johnc

You really need to read the stickies in the Suspension forums and the Strut FAQ. All your questions will be answered there.

Thanks. I knew I had some (most) of it wrong.

I don't know what Subaru sold in Europe or Japan. Here in the US they used a CLSD in 2004 and 2005 and a VLSD in 2006 on the STi. The gear ratios are 3:54 and 3:90. Even then I might have those figures wrong.

I think its funny to see people argue against steel toes as if they will cause more damage to the foot then the part that fell on it in the first place. Mythbusters pretty much blew that misconception out the door years ago. If whatever falls on your foot is heavy enough to crush the steel toe it willhave destroy your foot regardless of type of shoe - or lack thereof.

Maybe or some switch/sensor clicks off when boost reaches some level beyond what its designed for. The stock 280ZXT has about 7psi of boost right? Does your AC switch off at that point or at a higher boost psi?

Most likely.

I think he means 5" of total travel, not 5" of bump travel. 2" of bump travel on Justin's car would be enough.

Actually, no. A header on a L6 gives basically no performance gain until additional work is done. The stock L6 exhaust manifold is very well matched to a stock internals engine. The best bang for the buck is the MSA (or any cheap) 2.5" exhaust with a turbo muffler. The Stahl and the Nissan Motorsports headers are the ones most racers choose with the MSA 6 into 1 header coming in third.

Interesting idea that any moving suspension component is by definition part of the unsprung mass - basically any suspension component that sees compression or rebound from the road surface or springs. I'm going to have to think about that. As for the above suspension setup, the shocks need to be painted red.

Everyone will be reminded of the rules at least once. Some more frequently...

Scammers will always find a workaround and we can only so so much. This is just an Internet message board and not an auction or payment transaction site. You guys can take any transaction to eBay and co-ordinate a "Buy It Now" purchase so only the chosen buyer gets the deal. Run the payment through PayPal and everyone should be somewhat protected.

Tokico HZ3099, BZ3099, HTS112F, Koni 8610, Koni 8611 will all work on the front strut tube on your 280ZX and let you shorten the strut by 1.25 to 2". I sell them all.

I've got a book on the shelf that goes through the development of the Convair B-36. It ran six P&W Wasp major R4360 engines that used a supercharger and a tuborcharger (in the -41 version). The turbocharger was only "turned on" at higher altitudes to maintain rated power (3,600 shp and 7,986 ft. lbs). In the book they have a checklist the flight engineer had to go through to engage the turbochargers on all six engines to prevent "sympathetic intake surging" between the supercharger and turbocharger.

Per the folks at Sunbelt (from data they got from Electramotive), the 1975 N42 block had the highest nickel content of any of the L6 blocks made - for whatever that's worth.

Just run it and start looking for a replacement ring and pinion. It might last a week, a month, or a few years.

Next week my machinist will be cutting one pair of side axles (stub axles) that will fit in the 27 spline 2004/2005 Subaru WRX STi R180 rear CLSDs and 2006 VLSD. The flange end of the these side shafts will bolt up to the stock 240Z halfshafts. This pair is the prototype and will be made from 4140, heat treated, etc. What I need is someone who can test these for me starting in mid-June. That means you must have the Subaru diff in hand (or can get one quickly) and have a running, driving, reliable car that can put some street and track miles on it in a short time. That's a tall order but you'll get to keep these side axles if you follow through and send me feedback, pictures, and measurements.

Medium and high speed corners need less Ackerman then low speed corners plus you use less steering angle in medium and high speed corners. I all comes back to what you're planning to do with your car. There's no one Ackerman, Caster, SAI, Camber, Toe, Ride Height, or other setting that works well everywhere. Build adjustability into the suspension and steering and then be very, very willing to use that adjustability. On my old race car there were a lot of things that were not "ideal" per the books and the Internet message boards. But it was very adjustable and I kept fiddling with things and taking notes all the time. Inside front tire temps too hot on a fast track? Add 1/4" wider front wheel spacers and reduce caster by 2 degrees. Lap times drop, tire temps even out, slightly loose. Remove front wheel spacer. Lap times increase, inside rear tires get hotter, loose. Add 1/2" front wheel spacer. Laps times increase more, front tires get hotter, rear tires cool down, push.

Make it as adjustable as possible within a +3 to +10 range. There's no one number that's the best and sometimes more is not better. More caster increases tire scrub which slows the car down in a corner. This is a bad thing for horsepower limited cars and cars racing in a spec series. Conversely, more caster increases the weight on the outside rear tire in a corner improving traction and allowing more throttle coming out of the corner. That helps high horsepower, traction limited cars. I used between +5 and +9 degrees of caster on my racing 240Z depending on the track and the speed of the important corners. A track like Willow Springs with high speed corners required less caster then a tight Buttonwillow configuration. The trend in new performance cars is towards more caster. My 350Z came from the factory with +9.1 degrees of caster.

Read the strut sectioning FAQ.

Yes, the first iteration. Later I should be able to offer different flange options for CVs. I'm not going to post anymore in this thread. Look for a thread in the Vendor forum in the future.

Actually, the drawings just got sent to the machinist. Once I know more I'm going to open a thread in the Vendor forum and keep everyone updated.

BTW... I'm making those side shafts. The drawings are done and I'm taking them to a machinist in a couple days. Then they go to the spline cutter, I weld the flange on the shaft, and then the whole thing gets heat treated.

I cut a bit off each end and then taper the cone end with a sander.

Yes they are tapered from the factory and if you assembled and torqued them correctly they are not the source of you're knocking.

Its worth it. Cost and hassle are one time things. Driving around with your two and a half incher wishing you had a three incher will be with you the entire time you own the car.