gnosez

After Cruise stopped racing, Bob enlisted Walter to be his celebrity driver.

I agree that a tow hook mounted near the headlight bucket is not an optimal place (it tweeked mine) putting it lower, like under the valance is not always an option. The air dam gets in the way...

It used to be that you could drive around outside the track (still on track property - not on a real road) and bed in your new pads, but that hasn't been possible as they moved to a 10mph requirement. That leaves going out in practice or worst in a qualifying race group riding the pedal for awhile and if you have Porterfield pads getting them to slide under harder braking to set them. Not a feeling I like to have too often.

Didn't think it was, only stating the cold hard truth regarding those very nice ST rear sway bars - they need an off-set. I have them on my street Z with nearly a 1/2 inch spacer to make them line up right,

I can't remember who I got my front and rear tow hooks from as it's been a good 5-7 years ago but the front mounts to the inside of the headlight bucket and like Chuck's car it can be used with a bumper. The rear is mounted on the passenger side bumper mount and that can also be used with a bumper (I have one on my street car as well with a bumper). My street car has a gnose nose so I use the strap approach which I can reach in to connect should I need to put the car on a trailer or Triple A flat bed if so required by circumstances that hopefully will not occur (yeah right). I had to get a tow off the track at Memphis last year and the tow driver was pretty well uneducated. As a result it bent the front sheet metal that frames the headlight bucket and the tow hook itself. you can see a slight bend in the picture I attached. I have had another front one made (in being powder coated) that has the same circle opening but this one will lie flat and attach to the lower right side of the radiator support with two bolts. I will be welding in to new plates to go from the cross support and over to the frame rail. The bolts will go all the way through the support piece.

Even without the Bad Dog rear rails you need a spacer for the ST rear sway bar. What you can't use is the stock (OEM) sway bar that mounts on the body behind the seats.

I have the Arizona Z Car pan in my street 240 along with a turbo oil pump and have had no issues for over 10 years and I drive it hard. Push come to shove I don't really need that oil pan for a motor making less than 250hp. When I had a different engine in there and did track and AX events, yes it was worth the money of the pan as an insurance against engine loss. We had to remove the original Bob Sharp Racing oil cooler out of the 240 race car because we couldn't get the oil temp up above 180 degrees when the temps outside were below 95. It was too dam big. We were also running the original 10 qt pan so an oil change (~15 qts) got expensive. A stock pan, good oil and filter are all you need for a stock Z.

As part of a nice treasure trove of left over BSR parts, I found a roll of undeveloped B&W 35mm film which turned out to be the photos of the BSR 260Z GTU car. Maybe at some point I'll strip the current BSR 240 CP clone, go all the way and make it into a clone GTU car. The only problem, setting aside the cost, would be the issue of having to run in vintage run groups with cars making nearly double the HP and the fact that I do not possess even a small portion of Bob's racing skills.

Sorry, been travelling and I limit my internet usage while driving. Okay, let's start with some basic info: What Bad Dog Parts labels as 240 front rails (a poor choice on my part) start 9-inches in front of the firewall, cover about a bit more than a 1/3 of the TC rod box are and end where the stock rails ended. They are made from 13 gauge steel and are 2to 3 times thicker than stock rails. They can be used over existing stock rails or as stand-alone replacements and are sold as singles or as a set. The optional rear 240 rails were designed for folks who wanted a stiffer unibody, had increased the HP or autocrossed/raced their Zs. These are butt welded to the aforementioned front rails and welded on the member cross member running in front of the rear wheel well. I showed them to Mr. Matsuo and his reaction was to slap his head, tell me they could have made these for $2.00 and gave me a pat on the back and a smile. They are sold in sets only. To complete the circle so to speak we recommend a front triangular strut tower bar and a roll bar to hold the rear strut towers in place. The 280 frame rails (the word front is not needed here) also are made from the same gauge steel and start around the same 9-inches in front of the firewall and end where the stock rails do. They are made as a complete replacement or as a cap over an existing rail. Sold in pairs and as a single piece. I would hazard a guesstimate and say that about a dozen people have bought and made modifications to allow the use of our 240 optional rears with the 280 rails (most I believe had installed LS/LT/RB motors). Both the 240 and 280 rails are compatible with replacement floors sold by Zeddfindings. My street and 240 race car have Charlie's floors installed. Bad Dog recommends that if your car will be kept stock and you need floor pans then get the best that's out there - Charlie's floors and his rails. If you need something stronger for whatever application then contact us and if you need something even stronger then you should search HybridZ.org for the means via box tubing welded half in and half under the floor pans that will allow you to build a bullet-proof subframe for really, really high HP Zs.

Chicken Man - I'm beginning to worry about you - "they smell good!!" I agree, but switched over to Magnacore a few years ago for both the street and race car. Not one issue ever. As to NGK plugs, order those online NGKsparkplugs.com is one source. I usually order 4-6 sets every winter before race season starts.

BHJ Dynamics and ATI both make them. I have two of the BHJs and one of the ATIs. Finding the right fan belt then becomes a bit of chore.

Stock unit failed on the dyno. I only use aftermarket ones now regardless of the application

With the same tranny, 23 inch tires and a 4:38 diff at 3000 rpm I'm at 61 mph in 5th gear. Not something I would ever do in the race car. While my street size with the same 1980 tranny, a 3:90 diff and 23-inch tires at 3000 I'm doing 68. At 6800 on the dyno in 5th, the Centerforce pressure plate came apart after the harmonic dampener had an issue. That tranny has a 1.5-inch hole in the upper left side. Speed would have been 154mph

Replacing rubber, whether for fuel, brakes, clutch or water, is a must. The gas tank hoses attached to the breather tank can be made from pieces of standard hose linked together. For the fuel hoses, I like to use high pressure fuel injection ones as they handle aging a bit more than the average rubber hose. Your tank will leak once those old hoses give way likely right after you fill up and make a hard left turn up a hill.

Thanks for sharing. I have that window net at the shop. It was in with a bunch of old BSR stuff we bought a few years ago. Net has car info on it along with the one from the 240Z.

I limit my slip for other reasons both on the track and on the road. Burn outs isn't on my top five reasons. I have had a Quaife in my street 240 for over 10 yrs without issue and am installing an OS Giken LSD in a front R180 diff from a 720 4X4 (4:38). OBX once upgraded are acceptable but really, really loud. You truly get what you pay for...

Why not an electric fan instead with a shroud added for insurance? Or adding louvered inspection lids to allow heat to escape? A heat shield, a coated header or a wrapped header? Increased the amount of oil being used? Painted the block and valve cover black? I too have a stroker (3.2L) in a 240 and I have done all this and more to control the temperature in my engine bay.

nice overflow gas leak out of the filler pipe too

Brave man. No helmet.

If I'm asked which 5-spd should I get and what diff to go along with it for general street use and perhaps some track time I would answer: a 1980-83 non-turbo 280ZX (or "B" tranny as opposed to a 280 coupe or 2+2 "A" tranny - the one with just one rear tab near the tail) and the R200 3:90 diff that was in that same 280ZX.

I edited my earlier post regarding dizzy and other related items. As to Eurodat's tranny answer, it is my normal inclination to call the early USA 5-spds (77-79) an "A" version and the 80-83 a "B" tranny. The 3.54 diff was stock and that was why I asked if it was an LSD as that would of course not be a stock/OEM version. Available? Yes. Stock? No.

I would think that with some carb tuning, advancing the timing, and a better dizzy you should see another 10-20 hp. I base that on our L24 street/track engine with triple 44mm and a similar build as yours. We got 210@crank running 110 octane at 34 degrees advance with a CR of 12:1. The L28 and 3.2L engines in full race mode make 294 and 345@crank respectively. Those run between 13.1 to 13.7:1 CRs. We use a 75 dizzy (vintage rules), an MSD box, 8.5 Magnacor wires and NGK non-Iridium plugs (race fine wire instead). Where may I ask did you get your R180 LSD? I would suggest a 3:70 or 3:90 ratio diff to improve the driving experience.

That is one very nice engine and engine bay!!!

Size of the air horns (length)? Spark plug # (5-6-7) and gap Head work (port & polish)? CR? Distributor? Timing set at? No MSD or similar box? Picture of header (seems to be too small) R180 LSD in a 3:54 diff? And coupled to an "A" tranny - big gap between 2nd & 3rd as opposed to a "B" ZX tranny and a higher ratio diff.

Perhaps you are unaware that the 280 got a larger bar that was mounted on the other side of the two legs from those on a 240. I had the same issue and had to finally make up a sheet I keep in the garage to use whenever I switch diffs (R180 -R200) on the race car.