pparaska

Tony, I like having the torque and the lope as well. How about a cam with like a 106 or 108 lsa (as mentioned), with added compression (since your BMEP will be down with that cam) and make it solid flat tappet to boot. 230-240@0.050 duration. There's something about the hearing a lumpy idling V8 through low restriction exhaust and header tubes that's very visceral and appealing to this old hotrodder. But I do know that all that lope takes away the lower part of the torque band, and more importantly, throttle response. Ahh, the compromises we must make . ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

[Errr... Tried to responde last night - typed up a description and when I hit Submit, the site was down! Grumble] O.k. here goes on how I did the "cobble". (I bet you're getting a glimpse of why this car project has taken so long - as I put the thing back together from stock, every system that isn't to my liking, within reason, gets modified.) Anyway, you have to offset the fan a bit in the housing to get it to fit. In other words, the axis of the fan is moved over towards the outlet duct. The fan squirrel cage is also larger in diameter and depth, so you need to open the hole it fits into and space it off of the mounting surface in the case as well. Since the axis is moved over, the lip that leads to the inlet of the cage down inside the box interferes with the Ford fan. I bent the lip flat and then made an insert out of sheet metal that had a lip of the correct diameter and tack welded it into the case. This lip serves as a duct to keep the outlet air from the squirrel cage from re-entering the inlet (center) of the cage. It's maybe 1/4" tall. Since the cage is taller, I had to space the mounting flange of the Ford fan off of the mounting surface of the case using a few nuts welded together and onto the surface. Then I sealed the opening between the flange and surface with some heater hose. For the electrics, yes, it draws more amperage - I think it's 6 amps on high. Since the draw is larger and the resistance is different than the 240Z fan, I had to make a new nichrome wire wound resistor to replace the OE one in the blower housing. I think I used 19 gage nichrome wire, with about 1/2 ohm and 1 ohm resistance for the medium and low speeds, respectively. Then I have each speed controlled by relays using the OE switch, with larger wire (12 gage) for the power parts of the circuit, and a new power tap to feed the fan positive and ground. Yeah, overkill again, but it REALLY blows through the vents and sucks through the evaporator box really well. I'm confident the A/C will rock in this puppy. BTW, I got the Ford fan idea from a guy in the VA Z car club, Mike Ruiz.

Good point on the hood release cable. I just ordered a new one, just in case. BTW, I am going to install and extra hidden release cable, just incase the OE one breaks. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Hi Pete, I'm the other Pete P that Ray was referring to. I haven't put the mirrors on yet, but if you search the forums with the search tool you should find some info on this. I have pictures of the mirrors at: http://members.home.net/pparaska/tercelmirrorpics.htm I need to do some modifying of the base and make some bracketry for mounting them in the front corner of the window frame. Welcome to HybridZ, BTW! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

You sure you have an R200 mustache bar? Anyway, if you raise the front of the diff by 1/4" you'll change the angle of the pinion to horizontal by about 1 degree upward at the pinion - problem is this is the wrong direction for good u-joint angles in the V8 Z, generally.

I didn't think that would work. Interesting, though. Now if someone could figure out the answer to the hard problem - how to do CV shafts out of that diff and to the 280Z stub axle/companion flange without having expensive custom shafts made. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I put a Ford full size 1985 LTD blower fan in the 240Z housing - it took some cobbling to do it. But it puts out about 3 times as much air! Sorry, no documentation on it. I did it in hopes of pulling enough air through the dealer-installed style evaporator core to make the A/C actually work. I'll know this Summer. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Guys, I'm in the throws of putting bodywork on the car to get it painted and haven't touched the cover issue. But I can see already that some "mods" will be necessary - it has a few little paths for leaks as I can see right out of the box. Owen, I posted the gage calibration stuff in a response to your post last week. I should have emailed you. Anyway, the write-up, etc. is at: http://members.home.net/pparaska/gagecalibration.htm I know of another "promise for info" that I made a long time ago that should get worked out in the next few months - Toyota Corolla Mirror install. Like I need any more deadlines! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

For another way to handle this problem, you could always move the latch over to make the access easier. You have to mod teh hood as well, of course. It takes a bit of playing with the hood hinge adjustment to make it come down on both sides and meet the bumpers, but the distributor is not covered. Here's the info/pic URL from my site on it: http://members.home.net/pparaska/Enginemount.htm ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Kevin, I talked about the longer dwell of the piston per the 352 (327 crank/400 block), but it's just a function of the rod/stroke ratio. That particular buildup had a 6.2" Ford 300/6 rod that Ray mentioned, and a very high rod/stroke ratio for a SBC. What I like about that setup is that it gives more octane tollerance, so you can run more static compression and/or less overlap.

The 400 block - 327 crank "350" has been discussed. There's a site somewhere with a scanned article out of a magazine where it was tested and had a nice broad torque curve. Here's the thread. http://24.4.88.29/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000199.html

No, no sense going higher than the bottom of the crossmember. BTW, Jim Biondo tells me that with the Vette pan and pickup, he had 0 psi oil pressure on the road race course on long sweepers. Based on that info, I'd say if you haven't done your exhaust yet, look at one of the road race pans, if you can handle the price and don't mind the fitment problems (exhaust, etc.)

Lone has a Carter deadhead pump I believe. I called the Carter tech people and asked if their 15psi pump was any quieter than the Holley Blue. The guy was cool enough to be honest and said "not really". I had heard they were a little quieter. But the Holley is fully rebuildable, not sure about the Carter. HTH, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Couple of ways around the 400 external balance issue: 1) Have the crank internally balanced with "heavy metal" (best way, but expensive - probably only worthwhile on an aftermarket steel piece) 2) Get a smaller external balancer that's made for use on a SBC. There are some around that have removeable (read changeable) weights for this purpose. Ask any of the 383 guys here and they'll tell you how they used a 400 stroke crank in the JTR position. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Thanks Dick, I think I just found my next fuel pump (unless I get rich enough to go with a non-deadheaded system).

The problem is that the halfshaft solution that I want (CVs) is not easy or cheap, that I've found yet. You sure the Z32 LSD will fit into an R200 case? Doesn't make sense since (heh) the ring gear diameters are 30mm different. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I have the Holley Blue Pump triple isolated: - Thin rubber strip between pump body and strap bracket (rubber supplied with pump) - 1/4" thick rubber mounts with sleeve to isolate strap bracket from OE FP bracket. When the bolts are tight, there is no solid connection, only compressed rubber. - another set of 1/4" thick rubber mounts between the OE FP bracket and spacer blocks (needed to clear the R200 Mustache bar) to the frame member. With all this, it's still very loud. I can't hear it over the exhaust easily (well, there are no windows in the car yet), but it's pretty noisy. I thnk the problem is that the mounts are still too rigid, and transfer the bothersome frequency of the pump too efficiently, Softer mounts are needed. I may change the entire mounting system if this becomes bothersome. But I think I'll have to mount the pump entirely differently if I use softer mounts - it won't work well to have it cantilevered like designed if the mounts are that soft. A buddy changed from the Blue Pump to the Red (lower pressure, no regulator needed) and it's less noisy, but not by much. I need to get some Dynomat type material in there to see if that will help. I think exhaust noise entering the car through the sheetmetal is more of an issue for me . ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited April 01, 2001).]

The Canton one is over $300. Seems the Moroso one is less - Check Summit or Jegs. Don't forget to factor in the price of a special pickup as well. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I don't think it is in the archives . I think the only way to get a quiet pump is to lay down the big bucks for the gearotor designs. Anybody have experience with these? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

This is a valid concern. The stock oilpan on the SBC is generally 7.5" oilpan rail to lowest point - on the older engines anyway, I don't know about LT1s. With the JTR spacers, setback plates and GM mount specified by JTR, the bottom of the pan ends up about 1" below the crossmember. I have a buddy that dinked his oil pan on a very tall man hole (road was ground down, to be resurfaced). The way the sump is just behind the tires makes it a prime candidate to get smacked as you roll over speed bumps as well. I'm using (the now, discontinued) old Corvette pan for the 2 piece left hand dipstick SBC's. I don't know whether it's available for the later Corvettes (post 85). This pan is about 7" deep, instead of 7.5" Another solution is the Canton and Moroso road race pans which are 6.5" deep. The problem is that they are 14" wide and you need to curve the exhaust away from them IMMEDIATELY if using block huggers. I can't fit them on my car with the existing exhaust. Of course, if you don't lower the suspension too much this shouldn't be a problem even with the 7.5" regular pan. Oh, and another thing. The 1/2" spacer blocks that JTR says to use between the frame rails and the crossmember lowers the crossmember and engine by 1/2" compared to if they are not used. (It's tricky to picture this, but the springs hold the car up off the ground, which holds the strut towers and frame rails up, and the crossmember is hung from those.) So leaving the spacers out gains you 1/2" of ground clearance at the pan. I thing the reason for them is to have better clearance for the distributor under the latch bracket. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited April 01, 2001).]

Lone, that's too funny. We were typing responses at the same time and you DID put up a picture, like I said you would . ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Lone will chime in and show us pictures, I'm sure (he's great at that!), but in general terms a mandrel is a piece that you form something around - kind of like a male mold. My guess is that a mandrel pipe bending machine has a ball on a cable that is slid down the pipe to the region where the bneding will happen. So when the bend is done, you'd pull this ball through the bend at the same time to keep the pipe from collapsing. Lot's of grease is used. Just my wild ass guess. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

The Holley Blue I'm using is the only Holley Blue. It's set to 14psi and comes with a deadhead regulator. They changed the design lately, but the pumps (red, blue) still put out the same pressure. Yeah, I hate the deadhead regulator/pump setup, but I didn't know any better when I bought/installed the stuff. Maybe I'll change it someday. Not any time soon though. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

You probably don't want to use the halfshaft to pull on if it's a CV shaft - many manuals for cars with CV shafts say this is a no-no - it will hose the joints, boots at least. Maybe the 280ZX T shafts are sturdier like this, I dunno... ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Ross, I didn't know you could lock that tranny in 2/3/4 - pretty cool. Now, remember the days of the Clutch TH400? Here's an idea I'd like to try some day: - Put a clutch in front of the 700R4 (a la Clutch TH400), - Do away with the brake activated "unlock", - Run around with it locked all the time (well, 2/3/4, anyway), and - Do a manual valve body (do these exist for the 700R4?) Then I'd have the "control" I love so much in a stick car. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages