A. G. Olphart

GrumpyV- Neat plan of attack: Thanks!

My wife came to visit me on the job and immediately ran up and ripped my shirt off. Buttons flew everywhere. (Quit laughing, it really did happen). Turns out that I'd set myself on fire- You'd be surprised how far down a pipe your torch flame can travel while you are cutting. No personal damage, but the whole side of a 50/50 polyester/cotton work shirt went up in a second... Think the excess Oxy piped from the torch may have had an effect?

I'd guess that you shook something loose when the door slammed, but it could just be a coincidence. The usual things apply- Is is it getting gas, and is there a spark? If it Is getting gas to the carbs there should be a strong smell of gas. If not, or you aren't sure, you can lift the piston in each carb and give it a shot of starting fluid, then see if it fires. No luck? Pull one of the spark plug wires and see if there is a spark... slide the boot back, and hold it about 1/16 of an inch from a ground (NOT those smelly carburetors ) & watch for a spark when the engine cranks. Note that this is also a bit of a plug wire test- if the insulation is shot you may get bit . By pulling a plug wire rather than the high tension lead to the distributor you are making sure the rotor or distributor cap hasn't shorted to ground. Random electrical thoughts- When the flexible wire(s) in the distributor (continously flexed by the vacuum advance) finally break(s) through fatigue, the engine stops. If it was a hot wire grounding out, then you should have blown fuses or burned insulation. I've had an ignition switch fail so that it shut off the engine when I hit a bump. I saw a chevy pickup with a corroded/tired fuseable link that gave out, leaving it dead. A ground connection can go away-- check to be certain you have good grounds all around (battery, engine and body all tied together). Grab a meter and look for voltage... happy hunting.

I love the look of side pipes, but have seen Corvettes blow cones over with their exhaust (earning their drivers undeserved penalty points in an autocross).

Maichor, what does one use for half shafts with the Viscous 240SX diffs, and in which year/model vehicles may these items be found? What ratios are the diffs? TIA

Looks pretty nice... Aren't tools fun?. (Beats the **Heck out of using teeth and fingernails). ** Feel free to substitute any word of your choice which makes this statement more personally relevant.

Slight correction for z-rex: most government employees are dead honest... it's the elected officials and their appointees we've got to watch. I personally think that the honesty and the flywheel effect (governmental continuity) of the Federal bureaucracy are part of the reason President Bush wants to privatize it. More plums for distribution to contributing corporations. More jobs for Halliburton to bid. (Wait a minute, did I say 'bid'... sorry). "An honest politician is one who stays bought" We have the best government money can buy.

Tim got it in one If fuel is only dripping from the secondary boosters, that lessens somewhat the chance that excess fuel pressure is the cause. One plan of attack: 1) Adjust the secondary float level. 2) If that doesn't stop the flow then I'd check the pressure. 3) If the pressure is OK or you don't have a guage, then pull the secondary bowl and check for crud in the needle valve. With the bowl off one may check for needle valve sealing by blowing on the inlet gas line while holding the bowl and float assembly upside down... NOT OSHA recommended as gasoline is a known carcinogen. On an old carb one sometimes finds soggy plastic floats (which no longer float) and brass floats with leaks (same result). I've no idea what one finds on new carbs. Good luck (if you get mad at your Demon, you could pass it on to me ). Darn I'm slow- Two posts came in while I was writing!

I don't believe there is any way that the program can be made to show anything below the estimate for 2000 RPM; here is a quote from the Q&A section of the version 3.10 manual: "Question: I have tried many different engine combinations using the same engine displacements and have noticed that several of the power curves begin at nearly the same horsepower and torque values at 2000rpm. Why are they so similar at this engine speed? Answer: Since the Dyno2000 uses a simulation technique that iterates toward an answer—this technique is not the same as used in Iterative Testing—the first power point must be developed based on educated “guesses†about mass flow and other variables. The next point, at 2500rpm, is calculated from the starting point, plus the data obtained from the completed simulation, so accuracy is higher. By 3000rpm, the power points are based on simulation calculations with virtually no remaining influence from the initial estimations." The lack of low speed numbers doesn't bother me nearly as much as the total lack of any octane requirement figures. Basically, it is fun to play with.

It would be difficult to break the joint you have (lubed through the cap) in the manner SpeedRacer indicates as the common failure mode . I think your logic is sound, and it was the zerk hole at the base of the cross that gave lubeable joints their bad reputation. The cap lubed joints appear to be the industry's answer to that problem. Brand vs. Brand, I haven't a clue... but all other things being equal, more needles in the cap will give a longer service life because the load is spread among more lines of contact.

Your link didn't work this evening, but assuming you are running hydraulic lifters on a Chevy and did this warm, you should now have a satisfactory street adjustment- good almost forever. To answer your question- I don't know of any correlation as long as the valves are seating and sealing. Generally cylinder to cylinder temperature variations are laid off by the magazines to differences in filling by the carb & manifold. (A good intake manifold has very little variation). Some stock carbs used to be built with little tabs sticking off the outside of the boost venturi to compensate for uneven distribution by the factory manifold.

So TJ, did you find it, and if so are you still happy?... or are you now looking for your hood scoop Tried looking at your pics- site must be down this afternoon.

If you built it, then you know your bearing clearances. Tight clearances are fine with thinner oils, but when you get up around .002-.0025 or better then I'd run a heavier one. (Journal diameter also comes into play- I'm thinking in terms of big American iron). Mobil1 is a great oil, but I couldn't afford to toss it through a seive; you really should consider fixing the leak(s). I think Mobil1 has an almost constant viscosity (like a deisel injector calibrating oil) & I've heard that it tends to find any small holes and escape. In your area you could probably run 20-50, even in the winter time. Straight 30 might get a bit hard to crank on cold mornings. 15-40 (do they make 15-50?) if you don't want to bet on warm mornings.

383 & 727 would go really well in a pickup.

Well Mike, now I'm not only jealous of your new toy, but you stole one of my reserved topics as well .

Thanks for the post Grumpy... Pat Kelley's web site explaining DCR (with his excellent free calculator), http://members.uia.net/pkelley2/DynamicCR.html lists a range of DCR's for street engines of 7.5 to 8.5 on 91 or better octane gas, and suggests that "Staying below 8.25 DCR is probably best for trouble free motoring." What DCR have you found to work with a given octane gasoline in engines with iron Vortec heads? I'd like to consider your experience with these engines as well as Pat's calculator since combustion chamber design must play a part in real world results.

Wow-- That is one whole passle of work! It looks GREAT, but I'm a lazy Olphart... My Z's gonna be ugly. ('Ugly' really wants that Sanden A/C compressor mounted low like yours). Thanks again, for the tips and the source.

Keith Black/Silvolite no longer has a functional web site, so it looks like it will be Speed-Pro/Federal Mogul hypereutectics. Besides the low compression height specials (H423NCP and the like) are there any to avoid in building a normally aspirated belly button Vortec headed 350 ? Is there a more cost effective choice than Speed-Pro? (I don't consider a piston to be be cost effective if it might self destruct at <6500 RPM , and I like the tighter fit of Hypereutectics for a street car). I measured the dish in a stock piston at 9CC, but didn't think to check head gasket thickness before tossing them; they were some sort of graphite composite on either side of a metal mesh. Anyone know their compressed thickness? My best guess at stock static compression is about 9.24 (0.41 gasket) to 9.35 (.035 gasket). I guess I could run H126CP (16cc dished pistons) with a.015 gasket (66cc? volume when I clean up the combustion camber and grind the valves) for 8.93 SCR, 7.41 DCR with the Comp Cams XE268H... but then the XE262H looks better to me at 7.48DCR with better mileage. On the other hand, H100CP (5cc eyebrows) and .020 gasket would be 9.90SCR and 8.20DCR with a Comp Cams XE268H for more power. Is anyone running a street Z with a DCR this high (or higher) with vortecs and a carb? What kind of octane is required? Will these XE cams do over 100,000 miles with good oil? Anyone having suggestions as to better cam and piston choices please fire away (I really appreciate lessons learned through experience- I'm running on nothing but 'book larnin'). For a given duration the XE's seem to stand head and shoulders above the competition for power, but what happens if a person needs another 500-1000 RPM through the lights? (Even street Z's hurry once in a while ) . FYI:I don't plan to run a 383 or 406 because I don't want to feed the extra Cubes. A gas hog I don't need: I'd like to drive it a lot! Thanks Guys-

Many thanks... I had been wondering about the durability/longevity esp. if a guy spins the tires occasionally at a stop light (not that I would ever do that ).

Sounds like Innerwear is your man. Also, Aaron brought up a point that has bothered me in the contemplation of a similar project: how does one get the plastic to shape WITHOUT transferring mould marks/disturbing the inner surface of the lexan? I've considered a plaster of paris male mould/plug and using a hair dryer/heat gun to lay the plastic down (gravity deformation, no pressure of either polarity ), but what finish or release agent should be put on the mould? Is this a feasible procedure?

Thanks BARACU, the pics will help down the line... What AC compressor is it that you have mounted on your stoutly engineered bracket? And, duh, where did all the wiring go????? VERY sano

So now that you have had your Retrofit limited slip installed for a while, how do you like it? How about posting Retrofit's info? I'd really like to know how these stand up to V8 abuse... any info/links appreciated. Thanks-

You're definitely getting there... And it's winter/project season now anyhow. I'm still collecting bits and pieces and will be for some time. (I'm on a one part a month budget, and there are one H*** of a lot of parts to acquire).

Tim- The make or break for me would be the amount of rust. A person can spend a LOT of time replacing floorboards frame rails etc. Look closely for bubbled paint as well (rust coming through from the back side).. Since the Z is unibody, rust is a structural issue. The transmission and rear end situation depends on what you plan to do... If this is to be a road car, it wouldn't be too bad with the turbo 350 and a stock 3.364 rear end (original equipment ratio for 4 speed 240Z) and the tallest tires you can fit in back. As a drag racer a built turbo 350 would be fine, but the original R180 differential will break eventually, and the stronger R200 is not readily available in other than 3.545, 3.7 or 3.9 (not highway friendly ratios). I'd take it for a test drive to see how it runs/drives and check the cruise RPM to see if it is livable. I'd also look under it to see which differential the car has now... it may have been upgraded. (With luck a search on HybridZ will net pictures; R180 cover is pretty rectangular; R200 slightly rounded on the sides as I recall). The Turbo Buick 200R4/200 4R transmissions were performance oriented from the factory... the garden variety versions are not an inexpensive tranny to upgrade for performance use, and don't like abuse in stock form. Take a look here at the second post (strengthening the 200R4): http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=12 For an idea on prices try here: http://www.ckperformance.com/stg_200R4.html and: http://www.ptsnctb.com/ (there are a few others as well). All this said, I'm collecting parts to build a 350Chev/200R4 240Z. Lotsa fun when done.

Trevor- If you have a stick shift Z & think you might ever race it, something with a rev limiter would be nice. I'm building an automatic car with a recurved early distributor and a Pertronix II. (Summit sent me a flyer listing it at $89.95. That is the regular price shown at http://www.carshopinc.com, but I've never dealt with them). I've read somewhere that the first Pertronix has been known to fry itself if the ignition key is left on without the engine running, but don't think the II has that problem.