JMortensen

The layout is similar. Front suspension is very very similar. TC rods connect to the frame in front of the control arms. Steering gear is behind the control arms. I think the front control arms themselves interchange. The rear on both cars uses semi-trailing arm suspension. Mods to adjust rear toe and camber like slotting the rear crossmember would work on both cars. The semi-trailing arms are very similar, but are not interchangeable without slight modification. The layout is similar enough that 510 guys commonly install 280ZX strut housings because they are shorter (more suspension travel) and have larger vented disk brakes. I believe the early rear ZX brakes bolt straight onto a 510. I don't think the shocks and springs interchange. They are very similar. Not identical. Very similar. Check that link I gave you before though. 510 guys will know better than I do what's up, and there are tons of 510 race cars out there, so info should be much easier to find than ZX race car info.

I'd start looking at 510 sites if I were you. The 510 is very similar in layout to the ZX, and I'd be willing to bet most of what they're doing translates directly to your car. The ZX just isn't that popular a race car, probably because the early Z is lighter and doesn't have the semi-trailing arm rear, so you probably won't find too many ZX specific parts. Like I said though, a lot of the 510 stuff can probably be used directly or adapted to your Maxima, just like it can the ZX. The coilovers on the MM site look like they're for the front only BTW. | http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/

I don't think they're all bogus, but here's a hint: CHECK THE FEEDBACK!!! I wouldn't buy from that guy... http://feedback.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=daves_engine_works

If you had the plugs out than the only resistance you'll feel is the valve springs, which is still a decent amount. If you could turn it over by hand I doubt that the valves are hitting the pistons. I'd go .008/.010 COLD and double check the gap when they're hot. If it takes you a long time then do them cold. The reason is the longer it takes the more the gap will open up. So the first intake valve you do might be .008 and the last one might be .010 when its fully hot. Bastaad just asked a related question about going tighter than stock setting. I really don't think .008/.010 hot is going to hurt anything, but DAW disagreed with me, and he usually knows what he's talking about. Best to err on the side of caution and make sure you are doing it right before you start messing with the clearances. If this is on a 240 there really isn't much else to be making noise. If you try again and you still can't get it I suggest you take it to a shop that deals with Z's and have them double check your work.

If you had interference between the valves and pistons I think you would have found it when you were assembling the engine most likely. You did turn the engine over with a ratchet at some point during the assembly right? Maybe when you were adjusting the valves during the assembly? I think something isn't going right with the way you're adjusting them. I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but I've seen one common mistake probably 5 or 6 times over the years, and here it is. The shadetree mechanic will adjust all the valves without ever turning the engine or without making sure the valve was all the way closed before adjusting the gap. You did make sure that the valve you were adjusting was CLOSED before adjusting it, right? If you adjusted some of them with the lobe not straight up, then you would have a hell of a racket because you might have some HUGE gaps between the rocker and cam. I always pull the plugs and use a little starter switch I got from Harbor Freight. I turn the engine until the cam lobe points pretty much straight up.

How did you set them exactly. I mean give us a pretty good run down of what you did.

This whole campaign finance "reform" is going to blow up in a whole bunch of offshore campaigning next time. I can hear it now: "GW passed legislation that encourages the OUTSOURCING of our campaigning!!!" And you know Akmed will be calling right at dinner time. Those are really stupid laws. I think the only candidate who had that one right back in 2000 was... Alan Keyes... scary thought. With regards to the UK thing I don't think any country would particularly appreciate that. It's obvious that there is a pretty serious gap in the politics of Europe and America. It's too bad you guys can't get your heads on straight... Well at least you are in the UK and not France. As far as the content of the ad I think it's just like any other opinion. The source is VERY important. From the little blip I saw on the news it didn't look particularly virulent or mean spirited but I haven't read it personally, so I guess I only know what they told me. The thing that bugs me MORE than the fact that this ad comes from a foreign country is the fact that it comes from a "news" paper. Here in Commie Town...uhh... Seattle, we have political telemarketing from the newspapers. Got one yesterday. "The Seattle Post Intelligencer would like to remind you that we support Prop 69-The Free Smack for Transsexual Addicts who Need a Fix Initiative and we encourage everyone to vote YES on 69 on Nov 2." Absolutely sickening. The only upside to that is they aren't trying to HIDE the bias, but that is small consolation.

I don't think so. I think .002 is pretty safe. Especially if it takes you a long time to get through them all. The longer it takes you to finish the looser they'll be. Not passing judgement or anything, just saying. I was taught to hold both the 14 and 17 in my left hand, and the feeler gauge in my right, and kinda tighten and then lock it down all in one motion with the left while constantly feeling the resistance with the right. I also use a piece of chalk or sometimes a dot of white out to mark which ones I've done, and do it as quickly as I can so the engine doesn't cool down too much. I'm still not that good at it to be honest, probably because I don't drive my Z enough. I know a guy who can do all 12 valves in an L6 in about 10 minutes, start to finish. He always pointed and laughed at me because it took me at least twice as long, probably more like 3 or 4 times as long now. I'm out of practice Of course he races a 510, worked in a Z shop for a couple YEARS, then became a Nissan tech... IIRC he used to say that if the temp gauge went under 160 you were going too slow (Autometer). If you're really slow you might want to wait until they're totally cold and do them .002 tighter than the hot spec. That's the way they do 911 valve adjusts and it seems to work for Gunter. If they're still noisy you can always pull the valve cover and check the hot gap, and tighten your cold gap as necessary.

I feel like the only one sick and tired of retro. Can't we come up with a new idea anymore? If I see one more rehashed TV show, movie, car, song, etc I think I'm gonna puke.

The valve needs to sit on the seat firmly to transfer heat out of the valve and into the head. If you adjust the valves too tight you'll burn a valve. That being said, the cam card that came with my cam said .008/.010 hot, so there is a little variance out there. A lot depends on the guy behind the feeler gauge too... easiest thing to do is to get the stepped feeler gauge so you know you're going tight enough. The right one fits, but the thicker part doesn't. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bradystools/fegablty0to01.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33742&item=7927943900&rd=1 Well looky there!!! There it is!

That thing totally reminds me of an R5 Renault Turbo. I love it. What's the 240Z part though? I don't see ANY Z influence or parts...

I'd say rears because the stock rears probably do next to nothing compared to the upgraded fronts. Plus I hate pounding the crap out of the drums to get them to break free from the hub. You won't feel much of a difference most likely, but that's where I'd put my money.

Why is it that the music makes it so much funnier...

Triples just don't transition very well from cruise to WOT IME. I've had two "expert" tuners tell me that I couldn't possibly get mine tuned any better than I had it, and I managed to get it better yet. Still there is a bit of a hole at ~2000 rpms or so. I just can't get rid of it. I know what it is, it is the air slowing down in the runners when you snap the throttle open. But that's not what these things are made for. They are made for 3000 and up, maybe 3500 and up... I could probably put smaller chokes in and lose some top end and make it better, but who wants to do that?!? Every Mikuni powered car that I've been in has had that problem though... Supposedly the Webers should be better than the Mikunis on that hesitation, but aside from that one hiccup if I rev it up and dump the clutch it doesn't hesitate. Just roasts the tires until I let off... I agree with you though, some ported SU's would be the perfect street setup IMO. Triples definitely aren't the ideal street setup, although I did drive mine in traffic for a couple years with no big problems, just took some getting used to.

Also the search at the top right of every screen doesn't work. The one in my sig does.

Search for SR (you don't need the 20DET part) and make sure you choose the "other engines" forum. Unfortunately I can't link to a good search. For whatever reason it doesn't work that way. This has been discussed A LOT lately. Do some digging and you'll find all kinds of info. BTW--I've never heard it called an SR20DTE, always a SR20DET.

Click the link on my signature. It will answer all of your questions...

I think this is your problem. The distributor is driven off of a shaft which goes diagonally down through the timing cover and connects to the oil pump and is driven off of the front of the crank. If you didn't keep the shaft in the same position when you removed it and reinstalled it, then you'd be pretty lucky if you just stuck it in there and it was right. Really lucky. To fix you should put the engine to TDC#1 (pull the valve cover and make sure the valves are closed and it really is TDC#1) EDIT--looks like you can just look in the oil cap-- and pull the distributor cap. The rotor should point to where the #1 spark plug wire is (roughly). If it doesn't, then you'll have to remove the oil pump and reposition the shaft. It runs on a gear on the front of the crank, so you'll have to pull it down to disengage from that gear, then twist it a little bit, then plug it back in. This is much easier if you have a buddy to stand next to the front of the engine and twist the rotor while you are twisting the shaft. If not, you pretty much have to guess, then attach the oil pump, then get out from under the car, plug in the dizzy, see if it is pointing in the right direction. Then if it isn't you have to get back underneath, pull the oil pump move the shaft again, put the pump back on, get back out, put the dizzy back on and check, etc... With a friend it shouldn't take more than about 10 minutes. Also, you may have to remove the front sway bar from the frame to access the oil pump bolts.

The main benefit to moving the battery IMO is to put it somewhere lower in the chassis. I think it's actually in a pretty good spot from the factory (offsets some of the driver's weight) so I haven't bothered moving mine yet. I think the Z's long nose contributes to the impression that it is nose heavy, but really it isn't at all. Most people who I've seen #'s for come up 49/51, 50/50, or 51/49. Mine is 49.5/50.5 if you wanna get particular... 74_5.0L_Z is obviously an exception...

Man, I woulda had to screw with the 18 year old. Tell him the citizens of the UK are called Ukers, and that they refer to the homeland as Mother Uk. You keep bringing this up Aux, you oughta read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "The Language Police".

I think I'm paying about $120/year for full coverage for "classic car" insurance through State Farm. I also had the car appraised and have an agreed value with them for $15K. This coverage does have a mileage limit of something like 3K/year but it doesn't sound like that is a problem for you either.

My personal opinion is that you need a big cam for triples. Compression helps when you're running a big cam. Put those two together and that's pretty much what you need, although I did run my low compression/big cam/44s setup for a long time. It just didn't have much bottom end.

BAR doesn't license techs. But I think they regulate automotive business licensing and require insurance, which the backyard mechanic isn't going to have. I know they regulate the smog checks. I'm kinda talking out of my ass here because I haven't tried to open a shop or anything, but I know there are lots of laws in CA at least (where I worked as a wrench) where they were really picky about disposal of waste oil and coolant and such. Then there was OSHA trying to protect us workers from... everything in the shop.

Well, like I said, maybe I just haven't seen it. I really think the AFM is a big restriction. I think the intake manifold is not so good too. It isn't easy to port the plenum. The runners are kinda long to port from the inside. I think it's more than I could do. John Coffey is making over 280 whp and he isn't running triples, but he is running Motec injection and a custom manifold. I'm not trying to say that FI is inferior at all. Far from it. I think triple throttle bodies would have an advantage over carbs. I'm just saying that I think triples (at least the 44 and bigger) have an advantage over the stock injection. You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT that you cannot put a set of triples on and get 300hp, and I did not mean to say that at all. In fact I know I've talked about that being a pet peeve of mine. Like you go to a car show and there is a bone stock 240 motor with triple 40's and the guy is claiming 300 hp. Can't tell you how many times I've seen that, and it's never true. What I can tell you is what I've told you before, that when I switched from SU's to triples my wife was actually SCARED of the car. It had to be at least 40 hp gain. At LEAST. My head was ported, I had a decent sized cam, EI, header and 2.5 mandrel exhaust, and it just didn't do much at all with the SU's. I was convinced for a long time that triples just weren't worth it, and I had fought to not switch to them for years (had a roommate who kept hounding me, and he was right). I had heard all the Norm stories, and they convinced me. And I was wrong. Big time. Switched to triples and it was night and day. But again, my experience is judging SU's against triples, not stock FI against triples. I'm not set on this one. Show me the guy who makes big power out of the stock FI setup and I'll be open minded. I just haven't seen that guy yet.