bjhines

The tires are not worth their shipping weight unless they are brand new unmounted.... NEVER ship a rim with a tire mounted... the tires should go in the trash before you even consider selling the wheels...

WOW... that is NUTS!!! WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY overpriced... 1. The paint is FUBARED on all of them... 2. There is no confirmation that they are indeed straight...( give me a road force test number PLEASE) otherwise they dont know if they are straight... 3. They are asking NEW PRICE for nicked up/rednecked mismatched wheels 4. They are going to "throw in" the required lugnuts and centercaps that are part of the installation package the came iwth them in the first place... (gee thenks dude??? WTF!) 5. I might offer him $800 and negotiate a little... 6. They are stagger sizes... that is completely inappropriate for a track car... Those are mismatched bling bling ching ching... 7. The TIRES!!!! gimme a break... they are trash... I wont mount a tire that is more than 2 years old... even if it is brand new... they don't last that long dude... I go through several sets a season... 8. Shipping... WTF $200... I ship wheels all over the country for under $60 a set... no matter where... this tells me this guy is an AMATURE!!! I can find a set of boxes in 10 minutes in any city.. FOR FREE!!! Gimme a break... he is going to sit on those a long damn time before he realizes how UN-desireable they really are to any serious enthusiast...

hard pedal/soft pedal means the vacume booster may be leaking down overnight... that can be a sign that it is getting ready to go south... The pulling to the left is a sign that the right caliper is sticking... you have the answer... rebuild them... easy afternoon job... order new bleeder screws while your at it...

The speedo is way off with the 15x7 and 225/50/15 combo... 5mph over at 35mph.. 10 over at 70mph... 20 over at 140MPH... I hit 150mph(redline 4th gear with a 3.54 rear end) on some tracks... but that actually translates to about ~128mph... which is realistic for the stock 1972 240Z driveline gearing... especially on short tires... I really do like the way the 225/50/15 race tires feel... and they wear well with minimal added negative camber... Toyo RA1s come in a neat size... 225/45/15... I have not tried them yet... but they might work well for fine tuning gearing with a close ratio tranny... I would also be concerned with their needing more negative camber... ...

For the front hooks there is a doubler plate welded inside the bottom of the 240Z frame rails.. it is ~3/16" thick, 1.5" wide, and 3 inches long... IIRC the later models had a formed gusset capturing the bottom, sides, and top of the front frame-rails... This made ti much stronger than the original design...

Sure... the starter circuit and the rest of the electrical systems are all in parallel... the heavy wires connect directly to the starter housing at their designated points... any problems with one circuit can lead to problems with another... Grounding is best done at one point in the car... It is called star grounding... this ensures that there are no unforseen high resistance points between body panels that may cause problems... You cannot easily accomplish this single point grounding... In the 240Z there are several grounding points on the front clip, right frame rail, firewall, transmission tunnel, and several more in the rear clip... there are splices throughout the harnesses... dozens of them... >>any of these points can deteriorate and lead to problems... I have gone through my harnesses... I cleaned and soldered everything carefully... many circuits added as well... When you add a circuit you should add a ground as well... the trick is to use the factory points wherever possible...

IIRC the AMP guage main terminal wires should be connected together when it is removed... The volt guage + should connect to the main wires the AMPS guage used and the - to ground... Do not attempt the hook up the VOLTS guage in series the way the AMPS guage was wired... I think a later version of the AMPS guage used a shunt under the passenger kick panel... That may change the underdash wiring significantly... use caution here...

Well.. that is good if you have a pick and pull near you... I have to call in what I want and they pull it... it gets much more expensive if I have them remove every related part... many automobiles use multiple relays to control blower speed... the switches in those cars would be a step in the wrong direction... you could certainly make you own relay bank... but the Datsun resistors would still need to be reworked... My measurements on the motor indicate it will draw only 25% more power anyway... I think that the small wires used in the original harness are a major bottleneck... It would help to simply rewire the harness with 14 guage instead of the wimpy 16g and 18g the factory used... The resistors are air cooled... The switch can be cleaned and the contacts are pretty beefy...

Good tip John... there are several events geared toward newer drivers ... your insurance agent will have more information... The HPDE event is more performance oriented... Autocross is fun for new drivers... but it has a very steep learning curve considering you get very little seat time... HPDEs are well organized in my area...You will get specific drivers training skills and on track communication before you go out... a good primer would be exactly the list J.C. has there.. your first event will get you in the right mindset... the second and third events will get you some confidence in your abilities and you will have opportunities to sort out your car... By the time you have a dozen or more events under your belt you will have touched on nearly all aspects of real performance driving... No doubt you will have had a few offs... but the Z is a very forgiving car.. you will not usually get very far off track.. and wall encounters for new drivers are usually in the HIGH$$$ HIGH HP cars... you simply won't have the power to get allll the wayy into a wall... granted... track driving can be dangerous... but with a proper dose of respect.. you will have a much slimmer chance of actually screwing up your car... As far as performance or track modifications... use your street tires and follow the track prep guidlines for the event you are registered for... all cars must pass a technical inspection... Hemmingway is well known for that quote.. google it...

I have been to the Tail of the Dragon several times in several different vehicles... That is complete stupidity... drop offs... ROUGH edged rockwalls... Minivans, motorcycles... AND a host of other neophyte wannabe drivers... as well as idiots going the other damn way on a 2 lane road... besides that the speed limit is 40MPH now... what are you gonna do... set the cruise control Just how in the hell are you supposed to learn ANYHTING on that road... The fact is.. you are expected to run off at the track... it is made for it.. there are spotters and flag stations to help manage traffic when someone DOES GO OFF... granted you will be sent home if you continue to have offs... but one or 2 per-event is somewhat common... You don't know jack about driving until you have pushed it beyond your control many, many times and jumped right back on that steel horse... "There are only 3 sports... Mountaineering, Bullfighting, and Sports car racing... everything else are simply children's games played by adults"... Ernest Hemmingway... "Soccer, Football, Basketball, Baseball, etc... are all games that require only one ball... Race car driving requires 2 huge balls"... unknown...

Didn't the original poster want to know how to drive a "Z".... why on Earth would he want to drive a FWD Honda... TOTALLY DIFFERENT ANIMAL... All of the SCCA, PCA, PBOC, NASA, ETC... have CLASSES, Coaches, ETC... plus they are 2(TWO) day events... and they beat the $^!# out of driving someone elses Honda... I would rather pedal than drive a Honda on track... AND!!!! they are wrking out to only about $150 per day... To END this... you can talk and read about driving all you want... If you want to learn performance driving then seat time is the only way... I will not even entertain some of the stupid Q and A that armchair racedrivers come up with... get in your own damn car and drive it on track... best way to learn...

They usually cost $300 for an entire weekend... That usually works out to about 3 hours ON TRACK AT SPEED... trust me... it is well worth the money...

I am an instructor with several clubs... High Performance Drivers Education events are the best place to learn the skills you desire... Here is what a Z car can do.... This uses all of the skills you will read about... As far as double clutching... What the hell would you do that for with a street transmission???? Play by play: 130MPH REDLINE in top gear going down the straight... Slam on brakes and drop to 70 MPH in 150ft.... turn right hard while getting back into the gas to keep it from comming around... straighten it out and slam the brakes again dropping from 85 to 50 MPH... hard hard right turn again while getting back on the gas to keep it from spinning around... lift throttle slightly to keep front end traction while unwinding the wheel entering the short straight... That was just the straight and the first 180 turn.....

The pump housing and gears are LONGER in the Turbo pump... It may contact your sway bar if your engine mounts are shot... be careful checking clearance onder load... bore diameter and all other housing dimensions are the same...

I think the answer is much more complicated than just adding a relay... there is already a relay... the support wiring, switches, and resistors are not up to snuff either... An additional relay will get you absolutely NOWHERE... Trying to replace the original parts is not gonna happen with parts from your local radio shack... the fan is several hundred watts @ 12V... that is WAYYYYYYYYY over what anything in Radio Shack rack parts is rated for...

and the conclusion on the motor draw.... at least static results... I have not tested dynamic impeadance... OK... just got done testing resistance of the motors... I used DC and turned the fan to dozens of positions and found this... Original 240Z datsun fan:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 30% of the tries I got 0.7 OHMs 60% of the tries I got 0.6 OHMs The Datsun motor showed variations(0.8, 0.9) at some points that would indicate wear and age... I tossed these out of the data... Newer Honda 88-92 fan motor::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 90% of the tries I got 0.5 OHMs 5% of the tries I got 0.6 OHMs 5% of the tries I got 0.4 OHMs ... You might see a 25% increase in power usage... A 20 AMP fuse might not be enough when it ages and begins to stick... I think it will work fine though...

hmm.. linky... from a recent thread of mine... http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23409 There is one point to this that I have not tested... And I likely won't get to test for a long time... Will the original heater resistors and wiring handle the higher current draw???... If they will... what about the switch and the harness wires...??? The Fuse that powers the relay high current side is 20amps (that one inline behind the control panel... Oddly enough the circuit for the blower in the fuse panel had a 20amp fuse as well... though all it runs is the relay coil side(0.5amp)... It would seem to me that I could leave the fuse panel wiring alone and only rewire the high current side of the relay (20amps currently)... but that would still leave the original switch and resistors in the high current circuit.. I would need to source another set of resistors and another higher current switch in order to really improve the system wiring... That is a large task.. I think I will install this blower into one of my operational 240Zs to make sure it works without serious electrical modifications... Another thought is that the original switch could be used if it were only operating a bank of relays that provided for 3 fan speeds... the only problem there is sheer complexity and added weight...

OK... just got done testing resistance of the motors... I used DC and turned the fan to dozens of positions and found this... Original 240Z datsun fan:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 30% of the tries I got 0.7 OHMs 60% of the tries I got 0.6 OHMs The Datsun motor showed variations(0.8, 0.9) at some points that would indicate wear and age... I tossed these out of the data... Newer Honda 88-92 fan motor::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 90% of the tries I got 0.5 OHMs 5% of the tries I got 0.6 OHMs 5% of the tries I got 0.4 OHMs ... You might see a 25% increase in power usage... A 20 AMP fuse might not be enough when it ages and begins to stick... I think it will work fine though...

There is one point to this that I have not tested... And I likely won't get to test for a long time... Will the original heater resistors and wiring handle the higher current draw???... If they will... what about the switch and the harness wires...??? The Fuse that powers the relay high current side is 20amps (that one inline behind the control panel... Oddly enough the circuit for the blower in the fuse panel had a 20amp fuse as well... though all it runs is the relay coil side(0.5amp)... It would seem to me that I could leave the fuse panel wiring alone and only rewire the high current side of the relay (20amps currently)... but that would still leave the original switch and resistors in the high current circuit.. I would need to source another set of resistors and another higher current switch in order to really improve the system wiring... That is a large task.. I think I will install this blower into one of my operational 240Zs to make sure it works without serious electrical modifications... Another thought is that the original switch could be used if it were only operating a bank of relays that provided for 3 fan speeds... the only problem there is sheer complexity and added weight...

I used the headliner material without the additional vinyl for the heater floor flaps... They needed to be really soft to close easily...

more pics.... .....

Well.. As long as you don't worry about throwing your speedo off... 225/50/15 is the most tire you will get under your car without going to coilovers and different offsets... I have rolled my rear fender lips on my track car to run 15x7 0 offset rims with 225/50/15 slicks on a lowered car... The type of tire you mount will GREATLY affect the amount of steering feel/feedback... Race tires are absolutely in another class... there is NO street performance tire that will compare to racing tire... in any way...

I requested a 1992 civic blower.. the JY cross referenced ti and found the one I have in a 199? CRX... apparently they used the same blower in several cars...

I needed to make new pads for the heater-housing flapper... I found some headliner material... cloth/foam... I applied iron-on vinyl to give it a smooth surface like the originals...

I am building a new track car and decided to use the original heater/vent system... I figured I would give a complete makeover... I started by tearing everything down completely.... Then I sandblasted every nook and cranny... I used self etching primer and 4 coats of metallic black paint... I covered every nook from all angles... It WILL LAST my lifetime... Before!!!! smelled like burning hair and sounded like a rattlesnake... It blew leaves, dirt, and bugs in your face at speed... Repainted inside and out... Honda blower/fan drops in the 240Z snail housing... completed blower unit.... I am waiting on the radiator shop to rebuild my heater core... I am chopping up my old choke cables to replace the sticking and bent up control cables... This sucker will fly!!! ....