The new to me 2002 Z28 (convertible) Options

[79T/A]

Are you going with a remote resivor or just transferring your stocker over?

Those rear rotors are quality. They must use quality metals, I've had a set on the back of my car for a long time. The black coating is extremely durable and holds up really well.

[trackbird]

Are you going with a remote reservoir or just transferring your stocker over?

They list the reservoir as no longer available so you have to transfer it over. So that's the plan.

Those rear rotors are quality. They must use quality metals, I've had a set on the back of my car for a long time. The black coating is extremely durable and holds up really well.

I expected Stoptech to build one piece rotors that are up to the standards of their other performance rotors. I'm glad to hear that they live up to the expectations.

[GCrites80s]

Yes, slotted, but the slots don't go all the way to the outside. Seems like that's the way to go now when doing slotted rotors. I know that's what NASCAR is doing now. Is there still much advantage to slotted rotors outside of Martinsville or Mosport (or whatever it's called now)?

[trackbird]

Yes, slotted, but the slots don't go all the way to the outside. Seems like that's the way to go now when doing slotted rotors. I know that's what NASCAR is doing now. Is there still much advantage to slotted rotors outside of Martinsville or Mosport (or whatever it's called now)?

If you slot rotors, do it the way stoptech does. Or, officially, use a ball end mill and do not exit the edge of the disk. The goal is to minimize stress risers (no sharp edges). So you want the slots round in profile and round on the edges to prevent cracking.

Stoptech doesn't offer non slotted rotors. So, my front brake kit has slots. And these have slots. Centric brakes is a sister company to Stoptech. That's what I had on the front of this car (what you now have), they are also excellent rotors. I figured the Stoptech rotors have a better venting system and I may as well give them a try. I've never given a crap about appearance, but these do match the front rotors in my brake kit.

Slots help clear old pad material. Or, in some cases they seem to act like a file on your pads and some cars will hum or buzz when you apply the brakes as the slots run across the pads. If you do anything to a rotor, slotting is generally what they recommend you do. But plain rotors are perfectly fine for most performance use. If I could get non slotted rotor rings, I'd buy those if mine ever need replaced.

[trackbird]

Holley performance is having a sale. They do this about New Years every year. Last year I bought a water pump for the car. This year I bought an exhaust system.

https://www.holley.com/products/exhaust/exh.../parts/16811HKR

$393 to my door.

This is what was on my SS and I liked the sound. My bride thought it was a little loud. So, I may be looking for ways to quiet it down once it's installed. Maybe I'll add the SLP conversion for the loudmouth, or just try a bullet in the main pipe next to the driveshaft. We'll see how it goes.

[landstuhltaylor]

My Fiesta is getting a set of slotted and drilled rotors from Hawk because that's all they offered, and with contingency the rotors pads and pads for the M3 were a grand total of $9.99. I'm just glad I put the stock steel wheels so that nobody will be able to see those stupid things under there (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

This post has been edited by landstuhltaylor: Dec 30 2017, 09:47 PM

[trackbird]

My Fiesta is getting a set of slotted and drilled rotors from Hawk because that's all they offered, and with contingency the rotors pads and pads for the M3 were a grand total of $9.99. I'm just glad I put the stock steel wheels so that nobody will be able to see those stupid things under there (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Now that's funny. I didn't realize Hawk made/sold rotors?

[landstuhltaylor]

My Fiesta is getting a set of slotted and drilled rotors from Hawk because that's all they offered, and with contingency the rotors pads and pads for the M3 were a grand total of $9.99. I'm just glad I put the stock steel wheels so that nobody will be able to see those stupid things under there (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Now that's funny. I didn't realize Hawk made/sold rotors?

Pretty sure it's just some third party or another brand that they also happen to retail through their site.

[trackbird]

I picked up an SLP Y pipe to go with the new exhaust. I've seen (and even tried to fix) leaks between aftermarket kits and the factory Y pipe, so this way I can test fit the two and check everything before I get the exhaust off. They fit together nearly perfectly. Just the slightest bit of "slop". Far better than some of the stock Y/aftermarket exhaust combinations I've seen.

I emailed Lingenfelter about porting the throttle body. I was going to send it to them last year and the transmission rebuild got a little "out of hand", so I decided to wait. The contact I spoke to last year (via email) no longer seems to be a valid email address. So I put in a standard information request and I'm waiting to see what they say. I could do it, but I'd rather just let them have it.

[mikedamageinc]

So back on page 16 it was discussed that dino dex III is best for the T56? I was under the impression synthetic is always better and have been running Redline D4. Should I drain it and fill with dino if it can still be found? Regular driving is fine but high RPM shifting takes more effort to work into gear

[trackbird]

So back on page 16 it was discussed that dino dex III is best for the T56? I was under the impression synthetic is always better and have been running Redline D4. Should I drain it and fill with dino if it can still be found? Regular driving is fine but high RPM shifting takes more effort to work into gear

Racerdad916 is a member here, he also grew up in a transmission shop. He recommended dino oil due to the friction characteristics of the oil and blocker rings. He and I went through my transmission twice and he built it and I'm using what he suggested. It shifts great, so I'm going to go with it. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

If you lift the rear wheels off the ground, do the rear wheels spin when you have the car in gear and the clutch depressed? I'm trying to determine if your clutch is dragging.

[79T/A]

Kevin - what particular fluid are you running? Most dex3 replacements I find are synthetic based. I have a REM polished t56 with carbon blocker rings on the way and I’d really like to at least break it in with non-synthetic fluid.

[trackbird]

Kevin - what particular fluid are you running? Most dex3 replacements I find are synthetic based. I have a REM polished t56 with carbon blocker rings on the way and I’d really like to at least break it in with non-synthetic fluid.

I actually bought the Advance auto brand. It was the only Dexron III spec non synthetic fluid I could find. Sadly, I originally put Mobile 1 in it before we realized we had to tear the transmission back down so I drained it to save it. I can't return it and I hate to throw it away (it was run for 3 minutes on jack stands).

The Advance auto stuff is cheap enough that you can afford to run it a bit and recycle it.

I had the REM polished synchros the first time and that's the one that was tight and giving me issues. Put a shifter on it and make sure it feels ok going into each gear before you install it. However, Tick performance (if that's who built it) says they sand blast tight synchros to fix them for installation. So you should be ok.

[79T/A]

I’m pretty sure this one still has tremec synchros in it. It’s an f-body case stuffed with C5 z06 guts for the triple/double synchros. All of the gears, rails, and bearings were sent to Liberty for micro polishing. I’m hoping it’s smooth as silk. The builder has a great reputation but I’ll be sure to check it before it goes in.

I’ll try the advance brand atf for break in. I’ll probably switch to Mobil one after a couple hundred miles. I get concerned about non-synthetic atf reaching high temps after 20-30 minutes on track. I’m hoping the micro polishing helps keep temps down a little bit.

[trackbird]

I’m pretty sure this one still has tremec synchros in it. It’s an f-body case stuffed with C5 z06 guts for the triple/double synchros. All of the gears, rails, and bearings were sent to Liberty for micro polishing. I’m hoping it’s smooth as silk. The builder has a great reputation but I’ll be sure to check it before it goes in.

I’ll try the advance brand atf for break in. I’ll probably switch to Mobil one after a couple hundred miles. I get concerned about non-synthetic atf reaching high temps after 20-30 minutes on track. I’m hoping the micro polishing helps keep temps down a little bit.

I considered doing the Corvette upgrade, but I already had my parts piled in the garage and since this isn't a dedicated track car...

Keep me posted on how you like the conversion, if mine ever comes back apart, I might consider changing it over.

You might also check with your builder about fluid choices and install a temp sensor in the drain plug for the transmission and hook it to a 300 degree autometer electronic gauge. I was doing that in my 1992 Z28 project. I had a sensor in the rear diff cover and in the transmission drain plug. Then I had a switch in the dash under the gauge so I could switch between rear end temps and trans temps.

[CrashTestDummy]

I’m pretty sure this one still has tremec synchros in it. It’s an f-body case stuffed with C5 z06 guts for the triple/double synchros. All of the gears, rails, and bearings were sent to Liberty for micro polishing. I’m hoping it’s smooth as silk. The builder has a great reputation but I’ll be sure to check it before it goes in.

I’ll try the advance brand atf for break in. I’ll probably switch to Mobil one after a couple hundred miles. I get concerned about non-synthetic atf reaching high temps after 20-30 minutes on track. I’m hoping the micro polishing helps keep temps down a little bit.

It's amazing how many oil vendors are jumping onto the 'synthetic' bandwagon. It's getting harder and harder to find oils that don't indicate they are synthetic. I'm still running 'dino' oil in our 68 Cadillac, and the last oil change had me buying the house-brand 30 wt from our local parts house. I'm thinking that the next change will be a switch. Hoping I don't clean things out too much on that old engine.

I really wonder how many are truly synthetic, since the feed stock for just about any carbon-based product is oil, or oil byproducts. Once any oil gets out of the refinery, I suspect that all of it could be labeled 'synthetic'. Kind of surprised they don't label the oil as 'organic'. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Note also that some of those synthetic oils can be too 'slick', preventing the synchros from spinning up properly to get a good gear mesh without noise. When we started running Redline in our SVO, we got an annoying grind when quickly shifting from 1st to 2nd. We also have to depress the clutch, put the transmission in any gear before selecting reverse in order to back the car up without grinding the gears going into reverse. Because the Redline synthetic gear oil is so 'slick', things continue to spin for a while before it's turning slow enough to put the shifter into reverse.

So unless the builder specifies something different, the regular old dino oil may be the better choice for your transmission.

This post has been edited by CrashTestDummy: Jan 15 2018, 02:41 PM

[trackbird]

While I'm making my winter "to do" list, I have added a few things. New Taylor spark plug wires (I want to change plugs and verify I don't see signs of coolant on them, it lost a slight amount of coolant over last summer), a Diablosport Intune I3 Platnum tuner (it has a little bit of a ping on the top end. It's either lean or needs timing retarded a degree or two and I'm adding an exhaust and I was going to swap on a ported throttle body....both likely to make things worse) and I'll add fresh spark plugs to the list for the winter.

I also have a hooker cross brace that's designed for better exhaust clearance. I purchased it when I was considering the blackheart exhaust kit. I suspect it will clear the SLP Y pipe better than the stock bracket, but we'll see after the exhaust goes on.

Now I have to look into a UMI torque arm and Watts link.

[rocky]

I can't make up my mind on the watts links or panhard. That's all I have left, for now to decide on. I almost bought it during the sale. I used the Advance brand ATF when I rebuilt mine as well. I was planning on putting it back in after I put a few more miles on it.

[trackbird]

I can't make up my mind on the watts links or panhard. That's all I have left, for now to decide on. I almost bought it during the sale. I used the Advance brand ATF when I rebuilt mine as well. I was planning on putting it back in after I put a few more miles on it.

I have a UMI Rotojoint PHB and I love it. For a street or track car, it's basically perfect. Not that quality heim joints make much noise in a PHB application. But I'd like to play with roll centers and rear spring rates since I have coil overs on it.

I ran quality PHB's for years. I figure this is a good chance to mess around with a watts link...just because. lol.

[mikedamageinc]

If you lift the rear wheels off the ground, do the rear wheels spin when you have the car in gear and the clutch depressed? I'm trying to determine if your clutch is dragging.

So it is easier to just take a video, I can hear the clutch disc but I'm not sure if that is normal, never tried this test before.

https://youtu.be/xKfzDukRGQ0