bjhines

WOW... You added an inch and a quarter to the TC rod length... I can get about half that right now... It looks like I will need custom TC rods as well...

Some pics of progress... I have left myself some room to play... The overall mockup of the LCA... It is set at stock length in these pics... I can shorten it a great deal(13/16")... I can lengthen it some(~1/2")... I have relocated the inner crossmember pivots as well... so I won't need to lengthen them at all... I added some 3/16" strips inside to anchor the stud securely... I still have to drill some holes for plug welds in the bottom... I neatly cut the top section off and I can replace that as well... The stud is a grade-8 bolt, 5" long, with 3/4"x16 threads... I cut the heads off flush... It is inserted halfway into the rod end... The rod end is a high strength teflon lined aerospace piece... Aurora... ...

I could set less static neg camber and rely on neg camber gain in compression... it might reduce trammeling in a straight line a bit... it is unclear how that would affect braking and turn in.. I think it would be an improvement... but I haven't tried it yet..

I might be wrong here.. but I think that keeping the TC rod long and the pivot point even with the inner LCA pivot would get the most A-arm-like response from the front end... It appears that the S-30s could use some more camber gain as the suspension compresses... especially since a track car has very little suspension movement... and typical lowering(flat LCA angles) reduce dynamic camber gain as well... on that note... moving the inner LCA pivots out as far as possible and shortening the LCAs to bring track width back into spec could have some benefits... It may also make it easier to relocate the TC rod pivots(due to the fact that they can move up and OUT... giving more TC rod clearance to the frame rail...

can anyone pull a string and figure out how far forward the balljoint ends of the LCAs are angled...??? pull a string between the BJ grease-nipples... and measure back to the middle of the crossmember opening(forget about the inner LCA offset front/rear, just measure to the middle of the x-member opening) I am just trying to get into a general range... before I start mocking up parts.... sometime soon I am going to get this thing up on the alignment rack and actually set static alignment.. and get a few measurements at extremes...

How much do you guys lengthen the TC rods to get desired caster angles??????? Shifting gears for a second....... ok... try this on for size... I have a crossmember that was redrilled(by the P.O.) to add 1 5/8" track width... with stock control arms.. I have slotted this hole upwards to get the correct setting for bump steer... I am pretty sure the hole spacing is way too wide... I am liable to have to shorten my control arms by 3/4" to get me back into the usable range... which will exaggerate the camber dynamics as the arm moves through it's arc... hold your thoughts.... I can see this(short LCAs) as being an advantage considering the car is going to be stiffly sprung I will get a great deal of camber gain with the shorter travel... as long as I can get the right static angles on the control arms with the car lowered...

It really sounds like it would pass muster for db levels in most towns(and tracks)... as long as you stayed out of the gas... I realize that fireing order is different in the LS series... so they have a unique sound... more like a European V-8... But... the large 3" into 3.5" with a resonator and a straight through muffler has a deep tone... throaty sounding... that kind of resonance and tone only comes with a hot cam in the older Gen-1 SB350s.... I like it... but ground clearance appears to be an issue... I am thinking of a similar set up... but I will order an ovalized clearance-pipe section to keep it off the track... I was noticing that you seem to have some trouble making good use of 2nd gear... maybe it was just the rolling starts that made it seem that way... tell if I am wrong.... You were hitting 50mph in second... 110mph in 3rd gear... there are still 3 speeds left... should you be running a smaller tire... or a super high ratio rear end??? It seems like you could get down the quarter mile with a 3 speed rock crusher...

just how much additional length are you guys adding to the TC rod to get the desired caster????

ok... so in short... the small(3/4") movement fore and aft that can be achieved with the inner pivot spacers turns out to be barely worth the effort...????

can you imagine what people on the ground must have thought... My truck was hit by a piece of debris from an aircraft near RDU airport... It was some sort of fastener/latch... It had a small handle... I considered turning it in and reporting it to the RDU authorities.. but I got lazy and just forgot about it...

I am building my own front LCAs right now.... I have a few points I would like to address concerning some of the designs I have seen here... 1: First off... I see some designs lacking jam nuts... WTF??? the threads have to be bound tightly to eliminate slop... 2. the factory arrangement of the inner bushing offsets the LCA to the front... ie. closer to the steering rack... I see a lot of these designs use the same width spacers on both sides.. thereby CENTERING the LCA in the lower crossmember mount-holes... wasn't there some discussion about moving the steering rack closer to the LCA centerline... Shouldn't the LCA be as far forward as possible???? ....

HOLY COW!!! that is one BADDASS sounding Z car... I just had to show my wife!!!! she said she wants one of those and she hates my Z car....

I saw some of those.. they are $1300 and they consume 200CFM of air....

regardless of HP ratings... most vacuums draw less than 8 amps... most of the "industrial" rated vacuums draw around 10-13 amps.... the shop vac I am replacing draws 8.7amps... Thanks Greg for pointing that out... It is the same story for audio amplifiers and damn near everything else out there...

hehe.. I looked at some of the industrial units... It seems that $350-$500 will get you a drum lid with their heavy duty 11 amp motor assembly attached... It doesn't seem like such a good deal to me... the dollys/cradles I saw were still a few sandwiches short of a picnic... typically they have small 1.5"-2" casters... the only cart wheeled model had what appeared to be tiny little front casters as well... as we all know.. they won't clear extension cords or air hoses very well... I am not looking for something with tank tracks... but I am hoping to build something with shop floor terrain capabilities... The idea behind the cart-wheel dollys is to handle them like a hand truck... kick em back and push them over obstacles... I would like to drag it by the hose or attach a hand rim around the middle to lift and pull... If I cut the drum down short I can lift it by the top....

Well... It really looks like the nice ones are expensive enough to make me want to fashon my own... I have several hoses in 2 sizes and many accessories from past shop vacs... I have a trash can and/or a 50 gallon drum with vacuum written all over them... I also have an electric leaf blower and the new motor assembly from Shop Vac on the way... HMMMmmmmm... 2 speeds with 17 amps of high power sukkin on the way baybeeee.... ahhh... how about that... I just found 4x 3"-swivel casters..... hehehe... maybe you guys can tell... I have been catching up on honeydoo lists... naturally... a much used tool went south.... I am in complete limbo with the Z for a little while... suspension parts are with the machinist, cage awaits door bars and my local race shop's schedule... can't paint much until it gets back... I'm not even getting back into the electrical until the body is ready... ohh well... custom shop vac time....

I did not consider the hanging vacuum... I didn't even look at it... I'll bet they had to attch the tank better for that one... I don't want to seem thorny... but I have to critique this one... http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes It has less power... a tiny little tank... and 1.5" narrow hose... I have been cleaning 50 lbs at a time of blasting abrasive... I use it for water pickup and carpet spot cleaing with 50 lbs of water per load... and... that vac is $90... for what???.. a wall hanging bracket and an extra hose... it seems like a $40-$50 value to me... ================================================================================================ I'm sorry for you Sears fans... they are selling the same import junk everyone else sells... but the prices are 20%-30% higher than everyone else... It is really great that I can get a new ratchet to replace the one I broke... at 8PM on a Sunday... but after I have broken so many... I opted for professional tools... I found that they actually WORK better too... Sears is a great place to find a wide variety of tools in one place... that is hard to beat.. but there are better deals and better quality elswhere...

You guys with the old sears units are lucky to still have them... Trust me.. If they break.. get them fixed... you don't want what is out there now... Caveat Emptor... unless you have $350 for a real professional vacuum...

I went to Sears to look at the suggested vacs... I picked up the 6.5HP model and the tank crashed onto the shelf and bounced onto the floor.. taking out half the accessories display... I picked it all up and looked carefully at the tank clasps... These are barely able to hold the weight of an EMPTY TANK... WTF!!! I snatched a new vacuum still in the box off the shelf.. ripped open the carboard and pulled out the vacuum.. I checked the fit of the tank clasps and found the SAME PROBLEM... they don't hold the tank for shiat... Upon inspection of the unit I have determined that these are the same crappy designs everyone else is making right now... Someone show me a real vacuum and I am out the door to pick it up... Now... I realize that you are supposed to pick them up by the side handles on the tank... There is no way in hell I am going to purchase a vacuum designed that way... I don't have the time to wind up the cord, remove the hose and accessories, bend wayyyy over with both hands and transport the vacuum.. them return to gather up the hose, accessories, and the extension cord on my second trip... I will grab the damn top handle with one hand and hold the hose and cord in my other hand... or I might as well drop kick it into the trash bin...

Ahhh... I talked nicely with a manager of the Shop Vac customer service.. they are sending me a brand new motor assembly with the fuse and the switch FREE of charge.. Thank you Shop Vac for at least providing service even though the design is CRAP!!!

Haaa... 3 year warranty.... except I have to ship the giant thing to a service center 3 states away... I also just found the parts list... You can buy evey piece of the damn thing EXCEPT the motor/switch/fuse parts.. they only sell a replacement motor assembly ... which is $60 plus shipping... which gets me near the $80 cost of the whole vacuum... I am pissed off... crappy unit... no way to use the warranty or buy the crappy parts without spending almost as much as a new vac... This is a scam...

ohh... BTW.. It is less than a year old... I have noticed that NOT ONE OF THE NEWER designs holds on to the canister very well... twice!!! I have spilled the canister contents by lifting it by the top handle and knocking the canister with my knee while walking... This is also UNACCEPTABLE... I don't think you can buy a decent vacuum any more... I own 2 hand-me-down canister Electroluxes... one is from the early 1970s and the other is a later 1980s model... They both need occasional light maintenance but have worked reliably for decades... That is a real tool.. they just dont like water....

Damn things just are not built right anymore... I purchased a Shop Vac brand canister vac for garage cleanup... this was the most expensive unit without the metal canister... 1: Brand new, right out of the box, it didn't work properly... the rollover protection ball(cylinder in this case) was getting sucked up into the blower inlet... It was too light and airflow would suck it striaght up... I ended up screwing several heavy washers to it in order to keep down... I had to fix it on the spot because I could not take it back after hours and I absolutely had to use it that night... 2: A short time later I noticed the switch was acting up.. It would turn on and then off again like a momentary button switch.. I had to take the vacuum apart again to clean and lubricate the switch... The damage appears to be heat related NOT DIRT related... but it has contiued to work... not very well... but it stays on if you give it a good positive snap with your finger... 3: It just died on me last night... I dismantled it AGAIN!!! I tested all components and it seemed to be a problem with the motor wiring this time... now that I have COMPLETELY disassembled the motor unit I can see what the problem was... There is a GD FUSE!!! IN THE MOTOR HOUSING... WTF!!! this thing is the LAST thing you can remove from the unit... I wight as well just rebuild the WHOLE DAMN THING... In any case.. I bypassed that silly POS FUSE and the damn things works again... I would gladly purchase an older shop vac to replace this one... even if it needs rebuilding... I am absolutely FLOORED by the lack of quality of the new garage vacuums...

that sounds like a pretty good approximation for breakaway torque... Keep in mind that the low(60*) ramp angles make these competition units lock up tighter under power.... typically they do not need to be shimmed to have 100+lbs of breakaway torque like the cheezy factory 300ZX units...

That jeep roll cage is an interesting point.... But keep in mind that the bars will be MUCH!!! closer to your head in the 240Z... in fact... most people end up with the roof/A-pillar bar practically touching their head while seated in the car...