gnosez

1972 240Z w/L28, triples, 5-spd, R200, AZ front brakes, 1/2 tank gas, full interior, autopower roll bar, dynomat, gnose: 2524 (51-49%).

I have the BRE style rear spoiler and the gnose (w/o a spoiler) and that combo seems to work okay. Allan has put me on to a few sources in Jpan for a non-ZF front spoiler which will likely mean I go to a 5-inch version of the BRE to keep it balanced. This holistic approach to lift and downforce was covered by I believe C/D back in 1976 when they compared several from and rear spoilers.

Add negative camber to all this and my tires stick out even more into the airflow. There was a reason they added the ZG flares with the G-nose. The real issue is for a daily driver/fun car and whether these mods will produce the benefits desired if the appearance changes in ways an owner has issues with. Now on our club race car, that we can mod to get as slippery as hell...

Cygnusx1 - lesson one, never post when tired. Your reply re: trapped air keeping any more air from entering was so simple I slapped my own head this morning. Modding the "A" pillar is simple and straight forward. As are the winglets in front of the tires. The rocker aero skirts look like simple pieces as well but, in our case, would need to be removable, as getting on/off our trailer would rip them off unless we modded it. All these would be easy to do to a track car but adding them on to a street car and keeping the overall appearance in mind will be harder IMHO. Did I miss something, was a "cowl" hood tested?

I need a lot more time looking over and digesting this data. What I am interested in up front is where all that air (with the windows rolled down) goes? I doubt it exits in enough volume through the side vents and must build up in the back of the hatch air causing drag and lift. Since we run the race car with the windows down (rules) other than the window deflectors is there some concept/benefit to dumping this trapped air out of the Z and if so how?

Honda 15-inch space saver spares fit over the 240SX calipers (just). A spare from an '84 300ZX do not even though they look like they should.

I took the prelim data (perhaps it would be better to call it information) regarding gnose air flow and installed a sheetmetal plate from the bottom of the radiator support to the bottom of the inner lip of the gnose itself late last night. I added side pieces as well. It's not a complete boxed in arrangement but most of the air coming through the gnose front opening now goes directly into the radiator. I have scalloped inspection lids and am thinking of drilling holes in the engine bay walls just before the firewall. That I'll wait on until more data is released. With no written test protocol or plan, I took the car for a run today and saw water temps lowered as speed increased and no real change in handling at speed. To make it better I'd need a "Works" style front spoiler, which given the cost and the complete uselessness on a street car, not something happening real soon. I have yet to see a gnose spoiler similar to a BRE style unit (not the molded in one like the Showcar version) for sale. Looks like this year's winter project.

Thanks for the hard work and I will assume frazzled nerves. Getting all this done in one day is awesome. Sorry I missed out on all the fun. I have been planning to someday add a pan from the inner bottom lip on my Gnose to the front of the radiator and now your results tell me someday is now. Until that happens I'm sure that it will prey on my mind every time I drive at speed. Fabbing a belly pan with an AZ 6 qt oilpan will take more work. And I guess I shouldn't wait much longer to mount the headlight covers either. During our Z Club's annual spring inspection event, we all noticed the Subaru WRX, top rear window mini-spoiler and whale tail and wondered if the window mini would help an S30. The data that supports a 5-inch rear spoilr echos the C&D piece done in the late 70s with their fabbed " camaro" style spoiler. Look forward to seeing all the results and waiting for the call to donate for Round II.

Both the 240 and 280 rails have a slight bend in the front section that corresponds to the angle of the frame rails as it transitions into the T/C box area. The 240 rails are flat from there all the way back and are now made with flanges on each side to aid in the welding process. The 280 rails do not have the flanges and mimic the OEM rails as they fit the contour of the 280, which is different that those on the 240s. The portion that fits up against the floor pans is not flat. This contour issue and the fact that fuel and brake lines run along side the passenger side rail make both flanges and optional rear rails (like the one made for 240s) more difficult to design around. We are looking into how we can add an optional rear 280 rail section to our product line but the bottom line seems to be that at the very least the fuel/brake lines must be relocated. Side flanges don't seem to be possible but we're looking at the idea of a series of tabs at a few points along the floor pan. The layout and cuts (phasma) aren't the issue, it's the added steps (bends) to make it work right. Those increase the cost.

I took 1TufZ's approach and advise and put the HP+ in my 240sx rear calipers and so far I like how they seem to have balanced the braking (along with the prop valve) better than the pads I had in there before. I'm running AZ Z front Wilwoods with the street pads.

I've been using hole saws to remove bushings for several years now and I can take out the 8 rear control arm bushings (both sides) in under an hour using the right sized hole saw, then a few selective whacks with a chisel to remove the outer metal sleeves. A good vise makes it go that much faster. All in my garage without stinking up my house.

Gavin - are you happy with the work your alignment shop is doing for you? If so please post their info up on the NE Z club website. I've just replaced my inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings (g-machine adjustable control arm bushings - front and back), rebuilt the EMI camber plates, and put in new end links. I added a set of AZ Z front brakes as well with 280 hubs and new wheel bearings to finish off this year's upgrades. The alignment shop were we had the race car done couldn't do my lowered 240 as the center lift racks were too high (AZ Z 6 qt oil pan sits too low) and I had to drive 20 miles (with a wandering front end) to a shop with the right lift and a great tech guy who lets me get under the car with him. He runs a VW at AX and time trial events and understands the need to get the right set-up for the type of driving you plan on doing. My current settings for the front are: camber- 2 deg neg caster - 3.5 toe - 3/16 out rear: camber - 2 neg toe - 0.00 This is with me in the car and a 1/2 tank of fuel. I corner balanced it yesterday: Left - 51% Right - 49% Rear - 50.6% Cross - 50.6% Bite - 46 Seems good even for a street car that's driven hard. Got to do the race car but since it's going to snow tomorrow and we were going to race it the day after, I guess I don't need to rush to get it done.

I just moved two of those front bumpers into storage (w/shock struts) and I know how heavy they are. With one of those attached out front of a 240 you won't need an airdam or spoiler to keep the front end planted at high speeds.

MSA sells Charlie's pans and rails. His website is: http://www.datsunzparts.com Take a look at his two Gold Medal Zs while you're there on the site.

JohnC - "If you're installing an adjsutable prop valve, you need to remove that brake line switch and the factory prop valve" I gutted my prop valve but I'm wondering what you mean by brake line switch.

I've got about 5 years and 30,000 miles of hard driving on my poly bushings and adjustable (poly/delrin) control arm bushing. How does one determine if it's time to replace any or all of these (other than what's in my wallet)? I'm replacing the inner-outer tierods and ball joints (Nissan OEM), front shocks and putting on new AZ brakes as well so is now the right time to spend a few hundred dollars more or do they have more life in them?

Having just purchased a set of tie rods, boots and ball joints from Courtesy I ended up spending a bit more as I got the inner tie rods as well. Aftermarket versions are only available for one side. I was thinking of just buying a rebuilt rack but got limited "feel good" feedback from other Z owners. After finding out that Nissan has but 4 of the nearly 16 parts you need to rebuild the rack, I began to wonder what parts the reman companies are using....

Roost - let me know the size box you need and I will order 25 of them and I will handle packaging and shipping for you. I'm not scheduled to travel for 2 more weeks. Call me Friday and the boxes will be here on Monday.

Make them as big as the cup on your jack. For $40. we can sell and ship you a set.

While we sell single point jack plates at Bad Dog Parts, if you have the skill, materials and tools you can make up two plates to weld on the mid-point of the rocker under the doors. That way you won't end up crushing your rails or floors, etc.

I have been trying to reach these guys for 2 months now via phone and email. They took money from someone and promised them parts that I sell through Bad Dog Parts. I then learned they have pics of my parts up on their website and I have someone emailing me wondering where his parts are. Once I get back from overseas I need to contact a lawyer to resolve this.

The BDP rails are 2-3 times thicker than the Zeddfindings one. That said I have the Zeddfindings floor pans in my 240. None better. You can buy the floors separate. Full length rails also can be purchased with the optional rear section (now in left and right side versions).

How about something along the lines of what some British sportscars had to accomodate a third person - a sideways rear seat with the person sitting facing the driver's side. You could swap this around (facing the passenger side) so your wife could look over and interact and reach your child should the need arise. There would be ample leg room.

That is indeed my old 240 and those are CCW wheels. I have limited access to this site and can not post pics for some odd security reason. The wheels are 2-piece 16 X 8 inch w/ zero off-set and I run 225s on the front and 245s on the rear on my current 240. The rears only fit because I cut and pushed up the inner wheel well flange and then rolled the flat portion of the body panel up to form a lip. That and the fact I have coil-overs and 2 degrees negative camber allow them to tuck up without rubbing. I had just been emailed a picture of a deer embedded in an SUV the day before the bad dog incident. Since I use a 5-point harness when I saw the dog I had thoughts of it rolling up the hood and right into my face. The harness is a great thing to have as I exited the wrecked Z with no injuries or soreness at all but you are pinned in place. If someone wants they can email me at: john@baddogparts.com and I will forward a picture of my current 240 w/CCW wheels and one of what was left of the wrecked 240 after I stripped it (not for the faint-hearted). If you can post them here on this thread that would be great too. I appreciate the comments about my old Z and I might be able to come up with a few more pics of it on the road and on the track. My tranny guy says he likes the wrecked 240 (w/3.0L) over the newer 3.2L as it handled better. Since most of the suspension came from the wrecked 240 I think I need more time in the shop tweaking things. The current 240 is prettier but I beat the piss out it too.

Thanks for both very good ideas. I don't have the cam out yet and hope not to have to but the idea of slipping the rocker off and then putting the box end of a 17mm wrench on it should do the trick (that and a 3 ft section of pipe).