JMortensen

I'm pretty sure I can use a manometer, but I don't want to drill a million holes in everything to test. I've seen it done where they have tested in maybe 20 spots around a paneled floor and then kinda guessed at the numbers in between and then used that data to convert to pressure and get an estimate of downforce. Would be cool to do, but I think for all of that I'd rather put pots on the shocks and look for suspension compression. Although I'm sprung pretty stiff, so that might not work as well in my case.

That's great news. Not the overweight part.

LS is the easy button, and the aluminum ones are about 40 lbs heavier than the L series. Transmissions are heavier, but it's not as bad as most people think. If you're determined to keep it Nissan I'd go VQ. Requires major hackage of the front crossmember, to the point where I'd just ditch it and make one from scratch, or cut the center section out and fab the center section back in after getting the engine in place with one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-support-bar-96524.html. I wanted my LS as tight to the firewall as I could get so used one of those tools and it was really easy to work on the mounts with the engine supported from up high.

Julian Edgar maybe? Julian Bailey is a DJ.

Yeah, I did think it was weird that they blocked above the diffuser to "decrease drag" but allowing air over the diffuser would decrease the wake behind the car, decreasing drag. Saying you don't know what you're doing isn't the best way to sell your idea either. The main bit I got was that Alumanate material, which I had never heard of. I'm going to put the angle on the OUTSIDE of the diffuser too... I'll look for Julien Bailey. I've been watching AJ Hartman's stuff and trying to find other sources, so that's helpful. Thanks.

nm. Didn't see p22.

Gurneys work by deflecting attached flow and creating turbulence. The flow in this area is already detached and turbulent because the flow around the wheels and wheelwells already makes a low pressure area. It's like putting a spoiler in the middle of a hatch back. If the air isn't attached, it's not doing much, if anything. Google "cfd race car sedan" and you won't find one that has flow lines that are attached in that spot. I found this one that really shows the problem. I stuck the gurney placement on the Subaru in green to show the problem. If you're talking about putting a gurney at the leading edge of the fender opening to create even more turbulence in the wheel area, that's a different story. I have those on my car.

Sold my cover in about 10 min for $320. If you've got one you want to sell, ask for $400 is my advice... Dive planes make a large vortex that flows down the side of the car. Top side of canard is high pressure, bottom side is low pressure. As the air passes spills off the sides and back of the dive plane, it spins around to mix and return the pressure differential back to zero. The vortices down the side of the car would help to suck the air out of the fenderwells. About 4:30 into this one he draws it, and it looks like the drawing is actually the thumbnail for this video. Convenient if you don't want to watch:

Googled it, came up at an auto parts site. Can't remember which one. I thought the pics were pretty good. I think they're pretty accurate with the sizing, must be a fixture they use and then stick one part under the camera, click, next part, click. The pads in the later one are bigger, and that gigantic steel piece that holds the pads on the early one really is that big in comparison. Weird caliper. Has dual pistons, one fits inside the other and the push away from each other, sliding the big clamshell thingy and applying the brakes. Stupid design. All of the ZX calipers are failure prone. Ebrake is the issue.

Yeah, I'd bet a 510 guy would know what rear to use with stock fronts. Tube80z has some 510 experience. I'm sure Ermish would have the answer. Gary Savage on FB too.

Early ZX caliper: Late ZX:

Don't use the S130 brakes. Use the rotors, maybe, but not the calipers. You're upgrading the front, right? If so, just go to a 510 vendor like www.ermishracing.com and see what they do for the rear, and then do what it takes to make it work. I had the early 79-81 S130 brakes on my car using a ZQuip bracket (no longer in business) and the caliper was HUGE and heavy and the pads were tiny and overheated easily and came off in chunks. The early rotor also has a really deep hat, so that makes the rotor heavier. I'd look for something that uses the 82-83 rotor. I think there is a setup that uses that later rotor and a 240SX caliper with a maxima bracket, but I'm trying to remember details from the 90s so don't quote me.

510 guys swap in S130 struts all the time. The strut is shorter so it's like sectioning and the S130 brakes are an upgrade. You should be able to run any comparable S130 rear disc upgrade. I've seen Dynalite calipers used on 510s. Would probably have to make a bracket.

Pulled the 4.11 out today. Gonna swap the LSD into the 3.54 and sell the 4.11 and the finned cover. I'm thinking diff is probably worth $1100, cover $300, but I'm kinda out of touch on pricing. Thoughts? Also, figured out what to do for the paneling on the bottom. Going to do alumalite for the center and side splitters, and alumanate for the diffuser. I had forgotten about alumalite, and had never heard about alumanate, but I found this video and reintroduced myself. Now I'm looking at different diffuser shapes, rather than just a straight one. I'll definitely make this more complicated than it needs to be, and probably end up with something pretty cool. This guy has some interesting bits, but I really don't like the gurney after the front fender opening. That seems totally backwards to me. I get it, there is a vent on the back side of the flare, but some dive planes in front would do the job much better. I do really like his diffuser though.

I found one on ebay for $16. Posted the link as an edit. Cheaper than mcmaster.com

On another front, I went out to my shop yesterday to look paneling the bottom some more. Grabbed my magnetic 4' level and slapped it on the bottom of the fuel cell that I had mounted at a 7* angle many years ago, in preparation for making a diffuser. Thought for sure the diff cover would be in the way. Nope. It cleared by 1/8" or so. When I get the cooler on I'm going to run the standard cover, so more clearance at that point. So then I held a piece of angle up to the frame rail and figured out where it intersected the level. From that intersection to the back of the car I've got about 42". So I can make a 3.5 foot long diffuser and it will fit under the car, and the height of the diffuser in the back works out to about 6" tall. Also, the control arms are high enough with sectioned struts, camber plates, and droop limiters that I think I can make the diffuser full width between the tires and not hit anything. I had thought that the diff cover would be in the way and that I'd have to make a shorter steeper diffuser, but nope. Can go fairly huge. So now I've got all of those plans going in my head. Thinking I'll do AL and figure out the sizes with less hassle and expense, and then maybe redo in FG or CF later on down the road. I run the car with a bit of rake so I might have to have the outer fences extend lower than the center to keep it close enough to the ground to be effective, but I did crack open Competition Car Aero and they showed that a 10* diffuser was best on a similar height 350Z, and that it worked even better on a raked chassis (basically the rake doesn't affect the flow attachment, so raking the chassis improves the effective angle of the exhaust of the diffuser). That's good stuff. So might try to build at 10* and just fit it where it fits. I don't think the diffuser entry will be that much further back with the extra 3* of angle. EDIT--Looks like the difference in length between a 7 degree diffuser and a 10 is .259".

Looks like "shaft adapter" is the term that gets you what you need. 5/16 to 5/8 is not a common size, but 8mm to 16mm is and 5/8 to 5/8 is. Found 2 solutions: put a sleeve over the 5/16" shaft that is 5/8" and then run a straight adapter, or run the 8mm to 16mm. The problem is that there is a flat on the 5/16 and a key on the 5/8 shaft. I suppose I could just get the 5/8 to 5/8, drill a hole in the 5/16 to 5/8 bushing and then use a set screw on the 5/16 side. That should work... Thinking I'll buy the same type of motor Big Al did, along with a bushing and an shaft adapter and see how nice the pieces go together. Should be pretty simple in theory. Theory doesn't always translate to practice though. EDIT--Found a premade adapter for $16. https://www.ebay.com/itm/292457042171 EDIT 2--Bought the motor. Will verify shaft diameters then order the adapter. This is great. Don't have to spend another $200 or try to get rid of the part that I already purchased, and I'm sure the motor will hold up as it's what they use for the other style pump, gets rid of the diaphragm. Thanks Clark, you saved the day.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who has been down EXACTLY this road before. Thanks Clark. This first one looks promising: Found a ShurFlo pump on ebay for $29.95. I've got $100 into the single stage pump. Would be awesome to tie together and get out of it for less than the Tilton cost and not have to worry about diaphragm. I don't know what the adapter to connect the two together is, but seems like should be a common size adapter, going from 5/16 to 5/8. Tried "split collar adapter" and no joy. All of the people saying "Tilton works fine" is also making me question the utility of all of this...

Just did a quick search and the polypropylene that the $80 pump is made from softens at 140 - 150* C which is 284-302* F. Man I am tempted...

If I still had the car torn apart I'd probably hack it up for the pulley setup. To retrofit would mean quite a bit of disassembly to clear up space, then major hacking, then trying to box it back in. Just not worth it. The idea of getting a good quality electric motor and running a pulley and then mounting the motor and pump next to each other isn't that crazy, but just adds enough complexity that an electric pump seems like the easy button.

Looks like RV water pumps are VERY similar. Diaphragm pumps, most seem to have Viton seals. Looks like the lower model Tilton equates to ~$100ish pumps like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184876097420 Here's a slightly upgraded one 10A, 3 GPM, 60 psi, but with 1/2 NPT fittings for about $80: https://www.ebay.com/itm/263473361911 Tempted to try the last one there. Main thing that had me spooked was the plastic pressurized housing, but looking at your pic the Tilton looks plastic too. Was also wondering if it might be better to go bigger on the fittings to reduce restriction and thereby pressure. Just a thought. Bought cooler with -8AN fittings, but it's a Setrab so can change them out. maybe -10 or -12. I have a bunch of -10 from fitting my Accusump and oil cooler.

Almost sounded like Clark had found a similar pump with a different name, but cheaper. Britain said that the diaphragm was the weak part of the Tilton. Maybe a gear driven unit would be better. That's what the mechanical one was, and there are these marine fuel pumps which are being advertised as turbo scavenge and diff cooler pumps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/280782665954

bjhines was running CLSD when he measured 350* with the cooler. He picked a pretty tiny one though. I think the solution is to size it up until it's big enough. I'd say you hit the mark, so I'll start where you are at and that will probably work for me. What do you mean by #6, Tilton is just a standard pump with viton seals? Not sure what a "standard pump" is.

Got the pump. Took it out to the shop. Went and looked under the car. My mental image of what was under there was so wrong that now I can't even remember how I thought this would all go together. It is a DEFINITE no go without major trans tunnel hackage and putting the pump inside the car, and I don't want to do that just because of the fire hazard. I'm just stunned at the fact that I thought I could make it work. NO WAY was it going to go on the right side of the pinion, especially with my drivetrain offset to the right. The reality of what is under there is so much different than I thought. It's not like I haven't been under that car for thousands of hours. LOL I guess it has been a little while, but DAMN! 😂 Now I'm trying to figure out if I can use this pump at all. I remember Gian Bowles at one point had an electric motor bolted to the front of his engine that drove a Gilmer belt, and that ran the mechanical water pump. Maybe I could do a small electric motor driving a belt to the oil pump. Or maybe I should just buy a Tilton pump and make my life easier. The other thing that isn't working to plan is the finned LSD cover has spots where you can install fittings for a cooler. Unfortunately they're just barely under my rear toe adjuster, so if I drilled out the spots the fittings would hit the adjuster. I think I could get around that one by putting a stock cover in and drilling it and installing a fitting through the cover, or by drilling out the drain plug like bjhines did. Ugh. This project just got a whole lot harder...

Pretty well settled on the idea of paneling between the subframe connectors. Picked up some NACA ducts on ebay. Got a double and two singles with 3" outlets. Will use one or both of the singles to cool the trans, and the double to feed the cooler. Waiting on the pump to show before I buy a cooler. It was advertised as -10 but want to make sure. Any thoughts on thickness of aluminum to use for the undertray? Was thinking .040, but don't have any experience here. Obviously lighter is better (and cheaper too). Online Metals (local) has .032", .040", .050" and .060"