RebekahsZ

I would like to know who on this forum has cracked a Rota within the boundaries of responsible use, ie. didn't smash it into a stationary object?

You are not the FIRST idiot.

I just prime and paint over any powder coat color I don't like.

From all the reviews I have seen, the only rear brake kit worth having that has a parking brake is Silvermine.

Somebody on this forum will have an assortment of spacers in their parts pile. Put in a want add in the classifieds. Which spacer do you have now? I think the B spacer is most common. Can you measure the length with a caliper so we know what you have? I might have one set of spacers, but my memory may be playing tricks on me. Lets all look under our work benches and see what we have. You get the measurement on what you have so we don't just send you the same thing. If I have what you need, it won't cost you anything.

Something's not right-mine spun easily when torqued to 200#.

Of course I looked at them. No questions, because the links were so informative as to leave no need for follow up. Glad you are collecting and restoring such nice cars. You are doing a wonderful job.

Weedburner-will that tranny be any good for down shifting and road course style driving or is it an up-up-up shift only type of tranny?

I understand what you mean. I'm just asking questions to learn.

That's the thing. I'm not a purist, but I respect those who are. I'm just having fun slowly destroying this little car. I've been at it for 25 years and it just keeps coming back for more, kind of like a stray cat that I was dumb enough to feed one time. I just need fender flares that are cheap, easy to install (no bonding, blending or painting) and let me run big rubber. On the real ZG or H Datsun Z cars, was the sheet metal trimmed? Or were the over fenders just riveted on over un-cut arches? Most of the antique photos I have seen posted have the car at what looks like stock ride height. We butchers like to lower and that requires the old nip and tuck.

There is a JSK rear disc conversion in the classifieds right now.

Went by fabricators shop today. Car looks awesome. Hood pins done, rear fenders done, floorboard holes all done, new driver door hinges replaced and door alignment done, lowered seat rails in progress. The lowered seat rails are kind of ugly, but they work. He may dress them up a little, but for the moment ugly. They are covered up by the seats so who cares. But I'm not just a skin deep kind of guy. I was afraid of how car would look with the fenders clearanced so much, but with the 28" slicks and BAMF flares it looks freaking incredible. And I have all the tire clearance in the world. Pics when I pick it up this weekend or early next week.

HS30-H. Your car must be the real deal. You got a link to a photo album of your car? I would just like to enjoy checking it out, nothing weird or anything. You just seem to really have your shit together.

How much camber could you add before the tire rubbed the strut? I guess that would depend on the offset of the wheel?

Got any pictures of Mr M. S.?

From what you have shared, I think you have a fine setup to start with. My recommendation is to race it this year just as it sits. Take one aspect to work on per autocross weekend, but I don't think you need to change anything major. You may just need to practice driving it. Be sure to start slow on your first run, then on your last run, try to knock down every cone on the course. On that first run, be sure to get car slowed enough that you are off the brakes going into the turn. Try left foot braking. Try to turn the wheel once entering the corner, then try not to adjust it-that is what it means to "set" the car. If you are "driving" a lot thru a turn, your tires and weight balance never really get to work for you. If you are understeering sometimes and oversteering others, its not the car-its you. Once you get settled down, it will do one or the other. Try to be precise instead of fast. And you will start to feel in control. When I have a bad day, it is from entering corners too fast and you can't really recover the car from that. I think the only setup deficiency is camber plates. The rest is mostly driving.

Direzzas are the bomb. Camber plates? LSD? I wound up ditching my rear bar-just too hard to fit around the axles, exhaust and driveshaft. Losing the rear bar did not hurt me. Plus, you want the rear loose (from a sway perspective) in order to get the power down. I'm only on 225/250 springs and I like it. Did the car understeer or oversteer? Mine is neutral until I get on the power, then it oversteers even in a straight line, hoping to fix that with huge rubber in back. What do you mean by "brakes are hard to modulate?" I had stock fronts and maxima rears and I basically only had front brakes even with a prop valve giving full pressure to the rears. I couldn't stop the car and the fronts locked up whenever I tried. What pads are you running? If you have no camber plates, that would be priority #1. LSD would be priority #2. Then brakes. I set my front shocks full stiff and my rears full soft to help get power down. I also run less tire pressure than you would think. 26# on all 4 corners. AND, due to tire heat and temperature rises as the day heats up from the sun, I wind up having to let air out as the day goes on. I use shoe polish on the tires to check for edge roll. I confirmed it once with a temp probe pyrometer and 26 gave me even temps across the face and even tire wear across the tread with no tire rolling. The need for high tire pressures really only applies to high-profile street tires. Direzzas may be labeled as street tires, but they are race rubber that sticks across the temperature range. I so wish they came in wider sizes. Your old Direzzas are better than old Hoosiers, and a hell of a lot better on rainy race days.

Looks like a great car in want of an LSX swap.

Yeah, but you need to have 18" wheels to use the Corvette cast offs. Otherwise you are looking at used 15" spec miata tires which are tiny. And they've ALL been heat cycled out.

JMortensen-that's a great question.

Any chance a piece of hardware has gotten into the spare tire well or on the floor under the seat? Stuff like that can sound horrible. Look for loose muffler mounting bolts/brackets.

I dunno man, thats ugly. What kind of drift did you use? I use a press and a piece of galvanized pipe from Lowes that presses on at the inner race. All I can figure is that the ball retainer was defective. Get another bearing and get back on the road!

Last year, a guy started a build thread for a killer 4.3 motor, but the thread burned out. I don't know if the car did or not. The fabrication quality was amazing.

One week at fabricator. $810 so far. Rear fenders are done, various bolt and burn-thru holes in floors patched. Still to go: door alignment, fender exhaust exit hole enlarged, seat brackets, seat adjusters lowered, hood pins welded to chassis. The fenders had a lot of rust and one inner fender had to be re-made. It all looks amazing and worth every penny. I love my fabricator.

Where did you get those insulators? Great option for a future drag car that only needs camber to correct for lowering.