coop

It IS very much up to EVERY racer to try to observe everything that is going on and try to anticipate what might happen. This is not always possible as blind spots get in the way, lighting conditions may interfere, or following closely may block your vision. This makes racing challenging and is part of the excitement . Prudence can aide in your anticipation but too much results in one moving backwards in the field. Remember too, however that this was a vintage race which requires more prudence than SCCA, NASA or pro racing etc. To me this was a tough one to call. I am not pointing any fingers as I‘ve made many mistakes on track, but to point squarely at the Chevron driver who was avoiding a slew of target threats during a volatile situation might be a little judgmental.

Two laps!

That is the 1978 SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta rounding the last turn before the green flag. On the pole is Logan Blackburn and next to him on his left is eventual winner Frank Leary out of the San Francisco Region. Sent from my iPad using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Looks a lot like Road Atlanta just prior to the esses.

Not a weenie! Very fast vintage car and driver.

The routing of those breather tubes is just fine as long as the breather/catch can is adequately vented. There should be no restriction in the system allowing for plenty of air volume to pass back and forth through the filter/breather/screen. A PCV is not necessary. I run nearly the exact same setup on my race car. Find a way to secure the block tube. Someone mentioned JB Weld. You could also try slightly deforming it to tighten the fit or scoring the sides or adding little spot welds on the tube's exterior, etc. Perhaps try painting the exterior of the tube, letting it thoroughly dry, then driving it back in. My problem in this area has always been just the opposite. Mine have been very difficult to remove. Good luck. Sent from my iPad using Classic Zcar Club mobile

I just did a search of the SCCA GCR. Coolant is unrestricted for ALL classes. I have seen at times, tech inspectors that just don't know their own rules and like to substitute their "techniques" for "procedures." I ask them politely to point to the regulation in print. Their answer is eventually "Oh, I didn't know that." Sometimes, I've had to say that. Sometimes it is not worth the trouble. BTW, the GCR is very specific about the use of coolant catch cans. Perhaps that is why coolant is "free."

Am I missing something? In 40 years of racing(SCCA, ICSCC, VARA, etc) no tech inspector has ever cared what fluid I had in my radiator. If this is addressed in the GCR, I'd like to know where? Back on topic: I'm forced to store the Z in the trailer this winter due to a big project in the garage. I just drained the radiator, then poured in a gallon of concentrated antifreeze, carefully ran the engine to get the system hot to circulate and mix it all, then shut it down for the winter. The system is not full too, so it will ride out the cold just fine. Prior to my first race in the spring, I will flush it all out and refill with water and Water Wetter.

Here is my second of only two timed runs at last year's Virginia City Hill Climb. We were saving the tires for a vintage race but still did pretty well. Beat all the Ferraris.

John Wilkins' and Coop's Zs and others at the Pahrump VARA vintage race in 2015. Hopefully it is OK to post these here.

Those are what I'd call racing needles. They are filed flat down almost to the base. The purpose of this is to add richness, especially during quick application of the accelerator. Acts much like an accelerator pump. As far as idling goes, you need to look at the thickness of the needles down around the base(the thick end). That will determine the mixture at idle. Thick or large diameter = leaner mixture. I haven't preferred all of these Rebello style performance needles as Dave sometimes shaves them too far down the idle end for my taste leading to rough idling. Not a big deal for me since I run a race engine idling at over 1,500 rpm but still somewhat of a pain. I found that the needles that worked best for me all around on my ITS car were not shaved more than about half the length of the needle, leaving the thicker idle end stock. Your idea of trying some stock needles is good. Install them, warm the engine, then adjust the mixture screws until you get the smoothest/highest idle. Then, dial back the idle screws. Repeat this until you get the idle you are looking for. If you get the car to idle well doing this, you can then remove and shave only the thin half of these stock needles to get back your richness under load. WARNING! After you've tuned in the nice idle using the stock needles, do NOT go out and step on it hard as you will be lean. Make sure you shave those needles. Also, this whole process still might not get you the idle you would like. After all, you're getting 285 hp on SU carbs! You may have to settle on an idle of 1000 rpm or greater.

BP6ES are good plugs for a stock setup. Gap them to about .03. Don't go past timing of 32 degrees at full advance (over 4000 rpm). The following is just my opinion but is backed by Dr Jacob's book as I remember: Plug gap should be set based on the performance of your ignition system and particularly the output of your coil. A weak coil may require a plug gap as tight as .025 while a strong coil can jump a gap of.040 or greater. The spark likes to jump from sharp edges to other sharp edges which are provided by new plugs or closely maintained plugs. Large gaps work well with high output coils and MSDs as this allows for the large spark to better address the air fuel mixture. A week coil or an over rich mixture or oily cylinder needs a smaller gap just to allow for a spark to make the jump and prevent missing and fouling. As far as P or protruded plugs such as BP6ES go, the plug tip sticks further into the cylinder than a non protruded plug and can aid in better exposure to the air fuel mixture. This can help provide a cleaner burn with less fouling but it often depends on the head and piston design. This is where it gets weird. When you start modifying your engine for more power such as increasing compression and air/fuel flow, other factors come into play. Protruded plugs can interfere with the piston and can also handle less total timing advance. I've raced the 240Z for over 30 years and have found this(off the top of my head) to work out. Stock engine - BP6ES at 32 degrees full advance, .030 gap(.025 with weak coil) 10:1 ITS race motor - B8ES at 34 degrees full advance, .040 gap, MSD/Jacobs 12:1 EP race motor - same as ITS or even as cold as B9ES. Warning! I index my plugs with washers to make sure the plug electrodes will not contact the piston. I never ever use R or resistance plugs such as BPR6ES. If you are hoping to drop the voltage through your ignition system by doing it with the plug, you are forgetting about all the interference caused by the low resistance coil and plug wires. You can even be jamming your own ignition system as I finally discovered years ago. The proper way to lower the electro magnetic interference(EMI), is to use a resistance coil wire and zero resistance plug wires. The coil wire I use is 900 ohms per foot at about 2.5 feet long(coil mounted on other side). This lowers all the voltages just the right amount to avoid inteference in my application and does it evenly across all six plug wires and plugs. I hope this helps. This was done from an I Pad in a hotel room from memory but is very close.

FWIW, the wipe pattern on your old rockers(way over toward the edge) are displaced from center toward the pivot side of the rocker. They almost look like the ones in my old ITS motor. This is a legal way to get extra lift out of a restricted class engine such as a fairly stock ITS motor that uses a stock cam, rockers etc. The wipe pattern is ALMOST off the pad but just so. Just noticing.

Also, why hasn't 100 lbs been added to the Miatas?

Greg. It was nice to see you at Laguna Seca. Say, why would you want to even use CV joints? I've always used stock u-joints (over 20 years) with never a failure. Just curious.

Thanks Patcon. I have two in the works now. I'll let you know if either deal falls through. Thanks much!

Anyone know where I can get a METAL 240Z front center lower valence? I have the two corner pieces but need the center piece!

Finally got around to digging up my old photo album showing some very old photos of your car with Howell at the wheel. I'm guessing 1980. Took them while waiting for my novice race.

I mark my pulley at 32 and 34 degrees advance with paint. Then I rev the engine till the marks max out while shooting it with a standard timing light. With non protruding plugs (eg: NGK B8ES) and high octane fuel, I adjust the timing to 34 degrees at full advance. With protruding plugs (eg: NGK BP8ES) or lower octane gas, I dial the timing back to the 32 mark at full advance. Now, this is for a road racing engine that spends most all its time at full advance so idle timing is unimportant. At least the method I use gives you an easy way of checking max advance. BTW, don't let your timing get above 34.

My buddy from Great Falls MT used to race against this Jaremko car around 1980. Jerry was an exceptional driver and he would show up from nowhere and beat this car in his Z but not always as it was a very close match. Jerry said that the Jaremko car was very fast and equipped with cooling fans on the rear brakes but after the stewards got wind of it, the fans went away. Folks would try just about anything to keep the Zs brakes cool. Nothing has changed in that area. I still have an old pic of this car slashing through the esses at Seattle back in the day. Fun to watch.

Watched it on Speedcasttv. A very exciting race. Greg solidly earned the gold and Reynolds deserved to be moved off the podium for his rough driving through out the race. Let's hear it too for Aaron Downey for his thrilling drive to second in his RX3. He and his dad are great people who will, I'm sure, be back at Laguna Seca next year. Wonder if Greg will make the long tow? Laguna is OK for the torque of the Z but will hurt the RX3. Unfortunately, the Miatas will like it.

Rob, Had a blast at Laguna Seca running in Vintage earlier this year but the car is parked until spring. Need to redo most of the hardware and want to convert the front brakes to E Production legal ventilated. Not sure what it will take. So, they are having events out there but I'll be a no show.

Cool car Rob. Would love to see what a good driver could do in it.