pparaska

No, Recent posts is on the "portal" page: http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/portal.php on the left column. It used to scroll recent topics. However, "post since you last visited" works well. As long as you "login" and logout, as you move from one computer to the next it seems to remember what you had looked at and what is new since then.

THAT has to be the best written advice on this I've seen yet! BOOKMARK!!!!!!

John, how did these work out? I'm considering the 1-3/4" primary 2.5" collector BH1020 headers to be able to possibly bolt up to my existing exhaust in place of my Hooker 2100 block huggers. Any tips past what you wrote here to get them to fit well past everything?

Tim, I got the imprint yesterday. Thanks! Nice job! How can I repay you? Looks like a nasty mismatch with any round or d-shaped port. The Hooker opening is 1.4" wide by 1.7" tall. That works o.k. on a regular square Chevy head port (1.38"x1.38"), but on a 1.5x1.5" stock or "small race" port (fel-pro 1404) or a 1.55x1.55" "large race" port (fel-pro 1405) or a 1.53x1.63" "D-shaped" port (fel-pro 1406), I can see problems with sealing, especially on the sides (not top or bottom) of the ports. And I haven't even looked at the vertical port offset of the D-shaped port, relative to the bolt holes. Anyone else dealt with this? How bad was the mis-match.

If you have help, with the actual mechanics and you use the search engine you will find more than enough info to do it. The JTR swap has been done hundreds (maybe thousands?) of times and between the JTR book and this site, you'll have all the knowledge you'll need. If you have a family memeber or friend versed in doing engine installations, I'd say the JTR swap is not TOO far removed from general engine R&R, but there is some fabrication involved. But JTR and HybridZ can show you the way.

Try searching and you will see this has been discussed at length. IMO, the John's Car's kit is expensive, and getting the JTR book is important anyway. Once you see how cheaply you can do a JTR conversion, as opposed to the John's Car's version, you might jump to the JTR conversion. Many of us feel that if you're going to do this conversion, putting the engine as far back and as low as you can (I.e., JTR) is best anyway.

Corbea A4 seats with the lumbar option ($800+ but well worth it on long drives) A/C - very nice when its the typical 95/95 (deg F/humidity%) here near the nations capital. I used the aluminum foil covered jute that is sold in 4 wide foot rolls: http://www.jcwhitney.com/item.jhtml?ITEMID=7747&BQ=null Although the stuff I bought had foil on both sides. This worked well for noise and heat. I used two layers on the firewall, one on the tunnel and floors. The floorboard sheetmetal near my exhaust was too hot to touch, but a layer of this stuff stops the heat transfer very well - cool inside. Still no music - except for the gear drive, solid lifters, induction moan, and exhaust

No, I'm running the 12-677-4 solid flat tappet in my 327. With grumpyvette's advice, I'll be running the Crane 114681 solid flat tappet in my 406. I just thought it was strange that a similar adv and .050 duration roller cam had so much less .200" duration than the Comp hyd. roller. I thought .200" and above was where rollers ruled? I guess you'd really need the .300, .400, .500, etc. durations to really be able to tell what's up. Call Crane as well. A few people have told me that Comp's tech line is not as good as it used to be, but that's hearsay.

Isn't that roller TM286HR (286@.006", 234@.050, 145@.200") intake lobe pretty slow for a roller? The Comp Cams XR288HR (I believe it uses the Comp lobe # 3316, on page 230 of the catalog: http://www.compcams.com/catalog/230.html ) is 288@.006, 236@.050, 157@.200) That Reed roller seems as lazy as a hyd flat tappet lobe: (Comp lobe # 5447, on page 228: http://www.compcams.com/catalog/228.html ): 288@.006, 244@.050, 157@.200) Note the .200" duration of those three lobes. The Reed roller is the lowest. ??? I dunno. If I were running a roller, I'd want the .200" duration to be BETTER than a flat tappet cam, no?

Yeah, I know what you mean - getting those measurements is not easy. I used a straight edge across the back of the bellhousing (bolted up tight to the engine) and a machinist's square. I also had to assum that the trans case would meet up tight to the back of the bell housing.

My McLeod hyd TO bearing came with explicit instructions on how to set up the clearance between the clutch fingers and the bearing. It involved taking several measurements and doing some subtraction. They gave a fairly tight range of clearance that you should shoot for. If too much, it's easily fixed by adjusting the threaded collar. If too little (in my case), you need to space the transmission or bellhousing/transmission back away from the engine block. I handled that with an 1/8" aluminum shim that I made up to go between the bellhousing and the transmission case.

Douglas, I agree. For streetable power levels, a 5.7+ Liter engine can make good torque and power in a reasonable rpm range with good two valve heads and pushrods. Tweak an LS6 and there's plenty of capability as well, if a "higher tech" solution is desired. If I wanted crazy HP on the street, I'd do a turboed V8, with a moderate amount of boost, tuned to have it come in at 2000 rpm or below. Driving a 500+ hp car that goes from 350lbft to 500 lbft like a switch at 3500+ (high rpm tuned turbo setup) would be dangerous. Cubes enable a lower pressure turbo system that could cover a lower street-reasonable powerband, while allowing plenty of power.

Thanks Grumpyvette!

I'd just go ahead and get the engine and do a 400. I'd use 6" rods though, to help with lowering the cylinder wall wear if nothing else.

Beautiful work! Who did all the custom stitching? Looks great!

Hmm. 406, 10.5:1 compression, AFR 190 heads, 3.7:1 ratio, 26" tire, and a 114681 Crane cam. Sounds very familiar . Would AFR 195 heads have any advantage over the AFR 190s for the higher rpm (due to the 3.7:1 gears)? Also, how much do the bars in the graph at: shift to the left if any, when your talking about a 406? I imagine this graph was made up to cover the typical 350 engine. Oh, and note that the Comp 12-246-3 (XE274H) has 60 degrees of overlap, and the Crane 114681 has the same 60 degrees. The Crane cam has .518/.526 lift versus the Comp's .487/.490. Much more area under the curve.

Just be aware that the sensor that's used for the diy-wb is in national backorder. These sensors are very difficult to get ahold of.

I hope the electric hook-up happened for ya! Yeah, a stock bodied Z with FAT meats and lowered looks pretty tough! Forget it Mike, you're going to need flairs and WIDE street tires. Just do it!

Looks Great Terry! How about a picture of more of the rear of the car? How does it sound? What size pipes and what mufflers?

Thanks!

Oh well. I can live without it

Stopped for me too, in the last several days.

Nope - gotta do that (register). Sounds like a fun road trip!

Actually, that weekend is looking booked for me too (28th/29th March). Tim, if you guys are caravaning and stopping by Mike's place in October for the Convention, mind if I tag along to the Convention from there? It'll be the 4th National Convention I've been to, but the first one with a Z .

Thanks Bushido Actually, I decided on that color and blacked out treatment (sail-panel emblems, window trim and frames) before even seeing the Wangan Midnite movies. Notice I even blacked out mufflers. They are so large and on a dark color they "stuck out" below the 1/4 panel from the side, so flat black (POR-15 or Miracle high temp paint) they became.