JMortensen

Went out to see about fitting the seat. Kinda surprised at what I found. I started by setting my Recaro tracks on the stock seat mounts and then setting the Ultra Shield seat on top of the old tracks. It seems like the seat is WAY too high, but that’s weird because the padding in the butt is only about 1†thick. But even at that my hair is brushing against the headliner. I did have a couple pieces of 1x4 wood in there so that added 3/4 inch to the height of the seat, but I’m really surprised that I’d need to go lower. It looks like I’m going to need to completely remove the stock seat mounts and start over because they are too high. I've got some square 1" x .065 tubing that I can use to build a frame. I guess I can weld it to the rockers and the trans tunnel then maybe put a support underneath on each side to the floor. Do I sound like I'm on the right track here? Anyone know of an easier way? Pics of seat mounts would be GREATLY appreciated...

Got my main hoop last night. Looks good, fits TIGHT. Really really tight. I'm going to do something a little different to mount it, the boxes are basically going to be upside down and the bar will attach to the vertical part of the rockers. Based on his ITS cage article, I think katman will approve when it's done. Now need to get my *** in gear. Still haven't mounted the seat. Need to get the seat mounted, the cage finished and the suspension in so that I can roll the car out, pull the engine/trans, back the car into the garage and put it on the rotisserie that I haven't made yet... Don't know how far I'll get, but those are the goals.

A friend of mine used to use a cumalong attached to the rafters in his garage, but he had beefed up the one that he used for pulling the engine. Just pull the engine up then roll the car back. I prefer the cherry picker myself, but both work.

Mine go to 11.

If the bushings are really bad troubleshooting the calipers again is wasted effort. Just fix the TC bushings then try again. Get a G Machine setup and use your old rubber bushing in the back.

Are you referring to a seat brace? Not sure what the drag race requirements are, but a brace is a good idea, because if you were to take an impact from the rear and the seat or the sliders failed you wouldn't be as likely to get hurt. They have adjustable ones you can buy. I know IO Port has them.

Just cut the damn quarters. That's the right way to do it. Seems silly to spend so much money on wheels then go cheap out on doing the flares.

Isn't there a higher plug in the tranmission? I've never used anything other than the actual fill plug but I would swear I remember somebody using something else. Reverse light hole maybe???

Reman distributor = they shot it with brake cleaner and put it in a box. Some parts are worth buying reman, some are not. I'd buy a JY distributor anyday.

Modules have always been sketchy. Some places charge for the module some don't. I don't think your "it won't work without the module" argument holds. Same is true for a 280Z, but since the module is inside the car it's probably not gonna fly on that one. I think I've paid as little as $20 and as much as $50, but for whatever reason I don't feel ripped off paying $50. $7 for "environmental" charges for a distributor, that I'd take issue with. And you could have pulled the vacuum diaphragm, not like you ever find a car in the JY with a working diaphragm anyway.

Update--I emailed ES and got a response back that their poly bushings really are impervious to petroleum products as it says on the box. They said I could use any chassis lube and be just fine.

I guess I was wrong. It isn't fiberglass. That's pretty impressive work. Crappy project, horrible result, but pretty impressive work.

Yeah, a little too hard to believe, as in I don't believe it.

Freakin beautiful. Can't believe how fast your project is coming along.

I hear what you're saying about getting others' feedback, I've used others' feedback on my projects, so I think I was wrong on that. Still I will just file this one in the Pipe Dream file until I see some actual progress on it. It'll sit there right next to the OS Giken threads.

Could be the igntion switch itself which is a little electical switch behind the lock cylinder, or it could be the lock cylinder. If you pull the cover off the steering column you can see what I'm talking about. I can't remember for sure but I think you need to take the stalks for the turn signal and lights off of the steering column to get at the switch. The stalks are put on with bolts whose heads break off when you tighten them down, so you can't just unscrew them. The trick is to take a hammer and chisel (or a Dremel) and cut a slot in the end of the bolt so that you can unscrew it. Anyway if you can get the lock cylinder and the switch separated then you could test the switch itself and if it works then you know that the lock cylinder is not allowing enough movement. From your description it sounds like the lock cylinder is "loose". You could take it to a locksmith and probably have them rework it for you. I did this on a door lock that you had to wiggle quite a bit to get to unlock. I've also seen bad switches, so it really could be either one.

I say build it FIRST then come and post about it. I guess I've seen too many of these RB head threads and never seen any follow thru... EVER.

No I don't have pics handy. I lost them a few years back in a hard drive crash. Not much to see though. Just a big slot instead of a hole. I did much the same thing you did previously. Took the crossmember out, drilled out the spot welds that hold the washers on, then drilled a new hole straight up from the original. Then just cut the slot between the holes with a cutoff wheel.

Converted it to jpeg, tried to upload, unsuccessful. Not sure why...

Just tried to upload a jpg and got the same error. I believe you about the gifs, but something still seems screwy with uploading photos.

You should put that pic in the FAQ Rob. I don't know how I managed to confuse myself when I wrote the FAQ but I was just spouting it out from memory, and I wouldn't have gotten confused if I had been looking at that picture. Tony, you could put bumpsteer spacers on a Z at stock height and what that will do is raise the roll center. Where to set the roll center is not a clear cut thing. The suspension gets acted on differently by lateral forces depending on the roll center. When the LCA goes past horizontal, then lateral forces try to COMPRESS the outside suspension, basically making body roll worse. If the LCA is totally horizontal then there are no jacking forces on the suspension. If the LCA points down then lateral forces try to raise the outer suspension. If it's really pointing down then lateral forces can tip the car over, a la jacked up Baja Bug. If you add the bumpsteer spacer to a stock Z then as Pete said you'd put the car into another part of the bumpsteer curve, and the curve works out to be pretty gradual in the middle but fairly extreme at the ends of the suspension's travel, so you might not like the results. You can run the car with a roll center that is very low, but you need to run very heavy springs and shocks that can control those springs. For less body roll most agree that you want to run the control arms pointing "slightly down". If you're running softer springs, you'd want it pointing down a bit more. It is a trial and error thing, and you can fix the resultant body roll issues with more spring, more sway bar, or higher roll center. You aren't limited to one or the other.

I think you're right Pete. I'll change the FAQ.