DavyZ

Yes,the cast aluminum ones are less flexible. That is one reason I like them. You have to have the intake centered or you'll run into possible clearance problems with the intake and valve covers. The silicone gaskets with the shims is what I was trying to convey in my last post. "Shims" not "compression rings". They are a great idea ! Davy

I cut the top off a another Z and had a body shop weld it on. I think they used just mostly the top sheet metal to do it and skin the top of the roof, all the way to the sides. Had the rail shaved as well while it was there. I HATE moonroofs!!! Davy

1)You might be torquing them down too hard, causing the flange(s) to bend. 2)You might have some kind of obstruction with the intake manfold against the valve cover ---- you should check that. 3)You might have uneven flanges on the valve covers that contribute to the leak. 4)You might have an unusually uneven surface on the head(s) that makes for a bad seal (I'm reaching here...) 5)You might need some gaskets that have the metal compression rings that keep you from overtightening. 6)I'm still thinking about what else... HTH Davy

Hats off to you, Nazar. You have been working and making some great progress. Nice bunch of parts BTW... Your mounting of the fan should be OK, but I personally hate to put anything through the core, even if it seems OK to do so. I know, I know, the fan it supposed to be mounted this way, yaddah yaddah. I suppose what I'd rather see is a fan mounted by brackets. Truthfully, though, you should be OK so long as there is no undue stress on the core. Great work in a short period of time. It looks like you worked out the engine mounting scenario (fiasco?) and all by now. Davy

Wow, just about every place I would consider. If my company asks me to move, I'd move to one of these places in a heartbeat. As far as moving back to the Bay Area, I doubt I would have desire to do so. Davy

I do something similar and I have my "Z car files" and numerous tech articles that I have yet to print out. I love hard copies of this good stuff so I can contribute to my own "journal" of everything I particularly like or can possibly use in the future. It's just a great idea! Davy

Zerrari, I have not pulled my heater core, so I'm not sure what the stuff looks like, but that said, you can usually find what you're looking for at an auto parts store, an automotive paint store, The Eastwood Company (great products BTW), or McMaster Carr (if you know exactly what you need). From what I have seen in torn up Zs at the junkyard (I think this is what you mean), the foam is flimsy stuff, so I don't think you'll have a problem finding a common suitable substitute. A lot fo foam has the sticky on one side anyway given a specific application. Hopefully someone else will chime in that knows something more. Davy

Shaun, If you can, please keep us updated on your progress with the car. We are a bunch of car nut here and love to see this type of work (pretty darn nice BTW). I don't know how much you'll be logging in here, but we'd love to have you here once in a while to talk about the car and the progress (we require pictures!! ) Good to have you here. Davy

Nope, that's how to go about doing it. You unbolt the hood and try to give yourself enough space to manually get the latch to release. Just be extremely careful not to bend a perfectly good hood. I don't envy your predicament one bit. Davy

Mike, I noticed mas280's rear wheels looked like they were moved farther forward than usual just sitting still, but what do you expect from a 400+ RWHP LS1? On some of the higher HP Z cars I notice that the rear ties look like they are set farther forward for some reason. This might be an optical illusion, but it really does look that way. Sitting still do your wheels appear to farther forward than another relatively stock Z car? Just thinking outloud... Davy

This sounds correct. I lifted the front of the car off the ground so that should be about 250-300 pounds (half of 520 lbs?), so by extrapolation this is about correct. That said, to 'easily' move the shell get four people to help move it around. Will you be using a rotissery? If so, this will make moving it far easier and you should be able to do it with one to two people. Davy

Yeah, that's one way of keeping your car from ever needing a smog check... If you can do a VR6 swap into a Golf, you can certainly handle the V8 to Z swap with ease. LA is probably where you'll find your best and cheapest Z cars. You can also find info on towing yards that will sell it to you cheap if the owner doesn't come back to claim it and pay the inflated impound fees...just a thought. Look at Craigslist.org for San Diego and Los Angeles---you might find some decent cars on there. Davy

Oh man, I didn't know it was YOU either---pretty good for being inside leathers! I started laughing at the part where one of you went down to take off your jacket and the other one starts shaking his head, "no." That was FUNNY! Great vid! BTW, I could do similar moves and a wicked "earthworm" when I was in high school back in the 80's. Davy

Dan, have you tried lubing all the mechanism pieces? Sometimes the friction can be overcome by oil, grease, or graphite. That said, I'm talking too much since I have not looked at your system! I'd love to see it work sometime. Davy

This is great advice and it won't cost you a thing. If Dan is correct about the possibility of damage from a break-in, this would do the job (hopefully) as long as you don't do damage to the door itself whilst tugging. The window frame is made from stainless and is pretty tough, so I don't think you'll actually break that, but watch how much you are torquing the whole door. You can also unbolt the frame and compare it to the otherside, once that is removed as well. Compare angles and see how much tweaking needs to be done. It would be a little more work, but you wouldn't hurt anything either or have to pay for more parts... Davy

I agree. They need a whole lot more WRC and related coverage. They also need to replay more the F1 and other (read: non-roundy round) races. Davy

Hugh, thanks for posting & hosting! You took pictures of only the most interesting cars at the show, which is exactly what I would have done. Short & sweet. The new Camaro--craaazy! I'd love to see that in person. Serious lines on that one. Davy

You did read your JTR V8 conversion manual, correct? It is difficult to tell from the pictures, but do you have the front crossmember installed? The Chevy engine mounts should line up perfectly with the 'towers' on the crossmember. If you used the correct Chevy engine mounts, there should be a hole in the center for a large bolt that goes through them and the top of the towers on the crossmember. Davy

Cripes! I'm curious to know just how expensive these bolts are with ratings like that. Are they really necessary or is this just for some extreme (what isn't?) racing purpose? Also, any pics of your work??? Davy

Yes it is a Noble. I was able to sit in one at the Monterey Historic Races last year. My impression was that the visibility isn't too great and the seat was in a bizarre position with a frame-member running laterally across the floor in front of the seats (this is my recollection). This was an earlier model I suppose, due to the large single head lamps. All others I have seen since then have slightly different body flaring, etc, and HID or projector headlamps. I'm sure they have made some changes since then (at least I hope). Davy

Hmmm, open mind, acknowledgement of the search function, Nissan experience....hmmmm, I'd say you've found a good home here! Davy

Terry' date=' I know what you mean. I'm nearly at 40, but I'm working out and fighting martial arts to keep the fat and 'ugly' at bay. Grey hair doen't bother me as much as [i']no hair![/i] LOL! I have been popping suppliments and getting plenty of water, etc, so despite the aches and pains, overall I feel pretty good and I have decent stamina. If my shoulder heals up this year, I hope to break my bench press record and maybe then I'll slow down a bit....maybe Davy