Kyle

Dashpot oil; if it's too thin or too low, the dashpots rise too fast, killing air velocity, leaving a gulp of fuel in the intake, ka-BOOM. Leastways, the backfire is the way I know I need to add oil. :-D Too lean will make that happen as well, probably for a similar reason.

I've got SUs on a 9.5:1, port, polish, balance, cam, header, etc setup. They're fine. If you're considering going away from SUs, the only place to go is EFI in my opinion.

Hello again! Trans: 8 Kyle: 1 It's not back in the car (need to get a couple parts), but the problem was obvious when I pulled the front case off: When the mainshaft nut backed off, it let some slop develop in the roller sleeve for 1st, which let the 1-2 synchro slide back and forth on the mainshaft (a definite nono). Slop was probably .030 or more... allowable endplay in second gear (the smallest spec) was .0047 to .0075. So, in other words, I had SEVEN TIMES as much slop as allowable. And it appears that the sleeve for first is VERY tight on the mainshaft, so when I tightened the mainshaft nut in my several attempts a halfassed repairs it didn't move; instead, the additional load was applied to the 5th gear synchro, which I have a sneaky suspicion was fit together incorrectly. All in all, a VERY successful day of babysitting (stayed home with my one year old while wife and four year old took off for the day). Got the garage straightened out so I had a place to work, took the beastly trans apart, found the problem, and now have it 90% back together. Got several feelings from this: 1) I'm the man, and can fix just about anything 2) when I put my mind to it, otherwise I'm a wuss and things don't get done properly 3) which is really pretty stupid since I wasted a lot of time halfassing.

Carl Beck, my man. Long time no type. I have an OEM clutch kit in my beastie, and it's been 100% trouble free. It didn't seem like bullet-biting price at the time, maybe $225 for the disk/pplate/TO bearing. Agreed on the TO collar, that's WAY important.

Other than the 4bbl (BTDT) and the 17"s (way too big, wrong offset, and not enough tire), that thing is HOT. I'd rock it fa sho.

I have ST springs, full PU bushings, and KYB 4-way adjustable strut cartridges. The car is WAY TOO STIFF for street use. At least, it is if you're 30+ years old. Struts have to be set full stiff in the front and 3/4 in the back to dampen oscillation (horrible in the front especially) On the other hand, I just took it to the track and kicked major arse, so I guess it's a great compromise. Ride height is, uhh, I dunno, here's a pic. http://www.sonic.net/~kyle/kylez.html Before getting bitten by the track bug (and before restoring the car and forgetting how much fun it is to drive) I always planned on swapping the STs out for something else, Euro progressive maybe. Now? I'm happy. Plenty happy. :-D

Linky is still working on my end. Holepunched and bindered. I'll tear into that damn thing this weekend or next. So far the standings are: Trans: 8 Kyle: 0 but we'll see about changing that.

Hey hey guys. Motor - hee hee, I have learned much since I built it; back then I had this inexcusable insistance on a 9.5 CR. So I put a thick HG in to bring it down from 10.5+/- (L28 +1mm flattops, N42). Guess what that means? (muwhahhahh) I have a big CR jump just a HG change away. Had plenty of power though, so I'm going to leave that (and megasquirt) on the to-do list for the time being). I got the ZX FSM, so I'm going to give the trans one more shot. You guys know I can R&R the tranny in half an hour. The brakes did develop a little yaw toward the end of the day, but there was no other untoward behavior from the system. I was floored by how well everything worked out. I did have the fluid along just in case. Stickier tires are indeed on the agenda. Current tires are 215/60HR15's, Michelin Pilot XGT (?). I was askared that they'd be awful, since they didn't feel great on the street. But they held up much better than other guys in our group, and had plenty of grip for the day. Evidently chewing up the treadblocks got to the "good part", because they were still plenty sticky when I got home. When they wear out, I'll go back to 225/50, and I'll get some good street/track gumballs... probably won't go full race for just track school days, which is all I'll be doing for the foreseable future. Car isn't built to any spec for real racing anyway... and it's too pretty for wheel-to-wheel. But speaking of race tires, I took a ride with an instructor (at the insistance of my wife and buddies who swore these guys were the biz) in hit Dodge Stealth turbo. ya know what? Other than envying his race tires, I felt pretty gratified - I drove the same line (more or less) used the whole track just as much, and overall felt like I knew what I was doing. Man, what an ego boost having my BMW/Porsche/Ferrari/Mercedes etc friends trying like hell to keep up with me. "Dude, that car is FAST!" Hee hee. No, it's not fast. But it handles well. And more importantly: It brakes AWESOMELY!! Couldn't have done it without you guys in this thread.

A-ha! http://carfiche.com/manuals020/cars/82_datsun_280zx.zip The entire FSM. Sweetness.

Hey Marty- When I went five+ (?) years ago, it was a blast, and I swore I'd do it more often... then life intervened, and whoa, I restored the car and quit driving it. For SHAME! (hahaha). Next run is 9/6, but I probably won't make that. I have to get the trans replaced beforehand. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?p=183454#post183454 Then it's 10/13, still at Thunderhill, then Buttonwillow on 11/13. I'm going to shoot for both of those. We shall see what happens. Best news of all - my wife is HOOKED!!!!! I got promoted to group B (only one as far as I know - I really was Da Man out there, and that's not my ego talking), so my wife's talking about running the Z in group A.... Or taking her Volvo wagon (which would be pretty sweet). I could see quitting work and just chasing from track to track for the rest of my days. Damn it's fun.

I got the fiche, thanks. The tech tips are helpful, and a great link. What I'm really looking for, though, is step-by-step reassembly instructions. I know I have something subtle incorrect, and I'll be damned if I know what it is. Thanks for the links!!

Anyone care to share the appropriate pages from the ZX manual on how to reassemble the five speed? I did it by eyeball four years ago, and it was great. Then the 5th gear nut backed off. After tightening it back down, I couldn't get the car in gear (binding on the mainshaft). After loosening it a smidge, it won't stay in second on decel. After retightening it, it's binding on the mainshaft. I have omitted several tighten/loosen stages... but it wasn't right, no matter what I did. Eventually I gave up and put in a junk monkey motion 4spd. Well, it finally bit the dust, so I need to get my 5spd fixed before the next track day. I have all new synchros, bearings, etc. I'm betting I lost a key/ball bearing somewhere. I really would like to gix this myself, and not resort to opening my wallet for a shop.

And I'm back. Brakes worked GREAT! GREAT!!!! GREAT I TELLS YA!!!!!! I had no fade, no sponginess, no issues whatsoever throughout a hard drive up and back and five 20 minute track sessions. I also managed to be faster than everyone else in my group, with the least powerful and oldest car. I am now an official track junkie. Thank you, that is all.:beard:

Update: Installed pads, fluid, coolers, and ducting yesterday. The Fade Stop Brake Cooler clearance was extremely tight on the outside, less than 1/8" to the wheel. They are Panasport 15x7, zero offset, non-racing. Just an FYI, they fit but barely I used a single 8' piece of corrugated extendable 3" tubing as suggested. I taped the ducts to the spoiler with 20mil plumbling PVC table (super thick and super sticky). The caliper side, I poked a hole in the ducts, reinforced with some more tape, and ziptied them to the brake line at the caliper as suggested. I didn't use any kind of rigid outlet duct. Routed as in the FSBC seller's image, there's no interference, though things are pretty tight in the area of the caliper to frame to swaybar... hence ditching the outlet ducting. And that stuff likes to unravel if not kept completely circuilar. :paranoid: At full lock one way, the ducting kinda aims at the tire/rim area, and at full lock the other way, it aims cloer to the caliper body. I don't figure either are going to be an issue, since most racing is nowhere near full lock. If I dive in and go AX, I might revise things... though AX speeds probably aren't high enough to be an issue. The ATE super blue fluid is KILLER. Made bleeding the brakes extremely simple; with a transparent bleed hose, you can see the fluid go from brown/tan to yellow to green to blue in a couple pumps. The HP+ pads are excellent. Bite isn't the greatest when cold, but certainly no worse than my old worn out parts-store cheapies. When warmed up, these things are NUTS. Now I need bigger tires! Oh, and no noise yet (I was repeatedly warned that noise can be an issue with these). I used a grease-type (as opposed to the drying RTV type) brake anti-squeal between the pads and anti squeal shims, between the shims and the coolers, and between the coolers and the caliper pistons. I'll be breaking them in this week, off to the track Thursday, and I'll report back on Friday or Monday. So far so good, I'm really happy with the way things turned out. Nice to think that ~$300 on OEM brakes can perform so well. Quick question on the rear brakes, if you can help - I think the right rear locks up before the left. Can I just loosen the adjuster to compensate? As far as I know, the pads are clean and dry and equally worn on each side...

Hey guys - I knew about the 4x4 brake upgrade, but somehow managed to forget about it in the interim. Vented rotors would sure be a plus. Well... we'll see how this stuff works. It's surely going to be better than last time out... if I get the racing bug, the 4x4 thing might be the way to go.