Afshin

Thanks for all the replies. I guess this serious problem is not so uncommon. Comming back from work in the minivan today I was thinking about how to fully correct this problem before I take the car to the track: 1) Obviously a pivoting point as Jon mentioned makes perfect sense. I imagine the MSA kit should be good for that. Any input from people using the kit? 2)Next issue is to use poly or stock bushing on the inner side of the chassis mount. I don't like the idea of the play in the stock bushing, but off course that's better than snapping a T/C rod during a high speed turn and dying. Carman's post brings up a nice idea with either enlarging the whole or soften the area on the poly bushing around the T/C rod by drilling holes to reduce the torque it apllies on the rod. More input on this would be nice. 3) Lastly I was thinking about the increase angle between the chassis and the control arm from lowering the car. This increases the angle for the T/C rod, increasing the amount of torque caused by the bushing on the rod which then causes failure. Well how about making a spacer (Hint for JSK) to fit between the T/C end and the control arm. This would be similar to what the bump steer spacer does to correct the tie rod end to the steering column. I think this would solve the problem with lowering the car, and would be extreemly easy to make and install (I guess it would also require new stronger bolts, since the spacer would increase the torque on the two bolts holding the T/C rod to the control arm). What do you guys think?

Ah, that makes sense, i hadn't thought of it. Perhaps the lowered suspension by increasing the angle between the tension rod chassis mount and control arm also added to the amount rod flexes against the stiff bushing. (I just bought some bump steer spacer yesterday) No worry, I have been driving for 20 years and am done with the many stupid moves I used to make (the good old days when I felt immortal), I also have a wonderful family (wife and two kids) to get back to. I was racing the road (divided winding highway), not the traffic. I'm getting to old for that. I'll think about the G machine set up. thanks for all of your input Jon.

Well I just had a scary moment, I was racing my car on a winding highway (smooth surface) and just as got on the straight section my tension rod actually snapped in two . I'm so thankfull that in did not happen in a turn, for at that speed i would have been severely injured, to say the least. I never pictured my tension rod failing. Has anyone heard or experienced such an event ? The only thing I can think that may have contributed to this scary suspension failure is the polyurethane tension bushings I had, which I guess could have been a little overtorqued (but not by too much, if at all) along with old control arm bushings causing too much load on the tension rod. Does anyone have any insight to what else might have caused this, I don't want it to ever happen again. The car does not have a single spec of rust, straight chasis, good steering rack, new tie rods and is properly aligned (however I did not recheck castor angle after putting in the new tension rod bushings). Should I consider new non-polyurethane (stock) tension rod bushings? what do you guys think? I'm obviously going to get new control arm bushings.

There are two aspects to any brake package, safety (stopping distance, resistance to fade..) and performance (e.g modulation, feedback,..) First let’s talk safety. The issue of bracket strength had come up before, and it seems that the brackets are plenty strong and should not break off. Now Ross brings up the lack of proper packaging/recommendation from JSK and raises safety issues. I fail to see any safety issues with the use of ANY wilwood calipers. Event the lower models do not fail and have will have much more clamping force over stock (assuming 1.38 or 1.75 diameter pistons). The wilwood II’s are used on professional sponsored track cars. Also any of the 12.19 rotors from wildwood will be safe and provide significantly more braking torque and cooling than the smaller stock rotors. So there is no safety concern that I can see. Second the issue of performance (brake feel, modulation..) here the selection of different wildwood components will have a greater effect. A higher end caliper will be stiffer providing better feel, a curved vane rotor with higher mass may provide better cooling, and too much caliper piston and master cylinder size mismatch will affect brake travel and pedal pressure needed for stopping. However, 1.75 (or 1.38â€) caliper pistons with a popular Nissan 15/16 master cylinder will work great. And the cheaper wilwood caliper will still be much better than the stock. I spoke with various track parts retailers and got good feedback about the wildwood II calipers as well as the 10lbs rotors. Since JSK is not selling the calipers and there is not a “dangerous one†that bolts on to the kit, it is reasonable to have the buyer do their homework and email or talk to wildwood or precisions brakes or pitstop or afco racing brake techs. I actually contacted all of them and got uniform recommendations given my driving parameters (3000lbs, 300hp, aggressive street and open track events every few months). According to all of them, wilwood II with 1.75†and ultralight rotors are very well suited for my car. They thought that higher end calipers would not be useful (just heavier)and the “best choice†caliper was the new replacement for the wilwood II, the forged billet superlites. After all every HybridZ car is so different based on Hp, weight and driving use, how can any pre-selected package be best for all. We pick our cars, engine to put in, mods to every driving and handling component, we can surely choose our own caliper (since all of them are better than stock). Could JSK provide more info or links to websites for choosing calipers, pads.., sure (as could Ross’s website). Is there a safety concern with the JSK brakes, NO they will be safer because they will be so much better than stock brakes. My safety concern, especially for a HybridZ car and driver, is the stock brakes. Affordable highly flexible kits that will allow more cars to get modern brakes are strongly welcomed (in addition to Ross’s excellent and thought out comprehensive kit). Well that’s my long 2 cents

You can run the car for as long as the chasis can hold the engine You do not need to make any adjustements whatsoever fot the IC. It's only after you turn the boost up over 11-13 psi that your stock ecu, injector.. might be inadequate. at the end of your intake manifold (by the firewal) there is a large emergency relief or pop off valve (same thing). it's job is to release extra boost in case the turbo bypas valve or controller faile. So when the boost goes over8-9 psi, it vents the boost to the atmosphere. You can buy an adjustable one (safest way) or plug the one you have or weld it shut.... I bought an adjustable one from MSA many years back I don't know if they still sell them. Any way you don't need to worry about it until you turn the boost up over 8-9 psi.

Something had to be wrong with the set up. The 18% Hp gain I quoted earlier is from Hugh MacInnes the author of Turbochargers and it's based on accurate calculations. Other dyno runs have shown significant hp gain (~30hp, however I don't remember the details on the set up excpet that the only change was IC, then they turned up boost for another 40 hp gain). If you cool the air, which an intercooler does the air will be denser = more oxygen = more HP. It's not a subjective thing, it's fact. IC will have significant power boost at same psi. It does not matter what that one dyno reading with the honda showed, you will have much more than a few hp gained. And yes, pushing up boost and cooler engine are even more significant.

Actually with an intercooler at the same psi you get much more horsepower because the air is significantly cooler and hence denser. You have probably felt the difference in a turbo car on a cool 40 vs 90 degree day. An intercooler can drop your intake temperature over 100 degrees. On a 80 degree day using a intercooler with 70% efficiency along with a one psi drop of boost you will net a whopping 18% gain in HP (assuming charge temperture of 247F post turbo). BTW these are real numbers calculated for boost of 14-15 psi. the gains will be slighlty less for less boost (i.e. less heat) and increased for more efficient intercoolers SO 18% gain with one psi less boost. then off course you can turn the boost up and let the real fun begin

As already mentioned, you can easilly get to about 300hp with the stock system. All you need is the intercooler, turn up boost, exhaust and intake system with a good fuel pump and injectors. this should get you in a realistic stable 270-300hp range. After that point the injectors will be the first limiting factor. So for over 300hp you will need injectors that flow over the stock 260-280cc/min. With larger injectors you will then need to address the fuel management, you can modify the flap position on the AFM to account for larger injectors (not perfect, but can work), JWT, aftermarket ECU and a few other options. I believe SleeperZ set up is a 300zx ECU with a self modified 300zx air mass sensor to account for the 370cc merkur injectors resulting in over 300 Hp at the wheels and over 400ftlb torque. My advice is to get the intercooler and exhaust system in along with a good fuel pump (do search, some popular options are walbroo, MSD, bosh). Make sure your injectors are good (BTW the cheap non japanese non nissan ones for 50-$60 are crap, they don't atomize the fuel properly and flow very unevenly(I know this for fact). This can be a serious problem if you start pushing the injectors close to maximum safe duty cycle (80-85%) which should be around (ball park) 280hp. I think the quality of the injectors account for why some people have been able to push the stock system much further than others. Once you have the car running "right and nice' then as long as you finished upgrading the suspension/brakes... then go for over 300hp. Again no need for aftermarket ECU at this point. Lastly a T3/T4 upgrades is also very nice, but may not be the best place to put your money until you do the other upgrades first or if your current T3 is going bad. Hope this helps.

You can get a manual grainger valve(ball and spring type), you can get a cockpit adjustable one which are still relatively cheap and work as well as most electronic boost controllers (and even btter than some). I would avoid the manual bleeder type valves. Many of the electronic ones are not that good, check out this nice article from Sports Compact mag on the electronic controllers and one grainger type valve before you decide on which electronic controller, if any to purchase. http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/tech/0207scc_boostcontrol/

Nic-rebel said Wow, that's amazing considering tht the Modena can reach 60mph in 4 sec, 1/4mile in 12.8 sec, top speed of over 180. has been rated as having the best suspension in the world by road and track and many others and has been judged to be the best sports car in the world by too many to count. Perhaps Schumacher should buy your truck Come on man, you can certainly build an engine to beat a ferrari in the 1/4 mile (not on the track however, bearing a driver of equal skill). But to say that it is easy and that you truck beat one is too much day dreaming for me to let it go. To beat a car, you need a driver in it. I beat mustangs in my first 1981 honda accord (an old old rusted green one with rust and 75hp), but I can't say with a straight face that my accord easilly beats a 5.0 mustang (the drivers were idiots), heck I even once beat a corvett in my litlle old green machine 8) (a much more memorable event then when a guy a brown chevy celebrity whipped me and my accord ). BTW what kind of truck is this a moded cyclone (that can certainly boogie, as long as its in a straight line) or a ford F150?

the started can obviously be bad, but it could also be low amperage to the starter, specially since recranking would make the problem go and the stater is turning slow as opposed to not working. Why don't you try connecting the starter straight to the battery and see if it cranks well or not before you dump money into getting a new one. Also how good or bad are your battery cables and connectors? if any doubt, just replace them. As far as the starting problem when cranking, recheck all your EFI conectors and vaccum hoses on the engine, a lot of times one may be loose or leaking after putting an engine back together.... Most often it's something basic. Whenever my car is not running pefect, before I ever do anything on it, I compulsively recheck all connectors and hoses, even if they seemed pefectly OK the week before.

Setting a really high goal can be a great motivator for achieving what may seem unachievable. However, some things remain unachievable no matter what you do. In other words, you can't change the rules of physiques. Engines can be made to have prodigious power, drivetrain can have any gearing you desire and hard work, good planning and money can get you those. If the aerodynamics won't allow such speeds, even with g-nose (that's only a small factor), lowering, fins.... no amount of effort can change it (you can't walk on water no matter how hard you try). You can only exert so much force with 2 wheels, if the drag is too high (which it likely is) more power will just make the wheels spins. My point is not that you should drop this, but if your heart really needs a car that can do 240mph, consider picking a more aerodynamic car so you won't run into unbreakable barriers (and yes they do exists). If on the other hand your goal is to make it the fastest possible 240Z, they go for it, because if the limit is 210mph, you will still be happy and proud (which you should be). My advice is read up extensively on aerodynamics before you commit to it. That's the first rule of smart planning. In summary can you make it the fastest 240Z ever? with hard quality work and money, very likely. Can you make it reach a speed you arbitrarily picked, not necessarily. Either way, it's nice to aim high, good luck with the challenge.

Wow! i want one. All I need now is an $80, 000. Anyone willing to donate towards a very good cause ? Please :|

the cool care cermamic spray seems to be more of a heat insulation layer/paint. There is no test about reducing sound levels (decibels). Since it is a easy thing to do (with a handheld docimeter)and they don't provide any hard data on their web site, I would be very sceptical about the product. Also the dynamat and brown bread type of products apart from clearly being good sound insulators are able to significantly dampen vibrations thru the body which is a very nice feature that I wanted. For example my doors feel more solid when I close them now. Also I had an anoying drone from my 3" exhaust system at 2500 rpm which is no longer audible inside the car ( I also insulated inside the panels such as over the wheel arches). The nice thing about brown bread is that it was indpendently tested for vibration supression and sound deadening against dynamat and many other products. So there is both hard data and good testimonials.

I previously did a very extensive search on this topic and came out with Brown Bread as the best choice for sound insulation. I have used it in my car, goes on very well, works great and is much cheaper than dynamat. Check out this website. the stuff is really good (don't worry I have no stocks in the company) http://www.b-quiet.com/?ovrtr

Hi Bill, I was refering to this statement made earlier, which Cody also said did not make sense. I was confirming his opinion.

benefit of hydraulic lifters: -quiet (by decreasing slack in valvetrain) -no loss of lift or duration from heat expansion -built in shock absorber reduces wear and tear on valvetrain -long service interval, so more likely that valve lift and duration are not off Benefit of solid lifter: -cheaper -tolerant of dirty oil (relatively) -better function at higher RPM (over 6500-7000 rpm). Properly matched springs and HLA can still run over 7000RPM, it's just that the solid lifter will perform better at that point. Regarding the bleeding of lift or duration it has been argued that it may decrease the area under the curve for the power band (by causing less lift/duration as mentioned by Jon). However some have claimed the bleeding at low rpm (causing shorter duration or lift) would increase low rpm torque and widen power band), and crane actually makes high performance HLA designed to bleed at low RPM but not at high RPM(sort of a variable valve timimg) . All in all, most experts seem to agree (never all) that for under 7000RPM any performance difference is minimal (and certainly not 20 or 10 HP). Considering this along with less wear and tear, quiet and more likely not to be out of adjustement, almost all modern day engines have HLA despite the higher cost (including MB, Porsche, corvett, audi, some motorcycles and Lycoming aircraft engines....). The oil pump is not a measurable factor for HP loss in solid vs. HLA lifter (same oil pump in solid lifter and HLA ZXT's) Off course I still want a high pressure and volume oil pump for the track

Your wish is granted. It's not true. There is no reason I can think of to have power loss on hydraulic lifters, and certainly not 15hp. Also the power output on the 83 ZXT turbo was identical to previous ones without hydraulic vales at the same boost.... I personally prefer hydraulic, either works just fine.

Hi Sean, since you are doing the mod now it would be useful to many members if you could make note of what you are doing and then post a "how to do" on it. The topic of 300zx ECU comes all the time on many forums, and to date no one has ever posted a how to do article. I'm sure many including myself would appreciate the extra time you spent to document it. Good luck and let us know when it's running.

I'm in full agreement with Bill. This topic was discussed recently enough in an intelligent manner in "moderators on a short fuse" and was brought out for a good reason, how to maintain the forum's integrity and high quality. Daw's post is either a bad joke or just inappropriate for the reasons mentioned by others in this and in the "moderators on a short fuse" posts. Anyone who creates black and white division/distinctions for contributing members of HybridZ only based on number of cylinders as opposed to quality of posts is simply put narrow minded and IMO a BIGOT (Webster's definition: one intolerantly devoted to his own opinions and prejudices). To say that we are polluters for discussing technical aspects of turbo L28's is litter itself. Usually, I would say grow up, get a grip and develop a mature perspective; however if you are old enough to be retired Daw, I suggest you get out of the sun (you see it’s too easy to be disrespectful). The post was insulting and clearly lack's integrity. So, PLEASE, stop polluting the forum, I come here for fun and technical mature discussions related to the modification of the Z’s, not to deal with bigots. I’m going to sign off this topic now.

Sir Alex, your current second thoughts and anxiousness are well known to many married folks. It usually happens after being engaged and while getting ready for the wedding. What if it doesn't work, what if she changes and makes my life hell, there is this other girl who is much easier and so on. You have the engine, the car and you previously announced the union to be to all, which was greeted with cheers. So, they are officially engaged, as such you need a better reason than than there are other engine (or girls out there), that will always be the case. Stand by your commitment (yes, yes, I know about the divorce rates, so don't bring that up as a response). LT1's are great, a turbo rotary Z will be great, unique and require more creative craftsmanship. I believe there is something special to that (the lt1 won't be nearly as special). Your choice on what you want and if that means enough to warrant the extra work, potential headaches and time. Ahh! the defining moments.

Well Alex, I figure you are already "different" as a person so be consistent, go for the 13B. You already have the motor and an audience waiting to see the outcome. So what if it's not as practical or cheap, what do either of those two have to do with a HybridZ? You only live once, turbo rotary Z seems like a marriage made in heaven, and though like all marriage it will undoubtely cause some headaches, I think it will be well worth it. So lets make it official: Do you Z, take turbo rotary to be your lawfully wedded internal combustion beast for better and worse; YES Do you turbo rotary, take Z to be your lawfully wedded chasis for better and worse: YES yahoo, cheers in the backgound.... Let the mating ritual begin P.S. I believe you now owe us a bachelor party.

Tim240Z wrote Boy do we agree now, she is an absolute Goddess. I think I may have finally found faith (I guess i'm still going to burn in Hell :flamedevil: ). Off course I realize that I'm not enough man for her so, for the first time, I am willing to be fully dominated. Since I have no Kingdome to offer: my beautiful red turbo for a night with Angelina (yeah yeah, I know it won't cut it. At least I'm trying)

So you expect me to believe that running a company with the single goal of increasing market share and profit is more complicated than running the entire state of California with millions of people with so many ethnicities and different needs, poor people, working class, rich investor's, thousands of schools, health care budgets and billions upon billions of annual expense.... because it is not in competition? Anyways, I will stop now because we disagree on too many things like Reagan having done a good job (oh boy do I disagree ). These debates/topics are fun but can go on forever ending the fun and then getting ugly. Politics online is tricky since it is too easy to offend each other even when not intended. Of note, anyone who thinks they are completely right is the first one to be clearly wrong. These are all subjective perspectives and most of the time there is truth on both sides, its more a matter of how we see it and prioritize various issues (however, I’m still right Well John, I certainly hope that you are correct about your feelings and confidence in Arnold. I have no reason to be against him just as I have no reason to trust or have confidence in him. I'm still holding on to my collector's edition DVD of T2. In reference to TomaHawk's dilemma, I think Hollywood is looking for fresher blood than Stallone, perhaps the Rock. I haven't seen any of his movies, but they seem to be in line with Conan, isn't how this all started. He better not be the next Governor .

Well I don't view qualified to lead as all that is needed to be worthy of my lowly vote, it is a minimum requirement. I don't see the logic in your argument, since Davis knew what he was doing but did a poor job, we should now turn against all that know what they are doing (i.e. have some idea on the process on how to run a state with 35 million people) and elect someone who is clueless? My point is not that Arnold is a bad guy, I actually have no idea who he is (politically). But talk is cheap, experience and a good record mean more (Davis is experience without a good record). He says he will increase funding to schools, not raise taxes and balance the budget. Boy do I have a bridge to sell you. Looking believable (which he sure does) does not make it any truer, he is an actor by trade. Here is an example let’s suppose that the CEO of a huge international multibillion dollar company with 800,000 workers in 60 locations screws up, so to replace him the board says the hell with all experienced people, every businessman is up to not good anyway, and then brings in a established ballet dancer who is respected but does not know anything about running a small company or even manage a factory (i.e. hold a small political position such as mayor) and never had an interest in the company (i.e. did not even bother to vote for the majority of elections). Maybe you wouldn’t question the wisdom of that choice, I certainly do. Who knows, maybe the dancer will do a good job even though odds are against him, would you gamble billions of dollars and 800,000 jobs and families on it? Obviously many have gambled much more. Also being the most electable is not a reason, it is a poor excuse for not having a meaningful reason. Not being a qualified candidate is extremely relevant to me. I vote based on the combo of what my frontal cortex tells me and what I feel is best for all, not on politics of party or concepts of electability and winning. Some may call me an idealist, I call them sellouts (and I believe the founding father of this country would have agreed). I want government to be representative of the people, not the people to select based on the politics of a limited two party system. So you can accept whatever is given to you, or perhaps do something a little harder and aim high, even if it takes longer.