JMortensen

I was waiting for that. I'd take the Pepsi challenge with a turbo Z too, on a road course or at an autox. They did specify "highway" driving though. Jon

Having bought Z's in CA, I can honestly say that I would go to AZ. My ex roommate worked in a Z junkyard in Phoenix, and he brought back cars and parts to CA. The parts and the cars that he brought back were unbelievably rust free. Made my stuff look like I bought it from MI. Jon

My old boss had a side business making Delrin bushings for 944 swaybars, because the power steering leaks right onto the rubber bushings and destroys them, especially passenger side. He and a machinist made an aluminum mold and injected the Delrin. It was a low pressure deal, not a high pressure mold. The problem they had was determining the correct hardness of Delrin to use. I would think that you would have the same issue. They figured it out through trial and error on the boss's car. You might have to do the same. Jon

I don't mind my G Machine solid steering coupler. Someone here got inventive and used a hockey puck. I don't think there is much practical difference in feel between a solid one and a poly one. Neither one is going to flex much. Jon

I get about 20 mpg on the highway... Jon

"It's like jello on springs!" Can't remember which Marilyn Monroe movie that's from, but I'll never forget the line. Jon

Remove anything you don't want painted, trim on the windows, the rain gutter trim, hell I'd even remove the door handles and locks, headlights, emblems, etc. Those places are notorious for doing a bad masking job, so you've got the old color creeping out from every corner where they did a poor tape job. Sounds like it won't be too noticeable considering the color of your primer is pretty close to the color you want to choose, but still, it is annoying (trust me). I always liked the black or dark air dam, flares, and tail light panel myself. Jon

You can mark the input shaft and the output shaft, stick a shifter in it, and check the gears to find your ratios. I would bet that it is the same as a 280ZX transmission. Another thing to check is for reverse lockout from 5th. Put it in 5th, then try to put it straight into reverse. If you have to put it in neutral and wiggle the shifter back and forth before it goes into reverse, and the ratios match, then its the same as a 280ZX. 1st gear should be right around 3:1. OD should be right around .8:1. Jon

OK, finally got this figured out. That is a spacer, not a crush sleeve. Pinion preload is set with a shim. Thanks again to Steve Golik who was patient with my long list of questions, and my second-guessing of his post which occurred because I was given incorrect information by an "expert". Sometimes it's hard to tell what to believe, especially when someone who is universally appreciated as an expert is wrong, as in this case. Experts don't know EVERYTHING, and it is the mark of a "good" expert to admit when they are incorrect, and an even better one when they say "I don't know the answer to that question". The expert in this case told me to stop asking him questions as soon as I challenged his "wisdom." Take that for what it is worth... Jon

Sorry to burst your bubble. Jon

Pull the cover and measure the ring gear. Just hold a ruler up next to it. Should be like 6 1/4" diameter if it is a 160. Jon

They use 160's in the WRX, the XT turbo, and even the big Outback wagon. I'm not aware of any 180's being used on stock vechicles, although I did hear that they used them in the WRC cars. I think you've got a 160. Sell that puppy to a 510 guy. They love em. Jon

That should be an R160... Jon

My buddies favorite IT story. There was one woman who asked him about 20 dumb questions a day. Here goes: phone rings... "Yes, can I help you?" "My computer won't boot up. It says something like non system boot disk." "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "No." "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "No." "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "NO." "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "NO!!!" "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "NO Goddamn it!" "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "NO!!! There is no disk in the disk drive." "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH! Do I have to call your supervisor?" "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "Why do you keep asking me that?!?!" "Is there a disk in the disk drive?" "................................Oh, thanks." click... I love that one because I know the woman involved. Sharp as a marble. Jon

I think the Z Therapy kit uses a ball type valve instead of a needle and seat. Jon

If that's anything like a Ford 9" you should be able to buy the other cross pin shaft, the other pinion gears, and the thrust washers and convert to 4 pinion. Do you know if that is correct John? Jon

John C, I wanted 13x7's for a long time with a cantilevered 10" slick. How does Ian do with that setup? Is he running cantilevered slicks or just an 8" regular slick? Pretty quick or no? I know the footprint is shorter with that smaller diameter tire. I figured I could get lower with a 20" tall tire without compromising geometry or travel, could have decent street gears for the drive up, and lower gearing when I got there. When I started doing POC events and track days I figured out that I had to run bigger brakes, and bigger wheels to fit them in so I've pretty much given up on 13's. But I'm still curious. Jon

I was being a little sarcastic there Bastaad. The 240 always had good handling, but it was good for the day. A stock 240 could whip on MG's and Triumphs, as others have noted. A stock 240 will have its ass handed to it by most sports cars today. Go to an autox and you'll see what I mean. A stock Miata or M3 will BLOW AWAY a stock 240. It's not even fair to try and compare them, really. They are in different classes because of this fact. But, you do some poly bushings, stiffer springs, good shocks, sway bars, lower profile tires (back then stock was like 87 series, I think) and now it handles much better. Not to mention all of that stuff is way past worn out on a 30 year old car if it hasn't already been replaced. Don't get all hung up on what the stock Z did. Just figure yours out. Get the GTech, go to some driving schools. Get some GOOD TIRES! You'll be happy. Jon

I for one don't doubt that you can make a box and save yourself $200+ Nismo. I just wonder how much engineering went into the shape. It really doesn't look like much. Maybe they just went with some standardized taper, if rc240z has one he could lay it down on a table and use an angle measure to help you. Jon

That's really low. Do you have any suspension left at that height??? You may want to run a little higher until you get some things changed around, like sectioned struts, raising front control arm pivot height, and some adjustable TC rods, possibly raising the TC pivot too. Right now I'd venture a guess to say that your control arms are pointing way up, and that as the suspension compresses you are losing caster due to your ride height. I think lower is better, but with stock pivot points too low is not good. Maybe you've already done all of that, I don't know. 250/275 should be fine, maybe 225/275. I started with 250/250 and dropped to 200/250 to get help get rid of some of the push I was talking about before, before I got the custom control arms and TC rods. Jon

I wouldn't do it. I've seen N/A 2.8's blow up R180's in 2 different Z's. They were autox cars too, not drag racers. One guy destroyed the Nissan LSD. The carrier grenaded on him, but he's also the only guy I've known who broke a mustache bar. Let's just say he liked to light em up. Jon

You should only post your question in one forum at a time. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned that to you yet... The urethane will sag over time, but won't crack if you hit a parking stone. You can reinforce it with metal to keep it from sagging. I think Auxiliary did that to his to beef it up. Fiberglass is better in that it won't sag and is lighter, but is fragile. I thought I had the best of both worlds with my "Flexdam" which is fiberglass with a rubber skirt. Turns out the rubber skirt started flapping up at about 90 mph, so I changed the rubber out for plastic lawn edging, which has worked well. I got the flexdam from a company in Ventura CA about 7 years ago, I have no idea who what their name is anymore. You see a lot of them on 510's, but mine is the only flexdam I've ever seen on a Z. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a fiberglass unit, since I barely drive on the street anymore with the Z. Jon

Mr. Coffey will probably correct any errors in my statement, but I think the TWM units are specially tapered to keep the flow going all the way to the back of the airbox. I have heard that an incorrectly shaped box can really limit flow to the rear carb. I don't know how hard it would be to get close enough to the TWM unit to be "close enough". A slight taper is all it really looks like, but maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. Jon

Interesting. What kind of plates are they? My ground control "roadrace" plates can adjust me between about 3.5* to 1.5* with the control arms lengthened. With the stock control arms I think I could get to about 2.25*. I think you also may be running a little lower than me ride height wise. Your bias ply tires are the main difference there, though, as you know. With a radial the plates are probably more necessary. Jon

Gramercyjam has it right, I think. I wish I had known about the differences in the Konis and Tokicos when I bought struts. One advantage to the Illuminas is that if you are still driving to the events you can turn the shocks down before you hit the road so they don't destroy your spine. At present I haven't run in a little more than a year, but before I moved to the land of rain and rust I used to drive 2 hours to events with 4 slicks in the car. Three wedged in the back and one riding shotgun. Oh, and I had my tools, my jack, my helmet, and my crate full of spares... a whole Z full of crap. Hopefully I'll be trailering the car before I go again. I think if you're going to get really serious with FP you'll probably end up with coilovers and camber plates anyway, so I don't really see any harm in doing that now, but if you're trying to go cheap you can get a set of coilovers like the ones from modern motorsports, then you won't be paying for that aluminum hat which you'll get rid of when you do go to camber plates. Jon