johnc

There were two transmission used in the early 240Zs. The first was referred to as the "A" box and has a separate, bolt on bellhousing and the "monkey motion" shifter. These were replaced (sometime in 1971?) with the "B" box which has an integrated bellhousing and different tailshaft and shifter. Regarding differential position and performance, the early more forward position should theoretically provide a little better balance and reduce yaw inertia. I experimented with diff position on my 2,150 lb. race car and didn't notice any difference in lap times. I know of someone who did notice a difference in their 1,913 lb. autocross car and they currently run the diff in the forward postion.

The pictures are too fuzzy to be of any use.

Funny. That picture above is of the Griggs GT40 SLA front suspension for a Fox body Mustang. I'm putting that exact front suspension on a Mustang right now. I wouldn't worry about a properly welded and heat treated part.

You guys are assuming the split wing distributes vertical loads discreetly side-to-side. It doesn't. Total vertical load is distributed primarily through BOTH vertical supports. At most, one support might see 25% of the total load and the other might see 75% of the total but I would very surprised to see that much of a difference. Plus, the supports appear to be spaced about 24 to 30" apart and centered on the car, further diminishing side-to-side bias. The benefit, IMHO, comes more from yaw control and drag reductions then variances in side-to-side vertical loading of the vehicle.

I've never been happy with the fasteners that come with that kit. They are class (not grade) 8.8 metric and should be class 10.9. I always throw away those fasteners and use known good quality stuff for reasons you just discovered. Here in SoCal we've got two tracks with very fast corners (Willow Springs and Cal Speedway) and both tend to focus the mind on suspension build and parts quality.

This might be an odd suggestion, but check the master cylinder pushrod at the booster and also check to make sure the reaction disc hasn't fallen out.

That's really the only part of the post that speaks to experience.

The vast majority of people who run these kits have no problems. The springs will lower the car 1 to 1.5" depending on how good your OEM springs are. There's a thread on this site with customer who had problems with the front springs on his 240Z. Even though I didn't sell the parts, I worked with the Tokico engineers to try and figure out the problem that appeared to be unique to that particular car. The customer chose another route before we could figure out what the issue was. Also, for your 280Z, the Tokico springs are linear at 185F and 200R which works out very well for the car. Tokico does not recommend their spring setup for a 2+2 but that's just heir lawyers concern about 4 people in the car. I've sold a number of sets to folks running 280Z 2+2s and they are very happy. And, reagrding removing your rear shocks, buy a service manual or search this site.

Yes it was. There was a pedal to the left of the clutch that the driver pushed on to change the angle of attack.

We can go back even further to the Chaparral 2E. http://www.chaparralcars.com/index.php Wish I had enough money for one of the continuation 2es...

Cracks don't repair themselves and, in fact, they have a nasty tendency to grow.

I run a Starrett Powerband/DP variable pitch blade with 10-14 pitch. It works great on all materials except stainless, which kills most band saw blands very quickly. I also run a TAP-EASE crayon on the blade before every cut. I use a friction saw bland for my band saw when cutting stainless or hard alloys.

Buy a shop manual for your car.

You can swap the entire setup but it isn't simple. You need to continue searching and reading. Also, getting a factory service manual for both vehicles will make things clearer.

My post was tongue in cheek. I've seen the movable wing video and its a good idea. They have a lot of work to do to get it past the sanctioning bodies, but I think the time has come for the ban on movable aero devices to go away.

Large multi-element winds or single element wings at high angles of attack do help at Solo2 speeds. But none of this is new: http://www.nsxfiles.com/otc0_2003_day0.htm

Before you even think about tuning on the dyno, make sure: 1. Your car can run reliably for an extended time period. 2. Your cooling system has enough reserve capacity to handle the dyno loads and lack of airflow. 3. You've got a good battery in the car and the charging system works. 4. The suspension is in good shape and all then nuts and bolts are tight. 5. You've got good tires on the car. 6. You figured out some good strap mounting points. 7. You know what you're doing regarding tuning. 8. Your computer boots up reliably and the tuning software works without bugs. 9. You've got a spare, charged up battery for your computer. 10. You computer/ECU connection cable works. 11. You have backups for your baseline and you can reliably restore from those backups. 12. Your toolbox has all the tools you'll need to make the tuning adjustments. 13. You have spare electrical wire, connectors, electrical tape, solder, soldering gun, etc. 14. You have the user manuals for your ECU, computer, and tuning software.

Or you can buy them from me for about the same price AND you get a person to call who can answer questions.

Two springs, one on top of the other. One 4" tall and the other 8" tall.

Back in 1978 I lived in S. lake Tahoe and over one summer I made a ton of money doing drive away deliveries of custom vans and trucks from Roll-A-Long in Placentia, CA to Reno and Carson City, NV car dealers. Driving fast up 395 was the rule and I could deliver two vehicles in a 24 hour period if I drove fast enough and the PSA flights were on time. One early morning (about 3:00am) I'm driving a brand new Ford F250 pickup with the full boogie package (custom paint, interior, rims, exhaust, roll bar, big off road lights, etc.) up highway 14, blasting through Lancaster, CA. The truck has a 460 V8 and the speedometer needle is pointing straight down into the odometer. As I clear the town and am approaching Rosamond, CA and the Kern County line I notice flashing red lights waaaayyy back in the distance behind me. Foot comes off the gas and the truck slows down to 55 mph. Up ahead I notice some more red flashing light on my side of the road at the Kern County line. This isn't good because I'm the only car on the road. I get to the road block (Kern County Sheriffs) and stop just about the time the pursuing CHP officer catches up. I've got two handguns and a shotgun pointed at me and three pissed off cops shouting different instructions (Hands up, Lay on the ground, Don't move!) Being 18 and a smart ass, I made a couple comments and ended up getting dragged out of the truck and tossed on the ground. Two hours later, after explaining that I was just a delivery driver for the truck and the $5 one-trip-permit issues by the DMV was good for a one way drive of an unregistered vehicle, the Kern Sheriffs depart. The CHP officer was still pissed off because he couldn't' catch me. Seems that the 1978 Mopar CHP vehicles were limited to a 110 mph top speed when they had a light bar across the top. His car engine had died about a minute after he finally caught me and it wouldn't start. When I offered to give him a jump or a ride into Rosamond he got really pissed and told me to never drive through Lancaster again. The speeding ticket (100mph +) cost me 4 points and $464.

Yes it does. Page BR-21 has a diagram that shows he reaction disc (#18) and page BR-25 specifically mentions that you need to make sure the reaction disc doesn't fall off the push rob when adjusting push rod length BR-25. The reaction disc has a maintenance requirement that it gets replaced every two years as part of Repair Kit A per the FSM. EDIT: Oops. I quoted from the 240Z shop manual. Sorry.

On the rear of a drag car I think a progressive spring is a good idea. The car needs to squat and be compliant for a couple inches of bump travel but then the spring needs to be stiff enough to keep the car off the bump stops and still handle a 50% of the total vehicle spring weight. You can also try a dual spring setup using two springs of different rates.

+1 on the reaction disk (disc?).

I ran a Nissan Comp oil pan and was able to drop the engine 2" and move it back 4". Making that change requires a lot of other small changes: 1. Header clearance to the driver's floor pan. 2. Driver's side engine mount removal to get header in/out. 3. Center hood latch mount removed. 4. Shortened driveshaft. 5. Oil pump and/or balancer clearance over anti-roll bar. 6. Shifter hole clearance. 7. Modified/new engine and trans mounts. 8. Exhaust clearance to trans mount. 9. Cooling system hose changes. 10. Intake manifold/brake MC clearance.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the little guy.