mom'sZ

within the limitations of improved touring rules? (stock suspension arms and pick up points, no bending of the tie rod ends or moving of the rack) So... if I'm getting this, the stiffer rates help keep the camber in the 'sweet spot'. Using camber plates and other legal available means and a tire pyrometer to tune by you set the car up to optimize contact patch... correct?

within the limitations of improved touring rules? (stock suspension arms and pick up points, no bending of the tie rod ends or moving of the rack) So... if I'm getting this, the stiffer rates help keep the camber in the 'sweet spot'. Using camber plates and other legal available means and a tire pyrometer to tune by you set the car up to optimize contact patch... correct?

So the stiffer rates (on an ITS car) come mostly from the desire to keep the suspension from moving to much and staying in the 'sweet spot' of the travel where alignment geometry is optimal, thus being less effected by bump steer inherient to the strut suspension? grasshopper begins to see the light....

So the stiffer rates (on an ITS car) come mostly from the desire to keep the suspension from moving to much and staying in the 'sweet spot' of the travel where alignment geometry is optimal, thus being less effected by bump steer inherient to the strut suspension? grasshopper begins to see the light....

Well since the subject of spring rates has come up Keith, I'd like to ask a question. From what I've read of your opinion on spring rates, for a strictly road race Zcar, SCCA ITS class, the idea seems to be to use spring rates to balance the car. I imagine to run at the pointy end of the field you must use the brakes HARD, which dictates somewhat hard rates, at least on the front, with something reasonably close in the back to maintain balance. Of course the condition of the racing surface trumps everything else, and one must choice a stiff enough rate that allows the driver to not bottom the suspension during normal driving. Then from that baseline, front to rear balance would be adjusted using spring rate. Then sway bars would be used to make adjustments to the best compromise rate wise. (I already know your opinion of sway bars) Is that about it or I'm I all at sea here? So to answer another reader's question, stiffer in the front or back would depend on what works that day, with that car at that track and that driver in a purely race situation. IMHO coil overs are kind of over kill for a street car. But they would allow switching to higher rates on a dual purpose car and adjusting ride hieght. And maybe a decent choice of rates is not available in OEM size replacement springs. With 200 lbs. in the front and 225 lbs. in the back with my Konis set to full soft, the rear never squats on acceleration, the front never dives on braking, the car is stiff but not obnoxious on the street and the handling in corners... well, you have to throw the car wildly into a corner, at what at first seems retarded fast speeds to even get it to skate or step out, and when it does, it's predictable and easily reeled back in. Now that drifto set up, that's an entirely different bird...

Well since the subject of spring rates has come up Keith, I'd like to ask a question. From what I've read of your opinion on spring rates, for a strictly road race Zcar, SCCA ITS class, the idea seems to be to use spring rates to balance the car. I imagine to run at the pointy end of the field you must use the brakes HARD, which dictates somewhat hard rates, at least on the front, with something reasonably close in the back to maintain balance. Of course the condition of the racing surface trumps everything else, and one must choice a stiff enough rate that allows the driver to not bottom the suspension during normal driving. Then from that baseline, front to rear balance would be adjusted using spring rate. Then sway bars would be used to make adjustments to the best compromise rate wise. (I already know your opinion of sway bars) Is that about it or I'm I all at sea here? So to answer another reader's question, stiffer in the front or back would depend on what works that day, with that car at that track and that driver in a purely race situation. IMHO coil overs are kind of over kill for a street car. But they would allow switching to higher rates on a dual purpose car and adjusting ride hieght. And maybe a decent choice of rates is not available in OEM size replacement springs. With 200 lbs. in the front and 225 lbs. in the back with my Konis set to full soft, the rear never squats on acceleration, the front never dives on braking, the car is stiff but not obnoxious on the street and the handling in corners... well, you have to throw the car wildly into a corner, at what at first seems retarded fast speeds to even get it to skate or step out, and when it does, it's predictable and easily reeled back in. Now that drifto set up, that's an entirely different bird...

Check to make sure the gland nut is tight. You can't really tell unless you take the spring pressure off the strut. Drop it out from the top (one nut) and use a giant channel locks to tighten

OK... so... 75 280Z w/ all stock suspension. From what you said in your first post and the fact that it is all stock suspension, I would have to guess the stock springs are sacked. If the small block Chevy you used has iron heads and manifolds you have probably added about 75 pounds to the nose of the car, making matters worse. If coil over kit is to expensive for you, maybe you could swap in some other springs from the junk yard. I think I've read about folks using Chevette springs or something. Do a search or maybe someone will post.

I read this thread this morning and I see no one has replied yet, so maybe I can jump start the discussion. In my opinion, in the heater hose is not a good place to check the water temp. From your pictures, it looks like you're not running the stock L6 so I can't be more specific then to say some where into a water jacket directly on the engine. Maybe the thermostat housing or something. Where was the original? As for the new radiator being "overkill", so long as your thermostat is working correctly there should not be a problem.

To help you pick some good spring rates we'll need a little more information. You say you did a small block Chevy swap? What year and model car? Also what other modifications have been done that may effect the stock weight of the car? Is the suspension stock?

I don't check this forum much, but anyhow my tps was the problem. I cleaned the tps with electrical contact cleaner that night and never had another problem with it. The 28 year old stock fuel injection has proven a lot of fun and I'm still learning.

Hartspank: Is your car the original fuel injection? NA or turbo?

you may need to use a heavier compound if the water spots don't rub out. I think 3m has some 'heavy duty' stuff, can't remember the name. But only if you have to or you'll be polishing swirl marks out forever.

I second what Mike says... just compound should do it and if you do sand use a lighter grit or you'll be buffing sanding scratches out forever.

OK... it took me forever to find this damn post, but I finally did! Check out bjhines post (#6) about how to adjust the rear drums using the parking brake. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=107051&highlight=e-brake Also, here is a thread that a guy was having problems with his rear drums loosing adjustment. In this thread Wayne Karnes explains in post number 2 how the automatic adjuster work and how to fix em. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=92063&highlight=brake from reading a few of Waynes earlier posts, he apparently has intimate knowledge of this because he had a problem with them not working which caused one wheel to lock up. the search function is me buddy

sorry I've never considered it to be specifically for that purpose but I suppose you could use it to do so That is how I understand it, yes. My understanding is that the automatic adjustment is made to slowly, over time as the shoes wear, incrementally take up the slack and keep the brakes properly adjusted.

cygnusx1: I remember this thread and just reread the whole thing. No one ever mentioned, so I thought I would just throw this out there, instead of the cost of camber plates, maybe you could install adjustable control arm bushings. They are eccentric and allow some camber to be adjusted in. Since camber plates change the ride height, you really have to do all four, but with these adjustable bushing maybe you could do just the front. I believe Richard posted a link to a company that makes them in another thread and I think MSA has them too.

You're still using the stock rear drum brakes right? If so here is the deal... With the drum off, at the bottom, there is a threaded collar between the brake shoes. On this threaded collar there is a toothed wheel (sort of looks like a multi point star) that when turned, threads the collar out. Doing so expands the brake shoes. (pushes them further apart) In the backing plate, there is a slot where a 'brake spoon' or plain flat screwdriver can be stuck through and used to turn the toothed wheel, thus giving you the ability to adjust the assembled brakes with the drum on. There is also a mechanism to do this automatically (when you apply the e-brake, I think) to accomidate for brake shoe wear. If you adjust them down to where the drum will go on, they won't be out far enough. You must put the drum on and then adjust them through the little slot until they begin to drag. I really suck at trying to explain things in writing, so if you don't understand what I'm saying, or need more help, post again. I think I have a picture at home with the drums off that will show what I mean or if anyone else wants to try to explain it better... go ahead

Skipzoomie: I called those guys you posted and they said they don't acid dip car bodies. From there name I kind of figured it was a blasting outfit. I know of some local places that will blast a car body (Palm Beach County, FL)... thanks anyhow.... rats

I would like to find a spare body shell (78 280Z) to do the acid dip thing with. Thanks DemonZ for that link to the corvette disscusion group thread. That answered a lot of my questions. For SCCA ITS competition there are only so many things you can legally do to drop weight and a structurally sound unibody is a must. As a former paint and body man, I've blasted and had blasted a number of unibodies, it's a lot of work and can't get to the hidden places. Anybody know of an outfit that does this in the south east? maybe even in Florida?

ummm.... I pretty sure this was discussed recently and parts to do it were suggested and even some pictures posted. A quick search for 'relocate master' brought up this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105677&highlight=relocate+master about creating a minamalist (sp?) engine compartment including relocating it and this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=94744&highlight=relocate+master about just relocating it. good luck, happy reading and thanks for playing

yeah, pulling the engine seems like SOP (standard operating procedure) for changing them. So... if nobody knows where a kit with all of them is available, and I'm going to have to get them locally through the parts store I need: 4 for pass side block 35 mm 5 for driver's side block ? 35mm? 1 for back of cylinder head size? just one? 1 for under timing chain cover size? 1 for inside bellhousing size? Is there only one inside the bellhousing and only one on the whole cylinder head? I know the parts store can look up the sizes but availability is hit and miss so I want to order the correct number of plugs. thanks andy

OEM - Nissan call courtesy, they still have oem master cylinders and they come with the cups and caps and the whole bit... nice Did you try adjusting your rears? I bled and bled but until I adjusted the rears out some, the pedal would not get hard

I'm with Mat on this one man, do you really want to rebuild the whole suspension and leave one pivot point unserviced? It's a pain, but so are a lot of other things on cars, just do it. Mine required sawing off and air hammer.

I have replaced a couple of the freeze plugs on the passenger side of the block on my 78 280Z L6. I noticed the one on the back of the cylinder head appears to have a very slow leak as well. I searched and found this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108857&highlight=freeze+plugs where Brycey states there are 4 in one side, 5 in the other, one in back and one behind the timing cover. I also found this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=89475&highlight=freeze+plugs where changing them is disscussed. Judging from the condition of the ones I've already pulled, I'm sure the rest are in bad shape. How many freeze plugs are in the entire engine total? I can see four on the pass. side of the block, am I to assume there are more hiding under the manifolds on the driver's side? Is there one (or more) in the back of the block? inside the bellhousing? The one inside the timing cover, if it leaks, can coolant go into the crankcase? Is there just that one in the cylinder head? And does anybody know where to get a kit that contains them all?