pparaska

Yes, I agree, you are. By Zogby and 911truth.org, and the Democratic war machine and a bunch of leftist liberals in and out of the media. Let's face one thing (I'll call it my "truth"). A large portion of the US citizenry is STILL pissed that GWB "Stole" the election from them. I see the seething everyday. It's DISGUSTING. Many millions of man-hours have been wasted since Nov 2000 on this issue. And it comes up in disguise over the Patriot Act, Iraq, the War on Terror, etc. But that's o.k. It's a free country. And I'm glad I live in it. I just hope we can get someone in office that can make the hard decisions and steer us through the hell of the 21st century.

NO... Geez! I hate that I understand what you are saying but can't put a "package" of components like that together myself. It all seems so experimental with all the parts available, I guess I am getting overwhelmed in the decision making process when it comes to making my choices for all these engine components. The really cool part is that Eagle and Summit (and many others) can sell you the complete, coordinated package! Sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you - but I'm glad I made you think - and hopefully saved you some bucks! If all you want is 400hp, a 350 can do that without the blower! A 383 can do it and give you a more docile engine. You could keep the PM rods, and just get a crank and pistons. Eagle Specialty products just introduced a crank to use in your block with the 5.7" PM rods you have to make it an internally balanced 383: http://www.eaglerod.com/products/Chevy/small%20block/SBC%20cranks.html Part number is 10352375057I. Summit sells it for $245: http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=100&Ntk=PartSearch&Ntt=ESP-10352375057I&x=0&y=0 Then you'd need pistons for a 383 (3.75" stroke) 350 with 5.7" rods. If no blower, you can use hypereutectic pistions. KB Silvolite has some that will work: http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp&part=UEM-KB134030-8&N=120+4294925232+4294922410+308250 KB-134 - flat top, 7cc valve reliefs. With the piston-deck-height at 0.010", with a .039" gasket, you'd have 10.6:1 static compression ratio. With a cam like the Comp Cams Xtreme XR282HR roller cam (since you have the roller lifter block), you'd have a dynamic compression ratio of 8.37:1. That'd be a nice setup, but need 92 or 93 octane fuel. http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp&part=UEM-KB134030-8&N=120+4294925232+4294922410+308250 KB-135 - dished piston, 18cc dish. With a Zero Deck, that'd give 9.67:1 static compression. That'd be too little for the XR282HR cam, I'd back down to the XR276HR. That'd give a dynamic compression ratio of 7.8:1. Low, but you could run 89 or maybe 87 octane. Both are $250 a set. I chose the 0.030" overbore size, but 0.040" and 0.060" are available. Personally, with the Vortec's I'd go with the flat top piston and 0.010" deck height. The Vortecs are great at detonation resistance (lots of swirl, etc.) and with .039" quench height with this setup, you MIGHT be able to get away with 89 octane, even though you're at 8.37:1 Dynamic compression ratio. Or just buck up and figure you'll need to use 92/93 octane. Well, actually, you could use your rods (if they're o.k. and don't need to be resized) or get new rods for less than $200. Get the Vortecs reworked for the increased lift of the cams noted above, and maybe buck up to some roller rockers. Do you still have the stock roller lifters? If not they are not too expensive - less that $200 from what I saw browsing. You might want to get better pushrods - but check what length that build up gives you first - the zero decking will mean you may need shorter than standard ones. I ran the 10.6:1 383 with the flat tops, dual plane manifold, 750 carb, large tube headers with mufflers, with the XR282HR cam and called it a hydraulic flat tappet cam (since it's a rather slow acting roller, and to be conservative) in DD2000 and got this: rpm___hp___tq 2000 155 407 2500 206 432 3000 251 438 3500 295 442 4000 337 442 4500 374 436 5000 399 419 5500 409 391 6000 400 350 6500 380 307 7000 348 261 First, realize that DD2000 is great at estimating peak numbers but over-estimates the torque/power below 3500 rpm (Internet-backed observations). So don't believe that 400 lbft at 2000rpm number. But still, a torque peak of ~445 lb ft at 3750-ish rpm (same 442 at 3500 and 4000 means it peaked halfway between them at a higher number), and a hp peak of ~410 hp at 5500 rpm - that's a nice power band! BTW, I used the Chevy High Performance Vortec flow numbers. Hegelson and Vizard have done a few sets of mildly worked Vortecs and got them to flow a good bit better- especially on the exhaust side. You could consider a custom single pattern cam at that point, because as I remember the Exhaust/Intake flow ratio was around 80%. I'd consider getting a hold of the various articles (I think they are online at CHP, Car Craft mag, etc.) and doing the minor porting they describe. It wasn't much more than opening up the throat under the seats, smoothing the short side sharp edges and narrowing the casting around the valve guides. But you have us . Don't worry, we're proud of every in-progress and finished HybridZ! Jealous. I will be - that motor rocks for little dollars! Cheers, Pete

Don't you DARE apologize! You have beliefs rooted in your research on the topics and you obviously have thought them through rigorously. Don't even kid about apologizing for that! How you grew up in a Leary-type commune and have come to this rational way of thinking things through BLOWS ME AWAY. If you ever write memoirs, I'd buy a copy.

Your turn now: SHOW US SOME PROOF DAN!!! Agreed!

Yes, like much of the US, the GW Bush administration (just like the Clitton one) didn't pay enough attention to the terrorists before 9/11. Even the 9/11 report said that even if they had paid more attention, 9/11 would have happened anyway. Unfortunately, 3000+ innocent people (not just Americans) had to die that day to wake the country up, and put the Patriot Act idea in motion, among other things. Yes, we did let some of them get away. But there are so many operatives that we still have a bunch to go after - all over the world - which we have done by knocking out the pro-terrorist Taliban in Afghanistan and the oppressive WMD-loving regime in Iraq. Anyone who actually believes that Saddam had no designs on holding his neighbors and the west hostage with WMDs, I'll just say that you've been brain washed by the media. Remember, we told Saddam we were coming - isn't it possible he sold the WMDs to Syria? He used them on his own countrymen as well. That's what the press told us about it. Ever wonder what else he was up to with WMDs that the general public doesn't know about? Don't listen to the media - they mostly tell you lies, the reason being to get dollars, not to tell the public the truth. That's a sad state of affairs, but the media has done it to themselves over the past 20 years. They've become a puppet to the dollar and to the far left liberal wing. I trust the intelligence community alot more than I do the media - I've worked with many of them and they are to a person a very serious, principled bunch who bend over backwards to assess the threat as honestly and truthfully as possible. As war as Saddam goes, he and his regime deserved to be taken out by the UN on human rights principles alone - never mind if he HAD WMDs the day we walked in to Iraq, or if he'd been violating UN accords and shooting at UN planes that overflew his country for the decade after Bush I bent to political pressure and didn't finish the job. Funny how all the bleeding heart liberals in this country and elsewhere forget that his regime was one of the longest running, cruelest regimes in history. No, the bleeding hearts whine and bitch about the Iraqi's (many of them militants) killed while we tore down that regime (something the UN should have done a decade ago). The bleeding hearts whine and bitch about the Abu Graib prison abuses, which compared to what Saddams regime did there for decades rate as mere childhood pranks. The bleeding hearts and their media whine and bitche about the "atrocities" that a handful of US soldiers committed against prisoners - which amounted to nothing compared to what Saddam's regime did to many thousands over the years. Do I condone what the US soldiers did? Hell no! Do I think it was blown out of proportion? Damned Right! It was headline fodder, and the media did a fine job making it look like the human rights atrocity of the last 100 years. To me, what's sad is how selective the bleeding hearts are about who they whine and bitch about. Never mind that Saddam's sons will never again reign the terror they did unchecked for decades. Never mind that other than the militants causing trouble there, the Iraqi people are closer to real freedom then they have been in 40 years. No, it was done under a Republican administration and the little baby bleedy heart liberals can't muster the character to say that was the right thing to do. They just bring up the "where are the WMDs" and "the horrible Abu Graib abuses by US soldiers" I say WTF!!!! "immoral, hegemonic IDIOTS?" Whatever - summing up an entire complex organization of individuals who are running the government's executive branch with three words is disingenious. Do you really think they are that simple, that single minded? I believe they believe in what they are doing - waging a war at the sources of the terrorist front. If socialist Europe,Canada,Mexico and the far left in this country would simply accept that we are in a WAR (sorry, under a republican administration, GET OVER IT), would help instead of hinder, the administations job of winning the war on terror would be easier. In Europe, the problem is one of an inferiority complex about the US (they hate everything we do on principle) and possible a matter of economics (France and Germany stood to lose money if Saddam was overthrown). As far as the far left in this country, they either think with their hearts and/or just hate that their guy didn't win in 2000 - politics in that case. That's the way I see it in a nut shell - but I know it's even more complex than that. But three negative words - that doesn't add much to the argument. I say WTF?!!!!

A Z buddy (Glenn McCoy - you'll be hearing more about him in the future months) and I have been researching 383 builds for the 500 hp or less range lately. One is for an emissions legal 88 Vette that someone he knows is paying him to research and build, so it has the Hot Cam and Fastburn heads (no way the Vette owner will allow cast iron heads on his motor!) But that may not apply to you. A procharger on a 350 will easily take you past 500 hp, and the Cast Steel Scat 9000 crank will not be the best choice. You'd need a Forged unit. Same with the Rods we've been looking at - also Scat, 6", I beam with capscrews. You'd need more than that. I'd be looking at Lunati, Callies, etc. for good forged crank and rods for a blower 350. I also think that you're going to have to change things around alot to start out NA and then go blown. The best way to do this is to use a good 2-valve-relief forged flat top piston, and 65 cc heads, while doing a Zero deck on the block and using a 0.039" gasket. That'll give you 10.3:1 for a 350, or 11:1 for a 383... On the 383 build, You could use a 0.010" deck height and have 10.7:1 static compression, and still have .049" quench height - as much as is recommended by Vizard and others. Throw a late intake closing event on the cam and bring the To go to the blower, you could swap on heads with 74cc chambers and get 9.1:1 static compression ratio on the zero-decked 350, and 9.75:1 on the .010" deck height 383. I really don't see the point in going with a 350 when a correctly chosen blower will probably top out at 6500 anyway. With the lower compression you'll need, a 383 with more low end torque makes more sense to me. The 383's piston speed readline should be about 6500 anyway, so that would give you all the rpm you'd need, and more torque across the board. For the Vette, Glenn started with a 1pc seal 350 block, and added the Series 9000 Chevy Cast Pro Comp Stroker Lightweight Crank (PN 9-350-3750-6000) which is designed for a 6" rod. The nice thing is that with the 6" I beam rods and light (short) pistons, this assembly is very easy to balance internally. I dropped the crank, Scat I-beam capscrew 6" rods, and KB dished pistons off at the machine shop today to be balanced - I'll let you know what the outcome is. In fact, Summit sells an Eagle kit that has a Cast crank, I beam rods (5.7"), and hyper or forged pistons, bearings and rings to do this and the assembly is internally balanced with a new flex plate and balancer for less that $1000 with the Hyper pistons. These new lightweight Cast cranks for the 383 are pretty nice: - Aero-Wing counterweights - David Vizard recently showed this to be worth 15-20 HP even below 6000rpm. - Straight shot oil holes - Lightening holes in all rod throws - Stress-relieved and shot peened - Precision ground and Micro=polished (That's from the Scat site, but the Eagle crank looks to be VERY similar, if you know what I mean . Glenn had to only slightly grind the bottoms of the cylinders (I mean took maybe .005" off in a 1/2" by 1/4" area) to make the 3.75" crank and rods have enough clearance in the 350 block! It's so little effort, I can't see why NOT to just jump up to the 383 - the parts are the same price and lots of piston options are available - cheap. I have one of the lightweight Cast cranks (Scat 9-350-3750-6000) in my 400 - (Bearing spacers were used on the mains). The guy that built the short block with Cat 6" i-beam rods and Probe SRS forged 1.125" comp ht. pistons had to take a bit of metal OUT of the crank throws to balance it! Actually, Glenn ordered the Eagle rotating kit yesterday for HIS 2pc seal 383 build. That will go in a very rare Z that you guys are going to love - more later! That kit was less that $1000, and includes crank, rods, pistons, rings, bearings, flexplate, harmonic damper - all balanced by Eagle as an assembly. Add a 350 block, a tiny bit of grinding for clearance and you have a short block that needs a cam, timing set & cover, oil pump and pan. Talk about cheap! Glenn's engine will use a Crane 284/284 hyd flat tappet cam and put out 435 lb-ft @4500rpm, and 425 hp @6000 according to DD2000. He's using TFS G2 Twisted Wedge heads, RPM Air Gap manifold and a 750 Edelbrock carb, with 1-3/4" block huggers. One question for you. If 435/425 lb-ft/hp is so cheap and easy to get with a 383, would the blower really be needed?

Well the murder rate has dropped in a number of states that have concealed carry laws. They didn't need to read people's email to lower the rate either. How about issuing a buttload of concealed carry permits to citizens with no criminal record? I'm all for that method of crime prevention - except even the most level headed person can snap - and if they are carrying a gun - well... I'm with you on one thing. One huge country on the planet where anyone that can manage to get there gets incredible freedoms - that's a country ripe for terrrorist acts.... But being a citizen really doesn't mean someone is not a terrorist. There are sleeper citizens.... I don't like to see civil liberties taken away - I really don't. But I also don't think that we can come up with a way of keeping all our civil liberties and live without terror. Maybe that's the answer. We lose the war on terror, but keep our civil liberties intact. I dunno. I agree. But it stand to reason that with the Patriot act we have a better chance of finding these terrorists before they strike. One problem with that line of reasoning. I don't care if you have 1000 citizens packing guns standing next to a building - when the terrorist drives up and blows it up, they'd not have any warning to stop it... It may have helped those on the planes on 9/11 - but the FAA doesn't like guns on planes - except if you're a law officer.

I think I know why Mike feels that way - the same reason that I do. Let's just say that to have certain kinds of employment , you have to sign papers that give away parts of your "freedom" from being watched. That's the way it HAS to be. Consider the following: We are at WAR. Unless you truly believe that, none of the rest of what I'm going to say matters. This is a war that has no home country to target, no uniforms or outward bases or posts to attack. Just cowardly individuals and small cells that are great at hiding and mixing in and laying low until they strike. TELL ME - How the hell else are you going to fight such a war than to "give up" some privacy rights? Is your safety or the safety of the US and American's abroad less important than the government taking some of your privacy rights? In all wars that the US has been in besides this one and the cold war, I'd say the answer was probably no - but there are instances where if we had caught certain spys in earlier wars, we could have won more quickly. But in the very real WAR ON TERRORISM, I see no other way. But I'm open for suggestions. Let's say that you REALLY suspect someone of being a terrorist (whether it means laundering money, gathering money or supplies, acting as a safe haven for other terrorists, planning terrorist acts, commiting terrorist acts). Let's say that the person you suspect gives EVERY outward appearance of being an upstanding US citizen. No speeding tickets, pays taxes ahead of time, everybody thinks he's a great guy and role model for others. But you have seen or heard a few things that make you think he's a terrorist (connected to terrorist organizations, etc.). You go to the police or FBI with this info, and before the Patriot act, they show you the door, saying we need real evidence to go after an upstanding citizen with wire taps, etc. Now, post Patriot Act, the government has the possibilty of having a way of at least checking this individual out. If he's found to show no real terrorist behavior, they'll get bored and spend their resources looking at someone else. But if they find he's connected to terrorism, they can look to see how far and what the other players are. Let's say he's a terrorist. Remember, he doesn't spout terrorist propaganda, doesn't wear a uniform that says he's a terrorist, doesn't own a gun or any other "army issue" that could brand him as a terrorist. But he's actually a very important planner for a local cell in your home town. He has connections to top Al Qeda members. He is planning a very deadly attack on a nearby area or event that you and your loved ones will be at/near. (BTW, we had several of the 9/11 planners and attackers living within miles of my house. This stuff HAPPENS!) Should he have the full protection of his privacy? The problem is that people want to see black and white situations. Keep all personal privacy freedoms and not knowing about how the enemy is working to kill us right under our noses versus losing SOME privacy freedoms and increasing our safety and effectiveness in this war. Both choices are non-optimal. Either makes you feel as if you're in a non-perfect world. GUESS WHAT - YOU ARE! Stop thinking like an idealist and tell us what your answers are. The far left is full of illogical idealists, and pieces like the one done by the ACLU on the Patriot act are designed to feed on that. The far right plays into the religous zealot's way of thinking. Stay in the middle and think pragmatically, with your brain, not your emotions. If voting populous does this, I think I know which way the election in November will go - unless the Terrorists have a Madrid-like victory effect. I believe there will be numerous terrorist attempts in the US just before Nov 2. I can only hope that they will all be thwarted. But my pessimistic side says they won't. My real fear is that the terrorists will get at least one large act to go off as planned and the voters will be scared into a "we have to make a change" way of thinking like the idiots in Spain did. Talk about Sheople! I also believe that the Patriot Act is important to thwarting some if not all of those attacks. THE ENEMY IS AMONG US. More than ever before. So they're not killing you right this minute. You just bought something from one of them in their store - you don't realize it. Then months later they are linked to a terrorist act that kills someone you know and/or love. Does the fact that they were sly enough to making you feel co0mfortable mean they are any worse than a soldier with a gun that shoots any enemy within his sights? Kerry scares the hell out of me. More than any candidate ever has. Bush's speech on 9/20/2001 showed incredible clarity of where we are really heading. I think what's happened is that too many Americans don't believe there's a real war taking place because it's one we can't stamp out with our high-tech weaponry. This is an American war on terror and a holy war to the terrorists (at least the ones that have been brain-washed that it is). I don't for one instant think Bin Laden thinks it's REALLY a holy war - just a way for him to gain more POWER.

A great example of where the American "justice" system failed us. Justice would have meant life imprisonment or (my preference) death to those guys. The fact that the irrefutable evidence of terrorist acts and plannig was obtained illegally got them off the hook. Talk about an injustice. I say deport them to a small island somewhere, where real Americans can hunt them down wiht small caliber rifles.

Hubbo, don't worry - much less than .001 % of the American drivers drive like that. Darwin helps us along...

Project_BBZ: I'd not worry about the horizontal angle - it's probably small. Anyway, they don't exactly sum either (the vertical and horizontal). To find the total angle, you do a root-sum-sqaure (RSS) of the vertical and horizontal angles: Total angle = square root of ( vertical_angle_squared + horizontal_angle_squared ) or (for instance, in MS Excel parlance): Total angle= sqrt( vertical_angle^2 + horizontal_angle^2 ) If you have ~ 0.9 degree horizontal and 2.5 degree vertical, the total angle is 2.66 degrees. In other words, the relatively horizontal angle isn't really adding much to the total angle. love-my-v8-z 's assessment is right-on, IMO. Limiting the u-joint angles under load is the key. Most likely, the vertical angle will change under load, but the horizontal MAY not, if it's a stiff setup. The diff could move around in the horizontal plane since the mustache bar doesn't have alot of stiffness in that direction (mostly due to the mounts). The front mount like I have does not either. Some instrumenting might be in order (maybe some telltale type indicators that show what the max movement of the case is horizontally and vertically, front and rear?) The front mount that I have (from Ron Tyler) provides alot of stiffness vertially, since the mount must be compressed, not pulled apart like a bottom front mount will do (without a limiter). Also, the aftermarket polyurethane mount (for a GM tranny) that I'm using to hold the front of the differential is interlocking, so it doesn't have as much compression compliance as an all rubber stock GM trans mount. That may be why I have no vibration as well. johnc: The reason you can have so much of a u-joint angle and not much vibration is because of that wimpy little engine in your Z (j/k) Sorry, couldn't resist . Seriously though, that is interesting. I wonder if it has to do with the point that love-my-v8-z brought up. You may well have a stiff mounting system for the drivetrain and they never get much above what you measure statically? Still 5 and 10 degrees gives some huge speed variations from one end of the shaft to the other, compared to 1 and 1 degrees. 5 and 10 degree angles gives a +/- 1.1% speed variation during half a turn. 1 and 1 degrees gives +/- 0.0000015% speed variation during half a turn. Hmm. Does your mounting arrangement somehow make the operating angles more equal under load? If so, and they were more like 10 and 10 degrees, then the speed variation would be +/- 0.016% during a half turn. Big difference!

bast - all good points. I guess I get tired of having to flip through all the bling advertising in SCC - but I realize that they have to fund the magazine with advertising. You are correct, of course, SCC does more than just Japanese cars - they are heavy into the Europeon compacts as well. I refuse to buy and Import Tuner mag! I guess that maybe they didn't feature the 240Z highly in that list, since it really is closer to a sports car than a sport compact car. I agree with you on the old muscle cars. The only ones that peak my desire to own again are the ones that handled (AAR Cuda for instance), or one that I'd build that had updated handling, braking and drivetrain parts. Basically the beautiful body styles of some of the older cars with the new technology underneath. Like a 34 Ford Victoria, 56 Vette, 40 Anglia or Ford, or a 69 Camaro - with C5 vette underpinnings and drivetrain. Actually, that's just what the "hot rod" type magazines are moving to, especially Popular Hotrodding and Car Craft, with their Pro-touring slant. What they are against is bling and FWD, for obvious reasons. On the SRT-4 - I'm looking for a daily driver to replace my Eclipse, and if I was frugal, I'd probably go with one of those! And become a SCC subscriber (It's not like I don't have a dozen car magazine subscriptions already!). But I'm thinking of an Infiniti G35 Sport Coupe.

I have a GRM subscription and one to their sister publication Classic whaterver too. Some of the tech in the Hot rod type magazines can be basic, but several of them try to go above the fray and have high tech articles by David Vizard, etc. - which can hardly be called 20 years behind the times. Granted their coverage of turbo tech is usually basic, but the general engine stuff is pretty up to date, hardly basic. At least I can pick those mags up and not be inundated by bling at every page (speaking of the advertiers in SCC).

Cool! I like the looks of those - I think one of them needs an LS1 though . How about a Mitsu 4G63 instead of the Ford?

Today took the cake. Scene: 2 lane each way highway (rt 29 N in Columbia MD). The left lane was PLUGGED up with a honda at the lead - 30 cars in tow, going 50 (speed limit is 55 but most people go 70). Like everyone else, I got in the right lane to go around the line of cars in the left (passing) lane. Of course, that took several miles, since the people that WANT to go slow are in the RIGHT lane. I finally get up next to the car behind the lead left lane bandit car, and I see it's a young girl yacking away on her cell phone with a big smile on her face. UGGGHHH. I got next to the lead honda - again, young girl yacking on the cell phone with a big smile on her face! How much you want to bet they were talking to each other! Oh, Rush Hour + low speed limit + rabid trffic cops + bottom of hill = traffic jam: The above happend AFTER we all passed the 3 HoCoPo (Howard County Police) cars that were on the left shoulder at the bottom of a long hill, shooting radar or lidar. At 4:50 PM no less. We had all come to almost a complete stop because someone at the lead (probably our left lane bandits from above - I couldn't see, but the distance was about right) had slammed on the brakes because they saw police cars. GO THE FREAKING SPEED LIMIT PEOPLE - YOU WON'T GET A TICKET. Instead, we're having to slam on our brakes and going 15-20 mph, until we pass the revenuers (which I thanked for creating the traffic jam at rush hour as I yelled out my window). PLEASE if you ever come through Howard County, be aware that the speed limits are usually much lower than reasonable, and the traffic police are MANY and RABID and give out MANY, MANY speeding tickets. Do you think for a second that the coppers would get in their tax wagons and catch up to the losers yacking on the cell phones? No. Speeding kills, we have to stop the speeders. Nevermind the half-wits yacking about some BS following each other down the road slow in the left lane. They're safe, no doubt!

I know that they try to stay anti-rice, but the target market and advertisers make it hard to pick up that mag and take it seriously. They DO do alot of good tech articles. But look at the list of cars you put out - all but one is a Japanese brand. I know they do german stuff too (VW). If you really want non-rice, pick up a popular hotrodding or car craft or GM high tech performance magazine.

I've seen vids like that where the guy is on a bike - safer that way for everyone - less mass would hit you, and more room to squeeze through with a bike. Stupid stuff. I thought he was going to eat the back of that crane truck near the end. That HAS to be the US. Way to many left lane bandits for it to be anywhere else!

Oh so right! And to think twenty years ago us old guys looked at the Civic as a "puddle jumper" or "commuter appliance". How wrong we were! (NOT!) When will the majority of the current generation of US young people realize that the Civic is just that - an economy car? Even the kids in Japan know that! Give me a Prelude any day over a Civic. The only Civic I ever thought was cool was the original CRX. Not a bad little roller skate that is driven by the WRONG WHEELS. Do I care that a magazine that caters mainly to the Civic crowd and the crowd that thinks anything JDM is untouchable rated the 240Z at #14? NO. That's their little reality, not mine. Truth be known, the Civic is a hot rod because that's what young people were given by mom and dad and that's what they hotrodded. THAT's where it all started. Some of them actually made them faster. Unfortunately, most of them pulled the pro-street thing and make them LOOK fast, but no performance to back it up. I have alot more respect for the guys that go after the performance FWD cars like the GTI, etc.

Wayne, did you get this fixed yet? Glad to see MikeJTR is on here! I have that Camaro Radiator that Mike has in the JTR book - works fine. I used a Mustang GT fan (1989). I believe the motor is the same, the blade may be different, but the "shroud" is round. I believe the Taurus fan is better to use because of the shroud. Wayne, one thing to consider on that aftermarket fan. It pulls only 4.5amps. The Taurus/Mustang fan motor pulls 15 on low, 35 on high. ASSUMING the motors are of similar efficiency, the Ford fan is capable of much more power at the shaft. If the blades have the same efficiency, then the amount of air it can move is greater than the aftermarket fan. My philosophy is that the OE's have to make sure their cars won't overheat, even in the worst situations. The aftermarket - what kind of liabilty on the usefulness do they have to offer?

"Scumdog" is referring to: http://alteredz.com/drivelinemods.htm Especially the part starting with the heading "U-Joint Angles" 2.5 degrees might be the problem. I'm running at around 1 degree vertical (less than 1 degree horizontal, like you.) on the U-Joint angles and have NO drivetrain vibration. My opinion (that's all it is) is that the horizontal angles are small and even though they are not the same, not of concern. I'd go after getting the vertical angles down to 1 degree or so, as equal as possible, but 2.5 and 2.3 are matched pretty well IMO. Make sure you have the driveshaft balanced by a reputable place as well.

Maybe some of you know about this car already, but I didn't and figured others might find this amusing...what happens when you google - you find what you want (hopefully) and usually things you weren't looking for...! I've always said that putting a V8 in the Z is no big deal, it's a mass produced car, and that it's not like it's a hand-built classic Ferrari or something! Well, I was googling for a deal on a new Canton (or other quality) road race oil pan, using the terms: "oil pan" "road race" chevrolet I did find that Livermore Performance seems to have a good price. But I was on the sixth page of results and this was one of the selections: " 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa s/n 0652 MD/TR ... in the Brynfan Tyddyn, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania open road race. ... Chevrolet engine removed and a Tipo 128F 3 ... The right cylinder head and oil pan were removed to ... http://www.ibeam-net.com/pvr/0652MDTR_back.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages I HAD to look. Searched the page and found "Chevrolet": " ... Fall 1959 Sold by or through Carrol Shelby who was involved in a Texas car dealership with fellow Texans, Gary Laughlin, Alan Connel, Alan Guiberson and possibly John Mecom at various times. Purchased by Harry Washburn of Shreevesport Louisiana. Many years later Washburns mechanic as would Shelby himself relate a similar story of the sale of this vehicle as well as Shelby’s earlier exploits with the car. Washburn raced the car in much of 1959 and 1960. Initialy the car retained it’s 2.0-liter twin cam four cylinder motor. The car was then fitted later with a Tipo 128 C inside plug V12 motor but apparently did not ever race with this engine due to continual overheating problems. Washburn’s mechanics then fitted the car with a 283 cubic inch, 283 bhp Chevrolet V8. (The original motor was rumored to have been seen in Mexico City in the early 1960’s and has not been seen since.) Washburn then entered the car in variety of races throughout the South East and Central United States. Washburn had another Ferrari also fitted with a Chevrolet V8, this was a 750 Monza, chassis 0502M which he campaigned alongside 0652 MDTR. Durring Washburns ownership the car also gained a fiberglass front end with a small oval grill opening that greatly resembled his 750 Monza. Sept. 6, 1959 Entered and raced by Washburn in the SCCA Races at Mansfield, Louisiana wearing race No. 47 with unkown results. Oct. 11, 1959 Entered and raced by Washburn at Midland, Texas in the Preliminary Event where he took a third overall. In the Main Event that same day he scored a 6th overall. Jul. 17, 1960 Entered and raced by Washburn in the SCCA Hammond, Louisiana Races wearing race No. 47 where he took a 2nd place overall. Jul. 31, 1960 Entered by Washburn at the Hilltop, Louisiana Raceway and driven by Bill Fuller of Oakdale, Louisiana to a 1st place overall. Aug. 21, 1960 Entered by Washburn at the SCCA Nationals at Louisville, Kentucky and again driven by Bill Fuller, possibly wearing race No. 17. Raced with unknown results. 1960 Sold by Harry Washburn to Lionel Jeannard. Later Sold by Lionel Jeannard to John Stone, Jr. Then Sold by John Stone, Jr. to Charlie Kemp the Ferrari dealer in Jackson, Mississippi. 1979 Found in the back of Kemp’s workshop by John Baldwin of Covington, Louisiana fitted with a fiberglass front end Kemp then sold the car to John Baldwin. A full comprehensive restoration was then begun by Mike Dopudja of Denver, Colorado. Chevrolet engine removed and a Tipo 128F 3-liter V12 (s/n 1861GT) was rebuilt to “TR†specifications and installed. Fuel cell hidden inside original fuel tank, full fire system and disc brakes fitted. ..." Now I can even say that a famous racing Ferrari 550TR (Testa Rossa) (Raced by Masten Gregory and Carroll Shelby) had a SBC in it for 20 YEARS! !!! But I think the Tipo V12 with the 6 downdrafts looks MUCH better in there! I have to wonder if Carroll Shelby knew his former race car was changed over to a SBC (maybe he got whooped by it?) and got the idea there. I've seen the original Scarab race car, the Allard-Cad, etc, but a Ferrari-Chevy? NOW I've seen it all - and that pristine 73 Z that some were attacking someone here about "cutting up" to put a LS1 in? Kind of puts it in perspective, no? Mind you, I actually have no problem with Washburn having his mechanics do this swap. He probably saw it as a way to make the car reliable (using the Chevrolet 283). But I'm very glad the car was restored and shown and vintage raced ever since 1979!

I just found this thread - really weird way too. I was looking at the http referrals to this site, and saw a few came in from zcar.com. That's always interesting , so I went to see what was up. Glad you guys finally calmed down about the purist thing. One thing you guys might NOT have considered is that there is an incredibly difficult-to-measure value in BUILDING a car for yourself. I know a bit about this, since I built mine, all but body/paint. I also know of the depression that dealing with a rusty hulk can bring on. I'm not kidding you - depression. Temporary maybe, but depression. As I was bringing my rusty Z back to life, I had to replace alot of rust that doesn't have shiny blue paint on it now - you know the floors, firewall, inner rockers, bottom of the toolboxes, etc., etc., etc. Dealing with all that rust was NO FUN. The thought of taking that beautiful Z and not having to deal with rust or bodywork is VERY non-depressing to me !!!! Yes, that's a rare find, and I'd have some problems getting over modifying it, even though it is a 73. I really do understand that feeling! But I can also see that it would be a real pleasure to just have to do mechanical work on that Z to end up with a really sweet ride. (I'd DEFINITELY have to paint it another color though!) BTW, why is this in the L6 forum?

I dunno. I'm learning alot. Well, lets say I'm being presented with alot of new "ideas".... Yeah, the media is good at doing that. And people have always been subject to the problem of not letting their emotions rule their actions and beliefs. To tell you the truth, that's the problem with alot of what I see happening everyday. It seems that this goes back to something I wrote a while ago - people need to use their BRAINS not their HEARTS to make desicions. With the senses being innudated more and more with high-tech, life-like reality "news", the danger is that we won't teach ourselves to throw up a barrier to the stronger and stronger emotional reactions these images (and their real time flavor) drive us towards, before we engage the BRAIN and use LOGIC and THOUGHT to balance things out. Conspiracy? I doubt it. A problem - you bet. Just my view, but it's becoming easier and easier to be tormented into an overly liberal view - our senses are more and more assaulted with designer emotion-provoking imagery. And the reason seems to be more the capitalistic greed to sell papers or air time, than to really REPORT the news and provide the consumer with balanced input - or to push us all in the direction of a conspirator's power-hungry plans. Yet this may backfire if it were true. If the NWO and all the similar conspiracy theories are any bit true, the emotion-provoking imagery will put Kerry in the Whitehouse and knock the Illuminati out of the there! What I've been reading tonight on the http://educate-yourself.org/nwo/, LaRouche, and rotten.com sites has been more interesting than any TV show I could think of! Very entertaining! Anybody see "I, Robot" yet?

After I got my Z on the road, I shifted some focus on the family side of things for a while. Separated from my wife, then reattached after a few months (People call it a midlife crisis - but I think it's a culmination of things that happen at mid life). I drive the Z, don't work on it much, and have been working 75-80 hours a week for the last 3 months (until a week ago). In other words - been busy! Based on some back and forth and what not in the past week with a few people, some probably wish I'd stayed away , but I'm still around and talk to and see Mikelly, DCarrow, and JamieT every few months at Mike's place. I'm glad to see most of the original family are still around here, but miss Lone, Georgia Flash, Dave Booth. Probably others that CRS has taken away from my memory. (One thing nice about not having a memory is that movies you've seen are just as good the second time around years later!)