Jeff G 78

You rock Blue! Nice work.

That's the one. Thanks!

I can't find it right now, but somebody once posted a complete Nissan L6 distributor spec chart. Anybody know where to find it?

Good luck Blue.

Then how is it that the S2K guys can solve the problem by reducing the toe-in? I agree with your thinking, but the toe reduction fix works on that particular car.

I just looked it up Arne. They use a 16x7.5 in the rear with a 225 tire. I have read though that their 225 tire is on the wide side of nominal, so when switching to a non-OE tire, a 235 is needed to keep the original tire width. I agree with Leon that it is a combination of toe and camber that's causing the center wear. Toe will wear the outside, but that wear will creep inboard with a lot of camber. EDIT: A quick search on a SK2 forum reveals that toe is the culprit. The setup I found was to use the low end of the toe spec and 2° of camber in the rear. Less toe alone will cause oversteer. The added camber helps the situation. YMMV. (literally )

Looks totally normal. S2000's eat rear tires at an alarming rate. My dad's S2000 wears tires very quickly, though they do wear much more evenly than yours. Honda runs a lot of rear toe for stability, but I'm no S2000 expert so I can't say what happens if the toe is reduced. NSX's wore tires out in ~3,000 miles for the same reason.

Congrats again on a stunning car. The blue one is pretty spectacular as well. Have a great time showing them off.

Happy to hear everything went well Koalia.

That never bothers me because I grew up riding MOTORcycles. They aren't called enginecycles are they? Speaking of which, it bothers me when people say they drive their bike. I think they say turn on because most kids have no mechanical aptitude and cars are nothing more that an appliance. Turn on the stove..Turn on the TV... Turn on the car. Imagine how few kids will ever learn to drive three-pedal cars? Sad...

Why not use a 3.36 rear end gear from an auto or swap in a ZX 5 speed? Tall tires will make your car look really funny and they will probably rub. I tried a similar size back in 1986 and they rubbed over bumps.

The cam must have EXACTLY the right rotation or the sprocket won't want to slip into place. I usually install the cam sprocket bolt and just tighten it enough with my fingers so it can't move out any. I then pry as Blue suggests and while doing that, I rotate the cam a tiny bit back and forth until the sprocket slips on. Obviously it helps to have another set of hands, but I have done it alone many times. That's where the bolt comes in. If the screwdriver slips, you won't have to reposition the chain and sprocket. If the sprocket is visibly lower than the cam, even by a little bit, you might not have the chain wedged correctly and the tensioner might not be fully seated. There isn't much you can do except try to stick a long screwdriver down in front of the block and try to wiggle the tensioner in fully. You can also remove the top bolt of the curved chain guide and rotate the guide to give you more slack in the chain. When doing this, you risk loosening the bottom guide bolt which is inside the front cover, so be careful.

Wow. Perfect!

Wow, that's really generous Guy. PM on its way.

Thanks Darrel, I was trying to remember the name of that company. I assumed they would be more expensive than that. If I don't have any good used ones, I'll go that route. That's what I was thinking too Guy, but I wonder if there's a way I can check not only if it has already slipped, but if it's near failure and about to slip. My October race is 25 hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds long, so I'd rather not be nearing damper failure at the start of the race. :paranoid:

I'm in exactly the same boat on my 260 race car. Is there any way to tell if a damper is good by looking at it? I have several spare engines that I can steal parts from, but I don't want to waste my time only to have another 35 year old damper fail mid-race. Does the ZX damper have extra pulleys for power steering, or is it still a two row? I'd rather not spend $150 on a damper for a $500 race car, but I also don't want to break a crank when an old damper fails.

I have no issues with working to keep a funky car running, but I get upset with the poor engineering. I have worked on several Fiats and they were a pain in the butt. Datsuns are 1000 times more straight forward and well thought out. If an X1/9 in good shape landed in my driveway, I'd cherish it and have a lot of fun.

With carbs and a mechanical fuel pump you need very few wires to make your car run. My 260 race car has three wires to the ZX dizzy (+, -, tach), one to the starter solenoid, some lighting wires, gauge wires, and a few wires to the windshield wipers and HVAC blower. I started with the FSM (download it from www.xenons30.com) and rewired everything from scratch. Anything that wasn't needed was removed and anything that I could improve, I did. I used 12AWG wire and added relays to the headlight circuits, for example. I used a simple blade-style fusebox and even ditched the ignition key since it's a race car. If yours is a street car, you will still need a horn and turn signals, but otherwise you can get down to very few wires. Just go page by page through the FSM electrical section and decide what you need and what you don't. I'd even suggest downloading the '74 260 FSM since that is closer to what you are looking to do.

Looks are subjective and you should decide for yourself what look you want. As for the quality of the wheels, the Panasports are BY FAR the better choice. If you are considering a cheaper wheel, you should add the Rota RB and Rewinds to your list. There is a good reason the Rewinds and others cost 1/2 as much as the Panasports. They simply don't have the same heat treating and stiffness that quality wheels have. That said, you know what I would go with...

Did you check out the link I posted above? The LeMons team stuffed an Alfa twin cam V6 in the little X1/9 and it transformed it intoa seriously quick little car. It went from 75hp to 190hp with the swap and all was done on the cheap to keep the X1/9 as a $500 race car.

I have always liked them, but have heard they are dog slow and a nightmare to keep running. That said, I'd LOVE to have this car. http://www.kilometermagazine.com/artman2/publish/feature_article/Lancia_Stratos_LeMons_Launcha_Splatos.html It raced at GingerMan in LeMons and was fantastic to see on the track.

Keep the pics coming. It's looking better every day.

Guy, don't pull the master. I have had great luck by bleeding the MC in the car. Remove the bleeders and apply a bit of grease on the threads to seal them from leakage. With the reservoirs full and both bleeders tight, attach a tight fitting 6" long hose to one of the bleeders and insert the other end into the reservoir under the fluid level. Crack the bleeder and slowly pump the pedal up and down until there are no air bubbles circulating through the system. Tighten the valve and repeat for the other port. I have always gotten all of the air out of the MC with this method. Once done, proceed to bleed the corners as stated above. If all else fails, buy a power bleeder for $60 and push the fluid through the system to each corner. They are a bit cumbersome to use and they waste more fluid, but they do work well.

Drop the fuel tank and clean it. I'm SURE it's full of crud. My 260 spent 15+ years in a barn and it had nasty stuff in it. Replace every rubber fuel system hose as well. They will be rotten and will release debris into the filter, pump, and carbs. I found it easiest to remove the engine, pull it apart and clean/inspect each component before installing a full gasket set and reinstalling the engine. The whole process can be done in a few days and it will save lots of headaches later. Good luck with the project.

Guy, how do you ever decide which one of your beautiful Z's to drive? They are all stunning cars. Do they have different driving personalities or do you have the suspensions all setup close to the same way?