JMortensen

About 1/2 way down the page: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103512&page=3

4 ft lbs is too much. I'd be willing to bet that they didn't drive the seal all the way in, and the rubber seal is dragging on the stub axle dust flange. How tight you tighten the nut shouldn't make any difference in how hard it is to turn the stub axle, despite what the FSM says. Unless you're distorting the thickwalled steel spacer between the bearings inside, it just isn't going to make a difference.

3.36 R200's came in the 74 260Z 2+2 and the 79 280ZX 2+2. I believe those are the only two models that came with that ratio R200. That said making a blanket recommendation for rear gears is pretty pointless. 3.36 would be absolutely horrible on my car with triple sidedrafts. What it would probably be good for is a turbo L6 car, a buick v6 turbo car, or a V8 without overdrive.

The TC rod holds the wheel in place under braking. Having it loose definitely could have caused the vibration under braking. I'm pretty surprised that this happened and you didn't notice right away. There have been stories of people hitting the brakes and the wheel going all the way back and hitting the fenderwell and causing an accident. You got lucky!

I dig the astrophotography shot there David. It's just cool to see colors and shadows as if it were daylight in a shot like that. When I took astronomy in college my teacher had a similar shot, but there was this crazy light that looked like it had been dragged all around the ground in the foreshot. I guess some javelina got into his campsite and he had been running around with a flashlight in his hand trying to get away from them! EDIT--Here's my icicle shot from yesterday. I'm not much of a photographer, but I like the drips in mid-air:

Just imagine that this is 2 other digits up, if you know what I mean...

Yeah, I had tickets to see Fu Manchu a couple months back, they played with Corrosion of Conformity and Alabama Thunderpussy. My buddy kept saying "One more beer" and we ended up getting there half way through CoC. I was pretty bummed. CoC was SO loud that even I couldn't take it. I didn't bring any earplugs so I had to stand there with my fingers in my ears. Got to hear a couple good songs, but that night was kind of a bust. Just saw these guys with their new lead singer on the 24th. You can only imagine what this concert was like in Seattle... New singer was great, BTW! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOqXrfhBRQ Not familiar with Lordi. Kinda seems a little gimmicky. I do like a couple songs from the Euro stoner rock band Honcho that I've downloaded from http://www.stonerrock.com, but when I tried to search the internet for them I found that Honcho is also the name of a gay porn magazine... http://www.stonerrock.com/store/info.asp?item_num=ATH-1188 Here's another one I like that I found on that site, Halfway to Gone, I think these guys are from MA or somewhere on the East Coast there... http://www.stonerrock.com/store/info.asp?item_num=ATH-776

Mat, try to find an industrial supply house in Sac. Here in Seattle we have Pacific Industrial Supply. http://www.pacificindustrial.com They charge for sheet metal by the lb, and they have tons of scrap pieces. What do you need this for? You just going to dump coolant and oil on the ground and let it run into the trap? I can't imagine it's required by the local codes...

What's the deadline? I'm tapped out for a bit, but feel this is a worthy cause...

Well you have a point. Fast is relative. I'm not saying it can't be done. Just that I haven't seen it yet, and that I wouldn't want lag or boost threshold or whatever you want to call it on my track car. I'd rather have a NA engine. Personal preference.

Had to take some pics just because this is so unusual for Seattle. That icicle is right outside my office window. Pretty cool. The Caddy is stuck right around the corner from my house. I guess it just happened, I heard the lady who lives there offer the driver a cup of coffee while he waits for the tow truck...

Yep. We got a good 5 or 6 inches here, roads are iced over. My wife was out when the real heavy snow started yesterday afternoon. She went to the grocery store, came out and there was 2" of snow on the ground. It came down fast! It then took her almost an hour to drive the 2 miles home. We have a 4wd GMC truck and it did fine, but everyone else out there was sliding all over the damn place. She said one car literally stopped in the middle of the road, the driver got out and started walking!!! WTF??? Didn't even pull over!!! So between the store and here she said she saw a good 10 to 12 cars off the side of the road in ditches. When she could actually go she didn't exceed 7 mph. But she made it home, despite the best efforts of the other people out on the road (including one guy who damn near slid backwards into our car).

Comparing that car to an S30 is like comparing a Taurus to something you see in a NASCAR race. Also I thought that was an S130.

You apparently haven't seen the Alfas we got here. Take a DOHC 2 liter with dual 45 webers and try and get it to blow less than 100ppm HC at idle. THAT'S what happened to our Alfas. To make a sweeping overgeneralization, they're slow, bogged down with emissions crap, and are not reliable at all. I think that if we got the same package that you had on your side of the pond, then they would be a lot more respected, except for the horrible electrical systems and scary leather straps to limit the suspension.

When is the due date for donations?

It's the LIFT, not the drag that worries me. Mikelly has gone 165+ in a Z with a whale tail and an air dam and unknown other aero mods. The land speed record is 178 or somewhere thereabouts for a Z with a G nose. You can go really fast if you have enough hp. That's not up for debate. Whether or not you can effectively control the car on anything other than a dry lake bed at 180+, that's the issue.

John, how about starting a thread (or maybe just doing it right here). Maybe list what you have, what you need, etc. Let's get the ball rolling on this!!! Instead of sending $$$, people could also send parts. Any idea of the time it takes to shut the thing down so that you can make changes to the car?

Again, we have other threads for lift and downforce so we should keep this one focused. The one thing I'll say is that pressure DIFFERENTIAL is what is important, and if there is high pressure on the bottom of the hood, that will cause lift. Low pressure on top, also lifts. Combination of both lifts more than either would independently.

That's not what a Z does best. Read some of the aerodynamics threads to figure out why. A Z06 has much better aero and is quite a bit safer to drive at those speeds. I suggest you start with a different car if hitting 200 mph is your goal.

I have yet to see a wicked fast turbo S30 that can put power down in the corners. Sorry turbo guys. I know there has to be someone out there doing it, I just haven't run across that person yet. I think most people who build turbo or V8 Z cars are looking for big hp numbers and want to go straight really fast, and that's probably why I haven't run across a fast one (in anything other than a straight line) yet. With the experience that I have had, I'm going from hipo L6 straight to V8 and avoiding the "lag" issues of the turbo when I eventually get to that stage in the build.

If you're looking for comfort, I'd go elsewhere. Newer cars have much more refined suspensions and much better sound, HVAC, ergonomics, etc than your 70's Z car. They'll be quieter inside, ride smoother, do everything better than the old car. What the Z has is a simple, easy to modify chassis, a big engine bay, and a very low starting weight. If you build on its strengths you can make one hell of a fast car, fairly cheaply. [bragging]Now to some extent you have to consider the driver of the other car, but at the big track (not autox, the big track) I've beaten all of the following: Porsche 911T (all the way up to a 2005, which I lapped in a 30 minute session BTW), 944T, 914-6, Toyota Supra Turbo, Mitsu 3000GT VR4, Eclipse GSX and GST, Mustang, Camaro, Vette, 510, and countless other fast cars. But again, it depends on the driver of the other car and the setup, etc. I've beaten a 2005 Porsche 911 around a track with a real Porsche racer at the wheel. That was pretty cool for me. I also came in 12th overall at a Porsche Owners Club track day at Streets of Willow where there were over 150 cars, about 140 Porsches, in various states of tune. I was over 10 seconds slower than the fastest Porsche BTW... that's a LOT slower... DID I MENTION I STILL HAVE THE L6 IN THE CAR, AND ONLY ABOUT 240 WHP???[/bragging]

I think the other guys covered the rod end and monoball choice pretty well, as well as explaining the toe adjuster's benefits. Here is a link to a thread with more info on the swaybar and how the blue rod end works. I think my swaybars turned out REALLY good: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105596

That's a little different from what I thought I was looking at before. No clue as to whether it's going to affect anything. It would make me nervous though...

I don't know the technically correct names, so I use stub SHAFTS in the diff and stub AXLES at the wheels.

That's an interesting thought. Might just do the X first, then look at both options. Good ideas here too. Gussets are definitely part of the plan, have no fear. I'm going to run open track days and play around in FP until someone bitches that I've removed the rusty drip rails or I get my V8 swap done, whichever is first. Then I'll probably be in a class that I have absolutely no chance of winning. I just want to make this one as fast as I can possibly make it. If I decide to really try to compete in autox on a higher level or start actually roadracing instead of just timetrialing, I'll get another car.