RebekahsZ Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 (edited) Got lots of good advice from the brakes forum. Test driving to work tomorrow with heat gun to check to see if I was successful. It is about 3 miles. I put the hood on, so the only part that will be really suspicious is the lack of mufflers. Then there is the wheels and tires, the striped paint job, the carbon hood, the red seats, the roll bar and the lack of horn and wipers. It's Alabama, so I should pretty much blend in. There is a certain rpm, where the car isn't loud at all. Have only one major part lacking for R200 CLSD/M2 CV axle swap: new CLSD clutches. Should have them next week, so I'm gearing up for that. Ordered 2-1 merge collector from Burns stainless. 2-1_Collector-Thompson.pdf Edited March 14, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 New calipers did not arrive today as hoped. So, I did some yard work and installed a relay between my engine bay fuse block and my IGNITION PWR-ON bulkhead connector. This increased my supply wire from the 16 gauge wire coming off the Painless 7-circuit fuze block to a 10 gauge, now using the Painless wire as a trigger wire for the relay. I should be able to power anything I want to on the inside of the car, such as my rev limiter, Cable-X, shift light, line lock and maybe even an amp for my weak little stereo. Went to my first car show. My commnunity has a little car show every Sat night at Bojangles restaurant parking lot. It was interesting: I got good traffic from the old-timers, but neither the tuner crowd, nor the corvette club seemed to even notice my car. I guess the tuners are too young to know what a 240z is, and the car club that is full of LS motors is too busy polishing their totally stock $50,000 cars to know that they have a bastard cousin in the same parking lot. Nothing like the sound of 3' straight pipe side exhaust in the moonlight! I went thru a drive thru and had to turn the car off to order. Cranked up, pulled forward and turned off the car again and rolled into the pickup window. After getting my food, I tried to warn the little girl that things were about to get loud, but she didn't seem to understand until I touched off the ignition key. No lie, everybody in the drivethru screamed and the manager actually hit the floor! I've got to get some mufflers. Went to a church social in the car and took my daughter for her first ride on the way home. There was a speed bump ahead in the direction I was pointed, so I asked her if she "would care for a donut?" My kids know that that is Daddy-code for "HANG ON!" Lit up the tires from a stop, cranked the wheel and pulled a perfect LSD-controlled pivot 180 and departed the church parking lot from the same direction that I came in. My daughter was laughing her head off! The heck with 3-point turns - from now on, I'm just going to steer with the throttle. It was a nice day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Ever wake up early and can't stop thinking about all the crap you still need to do on your Z-car? Well, instead of going out and doing it, I spent the last hour cleaning out 2 years worth of PMs from this website. That is a lot of forum input for my build. Thanks guys (mentors). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueshark123 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Nice work. Where did you get the hood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 I think it was MSA....but I can't remember. If I find a receipt, I'll let you know for sure. So many parts, so little time-it is starting to run together! I like it. The metal tabs that connect the hood to the hinges are already loosening up-that may be a problem in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Went for an early evening drive tonight. I used to drive this car with the L24, now I EXPERIENCE it. There is just nothing like it. Brakes are getting bedded in and are working great. The hydraulic handbrake is working better too. I can lock the rear wheels on dry pavement rolling in a straight line. That's what I'm talkin' about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinna98 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 If you don't mind me asking how much $$ has your swap cost you getting the car to driving condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandenZ Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Pretty sure that's akin to asking a woman her age! I'm sure Keith knows, subconsciously, but does not want his conscious mind to actually calculate the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I'm certain we'd all like to forget some of the $$$ we've plowed into our z's. Every swap cost varies based on; whether you do the work or subcontract it, parts cost-deals & such, did you purchase the whole car-remove the engine/trans and sell the remaining parts [as I did] or buy it already removed and the list goes on. My swap is hovering around $4000 but I was very fortunate in that when I purchased the totaled 'donor car' I was able to sell all the not needed parts and made out very well. I know someone else who simply dropped their z at a shop and said-get it done for me and their part in the swap was to write the check. Then you'll find everything in between. My best guess is it can range anywhere from $8k if you're handy to $40k if you simply write a check. If you don't mind me asking how much $ has your swap cost you getting the car to driving condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) I have been using overtime checks from the hospital so I have a some idea but you should go thu my post to get an idea of what it cost. My overtime w2 says $9000. That is since jan so look back to see what I bought before jan of 2011 and after jan 2012 and you will have a rough idea. I pay more for things than a lot of folks because I have wanted to do this since I was about 6 years old and I am thru screwing around. My motor trans was $6500 & I have bought a fair amount of things I didn't use but was too lazy to return. I may have bought my motor the year before. Was it worth it? Absolutely. But this is not for the budget minded. You get what you pay for. I used to be an attack helicopter pilot and driving this machine makes nosing an ah1 cobra attack helicopter in to a gun run dive seem very mundane and I haven't even been to the track yet. I haven't even floored it because I am a little scared of it on the street. Others may be used to this kind of performance but it is very new and surreal for me. It may seem more tame when I have a muffler but for now driving this car is the best drug I have ever experienced. Check with the local coke dealer and see what a year of high grade white stuff would cost and if you spend about that on your build you will be more fulfilled at the end of the year than Charlie sheen by far "Winning! Tiger Blood!". By the way I am trying to burn off my first tank of gas so I can clean my fuel screen again before calling my tank clean. I drove around for over an hour and my fuel gauge didn't budge. Yes it does work. I'd have an empty tank with my L24 with triples. This motor gets great mileage. Use that to justify the cost of the swap. Edited March 25, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 Add up how much you have spent bribing your wife to have sex with you: big house, nice new minivan, dinners, movies, cruises, assisted living for on-laws, roses, cards. It adds up. Driving this car is not as good as surfing central California in January, but is way better than sex, lasts a lot longer and is a heck of a lot more reliable. I never knew the whine of an electric fuel pump in the prime mode could get me so excited for what comes next. Get your priorities in order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Keith, you crack me up-love the rambling as they are both funny & true at the same time. Can't tell you how many times I've told my wife that I'm heading to the garage to spend time with my mistress-the z. Purchased the z in 1984, met my wife in 1985. Prenup = she can't make me sell the z, all else is fair in love & war. I do miss the NOE flying in upstate NY but there is nothing that compares to running fast at the track-you too will soon experience that same rush! I didn't know you were a rotor head-when were you at Ft. Rucker? I graduated class 85-29 and flew Huey Medevac. Also got some time in Cobras while I was at Camp Pendleton [uSMC after college] while awaiting my fixed wing transition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) I DO ramble-character flaw. Sorry for those who are probably annoyed by it, but that seems to come with the package - my kids hate the lectures. I was at Rucker in 1989 for basic course and flight school, but got delayed by a disqualifying medical problem with my physical (hayfever); took me a year of "snowbirding" to beat that bullshi... Proved to the board that the DQ was stupid, UH-1 primary and did AH-1 transition and finally got out of there about '91. Off to AH-1 test pilot course TDY to Ft. Eustis then a tour at Ft. Ord (right behind Laguna Seca). Back to Rucker in 1993-ish for OH-58D and officer's advance course and OH-58D test pilot course and bought my z down there and autocrossed it with the Wirgrass SCCA bunch. Great guys, great facilities (the Cobra training field (Hanchey??) - high silica concrete - great tire bite. 3rd autocross broke a crank pully keyway, so I pulled motor down. Body "restore" was done at A1 autobody in Enterprise. L24 rebuild in post housing at Ft. Rucker while car in paint shop. Coilovers and 4:11 open R180 at Ft. Bragg. Punched out of Army from there in '97 to go home to Little Rock for med school where I met BlueOvalZ (Terry Oxendale) and got the V8 bug. Car into storage while in residency at Galveston, TX till I moved to Alabama where there is no salty ocean spray. Car out of storage for a year of teaching my daughter to drive/drag race. One to two years on LS2 swap. There is a AH-1 cobra on a post at Veterans Park here in Florence, so that is proof that I'm old. The old guys seem to have the best cars. It has stopped raining and my wife is nagging something about mowing the grass - off to drive the Z 'till cooler heads prevail. Gonna try to stay up late tonight getting the line lock wired back up. I owe you guys a good smokey burn-out. Maybe I can get that posted tomorrow. PS-Terry probably won't remember who I am, it was like 10 years ago. I would be hard to recognize with all the drool running down my shirt when I saw his car. I was just driving thru his neighborhood and saw his car thru an open garage door. I was pretty forward and just knocked on his door - he talked to me for about an hour. This was in the pre-cell phone days, so my wife couldn't text me a hundred times to find out what car I was climbing all over and under. The guy is a fabrication and composite part making genius. Edited March 24, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I enlisted in 79 right after high school, powertrain repair [ait at Ft Eustis] then Ft. Campbell [D co 101st Avn Bn] for a year then to Korea to work on CH47's [271st Avn Co]. PCS'd from there and out. About a month later joined a local reserve unit, began as a crew chief and one of the WO's nagged me into applying for WOEC/flight school. Did to shut him up and got orders awhile later [took a year off college to do so]. Finished WOEC & flight school, got my WO, resumed college and reserve drills. Prior to graduation [my BS] did an interservice transfer to the Marine Corps [the Army was not accepting any WO's to active duty at the time and I needed a job]. Spent 4 years in the Corps and decided to get out, move back to Rochester, settle down and start a family. Now I fly a desk working as a financial advisor [earned my CFP-certified financial planner-designation] and am living happily. Auto-x'd in Florida while in Pensacola, Texas while at Corpus Christi and in North Carolina while at Cherry Point. Broke a crank pulley during the auto-x for the 2005 z convention we hosted, pulled the L6 and never looked back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) I didn't know that breaking a crank pulley was that common. Small world. There was a Warrant named Jeremy Frye who was a big Z-car guy at Rucker when I was there. He was a big help to me and did a little welding on my roof when it started cracking on the B-pilar. I think he's still Z-ing, but I've kind of lost track of him...that was back in the days when it was cool to put a Subi R160 LSD in a Z-car. I've got to hook up my tach! Went to the local Cobra club hangout to let Carol Shelby and Mr. K duke it out. They loved the car and one of the better fabricators volunteered to help me make my faux hilborne injection system in the weeks ahead. Admired a high dollar GT-40 replica build in progress. We shared wiring horror stories and planned a group drive for tomorrow after church. Convoyed with them back into town to try to drain my tank some more and I hit the rev limiter twice passing a 302 cobra replica with ease (he may not have been trying, perferring to enjoy the sound of my straight pipe dump tubes at 6000rpm). I hate that thing (rev limiter) -it is like throwing the brakes on. I guess it is better to save the motor. Maybe it is the lower tone of the motor vs the L24, but I sure don't feel like I'm taching that high when it takes effect. The L24 felt like it was just screaming at 6000 and this LS2 feels like it is just getting warmed up. I guess I won't know for sure whether it is just fuel starvation until I get a tach and shift light rigged up. Not really loving the T56 with the 3.90 diff and 26" tires. First is kind of pointless; I'm constantly cruising around town in 5th gear, and the rpm drop going to 6th is like walking around in snow shoes. What gears (diff and trans gear selecter) are you guys using when you are racing? I'm wondering if I'm gonna be autocrossing completely in 3rd instead of 2nd, as I did with the L24 with a RARE shift to third. I had this same diff last autox season and it was great with the L24....any thoughts? I'm thinking that if I ever do a track day on a road course, I'm gonna be reaching for 6th some and that is gonna suck. Edited March 25, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) I made a pledge to clean my pre-pump fuel screen after every tank of gas until it was clean for two checks in a row. I almost talked myself out of it, but when I had some higher rpm cut-out, I couldn't be sure that it was my rev limiter and not that sandy tank again. So, I mustered up the strength at 11pm to go and put on some sexy 240z cologne before climbing in bed with my lovely wife. Pulled fuel screen and it was filthy again. See pictures. Even though I have been very careful with the tank, there was even a little paper towel fragment in the screen. I think I just kept myself from being embarrassed with the Cobra boys on tomorrow's reliability run. Saved again! By the way, as a board certified ophthalmologist, I can also attest that, while it hurts like hades, a healthy volume of $4.07, 93-octane gasoline directed straight into your eye will not permanently blind you. Should be fine by morning...I hope... She loves the smell of 240z - gonna get some action tonight, for sure! Note healing left thumb-add that to the cost of the build. Edited March 25, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I am running the q45 diff-3.54 ratio and seems to be well suited to the Tremec t56 tranny. Have yet to auto-x... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nsm0l3m4n Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) What kind of tires are you going to run? I use a 3.54 clsd and 23x9x15 slicks. I start in 2nd and leave it there the whole time, no shifting. It woks awesome. I found that its easier to modulate the throttle in 2nd so you can get an awesome launch off the line, and (if you want to) the engine still has enough power to spin the tires even when theyre up to temp. 2nd gear caps out at around 60 so on some very high speed courses I might go to 3rd but most of the time its not necessary. Perhaps others will disagree but I think its about perfect for autox. Speaking of autox, I should probably get up and get going tech and registration is in an hour and I'm still "waking up".... Edited March 25, 2012 by h4nsm0l3m4n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I'm sending follow-up PMs to responders. Any input from the drag race bunch? What ratio do you run and what gear are you in at the end of the track (1/8th mile)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) Drove car for about 2 hours - no issues. Video sounds bad, but the in-car sound is awesome. It was a beautiful day, drove up with a buddy tailing his Daytona Coupe replica to a little restaurant across the border in Loretta, TN. Gas gauge shows 3/4 full when totally full with fuel in sight in the fill tube. No leaks. No fuel cutout or rev limiter this trip. Fuel level still above 1/2 tank (according to gauge) after 2 hours of driving around. I think we were cruising at 60mph. Got a red left arm and sore cheeks from grinning all day. Notice God's favor raining down on the Z in one of the pictures-not photo shopped. Walbro fuel pump is not too noisy, just quiet buzz, water temp sitting at same point on gauge as my L24 did, same with oil pressure. Close ratio of 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 gets you there in a hurry. I keep shifting into 4th when trying to hit 6th. In 6th, the car just sort of idles down the road. If there are any bad vibrations, they are drown out by the straight pipes. Dump tubes are getting a nice light gray soot in them. Even with dump tubes in front of me, this car does not smell like fuel fumes like the old L24 did. I wasn't dizzy from carbon monoxide poisoning like I used to be. Perched car on the headers coming out of a driveway. Saw that the drop from the driveway to the roadway was risky so I went slow and backed up as soon as I felt pipes touch and picked a different route to get out of driveway. Inspected headers and oil pan - all OK. Low cars are a hassle, but oh, I love the sound of the side exhaust. Considering different routing play, but I gotta keep them in concept. Porterfield R4S pads are VERY dusty. Accelleration.MOV Edited March 26, 2012 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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