JMortensen

Took step one today: Bought a Millermatic 135 off ebay with Hobart auto darkening helmet, and added in a pair of gloves. Total: $607. Pretty good deal, I think. I was going to try and find used, but I couldn't pass this up! Jon

Gee Tim, seems like you forgot all about Tipper Gore and Joe Lieberman. There are two motivations for limiting obscenity IMO: religion, generally used by the conservatives under the guise of promoting "morality" and "family values", and political correctness, generally used by the left to try and supress anything that is offensive to anyone under the guise of being "tolerant". IMO they're both wrong. I don't need a pre-school like atmosphere in order to feel comfortable. Talk about making laws for the lowest common denominator... Jon

One carb having different jets sounds really fishy to me. I can't think of ANY reason to do that. That's the type of thing I've seen (and done myself) when people ream their jets, though, because the numbers don't mean anything once they are reamed. It is entirely possible that none of those jets are what they say they are. I think Drax mentioned soldering jets and redrilling, but that's not always an accurate way to tell. If you just want to go bigger, then you just ream the jet or redrill larger and there would be no solder to give it away. I would suggest you take the jets you just bought and measure them against what are in the other jet blocks. Only way I can see to do that is to get a set of pin drills, find the bit that fits the holes in the new jets, and then make sure that the existing jets in the other carbs are the same size. Whenever I ream jets, I always scratch out the number on the jet just to prevent this kind of confusion. Reaming jets is not the way to go, BTW. I only did it in the beginning stages to get a rough idea of what to buy. The reams are cheaper than buying a whole tackle box full of jets... Jon

http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=30930 That's probably the best one. If you can't find something in a search you can always try wading through the pages and pages of old topics. I just went to the drivetrain forum and went down to the bottom and clicked on page 2, and there was this one. Jon

I want to stick with 15's, so the 13" rotor is not an option, but they certainly would do the job!!! I can't imagine a Z that would fade those brakes. I agree that the welder opens the door to MANY relatively cheap mods. Not sure that I would bother having Delrin bushings made, but if someone had them available I might look at buying some... Thanks for the feedback Drax. Jon

I put a hose clamp around the gauge body and around the original mount tab, after bending the tab so that it met the body correctly. Jon

Sounds like a bad master or a bad slave. Best thing is to replace BOTH. You can actually see which one went bad by pulling back the rubber boot on both and looking for fluid leaking. Good luck, Jon

Just to be devil's advocate here, a buddy of mine spent 5 hours on the dyno yesterday. He dialed in his a/f ratio, and the guy doing it was making fun of his single wire O2 sensor a/f gauge. Turns out the gauge was dead nuts accurate. Jon

If you've got the 8" threaded sleeve you pretty much can't miss. Are you going to run 240 inserts and section the struts? I believe that is recommended if you're going really low. I would think that you could run the sleeve flush with the top of the strut tube and be fine. Jon

This might help: http://www.gordon-glasgow.org/lsd4.asp This is the last page of the LSD setup discussion. Read the other pages if you're going to get into it yourself. Looks like 70 lbs might be a little light for a full on race car. Jon

Just an interesting side point. I have 250 lb springs in back and a clutch type LSD. So you'd think that I would have this problem, right? You can see in my video that the butt swings to the right on one launch, and to the left on the other in my video previously posted here: http://hybridz.jimzdat.com/zpics.htm Also may not be a problem for me because of G Machine bushings as stated earlier. Jon

I believe the MSA roll bar is an Autopower bar which bolts to the fenderwells. You'd be much better off getting one that welded to the strut towers and the roof and the fenderwells if you are looking to stiffen the chassis. Maybe weld a pipe between the strut towers too. Jon

I think I've narrowed the list and come up with the following stuff: 280Z stub axles, new wheel bgs modern-motorsport.com CV conversion poly bushings for rear control arms JSK front brakes try another stock gas tank (maybe weld a sump into it) buy the welder and work on the other suspension stuff: adjustable rear toe setup diff mount move TC pivot raise front control arm pivot new tie rods adjustable sway bars I think I can get this all into $2k. I'm going to stick with the crappy JWT rear brakes for now. EDIT--realized rear brakes are JCR, not JWT. That sound a little more reasonable? Please understand that I already knew that the original full list wasn't going to happen. I'm just trying to figure out what I CAN do. Jon

Thanks Pop. I should have said that I already had Toy front calipers on solid rotors and the JWT rear disc setup, and an adjustable prop valve and 280ZX master. Every time I go to the track I end up burning the brakes right off the car. I won't even consider the Toy setup anymore, just too much weight and I'd like to get something that's capable of handling more heat. Plus a racer I know just had a more drastic problem with them. He snapped the bolts that hold the rotor and spacer on... He was using metric grade 8.8 hardware though (SAE grade 5). Also, I wouldn't exactly be selling stock interior parts. Some are, but I also have some custom door panels, a good carpet kit, thinking might just go huge and sell my dash with Autometer gauges and Recaro seats too. Already sold my Autopower roll bar to Aux. Jon

I've got a little money to spend, and I need help with what to spend it on. I've been mostly concerned with the rear end of the car, but there are a few little other things to do as well . Also, in this budget will have to be a welder. Thinking I'll try to find something used. Here's my complete list of things to do to my Z: 1. BRAKES. This HAS to get done this time around, #1 important thing to get done 2. Flares 3. rims and tires (was planning on steel circle track wheels, but correct width and offset for my 250/45/15 slicks) 4. diff mount (a la Jeromio) 5. JBJ link (or as Terry calls it, poor man's rear toe adjuster) 6. 4:11 diff 7. rear wheel bearings 8. CV conversion 9. fuel cell or fix tank. I've had a small leak from my tank that I've tried to fix about 8 times. Still can't get it fixed. Might be the seam in the tank leaking? 10. trans rebuild 11. Lexan windows 12. strip interior 13. would like to go up in spring rate with better struts (currently 200/250 w/Illuminas) 14. Make tie rods for front end and move pivots for control arms higher. 15. Frame rails 16. Fix rust. The car was painted about 6 years ago, and it has rust bubbling up. Not horrible, but it is there. 17. cut the ends off my sway bars and mod for adjustability and rod end links. 18. New TC rod mounts, possibly farther back, definitely higher up. 19. Relocate battery Stuff I already have: Complete 240 suspension out of a parts car Rebuild kit for the tranny w/main shaft nut 280ZXT nuts for stub axles My thoughts and confusion: 1st, the damn brakes HAVE to get done. I'd really like to go 5 lug for more wheel choices, but then I keep thinking that I don't need to since I have been totally happy running circle track wheels, and they're inexpensive. I'm thinking JSK fronts, Maxima front rotors in back with supra/cressida calipers in back, maybe just go to a Outlaw or Wilwood in back, depends on $$$ Would like aluminum 5 lug fronts, but I don't think that's in the budget, and I've got other things that have to get done. 2nd, the rust is really bugging me. There is a body shop a few miles away that has a Z tub epoxy primered waiting to go. I might be able to go down there and buy a whole new tub, which would make a lot of the other stuff easier, and I wouldn't have to fix any rust. I have about 5 minutes body experience helping a friend sand her Z about 10 years ago, so I'd be starting from scratch on that one. 3rd, I'm thinking maybe I should just find a rolling chassis that is already set up for racing (heard of a couple going CHEAP lately). Might save some money on brakes and suspension, and would probably save a hell of a lot of time with fixing rust and beefing up the frame. Might be able to find one already flared. 4th, once I start, I'll be able to sell a lot of my interior stuff that I take out and perhaps recoup some $$$, and maybe have a little more to throw at the car. My main priorities are brakes and fixing the gas tank or installing a cell. A lot of the stuff on the list I can do with a welder and a minimum amount of $$$ spent on materials. I used to just go to a friend's house to have something welded up, but now that I'm in WA and I have so much to do I feel like I need my own. I know there's no way to get all of this done on this budget. It would take 3 times the budget to get it ALL done, minimum. THIS CAR WILL BE 99% AUTOX/TRACK MACHINE 1% STREET. LOOKS ARE NOT IMPORTANT TO ME. IF IT GOES FAST I'M HAPPY. Anyone have any opinions, comments, suggestions, tips, tricks or other advice for me before I jump into this mess? Jon

If I understand your problem correctly then I suggest disconnecting the swaybar, which will allow you to drop the control arm down farther below the strut. Jon

I am 99% sure that I gave a 510 buddy an old stub axle out of a Z and he was able to use it in a 510. I think they are exactly the same. Jon

Ross had talked about machining ring gear spacers, but needed a group of people to commit to do so. I know that when I worked for Randy's Ring and Pinion we had some shouldered ring gear bolts made up for the new Jeep Rubicons, because they use smaller ring gear bolts than the previous Dana 44's, so shouldered bolts would also be an option (this was the exact same problem in a different vehicle). I think I'm just going to try and find a 200SXT diff myself. Jon

Interesting post, but I gotta say I've never noticed those problems. I know that I've bottomed my rear suspension, so maybe I've just been flexing the hell out of everything back there. I do remember getting together with a Z freak and a 510 freak and going thru about 10 halfshafts to find the shortest one to put on the driver's side. Aren't the 280 shafts supposedly narrower than the 240 shafts? Have I been fooling myself all this time? Or maybe because I've got camber adjusting bushings the pivots are moved out enough to prevent bind??? Regardless, you've put one more mod (CV conversion) on my list of things to do... maybe I won't get to autox this summer... Thanks, Jon

I agree with Rufus 100%. The check's in the mail Dan! Jon

OK, I either came up with something really brilliant or really really dumb, and I can't figure out which it is. Maybe you laserphiles can figure it out. The problem as I see it is projecting a laser to the front only will show you where the wheel is pointed, and will also show track change, but it will not show the change in the angle of the wheel (toe change) as the suspension moves. So your dot will move in an arc, but how this arc relates to change in toe is difficult to measure, unless you measure front and back, and can relate the changes front and back to the centerline of the wheel. So here's the idea: What if you used a mirror to bounce the laser back to the wheel area, and then watched the change in the distance between the laser and the reflected "target" point on the wheel? My thinking is that if the toe changed the reflected dot will get closer or farther from the laser itself. The laser could be "aimed" to the target could be adjusted by giving a little toe in or toe out so that the reflection hits where it would be convenient, and that point is then the target. Would take a little time to set up with the mirror; it would have to be perpendicular to the original beam, and the mirror would need to be flat for this to be accurate, but I think it could be done. I still think the dial indicators would be easier (just had to throw another little dig there), but at least with this idea you could measure not just where the dot goes, but also the angle at which the laser hits the mirror (toe angle). This should be pretty accurate because the toe angle will be magnified by the distance to the target and back, allowing for a really fine adjustment. Jon

Did you figure out how/where to order that thing LJ? Jon

OK, I'm sorry. I have been there too, so I guess I should be more understanding. Some times you gotta make do with what you have on hand. I can definitely understand that. One thing though. If you attach the lasers to the hubs when you raise the control arm that will change the angle of the hub, and your line is going to go farther across the floor than the hub actually moves out. I don't think that will negate your measurements, but it might make your parallel lines farther apart and harder to measure. Jon

I can't argue with your reasoning. That would work. No doubt. BUT-- you'll still be measuring on the floor with a ruler. I don't see how that could possibly be as accurate or as quick as using dial indicators, I've never seen a ruler that measures in .0001's. Seems like you and Owen REALLY want to use a laser for this. IMHO it just isn't necessary and makes the job twice as hard. I'm not trying to come off snotty or anything, but this is reminiscent of when I suggest that people can use an air hammer to take out stub axles. People just don't want to do it for some reason. I think I've told 50 people that method, and not a SINGLE person has actually done it that I am aware of. They want to make a special slide hammer instead. It's just not necessary, and they would have completed the job in the time it took just to go get the parts to make their slide hammer adapter thingy. Turns a 10 minute job into a hours long project. Again, not trying to get bitchy with anyone, but I think you're going to make the job a lot harder than it needs to be. I think you'll be pleased with the results regardless of how it gets done. If you're pushing the car really hard, this will make a noticeable difference. Good luck with your projects guys... Sorry if that was a little preachy or self-indulgent. Jon

The lasers are still going to move in and out while the suspension travels up and down, so you'd still need a way to measure the toe change independently of the track change. Level really shouldn't matter as long as it is safe enough to jack the car up in the first place. So slot the holes, figure out where the bumpsteer is fixed, drive straight to a muffler shop and have them weld the washers in place. Now its permanent and you don't have to worry about the bolts. Jon