arizonazcar

When talking about driveability I'm referring to crisp throttle response from right off the line to redline without hesitation, backfires etc. Again the 390 jetting is close enough right out of the box, jetting tripple webbers for a daily driver is a bit more involved. Dave

I would welcome that challenge and would provide a manifold and carb in person if it can all be arranged. If anyone is in the phoenix area anytime soon and would like to do an independant review and go for a demo ride I would gladly welcome them. Also you're still missing some of the main advantages of my 4Brl setup: Throttle response/driveability ease of maintanance/reliability gas mileage cleanliness of installation/appearance Again 12 second 1/4 mile times aren't relevant to the discussion...I have personally driven several of my customers 800HP Skylines in Japan and that has no relation to this product either. Dave

I may make the headlight covers at some point in the future, I have a pair that I hand carried back from Japan......paid $600 for the pair. Dave

I too use junkyard cores when necessary ..what I'm referreing to is that I've seen people use used carbs that look like they fished them out from the bottom of a lake and think thery're saving money because they got it for $20 bucks instead of paying $300 for a brand new Holly 390 and then expect it to run right..........sorry I should have been more specific. I was hoping we could have this thread be technical and not get into a pissing match. A 12 second quarter mile time is not what this intake was designed for and misses the point entirely. The objective was to have very simple product that makes a significant improvement in performance over stock, has beautiful driveability and and that anyone with decent mechanical skill can install and maintain. The Holly 390 seems to work super right out of the box with no rejetting, I used to be A factory direct dealer for Mikuni and as such i kept about $2000 worth of jets and small parts in stock for my customers..... The holly parts are available anywhere at pennies on the dollar campared to Mikuni or Weber parts. Hundreds of these intakes have gone to customers replacing fuel injection .... I'm actually a big fan of the old L-jetronic and understand it very well. However as the early 280Z's are now coming up on 30 years old it has become a significant liability for many owners......the cost of a new airflow meter (most of the junkyard one are worthless) six injectors, a pressure regulator, dropping resistors, and replacement fuel pump may well exceed the value of some of these cars. Even if any or all of the above were replaced it doesn't begin to address the issues of the wiring harness (corroded connectors and sensors etc). Again the 4-barrel offers a simple and cost effective soltion to what otherwise might become a parts car. With electric choke the Holly fires right up, requires no synchronization ,little if any maintainance and still maintains good gas mileage. A 9 inch low profile aircleaner clears the stock hood but the underside of the one vent on the 77-78 needs to be clearanced slightly. Here's a breakdown on cost: 4-barrel intake manifold $259 holly 390 CFM elect. choke around $300 cable linkage $25-$39 Chrome aircleaner $25-35 Low pressure fuel pump $29 Total cost should be around $650 All the other mechanical issues on the car should be addressed anyhow regardless of the type of induction system. Tim your car looks sharp I only posted in the first place in answer to absurd and completely inacurate statments made by those with no first hand knowledge of a particular part that I've sold very sucessfully. Sorry if I offend anyone. Dave

As the owner of Arizonazcar.com and having sold over 800 of my 4-barrel intakes I would like to add my 2 cents on the subject. First there is absolutely no way that the SU's give anywhere near the performance that my 4-barrel intake with the Holly 390 carb gives.... that's just a fact and I dont care who rebuilt the SU's or how they were tuned. The overall drivablity, ease of starting, horsepower and even gas mileage are substantially improved. SECOND THE SO CALLED ISSUE OF MIXTURE DISTRIBUTION DOES NOT EXIST. Hopefully many of you have seen Gary Meekins' WEST COAST NATIONALS WINNER 260Z..... Gary is a master mechanic with 30 years Nissan experience and has rebuilt hundreds of SU's ...his opinion of my 4-barrel intake setup is that "it runs perfect and has no issues" as claimed. He also says that the engine has "radically improved performance" over the SU's . Everyone that claimes a mixture distribution problem always says "I heard that..." or "I read that..." . I find that people with no first hand experience are always the first ones to render an opinion. Why not take the opinion of someone who know's what they're talking about for a change.....Gary Meekins can be contacted at coyotegary@hotmail.com or at his Zcar restoration shop (Spanky's Auto Body) Tel. # 480-644-0060 Assuming you wont' take my word for it (I've only installed about a hundred of them personally) Also I think you'll find that any of the customers who have actually installed it correctly have very high praise for it as is the case on this thread. I have seen some other manufacturers 4-barrel manifolds that had numerous design failures that would make the overall performace substandard compared to mine. Now I would like to discuss where problems arise: Many customers choose to use junkyard carburetors..(without rebuilding)..if you build your car from junkyard parts (without proper rebuild or inspection) any money you saved on the purchase will be more than eaten up by the grief of trying to figure out what's wrong. VACUUM LEAKS.....I have seen more vacuum leaks on these cars than I can count........the typical backyard mechanic then jets the carb richer to make up for the lean miss, now the car runs over rich at cruise and fouls the plugs. IGNITION...I've seen every combination of burned points, wrong firing order, bad wires, worn distributor, cap, rotor , damaged coil etc. that you can think of........the 4-barrel will NEVER run correctly under those conditions. CAM TIMING......never seen a car run right with the cam timing way off. PCV....amazing how many people have NO understanding of PCV...the typical shade tree goof vents the valve cover to the base of the carb and puts a breather on the tube below the distributor.........THIS GIVES A WHOPPING VACUUM LEAK.....the car back fires and blows the power valve, now it runs SUPER RICH! What's the worst solution? of course they now lean the carb way out in a futile effort to make it run right but by now the plugs are fouled and the driveability is crap from the rejetting! FUEL PRESSURE: NO A FUEL INJECTION FUEL PUMP WILL NOT WORK! Carbs typically need 3-5 psi.....60 psi wont make it any faster it'll just crush the floats and spray fuel everywhere. OVERALL MECHANICAL CONDITION : Customer comes over with a "correctly" installed 4-barrel.....runs horrible.....I do compression test, test shows 165 140 140 80 60 22.....sorry my manifold won't cure that problem, for that you'll have to get the magic engine restore pills from JC Whitney....that'll probably cure your rod knock and worn valve guides too! Anyhow I hope this is of some use to anyone considering this option. Please feel free to contact me on this or related subjects. I'll be posting some thoughts on other fuel system options a little later. Sincerely, Dave Epstein Owner arizonazcar.com 2043 E. Quartz St. Mesa AZ 85123 dave@arizonazcar.com 480-844-9677 http://www.arizonazcar.com/

As the owner of Arizonazcar.com and having sold over 800 of my 4-barrel intakes I would like to add my 2 cents on the subject. First there is absolutely no way that the SU's give anywhere near the performance that my 4-barrel intake with the Holly 390 carb gives.... that's just a fact and I dont care who rebuilt the SU's or how they were tuned. The overall drivablity, ease of starting, horsepower and even gas mileage are substantially improved. SECOND THE SO CALLED ISSUE OF MIXTURE DISTRIBUTION DOES NOT EXIST. Hopefully many of you have seen Gary Meekins' WEST COAST NATIONALS WINNER 260Z..... Gary is a master mechanic with 30 years Nissan experience and has rebuilt hundreds of SU's ...his opinion of my 4-barrel intake setup is that "it runs perfect and has no issues" as claimed. He also says that the engine has "radically improved performance" over the SU's . Everyone that claimes a mixture distribution problem always says "I heard that..." or "I read that..." . I find that people with no first hand experience are always the first ones to render an opinion. Why not take the opinion of someone who know's what they're talking about for a change.....Gary Meekins can be contacted at coyotegary@hotmail.com or at his Zcar restoration shop (Spank'ys Auto Body) 480-644-0060 Assuming you wont' take my word for it (I've only installed about a hundred of them personally) Also I think you'll find that any of the customers who have actually installed it correctly have very high praise for it as is the case on this thread. I have seen some other manufacturers 4-barrel manifolds that had numerous design failures that would make the overall performace substandard compared to mine. Now I would like to discuss where problems arise: Many customers choose to use junkyard carburetors..(without rebuilding)..if you build your car from junkyard parts (without proper rebuild or inspection) any money you saved on the purchase will be more than eaten up by the grief of trying to figure out what's wrong.VACUUM LEAKS.....I have seen more vacuum leaks on these cars than I can count........the typical backyard mechanic then jets the carb richer to make up for the lean miss, now the car runs over rich at cruise and fouls the plugs. IGNITION...I've seen every combination of burned points, wrong firing order, bad wires, worn worn distributor,cap rotor ,damaged coil etc. that you can think of........the 4-barrel will NEVER run correctly under those conditions. CAM TIMING......never seen a car run right with the cam timing off. PCV....amazing how many people have NO understanding of PCV...the typical shade tree goof vents the valve cover to the base of the carb and puts a breather on the tube below the distributor.........THIS GIVES A WHOPPING VACUUM LEAK.....the car back fires and blows the power valve, now it runs SUPER RICH! What's the worst solution? of course they now lean the carb way out in a futile effort to make it run right but by now the plugs are fouled and the driveability is crap from the rejetting! FUEL PRESSURE: NO A FUEL INJECTION FUEL PUMP WILL NOT WORK! Carbs typically need 3-5 psi.....60 psi wont make it any faster it'll just crush the floats and spray fuel everywhere. OVERALL MECHANICAL CONDITION : Customer comes over with a "correctly" installed 4-barrel.....runs horrible.....I do compression test, test shows 165 140 140 80 60 22.....sorry the my manifold won't cure that problem, for that you'll have to get the magic engine restore pills from JC Whitney....that'll probably cure your rod knock and worn valve guides too! Anyhow I hope this is of some use to anyone considering this option. Please feel free to contact me on this or related subjects. Sincerely, Dave Epstein Owner arizonazcar.com 2043 E. Quartz St. Mesa AZ 85123 dave@arizonazcar.com 480-844-9677 http://www.arizonazcar.com/winner.html

Hi Clint, of course I remember you! Measure the inside of the wheel and see if you've got at least 345mm (13.58), if so it should fit. Dave

Hi guys, Both my 4-lug and 5-lug brake kits require a wheel with an inside diameter of 345mm (13.58") some 15's will work (panasport) but I reccomend larger especially since 17" wheels and tires are really cheap and available right now. Front Caliper clearance: 5-lug: the caliper does not extend past the mounting surface of the hub. 4-lug: the caliper overhangs the hub by 1/2" The rears aren't an issue if you can clear the front then the rears will fit too. Although I normally sell the 5-lug front and rear together I can sell just the 5-lug fronts for $1150 for the pair which includes the calipers, brackets, rotors, rotor centers, the aluminum hubs, bearings, seals, pads, brake lines, nuts, bolts, lockwashers, fittings, spindle nuts and washers, cotter pins. The races and studs come pre-installed. The studs can be either 1/2 fine screw in or 12mm X 1.5 pressed in. My 5-lug kit adds about 3/4' to the offset so it makes it easier to fit wheels with more backspace than would normally fit the Z. If your only gonna' have one set of wheels the added expense of the 5-lug kit is less worthwhile (other than the weight savings of the aluminum hubs) but if you're use multiple sets (race and street etc) the 5-lug kit opens up a whole world of availability. When shopping for wheels for the 5-lug kit the fitment and bolt pattern is basically like late model Mustang. Running the coil-over setup would allow another inch of backspace. The 4-lug kit really doesn't change the offset so backspace remains the same as stock. Here's a pic of the 4-lug kit installed on a strut Thanks very much for all the intelligent questions and input. Dave http://www.arizonazcar.com 2043 E Quartz St. mesa AZ 85213 480-844-9677 dave@arizonazcar.com

figured out how to post pic, dave@arizonazcar.com

we are making a new fiberglass dash with console for the Z right now! it's setup so you can put whatever guages and swithches you want to in it. Should be ready in 2 or 3 weeks (give or take) go to http://www.arizonazcar.com/body.html it's the last item on the menu. Thanks, Dave [http://www.arizonazcar.com/dash2.jpg][/img]

how about posting a pic with the wheel off. of course dont forget the rears too! Thanks, Dave

I should have 25 of the billet aluminum mustache bar for the R-230 on the shelf by the end of next week. I'll post when they are ready or you can call or e-mail me next week. Thanks for the input guys. Dave dave@arizonazcar.com http://www.arizonazcar.com 480-844-9677

$239 on the pantera panel, No minimum order, but be prepared for hefty shipping charges on parts that are too big for UPS. Truck freight is expensive and parts get broken. I'm looking into the whole shipping situation to see what the best solution will be. Take a look at all my cool Z stuff at http://www.arizonazcar.com Dave

I'll have pricing in a week or so (it will not be super expensive), I'll also be looking into the whole shipping situation and what the most cost effective way to send them is. Thanks for looking, Dave

just finished the plug for a new G-nose mold, I'll have parts ready to sell in a couple of weeks. See pictures at http://www.arizonazcar.com/g-nose.html Dave

I dont think twist will be an issue, but if I were to be really hot roddin around (not that I would ever exceed the speed limit) I would use the billet front mount too. By the way it's machined from 1/2 inch thick 6061 T-6 plate sculpted to what in my humble opinion the the optimum weight to strength ratio, plus it looks so damn cool! one of these days I just might have to put a Z together for myself. Dave

Arizona z car has been making complete racing brake kits for the 70-78 Z for 20 years , I should be flattered by some of the copies of it floating around. But take a look at whats included ie. calipers, pads , fittings , braided line, hats , brackets, proportioning valve etc. and you'll see that you get what you pay for. Our 5-lug kit comes with aluminum front hubs with the races, and studs installed, bearings and seals are included.....the rear rotor center is it's own adapter and all hardware is included. I use Wilwood FORGED aluminum 4-piston calipers and CERAMIC PADS my kits. Mention that you a Hybrid Z member and get free shipping now on any brake kit (USA 48 states only) Please check out http://www.arizonazcar.com Thanks very much, Dave

It looks like it will take very little mod to make them fit the R-230 , I think we will do a small run of them along with the ones for the R-200. I looked at the brace setup to clear the LSD cover....the one you sent me the link to is kinda hack. (and no longer avail.)......I'm looking at doing a really nice one that will work with both the R-200 and R-230 LSD rear cover. Ask Mark Icard to post some pictures of the suspension I sent him. Dave

Surprisingly very little additional harshness is added, however I didn't intend them for gravel roads either. Dave

No minimum on fiberglass parts however the issue is shipping as always. If you pick up in person or arrange your own shipping I'll sell you what ever you need. I just had a load shipped to Vermount ($2000) , the customer paid $500 for professional crating and truck freight and every piece got damaged anyhow. The small stuff that can go UPS is no problem. If any of the Hybrid members are in the delivery biz (or want to be) let me know. Dave

Jeff, why don't you or one of your other gang e-mail me with a good digital photo of the R230 installed in a Z . (Quickly) Might make something happen. Dave

Thanks very much Jamie, I've just gotten caught up on a 2 year back log of work so this week is the first time I've had the time to post on Hybrid. As some of you know (but most of you don't) for the last 15 years (out of the 20 yrs I've been in the Z biz) most of my business has been outside of the United States and that's why I haven't done any promotion or advertising in a long time. I have tried to use my expertise to build components that represent "Top of the line" in terms of quality/ innovation / value. The parts that I sell actually do something for the car......no oil caps, key rings , badges or magic $29 parts that claim to add 100 HP, My specialty is hardcore suspension , brakes, engine and bodywork. What I do here is not for everyone: I expect that my customers are serious amateurs with the time ,talent, tools, and space to correctly install what I sell. I try to provide tech support based on that assumption but when realize that a potential cutomer has no understanding of automotive basics I would rather lose a sale than try and walk them through something I know they're never going to make work. I see that a number of my original designs have been copied , but for little or nothing more costwise I can supply a higher quality more complete part or kit than some of the cobbled together stuff I see being sold. Anyhow thanks again and I hope to post when and where applicable. I 'll be happy to respond to questions (hopefully short ones) as time allows but please don't ask me "how do I turbocharge a car" . Sincerely , Dave

The center rod end on the rear arm is threaded into an adjuster that can be turned to set toe (on the car), the rearward rod end can be screwed in and out to adjust track. On the front A-arm the ball joint can be screwed in and out to set track and the T/C rod (hex aluminum) is threaded RH/LH to adjust caster on the car. Unfortunately I had the expierience of crash testing a set of them into a concrete barrier on the roadcourse at 60+ MPH without failure (bent every last piece of the car including the driver). The oldest arms we made are now about 18 years old, longevity isnt an issue. Stress analysis would be fine if you could duplicate the infinite variety of conditions they could be exposed to.......even if they were made of billet titamium they're still bolted to a 30 year old uni-body car. All critical parts on any race car need to be regularly inspected for damage / corrsion / fatigue etc. Chromoly tubing holds up fine but I have seen many home-made parts poorly (amateur) constucted that I wouldn't drive to the grocery store with ..... you get what you pay for. I have a professional master fabricator (artist) that does the actual production...the tubing is cut and coped to bluprint specs and then 100% tig welded in a jig.....the adjuster is made on a CNC lathe, the finished arms are gold zinc plated for corrosion resistance. The rod ends I use are either heat treated chromoly or 3pc. precision with teflon, the bolts are all grade 8. Please take a look at the other quality parts we do at http://www.arizonazcar.com Dave

arizonazcar.com has been making Chromoloy Adjustable control arms for the Z for almost 20 years , they're 100% tig welded and jig built to blueprint specs. They are a complete bolt on. The fronts feature adjustable caster and track, the rears feature on the car adjustable toe as well as track adjustment. Please see http://www.arizonazcar.com/lowarms.html Dave

arizonazcar.com makes the spacer/adapter for mounting the 240SX throttle onto the Z manifold $36 see http://www.arizonazcar.com/inject.html Dave