tyson
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Posts posted by tyson
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Nice bar/cage!
Quick question while this thread is active. I've got a slightly similar setup in my car. Would it be benefitial for me to toss a few stitch welds at the mounts to try and stiffen up the chassis? Or do tight bolts do a good enough job?
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I got my XXR 527 in 16x8.25 +0 yesterday. It's a tight fit, but I think I can fit 225x50x16 tires into the Z with only rolling the fender lip.
I also weighed one on my postage scale. 16lbs 12oz each, seems fairly light for a wheel? (no complaints)
Also, the centercap they come with snaps perfectly and securely into the 280ZX snowflake wheels....an option for those with missing centercaps if you could find them!
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Hey Drax! Long time no see!
I plan on buying some race compounds spring 2014. There's plenty of selection i've been eyeing on tirerack, just can't justify spending $600 on tires 6 months before I can use em. I also want to be sure of the fitment before I order them.
Hey, wanted to ask you a question. Those 2 metal replacement panels you gave me, where do they go on the car?
Getting the itch for a Z again yet?
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No car updates, but I'm almost regretting buying a 16" wheel.
I've checked all the local car/racing forums
Watched craigslist for days
Can't find any decent used rubber. Looking for a 245/45/16 (or close to it) and I'm coming up with nothing in the used department. I'd like to get some rubbers on the Z to finish out the rest of the year with the new wheels and to get a good idea of tire fitment before I make the big purchase on brand new ones.
Seems like 16" is the bastard size right now, because I can't find ANYTHING for a used performance tire in 16. There's a bunch in 14, 15, 17 and 18.....crap.
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I found this a bit funny, so I'll share.
Today the company I ordered the wheels from called me up and wanted to verify the year/model car I was putting it on. I don't blame them since they probably deal with a ton of people who get the wrong wheels and then want a refund on the wheels and shipping.
So I tell him, and he then asks what width tire I'm planning on running (between 225 and 255, whatever fits best). He tells me "That stretch won't look good, there won't be any stretch". I tell him that I'm actually trying to put as wide of a tire as I reasonably can on the wheel, he said he hadn't heard of people putting a wider tire on a wheel. WTF?!
Kids these days...
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I didn't say it wasn't worth it. I was referring to the people who many people who rarely use the forum but have a lot of Z parts.
I'll clear the air, once again:
- $25 isn't anything to batt an eye at for most people.
- The site is worth it.
I'm just saying, I think it cuts down on the for sale posts quite a bit. By the regulars? no. I do believe the for sale sections used to have quite a bit more content, especially stuff which would get the interest of anyone with a modified Z. Maybe I'm wrong, I dunno.
Also, wasn't the donations implemented just a few months ago? I don't seem to recall it being here a couple years ago.
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I just noticed this (wanted to post a head for sale). While I have no problems donating to Hybridz, does anyone think this is a reason the buy/sell forums have been so dead & bland lately?
I've been checking the forum daily for months and it's been boring the hell out of me. I was thinking "This place used to be a gold mine of parts!". Also, $25 is pretty steep for someone who doesn't post here often and just wants to unload some parts.
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Haven't driven it too much lately, it's been hot and I have been short on time.
Replaced the clutch slave, since I put in the new clutch I found the clutch to be catching rather late in the pedal travel. I had bled the system a couple times and done a bunch of research. Ended up using a video camera and watching the movement. I bled the clutch slave and pressed the rod in, found it was putting some force against the fork all the time. I was pleased the replacement slave was only $12!
Today I also pulled the trigger on some new wheels. I had been looking at the Rota RB® 17" wheels for a while, but the prices are high and I haven't seen a good used set come up for sale around me in quite a while. I really don't like the 15" wheel size, and the snowflake patterns. A few months ago I saw a Z on here with some XXR 527 wheels and I fell in love. I had been trying to find a local set, but either people were selling them WITH stretched tires, or asking a ridiculous price (or both). Note: I do NOT plan on doing any kind of stretch.
Found a ebay store selling them for $426 shipped--best offer. I offered $400, they came back at $420 (already way cheaper than everywhere else).
So, $432 spent for this post. Slave cyl and 16x8.25" 0-Offset wheels. Not bad!
Now, hopefully I can find some good used rubber to put on them before the end of the Minnesota driving season.
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I didn't read the last few posts, but since the "fabricator" cut too much from the strut towers would it not be benefitial and more cost efficient to have larger camber plates made to fit the holes?
Cut the plates out, weld them smooth. Measure the hole they have to go in and bring it to a fab shop for it to be scanned, increased in size where need be and then new ones CNCed?
OP, Even if it takes a lot longer and a lot of time, get these fixed. If it holds and doesn't kill you...cool I guess. But if I were car shopping I'd walk away the moment I saw them.
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After about 60 miles of driving I'm glad to say the exhaust smell has been significantly reduced with the windows open! It's still a Z & I still smell some exhaust from time to time however, my clothing no longer smells of exhaust after driving.
(I very rarely drive with windows closed, so don't expect any data on windows closed)
Today I also wired up the PLX Wideband O2 sensor that came with the car. I removed the old 1 wire O2 sensor, changed the O2 sensor type on the SDS EM-3 controller to work with the wideband. I started the car and the wideband was giving data after a few seconds of warm up. I haven't driven it yet, it's going to be nice to fine tune the car and get some more horsepower/MPGs out of it....Especially since I'm driving it out to Colorado in a couple weeks.
I'm glad to say the total cost for today was zero!
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Must be the battery. After charging it overnight the battery reads like 13.4 volts. Hooked it up and now I'm getting 15v from the alternator post all the way to the battery.
Side question, does a lower voltage going into the alternator regulate it's output--hence resulting in a lower voltage out of the alternator? I was always under the impression that they just got a "yes" ~12v signal and put out ~14.5v
I know 15v is about .5v too high, anything to be worried about?
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Thanks for the tips. I'm unsure how old the battery is, it's an Optima red top, so gel. I've got it on my charger right now, I'm going to see how it is in the morning.
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Where do you have the voltage sensing wire for the alternator connected?
Nigel
The only plugs it has connected are the L plug, the "main post" and the ground. Been that way for the last year that I've owned it.
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Hey everyone,
Just encountered a problem with my 240z running a ZX alternator. I went to start it this morning and noticed it was slower to crank.
My SDS panel said only about 12.5 volts at the battery idle, only about 12.8 with increased revs.
Amp gauge was slightly to the right of midline, but with a little gas it went all the way right.
A physical test at the battery showed the same ~12.5 volts at idle.
Alternator post showed about 13.5 volts at idle.
Alternator is receiving 12v through the plugs with ignition switch on.
Battery terminals were freshly cleaned
Ground was freshly cleaned and verified good
Connections are all clean and tight.
I traced the large wire to the amp meter, where I have the ~13.5 volts and traced it back to the battery. Double checked, yup still low voltage at the battery. I went for a little cruise to see if it would somehow resolve, nope.
Am I looking at a faulty alternator, battery, or something else?
Much appreciated.
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Long day today!
So, there's been some typical exhaust smell in the car, mainly on decel. Enough to where it stinks up the clothes after some driving.
I had heard about it before, so today I took the little plunge and bought an inexpensive fog machine at Guitar Center for $40 (the party rental place wanted $40/day).
Filled the fogger with fluid, plugged it in, ran the cords out the window and then taped up the gap.
After a minute I had smoke coming out of everywhere. I know the window seals leak, but I don't care so I taped them up.
The rear vents where the Z emblems are billowed smoke, so I taped them up.
Had a plug under the passenger seat which was out, re-plugged it.
Had the rear hatch leaking quite a bit of smoke...found out part of the new seal I put on fell off it's track a little bit, glued it back on.
Also noticed that my rusty hatch lid was allowing quite a bit of smoke to come from the inside down by the lip where the rust had eaten away the joint from where the interior panel bolts up. A bead of window sealant solved that.
Tail lights leaked quite a bit, so I removed those and made a gasket from some 3M weatherstripping material I bought at the hardware store for $12. While I was at it, I replaced all the hardware with new stuff (they only had class 12, pricy) for an additional $10.
Before installing the tail lights I brought them over to the garden hose and rinsed out the inside real good. I was surprised at how much dirt was collected inside! They look completely different now, and the lights are much brighter.
After installing the tail lights I used the smoke machine again, this time it was very noticable that the car was sealed up much better than before. The smoke inside the car stayed longer and was thicker than previously. I do still have some leaking going on from somewhere in the back as I had a wide stream of smoke coming down from between the gas tank and the rear panel. Not sure if that comes from the interior quarter panels being removed? I'll probably post a thread about it.
Total cost for the day is $62 for the smoke machine, gasket material and hardware for the rear tail lights.
I'll post a video later so people can see how it's done.
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Gah. At least it was something minor. I'll bet the flywheel difference is noticeable! When I shaved it down to 17.5lbs I was really impressed. (though I added compression ratio at the same time)
Yeah it's fairly noticable. I guess it's not as big of a difference as stock to 17, but it's there. I'm actually surprised how it really is no different to drive, especially with an upgraded clutch/pp capable of 400ft/lbs. I was expecting it to be easy to stall out, but it's not hard to drive at all.
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*sigh* e-brake cable broke yesterday. Then was driving on the freeway and heard a metal on metal slapping sound at higher speeds, came from the center of the car behind the seats. Going to jack it up today, I hope it was just part of the E-brake cable flapping in the wind.
*edit* Sound was caused by part of the E-brake bracket which sits above the driveshaft U-joints in the rear, a bolt would drop down just far enough for mild contact with the driveshaft. No damage caused. *whew!*
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Total cost for my period of ownership is at $1600.
(hopefully if I ever sell it, this thread (along with Drax's) will be better than a box of receipts)
NAPA synthetic oil is on sale again, I think I'll change it later this week.
Haven't driven it more than ~5 miles with the new flywheel. It revs quicker since it's a 10.5lb and the old one was a stock lightened to 17.5. I'll post videos and updates after I get some seat time.
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Got everything all back together. Had a few hiccups along the way, plus I really wasn't home very much for June.
I had to get shorter pressure plate bolts for the fidanza flywheel. Decided to re-use the old flywheel bolts.
Flywheel was torqued to ~80ft/lbs with blue loctite
Pressure plate was torqued to ~30ft/lbs with blue loctite
Installing a transmission by yourself is a bitch...I really never want to do that again. The underside of the Z has it's fair share of grease and oil built up over time. I'm wondering what the best way to go about cleaning the bottom of a really low car is?
Add in about $30 for grade 12.whatever metric bolts and loctite.
Add in about $20 for roll bar padding
Add in about $25 for Amsoil synthetic gear oil for the transmission.
Total for post is $75.
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Damn, that sucks Mike. I'm not sure which compound they used for me, but we called them up and told them what we were doing, the weight of the car and the wheel horsepower. They ran across the street to Autozone to get a set of pads to use as a template and a few days later they were on my doorstep.
All I remember is that we had no brake fade, it was a very short track and with our horsepower it meant a lot of braking. When I went to bed them in on the street I did about 6 runs from 80mph to near zero and had no fade.
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I had carbotech make a set of pads for a ~91 Mitsubishi Mirage powered by a 4g63 that I ran in the 24 hours of Lemons in 2007, it was a straight 24 hour race.
We bedded the pads right before the race and didn't have one single problem throughout. Personally, I swear by their product and will be having some made for my 240 once it's time to change pads.
I believe there's a big difference between the manufacturers of "race" pads and manufacturers who build race pads specifically for the type of event you are doing.
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Well, Fidanza says to just run the 6 bolts like it's an 225mm, instead of the 9 bolts the 240mm Zs originally came with. Hope to God it holds. If this is the correct way to run the fidazna, they at least need to include some instructions with it saying that only 6 of 9 bolts might line up and that it's okay to run it that way.
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Xnke, it's the 240mm.
I picked all the parts up from the shop today since there's nothing else they can do for right now. Not all the holes line up and Fidanza is swearing that this is almost impossible because the CNC program is locked in. Says he has a factory flywheel and the fidanza flywheel and everything lines up perfectly.
I sent this video to Fidanza and I'm waiting for a response.
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Thanks. I'll check with the machine shop one last time on Monday and personally rotate the pressure plate on the flywheel. I almost feel bad doing it, because I don't want to insult them, but they are human and can make mistakes too. I could have sworn when I was back in there today that we rotated it a few times....
If it stil doesn't fit the flywheel is going back. LOL @ the SBC selling Fidanza, if the problem does turn out to be with Fidanza it would be hillarious.
50% of me hopes that when I go to the shop I can rotate it and align everything.
50% of me hopes that it doesn't align, because I'd feel like an ass. The shop has been open for +38 years, and it's the foreman who has been working on it. I'd imagine in his career he's had to rotate a few things to get all the bolts to line up and wouldn't hesitate to have double, tripple or quadruple checked that they didn't line up before saying it wouldn't work.
My new custom BOLT IN roll bar/half cage setup
in Brakes, Wheels, Suspension and Chassis
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Thanks John.
What I was planning on doing was unbolting it so I can get everything to bare metal, bolt it back down tight and then stitch it. You think this would still be detrimental?