johnc

I've come off a bicyle at speed and had road rash like that on the arm, upper thigh, and calf. When the nurse took a plastic Brillo brush and Phisoderm and scrubbed the scrapes HARD, I felt exactly like that guy looks.

It was suggested that I read this thread. Most racing organizations have a "run what ya brung" class at the regional level. In SCCA its ITE if you're running DOT-R tires and normal aspiration and SP for everything else. NASA has similar classes. If a person is serious about something like this you need to get the various rule books first and read them thoroughly before building the car. There are a lot of nuances in race car preparation and safety that will keep your "wunderkar" from ever turning lap. And, may I suggest from experience, that you spend more time on suspension and handling than on horsepower. Otherwise, you'll get lapped by a regular old ITS 240Z...

You can make and install larger diameter or offset spacers that the strap wraps around to get it to tighten down on the front of the diff. These spacers fit around the two bolts that the spacer is looped through. Some poeple have been known to run two straps.

You can make 300+ horsepower normally aspirated and 500+ horsepower turbo charged without exceeding 8,000 rpm in an L6. Anything over 8,000 rpm in any L6 requires more frequent rod bearing inspection and replacement. Take the time and talk with engine builders like Dave Rebello, Don Potter, and Jim Thompson. They've all built dozens of GT2 type L6 engines costing five figures that regularly see rpms above 8,500 rpm. These engines generally need the bottom end torn down every 25 hours because of the rpms they see. Its not as easy as just combining different parts from the Nissan bins.

Why not just put a new strap back on?

Aaahhhhhh, the bravado of the straight line guys. Luckily you usually have good brakes so you can slow way down when a corner come into view. Don't want to scare yourselves...

Holy crap! Legos have come a long way since the 1960s!

Whoo Hooo! Looks great. Did you give the keys to the valet...

That's the big weak point in aluminum drive/half-shafts. The tube itself is plenty strong, but the yokes wear and fail over time. There are some pretty hard aluminim alloys but they are almost impossible to weld. Here's a shot from the OTC of a shattered driveshaft from a World Challenge GT Mustang. It failed due to a whipping problem.

My reply to Zank's post was a literal response with no vehicle limitations. It was late on Sunday and my wife and I had been drinking a bottle of wine... I'm running (or will be running) 275/45-16 Hoosier R3S03s. The car still is not done (I'm emulating Pete P ) but its getting much closer. I agree with your tire size recommendations although a number of folks on this list have made wider tires fit with some changes in spring perch location. If a person is willing to flare the fenders a lot and buy custom built rims then you could fit the 335s I mention above. Years ago I saw a black V8 Z running at a San Diego region autocross with 335s on the back and 305s in the front. The Michelins are racing slicks and happen to be the rear tire size on last year's ALMS GTS Vipers.

For the street, 335/30-18 Hoosier R3S03s and for the track Michelin 210 compound 25x14x18s.

Finally got to the back of the car to take some photos of the fuel cell mounting frame Bill Savage put in. The loop on the right of the cell frame is the mount for the fuel filter and pump. And the next photo is of a really cool rear tow eye. Its really light and I can jack the rear of the car up using that a the jacking point.

Douglas, 4 psi for the shielding gas sounds very low. I run mine at 30 psi. As the others have said, a smaller diameter wire helps a lot.

L6 engines have been known to turn 9,000+ rpms. Generally those are high compression GT2 type race motors that get rebuilt every 5 to 15 hours of use. There are no "kits" or "crates" for the L6 engine per se. Just not enough people out there to justify the design, tooling, and production costs for either of these marketing ideas. You'll have to talk with one of the known L6 engine builders (Sunbelt, Rebello, and Malvern), have at least $10,000 in your pocket, and a year to wait. Why do you need a motor that turns high rpms?

Sometimes the rules get in the way...

Which way is it off? Have you moved the car since putting it on the ground?

I'm sure Bll Savage does. I'm also sure he'll be willing to sell you those files...

Douglas, The class I'm building the car for does not allow the roll cage/bar structure to pass the firewall. Technically, what is welded to the firewall is also illegal but, 1) since there's no structure behind it in the cowl and, 2) I'll run those sanctioned events without the fore/aft bracing I don't think it will be an issue.

Its TIG. I work with a couple fabricators (Bill Savage and Andy Bondio) and all they will use is TIG. They feel MIG welders are for welding trailers - which goes along with a common welder put down, "You're a good trailer welder."

It helps the front end geometry and the core support but it really helps the anti-roll bar mounts. There are two tubes that pass completely through the frame rail and they are welded on each side. Its also the foundation for some aero stuff we're planning next year. Watch for a CF splitter with front wheel tunnels, vortex generators, dive planes, and brake ducting.

The strut towers don't twist in a perfect circle around the strut axis. They kind of wallow in, back, out, and then forward. The amount of movement is very small and the forces aren't that great - as long as spring rates are kept "reasonable." Most anything rigid and braced well will stop the movement. My old strut bar had rod ends (which are designed to allow axial movement - something wrong with that huh?) captured with washers and a lot of bolt torque. It was a bad design "fixed" with brute force and it worked well enough to keep the front camber stable even with 275 lb. in. springs. The pictures don't do justice to Bill and his assistant Dave's work. Its a shame to have to paint the mounts, but I can't spend the rest of my life scrubbing them with Scotch Brite and spraying them with WD40. Bill did my fuel cell mount. I'll have pictures of that posted in the appropriate forum in a day or two.

Here are a couple shots of the custom radiator mount that Bill Savage fabbed. The radiator itself is a C&R two pass aluminum with a big heat exchanger. The upper mount is a little overkill and shows Bill's experience building Nissan's off-road race trucks. The lower radiator mount was made strong on purpose.

Just got the Z back from Bill Savage. Here are some shots of the fabrication work on the strut towers and the firewall. The braces will be made once my motor is installed.

Adjstable toe rear control arms don't have to adjust very much. I get all the toe adjsutment I need with offset Kevlar rear bushings. I might even install a set of offset monoballs if I ever run out of things to do to the car. Schedule 40 black pipe? On a car? Ya haulin' moonshine with the thing...

Them's my Penske 8760 triple adjustable shocks and the Hyperco 2.25" diameter springs. There's enough money in custom shock shafts, "special" strut tube engineering, and disgressive valving to buy yourself a nicely restored 240Z. It looks amazingly like a stock setup huh?