HowlerMonkey

Remember that the 240z through 280z have the rack in front of the crossmember which would have the opposite effect by inducing more toe in as the front comes up. An extreme amount of toe in can induce similar wandering/instability as does toe out but in a less drastic fashion. Also, you might find that non-stock ride heights could cause tie rod angles that would yield toe change in the opposite direction as a car at stock ride height. We use a data acquisition unit that uses linear potentiometers to measure the ride height at all 4 shocks and then put it on the alignment rack. Before we perform the alignment, we load or lift each end of the car to duplicate the data we had during the run on the linear potentiomenters and then set the alignment such that it is optimal at our target speed. We actually had to deviate from those settings to find a solution that worked for all accelerating/braking states because you can easily set your car to feel great while acccelerating and then end up not being able to control it once you let off. If you don't have datalogging, you could take a picture or video of your car from the side at speed during acceleration and another as it brakes from speed and use weight or lifting to duplicate the fender to wheel gaps you see in the picture. If you observe compression/squat or lift/downforce change the car's stance enough that the alignment has to be put to settings that favor one condition at the expense of another, you might want to go with high spring rates and eliminate the movement you are compensating for.

I want to stay on topic here so I will delete references to our other cars.

It is actually possible to walk out of the junkyard 40 minutes after you arrive at a Z31 with both axle shafts, the companion flanges, and the stub axles undamaged but the Z31 requires a bit more than the S30 or S130. I usually pry out the spring while the shock is still attached because I have come across damaged tripods where someone undid the shock bolt which caused the springs to push the control arms down enough to put a lot of pressure on the tripods which are now limiting the downward movement once the shock bolt is removed. Two pry bars will pry out the springs of a Z31 non-turbo with very little danger involved though I don't recommend doing this with the turbos or shiro edition with stock springs because they are storing a bit more potential energy. From there it takes very little time to undo the e.brake cables, calipers, brake lines, sway bar link nuts, both control arm bolts, and pry the axle shafts from the diff. This leaves you with the control arm with the axle still bolted up. It's much easier to unbolt the six bolts that hold the axle shaft to the companion flange when you have it plugged into the "junkyard jackstands"............much easier than laying under the car trying to get around the bracket that shrouds them. Just make sure to not pull the tripods out while you move about the assembly. Once the axles are removed and you have the nut off the stub axle, simply use a puller to pull the companion flange off, take the assembly off of the "junkyard jackstand", screw the stub axle nut back on a few threds, and use an extension on your socket to hammer it out. It usually comes out easly without even marking up the nut. If you're doing this on another car, it might not be the easiest way and some nuts are staked but it works well on the Z31.

I know this isn't a Z car but it does have a L28et in it and I did some high speed testing in it. I was aero testing at Kennedy Space Center these last two weeks and managed to get my M30 onto the runway and run it right up to the rev limiter of the M30 ecu. The car has a stock L28E with P90 and stock turbo injectors running on the M30 ecu with a supra intercooler at 7 psi boost and a 280zx turbo 3 speed automatic behind it and a 3.54 gear with brand new 215/60-15 tires and I'm pretty sure it was going around 130+ when I ran it. Here's a timeslip to help computing the power level knowing the mods above. The runway is 3 miles long so I pussyfooted it most of the way and still bounced it off the rev limiter before a mile had come up. It will definately go faster with more gear. A week earlier, I had run it up to 120 on the highway and experienced the "floaty" feeling and simply cranked in a bit of toe in which completely settled it down as it was rock solid after that. It was probably more toe in than needed but I only got one run. The M30 toes out when the nose is lifted at speed because the rack is behind the crossmember. While it has a pretty sweet CD and relatively small frontal area, it's stock ride height and front aero is not optimal for high speed driving. Any toe out will make the ride spooky and it is amplified greatly if you have anything loose such as ball joints or inner/outer tie rod ends. Your stance at speed and the toe changes that accompany the stance change are very important. I've got slightly loose inner tie rod ends and the toe in made it completely stable but I returned it to a less severe toe in for my daily driving for the sake of tire wear. All of our runs were quickly put into perspective when a F104 took off, went into a vertical climb near our viewing station at midfield, and performed a few low passes at mach .96.

Necropost, I know .........but this might help someone trying to get the stub axle nuts loose at a upull junkyard. It sucks to work hard and come home empty handed because you couldn't get the nut off or damaged something in the epic struggle to remove the nut. You know those rims they weld together to make a "junkyard jackstand"? They are the perfect "vise" to hold anything you can bolt to them. What I do is remove the entire control arm and simply plug the stub axle into one of those "junkyard jackstands" and run a couple of lugnuts from the other side of the wheel to hold it. Now you have a stub axle that will stay put while you jump up and down on your breaker bar. It helps to find one that is turned a little and is under a heavy car. Shop around with the brake rotor for the proper bolt circle before lugging the heavy assembly around.

Tracked the car at Palm Beach International Raceway during "midnight madness" october 12, 2012. L28E (flattops) p90 head, 3n71b automatic, mkIII supra intercooler, 7 pounds boost, stock ecu (untuned), stock L28et injectors, 3.54 R200, 215/60-15. I think some tuning with nistune could get into the 14s because the aggressive M30 ecu timing requires base timing to be backed off.

I remember that none of the many ecus I had on the shelf at the blue streak warehouse for a 280zx had a pin 4 and that checking a customer's car showed that the ecu had nothing to do with cold start functionality. It was controlled by the thermo time switch on the thermostat housing. The main differences in the various non-turbo S130 ecus was the fuel pump scheme. Some had 1 relay, some 2, and some had 3 relays.

Again.......I have.....with many parts in my capacity as general manager of thier direct competitor. If I had found anything "sub par" I surely would not hold back. Most of the parts used for rebuild come from the original vendor who supplied the OEM manufacturer. If it's not possible to source the same part because they are not available, they go with who has them. This usually means you either can get the part from one supplier or not at all. Just saying they suck is one thing but offering up some pics for comparison would go a long way.

I've done so in my capacity as general manager of thier direct competitor Blue Streak. Since cardone's product line is so wide, there will be multiple facilities involved in parts remanufacture. There will also be a few technicians who take short cuts but it only takes a couple of complaints for the company to eject the lamer. Sure, you can find a company that specializes in a narrow product line range that might do better work on a specific part but, most of the time, your only choice is used or them. Far more common are "installers" who suck and send back a product damaged by said installer over and over at the expense of the remanufacturer.....because they can't fix or diagnose a car. Guys like that compromise the bottom line and force prices higher. That said, 90% of ecus sent in to us tested ok. Usually that customer springs for a replacement under our critical core program and his ecu, after testing ok and remanned, is sent to another customer who has success while the original customer calls to say our replacement ecu is bad because it does the same thing as his original unit.

Can you quantify "junk"?

Last time someone complimented my M30, it was in traffic. I came out the next day to a missing..... rear view mirror, all dash switches, 5x ecus (one ripped from the harness), a drill, a timing light, and even a few french fries cleaned off the floor along with some change from the console.

Nice choice. I feel the sr20det in the 240sx is done to death and that the early Z car is a great marriage to the SR20. You definately have to let us know the miles per gallon figures since they will be pretty good. As far as Alfas go, I really want an alfa milano verde 3.0 to build up possibly for SCCA Improved touring.

We have a set of gauges under the hood where the dyno operator can stand and view them safely while the guy inside the car can pay more attention to keeping the 2,000+ hp under control. Still not safe enough for me......I campaigned for a long harness so the gauges can be brought to a safer distance.

I fail to see this rhetoric posted anywhere by the site owners and moderators or in the rules linked below. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?app=forums&module=extras&section=boardrules

Jwt sells these and it's not super easy to do it but it might be cheaper than the cam itself. http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/customer_part_detail.asp?PartID=500

The lexus IS250 and IS350 cars have a power steering rack that isn't much larger than a hydraulic rack. The guys at JM lexus were replacing them like wildfire because customers complained they could hear a noise they hadn't ever heard on any previous car........DUH. Because of huge demand, I would think pricing and availability might be common but we were required to bash them in with a hammer. If you could find a lexus technician with less scruples (you know....the guys who replace them under warranty to earn the labor when nothing is wrong with the car)........you might be able to swing getting one pretty cheap.

Many of the rotary guys use a "power pulse presilencer" which is a stainless steel packed muffler. Rotaries have such a huge overlap that they can't tolerate any backpressure, make big heat, and are super loud. I'm not sure how much it will attenuate sound but I used to use one on each primary pipe and then a huge single chamber muffler after it was collected near the rear of the car.

Forgot about the H190 in the rear. Since the Z31 300zx has 4 lugs and the wheels bolt straight on the maxima without spacers, it might be that you can get larger brakes simply by bolting on the calipers and hub/rotor/bearing assembly.

By "breaker plate" I mean the movable part where the stator mounts. You should be able to grab it and move it a bit and the spring tension inside the advance mechanism should return it. Also inspect around the periphery of the plate and see if you can see broken parts or a ball bearing ball that has fallen out.

It's possible that the infiniti M30 rear control arms are identical. I can take pics with some measurements of the arms I picked up to do the 5 lug conversion but dad is in town with his plane so it's flying time. If I can, I will take measurements of the front struts to see if they are of similar dimension. As far as the driveshaft, the 240sx and M30 both have two piece driveshafts and the maxima had about 4 different versions so you might be able to find the "front half" that will bolt in to your existing "rear half" of your driveshaft and avoid cutting anything. If you do need to cut, I recommend simply having a driveshaft shop make you a 1 piece shaft with the parts on each end that fit what you have. The aussiebluebirds site has some good information on brakes.

A 225/50-15 is around 23.9 inches tall vs 25.6 for the 225/60-15.

True.....the "dot legal" tires used by many racers are usually wider than the pedestrian tire of the same "size". You can go to tire rack and check section width vs tread width which may give you enough information to find a tire that will fit best and also has a treadwear rating higher than 60.

Maxima wagons are super cool. Don't forget the 300zx four lugs that can be had for free quite often. 225/50-15 work well on that car. This one was a 5 speed with turbo hardware from a 280zx and a R200. I compared the clutch pedal with one from a S12 200sx and they were nearly identical in most every dimension.

There are many guys running 911s with 15x9 with 225/50s because of availability issues.

I would design a head that is simply a lengthened head of something that already exists and would fit cam followers, lifters, valves.....etc. from said existing head. Since someone already made a head from a couple of 240sx twin cam heads cut to fit, it would be the easiest.