DavyZ

A nice bunch of guys to beat the crap out of, heh. Seriously, if they were cool, that's about as good as it gets. I think you'll be capable of space travel once you get some sticky (did I say sticky?) wider tires on that thing. They won't know what hit 'em. Nice job. Davy

Jumbo240Z has 17" steel 4 lug stock car rims on his ride. He has had black and chrome. I don't think he ever mentioned they were pricey, but they came as he wanted them and I think he got them mail order. Try Summit or Stock Car Products. I'm sure you can find them for not too much moolah. Davy

Very sweet wheels! They look like they belong on an "import" like the 240Z. With some flares and being lowered, they'll be all that. Nice choice in sizes too!! Davy

No x-pipe. If you want to, you can use a nice transition Y-pipe (like a Flowmaster Y-pipe) to the large single exhaust and straight through muffler--that would be cool. I'm using a dual 2.5" to 3" single outlet in a V8 conversion. The 3" single is not restrictive as people would think and it will function much in the same way as an X-pipe will for cutting down noise. Davy

Volvo's primary selling strategy has always been their emphasis on safety. They made most of their reputation on the 140 ("Amazon") series cars and in this country, on the 240 series cars. There was a statistic that in the 240, no one ever died in one for at least ten years. That's big. It has been years since I have sold them and knew everything about them, so the grey matter isn't what it used to be on automotive trivia, but I think I'm close on that one. I like the fact that nearly all of the suspension and everything is rather over built, if you will, on the RWD cars with the exception of the P1800. The only thing they lacked was adequate power, although the turbos were ok. A JTR kit for the RWD cars is exactly what the doctor ordered! The ultimate RWD Volvo would be an 80's Volvo 780 with an LT1 JTR conversion, ipd suspension, Remus exhaust, Recaro interior, and Volk Racing wheels. I nearly did the V8 conversion on the 2 door 240DL I owned, but the Z won out hands down due to power to weight ratio. Good to hear the friends were ok in the accident. Davy

The pullers were for sale by Dan Bethea on the site. I'm not sure he is around anymore, nor do I remember his user name. I don't have a pic, but maybe someone else does. In one of these forums is (was?) a sticky about a loaner program for these tools. Davy

Don, the rims look nice, but why the change? Were you not happy with the Centerlines you had on there? Curious. You going autocrossing now? Davy

Larry did a great job on his documentation and pics, but I used a spindle pin puller fabbed by one guy on this site and it takes about 5 minutes to pull a frozen spindle... Larry's way looks like it would take several years of ones life and a few expletives as well (no offense, but I'm too lazy for all that). If you don't have a puller then this is the best way. Shucks, who was it that was loaning the pullers out for free? Keep searching. Davy

The benefit is that the smog pump bracket tucks the alternator in closely to the waterpump, and it also mounts the alternator a little lower then the standard bracket. You will run into two things when you use the bracket: 1) Having to shim the alternator within the smog bracket--you'll see what I mean when the gap is larger then the alt mount. You'll need a shim of over 1 inch or washers, but they look a bit unsightly IMO. 2) You'll need to shim or space the bracket from the block properly with washers to get the proper distance (and/or angle if you can't shim the alt well) for the alternator pulley to line up with the crank and waterpump pulleys. If you can pull a smog bracket for free, you'll see the benefits immediately, but if you are handy, you should not have any issues you can't overcome. Davy

I bet the car will be loads of fun, but 11.5:1 compression on the street is certainly a bit much. If you can afford the avgas, by all means use it. At some point you may become tired of paying the price though. Nice win on the bids--the car looks great. Davy

Internet access is highly regulated in my company--try to get on a site and if you are successful...that will be the only time you'll ever see it again! Yes, Internet freedom was ruined by the perverts in the company accessing sites they shouldn't have Davy

That's all good food for thought. I can hear the "quiet" gear drives at times, but I was a guy's Mustang that I swear I could not hear in or out of the car-it was a 289 V8. I have always been in the market for a good gear drive, and the prices seem to have dropped considerably over time. I installed a new double roller timing chain before I caught on the gear drives. If I had to do it over again, I would just go quiet gear drive the first time. I was only trying to save money, which is not always the best thing to do. Davy

No worries--taken care of Davy

Ditto. I have a T5 and I'd much rather have a T56. I bought the T5 because I already had a carbed motor and the T5 was CHEAP and nearly 'new'. If I was doing an LT1 swap, I would most certainly install the T56 that was mated to the engine. It's a tough combo that just plain works. Also, the T56 is stronger and can take some real abuse. Davy

...and just a bit o'acid! Davy

Project is looking great, Joe! Thanks for posting a bunch of up to date pics. I'll bite, so why don't you like the 200 mph speedo? Is it because you'll most likely never see over 140 mph ayway? Hey, 200 mph speedos are cool! Davy

Hi Ernie, I have a question: If the filler that is layered over, say fiberglass, shrinks, will the imperfections be truly noticeable? How bad could they be? I'm wondering if one could then fill over the imperfections and end up with a failr good end result? Just curious. Davy

Guys, Harbor Freight tools sells Chinese versions of that very type of buffer (I have one). I think it was about $60-$80. I try to buy American made first, but this particular item won out due to the humongous difference in price. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40668 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=36127 Davy

Very cool pics! I like all the light effects in the photography. Davy

Thanks for the great picture, Dale Davy

So you are isolating the motor from the mount, yes? That was the only thing I could think of last night after thinking about it all. The tranny is rubber isolated, so I'm assuming you would want something similar in front. Still, rotaries are smooth and not overly torquey, so maybe you don't have to do that? Curious. Davy

.....aaaaand at 3 litres per gallon, you are paying even more then we are! Hmmm, not a bad price for 96 octane.... Davy

Man, the front mount just seems to disappear from sight--clean install! Now just for everything else!!! Nice work. Davy

Use the custom pan! You just love to spend money Davy I shouldn't talk...at least you'll have the car running by April (MSA!).

Congrats!! Davy