RebekahsZ

It's nice to have some interaction on this thread. Tires and z cars have a bad relationship. There's just so little space inside the fenders. One solution is to jack your car up. I have a buddy I drag race with who can fit 10" wide slicks under his stock z-they just hang out the side. If you look at launch photos, he's rubbing the fender arch, but there are never any marks on the tire. I'm lowered and therein is the rub (pun). I can only run an 8.5" slick. If you want to save your axles run 8.5" bias ply slicks. If you want to challenge your axles, run 235/60/15 MT drag radials. By running a slick or drag radial the compound will give you more traction than any other tire (but you can still spin them). For wider tires than 225s and the occasional 245 available, you pretty much gotta go to a race tire. Hoosier makes a 275-16 in a R6. Road race tires make good lateral traction but they are nothing special for launching. The largest Hoosier you are gonna fit is a 225 of you have stock fenders even with coilovers. So, here's how I handle tires on this car: I had a little reality check. I drive slow on the street. I consider this car kind of like a loaded gun. I shoot it at the track, but on the street, I try to conceal it and blend in. My street tires are the cheapest 235/60/15s I can find. Used would be good but the used tire places, like the junkyards, are charging the same for used as for new. I use my street tires to get to work when it is sunny or to go to cruise-ins or on country drives with the local club. Then I swap to the slicks for the strip and autocross. 435# of torque with 1200# of weight is always gonna be able to spin the wheels pretty much at-will regardless of how much tire you put on it. At autocross with 245 race rubber I have to baby it off the starting line. I spin at the drag strip unless they put TONS of super glue down. Now, that Durezza (sp) is a GREAT tire. I got smoked by a L28 powered 240z last year that was piloted by a good driver who had attended every race for a year (I manage to attend maybe five events in a good year). He did it by being a better driver in an under powered car with Hawk HP-plus pads and Durezzas "Star Specs". If you want to stay with the 16" wheels, those are the tires I would get. Great all-around tire for the money.

dat280z-that's not a stance, that's a sit.

I'm hoping to get my seats out of the car this weekend. Be sure to bring a pickup or something when you come do you can take the bar home. If you just came down in the z when you are ready, we could install it in your car together. It would be a snap with two guys working on it. I can stash it for a bit if you want. Whatever works.

Hoping to get the roll bar photos and send them to your phone tonight before I hit the sack. May want to put your phone on silent so the phone doesn't wake you if I get to it super late. Very mixed emotions about cutting....I'm just so sick of how hard it is to fit tires. It's just that track conditions have to be PERFECT to avoid spinning, and they are only rarely perfect. I'm trying to bracket race against automatics. If I don't spin, the car runs my index (6.96 to about 7.11). If it spins, who knows what it will run?!! (from about 7.08 to 7.35) I feel kind of damned either way. If the car is running 7.00-ish, I can always race the end of the track-I've won a few heats by beating the other car and braking to avoid breaking out. I know I'm gonna regret it just as soon as I break paint, but it is so maddening trying to fit tires. When you come down, try to budget some time and I'll let you test fit several kinds of wheels and tires. My rota 16x8s with 245/45/16 A6 or R6 fit great without flares if I slam camber in. But, 245 ain't cutting it. Next increase in width is the 275, and it is a HUGE increase (the 255/50/15 is really just a TALLER tire than the 245-not really any wider). No way 275s will fit with stock fenders. So there you have it-gotta cut!

I wonder if this "out of date" concept is a misrepresentation? Perhaps you have to have the cage re-certified every 3 years and a new sticker applied? I simply can't imagine having to cut out your cage every 3years to have a new one out in. I could see how it might need to be re-inspected by an official just to check if it has been modified, damaged or if the rules have changed...but not replaced due to wear and tear.

I wish I thought I could handle a woman like that.....was there a car in that photo?

I'll try to have it out and ready. You are under no obligation to take it. I will work on some photos and send them to your email. Last week in Jan is a good plan.

I LOVE that silver car.

If you get everything sorted out, put a roll bar in that thing so the drag strips won't tech you off the track. I'm looking for someone to put my old Autopower 4-pt roll bar to use. Its too heavy to ship, so it's yours for the cost of a case of premium beer, or two bottles of Bailey's. But you gotta come and get it. Logging off to check out your flickr account. Edit: just went thru your flickr account. So many positive things to say about this build. Super clean car. The wide 280z trans tunnel ROCKS compared to the skinny 240z tunnel. Great looking exhaust build-super clean. Awesome fuel tank and fuel pump, regulator tower. Z31T axles and RT R200 mount. You did a super fantastic job. One of the best conversions I've seen in terms of overall quality. I'm eager to see this car in person.

Time, my ass! You better get to work-you still gotta get a cage built or all that power will be left on the shelf-no more one-run outings - we want a stack of timeslips! I just learned that my dang cheap battery box is a NHRA no-go. What's another $100? Make that $300 - I'll probably go ahead and join the Braille bandwagon and shed 40-50 lbs. Have to somehow offset the weight of the new bar (coming soon to a Z-car near you)! The rest could come off my fat butt. Love and frostbite from Alabama.

Get down here for a visit as soon as it warms up!

All parts ordered up. Man, I can spend it! Measured droop from static to when the rear tires start to slip: 3" as measured at the top of the fender arch.

From the way the tokicos behaved, I would say you are correct-one of my shocks "went bad" and when I compressed the shock by hand and let go, the strut rod shot up to full extension fast and HARD. I considered that shock "bad" because the other shocks returned to full extention slowly and controlled. Will order up the thrust bearings-been all over the internet looking at them between appointments today; they all look about the same-between lower/higher prices vs free shipping/paid shipping all the vendors are about the same. I presume that one should lightly grease the bearings? Sometimes I don't know whether or not to grease things that are exposed to the environment without a seal-seems like the grease just attracts grit...Thank you for all your advice. Hope to meet you in person some day.

Me too! Keep at it, looking great.

74_5.0L_Z, I was kind of hoping you would chip in, since I know you did the koni thing recently. I have plenty of remaining travel-in fact, I have two spongie bump stops on the strut tube to try to limit my compression to 1.5" (to keep car from squatting too much when drag racing). My housings were already shortened by a previous owner. For the fronts, the 1437s went in with no spacers-I put two flat washers in on the passenger side just to make sure my gland nut didn't totally bottom. For the rears, I ran the same spacers inside the tubes that I had with the BZ3099s, but I added a small stack of flat washers too in order to get the gland nut to cinch down nice and tight with just one thread exposed-all spacers are in the bottom of the tube, under the base of the shock. I have two sets of springs. For the rear (since that is what is low), I have a 10" spring and a 12" spring - both are 250#. They are constant rate springs. The longer is a hypercoil from johnc and the shorter is not marked for brand, and it is from Ground Control. The 12" has wider coil spacing. I am going to order a set of thrust bearings and a spanner wrench from Jegs tonight-only thing delaying the purchase is deciding among the vast array of different coilover spanner wrenches available and my inexperience in knowing what will work and what really matters. My adjustable lower seats have round holes in them, so I'm going to pay $35 for a spanner wrench with round "fingers", whereas a simple toe-nail style spanner wrench is only $6 from Speedway! Hope to play some tonight with a jack to see how much droop the car has now. I will probably wind up with a car that has zero droop and a good bit of pre-load at ride height whether I like it or not. Another option is to have a big aluminum "biscuit" machined that can bolt to the top of my DP camber plates (kind of like socorob suggested), and increase ride height on the top end of the strut assembly...damn the domino effect! Any more advice after that "War and Peace" explanation?

The strut rod extension is about 1-1/2" shorter on the koni 8610-1437RACE than it was on the Illumina BZ3099s. Really only effected the rear ride height, but I no longer need droop limiter straps in either front or rear. I have never run any preload before. I plan on installing the next longer coil spring and cranking some pre-load into the rear springs to see if I can bring the rear back up. Am I right to say that I can compress the spring a full inch before significantly increasing the effective spring rate?

Brakes totally done and bled (at least until I find a leak and have to redo something). Put 26" slicks on back with camber all in to be sure they fit. Ride height in rear is too low. The konis have less extension than the tokicos do I switched to a shorter spring and tightened it up by hand. Will try to work on getting ride height back where it is supposed to be. Will put longer springs back on and order Torrington bearings and a spanner wrench to jack in a bunch of preload to try to get things leveled back up(ass is dragging). Went ahead and reinstalled driveshaft and exhaust. The car is whole again but the alignment is pretty messed up. No point in correcting that until ride height is established.

That looks great. Congrats. You thought I was kidding! I like how you acknowledge that time and accomplishment are measured differently between single guys and guys with a house full of people all screaming for your attention. And the butt dyno is always right! Check exhaust clearance tomorrow to be sure you aren't cooking a CV boot with your exhaust (possible source of smell). I think that is an issue with 510s. Other source is a big greasy hand print on the exhaust pipe. Way to go!

That's about right.

This is great-and a ton of work just to help the team. Thanks a million! I think it is important to note that the 240z (at least mine) and the 280z are two totally different animals structurally. I got a chance to look at Z-Enthusiast's 280z after he removed the interior. Lots more spot welds per square inch, lots more overlapping panels and lots more metal overall in a 280z. I recently had to have my tunnel scabbed in places due to tearing (fatiguing) of the metal around the big, very spaced factory seam welds in the tunnel. If I look over the car, lots of these welds are broken. And there seem to be NO spot welds in these areas. I simply can't imagine that additional welding would not be beneficial on my chassis-there just isn't much holding it all together. .

Quick Time bellhousing order got messed up. Trying to get it with the inspection window modification. Waiting for refund to hit before trying it again. Hoping to do all the underside mods before moving into the cockpit, but may strip out the seats and rollbar while I'm waiting. I bet I have to wait 2-3weeks.

Sounds like you have good family support! Congrats.

"Stance" changes-mine changes on a weekly basis, mostly based on what "shoes" I put on the car. Back in the dark ages stance was known more as "rake." Here are photos of street, drag and autocross tires. Other than changing rear camber for the autocross setup, the changes in appearance are all due solely to tire changes. Another thing to note is that stance changes dynamically while you are driving-see photo of drag launch-the rear gets lower and the front gets higher. Some of our other drag racing hybridz members even manage to get the front REALLY high. Still on the to-do list here. If the photos post in the order that I attached them, they are: street tires, autocross tires, two photos with rear slicks, and the launch photo. Enjoy.

It's not a scam, if you want to make up a bunch and offer them at a lower price-knock yourself out. I can't drill a straight hole to save my life-bit always walks around. If you add up the time it probably takes to set up for quality machine work, that price is fair. Especially if you compare the cost of doing it wrong. Next, price compare against competing products-Chequered Flag Racing billet stubs at $730 a pair. This vendor offers a cheaper alternative. I don't know the original poster, but I support his efforts.

Duragg, those are impressive numbers.