pparaska

The other thing to consider, whether just putting in new studs in the OE 4 hole locations, or doing the 5 lug conversion is that the holes must form a near perfect square (4lug) or pentagonal (5 lug) pattern. And that pattern should be centered on the flange so it's concentric to the race parts of the stub axle. And as Ross mentions, the holes should be perpendicular to the flange. Adding all this up, the price of drill bits, the need for a hole in the right place and at the right angle, and the need for a good press fit, I see no reason to not source this whole operation to a machinist. And in light of the failures that can occur with the stub axles, as Eric's post recently points to, it'd be an EXCELLLENT idea to have the bearing removed, the axle magnfluxed, shotpeened, and the weld polished as (was that John Coffey on the 240Z-club list?) said to do. You might end up doing the weld polish yourself once it comes back. Seriously, the price to have this done is small, considering the consequences of the stub breaking. And having the studs all in a nice even concentric pattern doesn't hurt for tire balance, runout, etc.

Z-Dreamer - that's one bunch o' motor you'll have there. For exporting DD2000 output, I've done it two ways: 1) - Do a screen capture (Alt-PrintScreen) of the DD2000 window (make sure it's the active window). - Paste the cut buffer into a picture package (Paint, Photoshop, Lview, etc.) and cut the number of colors down to 16, crop, etc., save as a gif if you can to keep file size down. - Put file on a web site and link to a post with { {url} or {img} (use square brackets, of course). 2) Use File/Export and choose the Top game program format (can't remember the title). This makes a nice text file with some of the input info and prints a table of rpm, torque, hp, and I think BSFC. You can cut and paste that into a post directly. If you use {code} and {/code} (square brackets, not curly like I just did) you preserve spacing, etc. on UBB boards like this one. Flairs on that car with 12 inch slicks? Man, that's a ton o' torque for a little Z!

Just a thought here. I've heard here that people just cut a hole in the tunnel and run the speedo cable straight into the tunnel, let it curve gently toward the front of the car under the seat and run it up the inner rocker toward the speedo. The right size hole in the tunnel would allow the speedo cable grommet to fit well, then add some weatherstrip adhesive as you install it.

99.9% sure it was the 87.5-88 300ZXT

Tom, can you look up the numbers for the 17748 for me (Hemi Super Turbo - 4.25"x9", center in/ offset out). And the center in/center out version? Just wondering what the difference might be. I know that many times the center in/center out versions are listed in articles with a note about how the offset versions flow less. Thanks

I agree (Hi Chet - thanks for joining!) I'd not want my labor or parts hunting to be subject to being bought.

Andy - you forgot that when you go into the speed shop to refill, you need to ask for TWO bottles of NAWS

That article really made me want a Mopar stroker small block. Too bad the parts are more expensive than for a SBC. The tall deck height and longer rod capability are killer. Always loved the 340! I see Mopar is selling the block again!

The only thing I might add is that if you are doing high speed cornering (road racing, track days, etc.) you may want to consider and Accusump. Sure, if you follow grumpyvette's suggestions or use a road race pan like the expensive Canton unit with the rest of his suggestions, you might not need the Accusump. But for a few hundred bucks you'd have a bit of oil pressure insurance if the pump pickup got uncovered for a few seconds. Nice pre-lube-before-each-start function too. No, I don't have one. Mike Kelly does though. Depends on your application whether you'd need it. Can't see it on the street. More of an insurance policy for track days, etc.

Felpro has these 1-piece oil pan gaskets for even the old SBC's. They have them in left and right hand dipstick, thick and thin front seal, etc. I put one on my 327. Very nice piece. No telling yet how it seals.

I found head flow numbers for those heads (unported and ported) at: http://thevl.com/venom/Vic%20Jr%20Flow%20Numbers.htm Using the "roller lifter" option in DD2000: rpm------hp-------ft lbs-------BMEP 2000 128.530716 337.393158 144.484024 2500 169.182816 355.283905 152.145493 3000 215.396591 376.944031 161.421158 3500 277.683228 416.524841 178.371094 4000 343.215607 450.470490 192.907852 4500 412.024048 480.694702 205.850967 5000 471.118530 494.674469 211.837616 5500 517.757080 494.222687 211.644135 6000 551.165161 482.269531 206.525375 6500 571.276550 461.415680 197.594971 7000 563.393616 422.545227 180.949234 7500 558.521606 390.965118 167.425491 8000 532.521912 349.467499 149.654709 Using the solid option: rpm------hp-------ft lbs-------BMEP 2000 123.433113 324.011902 138.753693 2500 163.365417 343.067383 146.913940 3000 208.194473 364.340332 156.023804 3500 267.762756 401.644104 171.998627 4000 330.048157 433.188232 185.506958 4500 394.867371 460.678589 197.279327 5000 450.498413 473.023346 202.565811 5500 493.165619 470.748993 201.591858 6000 523.243835 457.838348 196.063049 6500 539.767639 435.966156 186.696564 7000 529.718384 397.288757 170.133499 7500 522.320129 365.624084 156.573532 8000 494.366119 324.427765 138.931778 (excuse all the digits, that's how the program spits it out for the NIRA game file - the quickets way I know to give the data) WOW! Either way (it's probably in between these results) that puppy is going to ROCK!

Am I the only one impressed by those poewr and torque numbers out of an NA 3.0L motor? That rocks, John - congrats!

I feel the need to play mother hen here guys, pardon me. In my opinion, the only time to have the car on a rotisserie is with it TOTALLY stripped to the bare shell and only put the suspension on right before you set it back on the ground. This is especially true if the car is rusty, you car cutting out the floors, etc. This weakens the car while you have the floors cut out. You want to minimize the weight of the car to minimum in this condition while held up by the ends on the rotisserie. Also, do as much off the rotisserie as possible, and try to do one floor/subframe connector at a time. Sorry to be such a spoilsport.

Two things come to mind: 1) the cam is timed correctly now (possibly). At TDC between exhaust and intake stroke (on crank revolution before/after TDC between the power and exhaust strokes) both the exhaust and intake valves will be open. The exhaust will be closing (but still open a bit) and the intake will be starting to open. 2) Be VERY careful to read the marks on the timing chain set. If it's one of those 3 or 9 way adjustable sets, its easy to have be looking at the wrong marks. For instance, you could be looking at a mark that's above a slot for the woodruf key and not the mark for aligning the chain sprockets. I know I've done that. It made the car run very retarded and burnt the valves.

Wow, the famous Michael Spreadbury has joined! If you guys don't already know about him, you are about to see some fine and inventive modification work! Welcome Michael!

Congrats on getting it on the road! Let us know what you find out about the driveline vibration.

Wow, for the Vette diff swap alone, in a V8Z, that's a decent find! Congrats! Post Pics when you get a chance!

Mike, as you know, the Rods are the most stressed parts of the motor. You NEED good 4340 Forged Rods with SPS Waveloc bolts for that motor, with the intended power range and uses. I'd hate to hear about that motor letting go at 160 mph and the oil washing out the tires... It's so easy to spend YOUR money.

I'd say that with a cam with that much duration, you want probably 10.5:1 compression. Sounds like a heck of a setup! I'd imagine 6500 would be a reasonable redline with that stroke. The Super Victor or something that performs like it may be too much, maybe a Victor Jr. would be just right? I like the idea of a good solid roller cam.

Tim, those taillights are beautiful - ditto on loving the old Firebird lights! BTW, LED strips ought to be a great solution behind the Lexan lens. I love it!

Incredible - I've been trying to respond to this for 2 days but the connection always times out. Another option is to buy a new RETRO T56 from Sallee. http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/BorgWarner/bwt56.html It's $2295 new, but can be bolted up to an old style bellhousing (Set up for a tilted T-5 bellhousing but they can drill the included adapter plate for the old style straight up bellhousing usually used for a Muncie or T-10). It has more reasonable gear ratios: 2.97:1, 1.94:1, 1.35:1, 1.00:1, 0.84:1, 0.62:1 No info there on what the torque rating is on that model. That's a big chunk of change, but it's a NEW tranny and you don't have to bend over and give Centerforce a pile of money for their flywheel, clutch setup (which galls me). Kind of wished I did this instead of the Tremec, based on the shift quality issues. BTW, Hanlon Motorsports is at http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com They have GM'd Tremecs and know how to build them, etc. They also have the Z series WC T-5, which may not be a bad option, especially if you put the bearing support in it.

That's correct. The OE bushings have an inner sleeve that the spindle pin passes through for the outer rear control arm bushings. So do the urethane ones. But the OE outer rear control arm bushings also have an outer steel sleeve that is pressed into the control arm. That's the part that you have to slice with a hack saw and remove. After removing the spindle pin (no small task!), most people heat up (with a propane torch) the the control arm in the area around the outer sleeve until it smoke alot and pull the inner sleeve/rubber out with pliers or vice grips. Then you slice the outer sleeve with a hack saw and remove it from the arm. The Urethane bushings go right into the arm after the sleeve is removed.

Weren't those headers (MSA shorties) found to be actually a set made for older street rods?

Craig, I can see we have the same view point - the fun (for some of us) is in the DOING. I spent many hours on Saturday using that AL brazing rod that Tim Hepburn found for us on Ebay making a custom TDC pointer. It was fun. But later that weekend I got around to real work and pressurized the shortblock oiling system to find a few weeping oil galley plugs on the outside of the engine - so much for forward progress. Project Creep is my middle name. Heck, that's why I refer to my Z as a "snowball". It's been a fun trip though!

Tim, I started making that mistake over ten years ago - and never quit!