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rxsleeper

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About rxsleeper

  • Birthday 04/01/1960

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  1. Just my opinion but isn't it early for April Fool's jokes John? See the attached photo for the listed address on the camberedtire webpage. 32180 Oakland Rd.......
  2. New twist on an old concept. Back in the 70's Pantera's came equipped with a "cambered" tire. I think they were Goodyear. The tread was "stair stepped" with about a 1" difference in diameter from outside to inside. At least the rear tires were that way.
  3. Just to give you an idea of the $$$ to race an ITS prep level Z in the Southeast US. This is at a competitive level, every race, every time on track. I have not spent this much but if you remove the engine costs, I come pretty close to these numbers. Not included are tow vehicle, trailer, lodging, food, fuel, race equipment (ie drivers suit, helmet, shoes) etc. Also not included is the purchase cost of already logbooked, race ready car or any spare parts that you drag along to the track. Some Engine assumptions: Engine build will cost you at least $5,000 for a freshening of a "built" motor that is already competitive or close by a decent racing engine builder. If you were to buy a newly built, all out, strictly legal motor figure $10-12k minimum so for this calculation I used $7,500 amortized over 10 races (5 weekends) before freshening so roughly $750.00 per race or $1,500 per weekend Entry fees: ~ $325 for a 2 race weekend + practice time(race on sat/sun) Tires ~ $1000.00 if you want to be competitive, at least 1 set/weekend Fuel ~ $100.00 Engine costs per weekend ~ $1,500.00 So for one weekend $2925.00 which you will spend roughly 100 (2, 30 minute races + 2, 20 minute qualifiying sessions) minutes on track or a costs of $29.25/minute if nothing breaks and you don't bend any sheetmetal, etc. Take out any engine costs, and you are at $14.25/minute of track time with the same assumptions. Yeah, racing is expensive and none of the estimates above include the hidden costs of another $40k of tow vehicle and trailer, towing fuel and maintainence of tow vehicles, etc. I figure on at least $1k/weekend if no tires are purchased and nothing breaks on the car. Is it worth it, you bet!
  4. A competitive ITS Z in SEDIV will cost at least as much as your GT comparison John. At least from what I have seen and calculated. And that includes sleeping in the trailer at the track...... Lap times not withstanding. I agree, racing is not cheap and arrive and drive does have its appeal. SRF is probably the best way to go as they tend to have less body damage than Spec Pinata'. I also have to admit that for a Indy 500 race only, the figure quoted seems pretty cheap to me when compared to the costs of Formula Mazda, DSR, etc, etc,
  5. Is it possible that those are 2.25" springs as well? They springs just don't look quite right to me. Jon, I agree with you and John about the cause but also I found that the OEM rubber upper perch will not keep the spring centered either. Somewhere I have a picture of mine from the race car where the bottom area of the upper perch was cut with a band saw and then ground until a carrera style upper perch was fitted into the OEM piece to keep it centered.
  6. A couple for you: "A common mistake made by people trying to design something completely foolproof is underestimating the ingenuity of complete fools"-- Douglas Adams, Hitchikers Quide to the Galaxy "Lifes tough, It's tougher if your stupid!" John (Sgt. John M Stryker) Wayne, "Sands of Iwo Jima"
  7. Cadillac CTS-V might need to be added to your list. You can find '04-'05 under $20k
  8. You guys missed the sawed off 12ga on the desk between the keyboard and mouse. Sight alignment, breath control, trigger squeeze............. Unless of course you are point shooting in a close situation
  9. I will take a stab at this. DON'T run fuel through the ATF cooler portion of your radiator. The maximum cooling you could get will be the exact same as the temperature of the water running through the radiator when it is the coolest. Thermal transfer of the coolant will make the ENTIRE radiator rise/fall to the temp of the coolant. Most vehicles have a 180* or slightly higher thermostat so if ambient temp of your fuel is 75* you will always be heating your fuel to 180* Cooler, denser, power making fuel is best achieved by insulating the engine heat from the fuel lines so that the fuel is as close to amibient temp as possible. Trying to take it farther, ie cool beyond ambient, will cost you lots of time, $$$$, and fab skills. FWIW, I have a external cooler for the tranny of my truck. when not towing I see 165* or so tranny temp. When towing it rises to nearly 200*. In 90+ degree summertime while towing my radiator temp rises to 200* as well. I have to watch it closely and I do service the radiator and tranny on a regular basis. YMMV
  10. Cable, I saw your other post and unless you are tracking your car, just about any quality aftermarket shoe is plenty good for street use. Make sure your shoes are adjusted and that the hydraulics are good. Measure and make sure your drums are within spec as well. I cannot recommend Carbotech for street use as they require a lot of heat in them before they start to work well. When cold, they will hardly stop you in the paddock. Porterfield may have a compound that works better at a lower temperature. I suspect something else is going on if your rear drums are not providing enough braking. Good luck!
  11. All of the above recommendations and one more Sam Neave. Be prepared to spend more than Sunbelt $$$ for Neave.
  12. Just something to think about, a roll bar will not have the same support structure as a roll cage and maybe you should consider a thicker tube wall if running only a bar. I am not familiar with the NASA requirments but does the tubing size change if you run a roll cage vs. just a bar? I know that SCCA TT has some different specs if only running a bar vs. a cage. I guess I need to go read the GCR again. FWIW, I think you are headed the right direction with tying the bar into the rear strut towers whichever way you go.
  13. All of the other suggestions have centered on making the car easier to handle during wet weather. They are good, accurate suggestions and well worth the time to implement. I am going to suggest that you also improve the driver. I do not mean to imply that you are not capable, but go spend some time in the Z under wet conditions in a safe environment so you can get a better feel for the car. Driving in the rain requires a light touch, looking FAR ahead, and planning FAR ahead of acting. Under wet road conditions, the simple act of lifting your foot from the gas pedal while having ANY steering angle cranked into your car COULD cause the car to want to spin. Check with your local autox club and see if they offer a performance driving clinic of any kind. Look for a PDX or HPDE at a race course near you and have an instructor help you along. Try to find one that has a skid pad that they can wet down for rain driving simulation. I have spent a lot of time at triple digit speed in the rain and instruction/practice improved my confidence more than anything else I did to the car. Good luck
  14. Ok, I will try again. Read the sticky's in the suspension area of the forum. I will save you the trouble of browsing with this link to the Spindle Pin tool loaner thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114142 Some people have never been able to remove their spindle pins. Some have taken them to machine shops to have the pin pressed out. I had to trash 1 control arm after 30 ton press could not remove the pin AFTER I had to cut it in half to get it in the press. This job is not quick and easy. Good luck and be sure to read over the threads in this area: http://forums.hybridz.org/forumdisplay.php?f=61 Good luck! Edit: Yes, you should have spare pins on hand because if you hit them with a hammer you will probably render them useless. Spindle pins are available through Nissan and MSA last time I checked.
  15. I will try this once for some of the more senior posters here would normally suggest this be sent to the tool shed. Follow the link above and it will answer all of your questions on how to remove the Spindle Pin's so you can replace the bushings. IF you are VERY,VERY lucky you might get both pins out tonight. I would estimate, that if the bushings are OEM and have never been replaced, it will take ~2-3 hours after you get the pins out. Without a spindle pin tool you might spend 4-5 hours and still not get them out. Try a little more reading and a little more patience and you can replace the bushings. Good things take time.
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