JMortensen

I remember what I had heard on the weld thru primers. They don't stop rust. In fact almost all primers don't stop rust. Isn't that right? Maybe an etching primer would, and I'm not a body man so I don't know, but aren't virtually all primers porous?

Thanks Dayz. I've heard mixed results on weld thru primers. Anyone care to comment.

evil, check the link I put up before. You can just swap valves with a 280Z head then you don't even need to mess with the valve geometry. Just add shims under the cam towers and you're done.

Let's not start the whole triples vs SU thing again, OK???

I think someone's trying to tell you something...

WTF is going on?!?! Everyone who it seems has the MOST time and effort and $$$ in their Datsuns seems to be on the selling bandwagon lately. It just seems to be a shame because you'll get pennies on the dollar for them, and there's so much blood and sweat in all of them. In any event, I wish all of you good luck in selling and hope you get enough out of them to justify the hours of work that went in.

Ooh, good one! Thanks!

Well I suppose I could get a 7/16 bolt with a 9/16 head to negate the different sizes problem, then just paint that hole and bolt day glo orange so that I don't try to force it into another hole...

There is a process that machine shops can use where they can remove steel from an aluminum head without damaging the aluminum. Not sure how it works, might be an acid that doesn't eat aluminum??? I'd look for another head personally, maybe one with square exhaust ports (you'd need a square port manifold or header to go with it).

Well so far I've prepped the rear control arms (removed the bushings and the spindle pins), sectioned my spare set of struts, pulled the stubs, and I'm about to drop the diff out of the car. Plans include the "poor man's toe adjuster", a diff mount like Jeromio has, possibly a fuel cell, and definitely stitch welding the chassis in the back. So the questions are: What is the easiest way to clean the areas to be welded? I bought a plastic wire wheel from HF and I'm thinking I can use this on an angle die grinder? Also I've gotten some advice that I should paint the areas where I've welded so they don't rust with a tough spray can paint. So far I'm thinking of using Hammerite or a similar "durable" spray can paint. Any suggestions about other paints to use would be appreciated (must be spray can). One of the nuts that holds the differential crossmember that is stripped. These are the captured nuts inside the frame. What to do? Should I cut out that section and weld in a piece of sheet metal with a new nut tacked to it? That's about all I could come up with to do to fix. Finally starting to get somewhere with the latest round of mods... Jon

dvlax, if you have a NA motor and you aren't revving past 5500, you're missing the best part. I understand that there are some issues with the turbos and air/fuel ratios at that rpm with the stock computer, but having a NA Z and not using the whole rpm range is missing the whole point! You gotta use what you've got, and these cars love to rev. Jon

I think the P90 is the best head to use, and I like the way this guy did it: http://geocities.com/zgarage2001/p90.html That way you get the best of all worlds. Straightest runners, best quench area, runs on pump gas, don't need to change lash pads or any of that. Jon

I love this engine in this car. Sounds so good... http://www.leksus.com/Videos/werbung.mpg

I really think you should pull the engine. It will be much easier to get the main caps out if you aren't fighting for room to move your arms and struggling to get around the crossmember. If it were a V8 and the mains were just bolted to the bottom of the block I'd probably say do it in the car, but it's not and sometimes getting the caps out is a pain. MARK them so that you don't switch them around from left to right when you bolt them back on. I don't know how hard it is to pull a turbo motor vs a NA, but pulling my NA is really quick. Drain radiator and remove, pull hoses, pull manifolds, remove oil pressure fitting and coolant temp probe, remove alternator wires, remove starter, unbolt trans, yank motor.

I agree with Guy. I don't take the tranny out or work on the exhaust nearly as much as I work on the suspension and brakes of my car. And you can do both with a regular lift.

37 is the ring gear tooth count. 11 is the pinion gear tooth count 37/11 = 3.363636363636363636363636... It is a 3.36.

I'd say definitely, but I know better... EDIT--the springs are supposed to reduce the chatter and provide a smoother engagement.

http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=31967&highlight=valve+stem+seal

If you have a cammed L6, try to find a ZX 5 speed. The ratio thing is the same for the trans as for the diff as Phantom stated before. The ZX 5 speed has closer ratios so it won't drop you out of the powerband. The 280Z 5 speed is particularly bad in the 2-3 ratios if you have a narrow, higher rpm powerband. For turbos and probably V8's too that have lots of low end, a wider ratio tranny will do better. For the diff the best thing to do is figure out your tire size and work backwards from there figuring your top speed, highway rpms when cruising along, etc. Jon

The only people I personally know that run the button or puck clutches are the people who were told that it was cool (not meant to be an insult to you or anyone else, but that's a true statement). I'm SURE that there are those on this list that would fry my setup in a day. There are people here that NEED the button disks, but I'm also sure that they are just a handful of people. John Coffey always says that people overbuild their brakes. I disagree with him on that, but I do think people tend to overbuild their clutch. I had a Nissan master tech and 510 and Z guy as a roommate for a couple of years and he helped me put my car together the first time. I kept saying I wanted a badass clutch, and he convinced me to drive it stock until I had a problem, then upgrade as necessary. As far as upgrading, he always said to get a heavy pp and a stock disk (Paraut disk was what he always recommended). He was also the one that rebuilt my other friend's 200SXT that had the CF DF that ruined the thrust bearings, and he showed me the damaged caused by it. That turbo engine did not make enough power to slip the stock clutch after being rebuilt. All that damage for no gain whatsoever, and a hellacious chatter to boot. Not all of the advice that my ex-roommate gave me was that good, but I think that particular piece of advice is very good, and I think you're right that MOST people that have them don't need them. Oh, and the weakness of a stock clutch disk is the springs. If you've got big power and you're shifting hard but the clutch isn't slipping, the springs will give out first. If you have the disc out and the springs rattle, replace the disk. I can only imagine that the puck disks with springs must go bad in about a week, but I've never run one so I can't say for sure. Jon

I know that my retainers hit my valve stem seals with an aftermarket cam, springs, and retainers (490 lift cam and Schneider springs and retainers in my case). Do a search and you'll find a fairly recent post where options for this were discussed. You can use a Datsun A series seal, or a Ford 2.9L V6 seal. The Ford seal looked like the way to go IMO. Barring some kind of contact I can't think of a reason why this would happen. Since it has, you should probably replace them all, and these lower profile seals would be a good way to ensure that it doesn't happen again. You might want to take a close look at the valve stems and make sure they aren't all scratched up before you install the new seals. Jon

I think they just have a taller ride height.

Probably 100K if you're nice to a street clutch on a street car that is driven like a street car Bastaad. I had 50+ on my original clutch when it just wouldn't hold the power anymore because I switched to Mikunis. The clutch disk looked almost new (I switched about a week after putting on the triples). You can probably expect 1/2 that life or less if you are slipping the clutch to spool the turbo all the time. Occasionally won't hurt it too bad. BTW--I just looked up the Nissan Comp clutch and found it rated at 750 kg or 1650 lb. The stock 280 clutch is supposedly 550 lbs. The 50% stronger than stock ACT clutch which holds down my motor would be 775lbs. The "extreme" ACT is 85% stronger, so 1017 lb. So that means the Nissan Comp unit is over twice the clamping force of mine and 60% stronger than the ACT. Couple that with the comp bronze button clutch disk, WOW. That sucker would hold down 550 hp I bet... All of my 510 buddies run the Roadster comp pressure plate. Their pedals are STIFF and they all carry spare throwout forks, and I've seen the forks split on several occasions where the pivot ball is. I'm sure John is right that the Nissan Comp stuff works great on the track, but I sure as hell wouldn't want that in a street car. I wonder if it comes with a left leg only version of the ThighMaster... Jon

You can't shim the hat out. You could shim it in, but that would be a bad idea IMO and isn't what you want anyway. Same deal with the rotor. Sounds to me like you need to a. do what Dave says, b. mill the hats down .1" (sketchy and then they might not be true afterwards, and you'd have to have them anodized again), c. run the 280 hubs and make a new caliper bracket... EDIT--d. remove the bump steer spacer if that is what causes the interference. Bummer.

I was just thinking this thru and you'd probably need to shim the caliper out if you changed the hubs too. Not sure what the difference in the hubs is, but it might be more shimming than would be good/safe/preferable.