Everything posted by Arne
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Ultimate Headlight upgrade: DOT Legal LED Headlamps!
Yes, proper aiming is crucial, and with the common use of modern H4 lights these days, it's not hard to do yourself. A modern light with a typical beam cutoff should be aimed on low beam, on a flat surface. Do not try to tweak the adjustment for high beam, aim them on low and leave it alone. You can find detailed instructions on any number of websites, but the short version is simple - shine your lights on a wall 20 feet away. The point of flare up to the right ( _⁄ ) should be aimed straight ahead (not off to either side), and for most passenger cars you should have 2-3 inches drop at 20 feet (~1%). Normal trucks and SUVs should have a bit more drop, 1.5-2%. Jacked up trucks should not be allowed to have headlights at all. OK, jk on that, but you see how it works.
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Ultimate Headlight upgrade: DOT Legal LED Headlamps!
Yeah, this is an on-going deal - the vast majority of people judge headlights by irrelevancies like light color (think blue-tinted bulbs), technology (HID and LED), physical appearance (clear-lens MSR lights, faux-projectors, etc.) and output (wattage, candlepower, lumens). Yes, I even classify output as irrelevant - at least once you get above certain point. There is very little benefit to super high-watt output. Your typical 55/60 watt H4 bulb delivers plenty of light, the key is to put that light where it is needed. Much above 80 watts in a normal automotive headlight is totally superfluous. That brings us to the important part. Beam pattern and control. It doesn't matter how much light is output if the lens and reflector don't direct it to where it will do the most good. That's why cheap H4s aren't as good as expensive name-brand lights. And this is why I'm skeptical of these truck/military lights. I love the idea of the low current draw, but I doubt that these will be engineered such that they will be significantly better than normal H4s in any way other than current draw. But I'd love to be proved wrong, which is why I hope that someone will post pictures of the beam pattern as shined on a flat wall. And then there's the price....
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Ultimate Headlight upgrade: DOT Legal LED Headlamps!
I'll be interested to see what beam pattern they project. There is a world of difference in the preferred output for a tall military vehicle or truck, as opposed to what works well in a low sports car.
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running SU's without spacers?
Ahhh. Now we know why the manifolds for those Webers were custom - there wasn't enough room for the off-the-shelf manifolds.
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Cracked transmission casing?
Can't say anything about what it came out of most recently, but that is a Type B transmission. Introduced in US 240Zs in '72. All US '70-71 had the Type A (aka Monkey-motion) box. Can't recall that I've ever seen a Type B break there, but 98% of my tranny experience is with the early boxes.
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Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
Should be no problem putting a 16-18" glasspack in there. I know that there are a few small diameter units to consider, some as small as 3.5" diameter for 2.5" pipe. Might fit better in the tunnel, but also might not quiet it much. Not much room for packing. Still trying to work out the best option in the rear. I really would prefer to keep the dual stacked look I now have. But if I go with a 3.5" dia. in the middle, I may need a more substantial muffler at the rear. Might build a mockup of one option this weekend.
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Nissan Part Request for early differential flange bolts
How many do you need? I probably have some left over from my parts cars.
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Nissan Part Request for early differential flange bolts
I get 38226-21000 for both the halfshaft and driveshaft bolts for a R180. Not sure if that is a good number anymore.
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SU carbs / manifold, what goes where?
There should be a small barbed brass nipple on the front carb body. Looking down on the carb, it should be at about 10 or 11 o'clock. See below.
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SU carbs / manifold, what goes where?
For your purposes I'd plug everything on the balance tube except #3 (PCV) and the nipple for the vacuum booster, assuming that your Healy has power brakes. If not, plug that too. The PCV should connect to the crankcase vent tube sticking out below the distributor. The threaded holes in the balance tube are British Standard Pipe, not metric or US pipe. #1 & 2 are the fuel inlet. Fuel pressure should be in the 4-5 PSI range. #6 are the float bowl vents/overflows. They would be connected to the airbox on a 240Z. As noted above all SU-type carbs need smooth airflow for proper metering, so air horns are strongly recommended. On a Z, most people recommend sticking with the 240Z airbox which has decent horns built-in. But for your Healy, the Z airbox might look out of place, so if it were me I'd use a pair of medium-sized pod filters with third party horns inside. For Sacramento weather I see no reason at all to plumb coolant to the manifolds.
- Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
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Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
In addition to one in the center, I'm thinking about splitting the system at the rear for a stacked pair of glass-packed tips.
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Datsun Driving Canby Fun 2011
Deanna is waffling, but I suspect I will be there on Sunday. Did not pre-reg this year, as last year's experience with only 2 cars in my category left something to be desired. Decided I'd enjoy it more parked with friends - so if others are registering, I'll register. If not, I'll park in the non-judged area like we always have.
- Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
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Our 240z restoration compilation video.
The 6mb version (about 3000x2000) is not as tight. I cropped a lot of sky and barrier to get to the version you see above. The cropped version is a bit more than 1800x1200, IIRC. Background - the reason the shot wasn't framed better was that the conditions were less than ideal. It was taken by my wife during a parade lap of Portland International Raceway, from the passenger seat of my 240Z. At the time Deanna was holding down the shutter I was following Toni (whamo's wife, in red) and Gary (Beandip, in yellow) into the chicane, and I was throwing the car hard into the first right-hander. Deanna was probably lucky to get the cars in the frame at all - the combination of original slick vinyl seats, original 3-point belts, sudden lateral acceleration and both hands occupied holding the camera makes good composition difficult. Here's some others from that lap.
- Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
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Customizing my MSA flanged exhaust
Hey all, I'm once again thinking about exhaust, and I need some info from someone who has the MSA Premium flanged exhaust. I need the length of the longer straight section of the center pipe. Can anyone help me with this?
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Our 240z restoration compilation video.
I can't believe you didn't include my favorite pic of her Z, Steve. Did I ever send you a hi-res copy?
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weather report
I'd love to, Frank. Snowpacks are averaging close to 200% normal. Rained all afternoon here today, still raining now.I drove the Z to work today anyway. It got wet - so sue me.
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weather report
Same here in Western Oregon. Cooler and damper than normal for the past 60 days. Article in the paper the other day said we could write-off June, too.
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Help With Engine Setup?
Yeah the P79/P90/P90A heads only give 8.8 with flat top pistons. Which is only a moderate ratio. That's a fair amount of expense and effort for something that still would require the hydraulic lifters replaced and a new cam.
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Best way to clean-up SU's and intake?
???? OK, that's a new one to me. Looks like someone fabbed custom manifolds based on the original. Lots of cutting and welding there. So yeah, looks like you're back to cleaning up the new ones. I'd probably bead-blast the actual manifolds and leave them natural finish. Then clean and perhaps lightly polish the domes on the SUs.
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where can i get these?
Mine isn't too brittle, I've had it off - carefully. Don't know how tough it would be to repro this part, but it'd be a nice thing to have available again.
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Best way to clean-up SU's and intake?
What does your current intake look like? Dual downdraft Webers typically mount a pair of adapters onto the stock SU manifolds. You should be able to bolt your SUs directly up to the manifolds you now have, and perhaps save yourself some work cleaning up the new set.
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Help With Engine Setup?
P90 with dished pistons is a Turbo setup - seems to me the compression w/o boost is less than 8:1, maybe 7.5:1? Add to that the turbo cam grind which doesn't allow the cylinders to fill properly w/o boost and you've got a bit of a slug. Worse, because it's the hydraulic lifter version, you can't just use a NA cam - the hydraulic lifters require a different lobe profile and won't work properly if the cam wasn't built specifically for hydraulic lifters, which were only used on a few late turbo motors. The 260Z head (late E88) will help some, but those are a large chamber head designed for flat-top pistons as well. I doubt the compression with the dished pistons would be much above 8:1, if that. If the fresh motor had solid lifters, I'd say swap in some flat-top pistons and a different cam and you'd be set. But with the hydraulic lifters, you really need the turbo for that motor.