Racer Z

Worked on a rear disk brake upgrade. Built a prototype bracket out of wood. Fitted a Mercedes caliper with a 300zx (4 bolt) rotor on our 73 240z. After several adjustments we got it fitted correctly. Soon I will machine a pair of brackets. Sorry, no pics yet. Will do a full write-up with details after a test drive.

To check for clutch slip, put it in high gear and do a roll-on with full throttle, in a straight line. Clearly it's more fun to do it in second gear circles, but you will get false answers that way.

Cleaned the used L28 engine I'm getting ready to put in. Took Dad out for Dad's Day (not with the Datsun).

I agree 100%

We're working on 13, doing a motor / tranny swap. The L24 has an effective track time of six years on it and is really tired. We have a used L28 that should be in good shape and a used close ratio 5-speed that should also be in good shape. Nissan made two different 5-speeds (not counting the T-5). The early units have the same gear spread as the 4-speeds while the last few years have a slightly closer gear spread. Now that our driving skills are improving and we're making better lap times, we are wanting gear 3 1/2. Were hoping the this 83 5-speed will offer better gear / RPM choices on the track. It does look better on paper Last week we pulled the motor and trans, this week we cleaned the engine bay and removed a few things that are I call "dead weight". While cleaning the engine bay we noticed the frame is buckled just above the cross member. Both sides look to be bent the same. We've been racing (time trials) the car for three years now and it seems to handle the same in both left and right turns. When we first got the car we had a shop check the alignment and were told, "It's in spec." We had it corner weighted while it was still stock and it was within 30 pounds on the diagonals. We don't see any reason to change it, we're just going to keep driving it. Of course I had to check "15" and it's straight and flat.

Removed the parking brake cable from under the car and the evaporative gas line. That was just less than 5 pounds of dead weight. Cleaned the engine bay while the motor/trans is out. Sat around in the shade talking like I actually know something.

If the valves are tight, they (or a few) will stay open. This will cause the engine to loose compression and be hard to start, among other things. Depending on how tight the valve are, it could make good compression while cold, then as the engine warms and gets hot, the valve will start to leak, making it hard to start while hot, but start OK while cold. If the valves are loose, it won't run well because fuel and exhaust can't get in or out. I'm not saying that this is your problem, I'm saying it fits the symptoms you described. What's the harm in pulling the valve cover and checking the valve adjustment? It has to get done from time to time as part of routine maintenance. If the adjustment is OK then you can eliminate this from the list of "maybe's". It could be a combinations of several things, most of which have been mentioned by other people.

Started good cold but not when warm?Tight valves? Have you adjusted the valves in a while?

You said it had new rear bushings. Did you do the work or was it already done? It's beginning to sound like something was not put together right or something is wrong with the rear suspension. Maybe a bushing got damaged during install. If it was mine, I'd be thinking about taking the rear suspension apart and looking at everything. But, it could be a loose bolt or two, so jack it up and start inspecting things closer, before you take it apart.

You can't eye-ball this type of thing. Take it to an alignment shop that can do a 4-wheel alignment check. If they tell you that it's "in-spec", then the visual thing is something like the flares being on differently.

You said that it sat for quite a while. Stuck, gummed up, or worn rings can cause a hard start problem like you described. Try changing the oil and taking it out for a 100 mile drive.

That rented trailer was the first time I ever towed anything with trailer brakes. I sure could tell a difference. I really liked how the truck stopped with the trailer brakes. Yes, even a tow-dolly with brakes would be an improvement over flat-towing without brakes.

Today we went to Harbor Freight and bought an 8,000 pound come-a-long on sale for 30 big ones. Tomorrow I need to rent another trailer and haul my daily driver (Honda) to the shop. The tow service wants $200. I can rent a trailer for $60 and have $140 left over to buy tools. If I'm half way smart, I will have learned not to drop the next car off the trailer. As for our existing race car, we flat-tow it to and from the track. We have had many discussions about the merits of owning a trailer, but storage space seems to be the deciding factor. We just happen to have two vehicles suitable for towing, so flat-towing the two cars isn't going to be a problem. I have seen more than one nice looking trailer for less than a grand and it won't take many more trailer rentals to equal the purchase price of a good used trailer.

Pulled the engine and tranny. Getting ready to clean up the engine bay and then install what I hope is a better used engine.

Last week we bought a 1975 280Z with a good body shell. We found that the 74 260Z has a bent frame and way toooo much rust. I don't have any real pictures of it yet. We're going to need some parts from the 260, such as the motor, so for the moment we have two race cars and a parts car. For the full story of how we got it home and a cheap picture, see this thread (Post you comments there please.): Create Your Own Caption The new "15 Car" is a silver 1975 280Z.

My brother Pete and I bought another Datsun, a 1975 280Z. It didn't have any crash damage before we bought it. We had a bit of trouble with the rented trailer though. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words", and it will take a thousand words to explain this. Keep it on the track? Oh poo, we can't even keep it on the trailer. That's my 1970 F250 that almost got munched. Ok. So you've seen three pictures and now you're desperately wanting to read the three thousand word explanation where we try to worm our way out of this. I mean, after all we're not total idiots. Or are we? I suppose the entire story starts about a month ago when Pete decided we needed a second race car. Fair enough, I'm tired of sharing and alternating between run groups. Neither of us enjoy being in the slower run group anymore. Pete found a 260Z for a cheap price nearby and thought it was a good deal. Heck, he even drove it home! All seemed right with our world until we discovered the bent frame from a collision. The massive rust wasn't doing the car any favors either. We fixed it up a bit and tried to sell it, but alas, nobody bought it. After calling a few ads, I found this 280Z out in Ontario, CA (USA). It looked good in the ad and I called the seller. He was very adamant that it had no rust and no crash damage. It had a clear title and current registration, and, being a 75, it's smog-exempt. Although it's not drivable (bad motor), it is a complete car. He sounded quite knowledgeable about cars and Datsun's and it seemed like a good deal for us. We rented a trailer and drove out to Ontario, examined the car, did the paper-work and put our cash on the barrel-head. Then it was time to load our prize and leave. Well, we couldn't drive the car onto the trailer and we didn't have any type of winch. But, the car was parked at the top of a gentle hill in the middle of a field. So I put the trailer at the bottom of the hill and we rolled the car down the hill. We thought we could get enough momentum to get up the ramps and onto the trailer. But there was a "step" where the ramps meet the trailer and the rear tires got stuck at this step. Now what? Somebody (there were just the three of us including the seller) suggested driving the truck forward and jumping on the brakes real fast. This would rock the car up and over the hump. Sounded good to me. I got in the truck and Pete got in the car. I drove forward and stopped. The car rocked but not enough. Did it again but it was still stuck. Just a bit faster and the car rolled up over the "step" and ker-plopped down onto the trailer. The banging noise and the movement of the truck made me look in the mirror and somehow things just didn't look right. I got out and started laughing. ROF-LMAO works here. Pete's still in the car and wants to know what's so funny. He gets out, looks, and says, "Oh, by the way, the brakes don't work." It never occurred to me that a non-running car might need brakes. The seller says to us, "I'm glad you already paid me." He was pure dead-pan, I'm laughing like this is somebody else's problem and Pete's acting like the kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. We tried to jack up the car with the intention of placing things under the front tires so we could roll the car back onto the trailer. But we could not jack it up high enough. In this field were a lot of old cars, tractors, and assorted other junk. We all walked around looking at this and that. We considered the fork-lift, but this was not the sellers property nor was it his junk. There was a big truck with a big crane, but..... Finally we found a cherry-picker style engine hoist. We dragged it down the hill to find that it didn't work. I had some ATF so we tried filling it with cherry juice. More fluid spilled on the ground than went inside. But it began working. We picked the Datsun up by the front bumper brackets and drove the truck forward, but the engine hoist started to tip over. We had a long tow-strap with us so we anchored the Datsun to the seller's car. Then I pulled the trailer under the car until it was in the correct location. We lowered the car onto the trailer, strapped the car down and cleaned up our mess. The seller chuckled and said, "Now I've got a story to tell my friends, "You should have seen these two clowns that bought my car...." haha." We stopped at the first place we saw that was open to eat. We checked the car to make sure it was still on the trailer. The straps had come loose and had actually fallen off. I'm not sure what had kept the car on the trailer and I didn't really care much. I was hungry and had to pee. We strapped the car on correctly this time and now it seemed like a good idea to use the safety chains that had been included. We ate, cried, and drove the hundred mile trip home without further incident. Getting the car off the trailer presented yet another obstacle. Without brakes or a winch, we were in a similar situation. So, being the smarter of the two clowns, I floored the truck and dropped the clutch. The trailer jerk out from under the car and the poor old Datsun went ker-plop onto the ground just as nice as could be. That may sound believable at this point, but that's not what we did. This time I sat in the car and Pete drove the truck. Ok, Ok. What really happened is this: We found that the parking brake still worked. I sat in the car and worked the parking brake while Pete worked some tire chock-blocks. We inched the car down. It went pretty smooth and easy. I'll like to say that this is the end of the story, but it's not. We had to do some minor repair to the trailer. Nothing a large channel-lock pliers couldn't handle. Then we returned trailer. We got it back about an hour after the store closed which wasn't a problem, until the next day. We had the trailer less than 12 hours and U-Haul tried to charge me for 48 hours. I told them in no certain terms that I would not pay the trumped-up charges and that they needed to get their axle out of their muffler. Damage to the car? Not really sure. We did not inspect the car. Both fenders got bent just behind the front wheels. The lower cowling got damaged. Other damage, most likely. The moral of the story is: I'll be damned if I know. Oh, by the way, there are 1,120 words in the body of this story.

Bought a 1975 280Z that was rust & collision free. Rented a trailer and put on about 200 miles round trip to bring it home. My 1970 Ford F250 sure pulled that trailer nice. We're going to start building a second race car with the 280Z.

With the help of my brother, we made an engine dolly. We used a bare block as a pattern and bolted together a 2x4 frame. The caster wheels came from a Harbor Freight furniture dolly on sale. Our dolly holds the block at the motor mounts and bell housing. The bare block fits and rolls nicely. I hope a complete engine does the same. Next Sunday we're pulling the drive line and will be using the engine dolly for real. "Yes, I play with dollies." LOL

Today my Dad and I drove out to Beta Motorsports and picked up my new side axles. This is the adapter that allows a Subaru STi LSD to be used with stock half-axles. I bough a set from the first run and know from experience that this is the way to go for my needs. Soon we will have an LSD in both S30's. Got a quote from him on a SCCA roll cage in my car. My dad talked to John about a cage in his 1967 Alfa Romeo step-nose. Looked at the work he (John) was doing on a 240Z that belongs to a HybridZ member. Chit-chatted with John Coffey for so long I was wondering if he was going start charging me shop rates to gab. LMAO. John, if you're reading this, it was really nice to meet you in person.

What didn't I do is the question today. (yesterday actually) I did not work on my Z and I did not drive my truck home. Sunday is our day to get together and work on the race cars, both are S30's. My truck started acting up on the way to my brothers so we took what should have been a quick look at that. We were under the hood of that ugly beast all day and never did resolve the problem. I had to leave it at my brothers house and he gave me a ride home. Yes, I'm on a Ford forum. Found On Road Dead. LMAO, she has two bad motors in her. An L28 in the bed with a bad rod and a 6.4 (390) under the hood with a mystery problem.

It's hard to find a shop you like and trust. Whether it in a car forum or not, I hear more horror stories than I do praise about shops. We used to take my ladies Volvo to a Volvo specialty shop and just had the most trust in them. One day the owner sold the shop to his mechanics and left. After that we had one bad experience after another. We soon had to look for a new shop. I usually do all my own work, mostly cause I can afford the shop prices. The few times I have taken one of my vehicles, car / truck / motorcycle / bicycle / boat to a shop, I've always felt like I paid so much and got so little. Sometimes the work was satisfactory, other times not. Sometimes they correct what I think is their mistake and other times not. Any shop that freely admits they made a mistake and takes care of it is a place that I would go back to again. Until they repeatedly make mistake after mistake, they're alright in my book.

Your going to have a hard time turning now. Race car or not. Spend the money on an LSD. It will be $1000 or more, but it's worth it.

Earl's stainless lines will help the pedal feel good and firm. I've got Earl's on my truck and my Z. You said you do too, so we don't need to wonder if you have 40 year old soft rubber lines. Bleed the brakes and make sure there's no air in the system. For the self-adjuster to keep the shoes adjusted you need to set the brake every time you park. Trying to use the E-Brake to take up a lot of slack takes to long if they're badly out of adjustment. If you've still got rear drums, take the wheels off and check the shoe adjustment. Tighten them up till they just barely rub when you turn the drum by hand. If these two suggestions don't help, let us know and we'll move on to other possibilities.

Sounds like your world will soon be in order, once again.

Today I (we) did a more extensive inspection of my (our) new 260Z. It's got some crash damage, the kind that's hidden behind 100 pounds of bondo and rattle can paint. The rust is, well, extensive and in some structural places. The brakes are weeping and the rear disk upgrade was installed, uhm, poorly. But poorly is how all of the car is too. The intake leaked so bad the car only ran at high RPM. Anti-freeze is leaking from the bell housing. So we started into fixing a few things. Mostly to see if we had a motor. Had to turn the manifold bolts three turns just to get them to snug. Got the intake/exhaust tight, cured a few vacuum leaks and she fired right up. I think the last time this poor car had a tune-up, Christ was a Corporal. Got some real nice readings from a leak-down and compression test. We got a motor. Yippi. Tranny and rear end seem good. Tightened the brake lines at the master and started gutting the interior. Took the car around the block and she seemed to drive OK until the throttle stuck. I was waiting for the steering wheel to fall off cause the nut is missing. What a heap. And we've got 15 working days do get her track ready for an event in September.