pparaska

Kevin, my father in law told me when he met me that I'm older than my years. I sure feel old! (I'm 40 next April.) This is pretty interesting seeing what people look like. Cool idea, Scottie! (as usual!)

Ross, I agree that port injection is better, but the issue is by how much and does it really matter that much on the street. And thanks to a kind soul, I have a laptop and think I would prefer tuning/datalogging it that way. Heck, I'd probably keep the laptop in the car anyway, and build a mount for it! Good point though. For $500 more (both prices buying new retail), you could have port injection. I'd be giving up only laptop use, but would be probably quite fine with their control box.

Yeah, I found that a few months ago and thanked the author for saving and categorizing it. That is the OLD stuff from the early days of the Internet Z Car Club mailing list. John DeArmond was the old list admin and source of much car knowledge. It was great revisting all that old early days of the Internet stuff! There used to be about a dozen or two Z car guys on that list in the early days and we'd really hash things out technically. It was very early 1990s when most of that stuff was posted.

Doesn't a modded class A 90-96 TTZ have a good bit more power to weight than a modded class B 240Z? That alone can make a difference. Autocross classes are one thing, but if you are not worried about what the envelope of what the racing classes allow, a 2500-2600 lb, 400-500 hp 240Z with a stiff chassis and highly modified Z suspension and brakes is going to be hard to out handle or out power. [ October 19, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]

Had the wife snap this one tonight. Somehow looking in the mirror in the morning while shaving isn't showing me what other people see. Jeesh, I need to get more sleep and exercise! Pete

quote: Originally posted by Scottie-GNZ: Pete, that pic is a bit old as you might note the Z has the L28T. I was trim, harumph, trimmer than I am today which means the gain from the vette IRS will probably be negated. 3 weeks with houseguests eating out every night and a slow metabolism makes for a porker. Ooops. Sorry to get it backwards and point that out.

O.k. Since I was named, I'll see what I can do. I'm usually behind the camera at my house. Scottie, is that picture more recent than the movie of you running around your car before a run that you posted a while ago? If it is, you've lost a few pounds! Nothing like lowering weight to get into the 9s, huh?

quote: Originally posted by Scottie-GNZ: Not wanting to join the ranks of the long-term projects Oh yeah, the never-ending quest Hey, I resemble that remark, all too well! Glad to hear you're back on it. Can't wait to see the outcome. I know what you mean. After a few weeks away from REAL progress, I end up hitting the garage after the kids are put to bed and usually stay out there 'til 1AM or so. Playing with micrometers and the dial bore gage last few evenings getting the shortblock together... BTW, what size rubber is going to fit back there now that the struts are out of the picture? I'd imagine you could add some backspacing to fit a bit more?

I guess it was a senior moment that kept me from quoting. But I bet Puhn's book and others of that ilk, along with my Mech. Eng. training had something to do with my gut feel that putting the drivetrain CG close to the for/aft CG made sense. Now, if it makes a big enough difference to really matter, that's somewhat debatable. But if you're starting out fresh, and understand all the variables involved, hopefully this thread will help you decide.

Actually, if it's a solid cam, it's better to adjust them hot. But you hav eto be quick as the valve train cools quickly.

Mike R1 goes between the gage sender input terminal and ground. It can't be connected to the tank sender output. It has to be AFTER the R2 connected to the tank sender output. R2 goes in the wire between the gage sender input and the sender output that's not grounded. Put it anywhere in that connection - I chose to do it at the gage. Then I ran R1 from the gage sender input to ground. That way both resistors are connected at the gage input. The other side of R1 gets grounded, and the other side or R2 connects to the wire from the tank sender. The calcs, from the spreadsheet on my page, came out to (roughly): R1=382 ohms R2=2 ohms The best bet is to use the spreadsheet and use the answers to get a starting point and then put different values in the circuit in the car to see if an empty (or nearly empty) tank really does read empty, and a full tank reads full. [ October 17, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]

Dude, a bit of salt on the road and the Aluminized stuff goes to rust!

Some of us just have "vapor" cars though . Good idea, I'd like to have a test drive in similarly set up Scarab and JTR conversion Zs.

quote: Originally posted by Mike kZ: So as long as R1 is installed after R2(between R2 and gauge)to ground it should work . Not sure if that was a question or not. But yes, that'll work.

Kim, thanks for the thoughtful discussion! BTW, the old Corvette 6qt, 6.5" deep pan is NLA, but they even come up for sale used on ebay from time to time. Another option is the 6.5" deep road race pan from Canton. Expensive piece, but it's the best one out there, from everything I've heard. Exhaust routing is a bit of a problem if you come straight down from block huggers. But if you angled out from the collector, it ought to work.

My exhaust had to run quite close to the floors that were already painted, etc. I've been in enough hot floored V8Z's that I decided that it was worth a try. Running exhaust close (within 1/2") of the floor will cause some good radiation to heat the floors. I felt stopping the heat at the source (the pipe outer surface) was the best method. Plus it keeps the stuff from rusting. My exhaust is tucked up well and higher than the subframe bottoms in all but one place.

Of the two, I actually prefer the second set. Not sure how they'd look on a Z though. I like a simpler looking wheel. Just my preference. Scott, that's got to be the biggest set of compliments I've ever gotten on my car. My head just swelled two sizes! The reason I feel so complimented is that you have effectively articulated the underlying rythym and theme I've been striving for, even though the goals of the car changed over time. Too bad it's not put a tire to the road yet!

The bill to clean up my welds and coat 90% of the exhaust and blockhuggers (all except the mufflers and a short pipe to them) was (hold your hat) $700. I can't remember if shipping was included. I agree, after spending 60-80 hours building my exhaust, I couldn't see letting it rust. Plus I was hoping to keep heat out of the floorboards. I used Baxter Custom Engineering (thanks to a tip from Scottie-GNZ) for the coating. Stainless Ceramic (they are the only ones doing it, last I heard). Stays shiny longer and has a better shine. 1600F temp max.

I try to be a critical thinker in all aspects of my technical and personal endeavors. Open mind, try not to pre-judge an answer, etc. Sometimes I succeed. And I fully agree that a blind test of the same car with the JTR and the Scarab position mounting, all other things kept the same, would be needed to be done, by a competitent Z driver to make any real numerical comparisons as far as lap times, etc. Reading the JTR manual, I did see the overt slamming of the Scarab position. Whether it was totally salesmanship, or Mike Knell's belief, I can not say. But one thing I keep coming back to is the engineering gut feel that placing the engine even 3.5 or 4" closer to the CG and also midpoint between the front and rear axle, along with putting it lower in the car, puts it ahead as far as PMOI, F/R weight distribution, etc. These issues, all others kept the same, would seem to make the JTR setup better handling, from the standpoint of quicker turn-in, less understeer, and a more balanced feel to the driver. Whether they are significant enough to be of substance to a daily driven car by amatuer drivers is an issue. I like a car that is tiwtchy, turns in quickly, etc., so the JTR system would seem to suite me better. I DO feel like I can feel the difference when the tank in my car is full, half full, empty, so I believe that I could notice the difference between the two setups. And that gets to Aaron's issue of what a driver likes - that's just as important, if not more important than lap times, in my case. Next, I'm going to address Kim's Scarab vs JTR issues, as I see them in a much different light. Some conjecture and opinion follows, granted. But I think they are based in some fact as well. Jim's discussion of shifter placement is also an important one to me. 3.5 or 4 inches more forward and my shifter (Tremec TR-3550 5spd) would come out where the top or middle of the fuse box is. Trying to straighten that out would not be worth going to the Scarab position, in my case. For me, JTR wins for a manual internal linkage transmission. Automatic, makes no difference, for an external linkage manual like the Muncie, it's a matter of fabrication of the shifter mount and/ or extended linkage. But Kim's issue with the oil pan sump placement is quite important to me. For this reason, I've put a shallow oil pan (6.5" vs the stock 7.5" deep sump). I have a buddy with a JTR 240Z and OE oil pan who took his pan out on a raised manhole cover (road was in the midst of a resurfacing operation), and I saw that the sump on my car was just behind the tires, where a speed bump would hit it if the car rolled to quickly off of one and compressed the suspension too much. I'd hate to have to put a dry sump system on the car just to make the JTR system work. Although getting a custom pan with a center sump and the required extended pickup may be an alternative. I say: Advantage Scarab position on this point. I would think if one plans mostly on straight line use, and is using an automatic, a Scarab position might be prudent, but having that weight back 3.5 to 4" with the JTR setup may be worthwhile as well. Not sure if either has an advantage on this point alone. To me, the hood latch issue is a non-issue, as it's what I feel is a minor mod. Slight, but insiginicant (to me) advantage to the Scarab location. Not enough to sway me. I also think the mount complexity issue is minor for both installs. Especially if you buy them . Even if you make them, it's a minor project in both cases. Neither "kit" has an advantage here, IMO. The issue of the manual fuel pump is a matter of preference IMO. Yes, it'd be easier to use a manual pump, but the installation of an electric one for a carb is not a big project either, and needed anyway if you go EFI. Slight, but insigniicant advantage to the Scarab, IMO. I'd also rather use front downforce to deal with high speed stability than to move the engine forward. I see no real useful advantage here for street speeds, so no advantage either way for me. Well, that's my view. Take it for what you paid for it .

Congrats! 1. Definitely don't let it idle for the first 20 minutes. The cam needs lots of oil splashed onto it by running it in the 1500-2000 rpm range. I've also heard it's a good idea to vary the speed a bit for that time period. 2. I but welded it. I felt that was better, and easier. I think it looks better, the flow is most likely better too. Why do Mandrel bends and then put a bunch of flow interruptions in the system? Seems counterproductive.

Terry, that's a TRIP! Make sure the passengers don't get their fingers caught in the alt fan blades !

Michael might chime in to back me up on this but: The base of the windsheild is a high pressure area. However, the stagnation point in front of the grill is a higher pressure area. So the grill would be a more efficient area to run the Ram Air hose to, but a cowl area hole is not bad either. All you need is ambient pressure anyway, as the power added by ramming air like this is negligible compared to the power gained by the lower temp of the air.

From my page: quote You can see how I did this at: http://members.home.net/pparaska/gagecalibration.htm Have fun!

If I get a tunable ECU for EFI/ignition, it had better be programable in something more real time than burning and swapping EPROMS! Heck, I'd go SDS before I went that route!

I like! That is a beautiful color!