jbc3

1/2" would be fine. I could work with a month. When you get the material, shoot me a message.

Out of curiosity for pricing... I called Ametco and a sheet of 1/4" hex, in 16 gauge (4' x 10') runs about $145.00 plus shipping. You have to buy it in a minimum of 1 sheet. That is with them sheering it into quarters. Then they can UPS the 4 sheets. Find 4 guys who'd want the same pattern and it's a great deal. Jody

Zhadman, that is exactly what I was thinking about. I think I may do the same thing or maybe make a flush insert that smooths out that space. Now what are you going to do about a grill? Jody

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=96797&highlight=camaro+brakes That is a link to an old post about the front brakes/wheels. The rears are using Ross C's billet stub axles (w/ Chevy bolt pattern), billet adaptors, R230 and R230 CV conversion with Moser axles. I needed adaptors for the rear wheels also, so I bought them from Andris Skulte, the same link that is in the earlier post. The rear brakes are '95 Camaro brake rotors and calipers. The brake caliper bracket is the stock '95 Camaro bracket, machined with a larger hole in the center so it would slip over the axle tube of the 280Z and surface ground so the offset was correct. Then I had to drill new holes and weld up the old bolt holes. I am also using the stock 95 camaro parking brake cables and I bent/adapted the stock 280Z emergency brake cable connection to accept the Camaro cable. The adjustment is not great yet, but it works. The biggest trouble was getting the brake caliper bracket right. It was ALOT of work. Jody

What to do with the empty bump where the bumper used to go??? I have looked at alot of pictures, but I have not decided. It's a 78 and I don't plan on running bumpers. I may get a fiberglass bumper and maybe use it just around the corners, like the second gen Camaro. Any decent options/ideas? While I'm asking... any full grill options/ideas also? Jody

When I sent the tank in I asked if he could put larger lines in, he told me yes. They supply the lines. As it turned out the 280 tank had the same sized lines as my Camaro had, I believe 3/8. (I had no problem with ~500 RWHP in the Camaro with that sized line) So he replaced the lines with the same sized lines that were in my 96 Camaro. He left me about 3" of line out of the tank for both the feed and return and I put compression fittings on the lines to AN-8 line to my Paxton external fuel pump. (I know the tank lines are smaller than the AN-8 line, but I had all of the fittings at the house already and I never had a fuel issue before... same motor that was in my Camaro is now in the 280) The lines appeared to be welded to the tank to seal them, but I could not tell for sure since they were covered by the painted on coating. I think the entire job was about $250 - $275. 1 week turnaround, and I did not ask him to hurry. I bought my fittings at a local hydraulic fitting supplier (Colliflower, Inc.) Even if you wanted to, I doubt that you could get a bulkhead fitting in a stock 280 tank, since the hole for the sender/float and lines is tiny. You would need to get your hand/arm in to tighten up the nut. Cars with stock in-tank pumps have much larger holes. The bulkhead fittings seal OK at first but over time they leak. Jody

I had my tank "renu'd" and they can put larger lines in the tank. It turned out great by the way. I also had the same concerns about filling and venting. Jody

I have only looked over someone's shoulder using Tunercat, so I am not familiar with it at all. I am very familiar with LT1-edit and find it very easy to use. LT1-edit has alot of options and can be overwhelming also, but you can select what area you want to view/change and that is the only thing you see. There is a compare feature where you can see the difference between files and you can copy from the comparison file if you want. It has 3D graphics also. Neither program has an instruction manual that will step you through tuning a car. You need to know what you are doing and the affect of your changes, or you could have a mess. There are a ton of sources on tuning, including the LT1-edit mailing list http://www.lt1edit.com/mailman/listinfo/lt1edit and web pages like http://para.noid.org/~lj/ . Tunercat is not vin locked, LT1-edit is. No big deal if you are only doing one vehicle. It is like $50 to add another vin to your program. There is a little program that will convert LT1-edit files to BIN (Tunercat format) and back, so you can read any file with either program. You can run the '96 and '97 F-body OBDII cars with a '94 - '95 OBDI PCM if you like. You just have to change the knock sensor to the OBDI version. It will then ignore the rear O2's. The benefit to this is you can purchase the (much less expensive) OBDI version of LT1-edit to program your car. I ran an OBDI computer in my '96 Camaro for years. There are benefits to running the OBDII computer if you are running the 4L60E auto trans however. As far as Datamaster, the program can be downloaded free and has like 20 free recording sessions. If you don't have it, download it and look at. It has a ton of great options to aid you in evaluating your engine's performance. It also views the DOS based Diacom files in the graphical environment. It is just a record/view program and can not clear codes. Diacom records the same parameters, but is limited in the ways you can view the information. It will allow you to clear codes if your PCM is OBDI. Diacom will work for some of the later model OBDII cars, but you have to lie to it in set-up, giving it an OBDI VIN. It will not clear OBDII codes. I also have Freescan and find it a pain to use. Jody

I agree that TTS Datamaster is a great data logger. I also have Diacom Plus, which actually isn't bad either. I can clear codes with Diacom, but it doesn't have the graphing features of Datamaster. You can read the Diacom files in Datamaster though. Datamaster uses the same cable as Tunercat and LT1-edit. The Diacom cable is different. I have an open version of LT1-edit (not VIN locked). Jody

I noticed the same thing and I did not like the thing on all the time, so I re-wired it to a different circuit so it is only on when the key is on.

Bartman, don't use 2. You put one resistor between the +12 and the VSS at the speedo. It took all of about 15 minutes including pulling the speedo out. You are actually returning some of the 12V power to the VSS wire to the computer. I actually used the 1KOhm 1 watt resistor since they did not have the 1/4 watt resistor in stock. Jody

As I have been checking off the little details getting my car road worthy, I still had one LT1 ECM computer code bugging me, Code 97, low voltage VSS. Also my Autometer speedo would jump around a little at idle. After futzing around checking all the connections, to no avail, I called Dana at LT1350.com to see if he had any advice. He says that is common and all I need is a 1KOhm 1/4 watt resistor between the +12 and the VSS input at the speedo. All seems to be well now. $1.39 Radio Shack fix BTW, I ran the Speedo from the ECM VSS output signal as opposed to running from the VSS to the Speedo and then to the ECM VSS input. Jody

Here's the thing... there are way too many women wearing clothes that they should have retired 20 - 30 lbs ago (or more). So if a woman is wearing tight pants or a skirt and they have the right body, who cares if there are panty lines. The cottage cheese asses have no business wearing something that anyone should be able to see a panty line. As far as the "fenis"... I have never noticed... If she has the legs to be wearing a mini... tell her, there are very few men that will notice a wrinkle in her skirt. If she does not have the legs to wear a mini and she is, we're not paying much attention anyhow.

Good luck getting everything back together. Then you are going to drive it to New York for the maiden voyage??? Sounds like something I'd do (before I bought a trailer) Jody

Wow, that's some damage. Have you gotten inside the motor yet? It'll be real interesting to see what else is damaged. Jody

Those wheel flares are from MAS and they were like $56 each. They are fiberglass. Mike Kelly turned me on to these guys. Call 651-644-6811 they don't have a web site. Believe it or not, they sent me a 1984 catalog and these flares are listed in that catalog and they are selling the flares at 1984 prices. (probably been sitting around since 1984) They needed minimal trimming and they fit rather nicely. Jody

Yes it's loud! My quiet neighborhood had a few windows rattled Fortunately, my neighbors are decent. I hope to get my dynomax bullets on Monday and quiet things down. I am planning on doing 2 1/2" off the headers and 2 bullets then Y into a single 3" behind the transmission, 3" under the rear and a 3" bullet out the rear in the stock location. I really don't like the car too loud on the street.

It is a McLeod street twin clutch, steel flywheel and a 1 1/8" master cylinder. The full throw from fully engaged to fully disengaged is about 1 1/2". I built an adjustable stop on the clutch pedal, so it's going to take a bit of getting used to. These are literally the first times I have tried it on a the ground. It will make for some fast track shifting, but street driving will take some practice. Jody

I pulled the Z out of the garage and went up and down my street a couple of times yesterday (well maybe a few more than a couple) sans the glass, hood and fenders. It's hard to get a real impression with all the noise, but it feels like a beast. The first drive, the brakes didn't hardly work, and I discoverd that the one way valve to the booster was clogged. I replaced it with the one from the donor f-body and all was good.... so I took it out again. http://www.emsco.net/jody/engine/first_ride.asf http://www.emsco.net/jody/engine/second_ride.wmv I still have alot of work, but no more pushing it around Jody

I don't want to "predict" what it will run, but I hope it will run solid mid 10's NA and very low 10's on the spray. I had a Moser 9" rear w/ a Detroit locker in the Camaro and it launched with the wheels up (1.57 60'). I am hoping that I can launch the 280Z decently. Jody

I finally turned the key this weekend and fired the motor right up. After re-programming the computer with a few changes, the motor runs well. It will need some tuning, but I need to get the brakes re-connected and the exhaust on before running it much more... it's damn loud in the garage and I don't have the O2's on yet.. There is still plenty of work before it's road ready, but it's nice to know that it runs. 96 F body LT1 385 stroker - splayed 4 bolt mains Lunati stroker crank/Lunati Pro mod rods/Ross pistons 10.6 compression Ported stock heads 253 Intake/196 Exh @500 lift 234-242/112 cam 58mm TB This motor with a smaller cam ran 11.5 at 117.5 in my 3800lb f-body. Here's a link of it running. Idle in the garage at about 1200 RPMs. Open headers. The video sound just doesn't give you the full effect. http://www.emsco.net/jody/engine/280z-LT1%20start.wmv Jody

The headers on my Z28 starter to rust and pit similar to yours and I called Jet Hot and sent the headers back to them and they recoated them for free, I just had to pay for shipping both ways. Cost me ~$25 each way. If Jet Hot coated the headers, call them up. The pain is uninstalling and re-installing... but they look great again. Jody

There is a screw in the end of the shock that you can remove and let the pressure out of the shock and it will compress. I don't know if it will go in far enough to clear the bumper cover.

OK, but I bought my car with no motor, so I don't have the advantage to scavange the old sensors. I have no sense (ors)

I'm trying to keep the stock temp and oil pressure gauges. What is the best source for the coolant temp and oil pressure senders. Are they still available at parts stores? Searching, I read in one response, that any Bosch temp sensor will work with the stock gauges, so I am looking for confirmation on the compatability also. (LT1 in a 78Z) Jody