johnc

It already does! Ya think a 1950's Triumph wagon would get aorund a race track or an autocross course faster then a 1997 Tacoma? The Tacoma chassis is a much better starting point for mods. You specified "cheap and easy." If you had specified "expensive and difficult" I would have recommended a different path. Remember, its a Triumph Herald 10 Wagon. No matter how much time and money you spend, it will never be worth more then $5,000. And that will happen only on your lucky day when some wacky, recently divorced, British guy with a tweed hat and a pocketful of cash has his MG breakdown in your driveway during a thunderstorm.

BY far the cheapest and easiest route: Carefully measure the wheelbase and track (front and rear) of the Triumph and then start searching for older body on frame Toyota, Nissan, or Mazda pickup truck that matches those dimensions. Pull the truck body off the frame and replace it with the Triumph body.

The ideal order of work for me is: 1. Strip the car to the bare shell. 2. Inventory all the parts. 3. Degrease the shell and all the parts. 4. Send the shell and parts out for media blast. 5. Chassis repair and modification. 6. Roll bar/cage and seat mounting. 7. Dash fitment. 8. Engine, drivetrain fitment. 9. Suspension build and fitment. 10. Brake system moodification and fitment. 11. Fuel, oil, and cooling system modification and fitment. 12. Electrial wiring harness fitment. 13. Composite body part fitment. 14. Strip the car again. 15. Send parts out for paint, plating, powdercoating, etc. 16. Final assembly. 17. Interior installation. ...but it never works out that way.

Ultimate? Complete tube frame chassis, mounting tabs for carbon fiber 240Z body, rocker or pull/push rod suspension at all four corners, flat bottom, front splitter with diffusers, rear diffuser, multi-element rear wing, lightweight four cylinder turbocharged engine making 500 to 600hp, 6 speed sequential transmission, Michelin SX 27/68-R18 and 30/68-r18 slicks on 10.5" and 13" wide 18" BBS wheels. That would be close to the ulitmate, at least for me...

I get a call a day with this exact question. Having installed SBCs, RBs, SR20s, and now a 2JZ into 240Zs I can tell you that no customer of mine has ever, ever paid to just have the physical installation done. Every single one has asked what the price is to just do the physical installation and I tell them "2,000 to 3,500." Every single one has paid at least $12,000 to get far more then just the physical installation done. The physical installation is the easy part of any of these Hybrid swaps. There's far more effort involved in rust repair, subframe connectors, suspension upgrades, fuel cell installation and plumbing, diff mouning, cooling system install and plumbing, etc. then just hanging the engine and trans.

You probably need to do some math to determine the load on the caliper and disk when parked on a worst case 15 degree incline - unless you live in San Francisco.

Live axle, De Dion, and beam axle suspension gain very little postive camber in roll because the axle basically stays parallel to the road surface while the sprung mass rolls.

Could also use the down tube as a bong...

Cool bike. And if you're trapped out in the wilderness and freezing you can burn it to keep warm...

No.

The two large OD steel rings fit inside the Koni gland nut and you use them in case the strut is a bit low in the strut tube. The large plastic rings fit around the shaft and sit on top of the gland nut. The bumpstops bottom on them. All of these parts are optional. The Koni 240Z gland nuts are part number: 73.25.01.003.1 and Koni is very proud of these little things.

Looks like cousin Cletus is tired of waiting in the car...

http://www.mechanicalengineer.cc/mechanical-engineering-archives/9-NORMALIZING-OF-STEEL-,-Normalizing-of-Steel.html NHRA requires normalizing of TIG welded 4130 (CroMo) thin wall (under .125") steel structures. The FAA and no other race sanctioning body requires normalizing for thin wall 4130 materials becuase normalizing has no affect with thin wall materials. Its a step that a lot of hot rodders erroneously started doing based on AWS and ASTM recommendations for thicker walled 4130 steel weldments. Its not necessary for properly welded roll cages and in practice most weldors do not get the weldment hot enough (1650 F for 4130) when normalizing for microstructure changes to occur. What is critical to welding a 4130 roll cage is to not put a lot of heat into the welded joint.

The length of the strut is the important part (14.938 to 15"). How much is cut out of the strut tube and the length of the spacers below the shock are tailored to meet that measurement. I'm going to edit my strut sectioning instructions to remove any reference to how much to remove and how long to make the spacers. This has caused people trouble in the past.

Just like to dig up old jokes.

If the car is running pig rich the catalyst honeycomb gets very hot - probably beyond its design limits. Add in some hard backfires and I can see how the grid would start to blow apart.

Which equates to 8 seconds at the end of a 20 lap race. Tire management is a critical aspect of running on a race track. A very good driver can keep some tire in reserve by the closing laps of a race to make the pass for the win - in the last turn on the last lap. A tire with a larger heat capacity makes this a little bit easier. Assuming same compounds and proper suspension setup, a physically larger tire will have a greater heat capacity.

All good advice. What I can add just off the top of my head: 1. Don't be afraid to ask the event organizers for a different instructor if things are not going well. Sometimes people just don't click and its nothing personal. You're the paying customer and you should enjoy the instruction you're given. 2. Pay attention to what the instructor is telling you and put your ego aside. It doesn't matter if your last or first, this isn't a race. And bragging about passing a Porsche GT3R in your Yugo GXV doesn't mean squat when you're in the beginner group. 3. Breathing! Holding your breath makes you tense and dizzy. 4. Relax your arms and shoulders. Slow and smooth arm movements and soft hands. 5. Remember to use the bathroom between sessions and drink lots of water. Skip the 4th cup of coffee or the 6th Diet Coke. Eat lunch but keep it light. Two Big Macs, a Supersized fry, and a large chocolate shake will come back to haunt you in the afternoon. 6. Bring a small selection of basic tools that fit your car and have a list of nearby auto parts stores. 7. Bring a chair. 8. You'll find that a 20 or 30 minute track session takes a lot more concentration and focus then you ever realized. If you're feeling tired or ill, don't think you have to run the last sesison of the day. Its better to end the day on a good note then go out and make a bad mistake becuase you're tired and lost focus. 9. For a track map, see if you can get a satellite picture of the track from Google Earth. An actual aerial view of the track is much more helpful then a black line on a white piece of paper. 10. Have fun! Speedventures has a good pre-event checklist on their web site: http://www.speedventures.net.

There have been some issues with the Hoosier 275/30-15 in A6 compound - a lot of excess outer shoulder wear even in cars running as much as 4 to 5 degrees of negative camber. I've only seen the issue on a CSP Miata (the championship winning one this year) and a DSP E30 BMW. It shortens the tire life somewhat but its kind of a toss-up because the A6 Hoosiers don't last long anyway. I would only run that tire in car weighing under 2,500 lbs with driver (even in R compund). Anything heavier will not last. Given that advice, I would seriously look at the Kumho V710 in 285/30-18 on a 10.5" wide wheel. 24.7" tall, fairly light, and lots of wheel choices. Also look at the BFG gForce R1. I've been running them under my 350Z and am pretty impressed. Not as sticky at the start as the V710 but they last longer and have more left at the end of the race.

What do a 400hp Supra and a 800hp Supra have in common? Both run 12s...

Ran a similar kind of tire test on a K Prepared/DSP E36 BMW swapping from 245s to 285s. My calculations said it would be a draw. Actual real world testing showed the 285's had a 1 to 2.5% improvement in lap times with less falloff in grip towards the end of the session. The 285s had a larger OD and were a heavier wheel and tire setup but the gain in corner exit speed more then made up for any loss in the rate of acceleration down the straight. The car was easier to drive at 10/10ths and had more consistent lap times throughout a 30 minute race session. Go with the bigger tires if you don't have to compromise alignment, roll centers, etc.

Rust repair does not count as a modification with NHRA or SCCA as long as the repair is an OEM type repair.

The link above is is a helpful guideline, but as recommended, join the NHRA and buy the rule book. Any car under 10.00 seconds needs a full cage and I suggest 1 5/8" .125 wall DOM tubing. NHRA is pretty strict about wall thickness and a lot of the tech inspectors sonic test the roll cage in the bends where the wall thickness drops a bit. If the tubing in a bend goes below .118" wall thickness you won't receive a cert. Also, using 4130 tubing will save some weight but the fitup needs to be close to perfect and NHRA will require the whole cage be TIG welded and the welded joints normalized after welding. You'll also need a SFI certified flywheel shield, driveshaft loop, rear axle retention plates for floating axles, catch cans for the diff, trans, and engine, and a number of other specific safety items. Again, buy the rule book.

Holley's FI systems are not a good example of FI.

As posted above regarding the H190 and R190. The live axle rear diffs for Nissans are sold as a pumpkin without the whole rear end housing, the same as Fords rear ends. The seller is mistaken and the H190 rear end cannot be installed in a S30 or S130 unless you're going with a complete live axle swap.