1 tuff z

i did go to batavia but they didn't seem to want to plate the parts i have [i think too much prep work-surface rust, grease, etc] so i went back to my place in rochester, we spoke at length and things have been going pretty well. i have been doing most of the prep work-wire wheel then scotchbrite wheel prior to plating.

z is ready for paint and should head off next week. i will try to post a few pics of how she sits now without the majority of parts as she is naked and ready for new 907 green! surprisingly clean and nearly rust free. will tidy the engine while out and take care of the other 'while i'm at it's' while at paint jail this summer.

update-spent monday & tuesday lapping watkins glen at speed. knocking down sub 2:20 lap times on street tires. car felt great. had to make a slight adjustment to the prop valve [heard the rears squeak a bit deep into braking on the back straight bringing it down from about 145mph]. the new brake setup has continued to perform very well. rotor temps are now much closer, front to back [unlike the great desparity i had previously]. i logged a bit over 5 hours on the track. zero brake fade or any other brake issues. i am very happy and believe that this is all the brake i will ever need for my z! rags and evilc were also there, clive was running joe's newly acquired ls1z [dale mx's old z]

just turned 12,000 on my ls1 swap [rolled over while at speed at watkins glen today!] and no issues. my car has been driven at watkins glen, mid-ohio, daytona [drove back and forth -not trailered to all tracks from upstate ny] and no issues. 30 mpg highway, about 8mpg on the track.

music to my ears!

jerry, do you have a plan for material to use where the rubber on the oem straps is adhered or is that something for the buyer to source on their own? very nice and the price appears to be very reasonable as well. looking forward to the final product pics.

mine were not originally plated. the machine shop told edan that the material they used for the brackets would NOT rust. who were they kidding-themselves? mine began to rust on the way to ny from cali... i had them plated locally. once edan discovered the problem he had the remaining brackets plated.

so, got the bias nearly adjusted to where i want it. need a few more laps around the track to verify it's current position. was at watkins glen this past fri-sun but didn't get too much track time [behind the wheel] as most of my time was as an instructor student. the local bmw chapter hosts an annual its [instructor training school] and it pretty intensive. so, i am very happy to report that i am officially a graduate of their school and instructed my first [official] student! back to the brakes. i ran the z for a few laps to about 8/10's and she ran wonderfully. i am very confident that my current brake setup is the deal. good stuff - i can go to any parts store and buy off the shelf pads for front or rear [street pads of course] if i'm in a bind. same goes for the calipers. rotors are a different story for the front-custom sourced from mml. rears are mustang and need to be drilled for the z lug pattern-not too crazy. current setup consists of; Front - modern motorsports [mml] front 13" rotors [i believe they are coleman] on a custom alum hat. pbr aluminum 2 piston floating caliper [common in older c4 vettes and mustang cobra & r's]. Rear - mustang calipers & rotors [08 version for the gt & gt 500] from silvermine motors. rotors are drilled for the z 4 lug pattern. master cylinder - 15/16" from 79-81 280zx on stock 73 240z booster. proportion valve - installed inline for rear brakes. stock prop and safety valves removed. i can honestly say that the customer service from edan at silvermine is top notch. there were a few bumps along the way [as you have seen in the thread] but he took care of anything that came up that was less than advertised-at his cost. i would definitely purchase his mustang rear brake setup again knowing about the quality and great attitude on doing things right. my plan is to run at least 2 more track events and log more time on the current setup and post more comments here. i anticipate that the info i post will only verify what i have written so far. the best part, when you buy from edan-he is always a phone call or email away!

for a number of years i have been running the mml brake setup. 13" monsters up front and the 240sx rears. the spare tire solution was a rear drive maxima 16" space saver spare i had from my old mad max. cleared the rears only but it served the purpose. now that i have upgraded my rear brakes the max spare no longer fits. the caliper hits the inner part of the wheel. help you say? i've been racking my brain to determine a spare to fit. criteria; 4 lug, large enough diameter to clear the brake caliper [most likely a 17" wheel], compact spare so it fits in the 240z tire well and...not too $ let the ideas flow! if i didn't have a spare i would have been up the creek when i drove home from daytona to ny in 07. got a flat in the middle of nowhere pennsylvania. pulled over and in a flash had the max spare and was on my way home. did drive a bit funny-the z yaws one direction under acceleration and the other under decel [skinny on one side and reg tire other side in the rear].

love to see a belly angle pic of roddy's z.

jerry, they look absolutely fantastic. if the price point is right you could probably sell them to msa. question-i noticed in pic #2 that there are some scratches on the tank near the 'head' part of the strap. were they a result of the 'head' being a tad too wide or from something else? thinking that a narrower head [same as strap] would also save a bit of material and allow the strap to lay completely in the factory 'groove' that is stamped into the tank. now i'm really interested, pricing ideas yet?

ran into a snag when bleeding...bad master cylinder. replaced the master, but for some odd reason did not install the prop valve. first test drive, a wee bit too much rear brake. so, get the proper fittings and installed the prop valve today after work. my loving wife agreed to get her occasional right thigh workout and helped me bleed the brakes. nice firm pedal and away i go on my test drive. spent some time on the phone with john coffey last week to pick his automotive brain as to the best way to dial in my brake bias [many thanks i now owe john - most likely i the form of cold brews when we meet in person some day]. so, filled the tank with gas and will over the next day or two get the plan that john detailed for me. after the brief drive today to retrieve my son from soccer practice i turned the prob knob a turn to begin the fine tune bias process. more later...

i have a pair, no heavy rust but one has a slight bend-easily fixed. $30 shipped.

back in the 80's i began my tool collection with snap-on but quickly realized that without going into debt i could not afford what i needed. so...i switched to craftsman. no regrets. since i sit behind a desk now and don't have ready access to a 'snap-on guy' it is inconvenient to get any broken tools either fixed or replaced vs. craftsman-where i can go to any sears or k-mart to replace them. if i had it to do all over, i'd have started with craftsman from the beginning. imho.

began pulling the necessary parts to begin the bodywork & paint process. so far; taillights, bumpers, marker lights, exhaust [was even able to remove the downpipe without breaking the studs!], hood & hatch latching hardware, lower valence, door handles & locks, fender bolts, radiator, carbs & exh manifold and gas tank, drip rail stainless trim. to go; windshield, 1/4 windows, door latch hardware, weatherstripping, engine/trans [then remove items from eng bay], headlights, hatch, hood and hatch hinges [for plating!] and some other small stuff. then, off she goes. we anticipate that it will take the summer to complete the job. each panel will be stripped to bare metal, straightened/fixed/etc then primered. once the z is all in primer we then shoot a single stage period correct 907 green. color sand, buff then begin the reassembly process. while the z is in paint jail the plan is to polish the bumpers, clean up the engine and ready other parts that were removed for installation. i'll post some pics soon...

jerry, 2 observations from my non-engineer brain. for the welded parts, do you feel it necessary to run the welds from front to back or could you save time & $ by using less weld. second, take a look at the angled end when you mount the tank to see if they want to straighten themselves as tension is applied. they might need a small reinforcement on the side to prevent this. hope my explanation makes sense. what are you doing for the "j" bolts?

nice work, when is it going into the z?

jerry, they look great. you have an idea of price yet?

time to get a real job wb. jk, now you can ramp up the other 'stuff' we were discussing awhile back!

clive's ridin dirty and i'm white-n-nerdy pathetic wb rhyme:flamedevi

very nice indeed pete. what events [and where] you & john running this year? would be great for you to post video of the new setup so we can all feel the power!

seems like everything else has been getting done lately except my z. anyway, was bleeding [or trying] brakes this weekend and discovered the master was leaking. yet another task to complete. had a new one in my parts stash, installed and bled. bled the brakes and ready now for a drive to bed in the new rear pads & rotors. of course what is the weather doing for the next few days-rain...aargh! first pic is the completed assy awaiting wheel/tire install this pic shows a bracket to keep the ebrake cable away from the rotating parts. i used some heavy stainless bar stock [laying around in my friends machine shop and he made quick work to fab them for me] and installed them using the stock hard line mounting holes nissan provided on top of the hub assembly held on by a rubber lined hose clamp. seems ok to my practice engineer mind. checked clearance from compression to extension with the floor jack and all is clear. should be able to [hopefully] drive it this weekend to bed the pads/rotors and assess the brake bias with the new rear brake kit. also need to adjust the parking brake...

looks great, love to see some closer up pics of those thingys you are using vs. the black box. a question was asked of me; David, Were you able to retain the stock fuel level sender in your modified gas tank? I am about to launch into this project. Thanks Matt yes matt, it worked just fine.