johnc

I ordered the Harwood Mustang Cobra R hood yesterday from Jegs. When it gets here I'll take it down to Stan's and we'll cut it up and get it to fit the 240Z hood mold. We will retain the stock Z hood center bulge and fit the scoop over it. I can't get rid of the hood bulge without making a new hood mold.

This is going to get expensive... I have to go out and buy a scoop or a hood to use as a plug for each mold. With nice scoop prices running about $125 and hood prices close to $300, dropping $1,000 on plugs alone just adds $100 to the cost of each hood (assuming I'll make 10). One of the issues to address with scoops is: Do we want to retain the trademark center hood bulge on the Z hood? For some folks that's very important, for others it not. FYI... I'll be out racing until Tuesday so you won't see any responses from me until then.

Evan (240ZZ4) called me yesterday about making a cowl induction hood for the 240/260/280Z. I talked with "Stan the Carbon Fiber Man" and I'm going to go ahead with making one to determine costs, etc. Here's the plan: 1. I'm going to use my existing hood mold. 2. I'm going to build a mold for the scoop. 3. Stan will layup and bag both and then bond them together. It will look like all 1 piece and is much cheaper then making a brand new mold. The hoods will be basically for street use so they will be a polyester fiberglass structure with a clear CF layer on top. The process above and the materials chosen will help keep costs down. We will be able to make a hood out of the same CF/Nomex I currently use for my race hoods, but its overkill for a street application. The hoods will be available as pin on or with an inner frame that will let you use the stock hood hinges and ceter latch. Weight will probably be around 15lbs. I'm also thinking about making 3 cowl induction scoop molds so you will have a choice of styles - 1995 Mustang Cobra R, Z28 Camaro, or L88 Corvette. The scoops themselves will have to be sized for the hood. Stock sized scoops will probably be too wide and look funny. Evan and his friends want the 1995 Mustnag Cobra R look so that's the one I'll do as the prototype. I'm Let me know your opinions on the style choices below (search the NET to find pictures): Mustang Cobra R Cowl Scoop Example Harwood HRD-26405 - 4" tall Z28 Cowl Scoop Examples Harwood HRD-1114 - 4" tall Harwood HRD-1103 - 2.5" tall - my preference L88 Corvette Cowl Scoop Examples http://www.supercars.net/cars/1968@$Chevrolet@$Corvette%20L88x.html Still have to find a good example. No timeline on this project yet. Stan normally takes 3 to 4 weeks to complete a hood depending on his schedule.

Someone read my mind, typed it up, and posted it on the Internet. Scary (the reading part or my mind part?): http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000108.html

He didn't, but with France, China, and Russia's help, he was gonna... http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1167592004

Sorry to hear about your loss. But, there's always: http://www.betamotorsports.com/products/SunbeltL6.htm I had a similar thing happen and the problem was a dropped intake valve seat in #4 as a result of detonation. $5K and a few months to fix.

Guys, I left the Onion copyright on the bottom so at least a few folks would figure it out. Give me some credit...

It just keeps getting worse for Kerry...

From this statement in a previous post of yours I inferred that you were not applying the brakes properly. Myself and dozens of others who have autocrossed 240Zs for years in DS, BSP, SM2, FP, etc. have not had this problem or have been able to adapt. But, I do know. That's why I responded the way I did. Also, depending on the class you want to compete in, removing the brake booster is most likely an illegal modification. You may not like the response, but that doesn't mean its wrong or useless. And insulting the people that run this site won't get you very far.

Fix the booster and learn how to brake properly. When I ran the dual Tiltons I had 7/8" front and 1" rear with a balance bar and an adjustable prop valve. Pedal effort was high but that's something I prefer for race track use.

I guess if any of us had cameras around us 24/7 there would be dozens of embarassing shots. Maybe we should get back to when the press (and us citizens) showed a little respect and deference to our elected leaders. But, those football shot of JFK are pretty funny, especially the "hike."

Some unusual trends in voting patterns that no one wants to talk about: http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/718pvwny.asp?pg=1

While this is the worst example (for Kerry anyway) I've seen so far, it appears that all of the electoral college pre-election polls/surveys show Kerry losing the election: http://slate.msn.com/id/2107683/

FYI... .082 wall tubing (regardless of alloy) is not legal in any SCCA Solo1, Solo2, or road racing category - except for sedans under 1,500 lbs running in Prod or GT categories. .095 wall minimum for alloy at 1.5" OD. Also, if you're going to use alloy tubing, make sure the builder gets the certifications from the material supplier because you will need that to pass tech.

Mostly cost. Its something you or someone with general mechanical skills can do as opposed to having to pay a higher rate for a skilled welder. The roll cage manufacturer can also do a volume production run thus reducing material and process costs. Plus, you don't have to completely strip the interior, remove undercoating, and sound deadener so the cage takes less time to install.

And John Kerry thinks we need France as our ally? http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,14058,1318972,00.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1291280,00.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/international/middleeast/02food.html http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/29325.htm When is he going to wake up and realize our interests are NOT the interests of France?

BTW... They are also running the CF Hood and Hatch from the Rusty Old Datsun, complete with the aluminum spoiler that says, "Team Rusty Old Datsun - Eat My Rust!" on the back.

Yeah, but those are Canadian pounds Drax. It really works out to 4,550 pounds American....

The numbers I hear tossed around (in the drag racing community) is that a Powerglide trans weighs about 100lbs without the torque converter. A 4 speed Type B Datsun trans weighs 80 lbs with shifter and without clutch or flywheel. Adding the weight of the flex plate, torque converter, trans cooler, lines, and shifter to the Powerglide and you've probably got 125 lbs. Adding the weight of the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, clutch MC, lines, and clutch pedal and you've probably got 125 lbs. So, I'll agree that in a Powerglide installation you've probably not added any weight to the car as part of a V8 swap.

Well... no. You're forgetting the added weight of the V8 transmission, the obligatory R200 swap, larger rad, etc. I agree its possible to accomplish a sub 2,350 with a V8 swap but it doesn't really happen in the real world.

One continous U bent tube. No sanctioning body allows a pieced together hoop.

Typical SCCA ITS prepared 240Zs (roll cage, fuel cell, dash but no interior or passenger seat, all steel panels, all door and hatch glass, L6, SUs, 4 speed, R180, 14 x 7 wheels) weigh about 2,250lbs. My 1970 240Z in similar trim with roll bar and a full interior weighed 2,260lbs. Adding a CF hood and hatch to my car and removing the window glass and mechanism, wiper motor and arms, dropped the weight to 2,170 lbs. Under 2,000 lb 240Zs are pretty rare and I know of no street driven 240Z that weighs under 2,350 lbs. It also takes a lot of work to get a V8 conversion Z under 2,500lbs.

There's a few different ways of seam welding. 1. Weld the edge of the seam where one panel overlaps another (a lap weld). This is the most common and the easiest to do. Its what I did when I seam welded Henry's 240Z. It has advantages when having to weld seams that have "dum-dum" (seam sealer) in the overlap area. You run a bead just outside the overlap, one over the top edge of the overlap, and then a third down the middle that connects the other two beads. The reason to do that is to get the sealer to burn off without contaminating the final bead the adds the strength. 2. Weld through from the backside of the lap joint (as you state below). I can work but you've got to be sure you get enough penetration and the seam sealer does a good job of keeping that from happening. 3. The third way I know of is the cheater way. You cut a 1/8 to 3/16 wide by 1" long slot through the upper panel down to the lower panel. The run a bead in that slot penetrating the lower panel and overlapping the upper panel. Then grind the bead flush with the upper panel and paint. No way to tell if the car has been seam welded or not. Now, the big question: Is it worth it? Well... it depends. An early 240Z (from 1970 through 1971) does markedly benefit from seam welding. To the point of being able to increase front spring rates by 50 lb. in. In later cars, the benefit drops off. One of the reasons I like to do seam welding is that its kind of an insurance policy. It forces the builder to strip the car down completely and inspect the basic chassis in detail. Its amazing (scary) what you'll find. These cars are 35+ years old and most have been wrecked at least once. Many of the wreck repairs are cosmetic and less then ideal structurally. Also, Hoji at the Nissan factory probably screwed up 1% of the spot welds he did when he built the car and over the past 35+ years, some percentage of the remaing good spot welds have also failed. I just finished seam welding a late 1972 240Z. There were small stress cracks in the chassis where the front frame rails met the firewall, one frame rail had a 1" crack propogating across its width, the driver's seat inside lap belt reinforcing plate was only held onto the chassis by 1 (of its eight) spot welds, and the rail where the front diff crossmember mounted had partially separated from the deck pan above. This was a supposedly only a street car but the beat up center tunnel indicated that this car has lost its driveshaft more then a few times. And, with the car on a rotissierie (sp?) you can seam weld the whole thing in a day. You will need a full 10lb spool of ER70S-6 .023 wire.

Nope. A splitter needs to be very close to the ground. I tried to do a big splitter on the front of my 240Z but I didn't get the ride height down enough and it became a lift device. Really scary in a big sweeping turn at 120+.

Call me ignorant, but how can you make a SCCA legal 6 or 8 point cage without overhead bars that connect the tops of the front and rear hoops?