say that a T25 would be the best match, but I think these are dinky as well. Sure, they'd spool up quickly, but that's not what is needed on a stroker V8. What are your thoughts?

$2700/year!!! I forgot about the insurance thing. I kind of believe the "unsafe vehicle", though. These cars are getting very hard to find as are used parts. Part of it is that they only made them for three years, but I've also heard that an incredible percentage of gen3 RX7's were crashed soon after purchase (looks like the one I got was a victim of lift throttle oversteer). Maybe it's the wanna be boy racers who bought these cars. On the other hand, I haven't heard of too many people on this board who have crashed their V8 Z's. Maybe we're better drivers?

I haven't been on the board for a while because I've been sulking. Last month, I was firing up my motor for the first time when it got stuck. Well, to make a long story short, I tore the motor apart and found ANOTHER bolt had dropped into it (I'm the idiot who wrote about dropping a bolt down the intake manifold a while back). I put a nice dent in my piston. I used this as an excuse to a nice all forged rotating assembly, but rebuilding an engine when I was so close didn't cheer me up. Neither did turning my attention to making a nice new set of subframes for the car. Then, she walked into my life. I was wandering around on EBay, when I saw a 93 RX7 with a salvage title. The strange thing was, there was only a little bite out of the driver rear quarter panel and a bumper to replace. The rest of it seemed fine. There were a bunch of performance goodies (strut bars, 5-way tokicko's, stainless steel aftermarket exhaust, aftermarket intake stuff). I got it for $6500 (and I can get all the damage repaired for about a couple grand). Of course, my wife was furious and I had to beg her for the money as she controls the bank account. I have to admit it was irresponsible, but I eventually got my wish. It's a beautiful silver and runs great, except I found out that the lower control arm was bent (not a good thing to find out when the second turbo kicks in.) My Z isn't jealous--I'll bet she's happy to have a worthy garage buddy. I'll post pictures as soon as I figure out how.

I have to say I love my day job, and my night job. Big contrast though. I usually go to sleep obsessed with visions of the wiring diagrams I've been working on all night, then dreaming about the boob jobs I'll be doing in the morning. I love my life .

Jim, You are exactly right. I'm probably going to pass on the rolling Vette chassis, cause I thought, if I want a Corvette suspended car, why not just get a Vette? It's too easy to get carried away with this stuff. I, too am interested in seeing how some of the ongoing projects turn out. I'm not sure if they will be an improvement, but then again, we'll never know until someone tries. In my line of work, they have a saying: "the enemy of good is better", and I've found that to be true time and time again.

Congrats. I'm just days away myself from starting up the first engine I've ever built. I can't wait. I can just imagine what your motor sounded like and how you felt. I can almost taste it.

I know how you feel Flash. I've been telling friends, family, and co-workers about my 4 second 0-60 Z car for about a year now, and I'm starting to think that they don't believe this beast exists. I'm nearly done, though, and I may try to fire it up in a week or two. Then again, just cause you can start the car doesn't mean you should if your ducks are not all lined up in a row. I've got to be patient, there's still a lot to do.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the real benefit of lower gearing. You would have a faster top end, right? But doesn't it hurt your acceleration (that's why drag cars use 4.11 gears, right?). As far as weight savings, Scottie said it only saved 80 pounds (not insignificant, but not like 200 pounds)

I've been reading with interest the subframe reinforcements that several members have done (especially Pete). Since I get obsessed about things, I thought, heck why not a full tube frame (if I get around to it over the next couple of years). Then I saw someone who is doing a tube frame with a Corvette C4 suspension. I have done a full, maxed out suspension rebuild with coil overs, big brakes from Ross and Mike SCCA, tubular suspension arms from Mike Kelly, CV conversion from Ross, as well as a Quaife in an R200 (also from Ross-he has some great stuff and gives good service). It's pretty maxed out and hasn't even hit the street yet. A rolling Vette chassis may become available. Is there any major advantage to swapping my current setup out? I'm setting up my car as a performance street and track/autocross car. I know some have switched to the vette rear for drag racing. Ross told me that the Quaife has even held up well in modified Vipers, so I think my setup should hold up to the 400+ HP I'll be getting soon (I might sneak in an occasional squirt of nitrous ). It looks like it would be a fun project and I love the way a Vette handles. I'm not sure if a Z would handle any better with Corvette components front and rear, but I'd like your opinions. I'm just not sure that the gain, if any, would be worth the effort.

Man, those were some of the riciest Z's ever, far worse than I could ever have imagined! That Honda dude had a great start, but he should have made his exhaust more conical, kindof like the space shuttle exhaust nozzle. It boggles the imagination! By the way, calling window louvers "period pieces" was perfect. Kindof like a piece of Americana that belongs in the Smithsonian. I mean, they defined an entire generation of auto accessories, just like fart pipes today, or fuzzy dice in the past.

I've converted to fuel injection, and the manifold and throttle body now give me what looks like less than two inches before I hit the hood. I don't think any aftermarket air cleaner will fit. Can anyone suggest a subtle hood scoop that might work with a 280Z

Something I learned from sad experience: when metal shavings start coming off of the bolt, and you notice less and less resistance, you've probably gone too far.