pparaska

Hirsch Automotive claims their moisture cured urethane (which is the same type of paint as POR-15) is UV resistant. See: http://hirschauto.com/miracle.htm Here's a quote from that page: quote: 4. MIRACLE PAINT IN CLEAR, SILVER OR BLACK IS ONE OF THE BEST COATINGS YOU CAN USE. IT HAS LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF USES, SUCH AS AUTOMOBILES, TRAINS, INDUSTRIAL, BOATS, FARM & GARDEN EQUIPMENT, METAL FENCE POSTS, RAILINGS, METAL DOORS AND MANY MORE THINGS YOU MAY THINK OF. UNLIKE POR-15 A COMPETITIVE PRODUCT WHICH IS AFFECTED BY THE ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS OF THE SUN, ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN ADVERTISING. OUR MIRACLE PAINT IS RESISTANT TO ULTRA VIOLET RAYS, WITH SILVER BEING THE MOST RESISTANT, THEN BLACK AND FINALLY CLEAR. WHILE ULTRA VIOLET RAYS WILL NOT AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF MIRACLE PAINT, IT WILL CAUSE THE COLOR TO FADE. SO IT IS A MUST THAT THE MIRACLE PAINT BE TOPCOATED WHEN USED OUTDOORS. THIS SAME FORMULATION IS NOW BEING USED TO RE-PAINT RUSTING AND CORRODING BRIDGES AND OTHER EXPOSED METAL STRUCTURES. IT HAS EXTREMELY HIGH CHARACTERISTICS PERMITTING IT TO BE USED FOR EXTERIOR AS WELL AS INTERIOR USES. IT CAN ALSO BE USED AS A PRIMER OR SEALER. YOU CAN PAINT ENAMEL, LACQUER, OR EVEN URETHANE OVER IT WITHOUT AFFECTING THE MIRACLE PAINT, BUT DO NOT USE WATER BASED PAINTS OVER IT. IF YOU DO INTEND TO RE-COAT IT, THE MIRACLE PAINT SHOULD BE SANDED JUST ENOUGH TO REMOVE SOME OF THE GLOSS. THIS WILL GIVE BETTER ADHESION TO THE TOP COAT. I've used it in black and silver and it works as they say it does. Wished I'd done the underside of the car with it! BTW, Hirsch recommends not removing the lid (if you do and any paint is left in the lip crevice (stop that! ) the lid will be permanently adhered to the can) but punching two holes, at the edge of the lid (diametrically opposed) and pouring out of the hole. Then clean the lid and use duct tape to seal the holes (to keep moisture out) immediately. HTH, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I mail ordered mine, but I've heard that marine supply stores carry it. Stuff ain't cheap though. And be advised the shelf life after openning/puncturing the can is 6 months.

Scott Bruning of ZTherapy has a video for doing this. http://www.ztherapy.com/convertibles.htm Pretty cool video, and the price is right. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Jeff, I was your age when I built my first motor. Did a bunch of reading as you are. One of the books I read was a Chevrolet Overhaul manual. Good for learning some mundane stuff not in the "Hipo" books. A great book is the Engine Blueprinting one that's out there (HP books I think). BTW, all older Chevy rods are forged or some of the later ones are powdered metal (don't laugh, this is pretty good stuff). The forged ones are resizeable on the big end though. If all you want is 350hp, then cast pistons would be fine. I agree with Ross on getting the Comp Cams Xtreme hydraulic cam. For the budget you're talking about, that'd be the hydraulic flat tappet type. I might go to the 268 cam for that grind type on a 350. A little loss of super low end torque is not a bad thing for a tire-challenged V8Z. Same on the Victor Jr. That intake doesn't really match your cam/rpm/power(350hp) choice well (it's more of a higher rpm design), so you'd gain more low end torque with a dual plane (Performer RPM -I'd spring for the air gap version, or a 300-36 Holley hi rise dual plane). But the dual planes will have nicer low end/mid-rpm throttle response as well, so you ought to consider that. The heads you are talking about are decent old design heads. Not sure you want to bring the chamber volume down to any though, as to get 9:1 compression (I'd suggest going to 9.5:1) without a really dished piston and possibly a thick head gasket and alot of negative deck height. The thing I'd suggest is trying to limit head gasket thickness and deck height (piston top below the block surface) to get the smallest possible head to piston clearance in the quench area. This is somewhere around 0.045", if I recall. With the knowledge you already have and some more Chevy specific reading, and the help of your (SBC experienced?) friend this ought to be pretty easy to do to get a reliable motor with that power level. Jeff, aren't you in Annapolis? I'm in Laurel. If you're in the area, let's hook up! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Mike, I said hood, because I may be wanting to cut into one for vents, etc., and I'd not want to cut my painted steel hood. Plus shipping would be by me, since I'm close . I really like the idea of some cool functional pieces like the chin splitter and the front belly pan Oltmann is talking about. I'm not into carbon fiber for the sake of the look of carbon fiber but rather for the strength/stiffness to weight ratio benefits, so I wouldn't be looking for that interior stuff. What would also be cool is a hatch with an integrated small whale tail. That thing puts alot of force through to the hatch, and you've seen what it does to your bodywork. Add a lexan window to it and that'd be really cool. The lexan window could be flat (cheaper, easier) as far as I'm concerned. And this piece could be fiberglass probably, as the carbon probably wouldn't be really needed. Like I've told Chris, I was in the fiber reinforced composite materials field for 14 years (on the strength/stiffness engineering side of things), so I can help with some of the structural and processing issues. You guys should really look into the VARTM process - high quality parts with little added equipment for little cost. Add some vacuum bagging material, hose, vacuum pump, and some resin transfer media and the compaction goes way up and the void count (bubbles) go to near zero. This does wonders for strength and fiber/resin volume fraction and makes very high quality stuff. As far as making molds, I have little hands on experience, but I have many connections in the field that do. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

First, let me describe myself in this area: I'm an incredibly picky do-it-yourselfer. Yes, I built my own motor. I've done a half dozen SBC's and a half dozen other rebuilds/build ups in my life, so it was no biggie for me to decide. But that was before the recent (last 5 years or so) popularity of buying a crate motor. Having an expert build your motor and then having that warrantee is definitely worth considering. I'd most likely buy a crate motor if I were to do another engine. Then again, if I did buy a crate from Chevy, I'd pull the darned thing apart and check everything out anyway. They are built on a factory line you know. And tearing down a SBC is simple as pie. I do possess or have access to the tools to measure everything though. And I wouldn't be beyond taking parts to the machine shop if something wasn't to my liking (bringing down the variation in deck heights, etc.). I'd also probably swap in gapless or custom gapped rings as well. Not that these little changes would produce much power, but I'm just real picky about things mechanical. I'm sure it would almost always be a waste to tear down a crate motor, I'm just picky. I vote for the crate motor. Beck racing engines, GM, lots of others. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

I'd suggest a fiberglass core/carbon top and bottom layers - less expensive and the outer layers of carbon give the benefits the most there anyway. I'd be interested in a hood, myself. I'd like to see things like louvers at the rear and behind the radiator possibly, to vent the underhood area, if that's found t obe beneficial. The Can Am guys, and Blueoval (here) seemed to think so. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

Mikelly, just wondering if the alignment shop ever mentioned that they could do a better job if the arm had a smoothly adjustable length that you'd have with the "turnbuckle" type arrangement on the arm we were discussing instead of the discrete length adjustments (every 1/2 turn) of the arms you have. Those threads looked pretty fine, so that might not ever be an issue. Just wanted to point out another possible advantage to a turnbuckle or left/right hand threaded adjustable arm.

Pauli, you could do that with a realy or two, and de-activate the kill relay with a reed switch (like home security systems use on windows) so that there are no visible switches. This is exactly what I'm going to be installing shortly. Hid the read switch, swipe (discretely) a magnet over it to de-activate it when you get in the car, and no one knows you have the system or where to follow the wires to (from a visible or found switch). V8 VPR, I'd be worried about that electrical problem as well and I'd chase it down to the source.

Darkhorse Performance: http://www.darkhorseperformance.com/ I'm using a Girling remote 3/4" diameter master cylinder and remote reservoir mounted to it with AN fittings - it's not remote this way, but above the MC. This give more throw than I'd like (from brake pedal height to the floor to get the full 0.030" clearance Mcleod recommends for a diaphram clutch) but the pedal is just a bit stiffer than any manual trans car from the factory. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

Not sure you looked into this, but: With the key on, check for 12V from the wire that plugs into the "BAT" terminal on the HEI cap. Or did you maybe plug that wire into the "TACH" terminal by mistake? ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

quote: Originally posted by scca: Mikelly & others: i was working on a car yesterday and have a question.. since the a-arm is mounted on the same axis/parellogram(sort of) with the rack will adjusting the car for camber via a a-arm cause the toe settings to change? Most definitely. And definitely a drawback for the reasons you stated. If you change the camber with the adjustable arm, you will change the toe, and it will be an appreciable amount. I thought this was understood. But maybe it's not such a big deal. You could do two alignment setups for two different A-arm lengths to get street and auto-x camber settings, and do the toe settings for each. Do the street first on the alignment machine, change the camber with the a-arm and make note of the exact number of turns and direction to turn each toe adjuster to get the toe where you want it. You probably want the toe different on each setup anyway. Then you'd know how many turns to crank the A-arms and the toe adjusters to go from one to the other. BTW, there's another benefit to having the A-arm length adjustable. If you are going to go for the optimum bumpsteer curve (not sure this is really needed by most), the tie rods and a-arms need to be the same length, pivot to pivot. Having both adjustable gives you this control. Of course, to be able to get everything to fall into place (camber, toe, bumpsteer) is a huge juggling act, and some combiniations are not possible, since the A-arm pivots are usually fixed. (I made mine adjustable, independently, for vertical and lateral position - I love things to be adjustable.) ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

The rotor on the HEI is notorious for burning through to the mechanical advance mechanism below it. There are some good replacements out there tha use better/thicker plastic in this area to prevent that. Check the cap of course, and lube the mechanical advance pivots, etc. Not much else to go wrong in there.

On that same site, I found my hero. Check this guy out. INCREDIBLE fabrication skills to say the least. http://www.clubcobra.com/chucksdaytona.htm and http://members.aol.com/coupechuck/index.html Oh my Gawddd. To be able to do something like that! Oh yeah, the guy that built that White/blue one is building another: http://www.clubcobra.com/ray_daytona.htm BTW, Chris, Isn't Glen's car the same as that site that John posted above this, only red? He's working on getting it road worthy again, BTW. 327 with a big hairy cam, old hotrod stuff, etc. [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited November 29, 2000).]

Scottie, I can't wait for the broadcast! Seems like before this site was in existance a guy named Jason was emailing me trying to see if I could help him figure how to get his car to hook up. I was no help, but he figured out that 170lb springs in the rear was the trick. I think this is NOSZCAR, not sure though. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

I editted out the trash talk. Thanks for bringing that up.

Al, thanks for making that commitment. I think about a dozen different html pages linked together could cover it. Engine mounts, tranny mount, oil pan mods, electrical mods, Exhaust manifold/header stuff, clutch activation, tranny choices (auto and manual) with how-to's, etc. I'd love to see those pages mirrored here on HybridZ under something like the tech articles page. Now if we could get the GNZ, 280ZX and 300ZX guys to document the details of those swaps (Buick, Chevy or Ford) that's be great to have linked or mirrored here as well. I get several emails a week from traffic to my site asking about the Ford swap, the 280ZX swap, the 300ZX swap as well as the ever-popular SBC V8 Z swap. I point them to HybridZ to ask questions, but having actual web pages here to point them to would be terrific. I'd bet there are several dozen people on this site that found it after emailing me with questions on V8 Z swaps after seeing my personal site or posts on zcar.com, and the IZCC and 240Z-club lists. Not tooting my horn, but just saying that it'd be great if we had the info more accessible on this site to point these people to, instead of asking them to ask the same question over and over. I'm sure some of the others on this site get the same kind of emails. In fact if I get asked a question here or in email and I type a decent response with info the person needed, I generally add it to my site. No sense having to type it again later or try to dig up the old email I wrote months earlier. I encourage others to do the same thing. It doesn't take much effort to type it into a web page if you've put it on this board or on email. O.k. Off my soap box now . ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

You're welcome. I'm glad someone else found this info of use.

Agreed. I went to the Arizona Z stuff because I got it for half the new price used. One thing to consider. The aftermarket stuff is alot lighter usually. Aluminum hats and calipers are quite light when compared to the OE stuff. I was surprised at the weight difference between my Arizona Z (Wilwood parts) solid, drilled rear disc and hat and the 280ZX rotor. The Wilwood stuff felt much lighter. But this might be splitting hairs again. Wheels and tires can get pretty heavy too as you go up in size, and that weight difference in the brakes may not be enough to worry about. Then again, adding weight in both brakes and wheels/tires is not a great thing for suspension dynamics either, as you need to offset this with stiffer shocks an possibly springs. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

John, that aftermarket T-56 is enticing, but the bucks, well, that's pretty high. Just wondering why it's not rated as high as the F-body T-56. I'd bet it's because they went to a smaller input and/or output shaft to make it an easy swap. This is the story on alot of the differences in the rating between the Tremec TKO and the Tremec 3550. Just remember these cars are 1000 lbs or more lighter than a Viper or F-body. That torque rating really doesn't apply as you might think at first. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

I have a GM form factor Tremec. See my web site for info on two places that convert them. Please also search this site for the word Tremec (not Tremic). They are reputed to shift very poorly. I haven't tried mine yet, so I have no experience. Just sitting still it shifts o.k. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

I think if the frame rails check out o.k. you'd should be o.k., unless you're putting out 500 ftlbs of torque! Sounds like a good plan to me.

I agree with Frank, sounds like the fuel pump push rod is hanging on the first lobe. Then again, if you did the JTR install, you wouldn't have a fuel pump there! ?? IF all the lifters are removed, and the distributor is out, I don't know what it could be besides a messed up or lose cam bearing, which I hope it isn't! BTW, is the oil pump drive shaft all the way down so it's not hanging on the cam? Maybe it got pulled up when the dirstributor came out?)

This is one of those pain in the butt jobs I wished I'd been paid for. I went to the local chain auto store where they have several hundred hoses hanging in the aisle. Armed with some measurements and some bent stiff wire as a guide, and 4 trips back and forth to get the best fit, I found them. I have the 85 Camaro radiator, so these should work: Bottom Hose - Dayco 71217. This fit the radiator and Stewart Components water pump perfectly, you might need to trim some length. It looks like it was made for the car, especially with my custom low mount alternator on the right side of the engine, the belt misses the hose by an inch in the knee of the first curve. Top Hose - Dayco 70651 - you need to cut 8 inches or so off one end and a few off the other. You end up with a hose with a 130 degree angle in it. Works great. Fits the standard thermostat housing. You need a hose adapter. JTR gives the part number for a Good year part, I used NAPA part number 900, named "Hose Adapter", 1 1/2" ID to 1 1/4" ID. You put that puppy on the radiator nipple, then the hose. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@home.com">pparaska@home.com -

Mike and Mike, Thanks!