jeromio

Well, I did a slight amount of tweaking to the front toe settings. Very imprecise measurement tools - in the course of my adjusting and re-adjusting, I think I may have pretty much set it back to where it was. Anyway, I think the main factor is that I'm just alot more used to the car the way it's currently set up. One thing still troubles me though. If I'm at steady state, rounding a curve, and I let off the gas, the slight unloading of the rear makes it want to move. In otherwords, it's really easy to induce oversteer by letting off the throttle. I have the stock 240 sway bar up front and none in the rear. The suspension is really stiff - well, to my butt guage anyway (150lbs front, 175lbs rear with Tokico Performas all around). Can anyone offer any recipes to lessen this affect? I'm not on the verge of spinning out or anything, it's just that it doesn't seem like the behavior of a well-balanced car. (BTW, by way of a seat of the pants test of my setup, I've been trying to see how fast I can round the 180 degree offramp on my morning commute. The car may not be set up optimally, but I can definately round that sucker faster than my stomach would like me to. These Dunlops rock.)

Hope you'll have lots of pictures to post . Do you still have the interior trim pieces in place (headliner, the various plastic and vinyl pieces along the roof and in the back, etc.)? Will you have them in there at all when finished? I'm thinking of buying some of that asbestos mat to protect things during welding. But I have a hard time envisioning keeping it in place (magnets?). Plus it's expensive. Worthwhile? I want to keep my headliner, but it seems like it would be difficult to re-install it after the halo is in place and hard to keep from burning it if it's left in. I suppose a few hours of headscratching could reveal a way to weld things up, inside the car, but away from surfaces. Hrm. Also, are you tying the cage into the front of the chassis, ie, thru the firewall? 20 points, that's alot of points...... Oh, I have still more questions -- did you buy a tubing bender? If so, what kind (12 ton, 16 ton, vertical/horizontal) and how well did it work? Notcher or hole-saw jig? Thanks.

Not sure where I got that 2 1/2 inch idea from then. I was poking around inside the car and it seemed like I could live with the 2, but certainly 1 3/4 would be better. I think I'm becoming convinced that the removable door bars are a good way to go for the track. I'm still planning on putting in some side impact bars inside the door, since the removable bars will pretty much be removed 99% of the time. I'm out looking for tubing benders. Harbor freight has a 12 ton for $100 which ought to be sufficient. Gonna buy a &%*$#-load of 1 3/4 and 2 inch DOM tubing and a either a notcher or a holesaw jig. The Travelall should make a good starting project since there's loads of room. Then I'll inflict all my new rollcage-ing skill upon the helpless Z. I like the idea of bolting the cage in place - maybe using some flanges that are welded to the chassis. But then the cage would have to be disassemble-able, in order to remove it from the car, right? I mean, I guess if something has to be done to the car that requires the removal of the cage, it can just be cut out. Hrm. Probably easier to weld the thing in place.

Well, I'm 'bout ready to order up a tubing bender from Northern and get some DOM tubing from the local steel supply house (gonna buy a notcher too). I'm gonna put a cage in my wife's Travelall first. It's huge and it should be an easier project overall versus the Z. One thing that bothers me is the ability ot paint the inside of the car. I'm hoping to do the Travelall such that the paint can be done after the fact. But I may end up conceding and having it's interior painted before I finalize the cage. For the much more restrictive Z, I have less hope. For instance, I am very worried that the cage is going to seriously infringe on the tiny amount of interior space that is currently there. I'm planning on using 2 inch tubes for instance, instead of (what I imagine to be) the standard 2.5 inch. I hope to be able to put the car on the track, which is one of the main reasons I want to cage it - seems like most track events require a cage. Helmet plus small cabin plus rollcage can't equal comfort. So it looks like most all of the interior (paint color hiding) trim will have to go. Does anyone with a caged Z still have the interior trim (esp. those thick-ish roof trim pieces)? I may end up just painting the inside grey. I don't know what color I'll end up with for the exterior, but grey's got to be neutral. Everything's orange-red right now and I hate it. Not sure if I'll decide on grey, silver or blue for the final exterior color. Ugh. Planning ahead is no fun. Ah, to be rich and be able to live moment to moment. I can recall the Malasian guy on Zcar.com who had his car painted, decided he didn't like the color, so had it re-painted a different color! Not me - ain't gots the dough for that. Anyway, I am going to make my own cage, so, wish me luck. Yes, I appreciate that it will be difficult. One thing I don't want, and the main reason I'm not just ordering the 10 point from S&W, is that diagonal door bar. This car is a daily driver and there's no way I can live with that huge ordeal for entry/egress 6 times a day. I 'm gonna do a rear 4 point with belt bar and diagonal, a hoop, and front rollover bar. But no door diagonal. I'm planning on putting in some major beefy inner door braces. The real trouble will be in convincing whatever track officials that what I've got is as good as a 10 pt. I am prepared for defeat on that one. It'll suck, but......trade-offs. Some people go and buy a C5, others tirelessly try to duplicate one piece by piece by bead of sweat..............

Not sure what you mean by torching/grinding off the backing plate. I don't recall having any troubles removing the backing plate from my struts. The real chore is the stub axle removal. And those about to do this swap, remember to budget for the $$$ rear bearings which you should replace while you're at it. Anyway, as I have already done my rear brakes, I obviously won't be participating in this. BUT, my recommendation is to shoot for the 240sx or 200sx calipers, if only for the caliper availability/cost issue. These turbo 280ZX rear calipers are difficult to find and expensive. Rebuilt ones are crazy expensive. Even the rebuild kits are high, and those dust shields are a huge pain in the a$$ to install.

The SU's are obviously great, performance-wise, but for a daily driver, my experience has been very poor. My carbs are very likely not tuned as they should be (though I've tried ). It runs great on the highway, but must be driven on the highway during those first, crucial 5 minutes of warm up. Otherwise at least one plug will end up fouling. SUs + cold = sucky.

What BLKMGK said. If you're gonna use an adjustable valve, remove the old stock one(s) entirely. My 71 has a rear prop valve as well as what looks like one in the front. Could be a residual or perhaps an unconnected low pressure warning switch. I dunno. But with the front and rear ZX brakes, I've left it all as is. I have my expensive adjustable valve sitting in the rear tool bin (not connected to anything). When I re-did my brakes, I went ahead and bled the whole system and then took it for a drive. Everything seemed to be balanced just fine. I do plan on installing it at some point. Currently the fronts lock up first, which is good, but the rears probably aren't getting enough pressure. Drum cylinders have way less fluid in them than calipers.

That's insanity. You could have one made for cheaper than that. Hell, you could (and would likely have to) have 10 made for that price.

It goes on the line to the rear brakes. You need to remove the stock prop valves too. You want full braking force on the fronts, less on the rear (weight transfers forward during braking). The prop valve reduces the amount of pressure going to the rear brakes.

It's a shame that the pics of Darius's car seem to be offline. He has an R230, but I don't recall which bar, R180 or R200. I seem to recall seeing extra holes though - as in, the orig. holes were left in and didn't seem to interfere with the R230 holes.

That is very interesting, although I don't see the point - easier spring swaps? The GP cars use pushrod susp. for aerodynamics - gets the "dirty" (aero-wise) springs and shocks hidden away behind farings. I guess if the strut was replaced by a simple tube, it would allow more room for a deep offset, wider rim. That might actually be a cool way to get huge tires in the back of a Z. Those one piece coil overs can be had for $500/pr or so. Add another $3-400 for the hardwarefabrication - might be cost effective vs. flares and a new paint job....

I'm trying to clean out my garage - I have a E88 head sitting there with a chipped valve. If you want it, you're welcome to it. Seems kind of a shame to let it get melted down.

Why would moving the engine back closer to the firewall preclude powersteering? Is that your Testarossa in the garage? Yikes.

The 2 bars seem to be of equal strength. You can flip the r180 bar around - it'll put the pumpkin about 1/4" too far back (vs. over an inch too far forward) relative to the R200 bar. YOu could just use some washers to make up that difference. Then again, that's if using the R200. Do we know that the distance from the rear mounting surface to the output shaft centerlines is the same between R200 and R230? It may not be.

Took me over 6 months to find my 71 240z. If you find one now, definately grab it. BTW, I paid $2000 for mine knoing it had rust - didn't want to wait another 6 months. Kept looking after I bought - just to either confirm my purchase or make myself feel bad. Didn't find anything else at all. I don't think these cars are too common in this area.

On the back, my 20mm offset rims with 235s puts the inner sidewall really close to the spring perch. I think with a rolled fender lip, you could get 245s in there with a 30mm offset. I was looking at my friend's M3 the other day. He has 235/40 17s on there. They're Dunlops, but a different model than mine. Anyway, those 5 points of aspect ratio makes a huge difference. His tires look much wider than mine. I'm still getting used to the car. Much grippier, but the trade off is that it likes to follow road irregularities.

quote: First what is required to properly mount an r200 into an early (71) 240z. Tear out the old stuff, bolt in the new. You need the mustache bar from the donor, and it gets flipped around, rings forward. Driveshaft needs to be longer too. quote: Is there an advantage in using the later stub shafts? Later stubs have more splines and are somewhat thicker. Early stubs can be used unmodified (except for dust shield and bearing seal mods) with the superior 280ZX turbo CV half shafts. Later stubs require a machined adapter. quote: Is there any thing that can be done to minimize the rattle-clunk-bang of our famous 240z IRS. The clunk is caused by warn out parts. Replace all the bushings. Do a search here for Front diff mount. ScottieGNZ has posted some pictures of a pretty easy fix that uses a new, stock mount. There are pics at http://240z.jeromio.com and http://www.usq.edu.au/users/degroot/240z/pages/diffmount.htm of a more difficult fix that eliminates the inferior stock mount. Or, you can use a solid mount. quote: Would I be better off replacing the r180? It seems lighter and I like the ratio better than the r200. In my opinion, no. You can get 3.54 R200 if you need taller gearing. There's also 3.9 and 4.11 as well as the more expensive 3.7 LSD. quote: I am fairly new to the fourm so forgive me for asking questions you have fielded 100 times. The search feature of this forum does work well - I use it often. Lots of really good info and discussion there.

The yard in Durham wanted $150 for just the shafts, but I managed to cajole them down to $125 for the shafts and the flanges (you have to have those) and the calipers too. I'd say that $175 for the works is a decent deal. Are you planning to V8 at some point then? That 3.54 R200 from the turbo is a mighty tall gear otherwise.....

The L28 turbo has different pistons and a freer flowing head. It's compression is much lower - 7.4 or around there. You could run a turbo on a higher compression, NA motor, at low boost. But don't - it'd be alot of work to install and then more work to fool the ECU into giving more fuel and less timing and in the end it'd probably break. L28Ts can be found in most areas for between $400 and $600 complete.

What's the URL for the Streetrodder forum? I tried the obvious, http://streetrodder.com, but could find no mention of a forum. Thanks.

They never sold those in the states, although the diesel Patrol engine was used in International Harvester Scouts. Although I don't know anything about these Patrol engines, I would suspect that it would not be the same L28 found in the ZCar. I would presume that it would have lower compression and perhaps even smaller valves and ports. That's somewhat typical of a car engine in a truck. If you could post the block and head stampings, that would go a long way toward figuring out what kind of L28 it is.

I wasn't aware that any CJ type jeeps were ever equipped with D44s - most have D30s. Wagoneers and the old Grand Cherokees had D44s that were narrower than the typical D44 - 55 inches from the inside of each hub. My Z is 55 inches from wheel mounting surface. You should pick up a street rod magazine if you are considering a live axle. There are plenty of complete kits available - $$$ though. Any width and gear ratio, typically using a Ford 9inch and a 5 link with weld on mounting brackets.

The L28 trans will not fit on the VG30. Not sure of the ratios on the 84 R200, but it's easy to check - jack up one wheel, mark drive shaft (shifter in neutral), turn the jacked up wheel 10 times and count the number of driveshaft revolutions, divide by 5. It should bolt up, but again, you'd only be going from a 77 R200 to an 84 R200 - same diff, but likely a different ratio.

So it was Danno who supplied the drawing! For which I am highly grateful. I think I knew that and mentioned it in a (much) earlier posting on th is same subject. Some internet entrepreneur should set up an "email a 6 pack" service. Anyway, yes, the resizing to which I referred was merely to make my printer produce a "lifesize" version of the part that I then cut out and used to mark on the steel plate. That drawing was plenty accurate for me. If the brackets are to be mass produced - I would recommend aluminum. I know of at least one shop in tiny little Durham here that has a CNC plasma torch that could whip out 3 dozen of the pieces for very few dollars. As MikeSCCA implies, you pay for the setup, so costs go down rapidly the more units you have made. Personally, I lack the intestines to sit on >$1K of Zcar parts. I can just see my wife's face as she screams "You paid how much money to have all these parts made??!" Sidenote: I had similar experiences as spotfitz - the tolerances on those Datsun rear hub carriers is not all that tight (at least the outside dimensions). I ended up with brackets that should have been swappable drivers to passengers side, but were not. And one tweak I would add to Danno's drawing would be to add more metal to the bracket end of the "ring" that bolts to the carrier. That way the bracket "ears" could be moved farther out, preventing clearance problems with the outside of the cast carrier. Also, the inner hole would need to either be larger by 2mm or more to allow for variation, or else the part would need to be sold as a "trim to fit". And I had made one alteration which was to cut out the ears as one piece, with a strip of metal joining them together. This turned out not to be such a good idea. I thought it would make it easier when welding the ears to the ring, but it created much grinding work - definately not worth it.

Just to prevent any possible confusion, I didn't create that brake bracket drawing - I'm not exactly sure who did. All I did was resize it (thru trial and error) so that it would print actual size. The brackets work well with the 82 280ZX turbo rear calipers that I got. Those calipers aren't cheap though - plan on spending $100 or so and be happy if you find them for less. Rebuild kits are high too. Anyway, I agree that this is an excellent area for a group deal - it's just too bad it's too late for me. But mine are on and they work.