johnc

If you are in one of the counties in CA that meet air quality standards (Mono, Inyo, etc.) then you are only subject to a transfer of ownership smog inspection. But ALL vehicles registered anywhere in the state of CA are required to comply with ALL the smog regulations applicable to the model year of manufacture. The only exception are various exemptions for inspections. At any time a cop or BAR rep can order any vehicle to get a smog inspection with 10 to 14 days. BTW... its not that difficult to do a smog legal engine swap. LS and LT1s in the S30s are pretty easy.

Yup, 609.

No.

And I've made my own spacers a few times. I used the 1 5/8" OD 4130 tubing as listed above. Didn't worry about hardeneing because I checked the hubs frequently, never had an issue in 2 years of racing, and the rear struts have been on a customer car for at least 5 and I haven't heard of a problem.

I wore out a set of rear struts in a similar way (25,000 track and autocorss miles). Over time, with large lateral loads, the hub ovals a bit and the bearing moves in the hub. I tested it and found an inner bearing that took a little more then hand pressure to install spun from its original position in the hub. 1/8 of a turn or 200 turns, I couldnt tell. Suddenly getting end play out of spec when it was in spec before is a clue. I used Loctite Green (Bearing Lock) and it worked for a year but then the end play went out of spec again. I replaced the rear struts. And you must have a heavy, hardened washer under the stub axle lock nut. Without it you will bottom the threads before hitting the preload or end play numbers.

The spacer dimensions are published in the FSM. As a last resort, you can cut a C spacer down to a B dimension or add a hardened shim to an A spacer.

Probably true. But you can weld or bolt them in place getting whatever caster number you want.

The trick to not twisting the chassis is to tack weld the rear sections in first (both sides) while shooting a last down the chassis to make sure they point toward the center of the front rail structure at the TC rod mount. Then tack weld the front sections in place (both sides) again using the laser for alignment. Then weld the front and rear sections together. Now you can do the full stich/seam welding of the frame rails to the car, alternating sides of the car, front to back, and inner/outer edges of the rails for each weld. If you get the rails welded together straight while tacked to the car, the stich/seam welding will not affect the chassis alignment if you alternate where you weld. The won't overpower the rocker panels, closed doors, or the roof structure.

If you can get -3 camber you have all the adjustment you need for a S30. If you need anything more out of the top of the strut your car is bent. The answer is not, the GC plates have more then enough camber adjustment.

A responsive, low PMOI car can do things quicker (turn in, braking, accelerating) because it takes less time to transfer weight. These are tiny time differences compared to a high PMOI car but those differences add up with 12 turns and 20 laps. It also makes the car more difficult to drive and requires greater concentration and consistency from the driver. Setup issues are also magnified.

It could also be differential issues or tire stagger. Those are more remote possibilities so focus on alignment first.

I work as a fabricator in a Porsche shop since I sold Betamotorsports in April. I'm only doing work on a few leftover customers. We are way too expensive for the Datsun world. Its simple economics. We have 22 cars backed up and each car has at least $10,000 worth of work waiting to get done with most over $25,000 in parts and labor. It would be silly to pull a tech off any job to bill $800 for a day's work. The estimate 9rider got above is very reasonable if the work is done well.

I'm a SCCA National Scrutineer and do annual techs on about two dozen cars a year. Two years ago a guy made an appointment for me to do a new annual (detailed inspection, issue the logbook , etc.) on his ITS 240z. He shows up and gets kinda flustered when he sees the 240zs in the shop that I'm working on. Asks me if he can reschedule which is odd because he was pushing me to get the appointment ASAP. I convince him to go ahead. He openes the hood and I look at the engine. L28 with 2" SUs on a 1972 240z. I say nothing, go thoroughly the complete tech with him telling me how great a racer and fabricator he is. I stamp the serial number on the roll cage and then fill out his log book (picture and everything.) I then proceed to fill out two pages in the log book with everything illegal on the (there was a lot) and note that all of this had be fixed before he races with SCCA in the ITS class. He was pissed. Boy was he pissed. Spit on the ground in front of me pissed. Told him "have a nice day and Ill see you at the track - or not." I heard from an Arizona region tech that he towed the car there to get an annual but they wouldn't do it because he couldn't produce the log book that matched his newly stamped roll cage serial number. He also tried the same in the SFR regional with a newly ground and painted roll cage but the word was out then.

I used to charge $600 to $800 depending on the work involved (see the list above). It's all about time. It takes more time to do it right then most people think.

My friend and past co-driver took his SCCA legal, 2,435 lb., drum rear brakes, 14 x 7" wheel, 190hp 2.4L ITS 240Z to a VARA event here in SoCal about six years ago. He won CP beating 300+ hp 240Zs and 2.4L 911s. Bryan was regional ITS champ mutiple years in extremely competitive fields. ITS NOT THE CAR!

1/4" x 20 inserts and 1/4" x 20 x 1/2" grip length stainless button head capscrews

CF pin on hood saves 40 lbs. CF pin on hatch saves another 40 lbs.

Thanks Alan.

We're also thinking about a Polo motor. http://www.polomotor.com/ Most likely well just build a spare parts 616 Porsche 4 cylinder.

I have the 3023 docs throught 1973. No FI system was homologated for Group 3 or 4.

Get rid of your solid front diff mount. Weld up the one you have.

Rancho owes us a few favors. We are also thinking about swapping in a Porsche 901 rear suspesnion (which will blow the $3,500 number I listed above). That will let us use any number of 901/02 five speeds we have around the shop. And Ron, here's a better Subie engine option: http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/subaru-engine-for-le-mans-revealed

Taka Ano, before his drifting successes, was a very good autocrosser and he ran a turbo MR2 in ASP. He and I would swap cars (my 240Z ran in BSP) on practice days for fun. His MR2 would come around in an instant if you were doing something wrong when the boost came on. I could never really master it. Conversly, Taka couldn't stand my 240Z and how slow it turned in and how much work it took to get the back end out (in comparison to his MR2). I know why Taka went big in the drift world.

Exactly! A Z will tell you, "Oh, I'm going to spin! Get ready! Here it comes!" A MR2 will say, "Buh bye!"

60 grit 1.5" drum sander on an extension rod. You'll need about 3 per strut tube and set aside a couple hours. And pray that the strut is welded straight otherwise you'll never get the Konis in. You can also sand the powder coating off the Koni shock and check the weld at the bottom of the shock. Sometimes there's a little extra where the weld finishes that hangs up the install.