preith

Thanks for the clarification Mike and sorry everyone for the misinformation. In my defense the gr6 vs gr8 rules had me a little confused, revisited them for a refresher, gr6 lists "alternate racing transmissions" as acceptable whereas gr8, as you stated, lists "alternate production based". With that said if I interpret correctly, a Jerico for example is ok for gr6 but not gr8 Another peeve of mine is, like Jon mentions, is the OS Giken gearsets are around 2k, which is the going rate for a GOOD used Jerico, and IMO a better option, but it can't be used anyway.

Mike, define "close ratio 5 speed". Strictly related to Nissan transmissions, there's only the OEM stuff (which I delved on) or comp boxes - which are rarer than hen's teeth and replacement parts are even harder to come by. Carl, depending on the club you may be able to use it but per SVRA rules this is not allowed. Interestingly SVRA gr6 (big bore cars) are allowed alternate transmissions, including Jericos, with a weight penalty, but not gr8 (zcars). One of their many gr6-gr8 double standards. EDIT - one more thing I'd like to add, "5th" on the comp boxes is really 4th on an OEM trans as the "dog leg" 1st is used in place of 5th, or OD.

In regards to 4sp vs 5, based on my experience it's a bit of a toss up - strictly related to road racing, unless an actual Nissan comp unit (opt 2) is used, and good luck finding one relatively cheaply. The "close ratio" fs5w71b found in the 80-83 ZX's is really a wide ratio, hence the "w" in the part number, and there's no getting around that. The 1-4 ratios on both the 4 and 5 speeds are for practical purposes the same with 3rd and 4th identical. The problem with using such a numerically high final is you essential move up the "primarily used gears" from 2-4 to 3-5, and 5th IMO is the weak link of the trans. Using the later zx trans as a baseline (1.858, 1.308, 1, 0.745), your final drive ratios with the 4.3 diff are: 3rd - 7.9894 4th - 4.3 5th - 3.2035 the same trans with 3.70's: 2nd - 6.8746 3rd - 4.8396 4th - 3.70 I've raced with a 3.70 final since day one (primarily at Blackhawk Farms) and for the most part I only use 2nd at race starts or when slowed by lapped traffic. Depending on the race start speed, which will most likely be the slowest you will go all session, rpm's in 3rd might already be a little too high with a 4.3 final, and depending on the track, a little too low at max speed. You can use an R200, but there is a valid argument for the R180 based on weight savings alone as it is significant. Regarding the CV halfshafts, I would say if you stick by SVRA rules you will for the most part be allowed into all vintage clubs. With that said they list half shafts as "free"

Thanks for sharing Paul, looked like a good time. Are you aware of any good ARRC photo pages out there, like SmugMug, etc?

Greg looked great at the start but the on restart after the FCC Brakke appeared to jump the start a bit too early and once past Greg he drove away. IIRC it was a 10+ second lead on 2nd at the finish. It was quite a bit cooler and very windy today, I have to wonder if that played a role. EDIT: oops, Steve beat me to it.

Doh! It didn't click with me that it was Don. Damn shame. His car build was featured in SportsCar back in '99?? when the Z was first classed in EP. And where are the photos??

Terrible news, I'm sorry to hear that. The kink has taken out many cars over the years, probably the most dangerous portion of the track. I checked the GCR, 90-97 Miata min weight(s): 2175 carbs, 2225 f.i., brakes are 10" vented fr, 9" solid rr. As for which car to be in during a wreck... it's a toss up IMO.

Here's my personal VIR fav, Glenn Bunch's Hemi Challenger, what a beast! Greg, Mark said you were protested over the contact but it was thrown out, rightfully so! I'd love to see more vids from you too.

I'm not going to be getting the race car out this year and have about 12 gallons of 110 leaded to get rid of. IIRC the brand was Rocketsport. It's been sitting for 1 year w/stabil in 5gallon jugs in the dark basement. I was going to dilute it with some fresh stuff and octane isn't all too critical with my motor, but anyway I figured it would be good for someone running 10ish:1 compression as is. Hit me up on pm or email prreith@hotmail.com EDIT: looking for someone local to the Milwaukee area of course. I could meet somewhere as well.

Bummer! I'm glad John is OK and good to hear the scarab will be rebuilt. Thanks for the inside scoop Ron. A quick google search yielded some good pics on this forum http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503451&page=2 There was a youtube vid posted but it's already been removed.

"Those darn miatas" is right, but they contribute significantly to entry fees/track rental payment and in turn keep the cost down for the rest of us. I still can't get over how many there are, and accumulating, seemingly out of the woodwork. At our last event, Memorial Day weekend, of the 40 plus cars in the small bore group, over half the field were Miatas. Thanks for the pic, hopefully you made it through the weekend "contact free". Personally I'd be very concerned if I had to race with them, typically there's plenty of overzealous/overoptimistic driving to say the least.

Congrats Greg! And thanks for the summary, I was curious what happened to Brakke - would've guessed he spun or went off during the race. He's sure laying down some good times... I was quite surprised to see Kannard finishing 2nd. He's another local guy who ran an S30 and since gone to the dark side, won the sprints in '04 I believe. EDIT: I forgot to add, veteran racers passing under yellow on the caution lap seems to happen ALOT. The SCCA treated Brakke better than in my club, they promptly black flagged the pole sitter for the same on the first lap in a race of mine.

Good luck Greg. I don't see Prather on the entry list but Brakke is, give 'em hell!

Take this with a grain of salt as I have no experience racing with an open 180, but I'd play around with different gear lube first before going with a cooler. As Ron mentioned, try a heavy duty shock proof oil, I'm partial to Amsoil's severe gear, I run their SAE 250: http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/srt.aspx

I was there as a spectator/observer. There's something to be said for not having to worry about anything and watching everyone else deliberate. It was a hot weekend too with temps in the 90's. Bill (red 240, 3rd pic) had that 914 on his tail the entire race, he was spent afterwards. Your friends 914 sounds awfully tame, but rightfully so, makes the most sense starting out with something like that. Andy Besic has a nice Ferrari replica which he's been running with us. He qualified on pole but DNF'd. Joe, other red Z won.

I was only trying to keep mine as neat as possible. I've seen guys just lay the ducting in them but IMO it looks real ghetto. You could try adapting an inlet duct like this: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3624 It was a hoot battling it out with the 911, piloted by a veteran racer. My first year of racing, '05, only my 3rd event, I dragged past him on a relatively short strait, he later told me he was absolutely stunned at my straight line speed (gt2ish motor), I was on cloud nine. Unfortunately I crashed the car at the next event and tore up the all the front body work, goodbye air dam. @gnosez, good luck in Monticello, NY.

I don't have a good pic readily available, but when I originally used the duct style airdam like this one: I simply bent up a c-shaped (lengthwise) piece of 6061, hole-sawed and welded a piece of 3" pipe to it, and attached that to the airdam with pop rivets from the back side, thereby leaving the nail side of the rivet exposed from the front. It didn't look too bad. You can kind of see it here: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/data/500/gingerman2.JPG @gnosez, ducting is, for all intensive purposes, a requirement on an ITS car.

This is a very real concern for racers. I toasted a fresh race engine my first time out at the drivers school, 4 laps into it, because of this. The only hint of an issue was a small amount of water on the windshield, which I thought may have been from the car ahead of me. The temp gauge never climbed because there wasn't any coolant on it. I've added a low pressure coolant switch since and am religious about adding Permatex high tac sealant around the edge. The good news is the issue hasn't presented itself again since '04. The same thing happened to a fellow 510 racer too.

FWIW I have the same brakes and no knock back that I can tell, if present it's negligible. I do have it gusseted similar to Jon's. I did not have the issue with my non-gusseted 280 struts either (now using 240's). With that said I have to wonder if this matters as the gusset is there for strut flexing and the entire forging, including caliper mounts, would therefore move together. I am on ITS spec DOT's, perhaps slicks exacerbate the issue? My biggest problem with these brakes was rotor run out due to the combined hat/rotor tolerances. I have a local shop skim cut them whenever new ones are installed.

That was our (Midwest Council's) first event of the year and no, I wasn't there. The red Z is Joe Ziltener's, he runs triple SU's on a homemade manifold. Greyghost has a few engine bay pics of the car in his gallery here. The black Z is Mark Atkinson's, he posts here occasionally as Kronoss. Mark won the race after Joe made a mistake and went off in 7. I'm very happy for Mark, he's had nothing but problems with the car up until now. Bill Oakes was also there with the ex-mountain motorsports ITS car that he's owned for the last 3 or 4 years, with one of my transmissions in it no less! Here's the race start:

No, only 1 pump required total, you need a return bypass regulator and a return line to the cell, which seems to be the norm, I'd venture to guess your car already has this. Another reason I prefer the in-tank, simplifies things a bit.

Hi Marty, IMO the best and safest place for the surge tank is inside the cell, though they aren't cheap. They also sell an internal pump setup too http://www.hrpworld.com/googlebase.cfm?key=Fuel%20Safe%20Center%20Mount%20Surge%20Tank%20Collectors%20-%20Plastic&form_prod_id=,179,179,179,_4548&action=product If you have a cell with two fittings (not including the vent) use one of them for the return and plumb it directly to the tank.

Thanks Rob, very cool, that looks like the real deal, I'd like to know what venue/date it was taken, we can probably dig up some race results. The Frisselle car is in the background too.

Funny! Porta-Potty's aren't exactly light either, I have to wonder if that was the "movers" primary motive.