JMortensen

Trimming down the feeler gauges is done to either check lash at the pad or to figure out what size pad you need without having to buy a couple and hope. If it is a stock cam try the stock pads and do the wipe pattern and check it. If it is wrong, don't run it, just wait and get the right ones first. As ZGreek says, all you need to do is clean up the rocker arm contact pads and color them in with a sharpie. Let it dry for a minute, then turn the engine over a couple times by hand and pull them back out to see if you're running off the end of the rocker arm contact pad.

Getting the ass end together.

I think your backlash is correct. Supposed to be something like .005 to .0072 and you're at .007. Check the FSM to make sure, but I think I'm right. Generally speaking the pinion depth doesn't change unless you pull it out and change the shims. Even when swapping from one gear ratio to another, the pinion depth shim usually doesn't change much. I know MikeC has used a pinion depth gauge on an R200, and I think probably any of the tools will work if you get (or make) the right adapter. Really though the way that works is you start with a diff that has the pinion depth set correctly, then you pull the pinion and put a new one in and set the depth back to what you had before. For your situation I'd just fix it with the pattern. This might be of some assistance: http://www.ringpinion.com/Content/HowTo/TechnicalInstructions/Yukon_Installation_Kit_Instructions.pdf

Just get the bronze ones from mcmaster.com and save the hassle. Search and you'll find the part number.

R180 is more rectangular with rounded corners. R200 is more octagonal.

You'd have to have the holes in exactly the right position. Sleeves are cheaper and easier than paying a machinist to do this would be.

Also don't pump fast when you bleed the master (or any brakes for that matter). If you pump fast while bleeding the master you'll aerate the fluid, then pump that air down towards the calipers when you bleed the brakes again. BTW bending that little hard line is a ***** to do without kinking it, so be careful.

Talk to Joe @ Chequered Flag. He is considering doing another run.

You're asking a lot from an R180 putting 550 whp through it. Subaru guys do it, but they're splitting power with the front end. Especially if you have sticky tires and are drag racing, I think you might have issues.

John Coffey has had side stub axles made so that you can use the stock halfshafts. www.betamotorsports.com.

Actually, looking at the video again, he has an R180 diff.

Pretty sure I'm not wrong. If the 240 has shorter rails, and you tried to put a 240 SFC on a 280 it would not reach the floor because it is not tall enough. If the frame rail is an inch taller, how does the shorter rail hit the floor?

All of those sounds are normal. I wouldn't call any of them "grinding". That's just the noise of the gears working on each other. Click is backlash which again is normal and necessary.

Finally back at work on the Z, these control arms were off the car while I was measuring for CV fitment, etc. Went to put them back on and decided to fix these. They were loaded radially on the threads, and I just didn't want to take a chance seeing as how I'll have 13" wide rear tires... I'll get better pics after the paint dries and I get them reinstalled, but here is a quick shot. Only took a couple hours to get them fixed up the way I wanted. Word of warning; if you hold onto a big ass corded 1/2" drill one handed and it grabs the threads, it will try to rip your friggin arm off. LOL If you hold it with two hands it might also rip the control arm out of your vice and slam it on the workbench.

If you can't find something local, consider buying one from MSA. Their shipping on these is (well used to be anyway) unbelievably cheap. The box that an airdam ships in will have "dimensional weight" with UPS or FedEx Ground, meaning that due to the size they'll charge it as though it weighed 50 lbs, even if it only weighs 7. If you buy through a private party you might find that the shipping cost outweighs the better deal through a private party.

I'm sure if you looked you'd find more info, but I believe the 280 style frame rails are something like 35mm tall and the 240Z stuff is more like 15mm tall. If that is correct, then the aftermarket rails might fit over the top of the existing rails, but they wouldn't hit the floor making it a real PITA to install them.

IFS = independent front suspension. The advantage would be to go to SLA (short long arm), as Z's already have IFS. The Mustang II suspension that most hotrodders and drag racers use is supposed to be really bad in terms of geometry for handling. There are people that swap to SLA for better handling in Z cars, but they're usually engineering it themselves. I'd suggest you just work with the strut setup. You can get a Z to handle really well with struts, just take a look at some of the autocross and road race videos. If you really want SLA, I'd do a lot of research on the setup you want and not just pick something out of a catalog.

They have a 280Z variant. For the 260 you'd need to know if you have the early one which would take the 240 SFC, or the later one which would use the 280 style.

Yeah, I got focused on the camber curve there for a minute. More caster is definitely a good answer (caster was one of the biggest changes I made to my car) and wider track will help too. You might look at using different bumpstops and maybe not focus so much on not hitting them. I always thought hitting the bumpstops meant that you didn't have enough spring or you had too much rebound damping, but after getting into Miatas I'm finding that from the factory they are riding on the stops A LOT, and even with the higher spring rate coilover setups the bumpstop is considered much more of an active part of the suspension. You might try FatCat Motorsports and see what they suggest for bumpstops. Or to restate: if you cut them down and still hit them the effect of hitting them might be more dramatic and hurt handling more than having a thicker, better stop.

TC rods are also called strut rods. It's the rod that keeps the struts from moving rearward under braking.

It's pretty linear according to Dan McGrath as well: If your control arm is pretty flat, I'd keep them. Underground roll center will roll more, and I still think you might be undersprung. If you're still wearing the outside of the tire, I would say more neg camber or stiffer springs. Getting the tires flat midcorner is the name of the game. Are you taking tire temps?

On a 240 they connect to the same frame rail that the front diff crossmember attaches to. In the front they slide over the frame rails up to the TC box. Here is a pic of the rear:

More FAQ posts, stick them back in the relevant forums where people will see them. That's my $.02.

Ross said way back when that the shafts were shortest at full droop. When I measured for my shafts, I verified that to be the case. 3/8 of an inch total travel from full droop to full bump, shortest length was full droop. Since the stock axles are more than 3/8" too long, the stock length Z31 axles should never get out of a bind when forced into a S30 chassis. The problem with considering the arc that the control arm moves in is that it doesn't account for the strut motion. The strut is essentially a sliding upper control arm. This is why camber continues to go negative even after the control arm passes horizontal.

I measured on my car and the measurements off of all of the people I talked to (quite a few M2 customers who gave me the validating measurements off of their own cars with M2 shafts installed) indicate that the stock shafts are too long to fit without some modification. When I figured this out on my own car, I lengthened the control arms 1/2", and I had the MM billet adapters, which give you 3/8" more clearance over MM's welded adapters. IIRC, the stock shafts were something like 5/8" or 3/4" longer than should fit with the MM welded adapters. My best guess is that your companion flange adapters must be narrower than the MM ones. I still have no idea what most of the people who were running the Z31 shafts were doing. I know a few were making their own adapters and running Pathfinder shafts, but the majority must have been forcing them in place and then driving around with the rear suspension all bound up.