Savage42

I've got all the poly sway bar bushings for a 280 that I am not using, along with the T/C bushings. Let me know if you want them for a few bucks. I recommend rubber endlink bushings on the front bar, which will soften it up and give you better turn-in, if you have too much understeer. Aside from that, poly is great!

Have any of you come up with a good mechanical (cable) or electric setup for the rear hatch in order to get rid of the stock keyed/push button setup? I know it's a minor thing, but was hoping some of you may have figured out "the answer" to that modification. Looking for ideas. Thanks!

The Z06 gauge cluster will be cool, just have a bit of work to do it. It's about 2" too wide to just cut the stock dash and install it. So, my buddy has a custom car audio shop and he'll be making a full custom dash that will go all the down into the center console/shifter. We are working on modifying electronic controls to adapt to the heater/AC assembly, so we don't have to use the stock climate control panel but dials on the dash. It'll take about 2 weeks to have that done. As for the color, it's the stock GM silver used on the late model Corvette, which is called "Quicksilver". It's just a tad lighter than the "titanium silver" on my 540 BMW. I figured a stock GM color would make it easy to match, touch up, etc. It's time to get some tires, so I can get the suspension & brakes put on and have it look more like it will when done. Going to be fun!

Just a couple other new pics. Once I get all the nuts & bolts from the plating shop, I can bolt stuff on it. I've heard that silver metallics are tricky and now I can see why. It's not perfect, but should look good when everything is on the car. Now, if it would just warm up around here! http://www.datsun510.com/photopost/data/3335/49280Z-06-2-med.jpg http://www.datsun510.com/photopost/data/3335/49280Z-06-1-med.jpg I can't seem to figure out how to paste pics into the message itself. Sorry!

They list them for that price at http://www.partsamerica.com and you may be able to pick it up locally or have it shipped.

Speaking from experience with both welded diffs and turbo cars and autocrossing, here's what I've experienced. Welded diffs seem to work better with cars with slicks. Bias ply tires must have enough give to make it work better than stiffer radials. As for turbo cars, they are far from the best setup for autocrossing. The quick transitions and short bursts make them far from ideal. Just because the SR20DET has the same HP levels as a V8, it's how it makes that power that is key. Torque is king in autocrossing and linear power of a V8 will always trump the turbo "on-off" switch power band in that game! I had a VG30ET in my 510 and it was much better at the hillclimbs than autocrossing, as I was always afraid to "stab the gas" while accelerating & cornering, as boost would hit and the car would come around on me. A welded diff would make it worse, as they make the car push until they loose grip and then you get sideways. Finess, balance of handling & power and smooth driving is the key to going really fast. Of course, sequential turbo cars, like the 3rd gen RX7, aren't as bad, but if you are cornering on the limit right between the transition of the 2 turbos, the same problem can occur with a spike in boost! It's always something! Driving style, vehicle type and course layout always add variables to the whole equation.

They sure don't make new cars easy to work on, that's for sure! As for engine position, there is also a point where there can be too much weight on the rear and getting some up front to get a more even weight distribution is also a key. Of course, we are dealing with a car with nearly 40 year old technology, so it's apples & oranges, sometimes!

I hear what you are saying. We all know that the L motor hangs farther past the front crossmember than the V8, so it makes sense with that long, straight motor. When it comes to weight transfer, handling, etc, it's a bit different with a V8 than the L6. My buddy actually tried different locations of the motor and this setup proved to be the best to help handling. Heck, they say V8 Zs aren't supposed to work for autocross & road racing, but he constantly proves them wrong! He found that he needed more weight distributed on the front and not have more weight in the back. I guess it goes back to the whole "more of what I see and less of what I hear" concept. Remember, the car was originally built as a drag car and then modified to being a damn fast street, autocross & track car. Weird how things work out sometimes!

Dang, Mike, what a showoff! (for us computer challenged, non techno geeks) ;^) How did you do that? That is too cool. Heck, it's winter and I won't be spending all my time working on the car, so having other stuff like that to play with might be a good way to use my spare time, right?

I was with Allstate for a decade until this week. With constant raises in rates over the last couple years, I decided to shop around. I deal with Universal Insurance, with who I deal with through my business, and they deal with over 30 "A" and "A+" rated insurance companies. I was able to save $500 a year on my car. I also sent a buddy on the 510 list to him, as he was having issues insuring his mid '70s 610 (fixed up & modified) and got setup with them, insuring both the 610 and his new Subaru for less than he was paying for just the Subaru with his company. (I believe it was State Farm) We both ended up with Progressive, but there were several other options, too. Add in multi-car discounts, home owners, etc and get even better rates. If you want to try them, the agent who helped us is Doug Muse at (818) 644-4000. Here's a suggestion from one of the other Datsun list members and there also Hagerty, if you have the car garaged and it's not your daily driver. Try Parish Insurance at 1-(800)-678-5173. They insure classic and vintage and race cars. I always figure that more money going out on stuff like insurance means more money to fix up the car! ;^) Hope that helps.