Dragonfly
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Posts posted by Dragonfly
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I think all of that can be fixed without to much dificulty. A good body/frame shop will put the car on a rack, attach clamps to it and apply force to it while tapping the dents and they will pop right out. The rest of the work is cosmetic. In the pictures I could not realy see the front of the frame rails but as long as they are not torn they can be straghtened out fairly easily. If some place gives you an outragous price to have the work done go somewhere else, in my opinion outragous would be above 8 hours labor.
Dragonfly
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You can run stock springs on a .460 lift cam with no problem, with a higher lift cam you do not need to change the springs so much as to machine down the spring perch in the head then shim the springs accordingly. The book "How to Modify Your Nissan/Datsun" by Frank Honsowetz has pictures and detailed information on making modifications to your head to accept larger cam profiles i.e. machining down the spring perches etc. if you don't own the book it is one of the best purchases you can make if you want to stick with an L series engine in your car.
When I was running the su's I was using ZTherapy's rebuilt 4 screw round top carbs that were flow matched and using SM needles. If you have junky or worn out carbs the best cam in the world will not do you any good, so keep that in mind before spending your money.
Dragonfly
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In my opinion the Schnieder cams that MSA sells is probably one of the best things they sell. I have the MSA 2003 cam which is a Schnieder .460 lift 270/270 cam, the kit comes with new rockers, lash pads and springs and it is claimed to provide good power from 3500 rpm to 6000 rpm. When I was running su's that cam gave me gobs of torque and it pulled hard all the way through its stated range, when I switched to 40mm Mikunis I had to modify the carbs considerably to work well with the cam as it is to small for the carbs.
In my opinion the primary cause of the cam wear problem you have experianced is from A) improper cam break-in
improper cam geometry. I had a car many years ago that the cam was not properly broken in on and within a matter of months the lobes started showing wear like you have on yours.One last thing (my opinion again) unless you truly have no clue you should never completely trust someone else's work, when they are done take it home and recheck everything yourself, even the best mechanic will not treat your engine the same way he treats his own.
Dragonfly
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Back when all this was still fresh in the news I read an article that listed the vehicles which are most prone to roll over and the ones that are the most difficult to roll over. What I remember most about the article was that they said the Corvette was the most difficult car to roll over but that it was aslo the car involved in the most roll over accidents. The article said the reason for that is because the drivers don't realize the limitations of the vehicles and thier own ability to maintain controll.
I guess what I am saying is what most everyone else has said... it is not the fault of the manufactuer but rather the nut behind the wheel. "The way to make drivers safer is not to make a safer vehicle but rather to put a sharpened steel spike in the center of the steering wheel, that driver will never do anything stupid behind the wheel" that was taken from a show on Discovery Channel about dangerous driving (the quote may not be exact as it has been awhile since I saw the show).
Dragonfly
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Anyone know if you can use the stock window roll up' date=' lock, etc in and 'glass door?
Really appreciate your help.
Al[/quote']
The "glass" doors do not have any facilities for the window mechinism, realisticaly the doors are one of the worst places to try to loose weight in the car short of stripping the door to a shell or running glass doors which are esentialy a shell.
As far as running Lexan in the rear hatch on the street... well I have been doing it for awhile now and have never had any problem. I would recomend that if you run Lexan you buy the type that has the ultraviolet protection on it, that will help to prevent sun related problems.
Dragonfly
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I have '72 doors that at this time are completely empty, they weigh 26 lbs according to the bathroom scale I have in the garage. The "track thingy" is the side impact beam, in the '72 and older Z's they are nothing more than a thin piece of metal that screw in on one side and weld in on the other side. On the '73 and '74 it is a much heavier beam with some substance to it and as said earlier they add at least 10lbs to the weight of the door. The '75 (280Z) and newer have a different latching mechinism in the door and a redesigned window crank mechinism both of which work better than the earlier ones but they also weigh more and the side impact beam is even more stout (heavier) in order to meet the newly addopted side impact laws.
As far as using a 280 door on a 240 and vice versa the doors are the same physical size but the latching mechinism is different enough that under most circumstances it is more work than it is worth to swap them. On my 240 which is predominantly a track car (with full cage) I have drilled several 1" and 2" holes in the door to lighten it but still allow me to retain my window mechinism and handle/latch mechinism, one of the other club members whos car is a track only car cut the entire inside portion of his doors out, removed the glass and made a modified mount for the inside door handle but even by my standards that is to extreme for a car that will see any street driving. BTW with the holes drilled in my doors it brought them down to 20lbs each.
Dragonfly
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Yes it is lb/in and it means X lbs = 1 inch compression, so a 250 lb spring would compress 1 inch with 250 lbs sitting on it. The better springs on the market are close to linear which means that a 250 lb spring would require 500 lbs to compress it 2 inches etc. so if you have 4 inches of travel it will take 1000 lbs to compress it all the way.
On my car I run 300 lb springs in the back and 250 lb springs in the front and my car is quite stiff I could not imagine running springs that are on the plus side of 400 lbs on anything short of a smooth race track, on the street that would beat you to death.
Dragonfly
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Not completely flat I hope.... That would allow the coilover to go anywhere as long as it is on the strut bottom and strut piston, but it could still wander up top. I think it is mroe common to have the outside seat recessed and the inside raised.
Here is a link to what I have on my Z, http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/image.php?image=http://www.ground-control-store.com/images/fullsize/4516_fs.jpg&name=Coilover+Conversion+kit%2C+70-74+Datsun+240%2F260+Z+WELD it does have an inner lip to keep the spring located on the perch but the perch itself is ground flat.
Dragonfly
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On a quality set of coil overs the perch is flat and the springs are ground flat so there is no wrong place for it to re-seat on the perch. Beyond that I have to agree with Auxilary.
Dragonfly
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My cars name is Dragonfly. Dragonfly was named by my wife, and she came up with the name from the Dragonfly Clothing Company which makes most of the clothes I wear http://67.15.104.79/~admin45/shop/htdocs/retail/roadhouse.php.
Dragonfly
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Brandon I don't carry a jack either, but on the street I carry a can of 'fix a flat', I also have my AAA card. That kid at the races was pretty young and I know that he told me he visits Hybridz occasionaly but I have not seen him here that I can say. Maybe after I get my car on the road again and if Paul is not replacing his head gasket we can all get together at the drags and kick some ***.
Dragonfly
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Well Paul I was not able to make it out to the races, but I am curious how you did. I have recieved my flywheel and I am very happy about how it looks. I took the FW with me when I went to Southland Clutch and we went through several blank clutch hubs until I decided on the six puck sprung hub, then while I waited they assembled my clutch for me and set me up with the proper pressure plate for the clutch and fly wheel. At this time all of it is sitting in boxes in the garage along with my new ripper shifter and fully rebuilt BW T5.
Its a bummer that I am not going to be able to make it to the dyno day because I really wanted to see what it has while the rest of the clubs hanging around.
Dragonfly
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Hey Paul, I thought that the guy you showed the picture of was Brandon also until I went back and read the sig. I was there the night he did that burnout and that kid actualy blew out the tire and spent the next 20 or so minutes finding a jack because he had his spare but forgot he needed a jack.
For anyone who is concerned the hill on 52 is a very long straight stretch of highway with a gradual crest, enough so that even at a very high rate of speed someone would have to close thier eyes in order to not see a dissabled/slow/eratic etc. vehicle in the road ahead of them. Also the typical non rush hour speed for that stretch of road is between 80 and 90 mph and that includes the cops.
Paul, I would like to know how your car does at the next drags, I need to get an idea about racing you again. BTW the last race I ran out there before I took the car apart was 8.7xx at 79.xx mph with a 1.8x 60' time (1/8 mile track for those who are not familiar with racelegal). I am hoping that when I get the car back together I will be in the 8.5 to 8.6 range. I bought one of the other Fidanza's from the same guy you bought yours from, what do you think of yours? I also bought a 6 puck clutch and pressure plate that "southland clutch" told me could easily hold up to 400 hp. Any way hopefuly I will be out there racing again in about two months.
Dragonfly
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The seatbelts held to the buckle with a pop rivet!!
I think that is so the brass won't tear him up so bad when he gets hit by the person who "just didn't see him".
Dragonfly
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I run a 10 point cage in my Z and I have been pulled over once in it (in socal). The cop did not even seem to notice the cage, he gave me a fix-it ticket for my back tires sticking out past the fenders. As for insurance I use AAA and what they told me when I asked was that the only time my car would not be covered is when it is on a track, or if I put perminent numbers (ie a non-removable race number) on the car.
BTW when I was pulled over (above) it was when some ricer was trying to get me to race him on the freeway, after ignoring the ricer long enough he cut in front of me with a good 6" to spare then less than 5 seconds later we go past the cop and he thinks I am tailgating and trying to instigate a race (he told me that when he pulled me over). After looking at me (late 30's, shirt and tie etc.) my car and not seeming to care or notice the full and padded cage he decided what I told him was probably true so he just hit me with the fix-it ticket.
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Can i buy 1 valve retainer and 1 lash pad? or do i have to get a whole set? If so wherecan i get one.
The only way that I know of that you can buy only one is to get it used (wrecking yard or private party), you can do that as a short term fix. What would be better if you have the money would be to buy new rockers, spring retainers, lash pads, and locks, you can buy them from a Nissan dealership or from MSA. There are probably others that sell new ones but I don't know for sure.
The reason for getting new parts is because each valve assembly is like a finger print no two are alike, they wear into thier own pattern and when you put a used one on the pattern is different from what was there before which creates accelerated wear as well as other problems like popping out the lash pad or spitting out the rocker etc. In my opinion a used one is better than using what you have now but the assembly should be completely replaced as soon as possible. Here is an MSA link for you http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TZS&Category_Code=PEM02
Dragonfly
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If it was me I would replace the valve spring retainer. From looking at the picture I suspect that the lash pad was either damaged or missing which allowed the underside of the rocker to hit on the retainer, if that is the case you should probably replace the rocker as well and difinately replace the lash pad.
Dragonfly
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But the questoin still stands. Won't liquid nitrous puddle in the intake manifold?
I can assure you that you will never have liquid nitrous puddled up in your intake. What you may get is liquid fuel (gasoline) puddled your intake. A wet system means that you have nitrous and fuel mixed together upstream of the intake manifold (or in the intake) while a dry system adds the fuel on the downstream side of the intake i.e. just above the valves (where your fuel injectors sit).
The additional oxygen in the N2"O" combined with the additional fuel (either by a wet system or by increased injectors or injector capacity) is what gives you the horse power in a bottle. The explosion issue is always there but it is increased when you increase the volume of space that has fuel and oxygen combined such as in your intake.
Dragonfly
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To actualy reply to some of your questions, most of the books I have cost around $20 each, I feel that each one of them was worth the cost, what prompted me to buy them? They were about something that I wanted to learn more about or get more detailed info about. What is lacking in all of the books is there just is not enough information due largely to budget, publisher restraints, and intimidation factor for the end buyer.
I have helped with getting a couple of books published (http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?q3=Txsi8wYfvt4= and http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?q3=LZMU/F2OwBQ=) and in my opinion one of the most important things you can do prior to publication is to come up with a cover and binding edge that cause your book to stand out from the others that will be on the shelf around it and to send copies of the finished but pre-published book to some people you know and trust who can read it and give you a GOOD forward as well as a good "buy this book" referance/endorsement on the back cover.
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Sounds to me like you have about the right amount. The reason I say that is because you said the car looked very straight and you also said that you have not found anything thicker than 1/8". As a rule of thumb bondo should not be applied any thicker than 1/8", if you are filling an area that requires more than 1/8" thickness you should do it in layers. But from what it sounds like on your car is that someone actualy took the time to pound out the metal to the point that they never needed more than 1/8" of bondo... that is a good thing. It is better if the metal is worked to the point that bondo is not needed at all but the reality is that most people do not have the time/knowledge or the money for someone who does.
Be careful grinding out all the bondo you find or you will have to either work the metal of refill the bondo.
Dragonfly
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I have a small library of automotive books which include some books on painting and body work. I have found them to be very informitive and the ones that give you test projects to practice on prior to working on your car etc. seem to be even better (good example: books written by Ron Fourner). I personaly like the books like the ones published by HP Books, at this time the only thing I have other than books is a video tape from ZThearipy from several years ago.
I think that if someone took the time and money to make a high quality and very profesionaly filmed and edited DVD/tape that shows every step plus gives the viewer test projects to learn on it would be something that I would want in my library as a referance.
It sounds like you are trying to decide if you should write a book or something. If that is the case I would recomend that you read several of the books published by HP Books in particular the one called 1001 tech tips.
Dragonfly
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After looking at the link you provided I can assume that you have a 280zx. After reading the first couple of lines this is what I saw "one pair of Hypercoil's unrivalled quality coilover springs selected to suit your requirements".
What that statement means to me is that when you talk to them they will help you to determine what your needs are and provide you with the correct spring rates. This is exactly what would be expected of a profesional operation and a profesional operation is what you will be dealing with when deal with Modern Motorsports.
Dragonfly
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Go to your favorite bookstore and look for the book "Weldors Handbok" it is written with the intention of helping people to understand each of the different types of welding, prep etc. It is the best book I have seen for teaching welding short of taking classes.
As far as the damage on your frame I personaly would move everything out of the way and have someone who is a professional weldor weld in supports on the frame to box it in and create some extra strength.
Dragonfly
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The comment about 24# of boost splitting the manifold was something I had read and had been told by some people when I was researching building a high boost L28, any way you do it is up to you.
Dragonfly
improper cam geometry. I had a car many years ago that the cam was not properly broken in on and within a matter of months the lobes started showing wear like you have on yours.
Rear end mested itself up in a good way! READ!
in Drivetrain
Posted
I had that happen to my rear diff also, the pin came out close to a 1/2", but with mine it also damaged the carrier so I ended up scrapping that diff which was to bad because for years I would get equal traction from both tires in a straight line although around a turn it acted like a typical open diff. Be careful because there is the chance that your carrier may have been damaged or weakened and you don't want that thing to handgrenade on you while racing.
Dragonfly