260DET

As John says. Such bars are available, Z Car Workshop for one supplies them.

The obvious necessity for the rebuild came about though hitting reverse gear when downchanging from 5th on the track. No gearbox noises but reverse gear subsequently became difficult to engage which, as an inspection has revealed, was brought about by slight burring of the gear teeth. My particular gearbox is a FS5W71B type, same as that used from around '77 on in Zeds except for the gear ratios I believe. Around here it is referred to as a turbo gearbox and has quite a few improvements over earlier 'boxes. Wider gears for a start. Anyway, a stripping and inspection revealed a few problems other than the burred gears. The most serious concerns the front countershaft bearing outer race spinning in its aluminium housing and wearing the steel thrust washer and the housing. Enquiry indicates that this is a common problem. After talking with a Loctite rep it has been decided to use Loctite 609 when reassembling all bearings that locate in aluminium housings, plus in any situations where markings on steel shafts indicate that other bearings have tended to move around. As all the mostly NTN bearings were in good condition, they will probably be replaced with new NTN's although SKF's are a possibility. Trying to find out which is the 'best' brand of bearing is like listening to best beer recommendations, everyone has a different opinion. 8) As the left handed mainshaft nut was slightly loose, even though it was staked, Loctite will be used on it as well. In fact it will be used on all threaded fasteners. All the gears, shafts etc seem to be in good condition so it appears that loose bearings in aluminium housings are the weak point in these boxes. Comments? Suggestions?

The 81 to 85 four stud Supra has only 266mm dia rear rotors, a bit small IMHO to be bothered with. On the concept of fitting a drum type handbrake setup, there does not appear to be enough space around the Z rear axle to do it, but I could be wrong. In the US, cars like the 89Y Corvette and 89F Camaro used PBR calipers which have the handbrake working the disc brake pads. But I have never heard of any US conversion along those lines, which seems strange given that PBR calipers are light and serviceable.

The advice I've received is to remove the oil filter bypass valve in the block and bung the hole up, so that all oil goes through the filter. Not recommended for those who don't change the filter regularly, use heavy oil or who use high revs with a cold engine.

The motorsport governing body here requires the use of at least a 1.1kg fill dry powder type. Mine has a ammonium phosphate A:B:E type fill.

My road/track car has 250 front 300 rear springs, big brakes, and does not suffer from excessive nose dive under heavy braking. Sometimes I think that excessive nosedive can be brought about by too much brake bias onto the front brakes, but that is only a guess. On the other hand, there is another road/track car around here with heavier springs on the front than the back, around 300 to 250 I think, and he seems happy with that. But those who use their cars only for the track and use wide slicks usually have much heavier springs. Around 500 is common.

There is/was someone around in the US who called his business something like H4 Lights who apparently sold all the good stuff. A headlight relay is what you want too, maybe some info in archives as to how it is wired up? Makes an amazing difference, even with medium powered bulbs. Definately recommended.

You sure that adjusting the rod will cure excessive sensitivity? When my larger than stock booster was rebuilt it was suggested by the rebuilder that it be modified internally to reduce the initial sudden bite. Which was done with great results. Don't know what he did but it was simple, apparently.

Custom tubular tie rod ends, internally threaded each end to screw onto the rack and a rod end (Heim thingo) are a future mod for mine. At present stock rod ends with the ball joint part cut off and the outer shaft externally threaded to screw into a female rod end are used, although I sometimes have doubts about the integrity of such a mod. Any custom tubular tie rod ends should be long enough for those who run big negative camber, with plenty of internal thread so they can be cut shorter if required. Material? Dunno, but a good grade steel would seem sufficient, chrome moly perhaps, depending on weight and cost?

There is an Aussie V8 Supercar race coming up shortly at Queensland Raceway. Turn one on that track is a fast righthander which the Supercars reputedly take at around 160kph. I know of one 240Z (not mine, yet) that can go through there at that speed on 'street legal' Dunlop RA-1 tyres, 15x7 or 8 wheels.

The main basic problem with a 240 is that it is relatively narrow for handling purposes, and for driver elbow room. Having said that they have been highly developed and therefore can handle very well, particularly where you can flare the guards and get some wide tyres sticking out there. The driver elbow room however remains a problem if you are at all on the large side. Removing the interior door arm rest/handle helps, a bit.

Done that, with a push button switch mounted on the console, it works. The original lock hole in the hatch is now covered with a spoiler.

Just make sure that 17 X 8's will fit before you buy them, doubt that they will without mods. IMHO 15 X 8's are a more practical alternative for lots of reasons.

Any thoughts? Anyone use loctite to secure the bearings which are located in aluminium housings? Any preferred brand of bearings?

Front weight divided by the total weight X 100 = percentage of total weight on the front. So yours has 51.5 : 48.5 weight distribution. Not bad at all. 8)

Sooley, having been there and done that, properly tuning the replacement ECU is just as crucial as getting the 'right' ECU in the first place. So, find a dyno tuner who has a good rep and go with the ECU he uses, recommends and will back up. After wasting a lot of money trying to save a few $ I did the above and got a MoTec. Best thing I ever did. Sure they cost a lot but they are worth it, plus you will easily sell a MoTec for good $ if you ever want to.

Any tips for rebuilding a FS5 gearbox? The FS5 is the Nissan 5 speed box used from around '77 on. The engine puts out around 300hp so the box needs to be as heavy duty as possible. Have considered a couple of things. Apparently NTN make ball bearings with extra balls for a higher load carrying capacity but I don't know yet whether they make them to suit this box. Any other manufacturers do likewise? SKF? Secondly, the bearings in aluminium housings tend to come loose so I was thinking about loctiting them all in as a precaution. Finally I was considering using Redline oil, at present Shell XGO 75/90 is used.

Larry, this is not going to be of much help to our US friends but the inserts are Koni Yellows (sports). The selection of the model/valving was left to the suspension guy who originally did the work, although since then the spring rates have been increased. At the time he mentioned Holden Commodore (see what I mean) inserts or valving, or both. I'd guess that if inserts made for a light car like a VW Golf were used they would have to be revalved up. Cost is a problem for most of us but I'd guess that a lot of us have learnt from experience that trying to save money in some areas can eventually be a wasteful exercise if the work has to be redone later. If I had unlimited funds there would be a set of those you beaut ultimate shocks with a the separate reservoirs under my car. Penske make those? there is at least one other US brand as well.

Larry, this is not going to be of much help to our US friends but the inserts are Koni Yellows (sports). The selection of the model/valving was left to the suspension guy who originally did the work, although since then the spring rates have been increased. At the time he mentioned Holden Commodore (see what I mean) inserts or valving, or both. I'd guess that if inserts made for a light car like a VW Golf were used they would have to be revalved up. Cost is a problem for most of us but I'd guess that a lot of us have learnt from experience that trying to save money in some areas can eventually be a wasteful exercise if the work has to be redone later.

The 'secret' to a good ride is imho well tuned shocks. Up to 300lb springs on a stock weight car can still deliver a reasonable ride, if the shocks are compatible. Mine has 250 front/300 rear and is a pleasure to drive on reasonable roads. Much more than that I suspect will result in excessive body flex.

So where do the MSA spacers go?

Thanks for the tips, all, stroker FJ's are built but those in the know are keeping 'the knowledge' to themselves, so far.

The Fortuna camber adjusters use slotted plates which are welded to each side of the Xmember, which itself then has to be slotted to match of course. On where to actually move the pivot point to, from memory up about 20mm very approx. If the Fortuna bits are going to be used, if you line up the inner part of the slotted hole to match the original pivot hole vertically, you will end up with an adjustment range from stock out to about 2.5 neg approx, on my car which has 15" wheels. Don't forget that tyre size variations can be used to help get the ride height you want, too.

On eccentric camber adjusters influencing bump steer, I have had no problems in that area, once the bump steer was eliminated at the outset. That is using the adjusters to provide from 1.5 to 2.5 degrees negative. The only thing to be aware of when using eccentric adjusters and standard tie rod ends is the possibility of running out of a safe amount of thread on the rack ends when going for big negative camber. Up to 1.5 negative should be OK although I know of at least one car using 2.5 with that setup. To eliminate bump steer initially, on my car anyway, the outer pivot point of the tie rod ends had to be lowered. Whichever way this is done, shims or washers have to be used so as to provide a fine enough adjustment.