RebekahsZ

That the twitchiness will only be noticed when autocrossing or at a road course. De-sensitizing that DBW pedal was important to keep my ass under me. I was having trouble spinning the car exiting corners. You can actually program how fast the power comes on and off. And my idle speed was set at 1000 and I dropped it to 700 to help with throttle lift weight transfer. Now that the IAF is adjusted too, the car drives more like a carbed car where you can snap the butterflies shut by coming off the pedal fast. Interesting idea with the switch on the clutch-might steal that if I do a dog box. When I started my build, I got lots of folks warning me not to use the DBW setup. I'm so glad I did.

Even the manual system needs some tuning: I was getting no engine braking during autocross and tuner reduced one of the idle speed parameters significantly to help. These cars are tuned to allow drop from higher rpm to idle really slow to reduce emissions I think the parameter was IAF-idle air flow, but Im not certain. You can drop it to zero and the car still runs. But it is much more snappy on the throttle and a lot more like an old school cable controlled throttle. If your car is DBW, you probably want to turn down your pedal rate-my car was way too twitchy.

With a pregnant wife, it might be the perfect time to get out if the house! I kinda understand what you mean. I wouldn't do a motor swap on an old Ferrari or Jag.

Come to ZCON in Memphis in July and you can drive my car to find out. Airline tickets to Memphis are reasonable. My vintage L24 was slow, didnt start well cold and stunk. My LS is fast and reliable with none of that classic Z car stink. I would never go back to the way it was. I don't understand the romance with slow cars. I hear people use terms like "I love the way it revs!" I mean, what the heck does that mean? I like the way it hauls ass-and the sound is awesome at 5-6000 rpm. But you better listen fast cause its on to the next gear!

Man, it's gonna be tough getting in and out with that much cage.

Love the video. Camera mounted on roof? Remote microphone? How did you get such good exhaust note to pick up with all the wind? I love MSR!

Dreco, where the heck are all your wires? That looks clean!

When you are redesigning your rear deck, think about how to mount a spare tire, a full size floor jack and a tool box.those things add a sense of security when going to the track.

For sizing and locating the cell: determine what else you need space for: fuel pump? Dual exhaust? Battery? Trailer hitch? Parachute? Future suspension mods? If I were doing a cell with the events I participate in, I would go small and deep to limit sloshing and I would weld a good solid perimeter frame abound the bottom of the floor on the underside. I would connect it the roll cage or something else good and solid so I could use it for all of the above. Try to think easy serviceability with quick disconnects and a cleanable screen-type filter to get all the welding flash etc out. My tank had been sand blasted and it took about 5 cleanings before my screen quit having sand in it, but the FPR has always been fine. Don't forget to put a small braided grounding strap from the tank to the chassis or some track inspector may send you home.

You coming out to ZCON in Memphis in July?

Ok, now THAT is too cool. Would you be willing to do a better write-up and post more pics? Love it!

Doesn't that battery need to go in a sealed and vented metal box?

Brother, that is SO NICE!

With the engine in place, you can't really photo the mounts. Just come see me in the staging lane and you can climb all over/under the car. It looks better in photos than in real life and has been waxed once in 25 years, so keep your standards low and you'll be impressed. If you haven't been to Wilmington before, the cars and drivers stand in line all day for 2 days, so that's where we can hang out and talk. Chipping away on the airdam. Hoping to finish the inner steel attachment fixture today. I hope to make a couple record runs on Saturday with the full kit installed, then on Sunday when the crowd thins I hope to run in a variety of configurations: full front end kit, then open the small radiator opening, then remove headlight covers. Then close the opening and go without headlight covers, then switch to my urethane airdam and run it without headlight covers, then put the covers on and run. If my axles stand the beating, I should have die good aero data for the aero and landspeed forums. Then next year I hope to play with a rear spoiler. Notice I still have a stock engine and I'm still having this much fun! And we haven't even talked about tire pressures!

Hey, bro. I went last month and ran 167mph besting the old class record of 161. I'm going again June 6-7, leaving home for the drive on June 5. Will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Come visit! I've been working on a custom airdam for two weeks. Sanding, sanding, test fitting, sanding, sanding, test fitting-argh!

Absolutely. Soco, i just gave you wisdom that was built over 25 years of Z ownership-we all wanna go low, but it just gets impractical. Johnc, I'm glad I haven't bothered-the local Cobra club is all into it (corner balancing), and I can't get them to do anything automotive beyond waxing and polishing (and bragging about how much their $30,000 engine made on the dyno before it was shipped to them)!

Does corner balancing screw up your ride height? I've never corner balanced. Plus, I'm always changing height, so I don't know which ride height I would corner balance from.

Goodness, why do you want a check engine light? Mine wears me out in the truck!

I just wanna rip my dash and anything non-essential out and put it on the curb. If you can't buy it from Jegs or Summit, Pegasus or RacerPartsWholesale within 2 days of placing the order-I don't want it. I'm gonna post a picture of a car at my last race that will make you guys cringe. This guy must have money to burn-and it's no fake, and it is just as concourse in condition as it looks. The dash and gauges are beautiful. He must clean for MONTHS when he comes off the salt!

Your diff sounds a lot like mine-that jumping and flat tire feeling is a great description. What you are feeling is what car guys call "chatter." Chatter my ass-it feels like your world is getting rocked! Anyway, what is happening is that your diff is locking. Welcome to the world of high performance CLSDs. If you were selling this diff in a catalog you would simply say this diff is "aggressive." And of course you would say that it is a "must have for any serious enthusiast." But I know from experience that an aggressive CLSD sucks ass to drive on the street. Hell, they suck ass to drive thru the pits! You need to set the pre-load and clutches back to factory specs. It may still chatter some, but should be less problematic. This is probably something you can do yourself. After the last bit of work I paid out for, Im done paying people to work on my stuff. If I can't fix it myself, I'm buying a new car. I'm just tired of paying sociopaths to fucx me over. However, this shop may have simply done what you asked them to. But, I doubt they test drove the car before they gave it back to you, that's just a thing of the past. And johnc-I'm down on doctors right now, and I am one. Finally, the leaking at the axle seals may be just spillage coming from the vent up top-these diffs create heat and oil comes out the vent hole. That's why they are all greasy in the junk yard. Nothing's gonna fix your diff but you. You need to find a cheap, grungy $75 Datsun diff to stick in there while you tear this one down yourself: figure out how it works, and do it yourself. Search this forum for my thread and video on this subject. If you can't find the video, go to YouTube and find my channel: RebekahsZ. Tell your girlfriend that gear oil smell is male musk: the hottest new aphrodisiac cologne and get out in the shop and get smelly and greasy. Just like Im telling my wife that the white powder Im getting all over her new floors and that itchy feeling she gets when I climb in bed with her isn't fiberglass dust from building an airdam-it's fairy dust-designed to keep our marriage strong, and to make me more sympathetic and a better listener.

Trying to make an airdam. I lay it up glass and sand off mistakes. More mistakes than airdam! Looks like its been snowing in my shop. I need Old Andy to save me!!

That's gotta hurt!

To get the "proper" geometry I think you leave it at stock height. Stiff springs help make perfect geometry less of an issue. Not trying to win trophies as a road racer helps too. So, I set it for looks. I lie and say its for aero-but I truly set it for looks. Then, I look at tire clearances and the ability to get my jack under it, which usually makes me bring it up a little. Then I go down my driveway and when I scrape I bring it up a little more. Then i load it on my trailer and it scrapes, so i raise it a little more. Then when I go to the red-neck drag strip and scrape on the tree roots that are tearing up the return track, I raise it a little more. When I put my slicks on in back and I get a little tire rub, I raise it a little more-that's where it sits right now. That's how I set my ride height. I hope you make it to ZCON, we can mess with all of this and you can try on some of my wheels and tires if you are still 4-lug.

No. Let me go snap you a pic of my wires-standby while I go out in to my self-made fiberglass hell.