sweetride2go

I think as most of us that have done gauge swaps have realized, is that one gauge in the center three will have to go. So for me, I decided to have the most important gauges there, which was; temp, oil pres, volt. I stuck the fuel gauge on the center console. I also have a fuel pressure gauge, but it resides under the hood. As far as the big two gauges, I took them apart, drilled into the face and installed LED's in them as 'turn signals' and 'high beam indicator'... I went with AutoMeter gauges, but if I had to do it all over again, I would spend more time and strongly consider the Speedhut gauges. A little searching will reveal several installs on both makes of gauges. That's my .02 , hope that helps... Cheers Ryan~

lol, now available, HybridB

I started with a standard 350, bored and stroked it to 383ish, forged and balanced, light steel flywheel and balancer, dished pistons, hydraulic roller cam set up for forced induction(turbo in the future, maybe), vortec heads lightly massaged with relieved spring seats with heavy springs, gasket matched to a dual plane intake, with a 750 Proform to top it off. Also, the trans is a T56, and I am using the stock rear end(R200) and running 265/50R15 tires(Remingtons! hell ya! lol). A couple things to note; I was getting a heat soaking issue with the carb since it sits directly atop the manifold, when I shut off the engine, so I have a 1/2" composite spacer on the way for that, mainly to give some insulation. My exhaust is a little small, being only 2-1/4" to the diff, which is the old exhaust that I originally had for the mild 327. The exhaust starts with some 1-3/4" block huggers(new for this engine) that dump into the dual 2-1/4" pipes (old system) that run to the diff, then Y into a single 3-1/2" (was that big for a Flowmaster single chamber I had run a long time ago, had horrible resonance! It would literally make my teeth hurt), and finally through a 3" Magnaflow muffler. Cheers Ryan~

I did an axle swap in my D21(hardbody) with an axle from a WD21(pathfinder). The WD21 axle was a nice unit since I was upgrading to an LSD diff and disc brakes in the same package. I also found the brake system to be quite similar to the Z32 brakes, with the mini drum inside the rotor for the E-brake. Ryan~

I've found that Googlemaps is almost 4+ years behind on their pictures in my area. It really sucks when you are trying to find an address that is in a new area and all you get for a satellite photo is a bunch of trees, heh... I wonder what kind of lifespan you would get out of those tires? Seems like they might scrub a lot if not set up properly... Ryan~

Awesome!..

I just got back from the dyno, and I was wondering the same thing prior to going. They strapped to the control arms AND the structure behind the diff, in between the control arm mounts. My car is kind of low, and there was no clearance issues with the tank or the exhaust. Ryan~

Well, finally got it done. I ended up with 397ft#'s and 324hp at the wheels. We were so close to getting 400ftlbs! Here is a short video, unfortunately it's the only one, that and I was the only that was able to film, and run the car, so my video options were limited... This is a run done about half way through tuning, 4th gear... Cheers Ryan~

I love the galvanized ducting for exhaust, along with the chicken wire! lol

I should use this one more often...

$238.23!!! That's cheaper than I paid for mine at Vancouver Nissan! Krikey...

You need to get that TV cable(Throttle Valve/"kickdown cable") adjusted ASAP!!! Proper TV cable adjustment can mean life or death for the R4's. That cable regulates pressure to the clutches, and it sounds like yours is set too loose, allowing the transmission to slip. Anything else that could be wrong, I can't say, but search up on adjusting that cable, that would be a good place to start... Cheers Ryan~

Ditto on the OE Nissan windshield gasket. It was strongly recommended to me by several people to go with OEM gaskets when dealing with glass. I just purchased one last summer for the windshield at my local Nissan dealer, however, be prepared to spend a lot more! My hatch glass is Black Dragon, and it fits ok... Cheers Ryan~

I used to have a gear drive, but in my most recent rebuild I opted for the timing chain. I got tired of the gear whine. Especially when I was trying to listen to something in the engine compartment... Cheers Ryan~

Initially i thought the Speedhut gauges were expensive, but in hindsight I wish I gone with them. After I purchased the Autometers I realized that they would have only been a few hundred more than the Speedhut gauges. Ryan~

Heck ya it is!!! Ha, no, I've never made up my mind weather I liked the wale tail or not. It came with the car and kinda goes with the flares and such. It looks good from the rear/front, but horrible from the side. When the car was painted I had another hatch painted at the same time. From the back... Nooo, no popcorn! I should have it at the Canby show this year, and it will sound better, I hope, lol.... Cheers, Ryan~

Brapp, didn't you guys discuss valve train harmonics and complications with pushrods at higher rpm's? But then again, maybe that doesn't directly relate to a drawback from the pushrod v8 since that discussion is set on a goal of a high RPM engine... I would love to create a OHC small block, but from the pictures they get really bulky. I wonder from the pictures posted of the converted engines, how much weight is added? Ryan~

Haha, great analogy! It's running ok. It will be going in for a dyno-tune here shortly as soon as the weather and my time available cooperates. It has a nasty stumble when I let off the gas while driving, soo odd... The brakes pretty much suck. However, the brakes are all stock for the moment, other than a GM master cylinder and booster, and all the hardlines. Hopefully new brakes will be in the near future! Heres to hoping, haha.

I just installed a 750 Proform in place of the Jet Rochester q-jet. Unfortunatly it is running quite rich, so I most likly get to rejet the carb, yay... Throttle response is much better and I seem to have a lot more power, however, I have no access for my PCV now. The camera I used picks up lots of noise, and makes the car sounds like a tractor. Oh, and the whine is my fuel pump, sometimes it's quiet, sometimes its loud, but its only temporary until I get the gearator pump back in. Enjoy! Cheers Ryan~

While the R200/230 hold up well, an advantage to going with a Ford/Chevy center would be a large range of gear ratios to choose from. Cheers

Ya, lucky for Oz they have plenty available to them down there, but so far as I've found the GM IRS units are hard to come by. Maybe Grumpy could chime in but he was showing the 'vette IRS units and differences in a tread here somewhere. You might give these guys a call http://www.cwiinc.com/index.html they sell IRS units with the option of a Dana 44, Ford 9", or even a quickchange centers. Maybe they would sell just the center section. And they are somewhat local, being in Castle Rock, Wa. Cheers Ryan~

Ditto on the pipe wrench, and a cheater bar. It works well. Cheers

My color wasn't an option on the survey. Also, the painter and I had a mix up, I told him "black cherry" and he painted "black berry". This is the reason for getting the paint codes to your painter! But the girls seem to like it, that, and it costs to much to repaint, haha. Never mind the dust please. =) Cheers, Ryan~

Vary impressive!!! I was going for a similar look with "as close as I could get autometers" but you took it to a whole different level. kudos! Ryan~

Great news! I found this: http://www.selindesign.net/electronics.html This will make plumbing the intake so much easier since I won't have to bring both intake pipes together to go through one MAF and an air cleaner, that and I would be seriously running out of room in front of the core support with both intercoolers and the appropriate piping. This way I hope to put both air cleaners near or somewhere behind the headlights.