Zedyone_kenobi

Frank, you are right, when I looked at all 30 min of footage I noticed that I usually ran the straight all the way to the left, allowing me an early turn in and I could carry lots of speed through the corner. However on my spin, I was in the middle of the track and could not get the nose pointed enough to the right, so I ran out of asphalt. Live and learn man. Wish you could have been there Frank!

Okay, I manged to upload a video to youtube...this is the one with my spin. It is much smaller. I must warn you. PLEASE TURN DOWN your speakers. I had the audio sensitivity of the GoPRO too high. It is pretty bad when I get on the gas. I think that in one hour of driving one spin is not so bad. A few guys came to me afterward and said if you did not spin once on your first track day, then you were not trying hard enough.. haha

http://vimeo.com/10146329 not sure if this works or not from this link. A friend of mine took this standing at the wall...along the back straight

Frank, you told me that before, and I completely forgot! Good advice. spitz17, thanks for the compliments on the pics, I wanted take more, but got busy racing WW2Winger, I am jealous of your Rebello power! Glad your day was as fun as mine. gnosez, I know I need to make those mods as well, if I plan on doing this, but at the end of the day, this is not a track car, as much as it is a daily driven one. I may look into doing the wheel mod though, and taking that opportunity to restore my wheel. I always preach to new people here to be honest with themselves. Know yourself and know what you want of the car. I am still going to be keeping my baby mostly stock. I think she handled herself admirably for a ~39 year old car with all seasons, and I think I actually was able to impress myself. By the last couple of sessions, I was hitting apexes, and really being smooth with the throttle. I also was able to execute a heel toe correctly probably for the first time in my entire life. But at the end of the day she is a street car, and I will keep her that way. Forays onto a track every once in a while, does not make her any less a street car. Still, some toyota brakes might be nice!

Footnote, after the spin, the car started right back up and drove around just fine. All I did was mow some grass, I got through the whole day without a scratch.

The day started off wonderfully. Beautiful skies and no rain in sight. I had finished the front brakes the day before and packed most of the car. I had the usual stuff. Extra brake fluid, a floor jack, a quart of oil, my copy of LeMans with Steve McQueen on VHS for good luck, a tire pressure gage, my torque wrench, various cleaning rags, my still camera and my GoPro. I also brought a measure of liquids to drink and and lots of sunscreen. Here is a link to all the pics I took that day http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdamico/sets/72157623495822017/ The cliff notes of how the day went. It was just simply amazing. I may never autocross again it was so much fun. In my run group there was a good variety of cars. A C6 Corvette, an EVO, David Morrale's 240Z, a 330i, an RSX type S, a WRX wagon, a couple of miatas, a Nissan 240SX, and a 350Z. Good variety, but I was easily the lowest HP car of the entire day except for the cobalt rental car that was there...I think I could take him. In other run groups, there were GT3's, Caterhams, an Ariel Atom, a gaggle of Elises of various trims, we even had a Radical show up, so certainly quality of the cars was unmistakable. My first run out with my tires at 35F/32B was a good balance. I had just finished bedding in my new pads on the way to the track, so we would see how they would hold up. The track had two good straights and many long sweeping turns that had very deceptive decreasing radi. It was challenging to teach my brain how to brake, take the late apex and roll on the throttle. The first 15 minute session (there would be 4 of them and then a fun run) was awesome. No run group had more than 8 or 9 cars in it ever. Passing was only allowed in the two designated straights. This was ideal as a faster car would only have to wait a maximum of 30 seconds to get around. I got VERY good as pointing cars by me on that first session. I went out second, and the tuned subaru, RSX, and BMW all found enough HP to get me on the straight, as I was still listening to every single rattle, and engine note to hear if my baby was flying apart. Of course it never did, even with repeated lapping which was getting more and more aggressive which culminated with a 70 mph spin off track through the grass, but I will get to that... I am still uploading videos and tinkering with sound... What I learned is the 240Z is just phenomenal at 5000 rpm in 3rd gear, WOW, it has me laughing it was so much fun, as the nimble little 240Z became an all out screamer in the Upper Rpm band in 3rd gear. I was never able to get to high rpm in 4th, as I just did not have enough track. I think the fastest I got was 95ish +/- 5 mph. Going to fast to look to be honest. I also learned that the car is an incredible handling machine. I felt like the vintage Z racers in the early 70's who tore up the tracks, and I can easily see how good this car can be when tuned, as stock it is so composed, predictable, and toss-able all the way to the limit and a little beyond (again, the trip trailblazing off the course!). It was so easy to drive fast, and I never once felt scared or worried about what the car was going to EVER. Granted I have a decent amount of autocross experience, but the I was worried about the high speed cornering, but the car proved to be a noble steed, and never gave me anything but good feedback as to what the tires were doing, what the engine could take and when it could be pushed harder. It responded to throttle wonderfully! It could be made to oversteer a tad at turn in, and would give you safe predictable amount of understeer at exit. Again, it proved to be a very fast car through the corners. Fast enough to give a 350Z a quick lesson on the benefits of light weight and a wonderful chassis. The brakes held fantastic, the engine was sublime, the gearbox was silky. It was a joy to feel all the work and effort I have put into this car. I think she really enjoyed stretching her legs.. I came away with a few lessons.. The Bridgestone Potenza 960AS tires were very fun to drive. By far not the stickiest tire I have ever had, but they were a decent for an all season tire. I think I could have had more fun with some good summer tires though. I was lacking for grip. Good seats are a must if you plan on doing this often. My slick vinyl did nothing to keep me in place and the lap belt is great for car shows, but I spent most of my energy holding on to the steering wheel to keep me behind it. I would have rather used the wheel to finding the corner than to hold me in place Get a good battery tie down. I had a horrible thunk during the first session, that I thought was my car blowing apart. Turns out it was just the battery sliding around on hard left handers. A thicker steering wheel would have been nice too. My hands never slipped, but a thicker wheel would have been more comfortable. Lastly, know your limits and check your egos at the door. There is always going to be a faster car than you. Respect those who have put in more time than you and let them pass. Give them a clear 'point-by' and they will take GREAT care to pass you quickly and safely. Then try to learn from them. There will always be faster drivers and faster cars. Find your comfort zone, and stay there while you listen, watch and learn how to become faster. I will post my videos as soon as I get done with them.. but for now here is the raw footage of my spin off the track. The sound is totally screwed up. I should have read my owners manual on the sensitivity of the camera. So turn the volume down, when the car revs up all you get is static. At lower rpm, it sound very dim. FOOT NOTE, my photo sharing website will not let me upload the full length.. I will play with youtube tonight.

NO worries. I got that PM and wanted to respond, but got busy with my 2 year old. Track days are hard for me to negotiate with the boss. Lots going on. The track day is the 13th.. Today. I am about to leave for it in 20 minutes. Thought I would bump this post to let my fellow Z'ers know I am off to see what the silver bullet can do. I think she is as ready as she will ever be...time to find out! Took her out for a drive yesterday to bed in my new pads, and still think they have some to go before they are really set, but all seems well. She can lock up the tires if I mash on it. So I suppose that has to be good enough. Wish me LUCK.

That may be true sblake, but the advice and experiences may be relevant to somebody in the future. That is the beauty of this board. Good information just flows like a set of triple mikunis.

Not sure if that is an accurate test Hemi. I have read that you should look at your plugs after driving it under a load at various rpm. I am not sure if having the car in neutral simulates the same thing... I could be wrong though...

This may be a stupid question, but if you fiberglass that in, how will you remove that rear panel to access the lights. Forgive me if you have covered this already (you probably have)

Just wanna say that was an awesome gesture as well. Very cool guys. Good to year you are one step closer oldhemi!

Those are just Beautiful rims! Man I would love to snatch them up, but not sure I could fit them with my stock body work and my tokico set up.

congrats Steve! I am about to take my AC out of my car. I know some say its crazy to remove a working factory AC, but I never use it, and my Z is more of a toy than a daily driver. I would love to see your nostagic air upgrade though. Can you show us some pics? Also, I have a question.. how hard is it to remove the interior bits of my AC system? I would think I can do this in one day.. what is your opinion?

I just performed this install yesterday, and yes the only way to get the old races out is with a large hammer and screwdriver. However, I rented a race driver kit form the local parts store, and after putting my bearings in the freezer for a day, I just put them in the correct location, and gently tapped them in with the race driver kit. VERY easy. The hardest part is getting the old races out, and cleaning up the old grease. HAHA Also to remember to torque the castle wheel nut on about 25 ft lbs. THen back off 60 degrees. At least that is what the FSM says.

draztik, your car is possessed!! With fuel injection you really need to check everything. Make sure you do not have any vacuum lines lose. Also ensure your Fuel Injectors are clean.

Rota is a fine product. I cannot tell you the hundreds of subaru friends that have those with absolutely no issues. I like how they look... May have to contact wheeldude. I would like some gunmetal ones!

ON my 71 I am redoing the front end, bearings, brakes, rotors, etc. IN doing so, I accidentally let all the brake fluid drain out of my front reservoir since the calipers are off. Does this effect the rears. I know they are separated, but was wondering if an empty front reservoir would effect my rear when I get the calipers on adn have to bleed them again.

Welcome aboard. I can add you to my houston mailing list if you like. Great bunch of folks.

It is on March 13th. I am still putting the front brakes back together. Installing new inner and outer bearings.

Sooooo Jealous!!!

Pics would be GREAT!!

That is a great write up five leaf. It is definitely a journey. You just have to know long a journey you can make at this time in your life. I was not in position to make the complete journey, nor did I want to buy a completely finished car. I sort of fell in between. But I did that because I knew my limitations in space, time, skills, and money. jrecee you will find your place in this journey when you assess those 4 things, and pick the car/companion that suits your life. Good luck, keep us posted!

Great website, I truly enjoyed your videos...Keep up the great work! Do you ever vintage race the 240Z? I know it was intended to be a tribute car, but I would love to hear that thing on the track!

email it to me at sdamico555@gmail.com

You must post pictures when you get them buddy! I have dealt with wheel dude on several occasions in my subaru days.... I have contacted a powerdcoating company locally, and they want 175 per wheel to strip, prep and powdercoat them. More than I want to spend. I may check a few others, as I have thought about that. As I tell most people shopping for a Z, patience is always key. I can wait to make the right decision.