jmortensen

Thanks guys. I have the whole autox run from inside and outside. Maybe I'll post the whole 14 meg file since there doesn't appear to be a size limit here and it isn't on the other server it was on anymore. Dreco, yours just sounds ANGRY. Very nice. Is it really that raspy inside the car, or did you have the microphone right over the exhaust pipe while you did those runs? My specs at the time: L28 dished pistons/E31 with 280Z valves (whopping 8.5:1) .490/280 cam 44mm Mikunis were installed about a week earlier, not even close to tuned MSA crap header 2.5" mandrel exhaust $25 Super Turbo EDIT--tried to upload the whole 14 meg file, didn't work for some reason. You saw the best part anyway ;-)

Pending approval... http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5121

Thanks for the compliment. Yours sounds better though. If you haven't already seen it preith has a pretty sweet setup with dual trapps exiting the same place as your megaphones.

So which SoCal tracks don't have db limits Ron? Have you thought about putting SuperTrapps in place of the megaphones? Here's mine with the old low compression engine: http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=1562&cat=509&page=1

I bought a MillerMatic 135 to use on various projects for my Z, the biggest one being stitch welding the whole chassis. I had very little welding experience before I bought it. So far I can say this with some confidence: Forget about flux core. You'll need a gas shielded Mig for sheet metal. The reason I bought the Miller is because it has infinite amp and wire speed adjustments, which is very handy when welding thin sheet metal, cheaper units don't have the infinite adjustability, so you have to compensate for a wire speed that is too fast or too slow. Buy a better gas regulator than the welder comes with. My friends had warned me about the cheap regulators. Mine leaked the first time I used it. I've used similar welders to mine with pretty bad results, and I feel like the regulator was the difference. With my small amount of experience I really think that my welds look surprisingly good, and I blame that on the welder and regulator more than anything else. Only spend the money on the welder if you'll use it in the future on other projects. If you just want to install a floor pan take it to a shop and have them do it for you. I ended up spending about $900 on the welder, helmet, gloves, gas, regulator, misc other tools for the welder. But it was worth it for me as I've already sectioned my struts, stitch welded the back 1/2 of the car, fabbed up a rear toe adjuster mechanism, stitched the rear control arms, etc. I'm also going to stitch the front 1/2 of the car, install a roll bar, make a new fireplace screen for the house, fix my fence, etc.

If you chipped a ball or anything let me know and I'll mail you a couple.

I'm just going to answer your questions. I never saw the plug, so I don't know. My halfshafts didn't need U-joints, so I didn't get into the small parts on the end. The snap ring and washer are the parts that hold the balls and spacers in place. The stopper and the snap ring on the back hold the balls on the channels, and have nothing to do with taking the shaft apart. You're right, those parts are in the wrong order in the second pic. You might see if you can get one ball or spacer out at a time. The whole thing doesn't have to come out at once. I still think either the balls or the spacers are getting hung up in the groove that holds the brass washer and the snap ring at the top of the shaft. Good luck.

Pull harder. It's probably the balls getting hung up on the groove for the first circlip. I pulled apart 2 of them and had the same issue. I just stuck it in a vise and slid it in then pulled hard, kind of a slide hammer effect. Came right out and didn't do any damage to the balls either. FWIW the grease in mine looked BRAND spanking new, much better than I can say for the CV's I bought to replace the shafts. That grease looked like milkshake, I'm sure the PO drove through a puddle at some point. I didn't reassemble mine because I decided to go with the CV's and just left the job undone, but I understand it can be a PITA to get the balls and spacers back in.

It negates the need for the strap and the weight entirely.

If I was doing the clamshell one I'd go get an adjustable foot pad for a table or workbench from the hardware store. The rubber pad is bonded on and you don't need to take a bandsaw to an old motor mount. It also has a threaded stud that can be used to screw it to the clamshell piece. The main benefit I can see over the angle iron piece is that it never goes metal to metal so the sound transfer would be minimal. Also I think 1/8" plate would be plenty sufficient since that looks to be about the same size as the original diff mount itself. No need for 1/4" plate as described in the diagram I linked to. I did a much more difficult modification myself, then right after I was done I found that very easy mod and kicked myself in the @ss for not finding it first. This was the design that I copied: http://240z.jeromio.com/diffmount.html. You can see how much more work there is in this one (even with a proper hole saw).

Take a look at this. Cheap and easy to make, better than a solid diff mount, easier looking than what you've shown above. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=2501&size=big&cat=1&page=1

I'd suggest a ZX 5 speed. Look at the 2nd to 3rd gear gap on the two 5 speeds to figure out why. I had figured with my 23.5" tires and 4.11 my top speed would be limited to 145 mph or so, so I think you should be OK to hit 110 with the 5 speed unless you put 13" rims with 20" tall tires on...

Call your local equipment rental place. I rented a 3/4" impact gun about a year ago. Only cost $15 IIRC, then I bought a 3/4 to 1/2 adapter. The adapter was more expensive than the rental. Similar situation, my impact wouldn't take off the crank pulley bolt of an engine I was working on.

If you like the big rear bar, then the LSD needs to be tighter. If you like no rear bar, then the LSD can be looser. I shimmed mine this winter but I haven't put the car back together yet so I can't say how it will work. I can tell you that I used to sell lots of diffs that were in the 150 to 200 lb range for big American cars, so I'm not too concerned about the 100 lbs breakaway. Mine was TIGHT when I tested it using two breaker bars when I first got it. I would guess it was at around 80 lbs. Trouble is it was dry. If you really want to check it you need to DISASSEMBLE the whole thing and relube the clutches, then put it all back together and you get ONE test. Clicker types aren't so good for this, a beam type is really necessary. I lubed mine and added a .004 shim and found breakaway was 14lbs. There was very little wear on the clutches. Similar results have been noted elsewhere too. I believe Nissan changed the clutches and decreased the preload. Some references: http://www.gordon-glasgow.org/lsd2.asp http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=92629

It's been a long time since I've done them on the car, but you can loosen the nuts, then jack the car up. You'll need to disconnect the brake lines front and rear, and the halfshafts in the back, and the swaybar(s). Then you just pull loosen the three nuts that hold the strut hat on, and drop the whole suspension down so that the strut hangs out the fender. Then pull the springs off and put the hat back on and bolt it up again inside the car. Now you have the gland nut easily accessible and you can wrench on it really good (they're usually VERY tight). Then when you break them loose, disconnect again inside the car, pull the strut out and you can unscrew the gland nut and pull the insert out. If you're putting on a shorter aftermarket spring you don't need a spring compressor since they're loose with the hat on anyways. Well, that's fair enough. Let me put it a different way then: I wouldn't recommend that any of YOU do this, but that's how I do it every time.

I expected that response. Every time I mention this I get a bunch of flak. Don't worry, I won't take it personally... So just out of curiosity, did you do the math??? ;-)

Food for thought for the safety first crowd: What is the stock spring rate on a 240Z and how much compression is there on a stock spring as it sits installed on the strut when there is only one thread left hanging on? If you can figure this out then you'll know why I've never used a spring compressor on a Z strut. I usually just zip off the nut while the car is on the ground. The car isn't even going to budge since the spring is already compressed just by the weight of the car. If the strut is off the car completely then I lay the strut down facing away from me and zip it off and let the spring fling off (doesn't go very far, maybe 3 or 4 feet). Note that I'm always installing aftermarket springs or coilovers that don't require a compressor to put back on. Is this dangerous? Well I suppose you could accidently point the strut at your crotch and zip the nut off, but if the person doing the work isn't a complete moron I think a quick check of the math will show that it isn't terribly dangerous... EDIT--I should also say that I've worked on some Porsches that were VERY dangerous. The danger is related to the spring rate and the amount of compression.

There is no distributor available that will keep up with distributorless ignition, purely because there are no crank and distributor gears to cause lash and change the timing. DIS is only marginally more expensive than a new Mallory distributor, and I would guess cheaper than the Kameari setup. It takes a lot more setup for the DIS, and you have to make a bracket for the sensor and mount the trigger wheel to the balancer, but there isn't much reason to go with an aftermarket distributor anymore IMO. If you want to keep a distributor or the rules require one, the ZX EI distributor with a MSD system works pretty good. It already has a pretty decent mechanical advance curve from the factory.

I just called Courtesy and asked for 280ZX Turbo (not sure if turbo matters) stub axle nuts. He found them just fine. It appears to be the same nut for the R200 pinion, but I'm not absolutely sure on that one...

I know I seem to be the only one trying to go fast with a Z on the Nurburgring, but I just figured out the nitrous and did a 6:59.103 with the 71 Z. Also managed a 7:08 and change without. A little rear toe in makes a big difference!

I cut the peened area off the nut first whenever I do them. If you do it carefully you will do minimal damage to the threads which is quickly cleaned with a thread file. BTW 280ZXT nuts will fit and are staked so they don't require peening, and are easier to get off if you have to get in there again. If you have stock drums just drill a hole in the backing plate and you don't need to pull the stubs to install your longer studs.

Weird. Usually the 5 speed is about 3 or 4 inches shorter than the early 4 speed. When I installed mine I modified the shifter. I used a truck shifter (much shorter throw) and cut it just above the pivot pin hole. Then I welded it back on pointing straight at the back of the car, and heated and bent the shifter up so that it sticks up right in the middle of the stock shifter hole. I cut it at a comfortable height and rethreaded the end to put the shift knob on (most aftermarket shift knobs don't use a threaded end, so you usually don't have to worry about the threads. Some people cut a bigger hole in the transmission tunnel for the shifter. I wouldn't do that because then your inner shift boot won't fit and the shifter will be too far forward to comfortably reach 5th gear.

I understood that the fuel coolers route fuel from the return line under the carb bowls to cool the carb, which is being heated by the exhaust. IME this is not necessary. I've run my car in stop and go with no heat shield at all, and have also run at a track in 114º without having the fuel boil in the bowls. YMMV though...

Kinda OT, but have you found any of those tires in an appropriate size for a 15x9? I took a quick look and all I could find were 225's... I'd be running 245's or 255's on a 9" rim.