Everything posted by LeonV
-
Are horns worth it?
Maybe, maybe not. Dyno it and you'll know for sure! Don't shroud the inlet, or you'll kill performance. Air horn geometry plays into it as well: http://www.profblairandassociates.com/pdfs/RET_Bellmouth_Sept.pdf
-
'73 240Z - The subtractive process...
Looking forward to seeing this great Z back on the road!
-
which fuel line is which?
You can just trace the lines back to the tank easily enough. Otherwise, I believe the line to the left in your original photo is the feed and right is return. If I were you, I'd confirm by tracing anyway, you never know what a PO could've cobbled up back there...
-
What Brand of Clutch Should I Buy For 240Z?
As Jim already said, Exedy is OEM. Frankly, if you don't drive the car hard (clutch drops, power-shifting), any clutch will work just fine. Just be sure to have the correct clutch collar/pressure plate combo (search this). And welcome!
-
Urethane bushings squeaks
Good work!
-
I spy a z!
-
SU's Dyno, triples Dyno
Guess we'll have to go bit-by-bit here... "Pinging" (engine knock) happens for a variety of reasons. It has nothing to do with what carbs you're running, as long as they are tuned properly for the engine. Right, that's what I meant in the pumping losses bit of my previous post. You said nothing about air in the post I quoted... This is backwards. Triple carbs with individual runners should be able to run leaner than their multi-runner-per-carb counterparts, simply because of better mixture distribution (also part of my previous post). The 40s on my L24 idle at 14.5:1 and I'm shooting for a cruise mixture of at least 15:1. That alone debunks the "triples tend to run some what (sic) rich" propaganda. An engine needs spark, fuel, and air to run. Spark is easily provided and controlled, as is fuel. The tricky part is getting as much air into the cylinder as possible. In other words, the maximum power you can achieve depends not on how much fuel you can dump into the cylinder, but how much air you can get in there so that the fuel you dump in can actually burn. You can't burn the gas if you don't have the air to do so! When replacing SUs with triples, the engine is able to ingest more AIR due to decreased pumping losses, better manifold design, and stronger resonance effect. THIS is why triples can increase power. It's definitely not because they like to run richer. As for modern high-powered cars not getting good gas mileage, I call baloney. Is 505hp and 30+ mpg not good enough for you?
-
SU's Dyno, triples Dyno
? Sorry, but your post makes no sense. Put simply, triples make more power because they decrease pumping losses on the intake side and distribute the mixture more evenly amongst the cylinders (individual runners). They also generate a stronger resonance effect because of those individual runners. Regardless, sounds like a healthy engine, granny!
-
'73 240Z - The subtractive process...
Beautiful Z! I'll have to check it out sometime, maybe take that exhaust off your hands... I'm in San Bruno, FWIW.
-
MUST GO - HLS30 00201 - Project
Nice price! Wish I had the resources...
-
Wheel/tire/brake upgrade
I don't even think it looks good for show, but I guess I'm more of a function/form guy...
-
Wheel/tire/brake upgrade
No, care to explain? My post wasn't an opinion piece. A staggered setup (we're talking smaller front tires here) will induce more understeer and decrease braking traction. It's simple vehicle dynamics...
-
Wheel/tire/brake upgrade
Bad idea, if you care about performance...
-
Rebello Racing
Seconded. Those guys saved me from going through a lot of trouble and heartache on my head build.
-
WEber Internal spring
Excellent, thanks for doing the testing Phil!
-
Big Cottonwood Canyon Photoshoot and Near Disaster
I would think that an engineer would base a statement like, "maximum engine braking occurs in gear with the key off at full throttle" off something more than one data point. I also like how your responses must always be condescending, is that how you deal with people face-to-face too? Anyway... If your wife's truck showed that it would go full-throttle under engine braking, then I think it would be safe to assume that it has some sort of variable valve timing. The trapped air within the cylinder acts as a spring when the valves are closed. The main losses of a motored engine are frictional, with the rest being pumping losses past the valves and throttle (ignoring skin friction in runner walls). On an L-series engine, valves have a constant timing and lift profile, so the only thing you can manipulate is the throttle, thus increasing/decreasing pumping losses at the throttle. An engine with variable valve timing can alter when the intake valve closes and exhaust valve opens, thus the exhaust valve can be opened much earlier which would then bleed off the work that was done to the air when compressing it. This would be similar to a Jake Brake in diesel truck applications. It was YOUR recommendation so go ahead and prove it. With your Z this time and not a modern, computer-controlled truck. Personally, I'd be interesting in testing this myself but both of my Zs are disabled for the time being. My hypothesis would be that engine braking is MINIMUM at wide-open throttle. FWIW, here's an interesting tid-bit from Cummins:
-
Big Cottonwood Canyon Photoshoot and Near Disaster
Opening the throttle would decrease engine braking...
-
Big Cottonwood Canyon Photoshoot and Near Disaster
FWIW, as far as engine braking is concerned, I always leave the car in gear until right before I stop, no matter whether the ground is flat or I'm on an incline. In EFI cars, you take advantage of drop-throttle fuel cut by leaving it gear. This is part of the reason why I can get 37mpg out of my '01 Accord.
-
Big Cottonwood Canyon Photoshoot and Near Disaster
Allow me to help a bit then... You pretty much did everything wrong in that scenario and were lucky that there wasn't a need for any panic stops. As soon as the engine cut, you should've pulled over to a stop as soon as it was safe to do so. Without power assist, your brakes work just fine although it will take a lot more force to get the same amount of stopping power. Use two feet on the pedal if you don't have enough strength using one leg. Engine braking could've helped as well, had you put it into say 4th or 3rd gear and slowly let off the clutch (as to not lock up the rears). You've been SORELY misinformed about keeping the car out of gear. Keeping it out of gear has ZERO benefits and more than a few drawbacks. Mainly, you'll get worse gas mileage, wear out your brakes quicker, and don't have immediate engine response to get you out of trouble if the accelerator is needed. The ONLY time your clutch wears is when you SLIP it. An engaged clutch does not wear. I recommend you attend a driving school near you. It would benefit you and those around you greatly. http://www.tirerack.com/features/motorsports/street_survival.jsp
-
Big Cottonwood Canyon Photoshoot and Near Disaster
Frankly, that was just plain stupid. If your engine dies pull over as soon as you can, and don't continue hurtling down the road.
-
280Z Full Restore in 5 months, hopefully.
Since you're on a time-budget, you should know that you probably won't get those Tokicos anytime soon unless you found a place that had them in stock. Tokico's distributor went out of business so there haven't been any new shocks delivered to the US for a while now, AFAIK.
-
Springs....Eibach oor Tokiko or what?
Ah, gotcha...
-
Springs....Eibach oor Tokiko or what?
Nice, is that Clive's car? Triple Webers, Megajolt, and carbon fiber air horns?
-
About to be a 280z owner - First Things First?
I'm not super familiar with Socal, but try Sunrise Z in Glendale or Beta Motorsports in La Habra (John Coffey is the owner and on this board). I think Pierre Z is still around too, they're in Gardena. Pierre Z did a lot of work for Nissan during their factory restoration program in the late '90s. Not really sure how close any of those are to you since you just list your location as "California"...
-
Gigantic warehouse sale full of 240z parts
Don't tempt me! I don't really need anything, so it would be more of an opportunistic buy than anything. I do like the looks of that header and I'm also on the lookout for some nice wheels, preferably 16".