Savage42

The typical recommendation for a 4 or 6 cylinder lightweight AGM battery is the B2015. The B14115 is more of a race/track model, as the low capacity is not ideal for a street car. The B3121 is the lightweight option for V8 machines that are looking to cut the weight & size of a full-size battery like Optima, etc. we have hundreds of C6 Corvettes and some Vipers running the B3121 for years and was the AGM battery Corvette Racing used to run in their factory ALMS cars until upgrading to lithium back in 2011. The GreenLite G20 or GU1R is the ultimate upgrade, so it really comes down to what is best overall based on what you are looking for. Hope that helps.

Well, you just have to love getting new parts at your front door. I'm not usually the kind of person to get excited about anything that doesn't make my car faster or handle better, but after seeing the Dapper Lights in person and thinking about the long, dark 2-lane roads to and from Sebring, I thought some good lighting is in order. (for safety and they look cool) Time to wire them up and finish the body harness and go have some fun. Getting close!!

That stinks. I just got my Tracking info from FedEx from Dapper, so my headlights should be here on Monday. I got the new larger HID halo version that I'll wire up to only come on with the parking lights and not all the time. I'm currently rewrapping the whole body harness, so I'll be adding the power wire in it with the GM corrugated wiring loom. No solid electrical tape this time!

I met Ben at the Good Guys show a couple weekends ago (got me to buy the headlights) and he is definitely a good guy, a Z guy. I'm sure he'll help out a fellow Z enthusiast. Good luck.

I forgot to mention that production (of Optima) moved to Meixco a few years ago and then reliability really went down the toilet. Peter Brock called and got a Braille after going through a couple Optimas in 6 months. I've heard that they have worked on some of that, but not a good thing even when warranties, as it's still time & effort, let alone being stuck somewhere at the wrong time. Their focus seems to be spending serious money on marketing as "the ultimate power source" instead of making a better product. Braille is small in comparison and has become a global brand used by OEMs with virtually no marketing budget and got there with quality products and word of mouth.

I think I've covered a few key points in choosing the best battery for your application in a previous thread, but it seems that some additional facts may be beneficial in this case. First, the Red Top Optimas that were made prior to the buyout (owed by the Swedish) in 2002 were the bomb! Very high quality, but once they were purchased by JCI, they found them to be "over engineered" and gutted them to reduce cost, hence the quality dropped and the failure rate increased dramatically. A friend was a regional manager at one of the major national auto parts chains at in the late 90's-early 2000s, they averaged about 1 return/warranty a month, move forward a few years and that number increased to about a dozen a month. Likely, you got one of the last of the early generation Red Tops and those would go a good 10 years. Unfortunately, people think they are buying the same thing today as they had and that is not the case. As for having such a large battery in your car, the only reason is to have lots of capacity to 1) let your car sit for extended periods of time with a parasitic draw and not have the battery go down (without using a maintenance charger) or 2) you want to blast the stereo for a while without the engine running and not draw the battery down to a level that it won't start the car. So, if you drive your car regularly or you use a charger (which is a good idea to keep you battery near 100% state of charge and compensate for parasitic draw) if the car sits, you can get away with a much smaller battery. We also have to look at the fact that you are also switching from a flooded lead-acid battery that came stock back in the day (and in just about every OEM battery) to a maintenance free AGM battery for better performance AND you don't have to worry about acid eating up the sheet metal around the battery tray. Also, if you relocate your battery anywhere outside of the engine compartment, you really don't want a flooded battery without having vent tubes running from the battery to outside. As for comparing batteries of different sizes, makes/brands, etc., not all batteries are created equal. Most are designed and have spec ratings based on the application. There are only a few American battery manufacturers in the USA, so pretty much all of the dozens of batteries out there come from one of them. Just because they come out of the same plant doesn't mean they are identical. Johnson Controls owns/makes nearly 20 brands of batteries including Optima, Die Hard and others, but they are not all the same with different stickers on them. There are often comparisons to the Deka batteries and Braille because they have models that are the same size and have the same case. Deka doesn't even make batteries, it is a brand of powersports batteries that are designed for that application and NOT automotive applications. The Braille product is designed & intended for use in automotive and race applications, have a racing warranty and the minimum performance levels required for this kind of use is higher than what you would need in motorcycle. This is similar to the fact that the OE battery for Harley Davidson motorcycles are also the same size & case, but we sell to many HD dealerships and custom bike builders due to the fact that those batteries (along with the Deka) have a hard time cranking over the bikes with big motors and they have no problem when upgrading to the Braille equivalent. (many forums stating this) If using a battery in an automotive application, make sure to get a battery that is made for that kind of useage, as the demands are significantly higher and using a lower rated battery in that application will lead to poor performance and premature failure. This is similar to the Odyssey batteries, which all of the smaller AGM batteries are also designed for powersports and not automotive use. In fact, other than the PC925 with a metal jacket, if you say you are using it in an automotive application, the warranty is void. Not sure why the metal jacketed version is an automotive spec, as having a jacket that will absorb radiant heat and keep heat into a lead battery is a bad thing, but anyway...... Of course, you can buy and use whatever battery you'd like, but we sell a TON of our B3121 AGM batteries as the lightweight option for those running Red Tops in street & race cars and have for years. We have hundreds of C6 Corvette owners running it and even a few Viper owners without a problem. Heck, even Corvette Racing used them before switching to Braille lithium batteries about 4 years ago, but the benefits of Braille lithium is another topic entirely and hard to compare since it is a newer & significantly better battery technology. On another note, I was helping our west coast battery distributor at the Good Guys show in California. They are a seller of many brands (Optima, Odyssey, Exide, etc.) of batteries with Braille being the premium lightweight AGM and only lithium option they offer. We were at breakfast and talking about the Braille lightweight AGM models, in particular, the top 2 selling models with the B2015 being the 4 & 6 cylinder street/track car model and our B3121 being our workhorse V8 option or higher capacity battery for the 4 & 6 cylinder guys who want more power & capacity, but still around half the size & weight of a full size battery. We talked about the Odyssey PC680 and the Braille B2015 in particular, as they are similar in size and are both 15 lbs. He just couldn't believe that the Braille had any more power than the Odyssey being nearly identical in dimensions and weight. So, when we got back to the show, we pulled out their tester and had a brand new PC680 and a B2015 that had been sitting around with their display batteries for about 9 months. (all lead batteries self-discharge, so the Braille was not fully charged as you can see based on voltage, pics below) Anyway, as you can see, the numbers show the difference and with the Braille being down on voltage due to sitting, it still has about 50% more cranking power. The B3121 averages in the 700-750 cranking amps, which is what you want for you LS or other V8 guys. While cranking amps is important, the key is to have enough capacity to ensure the battery isn't easily discharged, which is another common mistake in looking at a smaller, lighter battery. I hope this helps a bit, as there are always opinions put on the internet (the bathroom wall of the world) and not always based on fact. Feel free to buy whatever battery you like, but just like many of the other parts on your car, you can buy cheap or you can pay more for quality (" you get what you pay for"). It's always good to get quality information to make the best decision on what is best for you based on application, needs and budget. Now you know more about batteries than most!

Well, I hadn't really thought about doing an HID setup on my car, but I was at the Good Guys show in NorCal last weekend and met Ben at the Dapper booth. Needless to say, I ended up spending money with them actually see thing in person. I had seen reference to them on here and didn't think too much about it, but since I do end up driving back & forth to Sebring (which is a 1 lane each way road for an hour with virtually no lighting), I figured it would be a good idea to upgrade. (lots of wild boar out there) So, my Z will be looking "Dapper" next month. ;^)

I'm with Mikelly and Leon, as I have run the Sumitomo HTR Z3 tires on my BMW 540i 6-speed and they have great performance, super quiet, I got 25k miles on the rears and 50k miles on the fronts (staggered) and priced right. The new wheels and tires are going on the Z and I'm looking at the Yokohama ADVAN Sport V105 tires. Have had great luck with Yokohama and Kuhmo tires over the decades with my Datsuns.

The stock piece that the "dog bone" (I've never called it that or even heard that name before, but makes sense) replaces is the stock transverse link. (to be more specific)

I hear ya! Like my friend has always said "Life gets in the way" sometimes! Getting married 7.5 years ago, then moving from Oregon to Florida & leaving the Z in a friends garage for 4 of the last 5 years didn't make it easy to work on. Anyway, I've done more in the last 4 months than the last 6-7 years, so I can't complain too much and it's getting there. It's also good to have the wife constantly ask "So when are you going to get your car done?", so I don't feel as guilty spending time out in the garage here & there.

Actually, everyone I know here is either a road racer (SCCA, vintage, HPDE, etc) and then there are the crazy standing mile & half-mile guys. I'll have some pics and vids from Sebring fairly soon. My new 17x8" wheels (for street) will be here in a few weeks and the 16's are getting DOT race tires. Putting in the 4 point roll bar and 4 point harnesses, as well. I've always autocrosses, hillclimb & tracked both my 510s and the Z will be no different. I did find the local autocross group in the region, but not sure how many of those I will do.

Looks like an autocrosser to me! I ran a couple events in Portland in the Pro Pits at PIR. Most of my autocross days were down in Eugene, where you regularly pulled 150 or so cars at each event. The local club pulled close to the same numbers at SCCA, not bad for a local group of "gear heads" in a city full of liberal "tree huggers". ;^)

Yes, I have.

Exactly why you want to run a sealed battery...AGM or lithium. Flooded lead-acid batteries always do that and can kill your car. Heck, my 2000 BMW 540i has some "natural lightening" in the back corner of the truck from the OE battery and that was only after 10 years.

Yes, I do. PM sent.

It is a fairly easy install, it's just that the scraper is a close tolerance fit and the holes in the scraper allow for enough movement to center it evenly, but also allows for it to hit if not aligned properly, so not just a bolt on & go deal. After I got my acraper, I told the guys at Improved Racing that the front 2 nuts that are required to fasten the scraper in LS motors running the F-body motor/pan are not in the motor since the windage tray goes from cylindes 3-8 and not the front 2. The cool thing is that the guys at IR are now including the 2 nuts in with the scraper, so you don't have to go out & source them. I got the nuts a few days later (from them) and put it in. The key to install was to just snug down the back, middle and front sets of nuts, rotate the crank and check the gap at each spot where the crank is at the scraper, tap it to make small adjustments (front to back) and once it's clear for each rotation, I cranked down the front nuts to hold it in place, reinstall the windage tray & pickup and put the pan back on. Pretty straight forward and I didn't have to do any grinding or adjustment to the scraper itself. Hope that helps.

I installed the same baffles and their crank scraper a couple weeks ago. If you don't have a ratcheting 10mm wrench, you will want one. Other than that, it's pretty quick and easy.

To clarify, 3 to 5 times longer than equivalent lead battery (so 10-15 years). How much do people spend on trying to save weight via carbon bits, wheels or other parts and how much would it cost to save that much weight? Improved engine management performance and extra HP would cost something, as well. It's not something that everybody would or should do, but for those of us hung up on ultimate power & performance, it's well worth the price. Also, we have less than a 1% faliure rate of our lithium batteries and those rare occurences are typically tied to a runaway alternator, charger failure or other outside force that can potentially damage any battery, but these are more robust than lead. It has a 3 year warranty, but when it comes to racing / "go fast" parts, how many of those products even have a warranty? So, it's all relative. Some say L-series, some say RB and some say anything but an LSX. Different strokes, but the battery is one of the last things people thing about as a performance upgrade and when you really start trying to get every little bit out of the engine & vehicle, the weight savings and electrical performance is a good "bang for the buck". Heck, we will drop more than that on a set of high performance tires that last how long without even thinking about it! ;^)

You said "larger than stock" battery? What would you do that? The ONLY reason the OEMs put such a huge, heavy battery in today's cars is so they can sit for months without a charger without being discharged due to parasitic draw. If you drive your car at least a few time a week, there is not need to have one that large. If you only drive it on weekends or every few weeks, but don't mind using a maintenance charger, you don't need to have one that large. I know hundreds of C6 Corvette owners that run our Braille B3121 Lightweight AGM battery (even a friend with an LS powered Ultima GTR) for several years without a problem. This battery is half the size & weight of a standard Group 34 battery (Optima or other) and has more cranking power. Being that the stock location of the Z battery tray is up high and at the corner of the engine bay, having a ton of weight up there does nothing to help handling. Peter Brock just finished his BRE 240Z street car and went with our GreenLite GU1R lithium battery (6.4 lbs & nearly 1000 cranking amps) in it and I've seen used for the last year in Trans-Am cars and other V8 street & track cars. This is the best "bang for the buck" battery out there, as it is not just light, but will last 3-5 times longer than a lead battery, runs a full volt higher than lead, which means quicker starting, improved engine management performance, less HP draw from the alternator due to efficient charger (5 times faster than lead) and they don't self-discharge. If there is no draw on the battery (via a power disconnect switch), the battery can sit for over a year and still be over 90% charged at 13.5 volts. Sure, it costs more up front, but is worth all those benefits in the long run. With so little weight, you don't need a bulky mount. Most people think that a battery is a battery, but with more electronics on modern engines/vehicles, the more critical a higher, more stable voltage is. The difference of lead vs. lithium is like switching from pump gas to race fuel for the electronics. I originally removed the stock battery tray and sunk it down to the frame rail to lower the weight of the Optima I planned to put in the car (before I knew any better), but now I have a space for my 6 pound battery and ECU to sit in with a cover over it. We all put so much into making our cars better with all of these upgrades and I hope that my years of experience of dealing with batteries in street cars all the way to nearly every OEM factory race car globally will be looked at as "good info", as I'm not trying to give you guys a "sales pitch". If you are looking for a cheap 12 volt power source and weight isn't a big deal, then stick with an AGM battery, but at least you can go from a 40+ pound battery to one that is half the weight, just so you know.

Glad most of you got them. Sent them all out that the same time and only 1 person never saw it, so sent out another. Gotta love the USPS. Got a few more if anyone needs one. Thanks and enjoy!

Yep, worn strut mounts can make bad noises, clunks, etc. They are different between the 240Z & 280Z, so make sure you get the right ones. They are easy enough to change if you have a spring compressor.

I checked the clearance by rotating the crank and used 2 nuts on the very front 2 studs (since the windage tray only uses the back 8) to hold it in place while I put on the windage tray. Rotated again after all installed and no rubbing/contact. Definitely need to take the time to do that, as it's not an "idiot proof" install.

Hey guys! I thought I'd shoot you an update after getting and installing the baffles and crank scraper (goes between the wind age tray and the block/crank caps) from Improved Racing Products. I didn't have a problem with any of it by just following the instructions. As you can see, there is virtually no baffling with the stock F-body setup. I was stoked to be able to pull the pan without having to mess with raising the motor, dropping the crossmember or any of that stuff, so the whole job only took a couple hours with the car on jack stands. I figure that for less than $300 and a couple hours labor, it is cheap insurance. Just wanted to pass this along with some pics.

Hey guys! The brackets are done and in sending out the ones that were already spoken & paid for. I do have more, so let me know if you need one!

Hey guys! The brackets are done and in sending out the ones that were already spoken & paid for. I do have more, so let me know if you need one!