wburstein

I could not be at the track for qualifying on Saturday, so had to start from the back of the pack (35+ cars) on Sunday. After passing a ton of SSM (Spec Miatas) I was able to finish sixth. We had a Z on the pole (Jeff Lucas) and another qualified fourth (Mark Gibson). Jeff finished second, Mark was fourth, and Jim Cummings in a 280Z was seventh. I had passed Jim on the last lap and he had a good run on me that probably would have ended up with him re-passing me, but he had to back off for a yellow flag and I ended up keeping the position. All in all, it was a good day for Z watchers at Summit Point. Oh yeah, Jerry Mowry won EP in a 240Z also.

Here are a couple more that I like: http://www.motorsportsimaging.com/SCCA%20Racing/vir%2005/IT/pages/VIR_MRS05_1259.htm http://www.motorsportsimaging.com/SCCA%20Racing/vir%2005/IT/pages/VIR_MRS05_1301.htm

No Z's showed up for the first race at Summit Point! I left my job (after 20 years with the company) just a few days before the race and was not able to make it. At VIR, we were fourth in MARRS ITS both days, and a 300ZX was in the top 5 for both races in SARRC ITS.

Yes, the ARRC is the pseudo national championship of IT racing and is held at Road Atlanta in early November. There are usually at least five Z's running in ITS.

We have been running Hoosiers for years, and have been on the R3-S04s since November of 2003. They are fast, and we tend to use them for 2-3 race weekends plus some testing sessions before going to a new set. If you break them in as per Hoosier's instructions, they are fast the whole time. Wayne Burstein IZCC #214, ZCCNV WDC Region SCCA, ITS #10 wburstein@mountainmotorsports.net www.mountainmotorsports.net

Don't let David sell himself short. He had a top 10 finish at the ARRC a couple of years ago with a car that was not in one piece by the end of the race! We also run a 240Z in SCCA ITS racing the the Washington DC area. Hopefully, we will be at the ARRC this year and are planning on being at VIR in a couple of weeks for the MARRS/SARRC race. Wayne Burstein IZCC #214, ZCCNV WDC Region SCCA ITS #10 wburstein@mountainmotorsports.net www.mountainmotorsports.net

Watch those springs! We change them (stock Nissan parts) every 10-20 hours on our ITS car. By the time they need to be changed, vavle float has dropped from 7500 rpm to below 7000 rpm. A quick check is to put a new spring next to an old one and compare height. The correct way is to measure both free length and spring tension. My experience is that when the free length is too short, spring tension is also too low. They seem to track each other fairly well.

A quick and dirty fix for this is to get some spring rubbers. They look like 1/2" thick rubber four leaf clovers without a stem. You slip them between the spring coils, rotate them so they stand vertically, and they effectively remove a coil without shortening the spring. We used to use them on a Datsun 610 that we road raced on a low budget. You can use as many as necessary to increase the spring rate/raise the full travel position. There are also metal ones that bolt in place, but I always liked the rubber ones as they were somewhat compressible. You really don't want that squat when accelerating hard from the line because it increases negative camber, making the inside edge of the tire do more work. Best news is that they are really cheap and you can tell those good 'ol boys at the auto parts store they are just like the ones used by NASCAR!

Check the ground wire at the lights. Jump it directly to a bare metal part connected to the body. Just make sure you are grounding the right wire! Grounding a hot wire can be quite enlightening ;-) If it is the ground, the lights will work properly when the jumper is in place. You can either start checking all the connections until you find the corroded one, or make a semi-permanent jumper wire.

How about jacking up the car and putting it on jack stands. Slide under there with a flashlight and a long screw driver. Try to manually open the latch or hold the latch plate while a friend pulls the latch handle inside the car.

That rocker arm did not just fall off. There is a reason why it came off and you need to find out what it is. I also noticed that the lash pad is missing in your picture. You don't want that floating around loose in your engine. If you are lucky, it is in the oil pan, but no matter what, you need to find it (or all the pieces). If it was my motor, I would be pulling it down and probably be rebuilding it (assuming it is not recently built). Of course, I have the tools necessary to do the work quickly. If you need the car, can find the lash pad, the cam and rocker are OK, and can put all the parts where they belong and re-adjust the valves, you might try putting it back together and see what happens. The risk is that the next failure may still occur and be much more expensive....

Sorry to tell you this, but it is not worth repairing your head. Can it be done? Sure, but how long will it last and how much will it cost. Welding an inline six head is difficult without warping it beyone repair. Wayne