Dan Juday

I don't mean to take this thread off track, but the question of drums or disks in the rear came up. There is another factor besides braking performance when considering changing to rear disks. The Datsun stub axel, particularly the 240, is a weak link in the rear end. It shows it's failures primarily on very high hp cars that have already been upgraded with stronger diff's and CV's. With drum brakes, if you have a stub axel failure you have the potential of having the tire leave the car altogether. The physical structure of a caliper over a disk has the advantage of at least constraining the wheel to stay with the car. Your odds of this happening? I personally have only heard one story, second hand, of a stub axel failure where the wheel left the car. In the seven years reading on this site I have never read of a first hand account of a stub axel failure followed by the loss of the wheel. However, this is the primary reasoning I'm using as the justification to upgrade to rear disks. My car is a street rod that sees no track time and the stock brakes are more than adequate for me. Just the thought of losing a rear wheel at speed is enough for me to spend the time and money to upgrade. But then, I tend to worry about stupid things.

Nicest thing anyone has said about me all week.

Excellent advice. Over here in the states we forget about other folks laws. Nice catch Boy from Oz. On the JTR conversion question, as long as you still have the original engine mount pedistals it should be a relatively easy job. The JTR kit offsets the motor to the right about 3/4" to clear the steering shaft (on LHD cars). The set-back plates and spacers are interchangable though. If you reverse them it will shift the motor to the left side. I have no idea if this will clear everything on a RHD car though. The kit was designed for LHD cars. The kit designer, Mike Knell, is a member on this site and he may have some better info for you. Try doing a search here that includes "RHD" and "JTR" and see what you get. Also, if you have a mechanical fuel pump it will have to be replaced with an electric one. The JTR set-back plates need that space that the mechanical pump takes up.

Grocery bags fit there just perfect. The cage keeps the cantalopes from rolling all over in the car in high G corners.

Since you want this to pass swog I'm guessing your 280 is a '76, '77. or '78. A '75 would let you off the hook for the bi-annual inspection. So, one other thing to look at for header clearance is room for the temperature sensors in the heads (one in each head, one for the ECM and one for the guage). I have a '91 305 tpi motor in my Z. I bought a set of Patriot block huggers. They clear everything but the sensor connectors. I had to modify the connectors and the result is less than satisfactory. I have the motor out of my car at this time for some other work and I'm going to change the headers while it's out. Did Sanderson mention anything to you about temp sensor clearance? Edit: Whatever you buy get ceramic coated: looks good, no rust, no paint to burn off or discolor, no maintenance. Well worth the extra cost. Also, I put my O2 bung in the head pipe. It don't think there is anywhere it would fit or clear in the header. Mine is about two inches from the flange and it works just fine there.

Sum, I've been reading your Lakester site for days now and lovin' it. Dang!

Welcome Sumner, Your rear end plan is intriguing. Brings new meaning to the term open diff!

This may be more dramatic than you were going for, but Rory Bateman now has two different Tomahawk Z kits for the Z31. They are both AC Cobra "inspired". The first one is basicly a re-fitted kit from the S30. It looks funky and out of proportion IMHO. The latest one is quite provacative though. Very sleek, almost like what you think a modern Cobra might look like. Sorry I have no pics. He showed the new body a few years ago at the San Leandro Kit Car Show. EDIT: Well dang, Rory's got a site. Here is a completed car for sale. http://www.tomahawkcars.com/for_sale.html

He does! Email him. Smog, you're near Sacramento? I have one of his 240Z stock type fiberglass front bumpers sitting in my garage. I'm about an hour south of Sac. It's brand new. I'll sell it to you at Johns price. You can save the cost of shipping if you want to come by and pick it up. Dan

Help me win a bet. I am well aware that U.S. auto manufactures changed the way they rated and published horse power ratings for their new vehicles over the last forty years. Back in the sixties and seventies the published numbers were taken at the flywheel and didn't take into consideration drivetrain losses. In some cases they also removed basic ancillary items like alternators, power steering pumps, and even water pumps to get the inflated numbers. Today's numbers are now taken at the rear (or front for FWD) wheels. Well this chuckle head buddy of mine insists I have it backwards. I need to straighten this character out big time before he farther embarrasses himself (and there's a lot of money riding on this bet: two lunches). So, if you guys know of any handy, credible articles on this subject that I can wave in his face please, post them here. Most helpful HybridZ member wins a free lunch with me... next time you're in Rio Vista... on a full moon. Thanks guys, Dan

Yup. Guess who (see post above:wink:). I've held them in my hands and I can tell you they are of superior quality.

FYI, though he doesn't advertise them, John Washington of www.reactionresearch.com also sells fiberglass 240 bumpers. John's quality, both his parts and his service, are well known here.

Multihull sailor for 30 years. Prindles and Nacras mostly. My wife and I currently have a pair of Hobie Adventure Islands (16' kayak based trimarans) that we sail here on the Sacramento river.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2214554592_7af01a4bb3.jpg?v=0 HA! There's proof those Mustang motors are dogs! Seems to fit pretty well in the Z's engine bay though. Cute puppy.

Terry you big liar! You were lovin' every minute.

It's not driven off the flywheel. That's an electric motor on there. It may be there for convenient mounting but if they have any speed bumps in Japan it won't be there very long.

It may have been me. That's how my car is done and I've done write-ups on that method here on hybrid before. There was a a nice long one that went into great detail and included pics but it was lost in the site change-over. That car in the pic you posted is not mine though. The way he did it he will not have the maximum tire clearance possible. I can tell this because the gaps in his tabs are too small. To get the maximum possible tire clearance you end up with pie shaped gaps between each tab that need to filled in later. Each wheel house consists of an inner and outer section spot welded together on a flange. To achive the maximum tire clearance the outer fender skin must be cut to a radius that matches the wheel house radius at that flanged seam. Then each slice of the outer wheel house must go almost to that seam, within a 1/4". Bend each "tab" out and fold it over the fender skin. Trim each tab so there is about a 1/2" overlap (like in the pic) and screw it to the fender skin with drill point sheet metal screws, two or three in each tab. What you have done is changed the shape of the outer section of the wheel house from a somewhat spherical shape to a cylindrical shape. Seal up the slots and gaps with foil backed butyl tape you get at the HVAC supply house. This stuff is pricy, about $25 a roll and you'll use nearly a whole roll on each side. Here is a pic of my cars fender after it was sealed up with the butyl tape. http://www.zparts.com/showcase/djudayv8proj/shoot2/pages/14DJ_R2_.htm About your hood breaking loose from the hinge. If it were me I'd use 3M's product for bonding steel to fiberglass first and then epoxy and glass mat over the top. To secure it while the stuff dries I'd run screws through the hood and into the steel hinge. This is the only way I see of getting a good fit without voids in the bond. After you're done bonding the hinge back on remove the screws and and fill and finish. JMHO

PM strotter. Scott lives in Lodi but works in Stockton. Scott needs to reduce noise and heat, but not necessarily in his car.

Something else you and I have in common. When I was 10 or 11 my dad bought one of those 10'x10' steel sheds and we assembled it in the backyard to house my "airplane shop". He even ran power out there so I could have light and heat. I must have built and crashed 30 or 40 U-control planes before I discoverd cars. Man, I had a great dad.

PDK's web site photo of the rear bar shows even more substantial gussets than Armand has on his bar. Thanks for the write-up ezzzzzz. I'll be buying this brace as well. I bought the Top End bars but I'm not going to be able to use the front bar.

Something about that looks familar...

On the Corvair fans: I don't remember the Corvair offered with a reverse rotation engine option. So what do you do on the other side? Do you suck air in from one side and blow it out the other? Or are the vanes straight like the ones on the BBS inserts that Primadonna has?

Then there is the other side of the coin: Fiat 124/2000/Spyder, two over head cams, two valves per cylinder.

Glad now, you may be sorry later. Imitation is sincerest form of flattery. Thank you, now that will be $5 in royalties. I have the sweetest wife in the whole world. Stuck with me for 25 years come June. She says I can have all the project cars I want... sequentially. So, I have to finish the blue one first, and then there's at least one other that'll come between this Z and a VR project. But maybe, if I live long enough.

Nice work Deja! You don't see those exhaust tips very often. I know the feeling. I have a pair of Flowmasters just behind the rear valance. After a few hours on the freeway I felt like I'd stayed too long at the Spinal Tap concert! I added a pair of resonators like you did and it's much quieter. But I miss that hard edged rasp it used to have. I could sit in a parking lot, blip the throttle and draw a crowd.