johnc

You're going to have to use 3rd gear. Leave the rev limiter at 6,800 and plan on shifting at 6,500 rpm. FYI... the power may not die off at 6,800 rpm but your rate of acceleration will be quicker if you up shift to 3rd. You will lose about two 10ths with each shift but until you optimize you're gearing, you'll have to live with it.

Tiles from the space shuttle. Remember rule 4:

You'll want a 3" exhaust with the engine specs you list.

Not every deal you do will be a money maker. Get as much money as you can from the dealer (without burning that bridge) and then offer enough of a discount to your client as necessary to make him happy. Its not worth the return shipping and negotiation hassle. Get this cleared up quickly and move on to the next deal. You can use the mileage issue later on when you next negotiate with that dealer.

R180 ring gears went to 11mm bolts from June 1986 on.

Found it... Here in the USA, R180s diffs from June 1986 on used 11mm ring gear bolts.

I used to know that. Maybe I posted it here somewhere.

My JD2 setup on a cart I scrounged from a shop that was going out of business.

Generally for LCAs material choice is less important then the actual fabrication.

Probably not needed. Drive it for a while and if you don't like the steering feel or kickback then you can add the spacers later.

Should work.

1.5" x .095" wall for a S30 that's under 2,700 lbs with driver. 1.75" x .120" wall is for 3,500lb.+ NASCAR COT. Also. make sure the bend radius (CLR) of the die is at elast 3 times the tubing OD. For 1.5" you'll need a die that has a 4.5" CLR. I use 5.5" and 6.5" for 1.5" and 6.5" for 1.75".

I stepped up and added an air over hydraulic ram. I'm old and lazy. You can get very precise with this bender, more precise then really needed for cage work. If you're good, you can do slightly compound bends (about 10 degrees off the main bend centerline). Helps with tricky spots.

JD Squared model 3. Been using it for 8 years without a problem, works great.

Pretty easy to pop them loose on the warmup lap behind the pace car. Just sayin'.

90% of the problems I see with aluminum radiator installs in an S30 are caused by solidly bolting the radiator to the core support. The core supports on these cars flex and will slowly tear any aluminum and plastic tank radiator a part. Rubber mount all aluminum radiators and plastic tanked radiators!

That's not a problem. It just means a lot of different combinations fit the S30 and there is no one solution. That's a good thing.

No.

You can test fluid pressure at the calipers, but that is just one part of brake balance. And do you know what pressure numbers to shoot for? If not, then you have to do the testing I outline above and then check the pressure numbers after you're all done.

WTF?

Don't listen to that shop anymore. Shocks do not blow from the weight of the car. Shocks do not support the vehicle's weight. Shocks blow due to: 1. Improper installation. 2. Manufacturing defects. 3. Missing bumpstops (shock bottoms hard). 4. Too high of a spring rate for the shock valving (rebound stack fails). And please search the FAQs and stickys. All these questions have been answered many times of the last decade this site has been here.

The Nissan transmissions and shifter linkages are probably not precise enough to work with a gated shifter, unless the gates are pretty wide.

Its pretty important to set the balance with the tires you intend to use. Expected load transfer is important. If you test with 400 treadwear tires and then race on 40 treadwear tires you'll get a lot more load transfer forward and will most likely have a big rear bias problem. Testing and setup costs money and can sometimes costs a lot of money.

Here's how I setup braking system balance: 1. Find a race track that's having an open test day - NOT an open track day because you'll piss off the organizers and the other participants. 2. If you can't do number 1, find an open stretch of lightly used straight road (3am to 5am is a good time) where you can repeatedly accelerate to 80mph and brake at the limit. 3. Put four good tire on the car, same brand, model, and size. Set air pressures to 30 psi all around cold. 4. Make sure your pads and rotors have been properly bedded, make sure the brakes are properly bled, and everything in the braking system is perfect. 5. Set the rear prop valve and/or balance bar to the middle of its adjustment range. 6. Accelerate to 60 mph and perform a moderately hard stop. Watch for tire lockup and immediately release the brakes if that happens. 7. Repeat step 6 five times in quick succession making sure you don't lock the brakes. 8. Accelerate to 60 mph and brake hard enough to lock a tire. Immediately release the brakes note which tire (front or rear). 9. Reverse direction and repeat 8 (only if testing on the street - don't reverse direction on a race track). 10. If the fronts are locking, increase bias towards the rear and repeat 8 and 9. 11. If the rears are locking, decrease bias towards the rear and repeat 8 and 9. 12. Continue this cycle until the fronts just lock before the rears. 13. Accelerate to 80mph and go back to step 8 using 80mph as your new number. 14. If at any time you get a big lockup on a tire, your testing is done. Go home, get new tires, and try again. 15. If at anytime you experience any brake fade, let the brakes cool and go back to step 6. Be very careful. Hard rear lockup will throw the car sideways. Be ready for it.

Please remember that exemption from bi-annual and title transfer testing does not mean your vehicle is exempt from CA smog laws. Any police officer or BAR official can order your vehicle to get a smog inspection within 10 days of the order. DMV also does random smog inspection compliance checks of various models and years of vehicles. Last year they ordered, via mail, 9,000 vehicles to undergo a smog test and that included a significant number of pre-1975 vehicles. As long as you're not a douche' on the road you'll probably be fine.