pparaska

Dave William's (who keeps this engine weights list) website is here and the latest engine weights list is always here

Some fact and some opinion follows: Two issues here: 1) The stock Datsun T5 will not handle the torque of a "built" 400, most likely. Even the GM T5 will have trouble with that. 2) Mating the Datsun T5 to the SBC could be done, but it may actually be easier to find a GM T-5 out of an 80s Camaro or Firebird. Either T5 may not be able to handle the torque of a "built" 400. I would suggest either a G-Force upgrade for the GM one, or go to a T56 or Tremec TKO 5spd. The G-Force upgrade will likely cost $2000 or more. I did that to the GM T-5 in my "built" 400 swapped 240Z. I love the trans, you do get used to the whine of the nearly straight cut G-Force gears . You could do the G-Force upgrade to the Datsun T-5 (see TimZ's posts on this) but then you'd have to adapt the Datsun bellhousing. It'd be easier and probably cheaper to go with the 153 tooth Sonic bellhousing made for GM tranny's, and just buy G-Force's complete T-5 with the new case.

Hi Tony, I replied to your PM on this, but thought I'd put it out there for everyone. I used the Sanderson CC5 (JTR DAT-402 or DAT-402C) D-port headers on my Canfield 215cc angle plug heads. They fit fine, after I removed (used an angle grinder on the welds holding) the nametag that is welded to the collector (see the photo on the page linked above to see the nametag). Without that removed, the steering shaft on my 240Z hit. As it is now, it just barely misses without the nametag. Note that angle plug heads have different plug placement and angle depending on the brand and model of the head, so YMMV. Cheers,

Shaggy, with a full Magnum SuperSprint headers, cats, cat-back exhaust, and Shark Injector Race software in the engine computer, I get 22mpg on the highway. Not great, but actually better than the 91 Mitsu Galant VR-4 (20mpg highway) that I also have, and certainly better than the 16mpg highway the 6.7L V8 240Z gets . I'd think a 540i could pull down mid 20s on the highway.

Sorry to hear you were "flamed". I've seen those threads before (not specificially yours) and I remember chiming in on a few that said for streetability for the same money (or less, since valvetrain stuff is expensive to turn 7k+rpm) much more power is available with more cubes. Hmm. How about a 4.165" bored Dart SBC block with a 3" stroke, the right cam and heads, with 180 degree headers and IR induction? You'd have a 327 cubic inch (5.3L) engine capable of those rpm and the even sound of the 180 headers. I will agree on the X-pipe thing. At anything above abot 2500 rpm, my 407ci Z with block hugger headers, x-pipe behind the trans, and dual mufflers at the rear panel sounds very even. Not like a ferrari, but it doesn't sound like your typical V8 hotrod. The X-pipe evens out the pulses very well. Sorry, no sound clips.

LoL! Dude, not all Ukranian women are models (Olya is certified in the US). What gets me about her is that the outer packaging in no way suggests what I have found between her ears. Truly incredible. My dad (who can't really appreciate this now that he's a massive stroke survivor and pretty much gone mentally) finally got his wish. He's full Ukranian, and always told me when I was a teenager and in college: "You should find yourself a nice Ukranian gal." Didn't practice what he preached - his first and only wife had no Ukranian blood (nor did my ex). BMW content - she likes the M5 and likes the power and handling when I run fast through the twisty backroads. I haven't introduced her to the Z yet. It's too stinky (rich exhaust) for her I'm afraid. She's a health freak (admits it). Some carb tuning (and maybe some cats) are in order.

My son's eyes popped out watching that guy slide the M5 around on the crowded city streets. I would like to learn how to drive like that. Especially the 180 slide to the curb (and being able to reach back and open the door to let the passenger fly out!). To tell you the truth, the M5 is fun, but definitely needs some more power. It just doesn't sit me back in the seat like I feel it should. Too bad the Dinan supercharger kit is $23K just for the kit, and 80 hours of labor!!! Plus you need the other parts of the car to be upgraded! Oh well, I'll just have to live with it being about 440hp at the crank (estimate with the SuperSprint Magnum header and full exhaust and Shark Injector DME flash). I had the Z out yesterday - much more fun to drive with 2800 lbs and estimated 500hp (probably not that since it hasn't really been fully tuned). Getting in the M5 after that is a let down. Doug - the 635 is a sweet machine! Congrats!

BTW, my car (well, one like it) in a GREAT BMW ad:

It was Olya's birthday, took her out to lunch. She brought her camera and wanted photos of herself with the M5 for her mom to take back to the Ukraine with her. This is from in front of the place we went to eat (I highly recommend it - Dutch's Daughter in Frederick MD) Best looking hood ornament I've seen in a while! No, she didn't dent the hood, and I don't think I'd care if she did! . The beauty is way more than skin-deep on this woman. We communicate on an almost telepathic level, much like driving an M5 More of a front 1/4 shot of the car (I like the lowered, raked look of it): http://alteredz.com/M5/image/Ilya%20s%20mamoj%202008%20osen%27%20327a_cropped800x500.jpg No, that's not her real hair. It's brown: http://alteredz.com/image/misc/o/lianadali-whitedress5.jpg

Funny - I was in the same place a few months ago - looked at the Charger R/T and the G8 GXP - no one wanted to deal at the dealers. Ended up with the same year, make, model and color car that SR240Z is selling : http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=149957 Except mine cost more and has only 42000 miles on it, lowered, exhaust, chipped

I remember a scene with my Z from many years ago, when it was rusty, red/orange, and had the 6 in it. I was at a door warehouse where my buddy worked. Z was up on two fork lifts (don't ask). We were welding floorboards in from underneath. Interior caught fire (don't ask). Grabbed the nearest extinguisher. It was empty! Ran to the back of the warehouse. That one was empty too. Ran to the opposite end of the warehouse - that one had pressure! So have extinguishers - AND MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THEM TOPPED UP WITH PRESSURE!!!!

Some days, I am just not proud to be a Maryland resident. I claim central Maryland though, to help distance myself! LoL I can understand wanting to modify things, really. But leaving the blade on? Jeesh.

Happy Birthday, Mike! I thought I've lectured you on this "I'm trying to act young" stuff before. Sorry, I'm just such a puss about pain - I don't do that stuff - not for the last 30 years anyway! LOL! Donna nursed you back to health yet, old man?

I've used the Camaro Radiator that JTR recommended many versions ago in their manual. It worked fine most of the time with a 375hp 327, standard pulley sizes, even with A/C. The problems I had with it were due to air in the system and the airflow at speed going AROUND the radiator, not through it. When I went to the 500hp 406, I bought a dual pass C&R Racing radiator. I started having problems with the 406 and 2 things helped greatly: 1) I sealed all the holes in the radiator support, a buddy (Glenn) made a pan that seals the lower opening in the Xenon airdam to the radiator support bottom edge, and I made sure that the radiator seals to the radiator support on the back side, all the way around - this helped GREATLY at speed. Just the other day I realized I had not completed the seal between the bottom of the radiator support and the bottom of the core. I had sealed all the way around using closed cell foam (pipe insulation black foam rubber split "tubes), but forgot to seal the bottom edge of the radiator support to the radiator seal. I fixed that and now it runs 30 degrees cooler on a 90 degree day. 2) I installed a water filler neck on the intake manifold above the thermostat, along with a radiator cap at that location. I did this to help the system automatically bleed air out. The cap on the filler neck is now the highest point, so the air gets pushed out through the overflow tube below the cap, and the recirculating bottle replenishes the coolant. These two things have really helped keep the engine cool!

Yes, in the stock bushings, only the rubber gives. That's why it's important to have the suspension at ride height when tightening the bolts. That goes for the two HUGE bolts at the inner rear control arm pivot when using the stock rubber bushings. I seem to remember installing the front ES bushings and having to add washers to take up the clearance between the ends of the inner sleeve and the crossmember.

Jeff, I believe the design intent is for the sleeve to get clamped down in the crossmember and not rotate around the bolt, due to friction at the ends of the sleeve when the bolt is tightened down. In other words, the polyurethane part of the bushing rotates around the inner sleeve. Sure, the fit to the bolt could be tighter. If it does move around, maybe take a beer can and wrap around the bolt to take up the slack? Cheers,

Very Cool, Chelle!

I was in a similar place months ago - the only new cars that would fit the bill for me (fun to drive, power, room for 4) were the G8 GXP ($37-40K depending on which incentive to take) or a new (40miles) 2008 Charger R/T for $30K. You can find low mileage, pristine 2000-2003 BMW M5s that will carry 4 very comfortably for $17-25K, depending on what the owner THINKS the car is worth, mileage, etc. Just letting you know the way I went about this. I'd think a used E46 M3 with low miles would be available and in your price range ($17-$20K).

O.k. O.k.!! LoL I have a camera, but haven't taken any photos yet. This one is from the previous owner: Besides the wheels, you'd think it was grandpa's 4door. Stealthy Silver too!

I bought the 10W60 Castrol TWS at getBMWparts.com, which is Tischer BMW just 10 miles from me in Silver Spring MD. They are selling it for $9.75 a quart.

Michael - you need an M5. All have manual trans but the engine pulls away from 1000 rpm in any gear. TONS of low end torque. You can start on a hill in 3rd gear and hardly slip the clutch at all. (Ask me how I know). The E39 M5 is very complicated. And pricey to fix, from what I can tell. Hell of a lot of fun. Turned the DSC off and hit the pedal just a bit going around the round-about. It fishtailed as easy as my 500ft-lb V8'd 240Z coming around there . I was in traffic, talking on the phone (mostly stopped, then just a bit of go - like 3 feet max - every minute or so) today. Some guy in his 20s was in the passenger side of a Forester, and gave me the thumbs up - the headers and exhaust have the most beautiful sound - I need to capture that and upload it. Really is a true german hotrod. Oh, I just got it in time for gas to go up. I'm getting 17mpg in mixed driving. That's with my foot on it sometimes too. NOT a highmiling car! Really enjoying my 2000 M5. One hell of a nice car - never really thought I'd have anything this nice...

I hate to sound like an echo - but deja and hoov100 have got it so right. The Taurus fan (or any of the other FoMoCo fans that use that same 2spd motor, such as the 99 Mustang GT fan I used) are the way to go. 1800 cfm is going to be on the edge if not just enough. Spal and others now make aftermarket fans that have better (curved) blade designs and put out 3000 cfm or more. Just realize that you will be pulling a ton of amps at idle when the taurus fan comes on high speed. My idle drops several hundred rpm when that happens. (But I'm running a carb and haven't hooked up a fast idle solenoid to fix that yet).

Nice machines, NO? Congrats Richard and Paul! It seems we all want or end up with one of these things, once we learn of how nice they are to drive. My story: I was 18, and a buddy got a good job and asked me (the car guy among us) what car I'd buy if I came into a bit of $$$$. I said 325i. So, almost 30 years later, I get myself a Bimmer. A month ago, I became tired of having to constantly throw money and time at my 91 Galant VR-4 daily driver. The Z had become the daily driver a few too many times as the VR-4 was down and out... Driving the Z in the pouring rain with 2/32" of tread on the Toyo RA-1s was scary - I've been waiting to put tires on my "dry weather car" until a track event is in sight. But I had to pull the Z out for DD duty and we had many rainy days while I had to do that... So I said to myself " Self, why not help the dying US car makers out, buy a new US made car, get the tax break on it, the discount and low financing, and get something new and reliable. I looked at the Challenger (love the looks until I'm up on one - too big!) and the back seat would NOT work for my 15year old 6'1" tall son who is STILL growing. Drove a Pontiac G8 GXP - fun car, but the steering response was too dead for people to be saying it was like an M5. $40K and 0% financing or $37K and my own financing. Too much. You'd think they'd be dealing on these but they aren't. They let me walk when I offered $36K and 0%. Glad they did!... Drove down the street, and even though it was now raining, decided to check out that Challenger - not enough room in the back seat. I have two tall kids that keep getting taller. Drove a Charger R/T R package and was surprised that I actually liked it. Sideways down Route 355 in Gaithersburg MD in the rain with the ESP switch off . That was a 2008 they wanted $30K for. I'd lose probably $5K driving it off the lot. Now for years, I've been saying I wanted a 3 series with M3 suspension and an LS swap. But I found that the back seat wouldn't work for my tall kids. Always thought the 5 series was too big - but it's only 4 inches wider and longer than the 91 Galant VR-4, which is kind of small by today's sedan standards. So, I was talking about this on a car-guy email list and one of the old salts told me to consider a used E39 5 series, a 535, 540, or if I had $30K to burn, an M5. Little did I know there are nut cases out there that have 2000-2003 M5s in PRISTINE condition with low miles, and they go from $20-30K. Remember, this car was $70K back in 2000, and the car mags gushed all over it as a C5 Vette and 911S beating luxury sedan. I didn't realize what an M5 really was. But researching it and driving one has opened my eyes - its more car than I ever need just commuting! I agree with Richard (Drax) - no boring DD cars. I've had an Eclipse GSX (1G) and then the Galant VR-4 for the last 18 years as daily drivers. I like the handling and the power when the ECU doesn't decide to pull the timing out of it. Hate how the A/C drags the engine down around town. I decided that with my short commute (1 mile, no joke, then 3 miles to get the kids from my ex's house) that gas mileage was not a big deal - so cubes it would be. Back to the BMW story - I found one this weekend - 2000 M5 with 42,000 miles, perfect condition - it looks absolutely brand new. No wear anywhere. I will not have to replace this car for probably 20 years, as I drive maybe 4-5K a year. lowered suspension, sway bars, strut tower braces. Headers, hi-flow cats and mufflers, chipped to about 440hp at the crank. New tires, clutch, flywheel. Tasteful appearance mods you wouldn't know about if you didn't really know the car. I paid a good bit less than I was going to pay for a new Pontiac or Chrysler to boot! It's silver, not the Lemans Blue I wanted, but I had to grab it. Glenn McCoy (BMW expert who has that Daytona Cobra replica with the 383 SBC) went with me and basically said that if I wanted one of these cars, and was willing to pay, this was the car to get. I agreed and did the deed. I go to pick it up Wed afternoon. Pretty stoked! (Did I just hijack another thread? I think Paul dared me too. LoL)

Now, would I do that? LoL (No pics yet though) LoL! What, all admins and retired admins MUST have Bimmers? WTF? LoL!!!

Shaggy - LoL! yeah, except when in my 500hp 240Z, or the "new-to-me" 2000 BMW M5 w/ 440hp