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Which is exactly why you see hugely expensive german cars with rather ordinary sliding calipers and mediocre high-dust pads, the leverage lowers the heat requirements of the pads, and offers less chance of cracking the rotors too.

Haha Derek's idea processing dept is closed until spring

Off topic but the free-valve thing doesn't seem good for high rpm, but there's also electric options in the works using piezos, their problem is lifespan... but assuming performance is sorted, I see the same problem, lots of electronic parts in a hot engine to break or stick. I'll take the archaic camshaft for the time being Any more developments on the camshafts?

Totally looks like concept art now, the proportions are so exaggerated I like the wheels, but I think this one deserves bigger... make it even more exaggerated

The only hearsay resembling a first hand account that I've heard was basically: it acts like a cross between a helical and a really weak clutch lsd. The engagement is just increasing the level of friction like a helical, but without being as progressive, and once you exceed it's "grip", you're just shredding metal.

Generally they are copies, they obtain a real one to make a mould, often a pitted one after the rust is cleaned off, which is why the copies are usually even more lumpy... Depending on the market and foundry, they may or may not remove markings, or run both types, where they can sell the counterfeit "genuine" ones for a premium to parts stores, then offer "reproductions" for less. I don't really believe the distributors are quite so naive, they know what's going on, they just make too much money being silent. The calipers in my BBK are re-cast, and modified to my specs; I know a little about this topic

Yes and as you allude to it, the ideal brake bias for one road condition might be wrong for any other condition. So either you need to have an adjuster knob, then get a feel for the road before doing anything silly, and then fine tuning it until you're happy... OR You need a balance that's "good" in most conditions for your driving style, which doesn't really exist unless weather is fairly constant where you are... I know a lot of people that love the way a car feels with overpowered front brakes, because it's a deceiving feeling in the dry, in a straight line -- their opinions might totally change if they were trail braking on a damp surface in a medium corner.

Looks a lot like the rocketbunny S13 I imagine... could be good.

Why would you weld in camber plates when you can adjust camber with the arms? I think something's not clicking here...

I've been contemplating producing calipers kinda like this, with some kind of mechanical lever system, I figured someone would have done it by now -- appears they did. I wanted to do it a little differently though; I might still if I feel motivated...

You are correct, you measure each piston on a fixed caliper, and double it for a floating caliper. But comparing how the calipers work on different cars won't tell you the story, the leverage of the pedal, the size of the pads, the size and stroke of the master cylinder, any traction control devices like ABS, etc, all affect the outcome... That all changes once they are on the same car, then you can do a direct comparison with the hardware you've got, and the only variation should be the pad area.

I think I've only heard of one z31 ford swap until now, I believe a 5.0 ... looks like you're well on the way, are you keeping it carb? I'm sure you agree, this one deserves dual exhausts... there will be some cutting involved, but very doable PS. click my sig, I make a ton of suspension goodies for these beasts *edit* hah forgot we don't have those here... http://responsetype.com/shop/

Try oem-surplus.com ?

In canada we don't have an abundance of L blocks, so we'd need to get something from a hoarder, or shipped from somewhere else, and shipping via truck is easily as expensive as sea+train, so there's not much plus side. Add to that, rb26's are the most commonly blown up, it's just a side effect of the target market, so while we have plenty of skylines running around, rb25's are more often sold as complete units, rb26 heads are regularly available on their own. I don't have an agenda, I have a point of view, I seem to see a different picture than you, that doesn't make it wrong. As for everything being custom on rb30? Dunno where you got that, most parts interchange with other rb's just fine, or in many cases use the same parts as the common vg30, like bearings... unless you're worried about a "custom" oil pan you can find from a 200zr in aus/nz with the engine, get RIPS to make you one, get in steel from enjuku, sheet aluminum from mckinney, or get a cast aluminum one from whitehead up here? Mechanically there's really nothing special about the rb30, but I don't see the L blocks being special either, both are strong, both are heavy... If the modification cost of the head as per the original post is greater than importing the necessary parts, the clear advantage is to the rb block. And then we're left with the rotating mass increase on the hybrid from the timing parts, whereas the rb30+dohc can get the longer gates racing timing belt from enjuku or rawbrokerage, I'd say this could be an advantage to the rb again.

That's what I'm asking, what's the advantage of the L bottom end vs an rb30 with forged rods/pistons? And then what's the advantage if both got a brian crower stroker crank for example? The comparison ignored any of the common changes you'd have to do to both setups, so don't jump all over me for missing facts; mod for mod the costs seem fairly similar to me. And we can ignore any janky rtv sealed timing housings... The rb25de (ie. non-vvl head) would take the least effort, but I assumed you'd want the ITBs for apples to apples... The NEO head would require the most work, for the most gain too perhaps? PS. I looked into importing an rb30 (or a few) a while back, and with my accounts and I got around $900 estimated shipping.

Thanks for the insult, I'll read it when I'm dead... I wonder what your problem is with an rb30 + rb26 head? It can be done in an hour, except for the numerous little upgrades you'll no doubt want to do while it's open. It's not like the rb30 blocks aren't plentiful down under, and sea freight is pretty cheap... it would likely be a non-turbo higher compression block, but apples to apples, you'd want new pistons anyway. So tell me again how ordering an rb30 is more expensive than modifying the rb head and l28 block to interlock? Now aside from that, you can just as easily order a stroker crank for the rb as you can the l-series, neither is cheap, but it's the "easy" way.

Not understanding your question, rephrase?

So now what's the advantage of this vs. a fully functioning ITB rb25/26? It's not like the L bottom end is so superior, nor are rb20 bellhousings hard to find, neither are motor mounts expensive to fab? My first thought would also start with the fact that rb heads have to be ported, there's tons of expense to upgrading them for higher lift cams, high rpm etc.... this is why rb's are moneypits, they nitpick you to death on the smallest changes, because there's just so many. By contrast, Derek can make a pre-ported head designed for any high power application, either large port throats for high lift cams, or narrower high velocity ports for long duration low-lift de-strokers, that only need a little basic cleanup to be plug-n-play.

Part of me loves the idea of gear driving everything, but if he's doing all that with aluminum, it won't last long at high rpm/power, and steel will add a ton of rotational weight... The fab work is excellent however

The width and overall sidewall stiffness have just as much to do with tramlining as the camber... If you have a ridge you drive up against or onto, such as a frost heave or train track, the edge of the tire will either allow or resist that transition, on a typical low profile tire, it will resist a lot. The other side of it is those undulations in the road where heavy vehicles have created gentle depressions, the whole tire is involved, and width will matter; the outer 2" of your wide wheel may touch the crest, and the inner 2-3" may touch the valley with less weight, and as the grip varies between those two points, the car will dart. Narrow tires don't generally have this problem because the level of grip across their edges will have less leverage on the steering... of course your scrub radius will dictate if the left and right are independently stable or whether they are only stable working against each other. Adding excessive caster can mask this effect by levering against the instability, but I wouldn't use caster adjustment just for this personally...

If you have a lot of "shock" in you droop, your strut/shock isn't valved correctly for your springs...

While you're at it, check/adjust the TPS, and your injectors should all be about 2.4-2.6ohm.

First thing is CHTS... changing cold/warm it's likely the culprit.

TT is wider if I recall too..

It appears the other holes are for a different sized stud...