tube80z

While I don't have any theory to add to this I can tell you I vented my inner fender panels and used this to extract the radiator flow. I used a smoke bomb to check the air flow and found that it mostly went out the wheel wells. I do agree the rear of the fender could be altered to make this approach work even better. C

What I'm talking about is changing rake, and it's really not that large of a ride height change but it does change the lateral load distribution. This is a very effective means of chasing balance that doesn't rely on lowering the grip of one end of the car. And there are times you may want to raise the car. If it's cold and you can't build enough heat into the tires would be one example. A one inch change in IC locations will add around 40 to 50 degrees of tire temp. Cary

Actually it is quite easy. Just change the ride height. I often do this before messing with the bars. Cary

HPR has them on their site with pics (blade type) http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?tpc=Genesis_Technologies_Cockpit_Adjustable_Sway_Bar_Kits&form_prod_id=217,212_1432&action=product. These are 1100 to 1500 per bar. I wasn't able to find a good pic of the type John mentioned but if you take a look at http://www.gurneyflap.com/Resources/BRABHAMBT28-2124.jpg you'll see a manual slider arrangement. The adjustable models hooked a cable to the slider to move it and used a pin in channel typically to keep it from rotating. An easier way to build your own is to use square arms (1.5x.5 tube) and put a roller bearing on top and bottom. This is held by a simple flat bracket on both sides with the cable adjuster actuating it. This can be done with simple cut and weld tools and makes a lighter piece overall. I first saw these on the IMSA GTU And as you can see if you have the setup really close only one side needs to be adjusted, not necessarily both.

You need a custom upper spring seat and then something flat for the bottom. If you can weld then you shouldn't have too much of a problem making this work. If you can't then the cheaper alternative may be to get coilover collars that have solved this problem for you.

I'm not sure I'm completely following your question but I think your asking what type of springs are talked about when we specify rates and lengths. The most common are 2.5 inch coil over style springs (although you don't have to have coilovers) just a flat perch top and bottom. These can be found just about anywhere that sells racing parts. Good brands are eibach and hypercoil and you'll find there are tons of companies that make these. Hope that helps, Cary

My engine is the one above in the white Z. Steve used it for some time and is looking to change the cam to one less radical. My new car will have a V8, which we've joked somehow needs to have 4 SUs. Cary

The only thing you may want to think about with this design is how you adjust caster. And the pieces that look like they would be going under the frame rails won't be serving much purpose. The TC bucket area is fairly stout if you want to connect to that.

What were they using for a balance tube? Because we never saw that on my motor. Then again I had a cam that had a lot of duration. Steve at ZTherapy talked to Dave Rebello and they mentioned the same thing when they tried tripples but they didn't have a balance tube. So my data point of one is probably skewed. And I would agree for the money I'd opt for EFI. Cary

Also true in with the strut. And with a rocker it's very hard to get a linear range over the travel a street car generally has. I hear this one often used as a selling point. But I don't think it's correct. While technically the shock and spring are now bolted to the car they still move when the wheel is raised and lowered. So I'm not seeing how this is less unsprung weight. Perhaps by some definition it is. It is more intertia that needs to move and more friction because of additional joints.

The problem with this approach is you will have very close to the same king pin inclination (KPI) as the stock strut. The shock isn't that much of an issue. This has been done on a similar cars and doesn't really end up giving the jump in performance that you may expect. It's cool and sooner or later it will be done. Cary

The article you read is probably from Marc Sayer and is total BS. ZTherapy built a prototype 3 SU setup to see if it would work and it works quite well. I had it on the engine I used to use on my autox car. When I ran it I had two huffaker modified SUs that created great top end but were like a light switch (on or off -- no in between). When I got to sample the same engine with the tripples I couldn't believe it was the same engine. It had a much smoother power delivery and a lot better mid-range. I've also tried the same engine with real 50mm SUs and the power delivery wasn't as smooth but top end power was the same. To get the pattern made for the manifold was fairly expensive and there wasn't a ton of interest. So it may be a while before you see those available. And this won't be cheap. Cary

My only advice is don't use air to clean the chips. Use a brush. Air will get things under the bed and that's not good. Cary

You could always do something like the last one with a cable drive to it. Similar to a tilton balance bar adjuster.

The link provided had prices in Yen if you dug around. The fancy inverted monotubes were about twice as much and that didn't include springs or collars.

So if I get this right a basic non-adjustable spring setup is going to run 518 per corner? That doesn't sound like such a deal to me.

I use the process documented here, http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets11.html and entering in your weights it looks like your about as close as can be expected. Cary

Start here, http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114630. It should have most of what you're looking for.

You already got a number of answers for this but I don't see this as much more than a gimmick. A soft rev limiter generally retards the timing of a cylinder or cylinders to get the engine to not go over a certain RPM (your limit). When this happens you are retarding the timing and if dumping raw fuel into the exhaust will increase the exhaust temps a lot (as in glowing headers, etc.) and this is not good. The engine will also see torque reversals. If you've ever done this with the hood open you'll quit soon after watching the engine rocking violently from side to side. So yes, you can damage parts from the heat, the explosion is hard on mufflers, and this can ultimately damage a motor. I wouldn't do this to any car I cared about. A rev limiter is a good thing to have but using it for show is asking for issues down the road. Cary

If you're really curious you can measure this by placing a known weight on the outside of the tire and measure the period as if it were a pendulum. Think 20 pound block of metal hooked to the tire with a nylon strap. Remember F(measured in hertz) is =1/T (period of the pendulum). And T=2*Pi*SQRT(I/m*g*L) m is your mass g is the gravitational constant L is the length from center And I is what you want to measure (moment). Now you have a simple experiment to keep you busy over the holidays. Merry Christmas, Cary

Actually it's quite simple if you are willing to make a number of measurements. For spring rate you can use ride frequencies and decide on how stiff you really want to go. These use your sprung and unsprung weights to set the frequency for your car. A car set to 2 Hz (hertz) will behave the same whether it is light or heavy car. The problem with using recommended spring rates is that your car may have different weight distribution and/or sprung/unsprung ratios. Just a thought. Cary

That's not too far from the toyota and honda power steering systems. Been looking at that possibly for the race car. Just need to know how to change the feel. Cary

Having had the F-body and LS2 pans together these pictures are just a little misleading. The F-body pan is about 3/4 of an inch lower near the drain plug than the LS2 pan. It's hard to see in the pics but the LS2 pan is flat on the bottom. Cary

So just thinking out loud. It looks like you need a new crossmember and a lot of oil pan work. For moving the rack would it be possible to make adapters to move the tie rods, so the rack was lower and further forward? Generally you can move a rear steer rack forward with little problem other than increasing ackerman. But I have no experience with a Z32 so I'd believe that about as much as I'd believe the Vh45 is 100 lbs lighter Another option (one that I'm looking at for something else) is a roadsteresque solution. Front steer rack with rockers that connect to the current tie-rods. Other than that I'm tapped out. I looked and the inside of one of these cars once and I can see why you don't want to work on the firewall and the tunnel. Cary

See the quote above about lining Bernie's pockets. If you don't pay his fees then the race goes somewhere else. Cary