wheelman

Not sure what the spacer might look like but it would be sandwiched between the control arm and the ball joint mounting pad. The 4 bolts that hold the ball joint to the arm would go through the spacer and thread into the pad just like they do now. Obviously the bolts would have to be longer to accomodate the spacer. Is that a little clearer description of what I'm thinking? I was thinking that by increasing the distance from the control arm to the ball joint it could make the control arm and tie rod more parallel which is the same thing the Pinto kit, moving the inner pivot or bending the steering arm can do, in my case anyway. The idea is to make the tie rod and control arm as parallel to each other as possible so they follow the same arc through their motion, after all isn't it the differing arcs that cause the bump steer? You verified my thoughts regarding the anti-dive characteristics. Wheelman

I know what bump steer/roll center adjusters are, in fact I have them on my car now, what I was curious abourt is putting a spacer between the ball joint and the control arm. I installed power steering, in the process the rack ended up a little higher than it had been so I either need to move the inner pivot up or the outer end down (in relation to the tie rod end). That is if I even want to mess with it, the bump steer is not bad (haven't actually measured it, driving impressions), it's just there and will bother me until I can do something about it. It is the "safe" direction though, toe out on compression, so thats at least one positive to the whole thing. I was thinking it may be a simpler job to place a spacer between the ball joint and the control arm than mess with the steering arm and tie rods. I'll have to ponder it some more, it may have other "bad" side effects than a change in anti-dive as I suggested in my first post. Wheelman

I was looking at the ball joint attachment to the control arm the other day and thought about putting a shim/spacer between the joint and arm as a fix for bump steer. Has anybody tried this or does anyone have an opinion on whether its a good idea? My reasoning is it would be simpler than moving the inner pivot and could probably be accomplished using some washers assuming the adjustment required is small enough. Making a spacer from 6061-T6 aluminum would be very simple. Down sides would be longer bolts holding the ball joint to the control arm and possible loss of some anti-dive as the spacer would be between the control arm and TC rod. I can't see how this would be affected much as a large spacer would be a bad idea. Anyway, what do you guys think? Wheelman

I didn't see where you had resolved this so I figured I'd give you an answer. I did an LT1 swap and used an 1/8" NPT brass T with the Datsun oil pressure sender and the LT1 oil pressure switch. I can't guarantee the Datsun sensor is 1/8" NPT but mine has never leaked in the 5 years since I put it in. Nice looking car by the way.

technically it's still street legal but I never drive it on the street any more and it's trailered to events now. I'll try these springs for this season, keep notes (or at least attempt to) and then re-evaluate next fall. Like I said the next big change I plan to make is adjustable rear geometry, maybe I'll do a cage at the same time. I supposed it's time to gut the interior and build a dash with guages that are accurate. Neither you or John C. addressed the strut question, what are the guys who run 400 and higher spring rates using for struts?

Fair enough, I was just curious about the apparent change in attitude toward the higher rates.

Ok, I think I have two more question left, at least in this thread anyway. The links you posted above mention running springs in the 400/450 range, what strut inserts are run with those spring rates? Are they custom built units, revalved Konis, Bilstiens, what? What has changed the thinking in using higher spring rates? When I first joined HZ people were thinking 250s were to much and over time would damage the unibody structure, now 450s are being used and nobody seems to be concerned. I added sub-frame connectors to my Z but haven't put in a cage yet, is it the additional stiffening that makes it possible to run the higher spring rates without damage or was that really a false concern?

Thanks for the links Jon, makes me think I'm headed in the right direction except I may want to add droop limiters or leave the front camber where it is. That brings up a couple questions: 1. Are you guys running droop limiters on both ends of the car? I was considering adding them only to the rear. 2. Do we have any pictures of droop limiters installed so I can steal some ideas from how others have done it? (I'll search after posting this but figured I'd ask while I'm here) 3. I'm assuming you measure toe out at the tread of the tire, correct. Example: distance between front edges - 40", distance between rear edges - 39 7/8" gives 1/8" toe out. Those distances are just made up, I have no idea right now the actual width of the front of my Z. BTW: In relation to the first thread you linked, I'm running a clutch type LSD, I assume this makes the weight transfer off the inside rear tire less of an issue as compared to an ATB but introduces more tendency to push on corner exit under power. I run a relatively large rear bar to combat this, is that a good idea or just a band aid?

It's interesting you mention changing spring rate Jon, I just went from 250/225 F/R to 350/325 and changed from Tokico HP Blue to Koni 8610-1437 struts. Last season I ran tire pressures as follows: 22 front, 20 rear with the Kumho v710s. At those pressures I had great grip, could get some heat into the tires and the wear line went all the way to the edge of the "tread". Measured with an IR sensor at the surface the highest temps I saw was in the mid 120* range, biased a little to the inside edge of the tire. Fronts didn't get as hot as the rears, maybe 5* lower on average. I was running -2.5* camber front and -.5 to -1 camber rear. this season I'm going to try -2 front, -1.5 rear and see if I can run a little higher pressures. The rounded edge on the Kumhos likes less camber, I think I had to much dialed in last year. My next big change to the car will be adding some sort of toe adjustment to the rear end, either adjustable arms or offset bushings.

Thanks for the replies. Turned out they were gone by the time I decided to move forward with it so ended up buying a set of this years manufacture. BTW: It was Tire Rack closing out the last of the 2008 production they had in stock. I imagine they store the tires in a controlled environment but not bagged or treated with VHT. I've thought about trying slicks but haven't done enough research to know which would be best for my application (auto-x). One of the guys I run against drives a Midget with a rotary, he ran takes offs last season, had a real hard time getting enough heat into them, even in the Tri-Cities where we get high 90, low 100 temps during the summer. The Z is very easy on tires so I think I'd have the same problem, I was able to get the v710s up to temp late in the day last season but only when I had a co-driver. Any recommendations on slicks to consider? I run 16x9.5" rims in the front and 16x10" rims in the rear.

Today I started looking to buy race tires for this year's auto-x season and ran across a special deal. I can get a set of Kumho V710s for $440.00 plus shipping, the catch is they are closeouts and were manufactured in 2008. So, are they worth buying or should I spring for tires manufactured in 2010? The vendor is a major firm so I'm not worried they were stored outside but wonder if they change chemically just sitting for several years.

I'm in the process of assembling a pair of axles from the parts of 2 84 300ZX turbo and 2 92 Pathfinder axles. I'll be using the center axle shaft from the Pathfinder and the CV ends from the 300ZX. So here are the questions: 1. In the process of removing the birfield from one of the 300ZX axles I cracked the cage, how big a deal is this? It's cracked, not broken or bent at all. 2. If I need to replace it does anyone know where I can get just the cage? I could probably scare up another complete 300ZX axle but I'd rather not have to go that direction. BTW: The method I finally used to separate the birfield from the axle involved a section of pipe similar in diameter to the axle and longer than the axle. Insert the axle into the pipe then drop the pipe on it's end from a few feet. I actually had to throw it at the floor rather than just drop it. Before I tried this method I tried using a drift and a 3lbs sledge, then an 8lbs sledge, hence the cracked cage. I can post some pictures of the cage if it will help. Wheelman

I'm going to drag this old thread back up. I believe I read in one of the threads on this subject that the V6 Pathfinder axles (center bar) have the same diameter and spline count on both ends and they are the same as the 300ZXT. If this is the case would it be possible to take both CV ends off the 300ZXT axles and use them on the Pathfinder axle? Based on the pictures I've seen this setup will most likely be too short but fabbing an adapter for the wheel side of this setup would be relatively cheap and easy. Has anyone measured and posted the lengths of the center bars of the various axles we're experimenting with? Wheelman

It's an event put on by the club to thank all the members for the hard work they put in to make the season a success. In order to run you have to be a member and have attended at least 2 events during the season. I believe you attended 2 events but I'm not sure if you became a member of the club this season. If you want to attend the event you could pay the $25.00 yearly membership fee and the $10.00 event fee. Sign up online then put a post on the ssscc.org forum asking how to pay the yearly membership fee and someone will put you in touch with the club treasurer. I most likely won't be able to make that event. I'll either be in Germany or working the weekend to meet some tight deadlines on a project we're trying to finish by early November. BTW: I won the season points race for our local "All Mod and Prep Cars" class. I beat my nearest competitor by .06 points, very tight season race.

The event was run by my local club Sand and Sage Sports Car Club. We are an SCCA sanctioned club but operate under our own rules. If you watch the other video I put on YouTube from the same event you'll see there is actually a lot more than 25' of run off after the lights. The course had the typical "gotta slow the car down before the lights" element that usually ends up upsetting the car rather than slowing it down and it caught me on my first run after lunch. The tires had cooled, I was pushing hard and got loose exitting the element, it was my fault. Yeah, most of the folks I've ever raced with try to accelerate through the lights to save as much time as possible but how much time can you save in 30 - 50 feet of track. I'd rather see courses designed where you are at speed through the lights after a series of flowing elements and have lots of space to slow down. Not all venues offer the space for such a setup so it rarely works out that way. Wheelman

Ryan, Sorry to tell you this man but the event where that video was taken was the last race for this season.

Here is a link to an auto-x video from the weekend of Sept 18th, 2010. We run at Tri-City raceway which is a old roundy-round track, it has concrete walls around a significant portion of it which we try to stay well away from but in this run I got VERY close. Didn't make contact but the pucker factor got very high before the car stopped. Wheelman

Like Dan I haven't been posting here much lately but I've got first hand experience with the LT1/WC-T5 combination. I've been running that setup in my Z for 5 years with no problems at all. The LT1 has an LT4 hot cam, high rev springs and a custom tune, put down 275 hp @ 5800 rpm and 307 fl/lbs @ 3800 rpm on a chassis dyno. The car is pretty much dedicated to auto-x so isn't driven alot but when it's driven it's driven hard. I drop the clutch on launch and run Kumho 265/45-16 V710s (sticky race tires) so there isn't a lot of wheel spin before it hooks up and goes. The rearend is a 3.54:1 clutch pack R200 and is a perfect match for the ratios in the transmisson, I redline (6000 rpm) at 63mph in 2nd gear and cruise at 70mph and 1700rpm in 5th. I had to do a little clearancing to get mine in the tunnel but it was mostly to clear the clutch slave cylinder mount on the Camaro bellhousing I used. I had to cut the original Datsun crossmember mounting ears out of the tunnel. If I had it to do over again I'd go the same route, the biggest problem I ran into was finding a GM WC-T5 in the first place. I searched for about 3 months before finally running across one on ebay. The guy didn't know what he had so I got it for $175.00 shipped to my house. Edit: Forgot to include I used a flywheel from a late model 305 that is externally balanced like the LT1, 86 and later I believe. It's 16lbs, bolts right on and is balanced correctly for the LT1. Wheelman

I've been running the same spring rates the OP mentioned with Tokico Blues except I run them 250F, 225R. The car is almost exclusively used for auto-x now so they don't see many miles but I haven't had any problems. Just to add my $.02 to the discussion, if you're planning to auto-x the car I would seriously consider running the stiffer springs in the front. I originally had the 250s in the rear and the car was pretty tail happy, I swapped them and it tamed down a bit, of course throttle control is a big facter when there's an LT1 under the hood.

New Ohio Roller Coaster The last picture says it all!! Yep, NUFF Said!! Did you catch the guy behind her??

Do a search for member Bartman's thread on how he installed a Datsun sending unit into his LS1 fuel tank. I followed his lead and took the sending unit from my stock tank and mounted it on the fuel bucket in my LS1 tank, works great to retain the stock Datsun fuel gauge. My tank came from a 2001 Camaro, I'm not sure what car Bartman got his from.

Nullbound did it the way the manual says to but most of us, at least that I've seen, did it the other way. When I tried to set it up "correctly" on my car the spacer wanted to occupy the same space as the header so I bolted the plate to the block, the spacer to the plate and the motor mount to the spacer. I've been running it that way for 4 years without any problems and my car gets raced more than street driven. I really don't think it matters other than getting everything to clear.

I fail to see how it's significantly different from any other mid-engine design. The engine is in front of the transaxle which places the weight between the rear and front axle lines. The other stuff from the rear such as fuel tank was obviously moved to the front adding weight over the front wheels. So now the weight distribution is rear biased instead of front, seems to me it's good idea. I love this comment:

Search for posts from member 240Hoke on this site, he has completed the swap already.

Here's a link to a thread with pictures showing a Lincoln 4.6 in a Z. As you'll see it can be done but it's a VERY tight fit. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=112543&highlight=4.6