Actually I do buy that lager fairly often - in the summer. Best served cold on a hot day.... I've managed to collect a couple of Jimmy's Shark bottle openers and Land Shark logoed glasses - and a big o' Shark banner in the garage. What are friends for??

I also received all the suspension parts I just ordered, so maybe in a couple of months I can get them installed.

 

still going eh?

slowly but surely

Keep the dream going

 

Hello! How have you been doing with your monster car? You kinda dropped off the map a while back, so I hope you're still in the nitrous game. I still wonder how you're been doing....

 

busy with life man ... working way too much and other priorities took over

Parting out lol

 

Ohhhh..... that's too bad... Earlier today I saw your motor-for-sale post. Sorry to see you leaving the nitrous scene (what's left of it). Wish you the best - you showed major nads when you were building your car. Good luck.

 

The "polar vortex" has finally left the state, and it warmed up pretty nice today. I went for a drive this afternoon and ran the car through all four gears using an on-ramp and a exit lane to the next exit. Been a while since I hit the rev limiter in 4th gear... If the weather stays warn enough I'll schedule the suspension for next week.

A member here has asked for details on the JClaw traction bars, but the car has been buried in a snowdrift for a week or more. Today, after driving around for a while, I backed the car up the driveway, chocked the rear wheels, jacked it up good and took some photos of the underside of the front end. I decided to share them here.






The deep Altima transmission pan. And the traction bar bent around the transmission to fit.














My solid front engine mount. Seems to be missing the top nut...

 

Lol I made one of those motor mount lockout bars for my old maxima too. Works great

 

Do you use the JClaw traction bars??? They would be easy to make, and well worth the trouble.

 

I'm taking the Shark to the shop tonight for the front suspension work. New bushings for the control arms and tie-rod ends at least, and anything else DJ spots that needs replaced. Best to do it now, with winter downtime here. Steering the car is now a LOT more work.

I'm thinking about sending the nitrous system plumbing and intake manifold to Steve Johnson at Induction Solutions for detailed flow testing, before I get back to the track. More winter maintenance.

About time to send the first IPT transmission back to New Jersey for a complete "freshen". At least this won't cost as much as a complete build. I also have another low-mileage untouched RE4F04W transmission sitting in the garage. I'm thinking another complete build and using it for Mile events in the future.

I bought a Harbor Freight 2-ton (because that's all they had in stock) folding engine hoist on sale and took it to my storage unit. Assembly will have to wait until warmer weather, but I'm going to move some of the larger pieces from my home garage to storage, and I need something to lift the heavy stuff out of the tow truck bed. I have two ceiling mounts for a chain hoist at home but no way to unload at the storage unit, which has been a waste of a 20' x 25' space. Three transmissions, one engine on a stand, E98 drum, and a bunch of misc. I can move out of the home space.

Come on, spring !!!

 

When do the tracks open there

 

Well, the local Topeka strip has the first scheduled event on March 22nd - Test-n-Tune if weather permits. The first actual racing event is on April 6 for ET Bracket racing.
http://www.hpt.com/index.php?option=...nts&Itemid=255

The Wichita KS strip is first open on Feb 28th. Preliminary schedule so far - the owner has just announced on YellowBullet's forum a Street Outlaw event on May 10th on an unprepped Wichita track, so I expect to see some of the Oklahoma 405 street racers there. If this event happens, there will be monster street racing cars there, possibly from other states. Even better than the Discovery Channel TV series which just completed its' second season.

Quote on this page: http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...76560&page=786 Posting #11785 by BADMACH - track owner...


http://kansasdragway.com/schedule/2014-schedule/


Tulsa hasn't announced a 2014 schedule yet.
http://www.tulsaracewaypark.com/sche...y=1&view=month

Noble OK ( OK City) has scheduled Test-n-Tune the first week of Feb, and a real event at the end of Feb.

http://www.okthunder.com/schedule.html

Mo-Kan track in Missouri has a schedule up - Fun Drags starting in February and the first real event on March 23rd.
http://www.mokandragway.com/schedule/

There's some possible open race dates here and there, but the weather pretty much controls what's really going to happen here in the Heartland. This makes me itchy, though.

 

Yeah I can't wait for the track to open here either.

 

Dang winter weather continues this week - another "polar vortex" is coming our way tonight for more sub-zero temperatures for a few days. My car is still sitting at my shop waiting for attention.

I have been poking around the Haltech forum, trying to get some information about what is possible with the Haltech PS2000 computer, intending to use it for just sequential ignition and fuel injection at first. I'm not getting too far. Here's a link to that part of the Haltech support forum:

http://forums.haltech.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7942

 

 

Zup?

 

Just wanted to say hi before we freeze to death tonight. Lol
Been awhile.

Are you going to check out import face off in Wichita on 3/23?

http://www.importfaceoff.net/

 

Got that right - I walked a block in 4* temp air to get inside at work and I'm pretty sure my face is frozen. Brrrr.... IFO in Wichita on 3/23? Not sure yet - it's usually cold then and windy out there on the sand flats, and Texas Mile is that weekend and I'm thinking about going - to watch, unless I actually get everything working at the same time on the car. There are IFOs later in Tulsa and OKC which are much better attended - and warmer and more interesting. Interesting no IFO in Topeka this year - but not surprised. That's not an import-friendly track. So I dunno.... You?

 

Damn I want to go to tx2k14 but doesn't look like it will happen, time is just flying by

 

@Grey99Max

I was thinking it would be entertaining.
Closer than the other events I'm sure.

Might be worth the drive just for
If I can talk my dad or a friend into going with me, that is probably the deciding factor.

Stay warm!

 

I'll make my plans as the time gets closer - lots of things going on right now. There will be some monster cars there, from KC and Tulsa and OKC, and there are some bad boys in Wichita too. Last year there were about ten local 350Zs there, but all stock and slow - but pretty! The Wichita pits is just a big sandlot and the return road goes right in front of the concession stand, but - they have a brand-new 1/4 mile strip now, so that's worth everything else to race on it.

 

All the suspension work on my car was complete yesterday, so I picked it up after work. Steering is more precise now, although the M/T ET Street radials still will take over the driving if you don't keep both hands on the wheel. That's just what happens with a huge tire footprint and a locked differential - expected, but still can be very exciting when you hit a pothole with one tire and the car suddenly changes direction. That can really upset oncoming traffic.

I'm thinking about taking off my complete nitrous setup along with the upper Maxima intake manifold and sending to Induction Solutions for flow testing and suggestions. This system will be more important than ever if I hit more events this year and maybe try a standing mile or two. It needs to be working just right, and I've made so many changes that I want a second opinion.

I think I've found the right tire for standing miles in the BF Goodrich g-force Sport Comp-2 Ultra High Performance Summer tire, in 255/50/ZR16 which has a 99W speed rating (168MPH) and will fit nicely on the set of ASA wheels I have in 16x7.5". A set of four sells for $538 from Tire Rack plus about $100 in shipping. Drag Radials are not generally acceptable in Standing Mile events, except for the Mojave Mile in CA.

I calculated the top speeds in all gears on my Altima RE4F04B modded transmission, using 6500 RPM as the maximum engine speed, and a tire diameter of 26.1" which applies to both the M/T and BFG tires, and I get 40 MPH in 1st, 74 MPH in 2nd, 114 MPH in 3rd, and 164 MPH in 4th. If I mount my M&H 24.5" slicks instead, this changes to 38 MPH in 1st, 69 MPH in 2nd, 107 MPH in 3rd and 154 MPH in 4th.

Doing the same calculations with the Maxima final drive ratio of 3.8 and the 26.1" tires, I get 48 MPH in 1st, 86 MPH in 2nd, 133 MPH in 3rd and 191MPH (!) in 4th. Definitely quite a difference if my calculator is still working right.

"it's always something"

 

Harold, you need to factor in the torque converter slippage into those calculations as well. For my application this is around 8-10% as the converter is not locked up in any gear while at WOT. unless your "shift fast" setup can do that as well.

-Andy

 

Good point - but I just calculated the theoritical top speeds in each gear to show the differences in the transmissions' final drive ratios and the effects of switching to a smaller tire as well. Since I'm pretty sure that my speedometer is off now, I'm going to install a good GPS speedometer with logging so I have some idea of how fast I'm really going.

With my twice-modified torque converter, slippage is unknown but it's present. And yes, I can lock the torque converter on demand, although I don't usually do that except in 4th gear on the highway. The carbon clutch locks up very nicely, and can lug the engine down and stall it if it's left locked. You can do that too if you locate the wire going to the correct solenoid in the transmission and switch the solenoid to +12 volts with a switch - the converter immediately locks whenever the solenoid is picked. You can pick a certain RPM and switch the solenoid ON and OFF and see the differences in speed. In my case, it's quite a bit.

But it's much too cold outside to plan on any fun stuff like that until spring get here - probably in May, the way this winter is going...

 

I'm still exploring what-ifs on how to connect a Haltech PS2000 to my 3.5L engine while leaving everything else connected to the stock 3.0 ECU. Looking again at my sample 3.5 flexplate, it struck me that I'm looking a a 36 tooth trigger wheel only with a pattern of 10 teeth, 2 missing teeth, 10 teeth, 2 missing teeth, and 10 teeth, 2 missing teeth, all indexed to the 9th tooth of one 10-tooth group at TDC. This is read by the crank sensor (POS) and the two cam sensors are also reading the tail ends of the intake cams (PHASE) for the factory ECU. Manual page I'm using is titled DTC P0335 CKP SENSOR (POS) for the 350Z.

So maybe I can do surgery on a 36-1 tooth trigger wheel to duplicate this pattern by removing 5 more teeth and mounting the trigger wheel on the crank pully? Even use the factory POS Hall sensor to read it? And stretching this a little further, can a Haltech 350Z plug-and play ECU be persuaded to work for me creating sequential ignition and fuel injection? Can it be that simple?

EDIT: I just saw the conversation in All Motor about flywheels and timing patterns needed to make one work, and IF a modified trigger wheel could be created that matches the 3.5 pattern AND it could be hung on the front pulley AND the POS sensor for that car could be moved to the new trigger wheel, then the owner could use any flywheel he wanted on his 3.5. Maybe?

 

A lunchtime conversion led me to look up old photos of a 3.5 flexplate. The timing pattern is actually cut into the outer rim of the steel flexplate. I wonder if cutting a series of notches into the stock crank pully rim, spaced at 10* intervals, skipping one to make it a 36-1 trigger wheel, and positioning a good Haltech-suggested Hall sensor close to the rim would make the stock pulley into a 36-1 trigger wheel?

A 3.5 flexplate, with the factory 10-2-1-3-10-2 timing pattern done with notches. Look closely at the left side and you can see the timing notches, which continue around the entire flexplate in three groups of ten notches.



I can try making notches in a spare crank pulley - if we ever get warmer temperatures again. This sounds promising, though.

 

With the single-digit temps and a fresh 13 inches of snow, I guess current car projects will have to wait some more.










That's a sun dial in the background - not a mushroom.

 

Dang that's a lot of snow! Glad i'm in California right now!

 

Yeah, but I bet you still remember Kansas winters... How is California today? Sunny and warm? Now I hate you.... jk, lol...

EDIT: funny thing - no mail delivery or FedEx delivery for the last two days. I have one package that's been "on the truck for delivery" for two days. A few other items are also late, like the two different Hall Effect sensors I ordered for my crank pulley experiment. Since I still have my last busted 3.5 on an engine stand, and have a spare new starter and extra Maxima bellhousing, I was going to Dremel-in the pattern of a 36-1 trigger wheel in that crank pulley and experiment with powering up the Hall sensors while spinning the engine w/o plugs installed. Of course this will now have to wait until warmer temps, what with an unheated garage and sub-zero temps forecast for at least a week.

 

Haha California's been really nice! Can't complain!

Sucks it's too cold for more experimenting on the shark!

 

The really cold weather just hangs on here.... 8* this morning. Probably going to be March before daytime temps get up to the 50's for a few days - then there is tons of salt and sand on all the roads that will need to be washed off with some healthy rain before I can spray on the highways. The roads are a mess already.

Drag Week 2014 is now offically scheduled - and guess what? It's back in the Heartland again! Starting on Sunday Sep. 7th, it begins at Tulsa and first day of racing is on Sep 8th at Tulsa, then to Topeka on Sep. 9th, then to (OKC) Noble OK for Day 3 on Wednesday, then over the SCRA track at Great Bend KS on Thursday, then the Day 5 Finals on Friday back at Tulsa. Whew....

Also, on Saturday Sep. 10th there will be a SPECIAL 10th ANNIVERSARY DRAG WEEK HEADS-UP EVENT at Tulsa Raceway Park to end the week with a BANG!

Maybe some of those OKC Street Racers from 405 will be there???

 

I've continued to dig into the PS 2000 Haltech information, trying to learn what it's got and how to use it, and find a real shortage of real information. I looked at Megasquirt again, aand their latest model MS3-Pro is very impressive, very well documented, and they have a lot of "matching accessories" to go with it. Dual knock sensor inputs? Got em'... Triggers wheels - got 'em, with lots of information about all the options. And, the most advanced model, with wiring harness, sells for $1,200 complete. That's about $1,000 less than Haltech for a PS 2000!


http://www.diyautotune.com/ms3-pro.html

 

We had a couple of warm days that got the snow off the streets, so I warmed up the Shark and went for a drive last night. This is only the second time it's been out since I had the suspension work done (new solid bushings and tie rod ends), and I wanted to check it out on dry streets, what with the locked diffy and all. The car does drive much better and is more predictable on a rough road, but it still requires two hands on the wheel. The lower final drive is promising - I went to my secret track and tried launching, and found the most exciting way is still to lock brakes, stall out the converter at 3K, back off the throttle, then smack it down 1/2 open while releasing the brakes. The car just leaps off the line.

The transmission is still connected to the stock TCU and the knock sensor is jumpered but when WOT the engine still hits the rev limiter at 6500 when doing the 1-2 shift. Even NA and basically untuned it still hits the shift points very quickly. I gotta spray this thing - soon. Problem is that rain is coming this evening and then more snow is on the way, so it's gonna be a while.

I'm still working on how to mount a trigger wheel to the front pulley, and I think I see a way to do it and still allow for adjustments. I have ordered a couple of 3/8" 6" diameter steel disks with the idea of drilling out a 3" hole in the middle for crank bolt access, then drilling and tapping a set of holes around the disk to match a 36-1 trigger wheel I have that has a lot of slots cut into it. Then I'll drill out some 1/4" holes around the outer edge of the disk, center it on the front of a stock pully, and MIG-weld the disk to the pulley. The disk will allow access to the crank bolt if needed, allow the 36-1 trigger wheel to be mounted where it needs to be for the Cherry Hall gear tooth sensor (tested, works great) to pick up the missing tooth, and then figure out a way to mount the Hall sensor so that ca be adjusted. After that works, it's time for a cam sensor. I can mount all of this on my busted 3.5 for testing with a starter for spinning the engine and the Megasquirt MSP-Pro I have decided to go with. When done, I can unbolt the parts off the mule motor, weld another 6" disk on the Shark's crank pully, and install everything on that engine. Sure sounds good, anyway.

It's still gonna be a long winter...

 

I talked to the guy that makes the 6" steel rounds disks (and a lot more things) and he's making me two more 6" 3/8" disks with a centered 2" hole. This will save me from drilling large holes in the disks and still give good access to the crank bolt, if needed. The extra metal will let me drill and tap two bolt holes for each of the eight slots on the trigger wheel, so I can center the trigger wheel on the welded-on disk.

I sent an inquiry to DIYautotune.com (who sells the Megasquirt MS3-pro ECU) which explained what I wanted to do with my engine, using a 36-1 trigger wheel and a cam sensor, and I attached a 2005 Maxima FSM timing diagram for the crank and cam sensors. I'm hoping that the MS3-Pro unit will work completely with the trigger wheel and the factory cam sensors. Otherwise I'll have to come up with a single-lobe cam on the rear of one of the intake cams. Since Megasquirt does make a 350Z plug-n-play for the VQ35, I'm sure they are familiar with this engine. I hope...

 

While the next blizzard is moving thru tonight, bringing 11* temps, I can mention that I did get my two 6" discs with a 2" hole in the middle. These are 3/8" thick, so they are kinda heavy. These will make an excellent mount for a trigger wheel after one is drilled to hold the 8 1/2" 36-1 tooth pulley and welded to the pulley. This will allow alignment of the trigger wheel.

Here is a link to a good file explaining how various trigger wheels are set up. I'm planning on using a 36-1 trigger wheel on the crank and a single tooth on an intake cam. Looks like some custom work will be required to add something with one cam lobe to the back of one intake cam.

http://msextra.com/doc/ms3/trigger-wheel.html

 

Frickin' weather has been miserable -like most of the country.



About three weeks ago, on a Saturday, a block from home, my wife crossed the street at a stop sign, and didn't quite make it. She pulled out in front of oncoming trucks and got smacked in the driver's door. Knocked the car sideways and triggered every air bag on the passenger side (lots of them!). I managed to drive the car home and back it into the driveway, where a State Farm car hauler came on the following Wednesday to pick it up and take it Kansas City for evaluation. Surprise -they totalled it. with 140K+ miles but still running perfectly before the wreck
.











Of course I figured that would happen, so we went shopping on Monday after work and my guy at the Nissan dealer had the perfect replacement for my wife - so we bought it and drove it home that evening.








A very nice 2013 new Maxima w/navigation, paddle shift, dual sun roofs (!), black/tan leather, and a true boatload of options - and it looks a lot like the old 2004 Maxima it replaces. That helped my wife get over the trauma, I think.

Yesterday it was sunny and 73* - today it got to 42* and lots of wind. Maybe a nicer week is coming - I hope. Yesterday I tested my new Harbor Freight 2-ton mobile hoist by loading one of my garage transmissions in the pickup using the ceiling chain fall lift, driving to my storage unit, and using the hoist to take it out of the truck and put it into the storage unit. Finally I can move some of my heavy stuff over there and free up some room in the garage.

 

Damn that sucks but nice upgrade

 

Nice new upgrade = happy wife.

She had some bruises on her door side leg, but all short-term injuries. Whew.

 

Glad the previous Maxima protected the precious cargo.
Scary stuff.
Winter is almost over..hang in there.
I just dropped my transmission for a first during our one nice week.
Now I'm tackling the half moon seals.
All new joys for me.
I'll see you at the track again ASAP.

 

Glad to hear the wife is OK. Fakie is right, "Maxine" did her job protecting her. How does that 290HP CVT feel? I'm sure you "test drove" it too!!

 

It's nice to be able to work outside, even if just occasionally - and of course that means spring cleaning of the yards and gardens for us.

I'm trying to decide about the Wichita IFO on the 23rd of this month. Forecast is for a high of 53* and not much sun, so probably not too nice on that Sunday. Now the Oulaw "No Prep" race on May 10th is a gotta-see event. Some of the OKC Street Outlaws guys will be there.