John Coffey

FYI... Nissan did make at least one prototype Targa top S30. There's one picture of it in Brian Little's book.

Since the naming of the various 240Zs as "Series 1", "Series 2", etc. is an Internet fantasy I can completely understand why they just focused on good clean, chassis. Marc Jones of Datsun Alley claimed to have picked up the final two uncompleted chassis from either Les or Pierre and finished them for Nissan dealers that had orders in hand when the program shut down. I don't recall the number on the program number plates but I did see the cars with the plates installed.

Structurally it won't matter.

I'm trying to educate the owner of the company doing the relining. His initial price quote to me is a non-starter so I'm trying to gather information to help him understand the market. And no, I'm not going to tell him $50 each so all you Datsun bottom feeders can post somewhere else... :-)

The new Brembo rear brake drum deal never came to fruition so I've been working with a brake drum relining company (the do Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile aluminum brake drums) to develop a process for relining Datsun aluminum rear drums. The process is in place and we've got a test pair done. What I need to know is what price you folks (who are still running rear drums) are willing to pay for something like this. To give an idea of pricing for the GM restoration crowd, Pontiac drums go for $255 each retail.

If price is your main concern when buying parts for your S30, then yes, MSA and BD are expensive.

Wear gloves when you're driving on the track. If you're ever in a wreck and there's a fire, you'll be grateful.

That should be a good combination for open track use.

Weld a price of metal on the header flange.

13' ceilings are a minimum if you're installing any asymmetric lift and you'll need 13' of width for each bay/lift. You'll also need at least a 6" thick concrete floor with 5,000 psi concrete for a lift like that. A 12' high door is also a big plus. Plan a dirty area in the garage for machines that cut metal and as a place to clean cars in general. Try to position that dirty area so you won't track crap into the clean area of the garage. If possible put the air compressor outside in a covered shed. Plan space for a 4' x 8' free standing workbench that you can walk all the way around. More workbenches and shelving can go on the sides and figure a depth of 4' (shelving at 24" and free space at 24") to walk in front of and get to stuff stack on the shelves with a ladder. A commercial sink is handy along with space for a free standing parts washer. Don't paint the concrete floors. Use a concrete stain and lots of sealer. Insulate the roof and doors. Paint the walls white and add lights on the ceiling and on the walls about 8' off the ground.

I run a shop and I've done that to a customer stub axle. I sourced and replaced the stub axle and told the customer what I did after the job was done. No extra charge or hourly billing. I screwed up, I fixed it. I also pulled a stub axle on a different car and found a crack at the base of the splines. Showed it to the customer and he claimed I cracked it. Demanded a new one (not used). I said I would replace it with a used one at no cost to him and I got call from his lawyer the next day. Spent 5 minutes talking to the lawyer and he said he would suggest the customer take my offer. Got a call from the California Bureau of Automotive Repair saying someone had filed a fraud complaint on my shop. Explained the situation and gave the BAR rep the phone number of the customer's lawyer. BAR rep called back and said case was closed in my favor. Customer showed up with a flat bed tow truck and demanded his car. I presented him with the bill and he refused to pay. I called the police and they told the customer to pay or leave. He paid with a credit card, took his car, and then disputed the charges. I gave up. Remember, there are two sides to every dispute.

Parts car or you can pay me thousands and thousands of dollars to fix it!

And the TC24B is not just a cylinder head. Its a cam drive system, modified block, custom intake, custom exhaust, modified oiling system, etc. Its a complete engine package. Figure close to six figures for a new one. If you've got the money I can hook you up with Mr. Tomimatsu.

NA 300hp on 91 octane unleaded is not possible despite what a lot of folks have posted. Figure 100 octane unleaded. You'll spend about $5,500 on the cylinder head, $3,500 on the bottom end, and another $3,000 on ancillaries. This is probably the minimum price assuming you're paying people to do the work.

On an XL Ford requires the 8' bed option, XL Decor Group, HD Payload, Max Towing, Fog Lamps, plus a few other things. That's why it adds up to $4,650. Basically they want at least $28K for any F150 with the 3.5L EB engine. I had dealer try to locate that truck and it doesn't exist. Its a $35K minimum for a 3.5L EB truck here in SoCal unless you're willing to order one and wait 10 weeks.

The 3.5 Eb engine is a $4,500 option as I recall.

Mark each one with a paint pen or magic marker as you count them. And wear your bifocals...

Avoid those types of coolers for engine oil. They create too big of a rpessure drop and are less effective then a sandwich plate style. For a street driven S30 an oil cooler is not needed - unless you're towing a trailer across west Texas in August at 100 mph.

The ball joint has a rubber boot covering the joint itself. No other cover in that area.

Kirk Racing and Autopower are the two most popular for bolt-in roll cages. But, its really important to verify that both companies have updated their roll cage tubing material to meet the changes in the SCCA GCER from a couple years ago. I had to send a BMW E30 ITS driver home last month when he showed up with a brand new Autopower "SCCA Approved" roll cage that met the old rules. It was not legal for use in his +2,700 lb. race car. For most S30s the tubing must be DOM 1.5" OD and .095" wall thickness. Also, IMHO, a welded in roll cage is safer and does less damage to the chassis if welded in properly. Drilling twenty four 3/8" holes completely through the chassis increases the risk of rust and chassis cracking more then six welded in .083" thick reinforcement plates.

Mutually exclusive goals.

As I said, "Physically remove" the rust and dirt. Save the brews and potions for paint prep.

Rust and dirt are bad things when it comes to welding. You need to physically clean the rust and dirt out of the area you're going to weld. Try: 1. Wrapping sandpaper around a flat blade screw driver. 2. Use sanding rolls like these: http://www.mcmaster.com/#sanding-rolls/=b2r45g 3. Small wire wheels. 4. Media or sand blasting. And you're much better off using MIG welding then flux core welding.

The mixture imbalance does exist, but with proper carb tuning it can be minimized.

A few folks have built them and they run just fine, although getting the mixture right is very difficult. The cars tend to run rich because that's where you need to run the front a rear carbs to keep from leaning out 2 and 5 under power. They can work on a race track but few have even bothered. If the racing rules are open enough to allow triple SUs you can also run triple Weber two barrels. Triple SUs are more a shade tree science experiment then anything else.