John Coffey

Marty, Send me an e-mail.

The single biggest improvement in lap times comes from a LSD. If you don't already have that, spend the money there instead of coil overs. Some would say I'm shooting myself in the foot because I won't be selling Marty coil overs and camber plates, but I do sell the OS Giken Super Lock clutch pack LSD so I can still maybe get his money that way.... :-) Seriously, buy a LSD before spending another dime on your suspension.

SP requires full interior, metal body panels, etc. You can't compare a car built to Prepared. My old series 1 1970 240Z's previous life was as Erik Messley's BSP car. It weighed 2,260 lbs in full SP trim and Erik won a few National Tours and Pro Solos with the car back in the mid 1990s. When Vic brought his car out in the later 1990s it was faster then Erick's for a variety of reasons. One big one was that Vic could run wider tires and stiffer springs the Erik's car. Vic's car weighed in around 2,380 if my memory is correct.

Stiffness - you can run bigger springs and bigger tires. Vic Sias' BSP winning 240Z was a 1973. Its important to avoid the later 73s to keep from getting the bigger bumper reinforcements.

Early 1973 240Z chassis. Welded in roll bar. Bogart or Keizer 15 x 10 wheels. Hoosier A6 275/35-15 tires. Penske 8760 triple adjustable shocks. Custom tubular ARBs. Camber plates. Early 240 short steering arms. Late 280Z 4 speed. Aluminum flywheel. Quatermaster 7.25" double disc clutch. 3:54 R180 with OSG Super Lock. N42/N42 head/block combination. "C" cam. Head cut to manufacturers or SCCA limit. Block overbored to SCCA limit. Custom intake manifold. 60mm TB. Stahl header. 3" exhaust. Motec engine managment. Race seats. Race harnesses. ...and more.

I build slip joints in race exhausts all the time. They seal just fine when everything's hot and they have the most ground clearance. I either us a T-Bolt clamp or header springs like these: Who's ever complaining is either Midas tech or a JDM fan boy.

Funny. Your car is the best S30 build I've ever seen and that includes anything I've done. Great work.

It won't. But I'm wondering what kind of threaded sleeves folks are buying if there's enough clearance that people worry about this. The OD of the 240Z strut tube (cleaned and media blasted) is 2.005". I buy coil over sleeves that are 2.038" in ID. .0165" of lateral movement of the threaded collar is insignificant. For the 280Z the OD of the strut tube is 2.15" and I but threaded sleeves that are 2.17". Again, .01" if lateral movement is not an issue. What are the IDs of the coil over sleeves that you folks are using?

It all depends on the condition of the car, the suspension, the insulators, the springs that were in the car, condition of the shocks, etc.

Courtesy Nissan does ahve them. I just ordered two last week. Use the phone.

You also need to remove the headliner, cardboard pads behind the dash, etc. and clean all of that. The seats themselves store a lot of smells.

Ball joints and tie rod ends are still available from Nissan.

After two years on jackstands the car is no longer counted. After four years the car is considered extinct... :-)

What is the criteria for a Series 1 car to be counted as still existing? A. Still recognizable as a vehicle through all the shrubbery that's grown through it. B. On jackstands somewhere. C. Currently registered. D. Driven on the road at least once a month. I think this decision will have a far greater affect on the mythical numbers being tossed around then anything else discussed so far.

473.6

Its a fine setup for performance.

Typically they are 13 to 1 and higher. For a street car a lot depends on the head. The P90 has quench so its a little more detonation resistant. You can run those at 10.5 or even 11 to 1 on 93 octane. All others are better at 10 to 1 or even less for 91 octane.

A fool for believing a Motor Trend recommendation. I knew it was bad when the service manager at Don Steves Chevrolet just laughed at me and said, "Everyone knows these things are pieces of crap. The mechanics hate 'em."

1981 Chevrolet Citation X-11. In four years I went through: four recalls, three front wheel bearings, two rear main seals, three window regulators, one AC compressor, one transmission, one carburetor, uncountable shift linkage cable clips, one radio, one HVAC control unit, and two radiators.

40 click rebound adjustable inverted Penske 8300s with custom sunken top mounts going into the back of Toby's 325. He's also working on some one-off front shocks that will retain full travel for a car a lowered as his. Toby also just dropped off the rear subframe for some additional work. If Toby can't out drive John T, he'll out engineer him... :-) BTW... the R75 Hoosiers are really fast.

No. I avoid putting my cars or my customer cars in magazines. There's no positive result for me or my business from a feature; just a bunch of useless phone calls from teenagers who want the exact same car in a week for under $1,000.

If the plug is solid, just carefully cut it to the length you need.

There are not "usuals" or "averages." The quality of the engine and the power it makes has everything to do with the skill and labor put into the build. A top level build to SCCA ITS specs (2.4L, stock internals, stock head, stock block, "stock" cam, SU carbs, headers) has hit 208 hp on a certified engine dyno. Most of the effort on that engine was labor, little money was spent on parts - figure $7,500 to duplicate. My old racing 3L racing engine made 325 hp, 275 ft. lbs. on 14 to 1 CR, lots and lots of head and crank work, custom cam, Motec, etc. Figure $20,000 for that build. SCCA GT2 spec 2.4L engines make somewhere around 350hp at over 8,000 rpm. If you can make 200 real horsepower on 91 octane pump gas you've done well.

Lots of info on HybridZ.org regarding NA engine builds. Typically if you're starting from scratch: F54 or N42 block P90 or N42 head Flat top pistons Spend the money on the head. With a P90 you'll need to shave it .080 and shim the cam towers. You can go to 10 to 1 CR on 91 octane with a modified P90. With the N42 you're limited to about 9.5 to 1 CR on 91 octane unleaded unless you weld up part of the combustion chamber. Both heads need work on the exhaust port side, not work really needed on the intake. BTW... if you're looking for starting cores, I've got a 1975 N42 long block for sale for $250.

We're trying. Unfortunately there's a lot of extra sheet metal on these 3 series to make room for back seats. :-)