johnc

Javier sold to Edelbrock and doesn't do L6s anymore.

Before you installed the LSD you were power limited in medium speed corners. Too much throttle and the inside rear tire spins limiting weight transfer off the front tires and keeping the car somewhat neutral (actually, not understeering much). With the LSD you can get apply more power, which transfers more weight to the rear, reducing grip in the front and increasing understeer. Power on understeer is typical with a slightly modified 240Z. I'm never been a fan of playing with anti-roll bar end links as a tuning tool. Until you start making spring and shock changes to control the rate of weight transfer your best bet is to change your driving style. Brake more on corner entry, trial brake to get the car rotating, apex late, and then squeeze on the power as you unwind the steering. Basically drive it as if its a FWD car. This will give the front tires a better chance to work with you. Also, be very careful about snap oversteer. The way your car is setup now if you're experiencing a lot of corner exit understeer, have a lot of steering cranked in, and for some reason lift off the gas, the weight transfer forward will increase front grip while decreasing rear grip. The car may very well spin as a result.

IMHO, 26" is too tall of a tire for a 240Z. Its very difficult to lower the car and still retain good LCA angles with any tire over 25" tall.

.063" is plenty thick.

Yes.

I agree with BJ. If you're this far along you probably just need to cut a couple holes in the roof instead of removing the whole thing. If you do cut the roof off, remember that it can be slightly lower overall when reinstalled because of the width of the cuts.

Before going to another alignment shop, check and make sure you installed the lower control arm bushings correctly. The bushing should orient the LCA forward in the crossmember. In other words, the thicker part of the bushing should be at the rear of the LCA. If the bushing is installed incorrectly you can get zero or negative caster numbers. Also, if one bushing is installed correctly and the other incorrectly, it would be very difficult to check toe.

Spray the whole car with a light mist of WD40. That will keep it from rusting for a couple months. I was told this by a couple painters who said wiping off the WD40 is much easier then trying to fix a crappy primer job.

As Jon said except I think there are a bunch of 10mm x 1.25 bolts on the car, especially in the trans, diff, and transverse link mounting.

And people wonder why a custom roll cage costs so much money. And I apologize Jon for not mentioning the width differences on the Halo bar. When you posted the picture of the conduit template it looked like you had it figured out.

http://www.twminduction.com/ThrottleBody/ThrottleBodySU-FR.html

http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechArticles/Construction/construction.html

Smart man. Doesn't cost anything to think. SCCA roll cage rules (18.1.6.C) only allow two bends in the side bars. No bend limits on a halo bar. That's a stout roll cage in your car BJ.

I give it "Four snaps in Z formation, the Zorro snap!"

Complete harness installation instructions: http://www.schrothracing.com/docs/Competition_Instructions.pdf

A strong rear strut tower bar can work as a mount for the shoulder harnesses. It would have to be at least made of DOM 1" OD .083" wall round tubing.

Stitch or skip welding is mainly used to reduce heat input, warpage, cost, and time. A properly done full length weld will be stronger the a properly done stitch weld but its way overkill for a sheet metal structure. If done improperly it can lead to cracking as Jon mentioned above. The cost in time and consumables does not make up for the strength increase gained by doing a full weld.

Nice job on the exhaust.

Yes and its a bolt or weld in roll bar.

Camber plates can get you close to 4 degrees negative and are a definate must-have for a track car. Adjsutable LCAs are more for track width and toe adjustment. They are optional for a track only car.

Used to be. He sold the car about a year ago and is on to other things.

That would be an important part of making a fast SM2 car.... If you fall into a pile of cash, Sunbelt has an assembled L30 long block (F54, P90) that Jim says is good to 650 horsepower. Customer backed out of the deal so they are looking to get around $7,500 for it. Lots of forged internal parts and a custom Crower crank from what I understand.

ERW tubing that you and I can buy is made from 1010 steel and has a tensile strength of 58ksi and a yield strength of 40ksi. DOM tubing is typically made from 1020 steel and has a tensile strength of 80ksi and a yield strength of 65ksi. ERW tubing is made by taking flat stock, rolling it, and welding the seam. You can readily identify ERW tubing by the blue/black stripe on the outside and the raised ridge on the inside. Its the cheapest way to make tubing. DOM tubing is made by taking flat stock, rolling it, welding the seam, and then drawing the tube repeatedly over a mandrel, cold working the material. This cold working improves dimensional tolerances and increases the strength of the tubing. Because DOM has a price premium over ERW it is typically made using a higher quality flat stock. And yes, you can make your tubular front structure using DOM. All NASCAR chassis are made using DOM.

Yup. Depending on how much the engine position is changed, you would also need to adjust the transmision fluid fill, the shifter position, throttle linkage, exhaust manifold, exhuast system, intake manifold, CAI, clutch line, starter wiring, coolant hoses, thermostat position, and probably a few other things I forgot about. I leaned the engine over in the ROD 2.5 more degrees (15 total) and moved it down 2" and back 4". Lowered the CG a bit and gave the car a 48F/52R weight distribution. It all depends on how far you want to take the level of preparation allowed by the rules.

Aren't you building a SM2 car? If so, the engine can lean over much more then that, can be lowered about 2", and moved back at least 4". Just keep an eye on the oil pump's position relative to the steering rack.