johnc

This might be your issue. Often a rebuilder misses the fact that the driver's side 280ZX CV shaft is shorter then the passenger side and mixes parts up on the rebuild. The customer ends up with two long CV shafts and can only get the passenger side installed. Here are some pictures of the 280ZX Turbo CVs fully extended. Left side: Right side:

Well, I have a late 1972 on the rack now but the dimension you're asking about changes with ride height, camber, and rear toe. I can give you the number at full droop, on a car with shortened struts, camber plates, and aluminum offset inner LCA bushings: 40.563"

Define "minimal gains." If you're racing under a tight rule set then spending hours and hours trying to get "minimal gains" makes sense. If you're building a street car or a racer car that runs in an unlimited class, then spending hours and hours on "minimal gains" is foolish until you've exhaust all possible "moderate" and "maximum" gains. IMHO: Building aluminum floor pans in your car to save 5 lbs. is foolish if you have 25 lbs. of radio and speakers in the car. EDIT: I'm not bagging on you MT for this idea. My post above might have sounded a bit harsh.

http://www.betamotorsports.com/products/rod4sale.html

Oh, I thought he was sticking with the 7.5" wide wheel. I tried a set of custom Monocoque 16 x 9s with Hoosier 245/40-16s and it wouldn't work on my 1970 with 10" or 8" coil springs unless I jacked the ride height up to get the spring perch out of the way. In many cases, Hoosier, Kumho, Goodyear, etc. specify a tire size that is smaller then its actual size. If you talk with Jeff Speer at Hoosier they recommend a 9" wide wheel for their 245 S06s even though the fitment chart says 8". We just switched a customer from 10" wide to 10.5" wide wheels for a the 285/30-18 Kumho V710s. In back to back testing Saturday he picked up .15 at an autocross. While its possible to make a wider tire work on a narrow rim (Carter Thompson ran the 285/30-18s on an 8" wide wheel) its something you really only do if you're budget or rules limited.

A true race car is one where you wear a helmet every time you drive it. Once you get to that point in your mind (and intended car usage) its time to start cutting it up. Sounds like you're not there yet, so little steps are in order. Save the LCAs, TC rods, CVs, subframe connectors, etc. for when you finally make the race car commitment. Camber plates and shocks are your first change. Since you're adverse to cutting up the car right now, the EMI Racing camber plates are really you're only choice. They will also work later during hacking mode. For shocks go with at least the Koni 8610s or, to save some money in the long run, step up to the 8611 doubles. You can also bump up your spring rates with these shocks into the high 200s, very low 300s. Unfortunately there really aren't any slicks that will work on a 7.5" wide rim(including your FA slick). Even thought the FA slicks are designed for a car with a lot of aero loading, they will have trouble handling the expected weight of your car and the roll camber gain from the front suspension. Also, until you get really serious with the suspension on your car, it won't be able to handle the lateral loads thrown at it by the slicks. Save the slicks for the race car thing. I would run a 17" x 7.5" wheel and use the Hoosier A6 or Kumho V710 in a 225/40-17 size.

That $18K price included a MotecM48 EMS, custom intake manifold, custom header, merge collector, alternator, Quartermaster clutch, engine wiring harness, etc. - a complete, running, broken in on a dyno, packaged, and shipped engine.

I've had a few L s built for me over the years. $1,600 to $2,200 from JMS (depending on what needed to be replaced) and $18,000+ from Sunbelt in Atlanta.

I've had good luck lately with Motul 90PA gear lube in the Nismo R-Tune 1.5 way LSD in my 350Z. I also added 6 oz. of Torco friction modifier. These Nismo diffs are notorious chatterers and this fluid combination calmed it down enough so that my wife is not afraid to ride in the car.

I don't know of anyone who's tried duals with an "X" pipe on a L6 exhaust. Depending on the level of your engine build, you're most likely just adding additional weight without increasing power or torque. IMHO, a properly designed merge 2 into 1 collector with equal length secondary pipes feeding it will do a lot to gain power and torque.

I'm not an engine guy so I can only parrot what's been told to me by engine guys. The term I keep hearing from professional race engine builders is: Velocity. Get the intake and exhaust charges moving and keep them moving. Cam specs, combustion chamber shape, valve sizes, intake and exhaust port profiles, exhaust and intake manifold runner shapes, exhaust merge collectors, intake plenums, and throttle bodies are all design to get the gasses moving quickly and continuously. Its actually very rare to have an engine restricted by throttle openings. In ALMS Nissan normally aspirated VG engines routinely made 450hp and had a broad torque band breathing through two 23mm restrictors. Everything was designed around maintinaing velocity in those engines.

Everyone has different opinions about brakes and porportioning. I prefer to simplify things and run only run pressure based prop valve in the brake system. OEM brake system engineers and the folks at Stop Tech feel the same way: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_proportioning_valves.shtml

Updated...

If you're installing an adjsutable prop valve, you need to remove that brake line switch and the factory prop valve. As Katman said, its in different places on the car depending on the year, but its most likely in back above the diff.

Check local zoning to make sure you can what you want to do in the shop. One pissed off neighbor can shut down your business. That was one of the reasons I moved Betamotorsports out of my garage and into a shop.

There ya go again! Forget lightness, I want STEEL! FYI... I ran AL on my old car without a problem in 4 years of racing. Just be careful when installing the screws.

I've been pissing on my lemon tree ever since.

I've seen a number of FP/AP 240Zs over the years with shaved drip rails and I know one won a Naitonal Championship. It might be in the rules but, at least a few years ago, it wasn't a concern for the competitors.

If you 8" x 3" C-channels are only .125" thick they really are just sheet aluminum and not very massive. Set them between two saw horses and you can easily bend them with your own body weight (or maybe mine, I'm probalby close to "massive" then you).

The main square tube for the hitch needs to be 1/4" wall. It should also be tied into two longitudinal members that mount the suspension (not shown in the picture). All the trailer loads will go through four suspension mounting points and the hitch. Those all need to be tied together and square.

Measured three 240Z front hubs: 72.7mm to 72.9mm Measured three 240Z stub axles: 67.9mm to 68.1mm

FYI... we have a Member's Project forum where you can create a thread like this and keep everyone updated. EDIT: Cool paintjob. Reminds me of BMW's IMSA art cars from the late 1970s.

The 8610 bodies are about 12 7/8" long and you need to run a spacer in the rear about 1.5" tall. If the strut tube is cut too short you loose some amount the 1.5" of additional rebound travel that the spacer provides by positioning the shock in the middle if its travel. Taller tires also require longer strut tubes to maintain the shock in the middle of its range of travel at a desired ride height. 275/40-18 tires are huge (26.7" OD) for a 240Z and would require a ride height around 6.5" front and 7" rear. EDIT: A simple fix would be to run the Hoosier 275-15s which should give you back about 2" of rebound travel all by themselves.

The horrible results of scientists trying to be engineers. I think they actually got the thing into a very small tornado (more like a big dust devil) and were really excited about it. The camera crew filming from a few hundred yards behind had to be told by the tank crew that yes, they actually did drive into a tornado because the "tornado" also hit the camera crew's Ford Van and no one really noticed.

If you can flange the patch panel and place it from the inside of the car, the exterior part of the patch will sit flush with the rest of the sheet metal. You can spot weld it from the inside if you punch holes in the flange and reduce the chances of burn through or pinholes. Something like this helps: http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1587&itemType=PRODUCT