tyson

Not much to update today. It's cold and there's snow on the ground, so the Z stays put. On the last drive of the year I went for a long cruise, and set a personal record of 26mpg. The new 16" wheels and running SDS in closed loop makes a huge difference! Also, I got into the throttle a few times, so I think I'd maybe be able to squeek out a little more. Gas was Costco 92 octane, I'm also not sure if they were running the winter blend with higher ethanol (which reduces mileage quite a bit) I think I'm going to work on getting the engine/tranny ready to come out so I can re-do the front end of the car.

I'd imagine carbon monoxide would become an issue. If the gaskets around tail lights can stink up the interior with exhaust smell, I'd hate to imagine what it would be like without a hatch window. I don't really understand why you wouldn't want a window there?

Your local track has rocks on the strip?!

I highly doubt it. Your best bet would be to get a CF hood and then have a vinyl overlay of the color weave you want. You could do it to a steel hood, but that's about as "ricer" as one can get.

Ahh, this is what I didn't know. The only cars I had ever done suspension on were my 86 toyota and Zs so I figured inserts were the norm. Thank you John.

Nah, not asking a vendor to develop anything as I know our market is very, very limited. I think it was you who said most Z owners are a missed paycheck away from having to sell their car--which I think is quite accurate. Just wondering what it takes to make something common work on our cars? As I said, I don't know much of anything about suspension. Is it a matter of our inserts being larger/smaller diameter than most? longer? different shape? Do most other cars not use an insert? (I know I've seen the ones where the perch is actually part of the strut itself). *sigh*, seriously lostfairlady, why the extremely condescending reply? I'm not going to get into a contest of bank accounts, but I can assure you that I'm fully capable of purchasing whatever upgrades I want for the car without resorting to loans or credit. I own a S30 not because it's all I could afford, but because I've always loved the cars. If I would have wanted a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche I would have gone out and bought one instead. All I'm asking is what is the limiting factor in performance aftermarket strut tubes being fairly uncommon? Is having access to a wider selection just a matter of resizing the suspension tube or is it much more involved than that?

As far as the strut diameter, wouldn't you just have to cut the tube off and weld a larger or smaller one on? I completely understand the "speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" and similar phrases, but I really want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes for just giving some more options than what we currently have. I'm not talking full race externally whatevered, servo controlled suspension or anything. Just what would it take to use as an example 240sx strut tubes in a S30 already running coilovers.

Just curious, suspension is not something I know a whole lot about. But what is the limiting factor in the struts we are able to use--especially with coilovers? What would need to be modified to allow a broader use? (front and rear)

Ran a 3" downpipe on my internally stock 280ZXT. At idle it sounded nice At WOT it sounded nice At higher RPM it sounded nice. Revving it sounded nice. At lower RPM and most cruising, it was annoying as hell and sounded like complete ass, like a shitty car without a muffler. The drone and sometimes resonance during freeway driving was hellish over time. I'd never choose to run a car like that again, it was more annoying than anything.

I was going to chime in earlier and suggest Northern for a cheap welder. Their MIGs actually get really, really good reviews. I owned one previously and it did a fine job. Not as good as a nice 220v one, but for the price I absolutely could not argue. My current welder is a Hobart 140 (i think). I got it off craigslist with 2 full spools of wire, cart, tank and auto-helmet for only $300. Yep, steal of a deal. I'd say it welds very similar to the Northern unit, heck it may be the same guts.

Wouldn't the height be different depending on the individual car's spring rate and how they drive? If you have very stiff suspension and don't track it there's going to be considerably less suspension movement than someone with lowering springs who goes to the track. I think the individual wheel/tire combo, especially width/offset also plays a big role on what would be considered mounting them "right".

Being 6'4" you will run into a few issues. I'm 6'4 as well. Attaching the main hoop to the floor just in front of the wheel arch will drastically reduce the amount you can lean/slide the seat back. On my 240 with old recaros I actually dented in the wheel arch a tad just so I'd be able to get a couple more degrees of lean/headroom. The halo will be very close to your head, I think even if you cut out the stock mounts and put the seat on the floor (you should re-enforce it) you will still run into your skull and the halo being too close. I wanted a cage in my car as well, but after doing the research I think I might do a six point roll bar and work on stiffening up the structure. If I was 5'7" it would be a much different story.

I'm going to argue with you on this one. I bought XXR wheels, and did a fair amount of research beforehand as my safety is pretty high up on my priority list, I think dying in a car crash would be one of the worst ways to go. So... There are hundreds if not thousands of forum posts where people talk about XXR/Rota/etc being cheap and suffering many failures. Try to find the actual photos of them, and then read the stories that go along with it. There aren't nearly as many as you would think and many of the stories just don't add up or are clearly missing details. Also, remember that the average person who buys "sport" wheels for their car, especially the XXR/Rota crowd are the honda and drifter crowds...They aren't exactly known for driving civilized and can be quick to blame others before themselves because they are NEVER at fault These folks also aren't known for buying quality parts, or doing quality work to their cars (think: thick, cheap wheel spacers with cheap worn out wheel studs). Also, when you look at the pictures remember that there's probably 100 sets of XXR or Rotas sold for every 1 set of Rays.

Hmm, I'll have to look into that liquid setup as it sounds interesting. PPE is a must. Both my grandfather and my father died early due to lung problems, grandpa due to his years as a mason, my father although diagnosed as idiopathic it was likely his years as a smoker. I usually use canister style respirators whenever possible just to make sure I'm on the safer side. Does anyone know if plastic media blasting will give me a suitable surface for the primer to adhere to? Maybe I'll look into just doing glass bead and silica instead of the plastic?

Cool. My plan is to build a containment shield out of PVC tubing and blue tarps, I'll build it to wrap around the front end of the car. I was thinking a shop vac on one end, and a blower fan on the other to try and keep the dust moving. Good call on the eye pro! As for dust getting everywhere, it can't be any worse than being in Kuwait during a dust storm hehe.

This winter for the 240Z I want to strip the engine bay, inner front fenders (lets just say the entire front unibody) and most of the trans tunnel, seam weld and do some smoothing. I think I might relocate the battery as well (I'm undecided right now). I've read about a million posts on different forums about doing this on various makes, but I'd like to pick the brains of people who have done it on Zs. It's going to be winter in Minnesota, so I'll be working in a garage with a kerosene heater. To keep flash rust down from the moisture/condensation I'm thinking of doing about a 1' tall x 2' long section at a time (give or take), cleaning, then priming with a weldable primer and moving on to the next section. I'll be using my ~30 gal 2hp compressor, it does about 5.5cfm at 90psi. For the gun/hopper I've read good things about the cheapo harbor-freight, only complaint is people having to fill the hopper (but since I'm doing just the engine bay, I don't see it being a huge annoyance). Dust is also an issue, since I will not be able to have the garage door open more than a crack. I'm thinking of using plastic bead to first strip the paint, and then using silica to attack rust when I find it, trying to keep the blast nozzle at an angle instead of at a 90 degree to avoid any potential of warping/pitting. I plan on sifting the media and reuising, I have an idea for a nice containment area. I'd much rather spend a day or two getting covered in dust rather than spend a weekend lightheaded, splashing chemical on and cleaning up the goopey mess under the car. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? Will the plastic media give me a good texture for paint, or should I lightly go over it with silica afterwards?

This has got to be one of the most unsafe ideas I've ever read about. Sure, they had kits to do it back in the day...but that was a company deciding making money was more important than the lives of their customers children. Do the right thing and just accept that it's a 2 seater car, anything beyond that is just wrong.

Do you still need this? I have Drax's old 240 and he included a note pad with all the values written down. I briefly looked for it, but couldn't find it. If you need it send me a PM and I'll dig it up and post it.

Tires actually rubbed a bit, and I had to raise it up some more. I think I'm going to rent a fender roller and give that a shot. I think the springs or shocks may be getting a bit tired as well. There is no interference with the tire while turning.

The new wheels/tires are on. XXR 527 16x8.25 +0 offset. 225/50/16 dunlop direzzas (non r compoundl). I want to flare the car so I can run 255s all around, maybe next year. I also need to drop the car a hair more. The tires have a very slight stretch, I'm not a fan of it but it's not very apparent. It cost $40 to have a reputable shop mount/balance. Another $32 for tuner lugs. I need to order a set of black lugs, they didn't have any locally in town. Total cost for post $72

XXR 527 16x8.25 +0 offset. 225/50/16 dunlop direzzas (non r compoundl). I want to flare the car so I can run 255s all around, maybe next year. The tires have a very slight stretch, I'm not a fan of it but it's not very apparent. I also couldn't find black tuner lugs anywhere locally, so I'll be ordering a set. Also, the centercap does not fit on the front due to the hub. Drat.

Ahh, how did I not see that? I found some darn near brand new Dunlop Direzza DZ101 in 225/50/16 for only $200. I think these should suffice for now. I'm getting them mounted tomorrow and I'll post pics of it when done. The XXR 527 16x8.25 +0 offset wheels arrived and they are awesome. The fit is about perfect, the wheel itself (lip edge to lip edge) is about 9.25" wide. It's roughly 1" from my coilover, and damn near flush with the fender...Any wider and I'd need flares for sure. I'll probably need to roll the fenders to get the ride height where I want it, I gave the fenders a mild roll today just to give it a little extra clearance and try to prevent any damage to the car or tire. I looked at some pictures of a 225/50/16 on this wheel and it looks like the wheel and tire should be very flush without any stretch. I'm not a fan of the stretched tire look and want to avoid it at all costs. Tomorrow I'll need to pick up some "tuner" lugs since the 527s appear to require them. I'm also not a fan of the term "tuner". Cost for this post. $200

The one I have is similar in that it also attaches to the wheel arch at a very similar position. I'm 6'4 and have some recaros installed with a very low profile slider. The bar doesn't impact my ability to move the seat back or recline. In fact, the back of my seat hits the wheel arch before it comes in contact with the bar.

Thanks! You just saved me a couple hours of what would have been probably worthless work.