jbc3

Hey from an OLD timer. I have not posted anything here in years and (to tell the truth) rarely logged on and read much either. I still have the same old 78 280z, LT1,6speed/R230. After blowing up my motor back in 2009, I put a stock bottom end 4 bolt LT1, a small cam and just the ported stock heads I had. I drove it to work on nice days and that is about it. Busy at work and busy at home with my wife and kids. (getting old) I guess you can say I was tired of driving without a little extra power. So I tore the motor apart and put new pistons and bearings, put the 847 cam 234/242 .575/.595 112lsa in, 1.6 roller rockers and Trick Flow heads that were stage 3 ported by Lloyd Elliott on with the modified LT4 intake with raised runners. Most of this was the top end that came off the 385 stroker that I blew up. I only have a few hours on this motor, I just started it this past weekend and drove it to work today... looking forward to breaking this in so I can enjoy it again. Here is what it sounds like now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYNNR_hmYcU

Go buy an RPM activated switch, wire it and have it activate the LED you mounted. That's it. Jody

It was a 385 stroker 252-258/108 - 610 lift w/1.6 RR Bullet Cam Custom ported Trick Flow Heads, long tube headers. .040 over, Lunati cam, Lunati pro mod rods, Ross pistons. Unfortunately the motor blew apart a couple of months ago. A couple of machine shop guys looked at the block, bearings and crank and they think the block around the front bearing support gave way and the crank broke and took out the front of the block. It had a ton of miles on it and I ran the hell out of it. I just put a new stock LT1 short block, ported stock Lt1 heads and GM847 cam (had the heads and cam on the garage shelf) . I still have the big cam and TF heads... I had the trick flow heads touched up if you know anyone looking. Both way too big for a stock block, the valve/piston clearance was non existent with the stock pistons. To stay on the subject of this thread... my gauges and LED signals have been flawless and look exactly the same as these pictures. 4 1/2 years, not bad

I just have the shrink wrap and at times it looks like a dim light may be on, but there is no mistake when the LEDs are on. As far as the stock housing, it is not a comfortable thing destroying something you just spent a bunch of money on, that's for sure, but the rear housing of the stock tach and speedo is the only housing part you use. After taking the stock cover off, I don't remember having any issues sliding it in or having to grind the case. And having a bunch of wires at the end... sure, but tie the grounds together...

Take a look at the file in TC to give you an idea what the settings are. That file has WOT blocker (prevents the low RPM block learns to effect the WOT fuel supply) This is also an automatic tranny file with performance shift, 6400 rev limit, 215-50-17 tires, 3.70 rear and raised RPM and block learn settings. Then the lower fan settings. EGR/CCP off. If you want help, e-mail me your file base file and let me know what changes and mods you have.

I have mine set for coolant temp 170/185 for the 1st fan and 185/195 for the second fan. The Hysteresis I left stock. (LT1-edit numbers) I will PM you a file that I did for another HybridZ with these numbers in it. Jody

It figures... I just wanted to make sure there wasn't an easy fix that I was overlooking. (besides... it is kind of important to have solid steering stuff ) I have another rack that is original and a little loose, I'll be sending it to a shop to get rebuilt. This one they may not want to fool with getting the bent section out.

I finally have my engine running after replacing the block and after double checking everything (so I thought) I went for a ride around last night. Turns out the steering was tight and when turned, it would stay turned. I would have to turn it back straight with some effort. I remembered there was a mark on the steering rack when I pulled the motor, but I unfortunately gave it little attention. When the old crank broke and the front of the motor was flailing around the rack obviously got hit too. What is the chance of repairing this? Thinking out loud... heating the area with a torch hoping to take the pressure off... or am I wasting my time even attempting to try? Or is there another solution besides just buying another one. Here is a picture of the hit mark, not very good, but since I paid it little attention, I didn't take a close up picture.

I put similar bullet cats on mine and "smell wise" it made a total transformation. The wife stopped complaining about the car stinking up the garage and in general the exhaust smell went away. OK, I may have lost a few HP, but it was well worth it. Jody

Accel makes shorty spark plugs. They may be small enough to solve your problem.

The lifters I used are the Comp R lifters, I think they are 875-16. Head update: I took the heads to my machine shop and after looking at them and pulling a couple of the obvious valves my guy said the damage to the heads is nothing at worst. We are replacing the valves and seals and skimming the heads, but the seats all look good. Obviously if once he gets them completely apart and he finds any other issues he'll address them...

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevyTransmissions/gmt56.cfm 94-97 T56

Comp Cam Pro Mag 1.6RR It was a 385 stroker. I don't remember the name of the damper, but it is one that I got through my machine shop and it was one that bolted to the billet hub.

I pulled the driver side head and took a few pictures. I'll try and get the passenger side off later this week. The valves took some abuse and bent. I obviously will take them to get the valves replaced and checked out and hope the seats and guides are OK (you always have to hope). Amazing that the push rods are still straight. Pretty minor as to what could have happened. Once I got the timing chain cover off, the 2 sections of the crank were able to be turned separately fairly easily, It could have looked much worse in here.

I spin that motor to 7K often. That is/was the fun part of driving this around. I'll take pictures of the pistons/valves when I get it apart. Who knows there may be an issue there, but I am hoping there has been no destruction on the top end. That motor came from my '96 Z28 that I bought new and put a ton of mileage on and it wasn't babied either. The motor has been pulled apart a number of times and the Trick Flow heads were gone through two years ago when I put them on. If anything looks out of line it has been replaced, but I can say I don't go through it often. I haven't been inside the motor since I did the heads and cam 2 years ago. And if this didn't happen I probably wouldn't have been planning on going back in it either.

Lunati Pro Mod 6" rods and Lunati Forged Crank. This wasn't the cheap one. The third picture down is showing where the crank broke, that round hole was/is the oil hole that was in the middle of the crank. The 4th pic is the broken part jammed on the counterweight. The 5th picture shows the bent rod after the crank broke and it was still spinning. The last pic shows the remains of the part of the block where the front crank/bearing main used to bolt into. I'll probably never know for sure what failed first, but one thing goes and... well you see. I am not looking for answers, just pictures of destruction is usually fun to look at..... more entertaining when it is not yours though

Well I pulled the oil pan and took a few more pictures. The crank is in 2 pieces. Broken right in front of the second main bearing. I don't know if the block broke first and took out the crank or if the crank broke and took out the block... it doesn't matter I guess, it's trash. The first 2 rods are bent and the block is beat up pretty good. This motor was built MANY years ago and it has seen quite a bit of abuse. The balancer hub on this one was keyed and it was not coming off. I also pulled the rockers on one side and all of the push rods are perfect, so I am still hoping the heads/valves survived. Jody

Well last night the car felt like it was missing. I had just gotten gas and I thought maybe I had gotten bad gas, so I hammered it and at that point I knew it was a little more than a simple missing. The motor was vibrating real bad. The motor quit right away and smoke came out everywhere... hmm that's not usually a good thing. I pulled over, oil and antifreeze was pouring out (I don't mean dripping). Popped the hood and the balancer was about at a 30 degree angle. I pulled one of the valve covers and everything looked good. I'll pull the pan tonight and take a better look and see what really happened, but from the pics it looks like the block broke above at least the front main and began the destruction. The timing chain stayed in tact and I am hoping that means the valves were spared. Hopefully just a short block is all I'll need to get back. Jody

I have had a BBK for over 12-13 years and it's just fine still. Of course back then there were no options. Holley, you're paying for the name and the $500+ unit has the nitrous jets. Hell, I'd probably try the Summit unit if it was available back then. Jody

Justin, take a look at this post. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=131008

I have had it at the track over the years quite a bit and never had a known problem with these output shafts. (I never pulled them out to examine them either) Last week the local track re-opened after being closed for a couple of years. They re-paved the track, and had a few test and tunes to get some rubber on the track. The day I went, they poured several layers of VHT and the track was like glue. I have a brand new set of slicks and the guy I lined up against had previous times that were almost identical to my previous times. The burnout was great, no issues. My launch was a WOT, 6000 RPM launch and the car went maybe 1/2" on the launch. I let the clutch out, OK maybe I side stepped it, and all I heard was BAM. That was it. No more excitement. It is the VLSD and it has been fine. I imagine it was major torque, new slicks, glue track and a "little agressive" launch. I wish I could add more to the learning curve. Jody

Actually, I ended up pulling the rear out and used a long pry bar and it actually the output shaft came out easy. (I was being lazy at first) I need to pretty much pull the rear 70% of the way to get the cover off since I have a hand made welded frame, so I just dropped it out. Fortunately it is actually fairly easy. It's a good thing also, since there was quite a bit of metal chips in the rear and I cleaned it out completely. I bought a complete R230 and it should have it in a couple of days. Jody

I will post my measurements. The rear I have..."broke" on the starting line last week, is the R230 300ZXTT. 1.255 = 31.877 mm 1.572 = 39.9288 mm 1.968 = 49.872 mm Jody