RebekahsZ

Thanks for the advice, buddy. I'm really feeling the pain of the ancient sheetmetal too. I have a thread started in the Gen III forum describing my latest breakages: 1) broken driveshafts (3 times now), and 2) The transverse seam in the floorpan behind the seats is separating. Got a lot of shtuff to repair before I get out to AMP again. One step forward, two steps back. Have tossed around the idea of switching to an LS converted RX7 to try to move up a few decades.

Dug up some options for incorporating some diff support into a rollbar per johnc's advice. In some of the pics you can see the seam that runs transversely across the floor pan from rocker to rocker up and over the hump-that is where my spine is broken. Yes, I know I should have stitch welded it, but I first built this car pre-hybridz (shoulda-woulda-coulda)! I like the crossmember at this point on the floor of the white car-thinking that might be a good idea to basically box this section of the car. John, you think Big Dog rails represent the best option for subframe connectors? Or is there something else I should consider?

"or just fooling around?" Great question that offers a lot of perspective. If you want to win, should pick another car. If you want everybody at the event to talk to you, pick a Z-car.

My wheel is at AZC. Dave test fit it and feels that my 15" Draglite will fit using a 5/8" spacer. If I go to a 5.5" back spaced wheel, I need a 5/8-3/4" spacer to center the tire in the wheel well between the lip and the spring perch. Holding off final order from Dave for a couple of days to see if the spine of my car can be repaired. Car is in shop for major sheet metal reinforcement.

On the diff I was just trying to clarify which diff you were promoting, your Q45 diff or were you trying to get a feel for demand for the 8.8? Your old diff is holding up fine. I'm having trouble with the way the Datsun diff is secured into the chassis-ripping my floor pans apart right behind the seats-that whole transverse seam is separating. Wish the old tin can had something solid to bolt to. Just because I don't have $25k right now doesn't mean I won't ever. That sequential kicks ass. The tough decision will be: join AMP while living 5hrs away or get that kick ass gearbox! BTW-what does MTI stand for?

Installed the cheap cast slip yoke from speedway and made about 12 passes on it. Result: twisted. It hasn't snapped yet, but I put straight markings on the yoke with a sharpie and they are clearly twisted like a peppermint stick. Just ordered a forged TCI yoke from Jegs. It was the only hardened unit I could find that accepted 1310 U-joints. Gonna try to have it swapped out for Saturday's autocross. I'm running one yoke per event lately. Just fixing this driveshaft to keep car limping along till custom driveshaft arrives.

Aw, it isn't that bad - you guys keep me both grounded and inspired-that's why I love this site. I've got my chin back off the ground and ready to get it back together. Anybody want to volunteer their car for me to learn how to weld on (?)-probably not. Honestly, I think if you do the standard JCI swap and drive it around town, the T56 option is great. But, I'm putting all of the torque down thru slicks on VHT and dropping the clutch in the torque band on an almost weekly basis-I think any car is gonna have trouble with that. Most of my friend's drag cars are POS(s) that are pretty hammered. Plus, autocrossing on slicks monthly and a couple track days a year. If you race it, it's gonna break. I brought this up to demonstrate that we not only have to think about the strength of our components, but also what we bold them to. I built this car 20 years ago and I wish I had done better foundational work, but I just can't bring myself to burn all the paint off it-that paint job almost cost me my marriage! Its a good "20-footer" even with 20 years of cone-rash, scratches, dings and a little pesky rust. I hope the new 8.8 IRS crowd have better luck, but they are dealing with 40 year-old sheetmetal too. If I ever give up on the R200, it will be for a straight axle8.8/9-inch, 4-link and a Power Glide. Meanwhile I'm thinking of a way to modify my clutch to create more consistent clutch-dumps.

You first! I just wanna drive this thing! Likely gonna miss another autocross this Saturday. Rush ordering another driveshaft yoke tonight and planning an all-nighter Friday night. Staying optimistic. Any repair done on the floors this week will be a bandaide at best.

Thanks!

Are you asking if I am interested in buying your old diff setup, or in getting a copy of your new setup?

How's the progress and pricing on MTI sequential T56?

No cage (has been on the list and first priority for winter work). No bad dog rails, no stitching. But I'm rethinking. The force that I think has caused it is from the diff in the center of the car causing a flexion force thru the RT mount up (and down) at the termination of the rear half of the floorpan and forward portion of the rear floorpan forming a hinge. That hinge has flexed, fatigued and failed. It looks like an inherent weak point. The stock setup has the front of the diff supported by a crossmember that stretches across and transfers the force into the rockers. The RT mount transfers that into the tunnel alone. I wonder if I can couple the merits of the RT mount and the stock crossmember. I see the bad dog rails as being stronger in tension, not flexion. When I have the cage built, I'm curious to know of a couple of diagonals from the corner of the main hoop and seat tube to the tunnel area will help transfer some force into the cage. Input/thoughts?

Don't buy the yoke from speedway if you plan to race. Mine is twisting off.

Went to strip this past Friday night and got 10-12 passes. Last week I replaced driveshaft yoke with a cheap one from speedway, just to get some racing in while awaiting the custom driveshaft. I ran 7.11 best for the night launching off 2-step at 3,000 rpm. I marked the yoke with straight longitudinal lines with a sharpie marker before installation. Well, the yoke is already twisting again. The lines are starting to look like the lines on a peppermint stick and the metal is getting that hammered look that tells me it is failing. Next item is the chassis sheeetal. The welds and seam sealer are broken along the rear-most lap seam of the transmission tunnel. Canceling autocross plans for the weekend; car is at sheet metal/chassis fab shop to get several large scab patches welded over that joint. I guess the trans tunnel acts as a torque arm on the car. If scab patch doesn't hold I may be looking for a new chassis. I'm not ready to give up yet!

Thanks! Way to go.

Looks great. Specs on Rotas?

It is cool that each of us has had different advice. Must be a lot of different ways to get to the same place. Johnc, do you still sell any bolt-in camber plates he could buy and install in back while swapping the springs? Achieving your recommended alignment specs was the best "cook book" thing I've done to my car. I was happy with it right out of the box. I've had one pro autocross driver take it around the cones a couple times and one pro driver take it around a big track for about an hour and the reviews have been positive with no complaints. When it was tail happy with street tires, we were able to simmer it down a lot just with changing the tire pressure and shock settings.

I don't really know how to tell you how to measure for your needs, but I can address the yoke. Most of them are missing a spline, so count the number you have and add one (probably 27). Check speedwaymotors.com for the standard length yokes available. They have the measurements in their catalog, perhaps they have the on line too. The length measurements are made from the centerline of the u-joint cap to the tip of the yoke.

What style of racing was it? Bracket? Are you launching off a button? Delay box?

Thanks. I'm gonna order his brakes tomorrow, so I will ask him then. Maybe save some postage.

Heck no! In bracket racing the fastest car doesn't necessarily win. The most consistent, experienced, wisest driver wins. I got beaten by a car two seconds slower. Moral of the story: 1) if you wanna good drag car, use a powerglide. 2) if you opponent looks like Curly from "City Slickers", take the money and run! I've been working with a pedal operated practice tree, but I gotta wire it to work off the clutch pedal in my car. On the to do list. Why do windshield wipers and a heater keep getting knocked further down the list? It was still really fun and educational.

Tire pressures: low-like 30 front and 26 rear hot. You will have to let air out as they get hot. My tire pressures go up as much as 10psi from cold to hot.

1. Sell me any BZ3099s you have in the MR2 length. (I need one now). 2. Reduce front shocks to 3 and rears to 2. 3. Increase camber to -3 in front and -2.5 in back. 4. Buy a used set of Hoosier R6 245s or 255s off eBay. I don't know why anybody uses anything else. My last set cost $400 for a set of four. 5. Get a driving lesson from cobramatt. Go race!

Thanks, fellas. I want to figure out where to put my go pro to capture differential movement too, but I haven't been able to find a good mounting point (yet). JMortensen, I'm on that when I tear down this winter. I also am likely to spend big bucks this winter on shocks if dual adjustable konis are still around. I think something like minimal rebound in front and max compression may help along with max rebound in the back will help. Gonna try to video my droop straps to see if they are playing a role too. So hard to find someone to video the things Im working on while I'm driving. I'd love to have a codriver so I could watch the cars behavior more. Only so much you can do as driver and head lackey ll in one!

Assorted videos of my Z at the track launching on bias ply slicks. Notice how the tire first moves forward in the wheel well, then the amount of squat and bouncing of the suspension. I think the bouncing may be a product of hitting the bumpstops... Will try to play with ride height to see if staying off the stops will reduce bounce. No video from last night when I turned launch rpm down from 4000 to 3000.