Bob_H

The local Porsche club still runs on Cabiness every month - I just signed on to be their chief driving instructor for next year. We have a whole new group of folks getting the ball rolling and have really organized it well - a welcome change for the old guard who have kept things running for so long w/no new influx of blood. Anyways, the pan itself is completed - I now have to pull it back off and mock up the baffles, then put it back on. Its a work of art - the guy who worked with me on the pan is a good welder,(been doing it for the past 6 years every day). I did most of the cutting/trimming and he tacked it in place then welded it all. Next step, attach the G-Force tranny to the new bellhousing and block and drop it in the car to check clearance/etc... That should be next weekend. I'm really trying to keep progress on this... -Bob PS-the pictures are with my cellphone, so the resolution isn't that great.

For the power requirements he's asking for, a stock chamber N42 will work fine, if not better. A good choice of camshaft, maybe some light port work and a good quality valve job and its a good start. You have to shave the P-90 to get the compression ratio up to a decent amount to make that kind of hp,(possibly requiring shimming, etc..). -Bob (former and current P-90 fan, but strong believer in the N-42)

Yes and no. Yes, if I don't do anything, it will have issues. But no because I'm planning around it. If you look at the picture of my old oil pan, the two points which hit - one is the pass,(US), side rack mount and the other is the u-bolt bumper which bolts around the rack. I can move the u-bolt bumper, and if it is still close to the pass. side rack mount, there is plenty of room to grind the upper portion off. I also need to account for engine movement under power - as with the clockwise rotation of the crankshaft,(viewed from the front of the engine), it will load down and to the pass side under power. In the end, I'll have to mock it back up and see how much clearance I have - fortunately there is plenty of "meat" to remove on the steering rack mount and still allow it to do its job. -Bob

Ok, oil pan issues. I posted about my previous concerns about my intended hard use and the thin oil pan. In addition, with many RB Z cars on the track having oiling issues, I wanted to re-design my setup. First, there are a few things I mandated that I include. One - the windage trays that bolt to the bottom of the main bearing girdle had to stay. Second, I wanted extra capacity. And third - overkill thickness on the aluminum. The cardboard paper I used as a mockup is the thickness of what I will be using. As you can see in one of the pictures, (and is shown earlier in this thread), I have a custom pickup - and I was mocking up the pan to match this pickup. Once the pan is actually fabricated, I'll install the baffling and trap-doors. There are two reasons generally speaking, why RB26 motors have oiling issues on the track. The first is insufficient oil in the pan - leading to a complete loss of oil pressure. Mark with his Silver Z showed this in his video from Texas World Speedway - with the sudden fall in pressure under some braking and right hand turns. He has since re-worked the oil pan and increased the amount of oil in the pan to help deal with this. The second issue is aeration of the oil. There is a lot of oil moving around the engine, and with the crank spinning around at 6-8k rpm, it tends to whip it up in a froth - which leads to air in the oil, which in turn, gets sucked up the pickup - into the oil pump where that bubble now creates stress on the oil pump gearators and slowly lowers the output of the pump,(typically seen by a falling oil pressure). I'll be honest - I'm not 100% sure exactly what leads to both of these problems beyond insufficient and air in the oil in the bottom of the pan. I used to believe that the oil pooled in the head - but have since found many examples of RB's with high volume pumps, no extra restrictors anywhere in the motor - and they are operating fine. If you take a close look at the tray which bolts into the bottom of the RB26 stock oil pan casting - you will notice it has two layers, the first of which is very similar to the "windage tray's",(as I call them), and then another flat piece beneath it with a few holes. This bolt-in tray serves to help the oil settle down and remove the excess air in the oil before it gets to the bottom of the sump. So bottom line - I won't be using the external cylinder head drain, but will attempt to fabricate another "windage" type tray to help route the oil down to the bottom of the sump, i.e. slow it down and allow the air to get out of the oil. I.E. I'm trying to keep it as much like stock as I can within my limitations of a rear sump. If I were drag racing this car, these issues might not even pop up, and for sure daily driving would matter either. But high G-forces in a 25 min session will expose any design flaws in my setup. You can see I did a lot of the cutting and fabrication on my own and will only have the shop do the actual cutting and welding. Otherwise this would have been an outrageously expensive setup. -Bob

Ok, Long overdue work was finally accomplished and here is the long overdue update. All the suspension under the car had lots of "gunk" on it from the layer of grease followed by 2 years in the body shop with lots of sanding - lots and lots of junk on all the parts. In addition, as you will see in the pictures, there is some corrosion on parts, etc.. and before I take this on the track, I need to take a look at bolts/nuts/etc... In my post after this, I'll put the oil pan update. Of note: ALL of the bolts holding the halfshafts to the outer stub axle were loose. The previous owner had warned me that I would need to tighten them before every event - now I see why. Again, EVERY one was loose. Sure, they have loc-nuts on each one, but some you could spin freely,(to be more clear, the bolt and nut combo spun freely - but the nut was still held on tightly). I need to look into a safety wire situation when I put this back together. So something to check for those of you who might be running the CV setup. To answer the questions about who made the suspension, where can you get it, etc... It is a shop in Atlanta - I can get the info by digging some. They were custom made, as were the adapters for the 300zx brake calipers,(3/8" thick steel). The rear bracket includes an adapter for the wilwood parking brake caliper,(that is on the "rear" portion). This was designed to be a suspension setup for a GT-2 racecar. The swaybars are Speedway engineering - and are fully custom if you want to duplicate them. Do-able, but expect some welding/etc... and it won't work with a stock rear fuel tank. The front is eaiser, but expect to reinforce the frame rails up front,(as you should do with any aftermarket large sway bar) If you have more questions, just ask and I'll see what I can do. -Bob

Mark, It was good to see you at the track again last weekend. Every time I see you drive yours, even with the problems you had in the past, it still makes me jealous that mine is still sitting in the garage with several "projects" left to go. I did finally finish mocking up the oil pan,(updated my thread) - we'll see how that works once I get it running. I'm hoping someday next year we'll be able to run both of them on the track together at TWS or MSR. -Bob

You keep refering to the Z3 - that is far from what I would call an ideal suspension to start from. I know first hand as I extensively tracked an M Coupe, (the coupe version of the Z3). I went through no less than 6 suspension itterations on it. The car is extremely capable, but the semi-trailing arm rear suspension just flat out isn't as capable as later generation designs, (either the M3's, or just about any multi link rear suspension). Sure, the front is slightly better than our Datsun's, but suffers from many of the same maladies being derived from a strut based design, (lack of camber gain, limited tire width inside the hub face). Yes, you can flat out haul in that setup if properly done, but the same can be said about the Z. This is why I have the shell of a 94 RX-7 cut up and will eventually be grafted beneath my old 73, (no, not the "super datsun" as that is a '72). A-arm front suspension, multi link rear, very light, proven, lots of aftermarket support. -Bob

Jason, It was great to meet you and your wife - it was a pleasure to have dinner with you. Glad you made it back to Joplin OK, now all that remains is to actually start installing that turbo kit! Remember, get it running first - don't worry about all the other upgrades. You'll appreciate it in the long run - trust me as that's the voice of experience talking.... -Bob

While this is a little past your experience now that you are at the Solo point - you might still be able to use it. I'm a flight instructor for the Navy,(granted for jets, but the principles are the same). Here is what I did when I had an instructor who grabbed the controls w/o saying anything - when he grabbed them, I immediately said "you have the controls". To which I usually got a surprised "I have the controls". It only took a few times to get my point across in a non-offending manner. In the debrief we talked about the fact that he did this alot and I was often confused who was flying the plane - not a good place to be in the landing pattern - there should NEVER be any confusion about that. Either you are flying or you are not. That becomes especially important if you ever get into formation flying - but that is another stage in your flying. Bottom line - YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE TRAINING. If your not happy you must bring it up and if you can't resolve it, get a new instructor - who cares if you hurt their feelings - its your money, not theirs. If you don't speak up, quite honestly while we would like to point a finger to the instructor - the student who doesn't speak up holds at least equal blame. Good luck with your training - I love flying and get excited like a little kid every time - and it doesn't matter if its a 500kt jet or a 100kt Cessna, flying is flying and I can't believe I get paid to do it. -Bob

This is a similar to what I put in the wanted ads. I live in Corpus Christi, TX and am willing to travel to find a good car,(within reason - Maine and Wash. state are a bit too far). I have been driving my M3 to work for the past year and with my 240 project coming to a close, I'm considering replacing it with a early Z. Requirements are as follows: -Must have AC - its 100 in the summer and my drive is 38 miles each way. -Ideal would be 260z, but will consider all others. -Must be in good running/working order and not "need" anything - I already have a project and don't want/need another. -It will be taken to the track, so a good track car is always a good candidate,(again, needs to be in overall good condition). I'm looking to trade my 98 M3. I can send pictures/etc.. if you are serious. The M3 is a higher mileage car, currently about 204k. Runs like a champ and I get between 22 and 26mpg depending on how fast I drive to work. I'll have the car dyno'd for whomever buys it to know the exact condition. I've had the oil analyzed at every change and will provide all the records I have. Its not perfect but may be great candidate for someone who wants a BMW but most of them are out of their price range. (Its silver and a 4 door, new brakes/tires and shouldn't need anything). Something like this might be ideal, however it is a higher price than I am looking for: http://dallas.craigslist.org/car/409269910.html I figure my M3 is worth somewhere around $8k. I'm willing to consider a Z plus cash, or my car plus some cash from me. As I said, the car above is more than the price range I'm looking at, but has just about all I'm looking for. PM or e-mail is a great way to get ahold of me. My timeframe is not immediate - I may sell the BMW outright first. I have about 2 months to find what I want. -Bob

What class is he? Is he graduating anytime soon or has he already? Flight aspirations? I ask because I'm currently instructing in flight school and am a former boat school boy who had his 240z at the Academy. -Bob

Jason, Yes, I did get the PM last week and replied then. I have been on leave,(Vacation), and at the Tailhook convention this past weekend. As I said in the PM, I'll check tomorrow to see what the dates will be. -Bob

Thanks for the pictures - that's what I thought. Its not an issue with the RB26 as they are all routed right near the head on top of the intake manifold/ITB's/etc.. Did yours already have an OBDII port? My motor is from a 2000 model - a Stagea 260RS with the R33 motor - so I'm not sure if it had the OBDII or not? I have what appears to be an OBDII plug - I'll have to check when I get back to Corpus. Ah - on edit I see that you are saying its a diagnostic port. Again, I'll compare it to mine. -Bob

Do oyu have some pictures of the OBD2 plug seutp and the harness inbetween the intake/head? I'm guessing you have the RB25, not the 26? I say that because a majority of my harness is already inbetween the intake and cylinder head. -Bob

Well, I officially bowed out of the Z Car convention. Work commitments were getting too much, and were keeping me from completing the car and we have some detachments that will overlap the convention. That relieves some pressure on me that was getting a little high to get the car ready w/all the associated flying I've been doing. I recently had the Castlemaine Rod Shop bellhousing come in that will adapt my GF-5R to the RB motor - so now I will likely have to re-do the engine mounts/etc... That of course, changes the potential new oil pan - etc.. its a nice snowball effect. I'm currently working on the re-wire of the car with the EZwire setup. There currently is a great thread which I'm using as a baseline: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=125050 That's the big projects for now... I'm really bummed about missing the Z car convention - but that is the way things fall sometimes. Maybe next year. -Bob

Thanks. I hope Sparky lets you post them - that way those of us using the EZwiring,(which is one of the cheapest/most complete), can benefit! -Bob

Your timing is perfect on this post - I'll be working on my 240 this weekend. I stripped everything out of my Z, and there is no dash gauges to speak of - so mine will be slightly different. however, the rear lights info is great - thanks! If I have any feedback/updates, I'll post them. -Bob

Where do they route? I.E. where do they start and end? I'm very interested as I am currently running AL lines and would like something stronger,(currently -6, need -8 for the end HP requirements down the road). Oh yea, how much were they? Any pictures? -Bob

I seriously doubt it - all HKS turbo's I have seen before had the HKS logo as part of the housing. Not saying they are not - but it might be worth a post on the GT-R forums. -Bob

Convert to top feed? Mine already are top feed,(RB26). I thought the RB25 was the same?

Well, took my injectors to be cleaned/ultrasounded/backflowed, and flow tested. 5 flowed exactly the same - 1 was 10% higher than the rest. One of the good flowing ones was leaking after pressure dropped below 20psi. No good. I asked a guy who had some for sale and he wanted something crazy considering that I won't know if they are good until I pay $25 each to have them checked here...... Anyone have some they can donate to me? Or sell for a very reasonable price? BTW, if you are using the stock injectors - I HIGHLY recommend that you have them cleaned and flow tested. If they have been sitting for more than 6 months before you run them, seals/etc... can start going bad. -Bob

Well, I guess I'll give that a try! Thanks for the info - it might save me lots of time. -Bob

You mean the balance tube above the ITB's? The tube below the ITB's is for coolant. Just checking? It should be the same one the PVC valve screws into. And my thought would be that with it pulling from all 6 ITB's, it should see a strong enough vacuum signal to run it at idle - however I have no direct experience with that. -Bob

Info can be found here: http://forums.freshalloy.com/showthread.php?t=170841

Credit card not accepted for out of Aus orders. And a phone call is an international call for me.... Otherwise I would have long since called them. -Bob