JMortensen

Interesting little note in there about raising roll center and Ackermann together to get better turn in... thanks for the link. Curious to see what Cary has to say. Any more feedback on your new steer knuckles yet Richard?

According to a Nissan mechanic friend of mine the graphite gasket is what you want for a non-metal gasket. The problem supposedly is that the head and the block are different materials so they expand at different rates. Since the Fel-Pro doesn't have any lubricant on it, the head and block expansion and contraction grinds on the gasket and eventually is the cause of the failure. The lubed gaskets allow the two surfaces to expand without grinding on the gasket surface. I can't say if that is REALLY the reason, but it is the reason that has been given to me, fits well into my puny brain, and also fits my personal experience.

I said I had the problem then fixed it, but I should probably clarify. It came back again. It was fine for about 5 years, then I think the hatch weather strip took a crap on me again. My next attempt at a more permanent fix is going to be to grind down the little lip that the hatch seal sits on and then use a door style JC Whitney type weather strip. I really think that half *** gluing that soft piece of weatherstrip in there is the problem on MOST Z's. Of course, like all of the other mods on my car I'll be able to tell you how well it worked out in a few years when I get it back on the road...

It's an R160. I think it bolts right in. Nice and light. I personally think it's on the weak side, but there are people here who swear you can put 300 whp down on one without breaking it. Search R160 and you might find a post with comments from Savage42 and johnc.

Lowers the RC. Great idea Dan. Keep It Simple Stupid!

I was saying that too when I watched. "There is NO WAY those wipers would be going that fast!!!"

Definately not a 9", no removable pinion support and front of diff is the wrong shape. It is a dropout 3rd member like an RX7 or a 9", but definately not a 9. If you want to see a what the 9" looks like: http://www.maliburacing.com/ford_9_inch/ford_nine_inch.htm

Has anyone seen that blue twin turbo Q45 Z?!? That thing is AWESOME!!! j/k Alex...

Depends on what engine/transmission you have. If you have a V8 with a Muncie 4 speed you'd be doing 3800 rpm to go 65 mph. If you have an L6 then use this to help you figure it out:http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/transmission.html. Plug in your tire size and your transmission and figure out where you'd be rpm-wise at hwy speeds.

Looks just like the one I bought from 280Zone. I think I paid him $150.

No telling what that is by those pics, but it looks like it could be from an RX7.

Weird. They didn't notch the block at all, and didn't take very much metal away around the head gasket area. All the work is in the chamber. From the looks of the chamber it makes me wonder if they wouldn't have been better off starting with the open E88 chamber head.

Nice one Alex.

There was a 22RET in 87-89 years IIRC. I seem to recall that the stock 22RE was rated @ 115hp or so, and the turbo was 150. Came with a tiny turbo (T25???), but a friend of mine put a bigger T3/T4 turbo on his, ported the head and installed an IC and he now tows his 510 race car with it. I don't remember what engine management system he's running, but I do recall that he did have some trouble getting enough fuel to it at first. He did it for a tow vehicle, but I don't see why you couldn't use the same engine and mods for speed in a 2wd truck. BTW if you do go that way I've got some tricks to get the back end to hook up... my Toy truck was the first vehicle I autoxed

Uhh, I'm in Seattle. I have a 70 240. Wanna go for a test ride? Promise I won't lock the passenger door with the door open (since you can't) then pull the knob off and keep you in a cage where I torture you for days then kill you...

That is indeed the biggest sin. if there were a 4.33 from the factory that would be great, but there is not (to my knowledge anyway) and the 9 tooth pinion would have would not mesh properly with a 39 tooth ring gear, resulting in the quick and total destruction of both gears. Nissan did make 4.44's and I believe some shorter gears like 5.17. Nissan Comp can tell you what is available. Mixing rings and pinions is not a good idea.

Cheaper than these: http://www.arizonazcar.com/lowarms.html

Try machine shops in the area. They usually have the Stone gasket. Might try a Nissan dealer as well. Every once in a while they have an old L part just sitting on a shelf.

Someone could literally buy a used Z parts biz. Even if you never got any more parts at all you could stick that stuff up on Ebay one at a time and make a healthy profit.

I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one Ross. Regardless that thread I linked to doesn't show the later ZX caliper in a very positive light either.

That's exactly what I thought when I saw this thread. Fel-Pro = failure prone in my book. Nissan or Stone is the one to use IME. The metal gaskets are fine too but probably not necessary for a NA car. EDIT--And its ALWAYS the guy who says that you HAVE to use Fel-Pro who also says that Z's are notorious for leaky head gaskets. Coincidence? I think not...

Just keep in mind that "manual" is about 20 pages with lots of pictures... more of a pamphlet. What it does do is give you a good idea of what the circuits in the carburetors do. I think the How to Hotrod book is better, gives you jet sizing formulas to use to get in the ballpark right off the bat.

It's the later 280ZX calipers that seize. I put the early calipers on my car because a Nissan master tech scared me away from the later ones, and coincidentally my next door neighbor was replacing his 83's rear calipers at the same time. More evidence: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=82790 I sold mine to a member here and I used them for 8 years of street/autox/track usage and never had a hint of a leak or a stuck caliper at all. So the early ZX calipers are heavy and have a small pad and a small rotor, but they are IME and the experience of the people I know very reliable. A good alternative if you hate drum brakes like I do, but not as good a performance upgrade as the 240SX setup with the larger rotor or a full on race style Wilwood setup that loses the ebrake.

Update: Seat is in temporarily anyway and shoulder bar for roll bar definitely does not clear the seat back. So I'll need a curved piece to go around the seatback. It will be easier to accomodate the seat back if I move the diagonal farther away from the bend. I looked in the rulebook and I don't see a max distance from the corner bend for the diag to hit the hoop. Is there a rule? Obviously the closer to the corner that bar connects the stronger the diag will be. Looks like the Autopower bar for 944 connects pretty far away judging by John's website. Any idea how far away that is John?