2ManyZs

I have been doing business with them almost as long as they have been in business. Man, think of all the Christmas goodies I could have had.

Well, now that the planets have aligned in cyberspace and the link works, all I can say is this. Why couldn't I have found one like this when I was racing! Guess I'll have to fix this 240 and go racing again so I can get one of these and be able to get in and out of the car without folding my legs up. :eek: Well, maybe not, but it sure would have been nice! They even have some decent looking wheels for acceptable prices.

I'll hit three topics here at once. Mike, the air dam on guy geo's car is available from MSA, it's their urethane air dam. I'd imagine it's pretty much a standard urethane air dam you could get from VB, MSA and a few others. Not sure who makes it though. I think I should know this one, I have two and one very similar on my 280. meakin, I'm not sure but this web-site has an air dam that looks a lot like Jan's does except the turn signals are in a different location. Take a look at www.lightman.co.uk/mjp/ Perhaps he has sold the air dam or is making it for sale? The MSA air dam is different from Jans in that it has a much more pronounced bumper detail, looks like a 280 bumper molded in. Also the one on Jans car has more of a lip at the very bottom. I love the way the turn signals are built into his and curve wrap around the side, one like this would probably be a big seller here. Dan, Thanks, I was just wondering if you had used the side skirts mainly. I have been thinking about putting a set on my 71 when it is done and was just wondering how they attached and how they fit. Hope someone has a set and can tell me if they are a pain to install or not.

Well, there are a couple things you could check before you R&R the rack. 1. Have you double checked your tires? Balancing, out of round, flat spotted? If you have the same size all around try swapping them front to rear. 2. Have you replaced the steering shaft coupler? Is it tight? 3. Is there a lot of play in the rack itself? Try jacking the front up and while rocking the steering back and forth check for play at the rack and pinion itself. 4. This is a long shot but it's a possibility nonetheless. Have you checked your brake rotors and calipers? Is it possible one rotor may be warped a little? Or a piston is seizing in the caliper? 5. I'm assuming you have done this already but were the rack bushings replaced with the urethane ones? If all this fails it may be the inner tie rod ends at the rack. Just giving you some more ideas.

Dan, did you get the whole kit or just the front air dam. I was just wondering how the rest of it fit. The side skirts and rear bumper cover might be something I'd like to put on a car but am just wondering if you had it and how it fit.

I have used a couple of the carpet kits from MSA and have been pleased with how they look. Most anyone who sells Z parts has a carpet kit, and they are all priced competetively. I'm not very good with carpet so I didn't do a custom job myself.

I think MSA still has one, or you could use one like the one I got from Pegasus racing parts. It's a bit smaller and a little thicker plastic. Their web-site is www.pegasusautoracing.com. I believe Summit Racing also sells a round catch tank too. The one from MSA I have is a bit bigger and it is rectangular and as yet I haven't put it in the car so I don't know how it will fit.

Sorry Dan, the link doesn't work.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Can you tell the rest of us where you found this kit?? Will the hub work with other style steering wheels or is this made for just the one wheel? Might be a lot of people interested in something like this so if you can post a link or the company that makes it that would be great.

Dan, did I understand that the bumper cover/air dam is all fiberglass? I thought it was urethane all this time. Hmm. May have to re-think the idea I had for my one car. I had one fiberglass air dam an didn't like it since it only took a low curb to crack it. Guess I didn't read the description too well in the MSA catalog.

Simply put?? NO. The ECU, ICU and Air Flow Meter are only for fuel injected cars, so the only thing you might possibly use would be the distributor. Lot to pay for parts you can't use. :eek:

With the proper offset a 16x7 will work, tire size will also play a factor though in how much clearance you have. I would recommend taking the car to a good tire and wheel shop and having it measured for the offset before you sink money into rims and tires. There is a gauge that can be used to measure the clearance inside the wheel well to determine how much offset you will need to help you decide on the tire and rim sizes so that you won't have any rubbing.

The only one that works is the 4x4.50, the 4x100 is the Honda pattern. Of course, we already know how that one works. The only other thing you would need to find out is the offset, with a 15x7 you would need a zero offset or close to that to fit without any worries of rubbing. A 14x6 could use a little more offset but not too much or you may rub the fenders, especially if you lower the car at all. I have always tried to go with zero offset whenever possible.

If he's using the air dam I'm thinking about you have to use the 280 turn signals in the grill. I believe the cover is made so that you can remove the bumper. It's not quite as good looking as the one on the red car on the main page(if Zlishous ever finds the URL so we can look at it) but it isn't a bad looking alternative.

Holding on to a plug wire isn't too wise in my opinion, how do I know? I've been zapped a couple times by faulty plug wires and believe me it doesn't feel the greatest. From what you say I think I'd be looking at the coil or wiring to or from the coil. Never had any experience with the GM conversion so I'll leave that to someone who has done that.

Kinda thought the adapter would be a bit much. It might be OK if you already had a set of the wheels and wanted to use them. Take a look at www.americanracing.com on the second page of passenger car wheels they have one called the Vortec that is available in 14x6 or 15x7 in the correct pattern. They are 100 bucks or less manufacturers list price. Not a bad looking wheel for the price but don't know how they compare with what you wanted. Trying to find a decent looking wheel that fits and isn't too expensive is going to require some searching. Probably the best idea might be to go to a 15 inch wheel so you can have a little larger selection. Good Luck.

Well, don't know of any power rack kits. Most of the Z's are pretty hard to turn at slow speeds but a lot of times it has to do with the size tires and wheels you are using. Have you tried to lube the rack? There are two small plugs on the rack that you can remove and put a 1/8 inch ( I think) grease fitting into to put a little grease into the rack. Should be one on each end of the rack if I remember right. Just put a little in or you can blow out the seals on the inner tie rod ends.

Sorry, I should have been a little clearer on that. The pin I'm referring to is the wedge bolt that holds the pivot bolt. The bolt itself can be stubborn enough to remove and replace but the wedge bolt is sometimes the worst. When you put the pivot bolt back in it only goes in one way, so be sure to make a note of how it came out, it will only line up with the wedge bolt one way. The pivot bolt has to be aligned pretty close or you will have trouble re-inserting the wedge bolt. I had a lot of trouble with one of mine as the wedge bolt kept trying to turn and jam into the slot in the pivot bolt. I double nutted the end of the pivot bolt so I could align the slot for the wedge bolt a little easier. Be careful when you try to get the pivot pin wedge bolt out as it is a bit soft and it is easy to mushroom the end of it. BTW, I had my complete strut and control arm assembly off the car so if you are doing this while it is still on the car it might make things a little more difficult, not impossible, just that having it on the work bench did make it a lot easier to do the job. And this was the first time I had ever attempted to do the pivot bushings so it isn't like I have done this over and over. Just be careful when you are driving out the pivot bolt and the wedge bolt so as not to mess up the threads, and it won't hurt to clean up the pivot bolt with a little sandpaper or Scotchbrite pad to allow it to slide back in easier, along with a little bit of grease.

Yes, you can drill out the rubber holding the pin bushings in and knock them out with a hammer and punch. Actually they are a bit easier to do than the inner bushings since they are not "peened" over like the larger ones. The hardest part is getting the pin out. Lube them up good when you put the new ones in or you'll have another squeak to deal with. Your front end shimmy could be the tires (maybe one is out of balance or has some odd wear) but more likely it could be you need to check your wheel bearings. Front end alignment would give you a wandering or pull to one side or another. I would check the tires, bearings, and brake hardware and possibly the tension control rod bushings first then go towards the less likely causes. It could also be that the rack has too much play in it too, so as you can see there are quite a few things to check.

Good thing it wasn't just down the street from me! I have never owned a Z with less than 100k on it.

No. I'm not a master of understatement. Mine came out with little problem, I had mine done (both sides) in a couple hours, this included sandblasting, painting and reassembling the entire strut/ control arm assembly. Perhaps I just used a bigger "persuader"?? Of course before you use the larger persuader you might want to have new pins ready in case you swage the ends of the old pins out to the point they are not useable.

The aluminum flywheel sounds like a good idea but remember that most times they recommend a better clutch such as a Centerforce with a higher clamping force to get the most out of the flywheel. Not sure how a stock clutch would hold up, but it might allow too much slippage and not last very long. The cam choice is OK but a lot of how it will work will be in what head and carb set-up you use, and what pistons you are going to use. The cam might be a little too wild for stock SU's, you might need to think about Webers/Mikuni triples to get the most out of the cam. Another thing to think about would be how much vacuum you will be getting with this cam. I'm not an engine builder so I can't really give you a definate opinion on your ideas, I only base my opinions on what I have read. You might want to consult with someone like Rebello racing engines on your final choices. Your cam choice is going to affect many other areas so you need to talk to someone that knows what works as I have no experience with this cam. Piston choice, head, and induction system are going to be critical in how this works, so you may want to do some research on this from the pro's before you start gathering parts. My guess would be an E-31 head (or a P-79 or P-90) with the larger 280 valves and flat top pistons to come up with a final compression ratio in the 10 to 10.5 to 1 range, with a set of triple Mikuni's.

Well, I didn't know anyone made an adapter to fit the Honda wheels to a Z, but for the price ($210 a pair) I'd be tempted to abandon that idea. For what they cost you could almost buy a pair of wheels in the first place. Unless there is a style of wheel you just can't live without. Almost doubles the cost of a set of wheels.:eek: :sick:

Yes, I think you are experiencing the squeak because you didn't grease the outside of the bushings. When I put mine in I greased the inside and outside of the poly bushing, plus I put grease on the inside of the steel insert. Anywhere you have steel and poly in contact you have an area that may cause a squeak. I even greased the outside ends so that the bushings were completely covered inside and out. I haven't driven the car yet so I can't say for certain mine won't squeak but it won't be because I didn't try to grease them enough. Sorry. When you say you replaced the upper bushings in the rear I believe you mean the inner bushings, as there are no upper bushings. The lower bushings you referred to I believe are the outer bushings where the strut mounts to the control arm. You shouldn't have too much trouble by not replacing them. However it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace them soon, they aren't that hard to replace, the hardest part is getting the pin out but with a little work and patience you should be able to do that without too much trouble. What you may have gained by replacing one set may be cancelled out by not replacing the other, although one set is better than worn out bushings in both places. The front control arms can be be taken off without removing the strut. The hardest part of this job I found was to get the control arm back in with the new bushings. I ended up using a piece of all-thread rod with 2 large flat washers and 2 nuts. I used it as a spreader as the new bushings were a little too tight to get them into the mount. Once I spread it just a little it gave me the room needed to slide the control arm in. Do you mean a shimmy in the wheel? If it is, you may have worn tie rod ends or some other parts that was not noticeable before you replaced the bushings. In other words it was doing it before but it wasn't noticeable because the bushings were cancelling it out with the slop they had in them. I'd check the tie rod ends first, then go to the steering coupler in the steering column, then on to the wheel bearings and maybe even check your brakes. You could have a warped rotor or a seized piston in the caliper.

Well, glad to hear the "better half" if OK. As to what you could say when you return to the shop, well, guess that isn't fit to put on the site.:eek: I would calmly explain the situation first, then if they don't want to make good on the repair it might be time to go a little ballistic.