johnc

For those that want to do more then just send money, here's a group that has experience with disaster relief and has created lists of various "kits" that can be assembled by church, family, civic, or other groups: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm Once you've assembled some "kits", FedEx is working with a group to "Fill-a-Plane" to deliver relief supplies to the Tsunami disaster areas: http://www.chiefwiggles.com/blog/archives/000148.html

As Tim said, race parts require frequent inspection which normally occurs when they are installed on a race car. Due to lack of inspection, race parts installed on a street car are an accident waiting to happen.

If you look at that layout of most mid-engined cars, they have something called a "cab forward design" which essentially makes room for the engine behind the driver. I, for the life of me, can't see enough room behind the driver/passenger area in a 240Z (even a 2+2 280Z) for an engine, transmission, and driveshaft. You might be able to put the engine and transmisison where the passenger footwell and seat are.

I don't wear panties anymore because of that wad problem. I just dangle now. I don't think I'm hyper-conservative but my Afican American finance' has started calling me "the Klan" so maybe my viewpoint is a bit right of center.

While the UN discusses, the rest of the world acts...

What Tim said above. There's more information regarding ride heights in the middle and end of this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=97585

So, less then 24 hours after the tsunami, Jan Egeland, stands up and has his temper tantrum claiming that the US's initial response of $35M immediate aid was stingy. His stupid assumption was that the $35M was going to be our ONLY response. Now lots of press and others are taking credit for the supposed increase to $350M because of their blind criticism of the initial amount that was delivered immediately. Why don't people focus on the relief efforts instead of taking political advantage of this disaster?

Parts bin design. Cost. There are very few cars that come from the factory without some degree of bumpsteer. But, it only becomes an issue at the extremes of suspension travel. 99.99% of car owners never notice or would care if their car exhibited a little bit of bumpsteer. Bumpsteer really isn't an issue for the 240Z when its at the stock ride height and driven on the street. It only becomes more of an issue when the car is lowered, wide and low profile tires are installed, and the car is raced.

Ya know, now I'm getting pissed. First we've got this self-righteous, pompus, functionary from the UN accusing us of being stingy in our aid to Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, etc.: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041228-122330-7268r.htm While the facts show otherwise: Then we get another unemployed mid-level UN functionary complaining about the US bypassing the UN to provide the aid directly to the people that need it. She turns this whole thing into a turf war! http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3944374 What fools!

That's what's done. I agree it doesn't eliminate the problem completely but it sure does reduce it. The bolt hole and the bushing outer shell are machined/drilled at different angles and you only get the bind problem at the extreme ends of the front suspension travel. I helps a lot on a lowered race car because you can machine/drill the bushing so that there's almost no stiction through two inches of bump and rebound measured at the wheel. You do have to redrill the holes in the crossmember and they aren't exactly parallel to the vehicle's centerline or level.

Without getting into a big dissertation about instant centers and roll centers (refer to Chapter 17 of Race Car Vehicle Dynamics by the Millikens) what happens when the LCAs point up on the front and rear suspensions of the 240Z is that you get large amounts of tire scrub (lateral movement of the tire relative to the ground). Any vertical suspension movement introduces lateral movement in the tire and changes the slip angle. With constant slip angle changes from all 4 tires the car is being disturbed; it feels "skatey" and doesn't take a "bite" in the corner. As a driver you constantly have to correct with the steering wheel and it feels like alternate ends of the car are about to let go when driving at 10/10ths. Its best to have the LCAs point slightly down at static ride height with a typical load on the vehicle. In the case of the 240Z, lower is not better. Look at the picture below of the ROD at Thunderhill with the left suspension fully compressed in a fast right hand turn: Even at full compression the car still has about 4" of ride height measured at the rocker panels. It was set up with 6.5" ride height in front (measured at the front of the rocker) and 6.75" ride height (measured at the rear of the rocker). That was with 25.2" tall tires, and 27mm bumpsteer spacers. Even if I relocated the front LCAs I would have been stuck at that ride height because I couldn't lower the rear any more. .5" of rake is about the most you want in a 240Z and still keep the handling neutral.

The most important things you can do are: 1. Buy the factory service manual. 2. Use the search function on this site.

We just sent back a Mitsubishi 52" DLP because of the fan noise. Our living room has a tile floor and I removed the acoustic crap from the ceiling so the room is very "bright." The fan noise (especially the cooling fan over the bulb) in that room was louder then the refridgerator in the kitchen (54db vs. 52db). And, yes, I have a sound meter. I use it for measuring race exhausts I build for customers that autocross in San Diego and race at Laguna Seca. We changed our TV to a Mitsubishi 50" plasma.

You can run 17s or 18s but you'll need a really low profile tire. A 245/40-17 is about 24.7" in diameter while a 245/35-18 tire is about 24.8" in diameter. A 265/35-18 and a 265/40-17 tire will both be about 25.3" in diameter and can be made to work. The drawback to a tire profile under 45 for a Z is that you'll need good, multi-adjustable (or custom valved) shocks to make up for the tire compliance lost by the short sidewalls.

I had a hell of a time getting my car to handle well with 25.2" tall tires. I was at a 6 to 6.5" ride height (measured at the rockers) with the 275/45-16 Hoosiers I was running. I can't imagine how you can get a 240Z to work with 27" tall tires. The chassis won't bite, it'll just skate.

If you have a web site, you can add this code to bring up the Amazon.com pay box. I added it to my site: http://www.betamotorsports.com

Talked with him. He's sending me some more info. I can't do it any sooner then the 25th 'cuz I've already got a ski trip to Tahoe planned.

But, getting a Z too low makes it handle poorly, regardless of springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, etc. Never lower a Z to the point that the front and rear lower control arms go beyond level, meaning: the LCAs must never point up (from the inside of the car tot he outside).

I've run welded diffs on the street, autocross, and road racing. They require a different suspension setup and driving style to make them work, but they can and do work well (class wins in OTC2003 and 2004). The more horsepower you have the better they work. Personally, I wouldn't want a welded diff on a daily driver and probably wouldn't want one of any of my street cars. But, I've driven to and from many, many autocrosses with a welded R180 in the back of my 240Z. And $200 for a properly welded 3.90 R200 is a reasonable price as long as the bearings and internals are in good shape and the side gears were loaded when welded. If the unit was not loaded then there's a good chance its out of true and will have a vibration.

They certainly should be.

Or you can machine a bushing, redrill the crossmember, and mount the strut and upper spring perch with a monoball so that the LCA pivots in a nice smooth arc in relation to the TC rod. Amazing how stiction free the front suspension of a 240Z can become.

Someone needs to go back and read the HybridZ mission statement.

A lot of the problems with harder rear bushings (Aluminum, Delrin, Hydlar, etc.) moving around has nothing to do with the bushings. The mounting points (crossmember and rear caps) often get bent out of round when people tighten then down over the new, harder bushings. Tighter is not better - proper torque is. If the bushing slips try to source a crossmember or rear cap that's perfectly round and/or make some copper shims. And remember, race parts always require more attention and maintenance then street parts. If you run these types of bushings anywhere on your car you should plan on disassembling and inspecting then at least annually. If you're not willing to do this, then don't put them on the car.

I have a set (custom made, not a G-Machine part) made out of Hydlar that had been in the car and autocrossed, raced, etc. from 1992 to 2003. No problems.

US Industrial Tool and Supply: http://www.ustool.com/usstore.asp?WCI=wciWelcome Rivet guns, bucks, etc. All the stuff you need. A properly designed and installed rivetted structure can be as strong as welding, but most structural stuff uses welding nowadays.