jhaag Posted November 14, 2000 Share Posted November 14, 2000 A few months back, someone posted a photo ( http://www7.ewebcity.com/dewzenol/Dscn3563.jpg ) from the Las Vegas show of a Z with side exhausts--thanks to whoever posted the photo. The exhausts grabbed my interest and I finally learned whose car it was: Jim Darnell of Burlingame, CA ( zmonster2000@yahoo.com ). He is a member of the Z Club on Northern California (ZONC). I spoke with him last night and got a lot of details on the car. He says Eric Nyerlin will be doing a photo shoot of the car in 2-3 weeks so hopefully more photos will be on the way. All body sheet metal seams are welded smooth, the door handles have been shaved as well as the rain gutters. The name "Datsun" is painted on using a pearl white color and replaces the Datsun emblems. The side marker lights have been removed. The underside of the hood has a mural painted on it of a woman with her arms raised to the sun--a photo of this would be interesting. The engine is original and is mostly stock but it does have a mild cam. The car also has Eibach springs and Tokiko shocks. There are fiberglass air dams on the front and back with fiberglass side skirts that are molded in (I didn't quite understand this). Anyway, on to the dual side exhausts. From the header, the pipes come out from under the car in the form of 2.25" seamless brushed stainless steel elbows. The end of the elbow has been slightly expanded so it slips over the side exhaust. The actual side exhausts were fashioned from two, 36" long glass pack mufflers joined end to end with a baloney cut in the turnout tube at the end where the exhaust exits into the air. The side exhausts have been painted black. He said that this arrangement probably costs him some horsepower but for him the main thing was the look of the exhaust. He said it sounds nice but isn't too loud. He also said that he can place his hand on the side exhaust without burning his hand--a lot of Cobra side exhausts apparently have branded the owners' legs when they accidentally touched the side exhaust. He reports there is not any noticeable heat entering the interior of the car. The side pipes are 1" away from the rocker panel. I hope I haven't made any errors in describing his car; he welcomes anyone to contact him with questions. His next project is a V8 Z so I encouraged him to join this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhaag Posted November 15, 2000 Author Share Posted November 15, 2000 Someone informed me that there is another photo of the side exhausts at http://www.2xtreme.net/fredkatz/sfrun400.html It's the second photo at the top of the page. Double click on it to enlarge it. I'm told the photo was taken by Fred Katz who is a member of the Roadster club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted November 16, 2000 Share Posted November 16, 2000 And here's the mural shot-> [url=http://www.2xtreme.net/fredkatz/images/415.jpg"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RisqueRace? Posted November 16, 2000 Share Posted November 16, 2000 Love the side pipes!! Also a very detailed,nice looking ride! I am thinking of going sidepipes with my conversion. I have to "front half" my car and there will be no stock engine bay sheetmetal left, except for the firewall. Maybe custom full length headers right to a set of pipes is what I was thinking might work. Any other Ideas would be welcome. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleek Z Posted November 19, 2000 Share Posted November 19, 2000 To expand the sidepipe discussion a bit you might like to check out the side pipes of the Tomahawk Z kits featured on Eric Neyerlin's website. He tells me that the designer, Rory Bateman, sells them with the kit. Since they are designed to fit to the Z car body underneath the kit, they might also look good on a stock Z. Eric has told me that he has also been working on his own sketches of a custom body concept, many of which incorporate a side pipe into the styling concept. He said that he has sectioned the lower body parts looking for a way to incorporate the side pipe partially or totally into the lower body cavity that is hollow underneath the door area. Has anybody seen somebody do this? I think Eric's idea might look outstanding. To see 2 photos by Eric Neyerlin that show off the Tomahawk Z side pipes check out these URL's: http://www.jps.net/zparts/sidebars/sb_kitcars/tomahawk_prev_m.htm http://www.jps.net/zparts/sidebars/sb_vh/vhad_r700s.html /Sleek Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 25, 2000 Share Posted November 25, 2000 I posted the original picture, but I stole it from overboost.com. Check out their article on the Las Vegas Z2K show at http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=214 And for a closer up pic of the back of the hood, go here: http://www.overboost.com/pix.asp?image=images/214/full/Dscn3561.jpg Don't forget to check out the many other pics at the end of the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RisqueRace? Posted November 26, 2000 Share Posted November 26, 2000 Hmmmmmm, now that the whole front section is off the car. The idea of "incorporating" the pipes either partially, or completely, has sparked my interest. The partial idea is what I'd really like to pursue, but how to make it "clean" looking and maintainable. If you took the muffler/sidepipe, and sunk it halfway into the rocker or so, with the bottom of the rocker and the tube bottom at the same level or so, it would do away with the problems of ground clearance. You could incorporate up to a 50 some inch glass pack. This would make it quiet, but straight through so when you wanted loud, it will be loud. My question is, How to mount it to the rocker? You could use really trick hardware and make it part of the "look". Sliding the muffler into a slot cut in the rocker and bolt it down, using flanges that are welded to the muffler, or hang it off the door sill ??? Now the heat/safety problem. I thought that a piece of tube split in half and replacing the rocker outer panel might work. Hmmmmmmm seems I've just answered my question of mounting. if the rocker panel outer sheet metal is replaced with split tube, mounting would be easy and hidden, and maintainability will also be easy. The only problem I can think of now, is how to deal with the front fender area. Either jog the feed pipe up to the relocated sidepipe, or bury it behind the fender, and have a shorter length of sidepipe showing.Normally they cover the full area between the wheels, including the front fender area. Any other thoughts out there??? Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhaag Posted November 28, 2000 Author Share Posted November 28, 2000 I like the "twisted" look of the pipes going into the collector in this photo of a Group 5 Cobra kit car. http://www.vipercarparts.com/group5/images/cob2.jpg It's a nice twist (pun intended) on the standard side exhaust. I've been thinking about the idea of situating the side exhaust into the area behind the rocker panel so it doesn't stick down so far. I've also been considering the collector pipes exiting through the lower part of the fender rather than under the car. I've got several photos at home and tomorrow I'll see if someone can show me how to use the scanner at my office. And thanks to dewzenol for posting the Overboost.com web site address. There are some nice looking Zs there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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