Bartman

The LT engines have a different sized heater hose inlet and outlet as well. It's pretty easy to find an adapter that will allow you to connect a 3/4" hose to one end and a 5/8" one to the other. I think I got mine form NAPA. Edit: Here's something form Summit that would work as well. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2D390007&N=700+%2D122035+115&autoview=sku

Congratulations, it sounds like a great opportunity for you. I generally attend the Long Beach Grand Prix every year, and we have a great time. I'll send you a PM if we go this year and hopefully we can get a quick tour from you.

Not mine, but I saw this on Craig's List: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/car/264122410.html Looks pretty nice...but $75,000 is a lot of cash!

Nice looking commuter! I've been riding street bikes for around 30 years and over that time I've driven over a couple hundred thousand miles. I'm currently riding a Honda ST1100 with over 140,000 miles on it alone. I take the interstate to work and I know what you mean about the idiots on the road, but I can't stand to waste my time sitting in traffic. I switched jobs about a year ago which cut my commute down to a 50 mile round trip, but for the five years before that it was 100 mile round trip. Traffic keeps getting worse and worse, so as long as I'm able I'll continue to commute on two wheels.

I beg to differ, the load is not necessarily the same. Here's a link that talks about switching to an electric water pump on an LT1. http://www.wku.edu/~nathan.plemons/htmls/waterpump.html Although the write up is specific to the LT1, some of the same principles apply to any engine. There are differences in mechanical and electrical efficiencies and the slightly higher load on the alternator is generally going to be more efficient than the load of turning a mechanical water pump. In addition the electric water pump is going to turn at a nearly constant speed whereas a mechanical pump speed will vary with engine RPM. P.S. - I upgraded to an electric water pump on my engine.

280ZForce - The hood looks good on your car, and the planned hood scoops and paint will fit right in with the look of your car. That hood has been around for a while from John Washington.http://www.reactionresearch.com/subtlez.html

Thanks for all the info. You stated that you painted the jambs first. Did you paint them completely (multiple coats and clear coat), or just the first part of ever step you explained. If the jambs are completely done first, don't you need to protect them from overspray?

Looks great! I'm running the Kaminari front spoiler and a rear skirt as well. Which side skirts are those? I still need to finish my body work, install the rear spolier, install side skirts, and get mine painted as well.

Whatever it is, we had it around my house as well. It didn't even bother me enough to stop riding my motorcycle to work even though it was still coming down a little when I left my house.

I don't think Greyhound is an option for getting stuff from Kuwait to the US. I'm digging the spoiler as well, and my off the shelf Kaminari costs around the same amount.

Looks great! I hope to get mine painted soon as well...and I'll be doing it all myself. Care to give us more details on how you painted yours? Did you take everything apart and paint the pieces off the car? I've been thinking of painting the jambs, underside of the hatch and hood, etc. off the vehicle than reinstalling everything, with foam tape in the gaps, before painting the exterior all at once. But I see a lot of people painting their Z's completely with the headlight buckets, doors, hatch and hood removed from the car.

I'm interested in this as well, but I don't want to get in trouble for driving it for puposes other than "historical exhibitions, parades, or historic vehicle club activities". On the other hand it sure would be nice to not have to worry about getting sent to an inspection station. I think Owen is running these plates on his Z.

Here's my dual 2.5" setup with an 'x' pipe exiting on either side of a fuel tank from an F-body LS1. More pic's: http://mysite.verizon.net/bzandbergen/Exhaust.htm

I agree the LT1 looks much better than a 350 block in there...but I may be a little biased.

It looks cool and all, but I'm probably going to be the only one here that liked it better before. Before it still looked like a Z, and was more of a sleeper type car...now it looks like a race only car. Either way the body work looks fantastic, and they did a great job of making that glass look smooth.

I haven't noticed any resonance/drone in the cabin...but my exhaust tone is nowhere near stealth.

Here's how my 'x' pipe is installed on my LT1 exhaust. I'm running dual 2.5" exhaust exiting on either side of an F-body LS1 gas tank. There are more pictures at my web site: http://mysite.verizon.net/bzandbergen/Exhaust.htm

I agree that it sounds like injector problems. You can try the tricks that gexgexgexgex suggested to see if you can get them working, but you may need to invest in a new set. If you're going to be doing any upgrades you should think about getting higher rated injectors while you're at it.

Could you get a cut-off wheel to it? I bought a cheap grinder from Harbor Freight along with a pack of cut-off wheels a while back and I use it all the time. Stange that the PO welded that on...at least it appears to be welded.

If you want to use a genuine GM non-vented Opti, I have one with less than 900 miles on it. Just send me a PM if you're interested.

That vented MSD Opti is supposed to draw air from the intake and exhaust it into the intake manifold. Not sure if the bottom is the inlet or outlet, but it shouldn't just be a short hose going nowhere connected to it. That could cause water to get in which will then create problems for you. Here's a page that discusses Opti's: http://para.noid.org/~muttvette/opti.html I swpped from a non-vented to a vented Accel unit and I had to buy the vent lines and electrical harness as well. I think I found them both on eBay. If you haven't visited shbox.com, you whould check it out. It's a great resource for LT1 engines. Here's a diagram of the opti venting: http://shbox.com/ci/opti_vent.jpg I think that other item you posted a picture of is your air pump. Whatever it is, it is part of the smog equipment.

Congratulations, it looks great! Have you been able to fire it up yet?

Yes, they release cabin pressure. I had read a detailed explanation of the Z ventilation system previously, but I don't know where. The Z flow-through ventilation was one of the Z's features. It's a complete system with fresh air entering in the footwells and exiting the rear vents that have some type of flap to prevent backdraft. I think the system was detailed in some of their sales literature.

Congratualtions on a very nice looking Z! I especially like the second engine shot in your first post. It looks like the picture was taken at sunrise and you can see it reflected on the fuel rail covers. I generally don't like the g-nose, but yours does look pretty nice. The whole front end (nose, valance, fenders, etc.) are all one piece? It looks like it would take some time to get that all lined up properly.

I removed part of my radiator support to put a ram air system on my car. Even though some people thought it would be fine that way, it seemed that several knowledgeable people thought it would be a problem. So I welded in some additional reinforcement to help compensate for the removed piece. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=106914 I think that what you're asking would be possible, but you would need to provide additional strengthening like what blueovalz mentioned in his post.