johnc

You needed a running start with those trucks. About 40' of chain and a 25' snatch 'em strap would have worked.

I'm glad other people feel this way. I've been getting kinda grumpy about some of the posts lately. I think its time to create a Newbie page simliar to this one: http://www.corner-carvers.com/wiki/index.php?Guide%20For%20Newbies The money paragraph: "Anyone schooled in economics is familiar with Gresham's Law: bad money drives out good. Well, indifferent moderating invites a Gresham's Law of Online Interaction: idiotic postings drive away contributors who have something interesting to say."

Should be a monster... And that's on street gas. Try some leaded 100 octane and see what she'll do.

Another cross post from ZCAR.COM.... This question has been answered dozens of times on this site. Use the search function. Also, here on HybridZ you must be more specific in your questions. We need to know a lot about what your intended use is, what's your budget, how good a driver you are, etc. That is... if you're looking for intelligent answers. Otherwise, you can read my dumbass reply on your ZCAR.COM post.

I know I sound like a freakin' broken record here, but... The ONLY way to know for sure if you have a limited slip differential is to take the rear cover off and look inside. The spinning wheels routine doesn't work. A welded diff will appear to be an LSD if you waste your time spinning the wheels. Take the cover off!

This topic has been covered many, many times on this site. Try using the search feature (if Dan's got it working correctly...)

Despite the stuff I posted here I'm very optimistic about our future. The world is a much safer place to live. Worldwide deaths from warfare are down significantly as a result of the creation of nuclear weapons. Sounds funny, but its very true: http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_4/roland.html Crime in the US, by any measure, is on a downward trend that began way back in 1950. You, as an individual, are much safer today then even 20 years ago. Cars are much safer to travel in, our food supply is cleaner and better inspected, and we've got thousands of new wonder drugs that cure previously uncurable diseases. The environment is getting cleaner every year. Here in Southern California we have significantly fewer smog alerts now (I think there were 2 last year) then when I was growing up in the 1960s and that's even after the EPA tightened the air quality standers by orders of magnitude over what was considered unhealthy back in 1968. But, do you hear much about much of that? Not if you watch television. Why? Probably because its much easier to be a pessimist then an optimist. People naturally prefer to sit around and complain. Don't ask me why. When I mention the items above in conversation almost nobody agrees with me. Most everyone attempts to either refute the positives or find examples of other negative things.

Here's where I disagree (again). The "governemnt" here in the US has the least control over the media of any country in the world. Every media outlet, from large worldwide organizations like CNN, Fox, and MSNBC to your local community college cable TV channel has a tremendous amount of independence. But, ALL of them are working hard to make money from their news operation - even the so-called public corporations (PBS and NPR). Since the early 1970s when CBS realized that what they could charge for advertising time on the CBS Evening News on average exceeded what they charged for prime time entertainment, what you see reported is slanted by profit. Ted Turner and CNN dramatically accelerated that change in the early 1980s. What stories are selected for presentation on television news is determined more by what will give the greatest Nielsen ratings numbers then any other criteria. Once the stories are selected, the biases of the editorial staff come into play to determine what "angle" the story will take. Occaisionally the editor's bias will become the primary criteria for story selection - but those abherations usually get corrected when the ratings drop. So, despite the comfort of blaming the "government" for censorship, that's rarely the case here in the US. Blame the viewers and the shareholders (yourselves).

I guess this might be a little off topic, but here's a good analysis of the USA vs. the USE. I predict that we will be at war with Europe by 2013 in some third-party country somewhere in the middle east. http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20030614

Well... I'm not of the mindset that the US and its leaders are completely self-serving or evil. I don't feel guilty about our conduct in world affairs and we didn't deserve the attack that occurred on 9/11. Yes, I'm sure with hindsight there are a lot of things we could have done differently, but no matter what we do there are still going to be millions of people on this planet who hate us and want to kill every American they find. I agree with the change in military doctrine from deterrence to prevention. For decades we waited until someone else got in the first punch before considering any reaction. Its exactly like the Hollywood cowboy movies where the guy in the white hat takes the first punch from the guy in the black hat. It makes the white hat cowboy appear morally correct and justified in his measured response (remember, he never beats the black hat cowboy to death). Unfortunately, things have gotten so deadly in this world that we can't sit back and watch 3,000 of our friends and family get slaughtered just so we can appear to the world as the cowboy in the white hat. Its not like Pearl Harbor where soldiers and sailors where killed. Now they are after you, your family, and your friends. Passive resistance and diplomacy doesn't work when someone is trying to murder you. If some nation, leader, or individual stands up and says, "We will kill every American!" I think we should take that seriously and act accordingly, regardless of world opinion. As Todd Beamer said to the passengers on flight 93, "Let's roll!"

Uuuhhhh... the steering rack is bolted to the crossmember and the lower control arm attaches to the crossmember. How does lowering the crossmember change the relationship between those two components?

Having worked with a number of ex-patriot Iraqis in the early 1990s I supported an overthrow of the Iraqi regime for years. Sadam is as evil as they come - on par with Pol Pot, Hitler, and Stalin. Regardless of the rational, removing him from power was a good thing for the Iraqi people and the world. I understand the position of using our military only in the defense of our country, so let me ask a question: Should we have invaded Afgahnistan after 9/11?

Doesn't American military doctrine require the use of overwhelming force in these kind of situations? Why on earth would these soldiers, who had others from their unit killed in the days leading up to the rescue, go into this situation shooting blanks? Sure, they found no opposition and no Iraqi soldiers at the hospital. They sure as hell wouldn't want to assume that going in. Anyone think they should have walked up to the front door, knocked, and asked if Jessica could come out and play? Do your own thinking and research. Remember, the BBC (an extremely liberal, anti-US organization) opposed the war from the beginning and is still doing all it can to back up that opposition. Every news organization has an agenda. Keep that in mind when reading "news" stories. And for external views of the US, may I suggest The Economist and Der Spiegel.

Yesterday I was cleaning up a customer's bellhousing before welding some tabs on it. I was holding it over a pan of Acetone and the thing slipped out of my hands. Big splash of Acetone in my face, eyes, nose, and mouth. I scrambled into the shop bathroom and splashed water on my face and in my eyes for 5 minutes. I had to pull my contacts out because the Acetone caused then to curl up. I grabbed a bottle of saline I keep in the shop for just this reason and used the whole thing up rinsing my eyes out. My eyes were red the rest of the day and are back to normal today. I'm now wearing my faceshield when using any cleaner. BTW... a suggestion for anyone bringing parts to a shop - clean them real good. Your cleaning time is much cheaper then the shop's time.

A 245/45-16 is a tight fit and would depend on the specific tire. I couldn't fit Hoosier R3S03 245/45-16s on the rear of my 240 but I'm sure a street oriented tire would just make it.

Dang! I was hoping to get the pointless, circular N42 vs. P90 debate going again. BTW... Electromotive (Don Devendorf) preferred the P90 head for their turbo charged race engines and, supposedly, was involved in Nissan's design of that head for the ZXT. And you're right. Engine builders do get set in their ways. Unfortunately, neither the 280Z or the ZX is competitive in Improved Touring and neither is eligable for any other SCCA race class (excluding GT categories which allow extensive head mods) so there's really no competitive development effort by the Sunbelts and Rebelllos on the P79/P90. Its potential in comparison to a fully developed N42 (which is basically just an E88) will probably never be verified on the racetrack.

Really...? Overwhelming? Seems that Jim Thompson, Don Devendorf, John Caldwell, Don Potter, and Dave Rebello have all missed that overwhelming evidence. I guess I'll send my engine back to Sunbelt.

On later 240Zs there is a pressure switch under the master cylinder that triggers the brake light and sometimes has a prop valve in it. Occaisionally those have been known to cause intermittent front wheel lockup. Its rare but it might be one thing to check. Also, check your TC rod bushings and ball joints.

Its usually done for cost reasons. If the inside of the bend is cleaned up flow isn't as bad as you might think. Of course, using number of the correct size and radius U-bends and tubing donuts will make a better part.

For all practical purposes, the weight difference between a thin wall 321 or 347 stainless exhaust and either a carbon fiber or titanium tube exhaust on a Z is negligable. Remember, our exhaust systems are very simple. There's not much there so going to lighter materials has a smaller affect on total system weight. For cars with complex exhaust systems like the Z06 Corvette you'll see greater weight reductions with the use of more exotic materials. And what's posted above is true, while carbon fiber can handle a great deal of heat, the bonding materials break down at realatively low temperatures. The $2,300 CF air boxes run on the top of the competition GTS-R Vipers had to be replaced annually.

That used to be the case but recent racing crash test studies done by NASCAR and others have shown that a seat back brace causes more harm then good IF the seat you are in meets the 24g FIA 8855-1999 specification. Even the SCCA has revised their GCR to eliminate the seat brace requirment for FIA compliant seats.

You should have received detailed instructions with the harness you purchased. You can also call the manufacturer of your harness and I'm sure they will send you instructions. If you bought a used harness and its over 5 years old, throw it away. Here's one link: http://www.ompusa.com/harness_notes.htm For a 240Z you really have to install some type of stout bar between the rear strut towers to get a good mounting point for the shoulder harnesses. Its something that you'll want to do anyway to help stiffen the rear of the car so now you've got a reason to do it. BTW... you must run a racing seat with the cutout in the shoulder area if you're using a 5 point harness. The shoulder straps will pop off your shoulders in a wreck if you're using the stock hi-back seats.

I fixed it (damn 4 stroke engines)...

If I remember correctly, Vizard "usually" discusses compression ratio in the context of cylinder pressures. I had links to a few of his articles about high compression engines but with the demise of MotorTec Magazine those links be busted. Which is cylinder pressure normally measured in two places: 1) at the point you mention above and 2) usually from 10 to 15 degrees after TDC on the [Edit: power] stroke when max cylinder pressures are reached. Its a measure of combustion efficiency and power. Its also rpm dependent because of port velocities. I guess you can express the differences as ratios, but the value lies in the absolute numbers reached. BTW... Now that I think about it some more, DCR (if it exists) is less meaningful because the spark plug fires sometime before TDC so the actual cylinder pressures measured at TDC on the compression stroke (if anyone actually did that) are mostly a result of the burning of the air/fuel mixture. BTW2... but what do I know, I'm a suspension guy. Engines to me are big hunks of metal in the way of good front suspension deisgn.

As I said much earlier in this thread, there ain't not such thing as dynamic compression ratio. That's just another term for cylinder pressure. Its like Microsoft making up another marketing term for a technology that's been around for a long time.