pparaska

I want to cry. I had a 70 (well, some people call them 70-1/2) Camaro in high school - my first car. I built my first motor (327) for it, really loved it, lost my vir.. (oh, never mind), and always wanted it to be a Z28 (of course). Too bad it had to use it to take down a telephone pole . Now (21 years later ) I'm wanting another one. And the Orange Hotchkis one in the Chevy High Performance mag has me drooling. Go for it bud. V8 Datsun Z's are the end all of cars (I'm sure Goatman would agree ). I love them, but a fast 70 Z28 that needs paint for $2500! Go for it! I'm jealous! You can always do the Z later - life's not that short!

Jim, try pulling the whole diaphram assembly off. Try blowing air into the carb body port that feeds vacuum to the assembly. YOu should hear air in the carb throats. Then start the car and rev it quickly and see if you get vacuum at that port. Then test the vac secondary diaphram assembly with a vacuum pump that you have and see if it pulls the rod in and if it will hold it in. With the lightest spring, it ought to be opening. Oh yeah, are you sure that the wire tie didn't keep the rod from moving? Good luck!

I agree. And I have an X-pipe. 10 hp (if that) is hard to find, and the state of tune of the vehicle changes that much over time. I'd just keep the H-pipe.

Most of us here use the JTR plans and make our own or buy the JTR kit or MSA kit. Stay away from John's Cars kit, since it needlessly puts the engine forward and messes the handling, etc. [ October 04, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]

Turn Signal Lights. Sounds like it's in that last bit of harness between the connector and the bulb socket. But the turn signal switches on the Z are notorious for this kind of stuff. See my site for my relay mod. Can you plug the other short harness/tail light into the side that's not working to try to isolate it that way? High beam: try unhooking that relay for the highbeam indicator you put it. My money is on a sneak circuit there. Good luck! Aren't electrical gremlins fun?

I had a mild 270 adv (224@.050) .468 lift solid cam in my 9.7:1 327 with 461 heads, 1-5/8" Hooker block huggers, 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust, and Dynomax Hemi Super Turbo mufflers (2.5" center in, side out) in my Z a while back. Mikelly heard it run. It has an X pipe (Dr. Gas, 2.5") just behind the transmission. To me, the sound of the X-pipe on this system at 3000+ rpm is pure music. If you can, do the X-pipe instead of the H-pipe. You gain a bit of torque, it sounds nice, and hey, if the NASCAR guys use it, it's NOT hype.

I'd go with the Crane CRN 100132 for street use. If you want a bit more radical (less streetable), go with the CRN 100082.

X-pipe in the exhaust helps too.

Davy, the reason I like the 350-ish c.i. medium compression low/medium boost turbo motor ideas is that 400 hp is so easy to get, if not high 400s. Heck, 10psi should put you near/at 500 or 600hp. I ran this through the web page that Lone mentioned the other day, and 10psi on a turboed 350 was ROCKIN'. Plus you get lots of low end torque, and if you sized things right, lag on the street should not be a concern. Keep the revs below 6000rpm and you could size two small or one medium turbo on such a setup, maybe even without an intercooler and have a nice fat and high torque curve.

Jim, I hear ya on the centrifugal supercharger, but that article that the Mustang guy wrote on the HotRod site rings true here - you have to size the drive to not overrev at high rpm as an upper bound, and you have to size the drive so it gives decent low/mid range boost as a lower bound. In other words, you can't have more than minimal boost at low rpm if you want it to live at higher rpms. The turbo doesn't have this problem, if wastegate, turbo, etc. are sized correctly. Plus I've heard too much about the expensive centrifugal blowers having problems for me to take the plunge with my $3k.

I can't remember what you've done to figure this motor out yet, but here are some ideas: 1) Compression check - are they all close? 2) Leakdown test (less than say 10% at most?) 3) vacuum leak? 4) ignition system o.k.? Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, module? 5) Fuel pressure o.k.? 6) Now start messing with the carb. That's a book to post. Try to find out how far out from the average setup (jet sizes, etc.) your carb is from standard baseline starting settings and parts for the carb. HTH,

Good point. 300 hp is easy to get. And the GM crate motors are good. I'd still tear one down if I bought one though - just to make sure I liked what I saw.

Jim, I rebuilt a SBC when I was 17. It's NOT rocket science. Any fool can do a rebuild (if they read up on it alot before hand, like I did) and have it come out strong. The 327 that I built in high school that I put into my 70 Camaro kept pace with fast cars - even a 68 GT500 Shelby - until about 100 mph that is! The 327 was a bit hopped, I'll admit. But 129hp on the dyno? Man he must have really screwed up. You sure the dyno was set up right? I'm just saying I'm not an overly talented wrench and I've built strong motors ever since I was 17. It's NOT rocket science. But the crate motors are enticing. I just like doing all my own motor work and choosing all my own parts and inspecting, checking, etc. Just bought 0-6" .0001" micrometers, snap gages, and a dial bore gage. Talk about fun! Engine building is fun! Even more so when you have the right tools and know how to use them.

I've read that this is just not practical. Too many losses involved, too many headaches. Turbos don't HAVE to have lag. I think a big cube motor with 8.5:1 or 9:1 compression and low to medium boost ought to give you the best of both worlds. It's tough to beat the efficency of turbos. You just have to design the system to work well in the application and usage you want.

Dude! Thanks for the new vocabulary! I love the *scandlous* word (wish I could spell it). Had no idea that was in the venacular. I LOVE the "Wicked Harsh Power" phrase too. So much more inventive than the venacular I grew up with (70s,80s). Radical Dude!

For a write up of how I did this and a blueprint of the subframe connector, check out: http://members.home.net/pparaska/structuralmods.htm

I don't recall if the Corbeau A4 is FIA approved, but I doubt it - it's reclinable. My car is more street than race though. The A4 is a bit wide, but not too bad. If you mount it a 1/2" off center, it clears the doors at the wings. I used the stock 240Z sliders, and it sits a bit high.

Cool. That must drive those bluebird purists NUTS! I love it!

Looks nice Mike. I'm wanting a pair - don't worry, not for a while . Get those puppies finished and shipped and get working on the Z!

Mike, I'm with you. Looks is important, but there IS something to wider rubber. If there wasn't, the race cars WOULD NOT be using it. Note that all the arguments in that article were for drag racing traction. Go around a corner and the wider tires DO help.

Beautiful car and setup! That's a great article BTW! Mike, I agree - I love the 65/66 fastback! And read his explanation (in the article) about his tire choices. Interesting reading! [ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]

My advice is to put your butt into any seat that you are paying anything like painful money for! I did that and bought some Sparco chairs, and even later decided they were too restrictive for a street car. Then I went to Corbeau A4s which are like $320-$380 each, depending on if you get adjustable lumbar bladders installed. Not cheap at ALL! Try Miata seats. They fit the Z well and are half-way comfortable on long rides and affordable!

quote: Originally posted by Ross C: BWAHAHAA, ROTFLMAO, sorry, couldn't help it..struck a funny bone here, another list I'm on has the AEOTY award.... Hey, I resemble that remark! Nice work Einstein, oops, I mean Drax . BTW, isn't centripital force a misnomer? What would happen if the observer were a fly travelling along with outer radius as it rolled? I guess it might see the tire as stationary, and then the road come up and smack it flat What about those 9 or ten rolled up dimensions? J/K. You guys crack me up.

Isn't the real issue with stress in the tire the fact that sidewall and tread belts/rubber are constantly (and quickly flexing?

Yes, PLEASE put a cage in that beast! We want you around for more than just a few more runs! That's an awesome ride you have there. The motor looks and runs SHWEET! It sounds (on the videos) like you're starting out in second gear - is that right? [ October 01, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ]