johnc

Sorry! Clockwise (screwing the adjuster in) is stiffer.

Only do one side at a time. Take the wheels and tires off and place the car on as many jackstands as you have. Weld a 1" square tube lengthwise in each door opening as low as possible while still giving yourself room to work. It would help to remove as much weight as possible. Things like the engine and trans are good items to get out of the chassis.

The fastest ITS Zs in the country (easy coast guys) normally don't run any rear anti-roll bar. I'm sure your car can be tuned to handle very well without any rear ARB.

I don't recall if they have a click or just turn. I've been runnign Penskes for so long I've forgot what normal shocks are like. CW is stiffer and CCW is softer. Don't try to turn them past their limits. No need to jack up the car. Are the shocks in the picture double adjustable?

Shipping can get expensive because of the size and shape of the shipping container. Weight is not an issue

Not true when welding cast steels. Too much penetration draws carbon out of the base metal into the weld and makes the weld brittle. You want the weld as ductile as possible to prevent cracking and you don't want to draw carbon into the HAZ.

http://www.betamotorsports.com/products/index.html Its all listed here.

Those look really long. Make sure they will fit. The top adjuster gets turned counter-clockwise to make the shock stiffer.

A more fundamental question: Do you really need a rear anti-roll bar?

Stop! Before you decide what you're building, figure out the rules for the sanctioning body you intend to autox with. The engine build rules are very restrictive for SCCA's Stock, Street Prepared, Street Touring, and Prepared categories. The engine build you've described so far would only be legal in SCCA's Street Modified category, where you'll get your butt handed to you at any national level event by 300+ horsepower CRXs and Miatas. If you just want to compete locally, then you might be competitive in Street Modofied or whatever the local "run whatcha brung" class is. EDIT: Just saw that you're from San Diego. You won't have a chance in Street Modified unless you're a very, very good autox driver.

If someone can provide a perfect AND I MEAN PERFECT 280ZX hood I'll check with my CF guy about making a mold.

http://www.fibreglast.com/documents/175.pdf Been used in miltary and aerospace for decades as a honeycomb.

http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_virginia_researchers_invent/index.htm

A better tool then the Unisyn is the Stesk Synchrometer for 1 5/8" to 2 1/8" carb throats. These guys have them and the adapters needed: http://www.piercemanifolds.com/accessories.htm The Synchrometer flows enough air to allow you to balance the SUs at 3,000rpm. The standard Unisyn is pegged at that rpm.

For a street car that's not going to see consistent 90+ mph speeds the lower priced two or three layer CF hoods makes sense. The hood on a raced 240/260/280 has to be pretty strong because of the air pressures that build up in the engine compartment at speeds over 90mph. At Willow Springs big track, where even a stock 240Z will see speeds over 90 mph for 15 seconds a lap, I've seen low priced fiberglass and CF hoods literally tear apart and fly off the car. My hood even moves up hard against the hood pins at speeds over 130mph as Ken Jones, John Williams, Art Singer, and others can attest. But, for a street car, the parts I sell are overkill. Plus, by default, my CF hood and hatch come primed, ready for paint. It costs extra to a clear Gelcoat so that the CF weave shows.

No. And, most likely, the other two changes you made probably didn't gain you anything either. The basic, stock L6 engine is very well designed and that includes all the ancillary components. You have to upgrade the internals (cam, head porting, pistons, etc.) to really see benefits from headers, intake, TB, and AFM. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but at least the changes you made haven't hurt anything. You'll gain more horsepower from a proper tune up (including valve adjsutment), and making sure there are no vacume leaks, all the FI sensors are working, and there are no electrical problems.

Try Chet Whittle at Sunbelt (770) 932-0170. I pad about $150 for my Carillo rdos but they came as part of a complete engine, so that price might not apply for a separate purchase.

Thanks Miles. The CF/Nomex hood I sell can be attached to the stock hood hinges and use the stock hood latch but you'll have to add the inner frame option which bumps up the weight and price. As Miles said, the parts I sell are race parts and most racers I've dealt with want to remove the front hood hinges, springs, etc.

I guess you could argue that the door bars are forward braces in Solo 2. As tech inspector I would try to discourage folks from doing this because of safety issues on a side impact. What's to keep the forward mounting of the door bar from pushing inward on a side impact? The floor pans are not strong enough.

Check to be sure. I know the SCCA does not approve door bars with just a roll bar in the GCR and I don't think they allow them in the Solo 1 rule book. The door bars would be fine with a full cage.

I assume that since your car is a 1972 that you wouldn't have a catalytic converter unless you swapped in a much later engine and had to comply with some smog regs.

Your new on this board. Make sure your tech is correct before making such definite statements. Haven't touched the MSA CF hood so I can't compare mine vs. theirs. Whetehr the weight loss is an advantage depends on how a person uses their 240Z in competition. I can use my 240Z as an example of the benefits. My car weighed 2,260 lbs with all steel panels and was about a light as you can get a 240Z and still have a full interior. Replacing the 1970 steel hood, hinges, and center latch with my CF hood and hood pins saved 37 lbs. That's a 1.6% weight savings off the car. Replacing the rear hatch, glass, hinges, and latch with my CF hatch, Lexan window, and pins saved another 37 lbs. Total weight savings of 3.3%. Lap times overall at the last OTC improved by an average of 2% and a good portion of that lap time improvement was from the reduced weight up high in the chassis.

You're asking for a head shot at 50+ yards on a moving target from a 9mm service pistol while under fire and your body is full of more adrenaline then its ever felt before? This wasn't a firing range or an IPSC competition. I competed in IPSC with three LAPD officers who were involved in the shootout (and are very good pistol shooters) and ALL were trying their best to get a head shot. Some got upper chest hits. Some got mid-body hits (which is what ALL of their training focuses on). ALL ran out of ammo and had to run to other offcers and get more. They ALL ran back into the line of fire and continued to try and take these guys down. BTW... There weren't 300 officers firing at the two perps. At any one time there were only 5 to 10 officers within firing range due to the situation itself and orders from command. FYI... Rob Leatham (http://www.robleatham.com/) said it would have been a great shot. I was talking with one of the officers when Rob heard our conversation, walked up, thanked the officer, shook his hand, and said exactly that.

I've driven 95mph backwards off the inside of turn 9 at Willow Springs big track in a Contour SVT with Erik Messley laughing his ass off in the passenger seat.

Maybe because Mr. Biologist's life and the rest of his family's life depends on the competence of the mechnic working on the car? I've used that one before and it sure shut one doctor up.