DrSideways

I'm not sure he is a current member of the Triad Z Club. I don't have the paid member list in front of me. I think he may have shown up to one or two shows over the past 7 years. I don't recall ever seeing him at a club meeting in that time or more. I guess we can add him to the same list Jim Edwards is on..... Alan

It cost $2 million for asphalt at VIR in 1999. I can only imagine what the bill would be with $101.00 and oil barrel. Getting out on the cheap on a facility like this can be a tough deal. Good luck to them..... Most all of the "country club" tracks rent out to clubs. That is the real revenue stream. Contrary to a golf club with tons of members the tracks will be available to "comon folks". Alan

Take a look at http://trackschedule.com/. This site has the listings for most track events you can get to. The links are there so you can check out and compare prices. Keep in mind that you will have an instructor for the good ones. Getting on track without an instructor would not be the hot tip. You can also check out the Triangle Z Club events listed on the schedule site. They are very reasonable in price and have some great instruction..... both in car with radio and classroom between driving sessions. I think they will have a May event at CMP. Alan

For all of this "thinking" can't you just get under the car and figure out you are pi%&%ing in the wind? Alan

1. I have done SVRA/HSR Vintage racing. Currently taking a break until my daughter is out of UNC Chapel Hill. 2. For Vintage you can take an accredited school. Then get your medical and send in the application and of course$$. SCCA you can take two SCCA schools and get a provisional/novice regional permit. 3. I did three per year. I only ran at VIR. I did this for several reasons. It is close to home. I like the track. I could test using track days and club schools frequently. By only running there it kept me from getting caught up iin chasing points. Both SVRA and HSR have nine or so events each. I would run each of their VIR events and the VIR Gold Cup. 4. Sponsors can open up all kinds of problems. If you get pulled over by the DOT in Florida with sponsor logos on the trailer you can/will be in a heap of trouble. If you get pulled and have logos on the car in an unmarked trailer you will still have to explain your way out. Technically if there is no prize $$ or reportable inclome they should not be able to cite you. However that does not seem to be holding the Fla. DOT up. If you get sponsor $$ that would be enough to cover a good set of tires that would be "reportable income". At that point you would fall into a comercial operation. Then a DOT driver's license would be needed. Insurance for a set up like that can run $1k per month. Still want a sponsor???? 5. When I ran my car we did the three race events which are three or four day affairs. Test day would be the fourth. So get to the track on Wednesday and leave late Sunday evening. I would also run five or six other two day deals during the year. 6. You have total control over expenses. From 0 to as much as you can spend, beg, or borrow. My tires were $1k per set for bias belted Goodyear slicks. They rarely make these now. So the radial is what you have to get.... $1900.00 for four of those bad boys. These would be new on a race Saturday and run from then through two test weekends to the next race Saturday. So a typical competitive race weekend would be $600.00 for entry for race and test day. $350 for hotel. $225.00 or so for race fuel. Then $100.00 for truck fuel. Food and drink..$100.00. (got to take the help out on Saturday unless there is a banquet) Then there is $500.00 or so for stuff before you leave home. Brake pads/ fluid, tune parts. Always something. So for a "competitive" race weekend it is almost $4k. By the time you get back and unpack it is almost a week of off work too. (counting prep time) I'm lucky as I have a flexble schedule. The engine and drive train will need complete overhaul as determined by oil pressure and leakdown tests.....or breakage. My engines get rings and rod bearings, and valve job every 10-15 hours. Then add mains and complete crack testing every other time. So rings and a valve job once during the summer and complete overhaul in the winter. Clutch discs almost evey time the engine is out for service. If you do a class with DOT tires the expense will go down. If you sleep in the truck and eat crackers it will go down too. Oh yeah... the truck. Without a truck and trailer you will have to risk driving your car to the track and racing it. That can be done. Makes you nervous the whole weekend. You can do club track day or "schools" for much less. Titanium Z here on the forums gets the most out of a $$ as anyone I have ever seen in 20 + years at the track. Maybe he will stop in for a comment. It may be next week as he is thrashing to make an event at VIR this Saturday. What you need in your basket is a boat load of desire. If you have that most of the other stuff will come. At what expense only you can decide. I know I am limited to one hobby at a time. My yearly budget for running and maybe one cool upgrade per year were around $20k. Sometimes more hardly ever less. Just think if I did a nine race championship run with more travel.... Good luck, Alan

Now that I look at the front head on shot it may be the correct one. When it is munted right it will be about 4" off the ground. That is the cool part. Also why I keep a couple of spares:) When I bought my first one of those they were $35.00. A.

That spoiler looks like it is for a 240 valance. By now I would think anyone who comes to Hybrid Z knows that Showcars is a less than stellar operation. You need to call Les Canaday @http://classicdatsun.com/. He has the correct part. Also when mounting it you put the points out at the ends of the spoiler right at the wheel opening. You keep pulling the spoiler back towards the front tires until it is the same on both sides. This will get the whole thing down and tilted at the correct angle. There is a raised part on the valance at the edge. Put the end of the spoiler just before the curve in the valance raises the tip away from the metal. Then it is just matter of centering it up. If you get the one with the brake ducts the duct openings make that easy too. I use 8mm bolts with 5/16" fender washers on both sides. Then add Nyloc nuts. One bolt on each end and then four across center valance panel. That about covers that. Alan

See if the choke cable is in a bind on the front carb. You can loosen the clamp screw and then see if the tube goes up and down freely. If so then lube with ZEP 45 (teflon spray) and find a spot to tighten the screw clamp where the action feels much as it did while free from it. You should also look at the rear one to get both to have close to equal actions. Another thing you might want to do is move the choke handle back and forth while they are disconnected from the carbs to make SURE it is smooth. Also an great time to squirt some ZEP 45 down the cable. Leave the ends pointing well up in the air and have a tall cool one while letting the lube drain down the sheath. Wipe with clean paper towel and assemble as descibed above. Hope that helps, Alan

Get a copy of a factory workshop manaul or a Clymer shop manual. They have drawings/photos. The video may help too. I have not viewed that though. They didn't make VCRs when I got mine:) Alan

The additional smell from that is a new one on me. I suppose if the engine had bad ring sealing and was blowing oil vapor out it could cause a stink. Then you have bigger problems than a smell... You can still run the crank vent line up to the PCV on the intake with the SU. If you switch to a triple set up the PCV goes away. That should help you out some. If you are having any exhaust smells you should check the gear shift boot under the console and the rear hatch seal. Also make sure the tail pipe is out at least to the end of the bumper when looking down at the pipe from above. Alan

You can leave it on Summer there in Fla.. You might also look into the 6" round K&N elements. These will be one filter per carb. Then you get a mini K&N for the valve cover and a bit larger one for the breather tube on the block. Another mod for the K&N filters is to either cut the velocity stack off of the stock base plate or get aluminum ones from Z Therapy. Try and get the shortest ones possible. Alan

I will step up and volunteer to do your test..... At VIR of course. Alan

First check to see if what you have is working right. Timing, fuel mixture? Then check the fan clutch and exhaust. If all is well then ditch the Pinto carbs and get a proper set of early model SU carbs and then maybe a 2.5" exhaust with your stock manifold. (can add headers later) Then an electric fan. Also note that the 2+2 weighs much more than a regular coupe of the same year. Not much you can do about that. Alan

Good man. You will find it VERY tough to find any Z Car in your area that is not that bad or worse. Get a house with a garage and then make some trips to Arizona to find a car. Good luck, Alan

Hate to be the damp rag with a voice of reason, but don't buy that POS. You say you are going to spend this month's rent on it?? There will be plenty of other cars and other times better suited to jump on a turd like this. It would be one thing if you were making plenty of cash and had a place plus a year or two to spend playing with something like this. Everyting takes longer than it should and costs at least twice as much as expected Alan

BS flag on the 512 engine. A 512 is a horizontally opposed 12. This won't fit into a Z Car. Barely fits in the 512. Alan

Well pooh. You indicated the alignment was within .005" so maybe polishing the whole thing to get rid of any stress risers. If it happens after that stop drill the end of the crack. Does the crack happen at the same place every time? Of course if you went with a Jerico 5 speed there should be a Lakewood housing for that.... nothing but $$$ and damn cool noise. Alan

Just get a Lakewood. Alan

Please note that this car was not raced until some few vntage events from the late '80s until recently. Even with that amount of timein years the total number of events and hours on the chassis is very low. It is still may be a fairly valuable car and it will be very interesting to see what it goes for. Alan

Take the cap off of the vent tube. Clamp a rubber hose on to it. Run the hose up and coiled 360 degrees to the bottom of a catch can. Anything that gets through the 360 tube will drain back from the can. The top of the can should be vented. You might look at a small JAZ unit. Alan

Small yard equals more time in big shop...... Alan

The way I did this was to measure from the center line of the hubs up to a mark on some tape laid on the fender. Jack the car up and level it on the stands. Then jack the hubs up to where the measurement on the tape matches the on ground spec. Then I used a plum-bob and a regular framing square and to measure from the hub faces to the string and then hub faces to the spring or perch. Whichever you hit first on the inside. This should give you an idea of how much total room you have. Leave 1/4"-1/2" from the perch or spring and about the same to the flare. You can take the spring off and measure full compression specs for fender rub. Hope this helps. Alan

Threre is a light pole with his name ALL over it someplace. I can't believe the event stewards keep letting him out on course. Then again the "stewards did that course on a kart track in somebody's backyard. I know folks need to learn, but some signs of progress would help. Alan

Truely is too bad about the "other" Peter Brock. Ours is alive and well. He is coming to Winsto-Salem next week. Alan