AkumaNoZeta

Congratualtions. How was it performance wise?

Yeah, that makes sense. I forgot how the intake was designed. I agree with the cost of building and turboing it would be outrageously high. Even if the prices for the parts were the same as for the SR, it would still be buying 6 connecting rods instead of 4, 6 pistons instead of 4, 6 injectors instead of 4. But I also like displacement. I want to have a turbo VQ35 powered something (no idea what) one day. I'm not focusing on that though, all my brain power and man-power is going into my Z. lol. Thats not the only engine either. I want to do something with a SR, a CA, and a KA. I love all of them. I'd also like to build a LSX, RB, 13B, and see how much power I can get out of one of those big ol' deisels. I also want to have a AWD car one day, either a custom creation or an EVO. I actually have quite a few custom creation ideas drawn up, but I'm not doing anything towards them until after I have my Z the way I want it.

Carbon? To cover the area where I took the radio out of my car I just got the think cardboard found on the backings of drawing pads, cut it to shape, spray painted it black, screwed in over the opening and nobody is ever the wiser. lol. They never realize its just cardboard until I knock on it. I love how the car is turning out so far. I've never got to see a VQ in person but I was thinking the VQ would be shorter since it would only be like 3 cylinders long instead of like the SR being 4 cylinders long. Was I wrong?

I don't really see the big deal from using the L24 block compared to the L28. Aren't they the same thing? I always thought that Datsun kept the original block design and just bored, stroked, and turboed it as years went by.

I love the idea mainly for the weight factor. Having less weight on the front end will give it more natural oversteer, or lessen understeer depending on the car, in the corner. That's why I'm shooting for a 45/55 F/R on my car.

Yeah, I didn't know about the aluminum ones until after I searched for articles about IRS differentials and got a link to the ebay auction of that diff. I'm attracted to the aluminum factor because I read one guy saying it was only 65 lbs compared to the short nose's 75lbs and the 8.8 has more gear ratio options. I am still kinda worried about the thing having a single ear on the nose of the diff causing it to twist and eventually break with hard accelerations.

Thats why I was asking, I wanted to see if the effort would be worth it (because I can get live axles for free compared to actually having to PAY for an IRS version). The only 9" versions I have found were only sold as a kit/set with the Jaguar type IRS and I couldn't find it alone. Is the 8.8 cast iron? I read how the 5.0 guys weld a bead around where the axle tubes are pressed into the housing and I thought welding cast iron was very difficult, if possible. That means it's steel right? Same thing with the 9", with the ones I saw the axle tubes were welded into the housing...but the 3rd member is a seperate peice and I'm sure those are cast iron. When it comes to the 9" a custom housing can be made, and not really that hard to make, just time consuming.

I was actually more interested in being able to get a Ford 9" from a junkyard and being able to cut it down for use as for an independent rear, or cutting down my 8.8.

I found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Explorer-2002-05-Rear-Differential_W0QQitemZ170340230834QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27a911a6b2&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A12|39%3A1|72%3A1171|240%3A1318 I like how it's aluminum and it wouldn't be that much different then mounting an R differential. What I don't really like is that it only has one tab on the front which makes me think that it would twist the housing on hard acceleration when it lifts it. What do you all think?

We all know you can buy American independent rear differentials such as the Ford 8.8 from the Mustang, custom 9", and Dana 60 from Corvettes. But I want to know if there's a article or something somewhere that describes how to customize your own live axle differential to one of an independent.

I'm still quite partial to the sign that says "WARNING: This sign has sharp edges"

I have a question regarding this. Would an ET Drag Radial such as this http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MTT%2D3795R&N=700+4294923107+4294922134+4294921520+4294757567+115&autoview=sku have a higher chance of unbeading itself from the wheel in a corner?

That is great work, I can't wait to see pictures of it completed, and hopefully a video of it too. Your build is inspiring me to do a single turbo V8 now too because that just looks awesome. Except I would do a Ford 302 with a GT45 just because I already have the engine, lol.

Wow, going for the full carbon look? First the air dam now the bumpers. I don't know about their fit, or anything. I plan on getting the fiberglass ones myself and just drilling holes through them on the side and just bolt them to the body because I don't want to have those bumper shocks on my car. Just an idea. I think it would look cool, of course I wasn't gonna use some big, fat bolts, just some small ones so that they wouldn't jump out as much.

Herb Adams in his book Chassis Engineering talks about using a telescoping upper link to decouple the torque arm and eliminate the brake hop. What it does pretty much (as I understand) is act as a 3rd link while the torque arm isn't touching the chassis while braking. And for the centering devices, I always liked the design of the woblink but it does have a lower roll center than all the other devices so whether or not to use that one will be based on the rest of the car's design.

I'm not talking about to fix my problems. When I have the time in the future I want to get rid of the spare wheel well and have a flush surface in the trunk. I know that can be done with a fuel cell but I don't want the extra weight of the cage required by SCCA so I wanted to know about the rules about using a gas tank from another car because with the Mustang's gas tank I can still take out the spare wheel well and have that flush surface. Not to mention it would be cool to fold down the license plate to refill the tank.

I'm quite partial to the torque arm suspension but other racers like the 3-link and triangulated 4-link as well. The new Camaro and Trans Ams have the torque arm suspension and they perform excellent on both road racing and drag racing, its also the design Maximum Motorsports has for Foxbody Mustangs and used successfully on road racing so you know its a could system.

That's not what I'm saying, I just don't think that changing the spring location by using a cantilever design won't really help with limiting the chassis as a 5th spring like you mentioned. Just my opinion.

True that. My missing front subframe just gives me a reason to redo the floor boards the way I want and then run some 2X2" steel square tubing from front to back to strengthen and stiffen my chassis. lol

On the spring-to-spring to chassis thing that Tube80Z metioned, I've been thinking about it and I don't see that really helping because the force from cornering goes through the control arms to the chassis. The only way I can see that idea working is on bumps and even then it would be marginal at best, depending how you mount the springs of course.

I thought about getting a bike because I heard they are the funnest and get like 60 mpg to boot. But I'm too far in love with my Z and I have,as Jeremy Clarkson said while reviewing the Ariel Atom, "A bit of a gut, and that would look ridiculous in your leather romper suit" lol.

Wow, actually welded in there...At least you know its not going to loosen or break a bolt with hard driving and I bet it feels solid, at least they didn't have improper sized wheels just welded to the hubs. lol. Its trully amazing to see what previous owner's have done whenever you start digging deeper into the car. I loved my Z when I bought it because there was no rust on the floorboards but because it was the only Z I saw in person and because I never saw pictures of how the Z's frame was supposed to be I didn't realize that they actually cut OFF the part of the frame that was on the bottom of the floors until I saw pictures of other people's cars up on rotisseries. I still love my Z, it just made me feel like I got totally ripped off.

Hey, I have another question to add. I got to look at a friend's 65 Mustang coupe and I looked in the trunk and I saw that they have a gas tank that's mounted kinda as the floor. Here's a picture I found to describe what I mean http://www.jagpromotions.com/forsale/ford/trunk1.jpg Now if this tank was swapped into the Z chassis, would it still need all the caging to be SCCA legal?

How is the weight of these wheels compared to CCWs? I know there's a huge difference between them but just want to know for a reference. Also, do you think they'll clear 12.19" Wilwoods?

X64v, did you do that test yet? I am quite interested in the results.