BC240Z

Hey fella Z fans

I took the '72 to osoyoos for a day of 1/8 mile drag racing this weekend....oops!

First, let me say that we installed a new engine in the Z this week as well,
she's a '72 240 block w/ shaved, ported and polished head, 272-210 Crane flat tappet cam, Flat-top pistons (aftermarket.brand & comp. unknown) adjustable timing gear, dual valvesprings...etc etc etc.

The guy who sold me this engine,($1G full driveline) swore all over the province, that the plant made 300 horse!!.. BS I said....no fuggin way can a 240 plant,.put out like that! .....he swore some more, to which I said,..times will tell. I told him, if the engine made 50 HP more than my slightly worked 240 plant it would be easy to tell... 50 HP should be a couple tenths on the track.

Lets move along...after 2 years of sitting in my yard,.we decided to stuff her in, and take a chance.

OH MY GAWD!!!
This engine is UNREAL!! I can-not believe the power this has now..... Linear Tourqe from 2000 RPM to,.well, I dunno. I turn it 6G so far...and she's still pullin like a frieght train...WOW

Very first pass,..a (half track) un-real tire smokin pass I might add... 9.79 !!! the fastest run the car has ever made!.. NO TUNE,NO TIMING,NO Carb adjust....no work on tires...NOTHING..from street to start line.... 9.7... wholly sheeeet !!!
and feel strong?....wow

The old engine (and I mean OLD) had an odd tourqe curve,..it would come out of the hole,..and start pullin at about 2000 rpm,...pull pretty well to about 5 grand,..then it would "come on" again! pulling till 8-9 thousand RPM (ya,.I know....too much)
The "new" engine, is a different fish indeed. the power curve is very linear.. a Flat (HARD HARD) pull all the way to 7000 RPM ( I pull out here).. with no let up. I actually thought, the seat of the pants feel, that this engine was weaker,..because of the flat power curve...was I wrong! far far more power than my old worked piece had.

Which brings me to the whole reason for the post..
I broke the transmission.....(again)..... grabbed a handfull of second gear (5500RPM).....nothing but wind,..try other gears,..nothing,..the shifter will not move into any gear except reverse! I was NOT "pounding" the gears,.I was actually going pretty easy on her.......I swear,...it just broke like a twig!!
This is gearbox #2... in five races.....this aint good.

I'm not sure how to keep from bustin these trannies.
I'm also pretty sure that at some point....I will have bought em all up (around here)

Has anyone else had these troubles?.........do I toss the gearbox?....can it be fixed? ( I got 2 to repair now)

I've read post after post,..in several Z sites,..and I cant find anyone havin this issue.

IF, I cant keep a Z box in her,.. I'm gonna have to decide whether to stop racing her (she IS after all a collector Item)....or find a box that can take the abuse!
any Idea's Guys ?? (n' gals)

P.S. YES,.I need a 4 spd gearbox..NOW...we race on sunday again...different track.

Todd/BC240Z

snwbrderphat540

i got a 4spd if you want. gotta ship from IL though so i odnt know how it would work out goin to canada, shipped a BW t5 to arizona though for like 80 bucks or soemthing.

duowing

My guess is the problem lies in your 4-speed gearbox. I'd imagine it wasn't engineered to handle a whole lot of power, you'd probably be better off switching over to a ZX 5-speed.

snwbrderphat540

some types of racing only allow 4speeds or w/e maybe its whatever was stock in the car or something, but thats if your doing like events.... so idk

duowing

Well I mean it sounds like he's probably racing on the stock 4-speed tranny. Which probably won't hold up too well to built up engines, I mean it's been said that you can go through the regular ZX 5-speed alot quicker just for using it on the stock Turbo engine.

thxone

I'd say use an '82-'83 ZXT T-5....you don't have to use 5th on the track. Maybe look into a Richmond 4-speed, they are tough as hell and made to handle power. There is nothing wrong with a different brand tranny...just keep a factory one around to keep the car original...something to look into.

BC240Z

ya.. we got this figured. (TY fer the responses)
as it turns out, its not such a big deal after all.
Its not so much the power I'm making. I'm just shifting too fast. I'm used to the "crash-boxes" we used to run in our Musclecars. 833 slick-shift hemi four speeds, and Muncie rock crushers Etc. The Z box wasnt made fer me....hehe

It would appear that I've watched, One too many "Ronnie Sox" powershifting video clips...lol.......And Quite Clearly, "I" can shift, far faster than a Z box's shifter forks and or "shear" Pins will allow!!
I have shredded the Pins in the 1-2 Shift forks.... THIS time (last race)
I Shredded the pins in 3-4 forks ...last time (4 races ago)

The pins are simple rolled steel POS parts. and they simply shear off, if abused (ya....thats me!)
After talking to some "big power" guys, rebello customers. etc. we've found the cause, and the cure.
We are going to "double pin" these suckers!(a roll pin,INSIDE another roll pin)
and use the better steel forks while we're at it. (I guess some wimps have alum. forks... ewww )
We may go one step beyond this, and have stainless or even titanium pins tooled up... just hope we never have to dissasemble it!..lol
For now (today) we double pinned 'em. and will re-install the box I broke last year. and we will have the other box TOTALLY bulletproof, by the time this one comes apart...hehe. and it will. I have faith in MY abilities to destroy it !! (just will take a 'lil longer)

Thank for the responses ya'll....... thats why I hang out here
we'll be back on the road Wed.,....and racin' Sun !!

BC240Z

**Update**

The transmission has been repaired..refurbished and re-installed, with the "Double pin" method of holding the shift forks on the rods.
Muh Buddy G.G. and I had 'er out,back in and rowin' through the gears in an afternoon.

With the new pins, I shouldnt break this one so quick....hehe
we race on Sunday... 9.5's..here we come !!

Todd/BC240Z

snwbrderphat540

1/8 mile racing doesnt mean much to me lol.... any idea what it does in the quarter? any plans to run it a quarter mile?

BC240Z

1/8 mile doesnt mean much......hmmm

Ya know...I feel the other way...what a waste of time, that second 1/8 is!
wait a couple years phat.ALL NHRA racing will be 1/8 mile. and you can say you read it here first.

I'd rather see the mudstain I just whipped, hit the walls at 80 MPH, as apposed to 120..the parts dont spread as far.....and, cleanup takes less time... when those 5 litres explode..revvin like hell trying to catch the Z they just laughed at. (the only "stains" to ever beat me,..are supercharged or use a huge NOS shot)

99% of drag races are won and lost, in the first '60....after that, its a sunday drive. 1/4 mile racing, your trying to see how many RPM above redline you can go, and for how long. ZINGGGG...ouch

And, according to our handy-dandy pocket calc. we should be able to run in the Mid to low 13's around 100+ MPH....on paper anyway.
Funny you should ask....yes, we're going to race the car at Mission Raceway.(Vancouver) Or, Race City in Calgary.....just to know for sure.
I hav'nt run her in the 1/4 ...yet

Todd/BC240Z

SpeciallySpiked

I think he's going for more of a "I have nothing to compair that to" since most people talk about 1/4 mile times.
like 9 second 1/4 is FAST 10 isn't bad etc you know?
Let us know what it does in the 1/4 when you do

snwbrderphat540

yeah, lol what greg said, not like i meant it was pointless or anything. and 10's are fast, andything 11 and faster on a street driven car i feel is pretty fast.