galderdi

The original fasteners were often zinc plated. While I agree with the idea of replacing rusting fasteners I don't agree with the idea of replacing with stainless. The zinc acts as a sacrificial anode. It will generally corrode faster and slow the corrosion of the steel components of the car. If you remove all the zinc from your car you will increase the speed of corrosion on the rest of the car. Having said all that, you could still go with stainless fasteners and compensate with an actual zinc anode like used on boats. Food for thought

Here is a test run of my new camera. Nothing too special just a drive around the block in my S130. I just wanted to check all the settings before I use it in anger at my next motorkhana (April 7th)

Yeah, No physical damage. The inspection I spoke of was just a close visual inspection. I'm just so glad I had enough experience to pull the foot off the brake.

Here is one more video I uploaded since last weekend. This happens to be my first (inspection lap) from the weekend. I think I took the inspection part too literally and decided to inspect the concrete wall (check it at about 1:25). I am fairly happy with how I managed to not lock up the brakes and plough into the wall.

Here are my videos from Gatton 2013. The plan is, this is my last event with the current engine. I will start the engine swap soon with the hope to get a little more than the current 13 horse power (Make sure to hover over the box just before I start this one

I have the Koni conversion in my car. All the welding was done by a "Professional". Does that mean when they eventually wear out I can replace the inserts without more welding? (Although I am aware Konis are supposed to be reconditionable)

I think you are both correct. When I got the car it had clamps on the rear brakes to "fool" the MC to send pressure to the front. I think the safety setup of the MC was/is not working correctly. Its fine when there are no weak points but as soon as there is a loss of pressure anywhere in the system the whole system fails. Problem is a new MC costs as much as I paid for the whole car. I did have the old MC reconditioned but obviously that did not solve that particular issue. Looks like I'll need to fork out for a new one anyway.

I haven't done that specific test but. I have done similar tests and I found the resistance didn't change in a linear way. I guess it is something to do with the circuit between the flap and the plug. I suggest trying the measurement while moving the flap and see what it does. In fact that might be your issue in the first place....is the flap moving freely?

BluDestiny is right it depends a lot on how you treat the car. Usually when someone aims for high horsepower its because they plan to drag race, circuit race, street race or autocross the car. If you don't plan to regularly put the diff under that stress it should be fine.

Sure, thats sensible. But look at it this way. The diffs can be converted in a couple of hours (assuming you have all the components) with no need to touch the engine or gearbox. So there is nothing lost by sticking with what ever you currently have. I still think the STI R180 is the way to go.

Yeah ditto on both those last two points. If you are already set to go with an R180 then continue on that path and see how you go. From what you are saying I suspect you'll be fine.

Yeah, it is venomous but apparently not as bad as the other native snakes we get down here its only ranked 21 in the world. We have the top 11 here in Australia. and 20 of the top 25 So who needs guns http://www.avru.org/general/general_mostvenom.html Luckily that Red bell Black was on the apex of the corner so there was no chance I would hit it

I have had the STI R180 diff in my car with the input adaptors for 3 years now with no issues. I would recommend that option for anyone with any zed except those with significantly high Horse Power and torque combinations (Eg 300HP plus). I orginally tried an R200 but its amazing how noticable the extra weight is. I also tried a Detroit locker which was OK but I didn't like the idea of having to replace the diff oil every 3 months. So the STI diff went in. Plus now that I have it set up if the diff does ever give up I can easily replace it and reuse the other hardware. The subi diffs benefit from an extra 30 years of evolution/learning and suffer less because they have 30 years less wear.

Yes the cutoff switch is near the battery. Yes having the alternator connected to the other side of the switch was keeping the engine running because it was supplying power through to the ignition circuit. I think it will be OK as it is now because although there is power on the new cable running directly from the battery to the alternator there is no power or earth anywhere else. I plan to test this theory and if it proves correct I will let sleeping dogs lie. If I am wrong then I will need to alter the setup again. If thats the case I think I will opt for the alternator on one side of the dual pole switch with the remaining harness on the other side. Then a secondary switch purely for the earth just to be sure to be sure (like wearing two condoms).

I forgot to mention I have one of my favourite events this weekend. Its the MG Iron man. Navigation run Friday night Sprints at Norwell Saturday and Hill Climb at Mt Cotton Sunday.

I have two cars in which I compete regularly. Both have hydraulic handbrakes as I use them for motokhanas (kinda like Gymkhana). Recently I had a close call and I fell obliged to share my experience so you don't fall into the same trap. Both my hydraulic handbrakes tap into the hydraulic system for the rear brakes. When not in use the pressure passes straight through from the original foot brake to the rear brakes. Both work really well when used the way they were intended (the handle pulled up). But in the heat of battle half way round a vigerous motorkhana corner I must have leaned on the handle (pushed it down). I don't actually remember but I must have done it. That pressure pulled the circlip out the front of the master cylinder allowing all the hydraulic pressure to be instantly lost. Not realising this issue I accelerated towards the finish garage (a finish line shaped like a garage where competitors need to stop to record their time). I slammed on the brakes for a fast finish but the peddle went straight to the floor and there was no reduction in speed what so ever. I was then hurtling towards trees, pedestrians, cars etc My immediate reaction was to reach for the hydraulic handbrake (in that split second not realising it was the cause of the failure). Of course that didn't help either and I continued hurtling towards obstacles. The distance between me putting my foot on the foot brake and the obstacles was about 30 feet and I was probably travelling about 35 miles per hour. I started to then use my steering to choose the lesser of the available evils. This meant heading directly towards one solitary car rather than all the other grouped cars and people. Just as I approached the car I was going for my third option which was the original cable handbrake which I had left installed just next to the hydraulic handbrake. At that speed the rear brakes alone were not enough to stop me before the car so I turned slightly right and somehow I managed to miss (at the time I thought I must have hit it) the car. I clipped the ramps of a car trailer parked to the side of the car and skidding to the left came to a halt about 15 feet behind the car at right angles to it. You might well say that I should have taken precautions before all this happened. But there are no instructions provided with these devices and it is not common knowledge to take precautions. So if you ever intend to install a hydraulic handbrake my message to you is: 1.Leave the orginal cable handbrake in place as a backup & 2.Add a stopper under the handbrake handle so even if pressure is applied the wrong way on the handle the stopper will take the weight rather than the handbrake popping apart leaving you with no brakes. I have now done both these precautions in both my competition cars and feel a little more at ease. Good luck

Made two modifications over the weekend. 1. I disconnected the original Charge wire from the alternator and replaced it with a new charge wire from the alternator directly to the battery. Now my battery cut off actually cuts the engine. However the side effect is that I now have a live wire running from the battery all the way to the alternator even when the cut off switch is activated. This is not ideal because one of the main ideas of the cut off swich is to disconnect all the live wires from the battery. But it is a dual pole switch and the other pole has been used to disconnect the earth. So I figure even if I have an incident and through the switch but the live wire connects with the chassis there will be no earth to complete the circuit. I will check this theory. The only other option is to introduce a secondary cut off switch. If I went with this idea I would have both positives on the dual pole switch as the primary and the earth on the secondary. In that way in an emergency I can cut the positive power and the engine using the primary switch. Then if want the added safety of complete isolation of the battery I can use the secondary switch. 2. I think I have mentioned elsewhere on the forum the potentially deadly risk associated with hydraulic handbrakes. The issue being there is no stopper to prevent them being pushed down which then pulls the insides out of the master cylinder and disabling the entire braking system. (I found this out the hard way in one of my cars but luckily avoided any major impacts by using the original cable handbrake). So this weekend I made a stopper which bolts on to the handbrake handle and presses against the transmission tunnel and does not allow the handle to be pressed down. The stopper is fairly neat and light weight so I'm happy with the outcome.

Point taken. For drag racing I would expect AWD to become a disadvantage due to the weight as was already mentioned. We also run a lot of road courses here (generally refered to as Tarmac Rally or Targa events) The AWD cars tend to out perform the RWD cars in these as well as the track events. I would love to compete in a Targa but the costs are out of my league. I'll stick to track days, hill climbs and motorkhana.

I am not sure I agree with that statement. The track events here in aus are dominated by AWD turbo cars (WRX, GTR and EVO) except for events where the rules exclude them. I am not suggesting they are unbeatable but the results show they have an advantage. But regardless if a car is RWD or AWD power to weight and balance are still all important. Having said all that I still prefer RWD.

Yeah, very nice I keep procrastinating on my project. I don't want to risk the car not being available for all the events I plan to attend. By the way my 240 is road registered but only to get to and from the track.

Guys, I searched the forum but can't seem to find what I am after. I want confirmation that my plan makes sense. I currently have the battery relocated to behind the passenger seat for better weight distribution. Then the lead run to a cut off switch on the centre console. So if I have an incident I can disconnect the battery. from the switch it then reconnects to the same points as the original leads. But this all means if I flick the switch while the car is still running the can can continue running by using the power from the alternator. I believe this is because the power to the ignition switch is connected to the alternator. My plan is to replace the charge wire connecting the alternator to the battery so that it connects on the battery side of the cut off switch. The theory is when the switch is thrown there will not be any power through the ignition to keep the alternator or engine running. Does this sound correct?

I am running hydraulic handbrakes in both my track cars. I had a close call yesterday when I had a complete hydraulic brake failure. It occured at the fastest part of a Motorkhana test (similar to your Autocross) coming in to the finish. I went for the foot brake, it went to the floor, I went for the hydraulic handbrake, it offered no resistance. By this time I was well past the finish line and was looking for gaps between the parked cars waiting for their turn. I managed to apply the standard cable handbrake which started to slow me as I threaded the needle between a parked car and a trailer. The gap was actually narrower than my car which meant I had to clip the trailer but it was only the ramps so no damage was done. So it turns out there was nothing wrong with my installation of the system. It was perfectly suitable for the purpose and had been operating well up to the incident. The problem was that I must have placed pressure down on the handle at some stage during my run. All that was holding it back was the standard circlip which popped out allowing the brake to explode and lose all its fluid. So finally here is my point. If you run a Hydraulic handbrake make sure it rests on a stopper when not in use. That way if you do happen to lean on it the stopper will take the weight not the circlip. I have now installed a stopper under my handle and I feel more comfortable with the setup. Personally I think these Hydraulic handbrakes should have a stopper built in as standard.

I disagree. It might be that straight forward on the rear where there is no steering geometry to deal with. But on the front there are too many variables. (Coilovers, ride height, spoilers, caliper size) I think asking a forum like this what offset people have used with their specific combination is a valuable option. If this is only an advanced Tech/performance forum I guess we need to ditch all the "Show us your bumper" or "Show us your ashtray" or "show us your grill" posts? I am not convinced either way, but it is hard to know where to draw the line. I think the option of "The right question in the right place" is the way to go. IE have a FAQ/Mechanic 101 section and if you don't like seeing those questions you always have the option to not look there.

I took mine out too and just replaced it with the S130 boot style. No centre console though as it is mostly a track car.

Because I have two zeds (Zs for you North Americans) with L motors and a heap of spare engines and parts. Its so convienient if something goes wrong to just pop into the shed and grab a spare.