JMortensen

Negative toe is toe out. The shape of the Z does create an optical illusion that makes it look like there is toe in, but if the car feels sketchy have it checked. There are no adjustments to be made but you may just find that the car is bent. Also there have been quite a few reports lately about badly manufactured struts too, and for some the fix has been to replace the whole strut housing.

IMHO it will be beneficial even though you already have the pivots raised, but you'll need to deal with the bumpsteer issues again (assuming that you did when you raised the pivots). You'll either have to raise the rack or lower the outer tie rod ends. The spacers change the camber curve, caster curve, and the roll center. Your sway bar end links will most likely also be in a better position with spacers in. I'm sure there's more, but those are the advantages I can cite off the top of my head. As for thickness, you generally find 3/4" or 15/16" being sold for Z's and some REALLY big ones sold for 510s. I have seen some that I would swear were 1.5". At that point the strength of the bolts starts to scare me a bit. Maybe I'm overly cautious on that one, but I'd stick to a 1" spacer or less. I know I'm running a 3/4" right now and John Coffey ran a 15/16" one.

Just start reading as much as you can. Online articles, books on cylinder heads, etc. Then at least you will have enough info to make a decision as to whether to take on the project or not.

Check the clutch master. Most people replace both the master and the slave because they tend to go in pairs. I blew my slave out about 3 days after installing an ACT pp and I've heard others say the same so I think that part of your problem is fairly common FWIW. The other thing to check is free play in the rod that connects the pedal to the clutch master. I kinda don't think this one would cause the symptoms you're describing, but there needs to be some free play there, like 1/8" to 3/16". EDIT - One more thing. Make sure all your connections are tight and that you're not leaking anywhere.

I gotta disagree here. I think that even a person with little or no experience who has patience and a good idea of what they're doing can make some pretty decent improvements on an L head. As far as consistency goes, when I did my head the chambers were up to 2.5 cc different from the factory (and no it wasn't from previously cutting a warped head - #2 and #6 were the biggest IIRC), and the shapes of the chambers and casting in the ports wasn't anything remotely close to "uniform". I didn't open my ports up huge, just cleaned up the casting in the runners, and cc'd the chambers and unshrouded the valves. If that's jbwetzel's goal, then I think he can do a hell of a lot better than the factory. If you're trying to make the ports a lot bigger than stock then I still think it can be done with a reasonable amount of accuracy with a few simple tricks like sticking a valve into the port to measure the diameter, but obviously having a shop with a flow bench would be the preferred way to go. Regardless of your goal, READ as much as you can from as many different sources as you can before you start cutting.

Yep. I thought you had the wheels already. Sorry.

I did a little checking, and I'm not sure if I'm right, but what I found was .5 for the convertible Viper with no top, .45 for the convertible with the targa cover on, and .35 for a GTS hardtop Viper. I only found one site which was like Joe's Aerodynamics site that had those numbers. It did also say that a new Ford Ranger had a .4 if that puts it into perspective at all. The numbers makes sense to me because the original Viper targa setup was definitely not very aero looking. Here's a better site: http://www.vipercentral.com/buy/specs/specs98.htm

Regular parts: http://www.courtesyparts.com/ Nissan Comp: http://www.courtesyparts.com/nms/s30/index.html

I'd put a 1/2" spacer in there. Looks like you've got the room for it. Do you have long studs? You'll need them with ANY spacer on a Z. The stock studs are really just barely long enough. I believe the 2nd Gen RX7 studs are what I have, they are 12mm x 1.5mm threads, and they press right into the stubs without having to redrill or any of that crap.

Negro Modelo, Newcastle, or Pike's Scottish Kilt Lifter. For something a little lighter a Modelo Especial usually hits the spot. Lately I've been more in the Merlot or Syrah mood though. I'm with you Davy. All my friends love Guinness and I can't take it. The only thing worse is that chocolate stout, Mac-something or other. That stuff is so nasty it probably tastes BETTER when you're vomiting it up.

The camber plate won't change the relation of the stut tube to the tire. I'd go with Isk's suggestion and try a 1/4" lug centered wheel spacer. Coleman Racing sells some billet aluminum ones. They are kind of pricey but much better than the crappy tire store ones.

Check Pete Paraska's site for the skinny on stub axles (see links below). My understanding is that the 280ZXT used a 240 stub with a different companion flange, and that the 280Z used the bigger one with the 27 splines but I'm too lazy to read it for you. http://alteredz.com/240ZCVHalfshaftConversion.htm http://alteredz.com/280ZCVHalfshaftConversion.htm

This is the best deal I've found so far. http://www.optionimports.com/suspension-sway-bars-suspension-technique-nissan---datsun.html

Aux you gotta photoshop a giant penny in a giant slot in the back... or am I the only guy who remembers Penny Racers???

Hey just had a thought. Did you lose the little button inside the cap in the middle?

The spark goes to the path of least resistance. There has to be a reason why the path of least resistance is OUTSIDE of the wire.

If you're using an R180 I guess you might need to fab your own, but for the R200 there are some existing covers with cooling fins and bigger sumps already out there. 240SX R200 covers are available, and the 300ZX covers have extensions with cooling fins from the factory. Here's the aftermarket style (too pricey IMO): http://store.240sxmotoring.com/grr2s14dico.html 300ZXT style: http://www.mygen.com/users/dbruce/myz31/r200_37_nismo_lsd_upgrade.htm

I've never seen a car run so rich that you get 8 mph. I suggest you put it in 2nd gear. That ought to get you at least 15 or 20 mph. If you have sparks jumping from the coil wire to the terminals, your coil wire doesn't sound like it is plugged in all the way. Electricity takes the path of least resistance, and if the path of least resistance is to the terminals on the OUTSIDE of the coil, that is a sign that you have a serious problem with the coil wire. If your sparks aren't going to the spark plugs, it isn't going to run right. Did you check the end of the coil wire? Is it broken off? Did the boot slide down the wire so that the termination on the wire doesn't go all the way into the socket on the coil or maybe it doesn't get all the way into the distributor? Did you try replacing just the coil wire? ANY car that has a bad coil wire or coil wire connection is going to hesitate and shudder in every gear, and it will get worse with load.

If you mounted the engine behind the driver the weight distribution would be really severely screwed IMO. You'd end up with possibly worse than 911 distribution. Basically driving the car would be like throwing a dart backwards, and as soon as you started to get a little sideways the heavy end would want to go to the front. I gotta agree with Alex that mid engine a la S2000 (front midengine) is the way to go in a Z, rear mid engine is going to be a problem.

I'm probably going to be the odd man out here, but I think that 90% of the Z's that have oil coolers on them don't need them. In fact I think most of them do more harm than good, because most people don't run a thermostat, so the oil never gets up to temp. I've run a 30 minute session in 105º temps, come in and checked tire temps then shot my oil pan with the pyrometer. Oil temp was in the 215º range IIRC. Definitely not hot enough to warrant a cooler. Turbos are the exception, but NA's don't need oil coolers in most cases (there are defintely exceptions).

It's been my experience that "the UPS store" has about 100% markup vs actually going to the UPS location and dropping it off directly. I would imagine a dashboard is going to be what they call Oversize 2 or Oversize 3, otherwise known as really damn expensive to ship. You can check rates at http://www.ups.com To figure out the surcharge for oversize, look here: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/prepare/oversize.html

Searched the drivetrain forum for "240sx" and found these: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=92808&highlight=240sx http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=72261&highlight=240sx

Do a search on bumpsteer. Maybe a year or more back I gave a pretty detailed explanation on how to do it on the cheap. I think total cost was ~$40 the way I did it. If you REALLY don't want to measure, then just go 3/4" and you'll probably never know the difference.

That's the problem; there isn't any correct number. I don't know how or if the AZC arms are different from stock with relation to the pivot heights on the outboard end of the arm. It's obviously different than a stock arm since it uses a totally different ball joint, but whether the height from the arm to the pivot is the same... ??? If you just want to get it in the ballpark I'd say 3/4", but to get it right there is no substitute for measuring. If you aren't racing you'll probably never notice IMO.

preith, what timing curve are you running with your DIS setup? I've heard one other person (also with a very high compression race motor) suggesting a really wide advance sweep that goes way up in the rpm range as well. Everyone else I've ever heard talk about recurving, and this is regardless of the type of engine, says start at around 20º and end at the mid 30's at around 2000-2500 rpm. IME my car doesn't accelerate nearly as well with the timing cut down on the low end, it definitely has better throttle response with ~20º at idle.