My New Car

[Avenger]

i just got a 1985 nissan 300zx (non-turbo) man is it a blast! 5-speed, t-tops, lots of get up and go! 3.0L v-6 it has 120,000mi on it but still runs and drives like a top! it has a new racing clutch and 4 brand new z-rated tires... no rust small dent in the hood but its all good!

[AndyKunz]

Non-turbo is good.

120K miles is nothing for an import.

Just don't wrap it around any trees, and leave all the "cool" stuff like booze for some time when you aren't driving.

Andy

[Avenger]

this can go along with my dads 300zx but his is a 1993 300zx Twin Turbo (300hp stock!!!) i can gurentee that there will be no booze crusin'!! plus im not even old enough to drink ;) it is a fun fun car i have had it for about a week now... i think that 1/4 the tires are in front of my house!!!! it has a limted slip diff in the back so i can do a 2 wheeled burn out(it's rearwheel drive)! and it is a doughnut machine!!!!

[B.K. Foster]

Trust me Avenger...those performance tires aren't cheap...
They are a very soft rubber compound that has an average mileage life of around 12,000-16,000 miles....
Each time you dump your clutch you take around 50-100 mile off of the treadlife.... As well as place an immeasureable strain on your drivetrain... The cost of transmission replacement can put a hurtin' on your pocketbook....
I found out all of these things when it happened to me when I got my first "Sports" car....
There are many advantages to driving like an old man....one of them being that the people around you will have more time to admire the fresh coat of wax that you just put on it... Enjoy it and drive sensibly...you will have the car in good shape for a long time.... Abuse it and you won't have the extra money to buy boat parts.....
Laters,
Bryan

[RiverRunner]

Abuse it and you won't have the extra money to buy boat parts.....
I'd heed Bryan's advice. A cool car is much "cooler" when you can afford to keep it on the road and still have some money for other things. A sweet machine to drive when you're young (and even not-so-young :)) can still be a lot of fun without burnin' rubber.

Boy does this bring back memories...

My first vehicle was a 1959 Ford 1/2 ton pickup. I probably put 40,000 miles on it the year that I had it. After a year of flippin' burgers and working my way to assistant manager, I sold the truck and bought two vehicles shortly after I turned 17 ... a 1976 Toyota Celica ST for the street and a 1962 Chevy Corvair Monza Spyder (the Spyders were turbo-charged) for the local drag strip. With very few modifications, the Corvair consistently turned mid 13 second 1/4 miles (which was very, very good at the time).

[AndyKunz]

My first - a 1972 Pinto runabout with a 2000cc engine. Stop laughing! I got it from my sister for $100, including brand new snow tires. It was a great deal.

When I put it on the road (in Sept) it was to drive to school because I only went 1/2 day. School was about 10 miles each way, plus work about 10 in the other direction, so it should have seen 40 miles a day - say 50 for errands.

When I sold it the following June it had close to 25K miles on it. At least, that's what the odometer said. 9 months, $1000 insurance.

Trouble is, most of those 25K miles were done in one spot. The rear tires had 25K miles, the front only around 14K ;) (yes, they were all the same age and had all been on the car the same amount of time).

My "brand new" snows were showing big patches of glass cloth when I got rid of it. ;)

Have fun but don't kill yourself. And listen to the nice policeman.

Andy

[eddieh]

Andy, glad your still around to tell us about your pinto story, man those things were dangerous, especially when they got tapped in the back, but I thought they were very cool, a friend in autoshop, dumped in a 289 into one, with a c-4 tranny, and a narrowed 9 inch rear (don't think he changed the fuel tank (a very good idea)
I was wondering if those were studded snows ,, a friend of mine had a pair when sears still used to do that, in the spring if he jumped on the gas all kinds of sparks used to fly off the wheels, really cool when your a kid, Venger you take care, you gotta lot hardware to make LOL, what happened to the torino, that was coming along,,,

[Avenger]

oh it is still going.... EXTREAMLY SLOWLY! it has quite the nice layer of dust on it right now! dont have time or the money for it now! im about 3/4 the way done but i needed a car to drive right now! cuz well my other beater decided to take a dump! so i thought "hey my torino is not going to be done for a while why not get a car that you wount mind driving around for a while (and not be emaressed!)! so i got the nissan for 1,500 (needed new exaust and still does (no muffler at all!) but im still driving it!)

[eddieh]

Venger dude, glad you still got the rino, it will be sweet one day, same deal with my olds, waitinf ofr some time when I am not doing boats and can spend the proper time to hang the rear quarters,,, man it is just too hot this summer,,, cheers eddie

[GundamExpo]

If I had enough money for a car and a licence (yep thats $200+ for a licence) i would import one of these

http://www.nissan.co.jp/GT-R/R34/0105/index.html

Too bad to my knowlage nobody imports them

[SORCERER002]

I ruined a set of almost new Eagle GSC's in a day at the local track. The $230 (ea) Firehawk SZ50's and $240 Pilot XXX3's seemed to hold up a little better, but go with some Kuomo's or Falken Zeix if you're going to screw around. You really don't NEED the Z rated tires on that car, either, though I know it's cool just to be able to say you've got 'em.
I think the RE92's that are on my Porsche right now are only V rated, but I've never had the car over 140. DON"T GO FOR TOP SPEED, man! It isn't worth it. There's nothing scarier in the world than a teenager trying to speed test his old car.

[Avenger]

i took it to the drags this weekend and it ran a 16.7 (grany shifting) 16.4( power shifting it!) not to bad for $1,500

Just don't burn up the tires... my father's 1984 Porsche 944 goes through tires in about 12,000 miles (Z-rated) with no burning of the rubber (except when he needs to go fast to cross an intersectioon). Dropping tons of cash into tires every year is no fun, and if you burn out it only makes the payments more frequent.

If you really have a desire to burn around, just get a set of Michelin's, they'll last a lot longer than high performance tires.

[Avenger]

thats what i did... i dont even have the preformace tires on the car! all i have on it are some cheepy wal-mart tires... the car came with both sets of tires(and two sets of rims)! i have not even used the preformace ones! i might puit them on one of these days (they only have about 2,000 mi on them!)

[Sorcerer 001]

CChase - Someone must be driving the snot out of that 944 to go through tires like that. It's not exactly a tire shredding 147 hp. (I just sold my 944 last week).

Gundam - Motorex imports the Skyline to the US, but they're EXTREMELY expensive.

Sorcerer - it goes through tires because A. it has aftermartket exhaust, and C. the rear tires have camber and toe in which makes them wear out quickly.

[eddieh]

I can see the tires with a zee rating going up in 12000 miles, it's not that they are doing burnouts, it's the fact that the compound is so soft it kind a just wears away, it's very sticky but soft, I don't think it's necessary with a 944, neither the big exhaust, but the 944 is better then the 924 (hairdressers car LOL) I had an old 64 GTO, with a 389 and a powerglide, with a shift kit it was like a poormans lenco, now that could do some serious damage to a set of sears guardsman LMAO, anyway I still can't figure the exhaust thing out with the imports, to me it's just trendy, sort of like taking thrush muffleres and straight pipe when I was young, sounded tuff went nowhere, you need a certain amount of backpressure, anyway ifit had a borla exhaust then we'd be cooking, cheers eddie,

[Avenger]

i try telling that to the riceburner gang at school... but they are mornons! "you know u do need a certen amount of back pressure" so putting on your "coffee cans" and nothing else is probly doing more harm than good! you ever see like like maybe a 5-6 yo honda with that coffee can chansaw thing going on... and every time that it takes off it belts a puff of smoke! yeah that what having that little back pressure is going to do mess some stuff up!

[SORCERER002]

The only vehicle I've had over the last six years that hasn't had Z rated tires on it is my Escape and my new Ranger Edge 4x4. The only set of tires that didn't give me decent mileage were the GSC's I destroyed in two track days at PIR. I've gotten over 20,000 miles out of Z rated tires, even doing the odd smoke show.

[Zippifried]

Um, don't you burn the exhaust valves with super low back pressure?

[HyperBaja]

Avenger!!! im with you, my 1993 t bird 5.0 auto will blow away those ricers stock!! a 300zx tt is not a car i will ever say anything bad about, 160mph topped out bone stock.


just remember:
you know you drive a ricer when your car says 0.5 instead of 5.0

and this one
Honda may make some shitty cars, but they sure do make one HELL-UVA lawn mower!!!

Honda lawn mowers = crappy
Honda lawn mower engines = mediocre

Honda lawn mowers have a few things going against them. First of all, Kawasaki makes better single cylinder four stroke engines than Honda. Secondly, the decks are made out of plastic -- definetely not a wise choice as plastic is brittle, breaks easily, and isn't up to hard work. This is also true in chainsaws, where most loggers and commercial tree surgeons prefer metal housed chainsaws over plastic.

If you want a good mower, stick with John Deere's and stay away from plastic lawn mowers and Briggs and Stratton engines.

[HyperBaja]

i got a toro with a 8hp briggs and stratton, will blow away deeres with 29 hp.


Tommy 'some people street race Hondas, the rest of us race Lawn Mowers'

[Avenger]

i was thinking in my head how i could posibly get a 5.0 (or a 5.0 strocker into my car ~ 347) and a t-bird is a fast car but insted of the 5.0 i would rather have the supercoupe! 3.8L supercharged! it actualy made more HP and torque than a 5.0l but hey im not nocking your car i dont know what u have done to it but if i was going off of the raw numbers!

[HyperBaja]

yes, i know the sc had more power but, nothing sounds better than an 8cyl with a tuned exhaust....

still stock, looking to add:
lowering springs
k&n FIPK
flowmaster exhaust
pistons, conn. rods, crank (all from jegs, 1400$)
cast iron heads
ratchet shifter
venom computer
maybe a supercharger one of these days

it will be fast, stock- 235 hp 300 ft lb
with flow master 260 hp and 335 ft lb.....

[eddieh]

Originally posted by SORCERER002
The only vehicle I've had over the last six years that hasn't had Z rated tires on it is my Escape and my new Ranger Edge 4x4. The only set of tires that didn't give me decent mileage were the GSC's I destroyed in two track days at PIR. I've gotten over 20,000 miles out of Z rated tires, even doing the odd smoke show. , yeah but 20,000 miles is not a lot, I am not saying they are not good tires but they don't wear well, any decent radial should give you 40,000 miles, I just replaced the wifes tires on her Mercury sable for BF goodrich radials , she had 35,000 miles on the old generals , and there was plenty of tread left they looked a little dry rotted so I changed them, the z tires are made with a super soft compound, much like a racing tire, theychange those after how many laps and how many sets do they go through for a 500 mile race? it's what I'm saying depending on the usage, where can you legitamately drive at the speed and need the kind of bite these tires provide?? nowhere, it's a glamour thing, now if your using them for the track thsat's different, but swap them out, just my 2 cents..... cheers eddie

[B.K. Foster]

For reiterating and validating a previous post of mine....
You are a good man... and these youngsters seem to listen to you more readily than me, I wonder why that is....LOL
Laters,
Bryan

[eddieh]

Bryan I don't know about that, I am only in this because I've been there done that and have learned, When I was 19 I had a 67 supersport camaro, with a big block, tunnel ram twin 660 center squirters, it was a beast, we used to race at west meadow beach at night, anyway it broke lots of stuff and I could never use everything the car was set up for on the street, (national speedway was different) I mean the plugs would load up, it was loud!!!! it'd overheat in a heart beat rode like crap, couldn't steer worth a darn (that may be me cause I'm having the same trouble with my boats hahaha), anyway moved on to a 64 Gee Tee Ooh the goat was a nice car, stayed with them for quite awhile, had a 64, 65, and a 69 drop top 4-speed, 400, use to eat those guys up with my fairly skinny tires all around, box stock except a very few goodies still miss that car, got a 69 442 in the garage drop top 4 speed and a 455 (correct motor wrong numbers) as well as a w-31 350 (correct everything) if I could just stop buying all this boat stuff I could finish her LOL, anyway the work is slow but it's done right, so someday my daughter will go to her prop in a 41 year old muscle car, by then I'll have swapped out the motor, it'll be running a new 390,000 watt plett with some righteous nicads under the hood LOL take care eddie

[Al E.]

River runner - boy you brought back some good high school memories of our 63 Corvair Spyder Monza rag top! My late uncle bought it in 63 and rallied with it around the country. My bro and I inherited it in high school - not a fast car in the 80's but a looker and fun for dates. I haven't driven a rag top since - thanks for the 5 minute memory lane!

[eddieh]

Al weren't some of those monza's turbo'D, i thought I remember something about that, corvairs looked very cool, and you could build them up, I have an old magazine article on how to drop in a v8 from a tornado (in the back seat LOL) kenne-bell used to make a lot of stuff if I am not mistaken, ragtops rule by the way,,,cheers eddie

[Larry Benson]

I thought since we are talking new cars I'd drop in a picture of my latest trade. My first hobby use to be Street Rods but since I retired I went to FE boats, they are a little more affordable. But I still keep a few rods around to enjoy :D
It's a 29 Ford sedan with all the street rod goodies. what do you think??

[eddieh]

Larry I am diggin that ride Man!!!!!! Ever since before american Grafitti I wanted a rod, ever since I built ohio georges 33 willys model!!!! but this is really cool cause there's room for the missus and the rugrats(LOL) gotta love it, they are making so much stuff for these now, a/c jag rears, but this is one pretty ride, ten thumbs up haha (my wife says I'm all thumbs) cheers and thanx for sharing!!!! cheers eddie:thumup:

[Larry Benson]

thanks Eddie for thumbs up, you are right about the rugrats. the guy that built this one is 6'4" and the seats were moved back so the back seat is only suitable for short people 5' or shorter. I love these old cars especially the all steel ones like this one is, man you should see the thickness of the metal compared to todays new cars :D :D

[Al E.]

Eddie!

Yes, the Monza Spyder was turbo'd - 150 horsepower by pushing the exhaust back through. Back in college I bought some hop-up books for quick tricks on how to get even more HP, but never did anything with it. The car had too many other things wrong with it - the old O-ring problem and a bad starter. Now she sits in my dad's garage - probably worth a couple G's. I had an article about converting the post-65 models into "Corv-eights" - gut the engine, gut the seats - just throw an 8 banger into the back seat and cover it up with fiberglass bucket seats. It looked wild but probably a little too loud, and way too ambitious for a college kid on a low budget. Never did like that Ralph Nader - even more now that I've heard his political rhetoric. Oh, well, I'll stick with hot-rodding little floating pieces of plastic and fiberglass! Speaking of hot-rods, how's that bat boat coming?

See ya.

[eddieh]

Al, I thought so, I know a guy who actually used to swap the vair motors into bugs, used to run with these nasty old homemade stingers, but they were quick, he used to get stuff from empi, and I even think motion used to do some stuff, with regards to the batboat, she has been floated and tested still tweaking, running a fine design 775 , and some of his purple hardware, I mounted the rudder in line, with the strut, and am testing at the moment with a 642, being the shicken chit that I am I haven't raced anybody who knows what there doing LOL, but it goes really really well, turns in both directions, I finally talked my friend into breaking down and buying a digital camera LMAO and hopefully I'll be able to post some vid on steves site, you gotta be real careful with the rudder input, but not really much worse then my evee to prevent spinout, but I still got a S&*^ Eatting grin!!!! thanx for asking,
Larry Them old cars can't be beat for sheet metal, can you find some on new cars ??? the rear doors of my excursion are FG, probably due to wait, the grills plastic and the gas mileage is nil,,,,LOL
cheers eddie

[Al E.]

Eddie, Sounds like you've had good success with that bat boat and center mounted rudder. How's the hatch for taping down - does it give you any trouble? I'd say that boat's just about the right size for the 700 motors. Got a Plett you could try in it next?

Have fun!

[eddieh]

Al, I am going to admit something Maybe I shouldn't I have a hard time using tape, what I did was use some 4-40 blind nuts around the hatch opening (6 to be exact) and I use small stainless allen key bolts around the outside, takes longer, but looks much better, (I am a lot like Doug looks are important) I haven't gotten more then a few drops of water in, (I do the same for my key west) but I haven't flipped either, I do have the nose filled with flotation (plastic shipping bags) the boat runs very flat, the wings do touch a bit in turns, I am hoping they are suppose too LOL, batteries are as close to the centerline as possible, I was listening to a post (either allan or ernie) regarding the setup over in the UK, the speed is very impressive (for me) not as fast as my taifun but not far off the mark, much much faster then my evee, I will try to get some vid as I said, there's a fun run on the 21st so we will see, cheers eddie

[eddieh]

Al with regards to the plett, I did buy one off of dennis still waiting for it though, but I was thinking seeing how it goes in either the keywest or a hydro,,, what's the bolt pattern same as a 700 or is it more like a mega??? still got those darn s-4 and s-5 motors,,, LOL cheers eddie

[RiverRunner]

Eddie,

The Plett 290 series fit a standard 05 motor mount (at least the 290/30/x and 290/20/x do).

[Al E.]

Eddie, I bought a Plett 3 or 4 turn and the difference between it and my 700 neo was eye-popping - unfortunately the run time was 2 mins or less, but still enough to determine that there is much more speed to be had than with the 700's. I know Tony Treichel used a Plett in his and had a cool video of it plowing under water - trouble in the turns, etc. He was using the big outdrive that comes with the boat vs. a Fine type set-up. Anyway, try out that Plett. Did you put a Fuller/DPI type motor mount in? If so you might be able to drill holes just inside and under the 700 holes.

[eddieh]

AL , one of my many faults is I'm Cheap LOL, I have a mill so I pretty much cut these guys to order, I really do think the speed is good on the bat the trouble seemed to be the steering, I'll look into swapping the plett when it arrives, but the boat is a handfull to drive at speed , (I hear ya snickering al who told you about my driving!!!!) OK aim at speed, I was actually trying to run some laps and only spun it out twice, I don't know, I have a stepped mono from a 1930's plan predecessor to the hydro I guess, very much like the pool racer, well that too is really quick on 8 cells lethal on 12 I hit a small wake and it will fly 5 boat lengths this is with a cheap 17 buck motor, I keep thinking this would be really cool with more rpm and less batteries like one of those mini brushless, but out of my budget at the moment, gotta walk before ya run, but what brought this up was if the plett is that much smaller with more power, it could be really good for the bat boat, cause you could get the batts a little closer to the center line HMMMM, now I gotta think about this, thanx for the help and support al, cheers eddie

[RiverRunner]

Eddie,

Per my earlier post, while the Plett 290 series uses the same mounting as an 05, they are NOT the same size. The Pletts are much bigger than an 05 size-wise... they just use the same mount size.

A Plett 290 is about 1 3/8" X 2 7/8" (excluding shaft). With a water-jacket (my version) it's about 1 1/2" wide (can-wise, excluding feed/exit tubes).

A 700 is about 1 9/16" X 3 1/8" (excluding shaft and any torque sleeve).

Just wanted to clarify since you are figuring battery placement.

[eddieh]

Thanks riv, so it's basically the same width, HMMM, well I think I need to get the handling down, but I have only run it twice, I did use trim tabs and turn fins, , as it stands I set the rudder dead straight behind the strut, does off setting the rudder a little say to the right from viewed from the stern reduce the effect of the rudder?? I know that it's standard to offset rudders to the left for hydros to the right for mono, i was wondering if i moved it a bit say 1/4 inch would it reduce the sensitivity, i'll post some pics this afternoon, so you guys can eyeball it , and to paraphrase the words of austin powers yeah baby it's a sexy beast! LOL
thanks guys cheers eddie

[SORCERER002]

Eddie - I didn't buy the Z rated tires for the glamour, I did use them on the track, and still managed a respectable 20k miles out of them. I probably drive my Porsche a bit differently than your wife drives her Sable.
One of my hobbies on the weekends was to hook up with a group of friends and tear up some back roads and such. None of us wanted to mess around with sub-par tires. Z rated tires are nowhere near as soft as a racing tire, by the way.

[eddieh]

Sorcerer, I know you drive your porsche different then the way my wife drives her sable LOL , and from what your saying, you are really in need of the z rated tires, I can live with that, but do you think most of the guys using them, need them??and more importantly do you think most guys can handle them? people often aren't up to the driving skills necessary to drive their cars they have, at the speeds they go, and a lot don't get a second chance, this is no reflection on you, or your driving, I hope I wasn't misunderstood when I said "Glamour" thing, it wasn't you specifically, It was more of a general statement and I'll stand by that, when I was based in Europe for 4 years and had a nice little 82 Alfa romeo GTV, I didn't scrimp on tires for that either, or my suzuki katana, but the autostrada has the room and the enviroment to use this type of tire to it's best use, and it was legal, I mean doing 160 klicks an hour for a couple of hours is a rush, but I have also been to a lot of funerals, you have track experience, and I am sure you are an ace driver, what about the other guy who doesn't know the rules?? that was what I was driving at (no Pun Intended) , I have used M & H race masters on the street too, doesn't make me the brightest bulb in the chandelier, I have seen a lotta hurt by guys thinking they are racers because they got race equipment, as a guy with real racing experience you should know best of all, anyway, as I said It was nothing against you, just in general, no offense meant
cheers eddie