74_5.0L_Z

I encountered that same interference problem with my Centerline Billet Scorpion wheels after I installed the 25mm spacer. My 16" wheels clear fine. Both sets of wheels are 8' wide and have a 5" backspace. I think the clearance problem is caused by the combination of diameter and backspace. The manufacturer probably envisioned a 15" wheel with the stock 3 7/8" backspace when they established fitment.

I just ordered the last set of filled fiberglass headlight buckets from Dave at Arizona Zcar. I have decided to blend them in to the front fenders. I still have to decide what I want to do about headlights. I may relocate some small diameter headlights into the grill area, or cut some holes and do something akin to Terry Oxendale's first version of his "street" body. I'll be sure to update this thread after I get the headlight buckets installed.

Dan, I know that you have the SubtleZ front end on your car, and that the seam has been filled. Where did you get your extensions? I'm not sure that I want to fill the seam. I like the way that it looks, but I want to be able to replace the extension if (when) I screw up again. ArizonaZcar sells fiberglass extensions. Has anyone here used his fender entensions. How is the fit / quality? I am pondering using his filled extensions, but he states that he won't ship his fiberglass parts on the web site. Maybe he would for such small pieces. MSA sells fiberglass extensions, but they are listed for 162.00/ea. That seems to be a bit expensive unless the fit is perfect, and they laminated in gold. There are also the ones made by ShowCarBody Parts, but I have heard that all their stuff is crap. John Washington, I would buy fiberglass extensions from you if you made them (I'm sure that many others would as well).

I am in the process of installing a Reaction Research SubtleZ fiberglass front end on my car. I am very happy with the quality of the kit, but I have a problem: I need headlight buckets (fender extensions)! The fenders are made to use the stock extensions, but I am lacking one because I smooshed it in an accident. The one that I do have is a reproduction unit from Victoria British (junk), and I would like find some that fit better. I would prefer have some that are fiberglass that are not junk. Does anyone have some fiberglass headlight buckets that fit well (company or individual)? In lieu of fiberglass units, I would settle for some used factory extensions that are in good shape. Thanks, Dan McGrath

I have a griffin aluminum radiator in my 5.0L ford powered 260Z. I am using a 1995 mustang fan (3200 CFM) which I have wired using a thermal switch. When I installed the fan switch, I tested it to make sure that it would come on when the engine reached the prescribed temperature (185 degrees). Unfortunately, the temperature reached 200 degrees, and still no fan. So, I wired in a by-pass switch that gives me manual control. My fan cools the motor back to 180 degrees very quickly. Do I have to turn it on very often? No, when I start the car and let it idle, it takes about 10 minutes to reach 180 degrees. I do not ever turn on the fan unless I am sitting in traffic. I never use it on the highway, nor in traffic that is moving well. On my old Z (L26), I replaced the stock fan with a flex-a-lite unit that I had wired to run all of the time. This worked well until the fan motor burned up after 9 months of continuous use. Also, the flex-a-lite fan was insufficient as a stand alone fan (even for the six cylinder). It needed to run almost continuously to keep engine temps in check. Moral of the story: Buy a good fan (the Ford Taurus and 1995 Mustang fans pull more air than any aftermarket unit). Find a thermal switch that works so that the fan will last. A properly sized fan should only run intermittently (even in traffic).

There are two ways in which you can remove the bumper mounts: First, you can remove the nut that is on the front side of the mount front underneath, and drive the shock unit out of the housing. Doing this will release the pressurized gas and ruin the bumper mounts. Second, you can undo the 6 fasteners attaching each shock mount to the body. You access 3 of the bolts on each side from below, and 3 acorn nuts on each side from inside the car. After the fasteners are removed on each side, the mounts will drop away from the unibody (so make certain that you have a hand on them before removing the last bolts). Once loose, you can carefully manipulate the "T looking things " out of the cutouts in the rear valance. After you remove the bumper mounts, be sure to fill the hole where the fasteners went. Otherwise, you will pull exhaust fumes into the car though the holes in the floor. Hopefully, you have room to remove the passenger side mount with the stock fuel tank in place. Under no circumstances, cut or heat the bumper mounts. They are pressurized. Good Luck, Dan

If the motor is set up for reverse rotation, you will need to change the following: Camshaft Reverse the pistons on the rods (the pins are slightly offset to counteract thrust, and the direction of the offset is rotation dependent). distributor drive gear (I think) oil pump (I think)

The struts are painted under the tape, and my car NEVER gets wet.

The weld-on washer locates it up and down, and the Ground-control kits came with a rubber O-ring that kind-of centers the sleeve on the strut. The last time I had mine apart, I tried something different that worked very well but sounds cheesy: I wrapped the strut housing with evenly applied layers of 2" wide electical tape until the sleeve would just barely slip on. This works much better than the O-ring. I kept all of the wraps of tape under the sleeve so that it isn't visible.

I just made a new set of adjustable T/C rods. On the first set I made, the die cut the first set of threads very nicely. On the second rod of the first set the die started to leave "chunky threads, but they were acceptable. On the first rod of this new set of T/C rods, the die was making a mess, so I decided that I need to do something better. I had the threads turned on a lathe rather than cutting them with a die. The lathe does a much better job, but cost me $60.00 for the pair. This cost may seem like a lot of money, but it is well worth it especially when you factor in the cost of the die (~80.00). Also, if you use a swaged tube as part of the T/C rod, make sure that you cut the J bar portion so that it extends well past the last thread in the swaged tube. If you dont engage all of the threads in the tube, you are putting stress across the treads (major stress riser). How do I know this? Check out the bent and broken T/C tube in front of my car on the ground. It broke at the last engaged thread (about 2" into the tube) after making contact with my frame rail. The contact with the frame rail was slight and caused a slight dent on the top of the tube. That dent weakened the tube so that it failed (buckled) under hard braking. If it had only buckled, it would have been a controlled failure. Unfortunately, because threads were stressed, the tube broke rather than merely bending. After that the car took a hard left and I ate some mangroves.

Check out the adjusters on the bottom of this page: http://www.swracecars.com/pdf/CATpg30.PDF As far as rod ends go, I used Aurora XAM-10T rod ends when I built my rear control arms. They feature a 3/4" chromoly body with a 5/8" teflon coated ball (40,000 + lb axial strength). If anything ever fails on my rear control arms it won't be the rod ends.

I've had good luck with the following very low tech method of removing the rear stub axles: Remove rear driveshafts Remove nut and inner washer/spacer Cover end of stub axle with a rag Place end of 4x4 (approximately 2 feet long) against stub axle and thread other end through control arm and below the differential. Place blanket under stub axle extending outward ~ 3 feet. Use a 5 lb sledge on end of 4x4 to drive stub axle out of strut housing. This usually take me 5 to 10 good blows with the hammer before the stub axle lands on the blanket about 2 feet from the car. Just make sure that the 4x4 is parallel to the stub axle before you start pounding. I've done this on 2 separate Z's with complete success.

zxtman, You are correct. If you look at the picture, you will see what remains of my left front T/C tube on the ground next to the tire. Mine T/C set-up was a swaged tube from AFCO racing, a rod end, and the end of the stock T/C rod (cut down and threaded). The failure was my own fault. I had shortened the front struts a few months prior to this event, and not verified that the wheel could go through its complete motion without interference. This course was faster than anything that I had previously run, I was on stickier tires than ever before, and I now had more suspension travel. This allowed the T/C tube to contact the bottom of the frame. The frame contact slightly bent the tube which then failed under hard braking.

The damage is actually pretty superficial. There was no structural damage to the car. I should have the body kit here in a couple of weeks, and installed by mid-January. I am contemplating installing the rear quarter with DZUS fasteners rather than bonding them on. That way, they'll be really easy to change next time I mess up.

Yes, I was very lucky. I hate depending on luck, but I wouldn't want to leave home without it. The wheels are 16 x 8 Centerline Billet Pheonix (style 816). The tires are 245/45/16 Hoosier A3S04 (they are magic).

I've been lusting after the Subtle Z body kit for quite a while, but I've always had parts that were higher up the priority list. The SubtleZ body kit just made it to the front of the line. I had some intimate contact with some mangrove trees at the Bay Bottom Crawl. Luckily, the incident occurred at relatively low speed, and I only destoyed my left front fender, hood, and air dam. There were some portions of this course that I was near 130 mph . John Washington has been great to deal with, and I will receive my new fenders, air dam, hood, and rear quarters very soon.

These weren't by any chance aftermarket door seals. I had similar trouble with some aftermarket seals, and finally had to bite the bullet and get Nissan OEM seals. Even the OEM replacement seals are a little tight when first installed. Good luck

I have the battery tray itself, but not the sheet metal below the tray. It is in perfect condition (sandblasted and painted). The original spot welds were drilled out, and the tray reinstalled with 1/4 x 20 bolts. You can have it free if you pay for shipping. Dan McGrath

Which brakeline? What are you using for new brakes? If its an aftermarket setup (Wilwood, Outlaw, etc...) then you probably need to adapt to SAE flared fittings, and need to replace the brakelines anyway. Some of the brake lines are easier than others to remove and replace with the drive train installed than others. The ones going to the wheels are generally not that difficult, with the possible exception of the passenger side front. If it were me, I would remove the broken line back to the nearest flared fitting (be careful not to distort it). Then measure the length of the brake line, and get one of the nearest length from the autoparts store. The lines from the auto parts store are straight lengths with fittings already installed. Then, using the line that you removed from the car as a template, bend the new line to match. Finally, install the new line in place of the removed one. For the bending, you can use a brake tubing bender (available from the autoparts store for about $9.95), or you can just bent it by hand (be careful not to kink it and use really generous bend radii). I have completely replaced the lines in my car twice without any problems using a combination of bending tool and my hands.

I run mine in Emod, and I have deleted the brake booster. I prefer the brakes without the booster, but I've replaced all the brakes with aftermarket pieces. Here is a list of what I am running: Stock 260Z master cylinder Front 11.5 x 0.81" vented rotors (coleman machine) Outlaw 2800 series 4 piston calipers (1.75" pistons) Rear 10.5" x 0.81" rotors (1985 maxima front discs that have been slightly modified Outlaw 2800 series 4 piston calipers (1.375" pistons) Wilwood propotioning valve in line to rear brakes adjusted to nearly full decrease Hawk HP-Plus pads on all four corners. I love my brakes. My car stops very well. When I take my car to the drag strip, I drive it hard through the traps (and then some) at Orlando Speed World and easily slow it down from 115mph to make the first turn out for the return road. The brakes have great modulation and really don't require too much effort. To delete the brake booster I made a 1/4" aluminum plate that has the bolt patterns for both the booster to master cylinder and booster to firewall concentric with each other. I also dismantled the booster to acquire the push rod that goes from the pedal to the booster, and used it (with slight modification) as the push rod for the master cylinder. As far as using a larger master cylinder, don't bother. Increasing the bore of the master cylinder increases pedal efforts, and the stock 260Z master cylinder provides plenty of capacity. I'm including pictures: one that shows the adapter plate installed less master cylinder, and the other with the MC installed. Oh, and please don't compare us to Zcar.com

Just for you Terry

I believe that he wants a 15" wheel so that he can run a tire with some sidewall. Tires with a taller sidewall are better for drag racing. The BFG DR are available as 235/60/15 and 275/50/15. I do agree that it is easier to get the clearance with a larger diameter wheel. My 16" wheels/tires have slightly more clearance than my 15".

My 1974 260Z with a full interior, 16 gallons of fuel, full interior and me (190 lbs) weighed 2800 lb in street trim. Since then I have wrecked the car, and rebuilt it with a tubular front end, subframe, and half roll cage. The new version has no undercoating or sound deadening material, no windshield wipers, no HVAC, no emergency brake, and no bumpers. The car does still have stock seats, all of the glass, the full dash and interior trim panels. The motor is a 1989 5.0L with Edelbrock aluminum heads, Cobra Intake, 24# injectors, 73mm MAF, 65mm TB and Crower cam. The transmission is a T5. I put the car on wheel scales recently and here are the results with 16 gallons of fuel and me (190LBs) in the car: LF = 648 Lb RF = 607 Lb LR = 751 Lb RR = 710 Lb. Total = 2716 Lb Here are my percentages: (LF + RF)/ Total = (648 + 607)/2716 X 100%= 46.2 percent on the front 53.8 % on the rear. (LF + RF)/ Total = (648 + 751)/2716 X 100% = 51.5 % on left and 48.5% on right. my diagonals are equal ie.. (LF + RR) = (RF + LR) -> (648 + 710) = (607 +751) = 1358. The 260 is a slightly heavier car than the 240, and I have not done all that is possible to lighten the car. The doors could be gutted (they weigh 67 lbs each in full trim. The gutted doors would weigh less than 10 lbs. each. The rear glass could be replaced with lexan, etc....

I have two sets of wheels for my car. Set 1: 15 x 8 with a 5 inch backspace have 245/50/15 Dunlop SP8000 tires. The tire clears my rear coilovers by <1/4" and is even with the fender lip. Set 2: 16 x 8 with 5 in backspace has 245/45/16 Hoosier A3S04. Again my tire clears the coilovers by 1/4" and is even with the stock fender lip. My coil-overs are Ground Control units with 250#/in 10 inch x 2.50 springs. It would be possible to run more backspace and a wider tire if you ran a shorter spring (8"). The shorter springs will let you raise the perch location above the tire and get more clearance. The additional clearance could let you squeeze a 15 x 9 with a 5.75" backspace and a 275 if you also roll the rear fender lip. That is the only way you will get the 275/50/15's under the stock fender. Unfortunately, you would have to run a stiffer spring (300#/in +) to keep from stacking the short springs, and stiff springs are not ideal for drag racing.

This is the bender that I am getting ready to buy: http://www.jd2.com/M3B_Features.htm I've heard really good things about it.