JMortensen

The ebola monkey got Mubwasa: http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com (NSFW)

I don't think floating rotors would help with caliper flex at all, if that really is the issue. Have you removed the other caliper? I think whether it happens on one or both sides is pretty key to understanding whether you have a single bad caliper or a caliper that isn't up to the job.

Hmm... doesn't bode well for my Superlite II's.

That in the states is what is referred to as an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. You may have heard about them in the news over the past few weeks. No fixed rates in Canadia, eh? Or are you not qualifying for them?

What calipers are these anyway?

Here's what my car had in it previously: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=117235 And here's a video of it at an autox: http://videos.streetfire.net/video/2000-autox-indisde-and-outside-I-think-my_8051.htm

I guess I forgot something... reading DAW's post reminded me that I put 280 valves in my E31. That was larger intake valves and seats and recut the stock exhaust seats for the larger exhaust valve. Oops...

That's an odd definition of "racing". That seems more like an appropriate definition of "street/race" or "dual purpose". In my 8 years of autoxing experience with a dual purpose Z and with friends who had dual purpose 510s, I can tell you that dual purpose cars do neither thing exceptionally well. One of the main distinctions that can be made between a street Z and a race Z is the spring rates used. A spring rate that controls roll to an appropriate degree for use with large racing slicks is just not streetable in my opinion. If you look around here you'll see people running into this wall. The latest is Heavy85: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=139653. Note this post from Dan in particular:

That man cannot hurdle.

I think that looks better than the original concept. If it were mine to do I'd probably have the end of the scoop about halfway between the end of the stock hood and the windshield, right in the middle of the cowl. I'd also make it taller in the back, maybe like 3-4 inches off the stock hood. Looks like you have a line drawn in about the right spot in this pic:

Duh. Of course the toe link won't be loaded axially. Brain fart... I double checked the numbers I had since they came from a website other than the manufacturer. Turns out the 10-12 number was way off. The XMR10-12 is actually rated at 31680 lbs. So that's a lot closer than the original numbers suggested and I'm inclined to leave it alone.

I have two rod XMR12 ends that I'm using with spacers to size them from 12 to 10 (smoking crack one day and ordered 3/4 instead of 5/8). I have two more oversize rod ends XMR10-12 which have a 3/4" shank and a 5/8" hole in the ball, and I have 2 XML10-12's to go with them for the turnbuckle. The regular 12 surprisingly has a lower radial load rating than the 10-12. I checked the rod ends I'm using (QA1 XM) and found the following radial ratings: 40572 lbs for the 10-12 28081 lbs for the 12 I read that normal axial load ratings for a 3 piece rod end are 10% of the radial rating, these are 2 piece and are supposed to be good for 30%. What I'm thinking is that I should put the 12 with the spacer in the clevis on the control arm for the toe link. That would mean that this particular end would be loaded radially since it is turned 90 degrees from the spindle, and then run the 10-12 ends on the front and back ends of the spindle. Sound about right to you?

With those qualifications in mind, I'd recommend you don't do a rollcage. There is lots of discussion on this, but I think the problem is that there isn't enough room to get your head far away from the halo, so you'll end up being more at risk of a serious head injury from the cage than you would if you didn't have a cage. If you do still want to do one, I'd copy bjhines as close as possible. If you want to do a rollbar, I'd copy my rollbar as close as possible, and just stop at the 4 point with the diagonal.

bjhines's cage and Mikelly's cages are two examples of Z cages which are fine for track day use but not technically legal for most racing organizations. If you're racing, you should start with the rulebook for the organization you want to race with and follow the rules. Otherwise you might end up with something that is not acceptable when you go to tech the car. If you look at my cage I have the main hoop in front of the wheel wells and it attaches to the rockers, so there is literally probably 3/4" or 1" of tube that sticks out further than the rocker at the bottom. If you put it in the car as far back as possible, it's not going to be a problem for seat clearance. Is there some other reason why you want it to be inside the wheel wells? http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=102715

Thanks. My wife and I really like them too. Here is the gallery page from the artist's website. I hadn't seen the hummingbird on the tulip before. That's pretty cool too. He's got the duck on there, but it's really the bottom of the wings that were the most impressive and you can't really see them in the picture too well. http://www.secondchancesculptures.com/wst_page4.html Very cool. I'm sure there's limitless possibilities there.

Cutting the rear torque box out of the unibody is not the end of the world, since as others have said you can use the cage to make the car stiffer. That hoop as you've drawn it, I'm sorry to say, is a BAD idea. Your seat is going to be 1/2 way OUTSIDE the main hoop. If somehow the car flipped directly on its lid, you might be protected. If it hit the side on the way over or if you got T boned, the cage might as well not be there. You really want that hoop as close to the sides of the car as you can possibly get it. The halo should be tight against the roof as well. You want every part of the cage as far away from your body as possible.

If the wheel moves in and out the first place to look would be the wheel bearings. As to why it would move in and out, it could be that the toe is causing it to move one direction then the other. If the bearings are bad, I'd take a close look at the splines on the stub axles and companion flanges when you're in there replacing the bearings.

I forgot to get stylish with the brackets. Once I had finally cut and notched and drilled and plug welded the fittings and everything was ready I just started welding them up. I'm going with no gussets as suggested. I was curious as to the weight of these and was pleasantly surprised, 8 lbs with the toe link and rear rod end and a much larger than necessary bolt for the toe link. Any suggestions before I rattle can these guys and make them pretty?

This is something else that might be a problem. Depending on how you're taking your cool down lap, the insides of the tire might be heating up because the outsides aren't getting worked like they do when you going at it full bore.

Not exactly Z parts, but there are some NGKBPR6ES plugs on these guys, in addition to feeler gauges, pliers, bolts and nuts, silverware, and quite a few Leatherman tools... Sole fish: Crab: Bought these guys at the Anacortes Art Festival a year or two ago. They're tig welded and then the artist brushed the very hot welds with a brass brush. I thought they were brazed. He had an awesome duck that was coming in for a landing with wings spread, the wing feathers were butter knife blades, but it was way too expensive for me.

On my hubs they looked like they had sat in a junkyard for years. They were really heavily pitted. I just ended up buying new ones from zbarn.com. I still have the junky ones, but cleaning them isn't going to cut it. They'd probably need .020" taken off to make them flat again.

I believe that lots of cars run RH on both sides. The only benefit I can see to running RH and LH is that you turn the wrenches in the same direction when you're under the car. Of course that can be confusing too. About 5 years ago a friend of mine had their Z at a Discount Tire store and he called me telling me that they were selling him a new rack because they couldn't get the tie rod end loose to adjust the toe. The dumbass mechanic was pulling as hard as he could the wrong way on the LH thread side of the car! I had him tell the shop to stop working on it and take the car home, he had to use a torch a wrench and a BFH to get the nut loose, but he was able to do it, then we adjusted toe with a tape measure...