bjhines

J. Clarkson is a hard act to follow. He is old enough to have seen a lot of changes. He is jaded enough to favor British cars, but bold enough to drag them through the dust when they don't meet the mark. He is also unwilling to settle for a middle-mined review. He either hates them or loves them. He even hates and loves them at the same time which can be surprisingly enlightening. The guy is funny as hell too, so we are not going to find another one like him. Jay Leno might be a good man for the role though. I really like his style in car shows. Knowledgable, funny, friendly, and sharp witted. He would be completely different than Clarkson, but I think he would do wonders for the current cast if they could play well with him.

LOL.. The UK version is unbeatable. My favorite show is the one where they went on a road trip through the SE USA. Seeing the rednecks chase them away from the gas station was GLORIOUS!~!! I do not want to see another show where the talent fawns over the manliness of perfectly useless supercars. UK Top Gear is perfectly willing to talk smack about anything they get to sit in.

I tried the stock setup for autoX and had a ball with them. Stock works great for short runs and low power cars. Most people with stock Zcars are only getting 90-130 HP to the rear wheels. Even with low HP cars, Track sessions are a whole different ball game. Stock will work for this kind of duty with low HP, as long as you are willing to do a little bleeding in the pits. The system is run beyond critical limits so you are going to have some issues with consistency and reliability. I think that rear disks are an important improvement, but they must work well with the front disks to make any real improvements. Pad material choices are usually enough to get the balance right. The issues with solid vs vented rotors is that they reach different temps at different times under different circumstances. You cannot balance your brake set up on street or autoX courses. It takes punnishing track time to find the weak points and adjust for them. Of course, Track duty is nothing like street duty, so what works with one does not work with the other uses.

No.. My release is the short profile one.

I drive an S30 using a flat wheel with the NRG release and a ~3" adaptor. I like it so far.

Prelube for sure... I don't have to worry about extreme cold here. I have a little story on pre-oiling. I put 2 extra quarts in the sump before the first start on my SBC. I used a pump drive tool to spin the pump with a hand drill. The fact the I have a 3qt accusump, large oil cooler, thermo bypass, remote filter(large capacity), and a lot of -10 hose... means that my sump went dry while pre-oiling. I added several more quarts to bring the level back up. After starting and cycling through the accusump a few times, I needed to add even more oil. I am glad I did not run it before prelubing/prefilling the entire system.

I originally saw that color on a 2007 Mustang. It had some black trim pieces and a few black aftermarket parts that really looked great. I have since seen that color on a variety of Ford cars. It does not look as good on a plain car, but it works well when you have a lot of black parts to contrast with it. It is very silvery and works the same way a silver paint job would accent.

ok... I got a little too general there ehh. Obviously there are a ~few~ things the Datsun has that a Model T did not. I have an E36 M3/4/5. It is quiet and the radio sounds good. The handling is fun. Power is decent. heated seats and dual zone climate controls are nice. The ride quality is harsh.

Lazeum, I have had the same damage to oil pumps as you have there. For a car that sees track and autocross I would consider replaceing the pump yearly or whenever your pressure drops significantly when hot.

We cannot forget safety as well. The S30 has none of the safety features of modern cars.

There is enough GOOD metalwork in that build to give the builder a break. I would pay for tubing materials and tell him to knock off the labor. There is a learning curve for both of you here. The guy did some fantastic metalwork. He just has no engineering knowledge whatsoever.

Stainless steel is not even impervious to rust. POR15 is not going to stop rust when the area stays wet. The rust goes all the way through the metal. Have you treated under and over the floorpan? Did you remove every flake and break apart every single bubble or blister on both sides? sandblasting or cutting is the ONLY WAY to remove rust. POR15 just covers it up for a little while. The cowl area will develop leaks and drain onto the floors, especially on the passenger side. You may be removing all that stuff after the first rain.

CygnusX1, I totally agree. We had this issue with food as well. All manufacturers must continue to use their own QA testing to ensure the quality of products they sell. The American companies that have had problems dropped the ball, not China in general. Lenovo made IBM computers for over a decade before they split and became a brand name here in the USA. Thinkpads and other Lenovo products are the VERY BEST in their market. This is a TOP QUALITY Chinese product, in fact they make the very best available ANYWHERE!

I like your progress... but just keep in mind that the floors rusted because the original sound deadening trapped water. You might be making it worse with those materials.

There was a sort of EGR system that used a relay and a temp sensor and a vacuum switch. I think you have the relay in your hand.

I would lose the later factory dizzy and go with an early model with the Pertronix pickup installed. There is 45 feet of wire feeding power to your coil on the early model Zs. It goes back and forth twice from the dash to the coil. Look into eliminating the extra back and forth runs of wire.

Uhhh... Yeaa... But he has power steering with an external actuating cylinder that could rip the framerails off the Datsun. He also has very little tread contact with the road.

I decided to use the weld-holes as vents. I still need to fabricate some FRP parts for various systems. I have a nice rig for vacuum bagging carbon fiber/epoxy composites. I intend to make roof-vents and a spoiler strip based on results from the wind tunnel project. I also need an airbox to mate to the cowl induction hood, and brake duct scoops and transitions.

I finished it this weekend. Paint looks pretty good for a garage job. A few interior shots... ...

I think some of this is driven by the desire to have the "latest" innovations. There is always a new widget or useless add-on do-dad on every common power tool. The models change faster than my underwear. Sources and suppliers don't even bother to keep parts on hand. The parts are priced to completely eliminate any desire to fix the tools. I will only spend money on name brand tools with POWER CORDS ATTACHED, because they do not have a built in self destruct battery life. case in point... I wear out 2 cordless drills every year. The drills don't break, the batteries just fail to hold a charge. I don't buy batteries because they cost as much as the entire drill kit with charger and 2(two) batteries. I have a dozen NAME BRAND drills in a bucket waiting for robotics experiments when my kid is older. Why the hell would I buy an expensive drill when I KNOW FOR A FACT that the batteries won't last for ANY BRAND. I buy the cheapest junk I can lay hands on and they work just as long as the Dewalt, Makita, Bosche, etc. Back in the 20th century... Sears would source the same Emerson or related brand power woodworking tools for decades before there were any major changes in the lineup. The parts were available "in store" for most of the high wear items. The models were fewer and change was slow, so parts were easier to stock in store.

Damn nice wheels for the money. Mine are all 9.5" wide with 245/40/17 track tires. I would like to use wider tires on the next set.

I completely quit with the brand name bullshiat. I have a friend who is a Snap-On dealer. He and I have some funny conversations about quality and value. There are reasons to buy ~some~ high end tools, even for a home mechanic. I have realized that I do not need the best tools for 99% of what I buy. I like nice ratchets, screwdrivers, cutting tools, and nice side cuuting pliers and linesman's pliers. Everything else I get is the cheap stuff. I have purchased "Harbor Frieght" pliers that bent and sheet metal cutters that break. All in all I have been very satisfied with HF's customer service and returns policy. Most of the specialty tools I buy, I have few choices of brands. I do not like Sears anymore either. Their selection and quality has gone down hill. They do not support products like they used to. Most of the power tools are "re-branded" cheapo makes that are marked up through the roof.

OK Paint is done. It just needs some headliner tassles and a Viva La Mexico vanity plate and I'm ready to go. ...

hehehe... I did that to my BMW M3 muffler. It is a very expensive factory muffler and has a complex fitment under the rear skirt. I didn't like the Borla and German aftermarket prices. I could not hear the engine with my helmet on and 100MPH wind noise. I needed a cheap way to make it slightly louder. I cut the double layered stainless steel case open like you... and removed 6(SIX) glass packs from inside. All the internals were stainless steel and combinations of stainless-steel wool, ceramic blankets, and punched composite steel and ceramic baffles. The glass packs were full-on double-tubed with stainless steel wool packings. I took 25# of stuff out and made them double pass instead of the 4 pass design the Germans used. The original muffler had 5 chambers and 6 glasspacks for god's sake. There is very little power gain from exhaust changes on the M3, but the sound is slightly louder and much easier to hear on track.