A. G. Olphart

Thanks John, and for ignoring my stating the obvious (which somehow at the time seemed to involve actual thought). <>

Looks great, and the odds are good you that won't meet yourself on the way to the grocery store. <>

Sounds good to me...

It is interesting that he makes no mention of rotational inertial or polar moment or whatever it should properly be called. The article is interesting, but seems simplistic/dumbed down in that there must be optimal sizes; bigger is not always better, due to at least the following considerations. Rotational Inertia Chassis and bodywork clearances (turn and bump) Aerodynamics tire and wheel weight, and weight of larger braking components Huge tires dictate a huge vehicle, which in turn would demand a huge roadway. What is the optimally sized tire for a Z? <>

Pop, two out of three's not bad. Thirsty daily drivers, and our wagon weighs in at 5000 pounds. But that is with a 'unibody' (only a front subframe); Chrysler products have been unibody since about 1960... I know my 63 Pymouth was unibody, and our 57 wagon wasn't. <>

Our 72 Chrysler wagon with a 440 gets between 10 and 14mpg; generally towards the lower end of the range. <>

If you can get your buddies setup cheaply enough, the springs should be useable; struts are replaceable if bad (not likely to be bad if the mileage claim is close to accurate). There is a ton of stuff in this forum on Eibach springs... Here's one thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=113711&highlight=Eibach (I put Eibach in the "search this thread" block and got 170 hits). Good luck. <>

Why didn't your friend like them? Do they fit your Z? If they truly have only a few thousand miles and he didn't blow the struts jumping railroad grades or such, they might be a screaming deal... IF THEY ARE WHAT YOU NEED/WANT. Why not rebuild/upgrade springs, struts and suspension bushings before deciding on sway bars? When a person has learned the handling characteristics of their new suspension, then a change in sway bars might be indicated. Any changes should be well thought out, so as to modify current handling in a predictable manner. <>

Why would anyone spend multiple thousands of dollars on a 30 year old car, if not to make it suit the builder's purposes. Those purposes often do include highway usage. 74_5.0, I'm with you, and nice work! <>

We are all arguing our own interests (including Mr. Hines), but I'll lay odds that most of the contributors are street oriented, not SCCA. We need to quantify the effect of changes that may be broadly applied. Simpler is also better, if not always possible. And thanks for putting the hatch back in the schedule . <>

Why are we dropping this idea without testing? Without empirical data, how does one KNOW that the Pantera style hatch doesn't work? Even if less effective than on other vehicles, it could be a small percentage better than stock; several small percantages can add up to quite a bit. Logically, a small lip/spoiler/body mod near the top of the hatch (or hatch window opening) with a Pantera deck would create a nice vortex above the deck lid to reach back and join with the vortex at the rear of the car. "Less drag" items are important to me for highway mileage... Not only LSR folk care about drag. (But I won't be flushing my side windows... If an easy mod to flush the windshield is found, maybe). <>

The only way my 14" chop saw cuts that badly is if I attempt to shave a bit off the end of a piece of stock; then the blade does flex. Normally it cuts pretty straight, however, it is possible to get too impatient (Apply too much cutting pressure) and flex things. Is there a place to insert shims to set up your saw so that it describes an arc at 90 degrees, rather than cutting a wedge? If not, how long have you had it--- "manufacturing defect". <>

Guess I'm the only guy here who doesn't see this as an insurmountable problem. Since this is a daily driver and not a 10,000 RPM racer, why not take a needle file to the inserts and elongate the hole to match the rod? That small amount of metal should have a negligible effect on balance. Only caveat would be leave no burrs, and use lots of soap and water. <>

Just reread your last post... if you have been running this car long enough to have done road trips, it could be as simple as tired spark plugs breaking down under load. I had a 1600 roadster that ate Champions. Drove it around town a few days, and the next time I hit a freeway on ramp it would start breaking up. Switched to NGKs and the problem went away. Good plugs of the proper heat range make all the difference. I went Googleing (reading spark plugs) and got over a million hits; here are a couple of links. http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/faq/index.asp?nav=31200&country=US http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/sparkplugs.html <>

Exactly how does it act when it lays down? Like someone turned off the switch, or does the rate of acceleration just drop off? Does the engine break up (random misfires, often ignition related)? How much initial advance are you running? Detonation isn't kind to pistons. Is there a secondary lock out linkage on the carb keeping them from opening? Paz has a good suggestion that relates to this-- it is easiest to have someone push the foot feed to WOT (engine off) while you watch the butterflies for full opening. A stall converter just lets the engine rev more freely to get into its' power curve. Tranny shift points are hydraulically controled and road speed related-- not affected by choice of converter. Your problem could be fuel flow (insufficent pressure under load), ignition, or even weak valve springs. Are you running Lunati's recommended springs at their correct installed height? The Vacuum advance doesn't enter in at this point, as under full acceleration the vacuum is near zero anyway. Since the engine runs well up to 3000, my guess is that it isn't overly rich. Have you pulled the plugs right after the problem occurs to check coloration? Rich enough to fall down should be dark, maybe even sooty (guessing at this) and lean can go to white. 2.73 gears. Is this a Z? Checking your vacuum is a good plan, but if it idles at 700 with a box stock carb (little adjustment needed) odds are good you have no vacuum leaks. They would show up more at idle than WOT, where you have massive mixture flow and not enough vacuum to suck much through a small leak. Truly large cams (although Yours doesn't seem to fall in that category) need 1/2 inch fuel lines and high volume pumps. I don't know where the stock Z fuel line becomes a restriction. Maybe someone familiar with HEI (your coil in distributor setup) can let us know if this is a common problem with one of their failure modes. <>

Although we don't have the lobe separation angle, those specs are close to the old Comp Cams 268, which was/is a great street cam; shouldn't be the problem. Take a look here- http://www.compcams.com/technical/Catalogs/106-07/122-167_226-227.pdf Merry Christmas everyone! <>

I believe they are just grinding/sanding the tops off the stack of nickels. If you look closely, there is a bump below the finished area, which is the original strut tower. Also, the first inch or so of the weld closest to the radiator has a slight angle in both the 'nickel' and finished pictures. If a person were leading this, that would be masked, and there would only be one continuous curve from the top of the camber plate into the strut tower itself. (No step below the finished area). <>

If a person tuned for one track, knew what he was doing the first time through, and always ran race gas (consistent quality/octane), then Ross's choice makes sense. However, I'm all for crutches. If I ever set up EFI it will be a street car with hypereutectic pistons, I wont have a clue what I'm doing (first EFI), and gasoline quality will vary. I don't see how a one tune/setting will handle my handicap and the normal street car variables, hence the preference for knock sensor retard. (Idiot proof is good). <>

As usual, John, I can't argue with you. It isn't pretty. <>

Thanks Ron. I had momentarily forgotten the knock sensor vs. ambient noise problem. I imagine my gear drive would preclude using even the J & S Safeguard system. <>

Someday (maybe soon?) I may have to consider EFI for the sake of mileage. One thing that I don't see listed with the WOLF is a cylinder by cylinder ping/knock retard. Is it hiding under another name? Considering the damage detonation can do, seems like a necessity? <>

Must agree, it is looking good! <>

There is no need to feel survivor's guilt. You served and lived through it; end of story. There are at least two lucky Viet-Nam era Vets on this board-- I had a very similar Army career. Drafted, sent to Fort Sam to become a medic, ended up with a Mash unit in Germany. There I sat in a warehouse changing out outdated catheters whilst waiting for the Russians; it wasn't dangerous or glorious, but the Army felt it needed to be done. I counted myself very fortunate at the time, and still do. We reported when called into the Army of the United States, and served our hitch. I firmly believe it is best when servicemen come home alive, and I feel good about doing so. <>

Doesn't. My eyes aren't great, but after several cautious attempts, it became obvious that the image verification scheme fails. I'm not color blind, so at least a few should have passed. <>

I've never played with FI, but reading the PR has me wondering what kind of fuel map there may be. I certainly wouldn't want the same fuel mixture for highway cruising and at the strip; they seem to speak of only one input. Maybe I read it wrong? <>