JMortensen

I'm not a machinist. I'm not a mechanical engineer. The people who warned me were. The Exedy website says that their flywheel is STRONGER because the ring gear is integrated into the design. They also say that the land where the ring gear is pressed on is THE source of failure in aluminum flywheels: Again, I'm not an expert, but I don't see why having that part pressed on makes any beneficial difference in the stress riser situation. If anything you've got a now stressed land (because the ring gear is an interference fit) and it has a giant stress riser all the way round with 6 threaded holes cut right through it. I would be shocked if the expansion coefficient of the steel in the ring gear and the flywheel were exactly the same. To answer your other question though, my flywheel has seen 40K miles, 6 seasons of autox and quite a few track days. On a couple occasions it saw 7400 rpm or so, I can't say for sure, I wasn't watching the tach at the time. It has performed FLAWLESSLY to date, which again is something I've said repeatedly. One last thing, of course I inspect the flywheel every time it comes off - visually. Since the repeated warnings I've been using a chemical inspection process that I can't recall the name of, but you clean the flywheel then put a dye all over it, then clean it again, and put another chemical on it that will pull the dye out of any crack. One of the machinists told me about it and showed me how to use it. Next time I'm going to magnaflux the flywheel. I don't know of anyone that inspects their flywheel to this degree every time it comes out. I'm not well versed enough in this crap to make a very good argument, so I'll leave it to the engineers on this site to continue arguing. I'm done.

I think they've ALL been done Jersey. I know I've contributed to threads on the CLSD and VLSD, and Quaifes are available through Ross.

It looks to me as if the ENTIRE back of the Greddy flywheel is radiused. I'd be willing to bet that the front is too. Every time this issue has come up I've stated that I have checked my flywheel for cracks repeatedly and found none. Bottom line for me is that if the corners were radiused and the bolt holes weren't cut through I wouldn't have even bothered to check and the machinists wouldn't have made a big deal out of it. As it is I will check EVERY time that flywheel comes out regardless of Dave's experience.

Yep, these guys have it right. After you verify that you are 180 off, then pull the oil pump and pull the distributor shaft and reinsert it turned 180 from where it is now.

I'm about to the point where I run away screaming when someone tries to give me a deal. I'm a penny pincher to be sure (the doesn't have the money kind), but every time I've gotten a "deal" on parts for my car it's ended up taking 4 to 27 times longer to get them than it would have to just bend over and pay, and it has also been my experience that the parts usually aren't quite what I wanted. No more deals for me... As to the stuff you were selling, it might help to take a look at who's buying RB20's and 18 inch wheels. Not a cut at you Zhadman, but the majority of the guys I know who dream about those parts have a $1000 240SX and a job at Wal Mart or equivalent. No wonder they're trying to nickel and dime you. I bet you wouldn't get as much haggling if those wheels had Porsche lug patterns...

All an average alignment shop can do on a stock Z is shim the caster a tiny bit and set front toe. That's it for "adjustments". You can move the transverse link in the back a teeny bit and the front crossmember a teeny bit, but there just aren't many adjustments to make on a stock Z. If your tie rods and ball joints are good, then I guess your -3º toe out is bumpsteer. That's a lot of bumpsteer.

I believe you can also loosen the engine crossmember and slide it a hair to try and even up the camber. Did the alignment guy check the tie rods and ball joints? Pretty common that they would be worn out, and if he just adjusted the toe and those parts are bad he may as well not have adjusted anything. I only ask because I doubt that at some point in the past someone adjusted your car to -3º toe.

I think Cary would take issue with you saying that tweaking the RC up is the "right" way. I think both can be made to work, but IMO the softer setup with the higher RC is preferable for the tracks and the autoxes that I've done personally. If your track that you frequent is smooth as glass maybe the other way is better. Also most racing classes don't allow you to change the suspension pickup points, so any mods to RC are verboten. Even in ITS and BSP I believe it is illegal to use bumpsteer spacers. So changing it puts you in the insanely fast class. I should point out that all of my arguments are theoretical. The only RC I changed was my front to fix the bumpsteer, and that made a huge difference, but I couldn't say what percentage of the difference was the bumpsteer going away and how much was the roll center changing. If I had to venture a guess I'd say it was mostly the lack of bumpsteer that I noticed, because the biggest difference was the lack of a big twitch around one particular corner.

Just in general terms I think the Euro springs are too soft for competing, and I'd be looking at the biggest bars I could find to counter that problem, but if you like the way it rides and it's fast enough for you, then leave it alone.

This one took me a while to get, but Terry explained it best. Maybe he still has his diagram, but the jist is this: When the suspension goes past horizontal it still continues to get more negative camber (or lose camber whichever you prefer) as the suspension compresses, because the strut gets shorter. What does happen is that the rate of camber change drops off, which now that I look at it is counter to what Pete was saying earlier. At least that's my understanding of it... The "bad" part about a low RC is that once the control arm goes past horizontal then side loads (cornering g's) will compress the suspension, making the body roll that much worse. So you can run low RC's with very stiff springs or very stiff anti-roll bars, or you can raise the roll center and run softer springs and smaller sway bars.

We're saying the same thing Pete. You raise the stub axle in relation to the bottom of the strut. Or as you said, you lower the attachment point in relation to the axle. Same difference.

I dunno. My wheels were too hot to touch after my Z was driven by 3 people at an autox once, and that was an autox. I know I needed bigger brakes at the time, but still I'm sure that I've put much more heat into the wheels at an open track event.

I think it has more to do with spring rates than the weight distribution. You can control body roll with really stiff springs and front sway bar only (more common roadracing setup) or you can go with softer springs and heavier sway bars front and rear (more common autox setup) or you can go somewhere in the middle. Heavy bars will change the ride and that needs to be considered if you're looking for bars for a daily driver. Swaybar selection for Z's pretty much sucks. You can buy the "standard" sizes from MSA or Suspension Techniques, but nobody else seems to offer anything anymore. Saner advertises custom bars on their website, but I'll only email someone 3 times asking for price and availability, then I give up, and they lost my business. Nissan Comp used to have a BUNCH of bars available, but I believe that now they only sell the Suspension Techniques stuff. That's really about it. Not much selection at all anymore.

I'm not sure I care for Panchovisa's design. Seems too complicated and hard to adjust. Looks VERY expensive to make. But like Pete said, it would be EASY for Jamie to move the stub up in relation to the control arm attaching points, which would be basically just the same as a drop spindle setup. I guess the question then becomes how much would you raise the stub axle? I know most people think the front roll center is way more important than the rear. Then there are people like Cary who think that a roll center below ground is faster (at least at autox). So does it come down to a preference thing? Could it be made adjustable with maybe several sets of mounting holes? Interesting possibilities there...

I believe Malvern is gone. That phone number is disconnected and their website is gone, apparently the guy who knew all the answers died. They were extremely helpful the few times I talked to them.

1" rear bar seems awfully big, especially if used with a 22mm front bar. Also if it is for a 240 it doesn't have any brackets to mount it, which would be a problem. The bends look similar to the MSA front mounted bar for a 240, but the MSA bar comes with brackets. I suppose if you like to hang it out, a 1" bar could be made to work... I believe the MSA bar is 7/8" for comparisons sake, and it is usually used with a 1" front bar. Also for comparison, the Suspension Techniques bar mounts to the rear uprights and is 3/4" FWIW.

I suppose it could crush slightly somehow and cause the crank bolt to back out... I used mine, but next time I get the cover off I'm removing it just for safety's sake.

Never had one go bad, but from the people I know who have they all said it just quit entirely, no sputtering or anything. Couple things to check: Gap on the Pertronix sensor. I assume it needs a gap to the trigger wheel. Not sure what it would be, but I've seen that cause problems on 280Z optical trigger ignitions. Plugs, cap, rotor, wires. All of these things can cause the problem you're seeing. Connections. Make sure the wires are all firmly connected to the cap and plugs, and that all connections for the MSD are tight. Last thing is MSD has a warranty. They also have a servicing fee. I want to say it is $50, and you send them your dead MSD and they'll test it, diagnose it, and fix it. Also Dan Baldwin had a weird one a couple months back where the pertronix trigger wheel had a piece coming off of it. He found the piece and epoxied it back on and that was the fix. That situation affected just one cylinder IIRC. You should be able to search and find his thread.

I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want them answered IMMEDIATELY!!!

Just like brian said. Push once to the floor, turn the key. At least that's how mine works.

My Mikunis have a choke. Never seen em that didn't, although that doesn't mean they don't exist.

rear calipers

Have you considered just not hooking them up? With Mikunis most people don't, and some even safety wire the choke shut so that it doesn't vibrate open and change the mixture. Not sure if the Weber system is better or not, but nobody I've known with them has bothered to hook up the choke.

I think that's how they did all of the CP cars back in the day IIRC. That's a little too close for comfort IMO.