johnc

While $670 is a bit much, $500 is a reasonable price if the condition is as described. Most of these clutch pack LSDs need rebuilding at 50,000 miles. The clutches in the LSDs are a wear item and do not last for the life of the car. When I had a clutch pack LSD in my racing 240 I rebuilt it at least every 18 months. The degredation in performance was noticeable and required suspension adjustments to maintian handling. If you ahve someone rebuilt the LSD it will cost about $300 which puts those $150 diffs pretty close to that magical $500 mark...

I can't speak for the ZX, but a setup like Dave's does work very well on a 240Z if you keep in mind a couple things. First, the strut towers twist when lateral loads are applied. This twist is counterclockwise (from above) for the right and clockwise for the left towers. Second, the cowl area of a 240Z is basically shaped like a triangle with the base at the firewall. The two legs of the triangle are the top of the cowl and the bottom, as indicated by the line of spot welds across the firewall about 5" down from the top. Third, if you vertically span the base of this triangle in the center of the firewall, connecting the legs with, say, a 6" tall, 4" wide, .065" thick plate of 4130 you've created a pretty strong mount with the loads transferred to the cowl area through the two triangle legs. More then strong enough to counter the remaing loads that are causing the towers to twist. Fourth, mounting a similar plate on the sides of the strut towers give you additional leverage over the twisting motion. Fifth, connecting the sides of the strut towers to the center mounting area puts those loads into the braces as compression loads, which a straight tube is very good at resisting. So, with some thought and design that type of strut tower bracing is effective, simple, and lightweight.

Sorry, but that's how it is dealing with Erik. He does great work and knows his stuff but he's about as organized as crap thrown into a fan.

Erik goofed and has to support three of his customers at a NASA event at Cal Speedway on Saturday 3/6. He says he'll still make our event and talk, but he needs to see the NASA schedule to find a 3 hour window. Event starting time will probably be moved up to around noon, depending on the NASA event shcedule. I'll let you guys know as soon as I find out.

Thanks for the offer. Richard already PM'd me and I'm sending the CDs to him for the video. After I get them back, remind me, and I'll send them up to you if you want to make copies. That's the Mexican resturant that's the actual town of Buttonwillow right? Yes, great food. I haven't stayed at any of the motels at 58 for a few years (got a camper) but I remember that the Super 8 has some pretty surreal murals painted on the walls of some of the rooms.

What? No wind and blowing dust?

I've got some video from the Flyin' Miata guys of them chasing the Rusty Old Datsun around Buttonwillow. I dont know sqaut about video stuff. I've got two files on two CDs. Both are .avi files with the first at 633MB and the second at 405MB. I can send the CDs if someone wants to chop up the files. The smaller file has probably the best shots where an E30 M3 goes of in front of the Datsun. No sound.

No, don't ever install them dry, they'll never come back out! I just coat the inside of the strut tubes and the inserts themselves with Redline HP CV2 grease. Haven't had a problem in years of racing, but then again the struts come in and out every couple years anyway. I have the GR2s on my 810 and are happy with them. Sounds like that particular customer lived off 20 miles of washboard gravel road.

Sounds like the heat damage was caused by the failure of the struts (loss of gas pressure most likely with the GR2s) not the other way around. Koni recommends adding 50ml of oil and Bilstein specifically says not to add oil with their inserts. You can add the oil, it won't hurt anything.

Exactly why spedning thousands to Patent anything is basically a waste of time. If most golfers couldn't tell the difference between a real Big Bertha Ti club and a fake from China says a lot about the golfers who use Callaway products.

Directions to my shop from WSIR (Lancaster): 14 south to 5 south 5 south to 91 east 91 east to Harbor Blvd. north (left) Harbor Blvd. north to Lambert Rd. east (right) Lambert Rd. east to Palm St. (north) Palm St. north to the 3rd driveway (left) Building 637 unit G - last building on your left. Probably a 1.5 hour drive on a Saturday morning. If you're planning on making the drive during the week, I'll need to give you different directions to avoid some serious traffic. And are you assuming I'm writing some kind of article or is someone else from HybridZ doing it?

None unless the pulleys have HKS, AEM, or Unorthodox stamped on them. Then they are good for 5 hp.

Sometimes I really wonder about my Northen California neighbors... California Measure Would Align Building Rules With Feng Shui By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN Published: January 30, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29 — With a budget deficit of about $14 billion, California could use a major infusion of positive energy. So it may be appropriate timing that in this most Asian of mainland American regions, State Assemblyman Leland Y. Yee, Democrat of San Francisco, has introduced a resolution that urges the California Building Standards Commission to adopt standards that would aid feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of promoting health, harmony and prosperity through the environment. The resolution, which has yet to pass a committee vote before going to the full Assembly, is meant to encourage planning agencies, building departments and design review boards to provide for the use of feng shui principles, which often touch on the placement of doors and staircases, the position of buildings and the alignment of objects in rooms. It aims to help people live in harmony with nature by promoting the flow of chi, or positive energy, and neutralizing or avoiding negative energy. "The structure of a building can affect a person's mood," the measure says, "which can influence a person's behavior, which, in turn, can determine the success of a person's personal and professional relationships." Mr. Yee said: "We need to allow the expression of one's culture. That's why people come to California." The standards commission typically deals with more mundane concerns, like plumbing pipes. But in California, feng shui is big business. In communities like Fremont and Cupertino, south of San Francisco, feng shui experts often consult with developers on the layout of subdivisions, avoiding placing a house at a T-shaped intersection, which would invite negative energy, or sha, the mouth of the dragon . "Feng shui is a very major cultural factor," said Irene Jhin, publisher of the Chinese New Home Buyer's Guide, based in Burlingame. Traditionally, feng shui is believed to have ramifications beyond domestic tranquillity. "If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation," says a Chinese proverb. "If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."

No on the strippers, yes on the beer. Taboos is about 2 miles away from the shop if you really need the naked dancing girls. They have an early bird senior special from what I've heard - 1/2 off the lap dances and a free Viagra for anyone over 55.

We don't care what you drive to the event, although Tim did make me park the 810 in front of his neighbor's house...

I got Erik Messley to commit to Saturday March 6th if you guys want to have the get togehter at my shop in La Habra. He'll talk about Z suspensions and how to make the cars handle and he can answer your specific questions if you have any. My car should also be in the process of being reassembled so there may some cool things to look at. How about 2:00pm? I'll order pizza and get some drinks. We'll leave the good BBQ food for the events at Tim's place. Information about where the shop is can be found at: http://www.betamotorsports.com.

If you're building a rally Z then that would make sense, otherwise, just very lightly grease the inside of the strut tubes and the inserts so they don't corrode togther 5 years from now.

FYI... Chet Whittle ran a Sunbelt 2.4L engine in ITS that made an honest 205 hp on basically stock SUs. There are a number of other ITS 2.4Ls running about the same power with stock internals and SUs.

I didn't mean to imply "street" anything with my engine and car. The fact that it doesn't have a flywheel and only a 5.5" diameter clutch makes launching the thing a nightmare. I can't even drive it onto my trailer. There's really nothing "street" about my car and I would rather walk to the store then drive it through 5 blocks of traffic. I appreciate the compliments, but Jim Thompson built my engine, not me - I can't take any credit. I'm a suspension guy so take what I say about engines with that in mind. To me, engines get in the way of good suspension design. How much do I have in my car? Well, if you earned the California minimum wage you would have to work 1,018 eight hour days to pay for it.

While my engine is NOT a street engine, a lot more "streetability" can be had if the right gearing is chosen. I'm trying a 4.63 rear gear for autocross and run either a 4.38 or a 4.11 for track events. For my low rpm work I drive my 1964 Continental with the 430 cu. in. engine or my F350 with the 417 cu. in. V10.

My engine was actually built for a flat torque band. I sacrificed ultimate horsepower for more torque. On the engine dyno the torque peak was 257 ft. lbs. at around 5,500 rpm with over 200 ft. lbs. of torque from 4,100 to 7,200 rpm. Horsepower is about as flat with a peak of 305 at 6,600 rpm and at least 250 hp from 5,250 to 7,400. On the chassis dyno the numbers are peak torque 234 at 5,700 with at least 200 ft. lbs. from 4,300 to 7,100 rpm and peak horsepower of 279 at 6,500 with at least 250 hp from 5,500 to 7,300 rpm. The engine doesn't make much power under 4,000. But from 4,000 to 7,400 it just pulls and pulls. Both Bryan Lampe and Erik Messley who've raced the car have said its a very flexible engine and deceptively fast. You don't feel a big peak in power, which lulls you into thinking you're not going that fast. But then the corners come up real quick.

You're right, I'm a noob...

Jon, Where did you get individual throttle bodies out of this list? ITB's are air filters (the black foam, red platic ones) unless folks are now throwing around ITB as an acronym. That might be my mistake. Even with individual throttle bodies and no cam, head, or compression work I don't think you'll see much of a horsepower gain. 278.9 on the Superior Automotive chassis dyno.

A set horsepower number does not make the break from boring to fun. 170hp at the wheels on a 240Z is lots of fun on the street and will get you a high 13 second car. Even on your 280ZX2+2 you should end up with a high 14 second car if you can get that much power to the rear wheels. Unfortunately the bolt-ons you mention might get you 10 more hp at the wheels if the rest of the engine and support systems are in perfect condition. So, my guess would be 120hp at the rear wheels?

Ease up. Check the site guildelines in the Announcements forum. Although thread hijacking occurs here its not really something we encourage.