clarkspeed

Damn this is a good thread. Now I know what I didn't know or something like that. Thanks all!

Awesome. I guess I'm not too far off then. It was a little cool at the Mitty so my temps ended up around 150 but I measured them with a IR gun. I know, not as accurate. Ended up 20 degrees different LR to FR. Around 10 degrees hotter on inside vs. outside. 3 out of 4 anyway. Took too much camber out of rear and LR ended up 14 hotter on outside, last sesson. Still, much better than where I started at. Another good track day should get them real close. And yes, the Bilsteins seemed to reduce tire wear but time will tell. Katman, Do you shoot for the same temp spreads front and rear? ie. 20-25 bias toward inside? In the past I've run a little less camber in the rear to increase traction out of slower corners.

Awesome. I guess I'm not too far off then. It was a little cool at the Mitty so my temps ended up around 150 but I measured them with a IR gun. I know, not as accurate. Ended up 20 degrees different LR to FR. Around 10 degrees hotter on inside vs. outside. 3 out of 4 anyway. Took too much camber out of rear and LR ended up 14 hotter on outside, last sesson. Still, much better than where I started at. Another good track day should get them real close. And yes, the Bilsteins seemed to reduce tire wear but time will tell. Katman, Do you shoot for the same temp spreads front and rear? ie. 20-25 bias toward inside? In the past I've run a little less camber in the rear to increase traction out of slower corners.

The Spin Werkes are not too bad compared to other custom offset wheels like CCW. Wait until you try and put the Diamonds over a big brake kit. Their 16" wheel has a 15" center. And 4 pounds at the wheel is like 40 on the car.

For those of you contempating race set-ups, Katman posted an excellent set up guide on ImprovedTouring.com that explains many of the questions above. I am giving it a shot and so far the results look very promising. Search for "240 set up". Katman, Care to post some insight into tire temp measurment? I felt like I was "chasing" things at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I ended up backing quite a bit of camber out with the heaver spring rates. I think the long back straight was messing with the measurments.

For those of you contempating race set-ups, Katman posted an excellent set up guide on ImprovedTouring.com that explains many of the questions above. I am giving it a shot and so far the results look very promising. Search for "240 set up". Katman, Care to post some insight into tire temp measurment? I felt like I was "chasing" things at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I ended up backing quite a bit of camber out with the heaver spring rates. I think the long back straight was messing with the measurments.

Just curious if anyone has tried the Spin Werkes wheels available through Racer Parts Wholesale. They look a little funky but the prices are good. They seem to have plenty of options available for offest and widths.

All of your descriptions are relative so it's hard to diagnose your problem. Hard to modulate and locks up the fronts easy? Both fronts? Is this easy street driving, agressive street driving, or threshold braking from 130mph? Locking up the fronts first is the right thing, but it should be easy to threshold brake and modulate just before lock up. Especially with an overkill brake system. You've made some serious changes to your system. From your description, I'm not sure what caliper piston sizes you have or brake compounds. You may have quite a bit more clamping force at the front than the rear. If so, you may never get the rears to lock. Still should be easy to modulate. Are you straight plumbed from the MC to calipers? F/R correct? If so, I suspect one or more components is not working correctly. Sticking caliper pistons maybe, improper pad installation, something moving or binding. The booster does strange things when it gives out but not overboosting. If anything, the larger calipers and 15/16 mc should be giving you a longer pedal throw which makes them seem easier to modulate. Again, don't move the prop valve. Changing pad compounds can make all the difference in the world once you solve your problem. Think about getting the fronts working correctly, then worry about bringing more rear force in, after that, you can use your valve.

Excellent post. I just spent 2 hours on a Superflow last week. As tempting as it is to look at that max number, I just kept making runs and programming EFI to get the A/F ratio I wanted across the rev range. End of the day I only gained 10 HP max, but made huge gains in areas under the HP and torque curves. I was able to find the best A/F ratio for my N/A engine, adjust to desired A/F across usable rev range, and find best timing advance. Dyno time seems like a bargain for the payback in power. And I had already done considerable tuning with a LM-1 before this.

Racer Wholesale has some SA2000 helmets on sale now. I'm sure some other vendors are doing the same. These guys also have some good prices: http://www.discoveryparts.com/

You'll need to split the inner fender from the outer fender to get any decent clearance when rolling the rears. Then you must re-attach.

If you are gonna race, any race, go Fuel Safe or ATL. There is a BIG difference in construction and safety from the cheapo's. For street driving, Summit is fine.

You must balance them "lug centric". Most custom race wheels don't bother getting the hole true. You must find a competent tire shop with an adaper that will fit. Spin balance machine manufacturers sell a 2 or 3 adapters that will fit up to most BC's. They cost about $500 each so many tire shops just don't purchase them (or lose them) since they are rarely used. Call around and you can find one or just buy your race tires at a race event and they usually balance for free.

The answer is: it depends. Camber plates let the strut rod extend further and the 240 struts are already a little shorter, which helps a lot. Again, shoot for static ride height around mid-point of strut travel. If you slam it, you will bottom out the struts.

The answer is: it depends. Camber plates let the strut rod extend further and the 240 struts are already a little shorter, which helps a lot. Again, shoot for static ride height around mid-point of strut travel. If you slam it, you will bottom out the struts.

OK, let me pull this sticky post back to the original topic. I have some updated info on struts. I followed the Katman's advice and went with Bilsteins. I like to be a little different and I think a non-adjustable strut more closely matches vintage racing intent. I was also swayed by this post and Katman's posts on the IT forum. In addition the Bilsteins are cheap and the Carreras are no longer available. The full part number on the box is F4-P30-0032-MO. This is the "sport" shock used for 75-84 Rabbit and others. From Bilstein website: SPORT For the performance-minded driver, Bilstein “Sport†shocks deliver absolute mastery of the road surface. Designed to push a car’s suspension to it’s performance peak, these super-firm shocks are well suited for use with special springs, anti-sway bars or other suspension upgrades. Measured data (by me with +/- 5% tolerance) is as follows: Shaft dia: 1.315 Shaft dia. at top: .550 Shaft length: 8.5 to top of gland nut Body dia: 1.519 Body length: 13 to top of gland nut gland nut is 1/4 thick Overall Length: 21.5 Stroke: 5 - 5/16 Color: Bilstein Yellow Gland Nut (240Z) - p/n B30-629 Gland nut - 48mm x 1.5 thread Cost: $99 ea. + $15 gland nut The gland nut was a sticking point. P/N 450424 gland nuts listed earlier in this post are no longer available. Bilsteins take a special nut that has an oil seal. The closest replacement is p/n B30-629 with the correct threads but too long. You will need to order this nut and cut about 5/16 of the threads off to get correct fit. I did it carefully with a cut off wheel and a little sanding. I will try to get a p/n for a 280 (52mm x 1.5) nut at a later date. So far, Bilstein has been a good company to work with and future re-valves are indeed $65 ea. Of course, as detailed in earlier posts, cut a spacer to fit into the bottom of the tube so the gland nut tightens up within 1-2 mm's from the strut housing, but not bottoming. I used 3/4 pipe. And depending on what you are attaching it to at the top, you may need to drill out or obtain a bushing for correct fit to your camber plates or spring perch. As I build this one up in preparation for the Walter Mitty, I will try to post a static alignment thread.

OK, let me pull this sticky post back to the original topic. I have some updated info on struts. I followed the Katman's advice and went with Bilsteins. I like to be a little different and I think a non-adjustable strut more closely matches vintage racing intent. I was also swayed by this post and Katman's posts on the IT forum. In addition the Bilsteins are cheap and the Carreras are no longer available. The full part number on the box is F4-P30-0032-MO. This is the "sport" shock used for 75-84 Rabbit and others. From Bilstein website: SPORT For the performance-minded driver, Bilstein “Sport†shocks deliver absolute mastery of the road surface. Designed to push a car’s suspension to it’s performance peak, these super-firm shocks are well suited for use with special springs, anti-sway bars or other suspension upgrades. Measured data (by me with +/- 5% tolerance) is as follows: Shaft dia: 1.315 Shaft dia. at top: .550 Shaft length: 8.5 to top of gland nut Body dia: 1.519 Body length: 13 to top of gland nut gland nut is 1/4 thick Overall Length: 21.5 Stroke: 5 - 5/16 Color: Bilstein Yellow Gland Nut (240Z) - p/n B30-629 Gland nut - 48mm x 1.5 thread Cost: $99 ea. + $15 gland nut The gland nut was a sticking point. P/N 450424 gland nuts listed earlier in this post are no longer available. Bilsteins take a special nut that has an oil seal. The closest replacement is p/n B30-629 with the correct threads but too long. You will need to order this nut and cut about 5/16 of the threads off to get correct fit. I did it carefully with a cut off wheel and a little sanding. I will try to get a p/n for a 280 (52mm x 1.5) nut at a later date. So far, Bilstein has been a good company to work with and future re-valves are indeed $65 ea. Of course, as detailed in earlier posts, cut a spacer to fit into the bottom of the tube so the gland nut tightens up within 1-2 mm's from the strut housing, but not bottoming. I used 3/4 pipe. And depending on what you are attaching it to at the top, you may need to drill out or obtain a bushing for correct fit to your camber plates or spring perch. As I build this one up in preparation for the Walter Mitty, I will try to post a static alignment thread.

That was taken a few years ago, and I have a different car now. If I remember it was a good 2" overall. It looks deceiving. Can't tell from a stock fender unless you put side by side. Remember, all of the 2" is at the top and it tapers to no flare at the bottom. I started with vise grips to get the lip out. Then pipes of various diameters to roll further. Then onto the beating. As you beat with a body hammer/dolly you try to get the flare to begin as high as possible and get lots of stretch in the edge. It's a 280 and I had to cut about 4" out of the stock front valence for tire clearance in the front. I prefered the valence to an air dam. You need to weld the rod in for support in the front and reattach the inner to outer fender in the rear for strength. I used rivets in the rear because each time I started to weld, the goo started fire and also contaminated the weld. I put the rod in after an autocross creased the front fender from corner loads. It was pretty thin up there.

Do them right and they will look something like this............. Just takes time and a strong arm for hammerin'. I recommend body hammers and dollys to really work the metal. And Bondo of course to smooth it all out. I ended up welding in a 3/16 rod just under the edge to add strength back and give it a nice look. This mod allowed 245/45/16 rubber under a lowered car.

Sounds great. Those tires look huge! You gotta get that thing drivin' on the street.

This is a good thread. I've noticed camber and dive can have a substantial effect on braking g's. I don't run any more camber in the front than I need to. When I did the Skip Barber school they had some interesting comments on braking. Of course the Barber cars run on narrow BFG street tires which look (and feel sort of) like there would be very little g's available under braking. However, maximum g's in the car, 1.4, were experienced right at turn in with a slight trail brake. Hince the reason they teach trail braking while some other schools do not. Seems the tire patch is the largest under threshold braking and when you make that turn in, the tires take a bite like they've never seen before. Makes sense. I use trail braking much more now.

Tube80z, What size masters did you end up with?

Above posts are correct. Bias knob reduces pressure to rear. Pedal should "hold firm" when air is out.

For someone like me getting ready to source some race struts, this thread is AWESOME! And by the way, here is the quote I got from Shox.com 8610-1437RACE $159.00 eac strut insert 8611-1259RACE $249.00 each Koni & Tokico have free shipping, for retail customers, to the continental USA and Canada. Further discounts are usually available when purchasing more than one item at the same time.

For someone like me getting ready to source some race struts, this thread is AWESOME! And by the way, here is the quote I got from Shox.com 8610-1437RACE $159.00 eac strut insert 8611-1259RACE $249.00 each Koni & Tokico have free shipping, for retail customers, to the continental USA and Canada. Further discounts are usually available when purchasing more than one item at the same time.