ZROSSA

Chris Have a look here http://www.comeracing.com/ I have a ali case behind my 350 chev. 400 lbs/ft of tourque Is a lot. I am shure they can take a lot more than that but thats what the bell housing guys say. Douglas

Howdy Chris, What about using a stroked 308. I think they are close to the weight of the 302 ford and there is a lot of local info. Those that know say to keep the tourqe below 400 lb/ft for those supra boxes. Cheers Douglas

I belive that once the car is on the ground the anti roll bar will load up the oposite side so the spring wont be loose when cornering. It will only be loose if the whole front or rear is off the ground. I have even cosidered mounting a tab in the center of the anti roll bar that when loaded with enought dive will work againt a bump rubber or stiff sping to give more dive stiffness. Thus would be a race car only mod, done to allow me to run very low to the ground without having to run really stiff springs. Single seater single and 3 spring set ups work similar. Douglas

Are You Out There? Douglas

I want to keep it as simple as possable. If there wasnt rust in the top of the tailgate I would leave it as is. The owner before me did some mods to it so its a little different from stock anyway. Different tailights, no crome, side lights, or bumpers. I just need to get the back of the roof lower so it doesnt look so ass heavy. Douglas

OP1, How much do you want to increase the track buy? Adjustable lower control arms will let you increase the track a bit. You will also need to move out the tops of the struts to get the camber back in control, but its easyer then fabing a whole new front end and your roll centers should remain the same. You will get a little less camber change with the wider set up as well. Anther way is to get the adjustable lower arms and then get a newer strut that seperates from the upright. Put the track where you want it and then make new mounting tabs on the strut where it mounts to the upright so that you can get the camber in order. I run series 4 rx7 struts on my race car and have done all of the above. This gives me easy big front brakes as well plus the stud pattern would match the ford rears. Food for thought. Cheers Douglas

Sleek Z, I have been through the convertable stage a couple of times now. When I saw that you were going to sell that kit I was pretty keen but in the end I need a roof. You see, IT RAINS HERE. Its also bloody cold in the winter and there are nasty criminals that would want to part me from my z if I leave it buy its self in town. We have 4 cars in the family and only 2 of us that can drive. The z is going to be a gt style very fast tourer. Something my wife a i can jump into and explore quickly and in some comfort. The vert just doesnt work 4 me. Buy the time it would be weather proof i could have a factory vert for the same price. What i really want to do is just modify the existing shape a bit so that it doesnt look so much like a hocky stick. I have the chassis strengh sorted in my head at least. I am going to do a back bone chassis along the trans tunnel that will join the front and rear struts as well. This is still a while away. Really need to finish the race car and its now at the stage when it sucks up money thats not really there. Getting lots of welding practice though. Cheers Douglas

Howdy, Has anyone out there modified the roof of the 2+2 to look more like the coupe. I realise there is a lot of work in it. There are not many Coupes in this part of the world so getting the roof of one is not really the answer. They are very expensive as well. I was thinking of taking a thin wedge out of the side of the roof and then trying to weld it back together. Any better ideas. Cheers Douglas

Well it all makes sence now. Pissing down with rain and dikes in the house next door. Although there water holding abilities seam to only work on a monthly cycle. Douglas

John, Are you going to share this new found knowledge? Douglas

Nissian made a very ugly little van called a s-cargo a few years ago. It has flat D shaped taillights that would be easy to do. I will give some of these a go when the body work starts. I will try to sink them into the panel a little as well. I really liked the look of the new gt40 show cars rear lights as well. They would look great on a z. They had me looking for large round tailights for a while. I was thinking you could modify early falcon or cortina lights. Take of the crome and give them a tidy up. Could work. Sorry I dont have any photos of the s-cargo lights. I have looked but can only find side or front shots. I might see if I can pick some up in a couple of weeks when i am in Auckland, So will get photos then. Cheers Douglas

Kevin, Try asking here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Porschev/ They might have a idea or two were to get that turbo. Douglas

Pete, I havent read the Herb addams Book. Let Us know if its any good. I think the idea of using the F-body front end is sound but in practice its not the x-member that would be hard but figureing out how to mount the struts. They may run at a diferent angle to the datsun ones so you would have to re engineer your towers. I would have a hell of a time trying to fugure that out, myself. I am curently tring to redo the struts on my race car and its a nightmare. Try to have a look at 280z struts. They are a little larger. Dont forget that the race guys put far more through these struts then we ever will one the street. They will also be lighter which is better for handeling and responce. I am not trying to say dont do it. It would be cool. But if the same or a better result can be done without all the extra work then thats the one I would choose. You should try to move this over to the Chassis section as well. All the people who know far more than i hang there. Cheers Douglas

Pete, Steve Smith Auto books has a book on chassis consruction. Its based towards circle track racing but the basics are all there. I have really never found a great chassis book that says "this is how you do it". Specs Seem to change so much that no one keeps up. If anyone knows some beter books or inf. I to, would like to know. As far as the front end goes, I have to ask why. If you want to go to that amount of work you may as well make some wishbones. Or for a similar amount of money you could get a big brake set up from one of the gents here and have a little left over for some new struts that suit the weight of the z, not the f-body. Cheers, Douglas

Howdy, Of topic as usual but I was looking at your sentra and it brought up a few Q's. Is it rear wheel drive? Seeing that is a tube chassis i am thinking the weight will be pretty close to my corrola. I am at the stage now where it is time to make anti roll bars and mounts and I was hopeing that you might be able to give me a idea where to start on thickness. I am ging to use tube with machined ends welded in. Thinking around 25 ml for the front but I have no idea what to use for the back. Most of the guys I see run very little rear bar. Mine is a beam axel with a three link and panhard bar. Weight should be around 800 kg with close to 50/50 weight split. Tires are dunlop slick 265/23/15 ,Close to that any way, on 10 inch rims. springs are soft at this stage 400 lb front 200 rear. Just a starting point. Thanks Douglas

I have kind of changed my mind on the tail lights. I found some all in one units of a Nissan S-cargo mini van. The are kind of like super bettle tail lightts but are made to sit on a flat panel. I think they will do the trick for me. Douglas

Thanks fellas, You are the best. Turns out that the gauge was in bar and something else. I just talked everyone into the mig so a tig is out of the question. The guy that put my cage in did it with a mig and his welds are not that far or the guys that tig welded Ross'. I will work at it, after all it only a corolla and a race car. Will save the good stuff for the Z. Douglas

Thanks for the reply's, I have been useing .8 ml which is .032 inch i think. I will turn up the gas and see what happens. The guys at the shop said to turn it down untill it started to spatter a lot then turn it up a bit. I have books on welding but havent been able to find them yet. I am having a great time using it though. I have to stop myself from making unnessesary brackets and overdoing the chassis reinforcements. This is on a race car so looks are not all that important but strenght is. I just want to get better so it is easier when i start on the z body. Thanks again. Have a good w/end all. Douglas

While we are on the subject of welders; I am new to mig welding and spent last weekend playing around with one. I am doing mostly body panels (1mm) and some bracing with nothing thicker than 3mm. I seem to be getting good penetration but my welds look a mess with a big bead left over the welded area. I have the wire feed down really low and have even tried pulseing the weld to try to get a flater weld. This works a little better. The gas is argo sheild and is set at around 4 psi. I really would like to get the welds flater so i can but weld sheet with out to much clean up. Also is it beter to push into the the weld (hand is over what you just welded) or pull away from it( hand is over what you are about to weld). Any other good advise? Thanks Guys Douglas

One day when I have some money and other projects are compleated (this could be never), I want to build a v8 into a early 911 porsche. Dont ask me why. I just love them. So weight is a big issuie particularly when it hanging over the arse end. I am on the mail list for the Porchev guys and they say the chevy with ali heads weighs the same as the stock 911 turbo engine. The Buick would help no end. Like the z, you dont need heaps of hp to have fun 300 hp at the wheels would be mighty scary in one of these. I am sure you could get that out of the buick fairly easy. Ali heads would be even better. Any way its interesting. I am a engine/ car junkie love reading and learning new things so if any one has any more inf on these pass it on. Cheers Douglas

I dont know why more people dont have a look at this donk. All steel and 450lbs. There appears to be some ali heads on the way for them based on the indy light v6 design. What do the ali heads drop on the chevs? 50 - 75lbs. Those of you looking to do a swap from the start should take a good look, particularly of you are concerned about weight. I bet one of these would stomp all over the 302 ford (the other light weight contender. Discuss! Cheers Douglas

Thanks Guys, I already have a Chevy in my z but i was drawn to it buy its light weight. One of those with indy lights internals might be a little fun. I will check out Mr Bell. Douglas

I was just looking @ some engine weights that grumpy posted and the buick 350 is very light. Are these any good as a performance engine? It would be nice to have a 125 lb weight brake over the chevy. Douglas

You are getting close to the v8 weights there. Small block ford is very close as is a chevy with the ali bits. They might give more bang for the buck and better weight distrabution. Douglas

Its got to be one of the best straight sixs. What does it weigh? Douglas