jeromio

JohnC contributed most of the content that's there. I just (re)formatted it and comiled it together with some other info. A few other people here added some info too. I'll send you an email.....

Hrrrm... Okay, I have a question: When will I be able to drive my car?

The FAQ went waaaay by the wayside. You can find what there is of it here: http://240z.jeromio.com/faqdraft I'm glad that the JTR manual exists, but, yeah, it isn't all that great. Then again, you don't see me putting a book together. I am willing to add any info to the FAQ that is there. I'm really basically lazy though, so it's probally only gonna get in if there's either an addition to something already there, or you send me something in a Question + answer format.

I'm not sure what part of the part you are talking about. It's been awhile since I examined a rear arm. Are you talking about the sway bar mount area? Personally, I didn't notice anything wrong with those arms structure/integrity-wise. However, If you know whatcher doing, I certainly see nothing wrong with welding up parts of the car or frame that are currently only spot welded (which is pretty much 99% of the chassis). In my experience, a good weld will be stronger than the rest of the piece. Spot welds, on the other hand, are, well, spotty.

Videos of an LS1 equipped 240? Where? I wanna see that! Especially a 530hp LS1. Got any links? Although, I suppose you could be referring to Darius's 240, which has (had?) a Procharged and stroked 383 LT1. LoneStar1's car is the only LS1 powered 240 I've ever heard of. Mine would be another, except that I am apparently never ever going to finish the stupid thing....

I've never heard of a C-3 or a C-5. I have heard of Ford C-4 & C-6 (and FM2, FMX and MX). I've only ever laid eyes (and fists) on the C-4 and C-6 though. By my reckoning, either one would fit into a Z with a small block bellhousing.

So it's a total junkyard scavenger hunt then? That rocks. I don't think I've ever seen any AMC cars in the yards around here though. Looks like their not too bad new - evil core charge though. A 3/8 spacer on the CV would be pretty easy to have made. I guess the only other thing is the fin-friendly transverse bar. What do you use for boots? Does anyone have any info on the interchange compatibility of the R&Ps between "normal" open R200s and the VSLD unit? 3.7 isn't too bad, but 3.54 would be better. Either way, VSLD would be fantastic.

I've never even driven an actual racing kart. But having read all of Doug Hayashi's chapters at http://nsxfiles.com, I am more than convinced that this is something I will have to be getting into. Except that in my case I won't have any money until at least 2004 when I'm done with grad school . Are there many tracks/events/series around this area though? Those SoCal guys have it made with all the tracks they have and events for cars/karts/bikes - whatever. Do they do any karting at VIR for instance?

No, he's trying to mount an R230. The holes are spaced differently. I'm a little worried about the pilot hole. I've not had good luck enlarging holes in metal parts. It's much harder for a regular drill bit to seat its cutting edges against the material. 580rpm seems pretty slow, but I'd reckon it's about 300rpm too fast. And oil is no good as a cutting fluid. You need actual cutting fluid. Certainly some fluids are better than others and it depends on the particular job, but I've had great luck with the thread cutting oil you can buy at Home Depot/Lowes. What it lacks in quality, I make up for in quantity. If you're not ready to give up, here's what you might try. Buy a goof 1/2 inch bit. This will cost you about $20-$30 for the one bit. I've had bad luck with carbide bits - very brittle. Especially since you have a pilot hole, I wouldn't recommend carbide. It'll just snap and then you'll have a $45 broken bit . Setup the bar on the press so that you can just rest the bit on the bar, just mild pressure (since I think you're turning too fast). Constantly apply the cutting fluid. Constantly. It's gonna be all over the place. You might want some air handy to blow out filings too - you don't want these in your fluid if you can help it, plus the air will help cool things down. Lots and lots of fluid. I also have one of those crappy benchtop drill presses. They're meant for woodworking - way to fast turning. I've actually had better luck with my Milwakee hand drill since it turns slower. Huge pain holding that thing for the hour that it will take to drill a hole like this one though. I'm guessing that a machine shop won't charge all that much though - perhaps marginally more than the expensive drill bit that you're gonna need (and will likely ruin at 580rpm anyway).

This tire monster looks extra goodly: I think the chances of me ever driving my Z to Cali are pretty much not. Which is a shame. Cali gets all the snarfty car events. My friend in LA is constantly talking about the various swaps/shows that he can choose from most any weekend....

There's a company that sells mini "monster trucks". It's a tube framed chassis that uses 2 D30 axles and has hydraulic steering of both. The driver sits forward and the engine is in back. They used what looks like a regular Honda Civic engine and transmission (they say it's a Honda, the rest is a guess). They use a 4spd auto. They then put on a fiberglass truck looking body in about 1/3 scale. Pretty cool, I thought. Oh to be wealthy and be able to buy such toys.... It <i>looks</i> like they just have things situated such that the motor is mounted longitudanally and instead of the regular half shafts (or their equivalent) connecting to wheels, they connect to the D30 axles. That would make a killer baja contender.

To my knowledge, the EFI Z tank (ie, 75 - 78) is not really "EFI" in the modern sense. It doesn't have an internal pump nor a decent sump (well, it has no sump). I have a 71 tank and a 75 and they look identical. The reservoir thingio (the small tank that sits inside the passenger quarter panel) is metal on the 75, plastic on the 71. Both have the same mounting hardware holes for the external pump. It's just not used on the 71. I haven't ever really examined the pump in detail. It's big. Seems like if you really wanted to use the spare tire stock tank setup, the ideal would be to start with a decent tank and add a sump to it. Braze on some fittings for feed and return. Plug up the wacky extra vent holes. Maybe run an extra line from the top that loops between the filler and a line going all the way to the intake manifold. I decided that the spare was superfluous. I don't ever plan on taking the car on any long trips. I'll just call triple A if I get a flat.... I could sell ya my stuff, but I think shipping would be too high to make it worthwhile.

Odd that the ad states "72-78". Is this a mistake, or is there a difference in the headlights between 71 and 72?

Starting from a block? Not advisable unless you have a closet full of money. Buy either a crate LS1 from GM or a used motor. Or buy one from one of the many LS1 performance shops. Your LT1 T56 will not work. Different shaft sizes.

Keep in mind that tire sizes vary by make and model - sizing is no where near an exact thingio. For instance, my friend's M3 has 235/45/17 Dunlops and my Z has 235/45/17 Dunlops. But they are different models (mine are SP5000 - not sure what his were - more expensive no doubt) and are different sizes dimensionally. Mine are sort of round with less contact patch ( http://240z.jeromio.com/newwheels.html - you can see how they don't even look very wide whereas the M3 tires really look fat). His are much more square with the sidewall width being pretty much the same from rim lip to tread. My tires clear my coils (coilovers) just barely. If I had his tires, I think they would rub.

That's cute: "wood", in quotes. I went a diggin' for the link I had to this guy's page where he outlines the whole procedure for restoring the Datsun plasti-wood wheel, but I can't find it. Musta gone dead and I erased it. From my recollection, I think he treated it just as if it was real wood as far as the removal of the old finish and applying the new. What I don't remember is whether the color goes all the way thru, or if he had to stain/paint it to get it to be the reddish/brown wood color again after sanding it. I <i>think</i> that color goes all the way thru. It would make sense for it to. Maybe try sanding down a small part of it on the not-so-visible other side first, before doing the whole thing.

Too clean. Get some dirt and grime on there. And some rust. Need some rust to make it look more au thentic.

The filler will have to have more of an S shape to it - it doesn't line up for a straight drop. I don't anticipate any problems though. I do need to source a piece of fuel safe tubing though.

Okay, this is going to sound like I'm whining, but please take this as constructive commentary. I was searching for LoneStar1's original post because, as I recall, someone asked him about the air intake piping and filter he was using and he provided some information that I needed. Well, I couldn't find it. You have to get the member number - not the member name. But that wasn't too hard - I had to click around until I found a post that he replied to to find his number. Anyway, I first just tried the Profile->Recent Posts thing, but that only shows the 50 most recent posts. Then I tried doing a search with blank fields with his ID. But that only seems to return a limited number of results as well. I tried several keywords that seemed like they should work, but none did. Seems like it only looks back about 60 days. I guess I'm wondering if any of these issues are subject to config changes with the software? For instance, it'd be key to specify a date range (since in this case, I know that he registered 3/01 and that's when the post occured). Other issues, such as the email notification, aren't that important to me since I check this board everyday about once every hour or so (sad, but true ). But searching is pretty key - there's a whole lot of info tucked away in here that would help alot of people out. Thanks. And thanks for providing such a great site.

A custom one piece targa style top is pretty hard to do. But a two piece - I am highly doubtfull. It's gonna leak. One thing I like to ponder is getting an entire roof section from a genII crx or Probe - one that has a power sliding roof that slides outside the car. RX7 GenII and III had them too. Anyway, graft the thing onto the roof and wire it up. It'd require some precision bodywork/welding skills, but the mechanics and leak proofing would already be done for you. Just another option to consider. You could try the same type of thing with a 924/944 or a GenI RX7 lift out style roof.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. That's what we are all looking for: useful information and discussion. I don't think any of use here on this forum want anything on our cars strictly for appearances. In fact, I would say that the majority would rather hide much of the performance features if at all possible. That m3 site has some really excellent info on cages. I especially liked this pic: That looks like a really good idea. Rather than strictly protecting the compartment, it absorbs the force. FWIW, for my own cage I've bought some 1 5/8 inch DOM tubing. I'll be doing plenty of research before I begin. One of my priorities is keeping the car usable as a driver. Down the road (perhaps when I can afford a C5 ), the car may become strictly a racer, but for now I want to drive it on the street. So a balance between structure, safety and ease of use (entry, egress, passenger space) must be achieved.

So, if an 8 point rollcage won't be adequate for racing or crash protection, what should we use, 10 point, 12 point, 18 point? Are your comments regarding this endeavor related to the use of an 8 point cage (vs. something else?), or are you besmirking the quality of materials employed in this particular brand of cage? You haven't made this clear, nor have you offered alternative suggestions (which in any event, would most likely be lost on Lone as he's already bought the chassisworks product). I suspect that Oltmann's reaction was sparked by the phrasing and tone of your post. It didn't seem to be intended to help anyone out. At least, it didn't to me...

Go here: http://240z.jeromio.com/ac.html I think that, for the most part, the wires do only connect one way, as in, you can't inadvertantly switch wires around. If you signals aren't working, chances are good that it's cuz the crappy switch mechanism is gurbed up. This is VERY common. I have had mine apart twice to get it working again. It's always a temporary fix. The stupid design has all the juice running thru the lame little switch. Pete has a really good write up about a fix: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/turnsgn1.htm. I was gonna do that, but then I got sidetracked. I am planning on following Owen's lead and doing this: http://www.v8zcar.com/s30z/turnsigassy.htm which may happen in conjunction with Pete's Relay system.

Well, I was all prepared to jump on you for not bothering to look at Mikelly's write up from the opening page of this site. But, then I clicked on the link (http://hybridz.org/TechA/0002/MKBrakeConversion1.htm), and there is a apparently a secret trick - for some reason it's white on white, so you have to highlight the big blank section at the top with your mouse. There are also several other write ups for this swap at various sites on the net.

Thick wire and no gas. This presents a big problem with the extremely thin sheet of the Datsun. If you have the dollars, I would strongly suggest getting a bottle of gas. I got the medium size tank for about $110. You also need a regulator and the welder must have the solenoid and plumbing (which you mentioned it had). With the gas, you can run 6mm wire which doesn't arc as hot. Even then, you'll need the low setting and some finesse. It is possible to get decent results with the flux core, it's just harder to do. Touching the actual welder tip to the work is a bad thing. Try putting the tip about an inch away from the metal. Start with a slow speed. You can move closer and also turn up the speed as you get things going (and not burning thru). If you're patching, put some new metal down with a good half inch overlap. What I've found works well is to weld thru the thin metal onto the new metal. But even then, you'll need to pulse the trigger. Otherwise you end up disintegrating the old metal with holes. Heat distant spots, in short bursts. Work back and forth. It takes practice. Once you get a pool of molten metal, you can grow it and move it. But you have to be careful, because it can get too heavy for the surrounding metal and plop off leaving a hole. With experience, it is possible to weld over a hole - even a large, quarter sized hole. But, generally, once the hole (and we're only talking good metal here, if it's a rust hole, then you gotta cut out a big piece until you get to only pristine metal) is dime sized, you really need to patch it with another piece of metal. I recommend practicing with some thicker, more forgiving scrap metal. Try welding some stuff together, and then cutting thru the weld. Then examine the cross section and see how well you melded the too pieces together. It's very common to have what looks like a weld, and sort of holds together, turn out to be 3 fairly distinct layers of metal - the 2 pieces to be joined, and a loose bead. That's not good. The goal is to get the bead to lay flat, with no bulging. You want to burn thru and melt the two pieces, using your welding wire as just a medium to transfer the heat that you need to the 2 pieces. Then, when you cut thru the result, you can't really tell where the piece transitions to weld. Oh, and please disconnect the negative battery lead and also disconnect any sensitive electronics (ignition modules, stereo, ECU, etc). And if you buy sheet metal to use for patching, don't get anything zinc coated - poisonous fumes that ruin your day by making you dead .