Everything posted by John Coffey
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Needing new tires
If they were all purchased at the same time, you need to buy all 4. Great tire and I suggest changing your size to a 195/60-14. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Exalto+A%2FS&partnum=96HR4EXAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
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Front End Refresh - oh oh
The TC rods should be straight. And yes, they bend fairly easily from tire impacts on hard things.
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L28 stock exhaust replacement. What is the power gain?
As Oz said, the real information is in the relative changes in the horsepower numbers, not the actual numbers themselves.
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Has anyone studied tube/roll bar geometry for strength/rigidity vs. weight
If you're designing the roll cage structure for chassis reinforcement then the loads and load paths are known. Ideally you wouldn't even use round tubing. An engineered "I" beam is far stronger in bending and square tubes are better in tension/compression. If you're designing the roll cage structure for safety, then the big mystery is the load, load frequency, and load path. A 3,200 lb. A Sedan Mustang traveling at 80mph and hitting the driver's door at a 24 degree angle is far different then the car rolling onto the left "C" pillar at 40 mph with a rotational rpm of 60. Round tubing is the preferred material because it can handle loads of many different directions better then square tubing or "I" beams. Also, roll cage design is by necessity prescriptive design, not an engineered design. The FIA Group 5 ruleset is the most closely "engineered" rule set but again its very prescriptive.
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Has anyone studied tube/roll bar geometry for strength/rigidity vs. weight
I'm not going to let this assumption pass. Where and in what way does current roll cage design violate what static fundamental engineering rule(s) within the confines of a moving vehicle and the requirements of the driver to operate the vehicle? EDIT: And keep in mind that you have no idea where the load is coming from, what the load will be when it arrives, or how many times the structure will receive a random load during an incident.
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What is best way to install motor and transmission with just 1 person.
I R&R complete engines and transmissions all by myself all the time - takes about 2 hours to remove and 1 hour to install. Lots of cheap furniture pads from U-Haul and masking tape protects paint very well.
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Power force damper @##$$%%
A brake hone, a little filing on the key, and a little heat (warm up the damper to about 150/175 degree) will get them on just fine.
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Making 180 degree bend in vent line
Hylomar will solve the hose slipping/sealing problem.
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Making 180 degree bend in vent line
Aluminum will work just fine.
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Is it worth it? How much for new panels, frame work, welding new metal, custom work?
I would strip everything off of it (every nut, bolt, all the wiring harness, etc.) and remove the body panels that are in good shape (doors, roof, rear 1/4 panels) and then the sell parts individually. Cut up and scrap the chassis. You'll make the most money that way and you'll learn a lot about the S30 while doing the dis-assembly. I've done the above to four cars (one was the first S30 I ever bought which put me in the same position as you) and it helped me really understand these cars. Look at it as a project in-and-of itself.
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Is it worth it? How much for new panels, frame work, welding new metal, custom work?
You're looking at at least a couple thousand dollars in labor to repair the floor pans and front core support. The front of the car has been wrecked at least once. You will be much better off scrapping this chassis and finding another, cleaner one.
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Is it really an upgrade?
The rear drums are at least 15 lighter then a rear disk setup.
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We lost one of the good guys
Well... if you ever did business with Mr. Shelby you wouldn't call him one of the good guys. But he did create a legend and became a legend himself.
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E85
You can run a lot more compression ratio and/or boost, and ignition timing with E85.
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Rear Sway Bar Question
No. You can always weld a tab on the side of the existing transverse link brace and drill the appropriate holes.
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My rear LCA - dents or not?
Yup. Asshole tow trick drivers.
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Suspension parts I.D.
It looks like a Design Products Racing kit. Their web site is down so I can't see the price.
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Suspension parts I.D.
Just be careful and measure everything with a set of calipers. The fit needs to be tight to keep movement from pounding out the bearings or the cups. I'm also not sure from the picture how the bearings are captured by the cups. Is everything a press fit in the lower control arm or are c-clips required?
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Suspension parts I.D.
No, I'm not confident of your abilities to install them correctly.
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Suspension parts I.D.
Without measuring with my calipers, my guess would be: From the front of the car: short spacer, short cup, spherical bearing, long cup, long spacer, and the sleeves go in the bearing and around the bolt. This only a guess from a picture on the internet so if you assemble these parts and die, tough luck.
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Suspension parts I.D.
Those are spherical bearings, cups, sleeves, and spacers that go into the front lower control arm replacing the stock bushing.
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Z-Tops?
In Brian's book about the Z Nissan made a prototype Targa Fairlady. There's just one picture of it in the book but I always thought that would be something nice to build.
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brake question
How would any non-Z person know the Toyota calipers were not OEM? There are no adapters, its a Japanese manufactured part, and there is lots of documentation from the FIA, JAF, and SCCA from 1971 and later showing those calipers are a racing legal swap for various classes. It would pretty easy for a competent lawyer to shoot down any non-OEM safety claims just using the FIA 3023 homologation papers.
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Angularity of the driveshaft, differential and u-joints on an early Z vs later models
Moving the diff back was done primarily to reduce noise and vibration. There isn't a u-joint or halfshaft reliability issue with the diff in the forward position.
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Bearing creak?
A creak sound is more likely from urethane bushings. A whirring sound is more likely a throwout bearing or just a normal trans/engine noise.