katman

"It all depends on what you plan to do with the car." Bingo!

If you're in Atlanta you might make a call to Goza in downtown Acworth. They do the machine work for Eddie Radatz Motorsports, and Eddie can assemble for you. Since Sunbelt got bought by Kinetic they aren't as interested in on-off type jobs like a 3 liter project (despite the fact they've done lots, each customer wants different stuff so every job is a risk), and frankly Datsun people don't usually have the money to spend like those with BMW's and Porsche's. The sad fact is you can spend hours on the phone with a Z guy talking about how he wants his engine built, and how to save a penny here and there, and half the time the projects never pan out anyway. World Challenge BMW or BMWCCA, or PCA guy calls up and you tell him it's 20k and he says okay, here's the check. If that was a Sunbelt quote I'd say the reason they ask $120/hr is because they can get it. Lemme know what Goza says, there's other options 'round these parts.

Actually, Don Potter (one of the premier Datsun race engine builders back in the day) used to put the old press in plugs back in because he said if another builder ever redid one of his motors and the owner tried to bring it back to Don (which happened), he'd know it had been worked on because "all race engine builders put allen set screws back in the oil holes"! He maintained that modus operandi until we lost one of his soft plugs once (caught it with slight oil P drop, no damage done), which he blamed on bad plug metallurgy. Now, if he ever actually finishes a motor (doubtful), it has allen screws.

Who prepped the crank? Real race motor cranks have the oil hole chamfers in the journal shaped different than that. I can also see tool marks in the chamfer. So I suspect the journal fillets weren't shot peened and micro polished either. This shouldn't have happened after a season below 7500, even with a junkyard crank to start. I suspect improper prep and no heavy metal balancing. Define "race motor". Good catch though.

Visit your local machine supply house and buy some 2" shaft collars. You can use them to support the threaded collar and set your spring perches mid collar. That way you can get your ride height about where you want it with all the weight on it and make a check before you weld anything permanent. The real challenge is figuring out where to put the shock body inside the struts so that you're operating in the proper stroke range. Rotsa Ruck.

Actually we aeronauticals think rocket science is easy- if you survive the launch everything else is gravy. Usually just a one way trip. No thunderstorms or clear air turbulence in space. Making a C-130 last 40 years is a lot harder. Of course that's what we think, I'm sure real rocket scientists beg to differ. And my favorite lame pickup line, since I went to school with a bunch of pilots, is "Has anybody seen my jet keys?" How do you tell if there's a pilot in the room? Don't worry, he'll tell you.

Aeronautical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets. Mechanical engineers put the machinery and HVAC in the targets. Industrial engineers tell the contractor what color to paint the machinery they put in the target. I'm an AE because I get a hard on for aerospace hardware (real race cars have the same effect on me, safety wire and Aeroquip baby! Yowsa!). But around the office the CE's are the most useful outside of work, like when you need to pour a driveway or build a deck. :) An engineering degree really just teaches you how to solve problems, whether its a CE, AE, or ME not really a big deal right out of college- lots of crossover. Chem E's proly start with bigger bucks, followed by AE's, but in the long run get in the industry that you have an interest in- the kind of degree shouldn't be a hinderance to most companies. Most important thing: get in the company savings plan! The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest- Albert Einstein

"I took this part of the cage directly from Keith Thomas (screen name katman). He wrote a magazine article on how to build an ITS cage, and this was in that article. The rocker where the bar attaches is MUCH stronger than the floor. " On the ITS cars we did take the plate down the rocker box and onto the floor to help shore up the connection between the rocker weldment and the floorboard. It's not the vertical loads you do this for- Jon is right the floor adds virtually no strength in that direction, but instead you want the plate to continue onto the floor to help shear out the side loads from a T-bone, which are introduced via the door bars to this vertical member. I've done this two ways- by intersecting the rocker box with the vertical tube at the corner of the rocker, such that the outboard half of the tube disappears and the inboard half continues down to the floorboard plate (very lovely), and also by using a plinth. And for the record, Jefferson Speidel wrote the Z Car Mag series on "Building an ITS 240Z". That rat bastard sleeps with my wife.

Okay that's most of the answer. Street car or racer? For street car I think you'd be happier with the 1-5/8, and the NISMO header is proly a good choice for your setup. The Rebello is a stepped copy with merge style collectors, and the Rallye-Sport is another copy (if Jeff Winter is still DBA Rallye-Sport). All are made by the same big game hunter who shall remain nameless to protect his identity. Call Riley Curtis at Lynchburg Nissan Parts, tell him I sent you, and see if he can find one: 800-443-2117. For what Rebombo, er Rebello, and Rallye-Sport used to charge you could buy a Stahl, which of course you'd want to hang over the fireplace and look at instead of putting it on your car....

"Well... just wanted to let you guys know... Still running the welded diff in the car with no probs." Yup, that's what two of my racing compadres with welded diff's said just before they broke a stub axle and totalled their cars. Elmer Fudd say: Be vewy, vewy, caweful wif a welded diff.

What's your application?

You get what you pay for.

What are the symptoms?

Kinetic: 770-271-1577, ask for Chet or the engine shop.

Sunbelt got bought out by Kinetic. Jim Thompson is still involved, and Chet Wittel will answer the phone. I'll post a number tomorrow when I get to work.

Before you run up to Suwanee to take your stuff to Sunbelt, you do know Sunbelt doesn't exist any more, right?

I quit counting my tickets when I got to 20 (20 tickets, not 20 years old, although that would have been about the same). Of course nearly all of that was back during the 55mph speed limit, and most of them for about 70 in a 55. Never for anything stoopid. Never lost my license but had points in about 4 states for about a 15 year period. Of course now that I'm 48 and drive a Caravan half the time I can't buy a ticket. It's like being invisible, thanks to all you youngsters in Z's. Yeah they profile. My favorite was being stopped in Woodstock GA one night back when it was a 1 stop light town. Driving an "arrest me" red 240Z. Cop pulls me over accusing me of driving too fast for conditions. Like midnight, not a cloud in the sky, not another car on the road, and going less than the speed limit. Old geezer that looks like Jimminy Cricket wants me to follow him back to the station because he doesn't have any tickets on him. So I do, because I love a comedy. Long story short- judge throws it out because the old guy can't remember anything, and I wasn't doing anything wrong when he stopped me. Bottom line, I got stopped for driving a red sports car, period. Shortest time between tickets- 13 minutes.

FSM: Flush with the bottom of the piston, so yeah, the shoulder sticks out of the groove.

"Should be about .001-.002" press." Where does that figure come from? I've never had a factory (that'd be the Nissan factory, not the Chevy factory) harmonic balancer that wouldn't slide on and off a factory crank.

ITG and Pipercross are some others.

Well they're cheap shocks but I've used them on a street car. Do they work? Well the wheel won't fall off. They'll work if you're stock.

I got news for you, it looks funny standing still. Sorry, couldn't resist. Spent a track day with a pack of WRX's just recently, from a "pretty much stock" one with 385hp to a One Lap of America competitor with over 600. Awesome cars.

There was a recent thread on this with pictures on the Nissan/Datsun forum at improvedtouring.com. http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12155

I would save up and buy a real LSD. I wouldn't recommend a welded diff on the street.