ZR8ED

Thanks for the suggestions. Here is what it looks like with the bellypan/diffuser. It has changed a bit since this pic was taken. ie the 2.5" exhaust is now replaced with a 3"ss. it sits about the same. Any ideas on how to keep the shape? The flares are easy to extend. I can just take the shape and curve and continue it down as far as I need. I'm just wondering how I'd blend it into the rear. As you can see in the above pics, it is following basically the stock shape, and it is slowly curving under the car. If I extend it the same way, it will curve further under the car. Thanks for the ideas. A rear diffuser will still be a part of this.

Well its been getting colder these days. (Ontario, Canada) and thoughts of working on the car are more common than good driving days. I've recently returned my attention to my garage to do final setup work to be ready for when the snow forces the car into hiding for an extended rest. During the summer, I insulated and drywalled the garage, Epoxy painted the floor, installed better lighting, and setup two mezzanines built shelves and racks to hold my Z parts, built a work bench, and setup my mig welder/compressor/vice etc ready for use. Now that it has been colder, I noticed some draft areas around my door, and my heater heats the garage fast, but the air leaks cause the heat to bleed off quicker than I'd like. So I insulated the garage door itself, and stopped the drafts around the edge of the door frame. Now I'm ready... Then I get this "while I'm at it" syndrome AGAIN! I say to myself, the garage all ready and I can do all kinds of work on the car and be comfortable while I do it. Well not totally comfortable. Some music would be nice. (see where this is going?) I should just spend a few extra dollars and buy an inexpensive stereo. Hmmm. I'll need speakers too. I find a stunning sale on one of those surround sound systems in a box deals. COOL. A surround sound system in the garage with 5 little cube speakers and a subwoofer. Hmm this thing plays DVD's as well as CD's and mp3's jpeg pics etc... (see where this is going AGAIN?) Hmm a tv would be nice.. the stereo plays DVD's, I might as well use all of the features. So I find a great trade in deal at a used electronics shop, and pick up a LCD flat panel tv. This is great, it won't take up too much space this way. Ohh the Justifications of the while I'm at it syndrome. My GF thinks I'm nutz, my friends think I'm nutz. I'm not nutz am I? If I am, at least I'll be comfortable in the nicest garage on the street! Now I just need a laptop so I can surf the net when I get frustrated working on the Z, after I break something because I was not paying close enough attention to what I was doing, because I was watching a cool movie while working on the car. AHHHH. I think I might be going to far...for now. hehehe

I'm looking for some ideas to redesign the rear of my Z. I don't care for the look of my rear belly pan any more, and I want to smooth out the look of the rear of the car a bit more. Even though the car sits pretty low, it does not look low from the back. I feel it looks more like a 4X4. You can see too much under the car.I found some older pics that don't have my rear belly pan installed. See how it looks like the body does not come down low enough? Could someone help me with designing a rear lower skirt, that blends into the flares. I don't mind lowering the back side of the flare as well, so the whole thing looks lower to the ground. ie does not show as much of the gas tank, and tires. Nothing drastic. 2" give or take a bit..maybe a bit more. I have found a custom fibreglass shop only 2min from my house, and he builds Lambo kit cars etc for people, and he liked my Z and agreed to help me with my project. I just need some ideas to make it look like it belongs. The flares and rear valence of the car is mostly fibreglass, with part of the valence being already repaired with fg long ago. It doesn't need to be removeable, but I do need to be able to drop my exhaust. It can be "bolt on", but will likely end up being blended with no seams. Pics, photoshop ideas welcome. Thanks, Scott

I am running Yokohama AVS Sport 17/35/315's out back. I can launch pretty hard, but I can still break them loose in 2nd gear, and a hard roll on in 3rd, But mostly the car just pulls. I am not running your hp, though my graph is a year old, and many mods ago. I do have some decent torque down low though. A good compound is critical, followed by suspension, and finally tire width. Stocko springs are not going to cut it. The car will just squat, and use up some time/torque, all the while building up more, and then it will just instantly make it to the pavement, and fry the tires. Kind of hard to explain. Think of it as more of an explosion of power to the ground, as opposed to gradual power being applied. ie even a stocko 240 can dump the clutch and claim no traction. Scott.

I drove mine down to a car show this year.. 1200miles ++ The only hiccup I had was I had to manually turn down the fuel pressure to get better cruising gas mileage. Once onsite, I turned it back up for some fun. I've gone long distance many times, and beat it up at the track no problems, but I have also taken it to the track long distance and broke it twice. Both times were due to inadequate maintenance.

I made a strap from 3/8 flat bar. I bent it, and welded a small piece of pipe on the ends. It bolts to the stock mounting for the original diff snubber strap from the factory. There is a piece of rubber between the strap and the diff. Under normal driving is is pretty quiet, but when I go more that 1/2 throttle, the diff moves (1mm) or less. It then gets more noisy.. not as bad as the solid mount though. Unbolt the two factory bolts, and it comes right off. BTW the solid mounts get VERY noisy when you have a roll cage/bar. So bad, that I had to drive with earplugs in so I would not commit suicide after more than 5 min in the car. Scott.

Darn, does that mean I'm a ricer? hehehe Yes they do make a difference. I learned how important they can be, during my motor swap. We had cut out the top rad support brace, to facilitate the driveline going in and out many times for measurements and trial fittings etc. Anyways, I have a 12 point cage in the car, and with NO driveline in the car, when the car was lifted up and down on the hoist, We could not put the top rad support back into place with the car on the ground (weight on the wheels), and there was waayy too much room when the car was on the hoist.. There was a lot of flex, and remember, there was no driveline, so the front end was quite light. So I don't think mine is overboard.. well..maybe a little

Well I'm in the same type of boat. My first garage. Well I do have a 40,000btu kerosene heater that I used in my parents 2 car partially insulated garage, and it would at best cut the chill on a cold morning. ie -20 celsius, it would warm up to about 0 degrees. When it was warmer, it did a much better job. Now to my advice. Go buy at the bare minium, the poly drop sheets used for painting, and staple them to the framing and ceiling. It will reduce drafts, and the rapid loss of heat... it will make a noticeable difference. In my case, I got prepared, and bought about 10 bags of insulation, and insulated the walls and ceiling of my 1 car garage, then vapor barrier and drywall on the walls, and used a reflective (mirror like) plastic sheeting (like a drop sheet, but coated with a reflective coating) on the ceiling. I then used small pieces of trim to reduce drafts around the main door. HUGE difference. I park the car in the garage, and hours later, it is still warm in the garage. I plan on doing much more work in the garage this winter, and I want to be comfortable... as in T shirt comfy, and it can get pretty cold here along the lake. BTW I am running a small bathroom style vent fan to bring in fresh air, so I don't kill myself with fumes. Goodluck and enjoy the garage!

Well a quick answer, (this would apply to any car.) Reduce weight where possible and practical. Sound deadner, smaller gel cell battery smaller narrow tires Remove any unessesary trim, lose the passenger side mirror (not required) also the antenna if exterior. Then try filling in gaps in trim and body (think ala duct tape if ya want cheap) (the 240 picked up extra mph simply smoothing the seams around the windsheild with ductape) Lower the suspension. aluminum belly pan under the car where practical. Front air dam if possible, smoothout the front end of the car.. think headlight covers, reducing the rad opening etc.. For the driveline. remove any unused parts ie air con, drive belts for not working acces. p&p heads, exhaust, any/all passeges for air/fuel,oil/coolant etc make sure your waterpump housing is port matched.. that kind of stuff. freeflow exhaust (mandrel bends..not neccessarily huge diameter stuff) Freeflow air intake. You want to increase the VE of your engine. (volumetric efficiency) where possible. Good luck.. hmm while I'm at it maybe i should look at my own commuter car? Scott

As Promised. An overview of the revised engine bay. Powder coated intercooler piping and new clamps. Aluminum rad, with aluminum rad support wall (ie firewall) Restructured cross bracing, and powdercoated. New overflow bottle, and SS rad piping, and lower one is powdercoated. A new Apexi SAFC. This is the reason for the dyno session next week. Hidden stuff: Redesigned diff snubber. still using another new rubber lower mount, but it now sports an overhead brace with GM style rubber mount. Nice and quiet while driving, and noisy when WOT. Just what I wanted. Repaired tranny shifter fork, throwout bearing, springs etc. Repaired wiring harness, and continued to clean up wire looming. Used rubber to Isolate the fuel pump. (nice and quiet now) Revised the 3" exhaust, and installed a dampner to quiet it down a bit. It worked too! It just changed the resonance frequency. Revised cold air intake. New aeroquip lines/fittings for all oil cooler lines (only partially done before) New gelcel battery with hold down Well thats about it.. dyno time next week.

Hey at least the wiring is all new, and YOU know where and what everything is for. don't go overkill with neatness. Minor details can come later.. Get the car running.. Once you do that, you will see what I mean... there is always more details to work out once you see it running everyday..always something to change/modify to suit your "NEW" z habits. Congrats on the progress.

Well I went for a summer vacation, and decided to send the car into the shop for some more serious work. I would not be home to drive it, so it sounded like a good idea.. right up till I started to get some bright ideas, like while I'm having the aluminum rad installed, why don't I have the entire rad support redone and give it a quasi aluminum "firewall" to clean it up and block off the rest of the engine bay from unwanted air getting in. then I thought, ya know, if I'm building a support for the differential so I can get rid of my noise inducing solid mount, why don't I do a few other things to quiet down the cabin noise.. do you see where this is going? While I'm at it has struck again.. Pretty bad too cause I was away for 3 weeks. AND when I got home and checked out the work, I found a serious problem with the tranny, and while it was being fixed, why not have some other work done? oh oh this is getting expensive.. Well I'll keep you in suspense for another day till I get my pics up. (I just brought the car home) Heres a teaser though.. powdercoating... I'll give the full list when I post the pics..I hope it doesn't rain tommorow.. Darn now I gotta book some dyno time. WIAI = "While I'm At It"

Hmm not sure what makes my car stand out.. Scott

That is pretty awsome! Your low end numbers seem to indicate some lag or simply a larger turbo. What are you running?..edit oh I'll check your site. Its nice to see someone making some headway with vg power. Another year or two, and I'll probably catch up to where you are now. Thanks for the inspiration! Scott

Looking Good Van. Good to see your still in the game! Scott.

BTW the mezzanine above is kinda messy cause It is holding all my tools that belong on the work bench shelves. I even built shelves up there. All those bins are loaded with Z parts, some performance stuff, some rare stuff, some not so rare stuff! I was thinking of rigging up a block and tackle setup to make it easier to haul stuff up and down. ok ok. maybe a bit much..I'll shut up.

Well I just read Okimoto's post on his plight for a place to work on his Z. A two car garage with no room for even the car! It even looks like he had to remove the engine from his Z to make room for more storage.. Well This weekend was the weekend to finish the garage with an epoxy floor. It has been a long process to insulate, vapor barrier, drywall, prime paint, install lighting and some minor electrical, and now paint the floor. I recently finished building the work bench too! Now I just have to organize my air compressor, mig welder, various power tools, etc. into a neat setup for working on the Z. It may be small, but its my first garage, and it's all mine, and I intend for it to be for the Z only...no bikes, snowblower, lawnmowers, garden tools etc.. Z car parts, my tools, my workbench, and of course the Z. I hate working in a cluttered mess. A small space is only useable if it is neat. Apparently I've impressed most of the neighbours, who insist on coming up and taking a look, and say that they wish they could even fit a car in their garage. I think I'm starting off on the right foot.

I think I should add one caution here. Becareful, and test a small area, or practice on something less valuable. Not all polishes work with all paints. I have seen polishing compounds that work with one brand of paint, and yet leave swirl marks, hazing, dulling etc on others. If you know what brand of paint you are using, make sure you get a recommendation on what works with that type/brand of paint, if they say "its all the same"....go somewhere else. Now take what I have to say with a grain of salt, because I have little experience with aftermarket paint, but I do have experience with OEM baked automotive coatings. Most car companies test different brands of polishing systems and chose one typically based on compatability with the type of paint, and paint application system they are using in that particular plant. Ie Not all GM plants use the same polishing sytems, because they do not all use the same application process, and paint products.

4 words. Redline In Fifth Gear hehehe I just could not resist.

Cool looking seat covers. I have the Fiero seats in my Z as well, though I still have not got around to hooking up the speakers. I did test them before the install, and they still sounded good. I have just cheapo car seat covers for now, but I really like the look of those. Hehehe "for now" I just thought of that..I've been using the cheapo covers now for like 5 years now...oh well..one day I'll get to it.. Enjoy the seats! Scott

That looks great Nigel! I just hope your ecu tuning won't be too hard to correct...at least you can correct yours. hehehe I too have gone to a cable throttle (ala z31) I actually just took the entire gas pedal assembly and bolted it in. Just don't get too caught up in the "while I'm at it" syndrome. Good luck! Scott.

Well the motivation continues. While I'm at it... hehehe I've done some cleanup work on the top cover, and I'm considering painting the lower piece black to make it not so noticeable. I like driving a sleeper. Well I'm going to take it to the next step, and install a new rad. I found an aluminum one made by "Allstar Performance" I'm going to fit in new sheet aluminum to make a smooth looking rad support.. ie more like a firewall, with 3 cutouts only. 2 for the i/c pipes, and one for the rad. This way, no extra air is going to get into the engine bay from the front of the car unless it passes through the i/c and rad. It should clean up the engine bay considerably. I have been running a 280zx 2+2 rad for at least 12 years now, and it has never given me one bit of grief. Mounting this all up is going to be an adventure. Not sure how I'll get it mounted in rubber, but I'll figure that out once I have the rad in my hands and do some trail fits. Oh BTW. $249.00 and its a 24X19. My current rad is 25x20, but I don't think the smaller size will be an issue, it may just make it a bit easier to mount. If I have too many more posts like this, I may need a doctor. hehehe Scott.

I'm on a roll these days. I'm back in the saddle working on the car. New I/C is in, new and improved engine bay braces are in, aluminum sheet work to direct air from the large opening under the grill and the grill itself into the i/c and rad only. Now for the more adventerous stuff. I have a newly installed adjustable brake bias set up beside my brake master cyl. It was initially set a 50/50 for experiments. I took the car out for some safe area test drives, and have nailed the brakes from sane speeds.. ie 60-100kph. So far, I can't tell which is locking first.. the front or the back....I guess this is a good thing for now. Some specs: Yokohama avs sports 235/40/17's in front 315/35/17's in back toyota 4 piston s12w calipers and 300zxt rotors and metal master pads. Stocko drums out back. The suspension has been solid enough, and has seen lots of track days, though it is going to have some upgrading coming. I firmly believe the car is safe to drive on the street. I do need to take it to the track to try some higher speed stops in an open area. I'm thinking I may need a video camera to video the car from outside, to see which is locking first. The braking has been solid so far. Well, at least I've made the next step. New brakes in the rear will be next. At least I'll be ready for that. Scott

I was just sent this picture from a guy who was photographing at a MK2 Toyota Supra meet down in Quakertown PA back in May. I have several friends in the club and they invited me along. We had a blast, enjoyed the scenery and particularly enjoyed a quick shot thorough a very long tunnel on I81 I think it was. Lots of hybrid supras at the event, that made for a noisy tunnel drive! Here is an action shot of me cruising I81@80mph. Its not often you get a decent shot of a moving car...though the guy was certainly brave hanging halfway out of a moving supra at 80mph with a very nice digital SLR camera. Scott