[2020] What Did You Do To/with Your Z Today?

[Jeff G 78]

I am back working on the race car after Covid kept me away from the garage it is in and I'm in the middle of the brake upgrade.  I figured that I would weigh each brake component and make a spreadsheet to track the deltas.  My brake swap is as follows, I'm upgrading from the OE setup to the common Toyota 4X4 Vented fronts using T3 spacers and in the rear, I went with Mustang GT calipers and vented rotors using the Silvermine adapter brackets.  The rears added more weight than the fronts and I'm not quite done weighing parts as I don't yet have the front linings or the Wilwood 1" master cylinder or prop valve.  Also, T3 sent me the thicker 240Z spacers even though I ordered and the invoice shows 280Z spacers.  I will re-weigh the spacers and bolts when I get them.

Bottom line is that the total brake upgrade is going to be around 43 lbs. heavier than the OE setup once I include the front linings.  I do plan to remove the parking brake setup so that will offset a little bit of the weight gain.  I was a little surprised that I added that much weight, but the rear vented rotors and calipers are heavy.  The rears are 25 of the 43 lb. add.  For racing, I think it will be a welcome improvement. For street use, I would have saved the 43 lbs.

Attached is the file with the weights.  Note that for now, I had not pulled the old pads from the OE front calipers when I weighed them, so the caliper delta appears lower than it will be once I remove the pads and move the weight to the proper row.  I will edit this post once I get the pads and the MC/prop valve weights listed.  

I hope this helps people when they look into upgrading.

Brake Weight Sheet.xlsx

Edited July 6, 2020 by Jeff G 78

[Reptoid Overlords]

Installed Zstory JDM muffler on the ZX.  Under the shabby body is a pretty well sorted car.  Now it sounds as good as it runs at least.  Thanks @Sean Dezart now i can start stripping paint!

[Sean Dezart]

Hey thanks - cool - 1st JDM muffler fitted to an S130. Not too low ?

[Reptoid Overlords]

5 hours ago, Sean Dezart said:

Hey thanks - cool - 1st JDM muffler fitted to an S130. Not too low ?

I'll need to mess around with the spacing a bit, I was too eager to hear it through the freeway tunnels to get it perfectly set.  But no, it isn't too low at all. 

[moelk]

Took it out for a drive a couple of days ago, sadly i don’t get the time to drive it as much as i want. Starts right up and runs great as usual.

[SteveJ]

So I took the Z out to visit Randy's shop. As always, it was a great experience. He added a few cars to his collect since I was last over there a few months ago. Given the lack of car club events this year, it provided me with a good Z fix.

Dan Parkinson's car. The trailer it is sitting upon was designed by Pete Brock and used by Shelby American Racing and Brock Racing Enterprises.

 

I forgot to put a link to the rest of the photos I took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VopQLgMC91z3ie5f6

Edited July 13, 2020 by SteveJ

[240260280]

Some cars I'm proud to have helped with went for a drive today:

 

[siteunseen]

So the television friend got the tribute car finished? Looks great even without my Webers. 

[Jeff G 78]

I finally got back into the shop over the weekend to keep working on my brake upgrade.  I installed the vented Z31 rotors with T3 spacers and Toyota S12+W calipers.  I knew they would be close, but thought that the 15x7 with zero offset Konig Rewind wheels would fit without hitting the calipers.  I was wrong.  There is a small interference between the innermost cooling fin on the caliper and the hub of the rim.  I also realized that the stock length wheel studs are not long enough to get proper thread engagement.  Rather than grind at the calipers, I plan to add 3 - 5mm wheel spacers all around and 3" long ARP wheel studs.  The current studs are only bout 1.25" long in front which isn't even enough without the spacers.  

Edited August 17, 2020 by Jeff G 78

[Marty Rogan]

I had the same problems when I mounted my Rewinds.  I just ground the fin down and it was fine.  Get the grinder out!

[Marty Rogan]

On 7/12/2020 at 8:34 PM, SteveJ said:

So I took the Z out to visit Randy's shop. As always, it was a great experience. He added a few cars to his collect since I was last over there a few months ago. Given the lack of car club events this year, it provided me with a good Z fix.

Dan Parkinson's car. The trailer it is sitting upon was designed by Pete Brock and used by Shelby American Racing and Brock Racing Enterprises.

 

I forgot to put a link to the rest of the photos I took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VopQLgMC91z3ie5f6

Wow, that is quite a collection!!

[Jeff G 78]

48 minutes ago, Marty Rogan said:

I had the same problems when I mounted my Rewinds.  I just ground the fin down and it was fine.  Get the grinder out!

Did you have to install longer studs too?

It looks like it wouldn’t take much grinding but I was hoping to avoid it. As a race car, I don’t want to have to modify parts that are likely to go bad over time. If a caliper goes bad during a race weekend, I can buy one at any parts store and slap it on. Spacers keep the calipers stock and make trackside swaps quicker.