DavyZ

Lone: you crack me up, man! Pete: I have to agree with you. The more I thought about what John said, the more it did not make sense. If force is translated from the main hoop forward, then down the side bar, it will continue down toward the "kink," and down from there to the front footwell area AND to the bar going down back to the base of the main hoop. Yes? If it doesn't work in reality, I'm going back to UC Davis and demand a refund! David

You will certainly need a lot of information on the electrics of both the donor and recipient vehicles. First thing I would do is purchase a factory manual for the RX7, in addition to having a Haynes manual etc. Also I would measure, measure, measure, and fully document everything. You have great intestinal fortitude for going to where few have ventured before...

Craig, I somehow remember having this very conversation about three months ago? The "kinked" sidebar is a very interesting idea; I have seen a Porsche 914 with a "kinked" sidebar and was impressed with the amount of room it afforded the owner to get in and out of the car for daily driving. As has been stated by Pete, if you tie into the loop base from the kinked part with another tube, there should be minimal loss of rigidity. Now, whether this is up to competition spec or not, who knows? I have decided to go with a "swing-out sister" bar, but I'm making mine removable. I will only put it in when in competition (like every nite) driving. Do you know if you are going with S&W or Chassis Works or what? At this juncture, I'm probably going with Chassis Works even though they are more expensive...what am I saying?!? I'll call them and find out which is the best for the money and for what I want to do and then make a decision. David

Dude, you can just overlay it with carbon fiber...and yes, that would look great. Go to www.bryanf.com and go through his site. You'll end up seeing the most awesome 510 buildup and also a great page on making carbon fiber interior panels. One of the pictures shows a carbon fiber dash. Wow! I emailed Bryan and let him know it almost looked like the stock dash had a layer of carbon fiber on it. He said, "exactly." I don't see why this couldn't be done with the rear exterior panel as well David

YEAH, BUT WE'RE GOOD TOO, BABY!!!! Great idea, Craig, about the POR-15! Another good product is Eastwood's Caroless(sp?). I think the POR-15 is great because it spreads very easily as some have stated previously.

Love that sticky diesel fuel! Coats everything with an oily type stuff... To start a stubborn engine, I use fast starting fluid from a spray can and let it go sraight into the open carb. Works great unless you get a backfire and blow out a power valve or singe your eyebrows. I use the stuff and it works quite well, but I'm definitely heads up when I use it, though. If you have cleaned your fuel lines and cleaned out the carb, there should be ignition.

Mike Kelly, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming that these wheels cannot fit within the stock wheel wells? Yes, no? I'm wondering if they are too wide and if they actually require flares or not. Depending on the width and offset of the wheel, then the adapter/spacer becomes all important! David

32000 cfm?!?! WOW! that is something of B-17 proportions!! Seriously, Sean, 3200 cfm is even more than the Black Magic fan. What did you pay for it? I'm personally going with the Taurus fan due to cost, but the fan is supposed to be effective. The Black Magic fan is nice and has a great cowl, but a bit pricey next to good junk...yard stuff. David

Andrew, that looks pretty tough! What are the wheel and tire size dimensions?

Frank, if the oilpan is the extended type (sump is lower than stock) then you have got worries. If this is the type that extends out horizontally, it should fit fine wit no ground clearance issues. The only thing you want to make sure of is that your exhaust system will clear it on the sides--I'm 99% sure it will. Exhaust system already done, yes, no? When you change the pan make sure everything is spotlessly clean and use some Permatex sealer or something on the gasket. Also call up Moroso and ask them about the size of the end seals. Some pans feature the late types or the early types and if you get the wrong one, it will leak like a sieve!(sp?) or it won't fit and you could end up hurting the pan. Just be careful and everything will turn out fine. I swear by the gasket sealer... David

Well, nothing wrong with the MSA stuff, but you can do MUCH better. I don't have the urls, but definitely look at S&W race cars and also Chris Alston Chassis Works. Look for the threads in the archives and you'll find what you're looking for regarding opinions--eg. Craig (I think it was him) had put in a 6 point cage and was astonished at how much it stiffened up everything. I'm going with an 8 point cage myself with removable side bars. Maybe for your car a 6 point might be enough. From the sound of it, you are starting with a good solid chassis and that will make a world of difference at the beginning: no surprises! You'll want to call these places and talk to someone about your particular application, but these guys know what they are doing and should give you sound advice. Hopefully RossC will see this thread and chime in! David

Lone, I know what you mean, but the difference here is factory vs who knows what? Don't get me wrong, I'm not Mexico bashing and I totally agree with you. Factory stuff seems to be pretty good. I do hope that things have changed for the better regarding some of these rebuild places and that they are doing things in house. In my mind, it's easier to hold them accountable for an engine job if THEY did it themselves. Because I'll show up on their doorstep if I'm not happy.

Mike, Welcome to the Forum! You will find this one of the friendliest places on the web for V8Z information. With regard to your questions, here it goes: The brakes on the ZX are o.k. but not great. Since you won't be running a lot of horsepower, maybe the only thing you'll need to upgrade are the pads. But then again, there are those who believe you can never have enough brakes--well, it's your butt to be sure! It sounds like you are going through the car system by system and upgrading the important things first. If you do go with larger brakes on the front (not a bad idea), look up one of the recent posts with scca (Mike) and plug in to his url--he most likely can help you. Next, as far as stiffening the chassis, the question remains: are you installing a roll cage or at least a 6 point bar? If you are and you won't be racing it, then no, probably not. The ZX is better, IMHO, in terms of stiffness then the 1st gen cars and will not likely need stiffening. If the car is rusty and you are doing a wopping amount of work on it anyway, then take the extra time and do more. Hopefully others will chime in as well. David

Don't know about their reputation, but the price is right! Especially for 350 hp! One problem we have around this part of the country is many of the remanufactured engines come from Mexico. My neighbor bought a Ford engine that ended up having to be rebuilt in a short period of time. He found things like that some of the valves were too long and someone had ground them down to make them fit. Amazing that the engine even ran well for a while despite that kind of Tom Foolery. Make sure they assemble the engines in house and ask for references. I would think any reputable shop could provide that.

Good to have to you back, Chuck! Hope you're having fun with the car after all that work! Your car build up was one of the very first I read about when I became web savvy! David

We had this same thread about a month ago. It seems that members that used the system by Painless wiring were very happy with the results. Also, Ron Francis Wire Works was mentioned. Search the archives, etc. and you'll pull up the thread. Hope this helps! David

You might try posting this in the "Misc Tech" topics--you'll get better responses...

The 750 gives you great bragging rights!! A local engine builder here told me if I used anything larger than a 650 on anything under 383 cubic inches, I would actually hurt the performance of the motor I was using. He stated 650 is plenty of carb for up to 383 cubic inches. However, if I had a 12.5:1 drag racing motor... David

Perfect! Thanks, Long!

I would pay the reserve for that car...good deal! Those are IMSA racing flares I believe, which are excessive, but with an engine to match.... David Too bad its being auctioned off. Otherwise I could go down to the dealer and pound them for several hours and drive away in that thing for maybe less. What sickens me is that they probably gave some person a "wholesale" price for that car which may only be $1000. I wish had that car!

WELL ALRIGHT!!!! Congrats on a job well done! If you had no problems when driving it to work, then you did good! Post pics when you can, I wanna see! David

The weight of a V8 should add maybe 100 lbs or so to the front of the car, which will not affect the difficulty in turning that much. What DOES affect it is tire width. Every car I have owned with wider tires and no PS has been increasingly difficult to turn the wheel while going slow or stopped. Or you could just do several months of intense steroid cycles and lots of weights to increase muscle mass on your arms

Long, I have been thinking what the best spring rate would be for a mostly street driven Z and I think you have answered my question. From your website it looks like your car is at the stock height, yes? Have you changed this? I'm wondering that if you have lowered the car more, are you scraping over any bumps in the road or ever bottoming out? I want the best of both worlds--handling as well as reasonable ride comfort. Thanks, man. David

As long as you can mount it, you can keep it. Might require a bit of fabrication to keep the Nissan pump, but it should be ok. Another option would be to get a Chevy PS pump and have lines made to fit. Anyone else?

Dave, are you using a Flowmaster Y-pipe for the junction? I think they are less than $40 at Summit. David