pparaska

I've been dabbling with a spreadsheet to allow someone to input some resistance and temperature data from a session at the stove with the sender and gage and a power supply, for a temp gage, or just an ohm meter and a variable resistor for the fuel level gage. It's ALMOST ready for prime time. Making it handle all the combinations of cases and flagging where a solution doesn't exist for the circuit I've designed is, well, a bit of a bummer. Thanks for the wake up. I'll try to finish it soon. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited March 21, 2001).]

Watch those twisted wedge heads. The issue is with the valves rotated in the cylinders, the standard placement of the valve reliefs won't work too well. I believe there are pistons made for the TW heads though that take care of this problem. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

BLKMGK, Looks like you're moving right along. I did A/C in mine. Search the forums and you'll find a fairly long write up on it. Cheers, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

No doubt. If it leaks down o.k., and you won't be using it much, close your eyes to the pistons/rings and run the thing. Kevin, you nailed that one on the head!

WOW! Hell of a deal. Sell all the motors and you'll probably have gotten the car for free plus money! It might bring more money if you sold the weber setup separately. That car looks great. BTW, I used to have those wheels on my Z - Michael (Ol) has them on his Rat powered Z now. BTW, who makes that steering wheel? Nice!

I agree with Mike, new bearings, polish the crank. Every engine I've cracked the main caps off of smelled like that. But do look for overheating signs on the main caps and rods.

Cool deal. Scott Bruning of http://ztherapy.com did a 440 into an early Z once. You might contact him. I can't remember, but isn't the Mopar BB one of those BBs that's not so heavy? And I'm all for a big bore/short stroke V8, especially if you put long rods in it. But the short deck height will probably limit that. Sounds like a cool swap! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

400s are getting hard to find in the yards, so I keep reading. 327s might actually be easier to find. The large journal 327 (same journal diam as the 350) was only made 68-69, but the 307 had the same journals and stroke, only cast crank instead of the forged 327. A 327 stroke (3.25") crank in a 400 (4.125") bore block will give 348 ci. This motor was done up in a magazine a few years ago. The rod/stroke ratio was large, since they used Ford 300 6cyl rods, and it made lots of torque and had great octane tolerance. I'd love to do one of those some day. You could probably run 10.5 or 11:1 compression with aluminum heads on 93 octane. Large rod/stroke saves the day. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Scott, sorry I haven't replied - I was being Pete-Paraska-esque in the garage the last few evenings and haven't checked HybridZ in days, sorry. (Scott knows about the -esque thing, from the 240Z-club list) Anyway, you've gotten a bunch of good advice whilie I was away. I'd tear it all the way down, check it out, do bearings, maybe knock the glaze of the cylinder walls while I was there and put new rings in, if the pistons check out (ring lands, etc. o.k.) The rebuild kits are SO CHEAP, you "might as well". That plastic tube would be the oil pump shaft coupler. It will run without it, but not a great idea. Get and aftermarket oil pump connecting shaft that has a steel coupler as part of the replacement shaft. I'd pull the springs off the valves, check the guide wear (dial indicator and wiggle the valve stem) and put new umbrella seals on the valves. Believe it or not, I'd have a hard time not getting carried away on this little project . Regards, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

My tilter is the more expensive Transdapt unit. I didn't have any problems. I had a manifold bolted on, with a rag over the carb opening, so anything coming off the tilter, etc. would not have been a problem. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Fastzdriver, my car will be ready for paint in about a month, but the body shop won;t be for 6-8 weeks. That's cutting it close, so I'm looking around. You're welcome to come to my place in the mean time. Email me and I'll send directions. I'm about 99.999% sure all 300ZX Turbos that had the LSD R200s were 3.7:1. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

You can get the HEI Battery and Tach connector pig tails (they are different) from Painless wiring I believe, as well as Jeg's. Just a thought. I'll warn you I'm an "add a relay" freak. I have everything that draws more than a few amps on relays with large gage wire running from the alt/battery to the relay and then to the device to be powered. Like Ross said, IGN current can be high, so give it a fighting chance and make sure it can get what it needs. I handled this with a large gage (12) wire from the Ford starter "solenoid" , with a fuse right after it, to a 30 amp VF40 auto relay on the firewall next to the HEI, then a 14 gage wire to the BAT terminal. This was fed by the black/white wire from the 240Z harness. If you're running a MSD box, this is also very important. Pete "I love relays" Paraska P.S. I think my latest count is over 19 relays added to the Z's electical system. Some are security related, but most are to ensure good current and to save Z switches. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Ross has some really good ideas/points there. One point of departure - make sure you have enough chain from the tilter to the engine if you want the crank of the tilter at the back of the engine. I learned this the hard way and ended up putting the crank at the front, to have less chain so the boom from the hoist would fit in the garage. There is so much room, I put headers (block huggers in afterwards. Easy. Get an engine tilter. I can pull the engine trans assembly in/out of the car without it touching anything on the way in or out by myself. The pics on my site of the 327/Tremec going in was me alone in the garage lowering/tilting and then taking pictures. I'd not try it without a tilter. BTW, the Tremec is almost as big as the T56, and it was not a problem getting it in there. The Z's long engine bay really helps out here. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I've had my eye on the IR 2131 for a while. It gets nothing but good reviews from users. Anybody have any leads on how I can get one for a reasonable price? Thanks, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Could the plastic in the valley be pieces of a plastic coated cam sprocket? I'd pull the pan and check the bearings. Also take the cover off of the oil pump to make sure there's no plastic in the gears. If it was pieces of cam sprocket plastic, I'd be concerned the chain jumped. If it did, the vavles might have had a too-close relationship with the pistons.

Fastzdriver, thanks for the compliment on my car! BTW, where are you located? Sounds like maybe Fredricksburg or Springfield would be a good place for the MD/VA crowd to meet? Manual vs. Auto: Since you're not drag racing, and hopefully don't mind using a clutch in any traffic you encounter, I can't see a reason for an auto in your application. Those two reasons are the only reason I'd go with an auto: wanted consistent drag racing results, or sat in alot of traffic. But then again, I commuted around the NW portion of the Washington DC beltway for over ten years in cars with manual transmissions exclusively. Sure, it got tiring, and I went through a clutch master cylinder and clutch pedal pad at 70000 miles, but what the hey, I don't like Autos... The reason being is that I like a SOLID connection between the crank and the tranny WHEN I want it. The even minor slushiness of the new auto trannies drives me nuts. If I want slipage, I'll use the clutch pedal, thank you. I will concede that a fully manual valve body and very low stall converter with a good shifter would be better. Actually, I designed (on paper and built a mockup) an H pattern (like a 5 spd manual trans) shifter for an automatic. I don't think it would be that hard to do. I was considering this for the Z at one time with a fully manual valve body. That was 12 years ago, so it's fuzzy how that worked. Just my warped point of view, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

About the only issue is the 6th gear with the 3.54 ratio. With a stock diameter tire (24.75") in 6th gear the motor will be turning 1500 rpm at 62 mph. Even that's not an issue for a 383 thats "only" putting out 350-400 hp, as the low rpm torque of that motor will be 400+ ft lbs in the 2000-4000 prm range. Should be a nice setup! I say go for the stick, you should have NO problems cruising in 6th with the 3.545:1 gears. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I'm using the stock tank and outlet pipe to a filter and Holley Blue pump near the tank. From there I have a 3/8" AL line up to a Holley regulator on the firewall. Then 3/8" hose to the carb. My theory is that if I get to even 400hp, I should be fine. The Holley Blue pump puts out 14 psi, and flows 70 GPH at 9psi (according to Holley). I only use 6psi, so the actual rate of flow (without flow restriction induced drop) should be higher than 70 GPH. I went this way to never have trouble with fuel flow. But that Blue pump is awful loud, even triple isolated from the car. I'm going to redesign the mount, and use softer rubber. Anyway, my point is, even a 5/16" line, under enough pressure, can handle quite a bit of flow. I don't have the engineering texts here now, but it's not like the 5/16" line becomes a tiny straw.

Ross, great post and site. I just wanted to point out someting about that bit about "Lift is one of those things that you can't have enough of." SUre, aas long as the heads actually continue to flow well at the higher lifts. Some heads have no gains over 0.40"

I can't remember where I saw it (Jegs, Summit, back of a mag) but some company has a bolt on bracket that holds the pickup from falling out. It might even keep it from rotating. Ought to be simple to make one. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

BLKMGK, sorry, I just like to keep to the definition of a solenoid being something that has electricity as the input and mechanical force/movement as the output. A contactor or relay has output as being an electrical switch. Just my opinion. I know, I've got issues .

I made my own fan relay circuit that runs either on OR the other speed (winding) depending on the state of the JET fan temperature switch I'm running and the state of the A/C trinary switch. Mike Kelly's seen the schematic and box. Overkill again. But if I were to be getting the fan from a car in the yard, I'd grab the box that controls the fan. It has high amperage relays, etc. in it. Get the schematic from a Good manual for the Taurus, and figure out how to wire that box to your fan temp switch. Maybe even get the fan temp switch out of the Taurus. Or you could just use the high speed winding! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Quill, bud, you're welcome. I love to hear when my pages help somebody out! Terry, I had to do the mod that Quill points out to not only get the angles the same BUT to get them down to the range of 3 degrees or less. This second issue is important and not easily obtained with such a short driveshaft. I really like Ron Tyler's method of mounting the front of the diff lower using a mount from the top of the diff using a custom bracket and the bolt holes for the arrestor strap. This way, the nose of the diff can come down, and get the height of the pinion flange closer to the tranny output shaft height. Lowering the front of the diff is actually preferable to raising the rear of it for this reason. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Depends on the offset and if you're using coilovers. I have 17x8.5s on the front under a stock fendered 240Z. 17x9's on the rear of the same stock fendered Z. Check out the details on my site (below) for the particulars. This is that max 17" stuff that will fit on a stock fendered 240Z. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

This came up a week or two ago. I think in the Chevy Forum? Use the search engine and look for Mopar. Sounds great to me! I'd want a 340 as a first choice.