Matthew Abate

Okay, question: who has experience with the block paint the MSA is selling? They can't tell me the temp rating. Les isn't selling his any more (CA laws) and Banzai wants me to mail a paper check and cross my fingers.

Awesome tips. I'll go with a stock ZX pan I'm eyeballing. Pity there's no steel option with baffles, at least as far as I can tell. Starting to think its time to investigate fabricating a baffle kit.

Some info I should have mentioned: we're building an F54 with flat tops and a p90 with 1972 SUs. We will bore it to get ~9.5 CR. The trans is a 1980 720 5-speed and the dif is stock to the 1973 240z it's all going into.

So how much does the car really need the baffles for street driving? I've read that the engine can have pickup problems but how many Gs do you really need to pull to cause that. Can I just run a 280zx pump and pan to solve this? Trying to balance the cost to the benefit.

I've been digging around and don't see the answers I'm looking for to the following questions: Does anyone who put an aluminum oil pan into a street-only S30 recommend it? If so, we're there any issues around fitting it into the car? I've seen people mention that they get in the way of the suspension and require modifications I don't want to do, but I can't verify that. Is anyone running an external oil cooler on a non-turbo, naturally aspirated car? Are both of these excessive mods that might prevent the car coming up to temp? I'm looking for mods that improve operation and longevity, not just power output, but these are seeming like a waste of cash for a street car that probably won't clear 200hp.

Somebody's a dirty little girl...

I'll tear it open tomorrow and check it out. Getting it from the opposite corner of my house without something to roll it on was fun times, and after the day I had at work it's time tequila time. /M

My 720 5-speed is in there.

Nice Australian valve cover as well. Kinda want one myself.

Yes. I spaced some of the advice I got from the guy who taught me how to use the welder, which included everything you said above. The other mistake I made was beveling the whole edge instead of leaving some material to actually create a butt joint, which explains why I burnt through it so much. Gonna make a check list for next time.

A little piece every day. And a little practice. Went too slow and warped the sh!t out of it, but penetration was good. Just need to work on my swirls and making bigger dimes.

Heads up on dash lights, regardless of the bulb type: the bluer the light the harder it is for your eyes to adjust when switching from the illuminated gauge to the road. I spent significant time working on the redesign of Ford's sat nav screens a few years ago and this was a major point of contention between the scientists and the brand team. Brand wanted blue everything. Your eyes want red. That's why the military includes a red lens in their infantry flashlights.

I know! Please please let it be true that this is just a massive oversight and no one thought to look into it. I know there's little chance of that, but it would be a total game changer. Who on this forum (or HybridZ) might have dug into both of these enough to know? I'm not seeing any threads that discuss this specifically. /M

Okay, now that I presumably have the trans question settled I have a differential question: why do people swap in the WRX STI differential and mess with the half shafts and axles rather than installing WRX STI internals into the r180 already in their car? I would assume the guts from one r180 would fit into another. Is it that the Nissan axles won't mate to the Subaru internals? Is it that doing that costs way more? I would think the guts from a Subaru dealer would be sub-$1,000, which is about what a used WRX STI dif + the custom parts costs. Plus, wouldn't doing it this way mean we could put any ring on to give us any ratio we can imagine?

Just bought my first choice 5-speed! Got one from a 1980 720 with the 3.592, 2.246, 1.415, 1, 0.882 ratios for $401 shipped to my house. Hopefully it won't be a pile of crap. Had to buy it on faith because it's in Idaho. Very possibly an irresponsible gamble, but I felt lucky and brave at the same time at that moment.

More stuff (thanks Patcon!):

Okay. But how are you guys cleaning the oil gallery then?

Cleaning up the F54... Deck is nice and flat. Only needs 0.003 off to be perfect. Anyone know if these jets can come out? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Because my machinist gave me a bunch of bad news on the rest of the head. There is a hole in the #1 exhaust port (dark spot in left center of the port). The head looks good otherwise, but the hole could be deep enough to make the water jacket metal thin. Tig welding the hole could be "tricky". Also, one of the valve springs was installed upside down! A pressure check will run about $60; tear down and reassembly about $80, I will probably need new seals for about $45, and as I've already said, the cam is shot. So, I could pressure test it and find out that everything is fine, but I have still paid for something that was supposed to be ready to go, but isn't. I'm waiting for him to get back to me on how he plans to make it right. Also, don't hydraulic lifters require the round part of the cam to be stock diameter, regardless of lobe profile?

More metal sex (p90a in great condition): Shot camshaft, though (good thing I don't want it, but I had planned to resell it):

New toys arrived earlier this week from Zed Findings.

Honestly, I thought the ca was a 71b and it would just be a bellhousing swap and bolt in. The chart is what got me fixated on the 3.59 to 0.813 ratio spread. With a 25" tire at 4,000 rpm and a 3.545 rest end you get 23 mph in first and 103 in 5th; the widest difference available. Maybe a ZX is the way to go since I want the WRX STI rear end Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what would you guys do if you were in my situation. I think I can handle buying this transmission, but sourcing a bellhousing is starting to concern me. Then there's the rear end. From the other thread it's sounding like this tall first gear becomes unusable with anything more than the 3.545 in the back, and I had intended on going with the WRX STI swap, of which 3.545 is the shortest I've been able to find. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a response from the seller: more than 3.5 turns, so a 3.592, and 33 3/8 long. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk