2ManyZs

I think the smallest diameter allowed in an SCCA sanctioned even for your car would be 1 1/2 inch with a wall thickness of .120 if I remember right.. don't have the books here anymore so I'd have to do some digging... They will not allow mild steel tubing unless it is DOM tubing... The mounting plates can be fairly free, up to a maximum of 100 square inches. Most times I think they are about the same thickness as the tubing they are mounted to for ease of welding..... Yes, most sanctioning bodies will test them, you'll have to drill a hole in the tubing so they can measure the wall thickness.

Only a couple ways oil can get on the plugs, either past the rings, or past the valves... An oil ring that isn't seated correctly, valve seal dried out and brittle or a valve guide with too much wear and loose tolerance around the valve stem are the ones that come to mind....you don't want to think about any others.. those would be the really expensive ones....

I can't think of the size right off hand, I think it might be 3/16 (but don't quote me on that) clear vinyl tubing that will fit nicely over the bleeder screws. Use that and put it in a clear bottle (soft drink or whatever) and bleed the brakes until you see no more bubbles coming out of the tubing. I'd do the master at least one or two full reservoirs and check to see if any bubbles show up coming UP into the reservoir, if not, then it's all out. You'll probably use at least one full container (16 oz)of fluid to do a good job. BTW, the soft pedal while the engine is not running tells me you have a lot of trapped air or the master was at fault. With no vaccum on the master, it should still be fairly stiff... just in case you ever have that problem again....

One quick question before you do anything more... are you bleeding the master cylinder itself before you bleed the brakes at the wheels???? If you have bubbles in the master reservoir, you'll just end up putting air in the lines if you don't bleed the bejeepers out of the master first. Bleed about one or two reservoirs fulll (both of them) out of the master, then bleed the brakes thoroughly and then see what happens... I know you might think it's a no-brainer to do the master first, but you would be surprised by the number of people who don't......

As far as needing a full roll cage or not depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If it's just auto-X a roll bar will suffice for quite a few classes. I'm not sure, but I think the roll bars MSA sells are Autopower bars. The street bar would be a thinner wall tube than the SCCA approved bar, and Autopower sells weld in or bolt in cage kits that will work with the SCCA approved bar. I had a 2 inch Autopower cage kit in the old 280 IT car, but I was never truly satisfied as it had both mounting points on each side of the roll bar bolting through the fender well. I prefer the rear "kicker" bar to mount to the top of the strut housing, which is significantly stronger and does more to stiffen the chassis. I'm not to keen on the one you listed, the price is just too cheap and it doesn't specify whether it is DOM tubing or not. Just cuz it's NHRA approved tells me it probably is not SCCA approved as the NHRA has much looser rules regarding cages. I personally like the Kirk Racing products if it's a "kit" roll cage or bar you want. They are SCCA approved and the cost is fairly reasonable. I think a full weld in cage for a 240 would be under 800 with shipping. http://www.kirkracing.com/ Or, you could try to talk hmsports into building you up one while he's building the one for his EP car.....:devious:

It's whenever Mike gets around to changing it.. I usually try to remind him to change it on a monthly basis.. but sometimes I forget to remind him.....:stupid:

Here's what it is supposed to look like when done properly. As far as a price tag, it is up to where you live and the going shop rates as much as it is who does the work.

I don't remember spudz posting them but I do remember these..... http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=932&thumb=1 That help?

If were planning on changing to a low rear gear and a 5 speed and a few other changes that would put a lot more strain on the clutch, then I'd go for the Centerforce on the street for sure though, call it insurance....... As far as the 280 clutch question goes, I think you would need to use the TO bearing and collar that coincides with the clutch that you are using, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I know if you change from a B type 4 speed to a B type 5 speed you use the 5 speed collar and rest of the arm, but whether that is because of the differences in the clutch height or the transmission case and it's throw out arm geometry is one that would need to be researched..... Guess you got me on that one.....:cross-eye

Yup, that's the way I understand it too... I used the high volume pump from MSA(which is nothing more than a ZX Turbo pump) on the old IT car as I was using an oil cooler and wanted as much volume as possible through the cooler. It will up your pressure slightly due to the inherent restrictions in the engine but not much more than 10lbs. Where my engine ran 50lbs at WOT before, it ran 60 or so after at WOT... hard to remember back that far. After 5 year of track time and 8 years of sitting, it's now back on the track and still running the same pressure as it was when new. I'd always go for volume over pressure.

If you plan on your "spirited driving" on the back roads and not on an auto-X track I'd go ahead with the stock set-up. If you plan on open track days or more than one auto-X a year, I'd go with the Centerforce. I don't know what mine is like as it's still in the box waiting for the car to be put back together..... FWIW, many of the IT racers around here used to use a stock pressure plate and a different clutch plate(usually a puck type), while others used a completely stock set-up...what they run now is anybodies guess.... I raced the 280 for 5 years with a completely stock set-up with no problems. As long as you make sure the pedal travel and adjustments are close, you shouldn't have too much trouble. 200 or so versus 130 or so... not a huge difference in price... but a substantial one.....

Guess my toolbox is about 60% Snap-On/Blue Point and the rest is Craftsman, plus a few odd pieces from Mac.... Tool box is Snap-On, but it's over 20 years old and I would never pay the price they are asking for their new stuff. Any new tools that I have bought in the last 10 years have all been Craftsman and will probably continue that way unless it's a specialized tool I can't get from Sears.

I'm stumped as to what it could be to tell the truth... unless they got something wrong in one of the seals in the master when the rebuilt it...:disappoin I'd have to say if it isn't air trapped in the slave of the master cylinder.. then maybe something is wrong with the master... If you are getting good pressure to the rear, there may be something wrong in the slave in the master that is not allowing fluid to get into the cylinder from the reservoir.

I tried to take a pic of mine as well.... no luck. One of the PO had a carper set put in and I don't know what they glued it down with, but it doesn't want to come off.... Hope I can find a glue that works as well when I get ready to replace the carpet. I looks to be nothing more than a simple L shaped bracket with a captured nut for the upper plastic thumb screw that holds it in place. Shouldn't be difficult to make one up if you can't find another one...

They will bolt right on with no trouble. All you need to do is make sure you get all the linkage that goes with the round tops to swap over as there are differences in the linkage between the flat tops and round tops. Only other thing is to get the proper air cleaner if you are going to use the stock type air cleaner, if you plan on K&N's or something like that, don't worry with it. If you end up buying a complete intake and linkage with the round tops still mounted, you can save yourself some time and just swap the complete intake over, save you a little time and aggravation with the linkages etc....

You would probably be just as well off to go ahead and buy a rebuilt pump if you want to keep it original. MSA has them for about 110 bucks, (with a 50 dollar core charge), which would be much simpler than trying to find parts to rebuild the one you have as I don't know that you would be able to find them. I've never seen rebuild kits or parts for them advertised anywhere so you might have to do a lot of work to rebuild it yourself. It's either that or find a good used one.

Height difference of one inch should be no problem. The problem is the longitudinal difference, you need to have them lined up as near perfect as possible or you will end up with harmonic and static imbalances. You'll need to get the rear of the trans moved to line up with the rear diff one way or another.

Hey Rick, shouldn't you have said never on purpose? Racing in the rain is a blast with a locked rear with a car that understeers and you have to get it to oversteer to make it around a corner...:cross-eye :devious:

Glad I'm not the only one that has those moments....

Hmm, I don't remember it either....:stupid: Don't know that I ever had a table that would tell you what ratio by counting d/o revolutions.....and don't think I've ever seen one either....

I'd go for the urethane.... last longer than rubber and you'll get better handling without sacrificing too much ride comfort. The biggest thing that will affect the ride will be your spring/shock choice anyways....If you were planning on adjustable coil overs with 200+ pound springs etc. then I'd say you were heading for ride problems...Stock or close to stock springs with the urethane bushings should be fine for the street. Also, you have to remember that tire size and profile contribute greatly to your handling and ride comfort as well, the lower profile you go, the harder it will ride yet will more than likely handle better.. It's all in how you choose the rest of the components that will give you your best results. Just remember to lube the bushings with a good grease to prevent squeaks and you shouldn't have any problems.

I'd have to agree with the cam/valves assesment. It might be just me, but it almost sounds like he has more than one valve hitting a piston... has the cam timing been verified? I'm just wondering if it has jumped timing on one or both cams......:disappoin First thing to do is pull the plugs and see if or which one has signs of damage, this may tell which cylinder or cylinders are the problem if something like a valve seat has been bouncing around on top of the piston. Then verify the cam timing. If that fails to show anything out of th eordinary, it's time to pull the head and get a good look. I wouldn't run that engine any more... it already sounds expensive enough..... As a side note, you ought to pull the intake and exhaust off the turbo as well to see if the impellers are damaged, if anything did go through the cylinder, you know where it will end up doing damage last.......It's a slim chance, but it could be the turbo impellers.... any oil showing around the exhaust?

Mustache bars are specific to the diff used. But, you can run into trouble with the 280 in the US as they used both the 180 and 200 during its model run from 75-78.... The 200 bar has a different spacing (and size of mounting bolt if I remember right), for the rear diff mounting bolts. It is possible to make a 180 bar work with the 200, but you would have to slot the holes or weld them up and then re-drill them....

Well, hmm... then if you are allowed coil-overs and camber plates, the spacers should be one of those that are in the "grey" area the same as they are in the road racing rules.... everyone has them, but to be super critical of the rules they aren't legal unless they are welded to the bottom of the strut tube instead of being bolt in between the strut tube and the steering arm. Mounting points may not be altered, but you aren't altering any mounting points with the spacers technically...... If everyone else has them, use them.....:devious: