sugisan

Just wanted to give my person experience with BC coilovers. I had them on my Mazda2 for less than 6 months and one of the rear shock started leaking. I contacted them several times (through email and their website) to try and get a replacement through their warranty, but they never responded. If you go to their facebook page, many people complain about their none response for warranty issues. There are not many options out there, especially a custom kit that you described, but something to keep in mind.

I have a friend who has KW V3 on his Audi TT-RS. The quality is great, he's had it for about a year now and hasn't had any issues. Compared to his stock suspension, the ride is stiffer, but surprisingly comfortable. The ride quality doesn't feel harsh like cheaper coilovers. For autocross, he would like to increase the springs rates, but the springs on his V3s are progressive springs and isn't cheap to change out. Looks like the springs on the V3 for the Z are linear springs so changing them out may be pretty simple! I've been contemplating on getting the T3s, but may go with KW if I can actually find them. I got BC coilovers for my Mazda 2 and the rear shock started leaking after 3 months. I tried contacting BC several times, but still can't get them to reply. If you go to the BC facebook page, you'll see many people complaining about their support.

You could always buy an extra set of rotors when you buy the brake package.

Just a small update. Went autocrossing this past weekend with the Z. The weather was actually nice, in the low 80's, so I couldn't test the cooling system that much, but the car had no issues with overheating. After each run, I would idle in the staging area for couple minutes with the hood open and one fan on. Occasionally, the temps would go up a little, but the second fan would turn on and the temps quickly came down. I also had no problem starting the car each run, so the new fans do not seem to be pulling significantly more current than my old ones and I don't need to upgrade my alternator for now.

Yes. I made sure it had the larger flow area

The Pro-series electric fans that came with my 3-row Champion radiator several years ago were junk. The car would over heat in traffic or when I was just idling. I just replaced them with a pair of Spal Fans part# 30101522. These were the thinnest fans I could find that would give me a total flow of over 2500 CFM. The aluminum fan shroud had to be modified and the space is really tight, but these are working well for me so far.

How did you know the vacuum valved opened to let the air back in?

My car is the same. Half of it is probably because the AC compressor isn't turning fast enough to adequately compress the refrigerant. My idle drops 200 rpm to 600 when AC is on. I just gas it to around 1500 rpm when I'm stopped at a light for colder air. I can't say that the new fans help because I used to turn off AC during idle with my old fans to help with overheating. Stop lights weren't fun... My old civic and my current 2013 Mazda2 also blows warmer air at idle. I'm just happy I have AC in the Z

Small update after installing the Spal fans: Been driving in 90 deg weather with some stop and go traffic and the fans are doing a better job at cooling the car. When the fans kick in, the temperature actually comes down even when idling and with the AC blasting. Previously, the temps kept climbing with the fans on and no AC. So far so good. I have yet to test in 100+ weather and I have an autocross coming up in couple weeks so I'll update again after that. I do have the 160 deg F thermostat. The temperature was taken with a cheap infrared thermometer at the base of the external bypass line. It was where I was measuring the highest temp in that area so all the temps were taken from there during testing. The radiator caps has a 0.9 stamped on it, so I'm assuming 0.9 bar or 13 psi. Currently using the premixed 50/50 anti-freeze (have not added any distilled water). I did add a bottle of water wetter several months ago. Where should the coolant level be in the radiator? It is currently at about 1" below the top of the radiator (top of the actual radiator, not the cap). Can you explain why I should plug the heater core. For the external bypass line, are you saying to completely plug it in hot weather or have some sort of valve to close the line when the water temp gets hot. If you have already explained this in a different post, I can search it. I'm not sure about 110 F and 30 mph, but at around 95 F and 40 mph, the temp gauge stays right in the middle and the fans do not turn on. I know 95 F / 40 mph is not even close to 110 F / 30 mph, but that's what I have been able to examine so far. The thermo switch I'm using now is 185F on/175F off. I replaced the stock distributor with one from Autozone (direct replacement of stock) and modified the trigger to work with the MSD ignition (previous PO modified the ignition system so I'm not very familiar with it). The timing is set stock timing according to the manual.

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I measured the fans with an cheap energy meter. The fans are running off the battery only. Car is not on. Old fan rated at 870 CFM and 10 amps Spal Fan rated at 1328 CFM and 13 amps When I test with a multimeter, I'm getting 11.7V at the fans and 12V at the battery. I also didn't make the comparison video of the fans...

I don't have a amp meter for DC current. If you know how I can measure DC current with a cheapo multimeter, let me know. I'm also curious about the amperage draw because I still have the stock 50amp alternator. Did not know the Zs came with a splash shield. I will put them on my to do list. I need to look into the vented hoods, but for now, will try to add rubber grommets to lift the hood. I guess getting air out is important as getting air in. Got some work done today. Did some rewiring so that one fan will be operated with a switch and the other fan will be temperature controlled. The radiator and the old fans are out and just waiting for the new fans to ship. I'll try to make a comparison video between the cheap fans vs Spal fans.

I did some more testing in warmer weather (90ish deg). With just the radiator fans, the temps stabilized at 210 deg F. (In hotter weather, the temps have gone past 210 F) With the 20" box fan in front of the car, the temp slightly decreased to 205 deg F. With the hood opened, the temp went down to 195 deg F. So it seems adding a pusher fan may not help as much in hot weather. There was a lot of hot air coming from under the car with the box fan on. My thought is that the decrease in temp came from the box fan helping remove hot air from the engine bay, not really from cooling the radiator. I think Chickenman is spot on about the pusher fans. I also read that the pusher fan should be mounted on the radiator for best performance. Since my car has the ac condenser in front of the radiator, I would not be able to do this and won't be as effective. Also played around with increased idle, but didn't seem to do much. For now, I decided to replace my current radiator fans with Spal ones https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SPU-IX-30101522 Youtube comparison videos of Spal fans had me sold. Thank you everyone for the help and I will report back once the fans are installed in couple weeks.

Stock tires size is 195/70R14 so that'll be the 'best' tire size in my opinion. You'll want to keep the tire diameter the same or close to the original as possible if you want the speedometer to show the correct speed. Tirerack and online tire size comparison tools are useful.

I have, my friend recommended those to me. Unfortunately, the car only has 2.5" of clearance between the radiator and belts so those will not fit. These were on a different post and two of them may do the job as puller. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/spu-ix-30101522/overview/ It's been surprisingly cool the past couple days so I haven't been able to do more testing.

I have a cold air intake which does cover the top portion of the radiator. Wouldn't increasing the idle also increase the number of explosions so it'll give off more heat? In the original test I did, putting the 20" box fan in front of the car actually cooled the car so I'm thinking it's air flow issue and not water flow. I will try it though, thanks.

Chickenman, I agree with you on the Motortrend Video. It would be nice to see the hp draw based on air flow and electric vs mechanical. I'm pretty sure the taurus fan will work for my overheating issue, but I'm curious to see if adding a pusher fan to my current setup will work. It's definitely not the most efficient or cost effective solution for the reasons mentioned above. But it would be the easiest solution because I won't have to remove the radiator. It will be mounted in front of thee condenser so it'll help with the AC as well. I'll report back after some more hot weather testing before making my decision.

Unfortunately, I got rid of all my stock cooling components after I got the new radiator and electric fan. My current radiator is thicker so a stock fan no longer fits. I'll look into the Taurus fan and see if that will fit. I also recently replaced my water pump with the curved blades type from Paraut. Thank you all for the input. Here's the link to the Engine Masters Cooling fan shootout. The results are pretty eye opening.

The head gasket was replaced and hasn't leaked since so I believe it's fixed. It was coolant that was leaking. I will get someone to check for any air bubbles in the system. I did all the fixes so I'm not 100% confident about it. Thanks for pointing that out.

Sorry for posting another overheating post. I did some tests and wanted to confirm my suspensions before buying new parts. I got the Champion 3 row radiator with their electric fans, but I still have overheating issues at idle and low speeds on hot days (+90 deg F). I've tried putting in a 165F thermostat and water wetter, but no success. The current electric fan has a flow rating of 890 CFM. I currently have two installed with a shroud. I read on another post that these fans don't have enough flow and should get fans that'll give me above 2500 CFM total. Before I buy those fans, I did some testing today. I got a cheap 20" fan and put it in front of my car to see if the extra flow will help. These are all at idle and it was about 70F outside. Since it wasn't hot outside, the car didn't overheat with the radiator fans turned on, so I initially turned off all fans to get the car hot. 1. Idle, No fans - Temp increased to 220 F 2. Turned on radiator fan - No change in temp 3. Turned on 20" fan - Temp decreased to 190 F 4. Turned off 20" fan - No change in Temp 5. Turned off radiator fan - Temp increase to 220 F 6. Turned on radiator fan - No change in temp 7. Turned on 20" fan - Temp decreased to 190 F 8. Turned off radiator fan (20" fan still on) - Temp slow increased 9. Turned on radiator fan - Temp went back down to 190 F I should do this when it's hotter outside, but from these results, it seems like a higher flow fans will help and it's not about water pump not being able to flow enough water or something else. What do you guys think? Any inputs welcome! Thanks

Adding to what randy 77zt said, if you go to Yosemite on the weekend, get there before 8am. The crowds are ridiculous and you don't want to be stuck in traffic enjoying Yosemite from inside your car. Once you find parking, there's a shuttle that can take you around to most of the popular trails. If you have time, I recommend going up to Glacier Point (driving or bus). It has an amazing view of Yosemite valley without any hiking. Napa traffic is bad on weekends too. If you plan on going to popular wineries like Sterling or Amorosa, get there when they open to avoid big crowds.

Aero Z beat me to it regarding parking. I know some hotels charge $50/night for parking. I'm not sure what's the case with VRBO, but I think it's more important you pick a place depending on the transportation you plan on using in SF. Uber and Lyft is also useful in SF.

Consistency was more like oil, but you might be right. What did you do to fix the leak?

Hi guys, Some oil is leaking from the back side of the engine (firewall side) on my 1975 280z. I think it's the head gasket, but wanted to get some thoughts before I did anything. Here's a pic. It's right above the starter and it looks like oil is leaking into the starter and causing it to fail. Thanks

Congrats on your new car. I love this color. This forum and other Z forums are great tools for working on our cars. Keep the updates coming!

Can you drill and tap the insulator? Step 18 of the coilover conversion: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/98897-step-by-step-coilover-conversion/