1 tuff z

just got the z down on all 4's last nite and did a quickie alignment [enuf to at least get it to the alignment shop w/o completely knocking all the tread off the new meats-yoko 235/40/17's!!]. i completely forgot about no more vacuum assist and nearly plowed thru the back of my garage. amazing the strength u can muster when absolutely necessary. anyway, got some used arizona z rear control arms, mike kelly front control arms & t/c rods and ross corrigan's big brakes all around. i had hoped to run in the auto-x this sunday but the wait at dmv to get my plates out of storage was more than 1 1/5 hours! so the 2+2 zxt will have to stand in. i should have it aligned wed next week and be able to bed in the brakes and really throw out the anchor and see how the brakes & new suspension work. oh, any tips on alignment are always appreciated. john coffey has given me some valuable input-thanks john!

racer-x, i couldn't upload pics but have a link below to a number of pics of my conversion-both front & rear from ross at modern-m'sports. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=1750&cat=500&thumb=1

hey all, just posted a few more pics. the project is coming to a close and i'm itching bad to check out the new binders. just have to bend 2 brake lines from the factory junction block to the new tilton master cylinders, bleed the masters and brakes then...drive and bed in the brakes. below is a link to my pic gallery. i went a step further than originally planned when i contacted ross corrigan at http://www.modern-motorsports.com. i added tilton separate master cylinders as well as a cable operated mechanical brake bias. the kit ross sold me when together without a hitch. this is probably the first time in quite awhile that i purchased something that came with all the parts i needed; bolts, washers, cotter pins, everything. it was nice for a change not to have to chase down odd parts or hardware here or there. i used his 13" vented rotors with 2 piston alum. pbr calipers up front and the 11" solid rotors with 240sx calipers in the rear. i also retained my parking brake-as this is a street car! anyway, more one i have it on the road and am able to throw out the anchor and really test the binders! http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=1750&cat=500&thumb=1

hey, for all you z guru's! i'm ready to assemble my rear struts with the 280z stub axles-new bearings, seals, etc. but i don't have the copper [like] washers that go on either side of the steel spacer and between the bearings. i called the dealer, they can't get them either. anyone put them back together without the washers? any problems? any ideas? help?!?!

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=1750&cat=500&thumb=1

just added a couple new pics [link below]-still doing some cleanup, painting and pre-fitting before getting it all back together. so far, so good as everything seems to be going as planned. i've had a few questions here and there and ross from modern-motorsports.com has been great. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopo...cat=500&thumb=1 can't wait to get out and see how this bad boy stops!

great pics! sure, if you don't mind i'd like to have a dig. pic of the engine bay as well. thanks! david.a.palermo@aexp.com or dapamp13@yahoo.com

i'm guessing that this was in toronto hosted by the z club of ontario-and if i stretch, 2000??? refresh my memory, you have the beautiful deep blue pickup with the sr20 engine, right or does my failing memory fail me? david ps-could you email me that pic of my car to me at work, i don't have a copy! david.a.palermo@aexp.com thanks! btw, what r u driving now??

i just received the following; modified adj. front control arms and t/c rods from mike kelly at zf racing [i got the last set mike made] and my big brake kit from ross corrigan at modern-motorsports! all i can say is WOW! just got the front suspension pieces back from powder coating and they look great. i'm looking forward to getting an alignment and being able to adj. camber and caster [in add to toe] on the front end-while on the car. still working on the rear control arms-ross said he has some in the works-hurry ross-summer's coming soon! from ross i ordered; big brake kit and the turbo cv adaptors. the machine work on the rotors, hats and rear caliper adaptors are very nice indeed. the front calipers are 13" directionally vented clamped by a floating 2 piston pbr alum caliper. the "hat" which allows the rotor to attach to the stock hub was anodized in red for me and it looks sweet! i figured that while i had everything torn down i should also upgrade the rear axles to the turbo cv's so i also purchased the adaptors from ross. the machine work and welds are beautiful-as well as functional. i was very impressed when i inventoried the box i received. i showed all the parts to a good friend who runs a local speed shop and he agreed that everything is top notch. for the rear i'll be using the 200sx calipers along with ross' adaptors as well as his ebrake piece. i couldn't figure out how to post the pics i had taken, so if you use this link you can see what i have so far. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=1750&thumb=1

just got the front setup mike kelly did for me [i have the last set], adj control arms and t/c rods. picking them up from the powdercoater tomorrow and will be ready for install. hopefully i'll be able to post pics soon. about the same time i got my package from ross/mml. i purchased the big [gigantic is more like it] brake kit, 280 stub axles, cv adaptors and ebrake kit. the rotor/caliper setup [front] appears to weigh the same as the stock setup! monsterous 13" directionally vented rotors mounted to a beautifully anodized [my color choice of red] alum. hat which bolts up to the stock hub. pbr 2 piston "floating" alum calipers clamps them. out back, solid 11.?" brembo rotors clamped by 240sx calipers. i will also take pics of them pretty quick as well. so far, everything is exactly as described! will keep u posted as i progress [we are still in freezing temps and it makes it challenging to work on the z in the cold garage...

mike is busy on filling my order for the adj. front control arms/tc rods and i should have them soon. i still haven't decided on rears because [no, i'm not an engineer...but] they looked to have too little adjustablity before binding. if you could design the rear arm to be like arizona's, and on car adjustable for a reasonable price-like mike's...my decision would be made and the order placed! btw ross, howz my brake package coming along?!?!

i've used the swain tech coating as well. i have the "white lightning" on my header of my supercharged z and have had no problems for the 2 years it's been on there. i melted the silver jet hot on another header. swain is only about 3 miles from my office and i have personally known dan swain since 1989 when i worked as a formula car crew chief and they coated our; headers, valves and combustion chambers.

davis, i have a 72 parts z that still has the stock 4spd tranny-it's yours if u come and get it! i'm just an hour 1/2 away in rochester. email me if you're interested! david

i have groundcontrol coilovers on my z, with stock fenders and no other suspension mods [yet] and i'm running 8.5x17 wheels with 234/40/17 yokohama avs intermediates. no clearance problems and big meats underneath! link to pics of my z: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?thumb=1&stype=2&si=1%20tuff%20z&cat=500&perpage=12&sort=1&ppuser=1750

gleason [located where i live in rochester, ny] sold the torsen portion a number of years ago to a new company called zexel-torsen. i went there about 2 years ago to look for a diff for my z-no luck, not making them anymore. the engineer was quite helpful in answering questions and we even discussed a "group buy". it seemed production costs [even though i has a copy of the original torsen spec sheets-i have a friend who's been an engineer at gleason since the 60's]. anyway, their phone #is 585-464-5000, if u'd like to contact them. hope this helps!

this may be a small item, but i found that the seal around my license plate light wiring [that goes thru the tail panel] was gone. i'd check yours-it could b a source. i also find no probs with windows up. my problem is with only 1 window down. if i crack open the other-usually passenger, the prob goes away. hope this helps...

i have their ps wheel on my z. 17x8.5 with yoko a520's-215/40/17. no flares, running gc coilovers and no clearance probs and i'll go to a slightly larger and wider tire in the spring. alan at motorsport specialities and i spent quite a bit of time with; measurements-offset, backspacing & wheel diameter before final wheel build. they then shipped me 1 to try for clearance-fit fine and shipped the other 3. very service oriented and what i was looking for. 2 months ago i curbed a wheel, called alan-said no problem we can fix it [at me expense of course]. i'll b sending it back this winter to get the outer rim section replaced-they'll also tru the wheel prior to sending it back. link to a pics of my wheels- http://www.240z.org/photopost/showgallery.php?user=1750&cat=500&thumb=1

wow, big brakes, lots of hp and a killer body-what else could u ask for?!?! can't wait to see/hear the mpg's. i'd also like to see more detailed photos of; cage, brakes, undercarriage and interior. do you have your own website with the above?

maybe this link will help... http://home.att.net/~jason510/tranny_ratios.htm

rick, your tilt front end turbo z is absolutely stunning! is the front end a kit or... also, the moustasche bar work you did, was that to lower the rear of the diff?

compomotive has wheels for your z [mine is the white 240 below your 1st post] in widths from 6-14" on a 16 or 17" wheel. mine are a 17x8.5" and i'm running coilovers-still have about an inch total clearance for [someday] wider tires. they have all the specs for the 240's as we spent quite a bit of time measuring and fitting prior to making the wheels. www.usacomp.com

anyone ever replaced the heater hoses [from the heater core to the engine] and not used the factory stuff. i wanted to get see if someone has already done this and the install works well and looks clean. figured the original [nearly 30 years old] hoses are due.

mitch, i'm running the jcr blower setup on my z and it does pretty well. no turbo lag, linear power/torque curve. i also avg. 20mpg around town and 28highway [provided i keep my foot out of it]. i'm running 7lbs boost on the l28et block/p90 head. i get rubber in 2nd and 3rd [81 n/a 5spd and r200 3.90 diff]. the holley projection unit is old and i will eventually upgrade to an sds or electromotive unit. auto-x's i regularly beat; porsche 944t & 911t's, corvettes & camaro 5.7's & mustang 5.0's. i've had the unit for 10 years now and the camden [not eaton] roots blower has proven reliable. hope this helps...

the car looks like a t-bird to me...

i have been having a problem when the car is cold. once it is started and begins to come up to temp-the gauge continues past 180 and goes to around 210 before settling back to 180. it doesn't do it all the time and usually just when the car is completely cold. i have done the following to troubleshoot; replaced the t-stat [twice], ensured that i don't have air in the system [letting come up to temp-once antifeeze starts to circulate, then top off]. i have also run w/o the t-stat [temp seems to stabilize around 145-150, and don't experience the problem. i don't want to damage the head by seeing this temp spike each time i drive. does anyone run w/o a t-stat? if i do this, any problems? also, i run a 4 row rad, oil cooler and elec. fan, L28, p90 head, jcr supercharger setup. any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated! thanks...