jmortensen

Looks like only Australia and New Zealand require a lower sulfur content than the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-low-sulfur_diesel. "The transition to ULSD is not without substantial costs. The US Government has estimated that pump prices for diesel fuel will increase between $.05 and $.25 per gallon as a result of the transition. And, according to the American Petroleum Institute, the domestic refining industry has invested over $8 Billion to comply with the new regulations."

Are they fighting against efforts to improve the quality of diesel because it's more efficient, or because it's expensive to produce and if they jump through the hoops it's no longer cost effective vs gasoline. Looks like the regulations were projected to cost them $8-10B. If I'm in the oil business, I wouldn't be too happy about that, because it drives the price of my product up and makes alternatives more attractive. I think the push against diesel is mostly environmental, and you see businesses come when they always do, as soon as it affects their bottom line.

I guess you're not familiar with the big 3's European offerings. http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_best_darn_diesel/ http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-focus-econetic.html http://green.autoblog.com/2008/03/25/chryslers-diesel-vehicles-why-cant-we-get-them-here/

The ZX pulley is larger and heavier. I don't know what the others look like, but I would suggest you try to find an early one, just for the weight savings. Original dampers are getting pretty old at this point, but I don't think there are too many inexpensive aftermarket options. If you have trouble finding one, I'd bet my brother-in-law has a couple. You can email him at mat m at m2differentials dot com.

Why would Detroit try to ban diesels? They can build diesels just as easily as the build gasoline engines, in fact they already do in EU and AU. The problem in the US is the environmental lobby. Diesel is dirty. Sulphur, particulates, blah blah blah. Look at what CA did to diesel just last year: http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/08/california-diesel-regulation-pollution-opinions-columnists-henry-i-miller-james-e-enstrom.html

Not to pee in the cheerios, but there are much better cars for mileage than a Z. Aerodynamics is key, and Z's aren't very low drag. If you want a hypermile diesel, best to start with the slipperiest shape you can.

Wet plugs probably don't have to do with this problem. I would expect the plugs would dry off as you got back to the grid, etc. I would think the wet plugs on one carb are more indicative of a carb out of sync.

There was a very good post here by tholt29 about how to fix this problem about 5 years ago. First thing is float level. Get it set correctly according to the manual. The next thing is the vents. I believe it's in right handers particularly that the float bowl vents can allow gas to flow out and right over the jets. Tom showed how to JB weld the vents shut and then drill a hole in the cover and vent out the top. I tried to find this old post and couldn't. I used to have the pictures on my computer, but I lost several hard drives since then and apparently those pics went away at some point. You might try PM'ing Tom, I think Phillip Reith (preith) was also in on the conversation, he might have some pictures stashed away as well. The carbs don't have a lot of adjustments, but still there aren't a lot of people that can really tune them well. I'd start with a manual (I think you can download the Mikuni manual from hybridz.org in the download section) and the How to Modify Your Nissan/Datsun OHC Engine book by Honsowetz. Put an O2 sensor on the car so you can see what is happening in real time instead of trying to read plugs, and just keep screwing around with them. Wolf Creek Racing has jets if you need them. From my own experience I would say that the most annoying thing to try and tune out is the flat spot between the pilot jets and the mains, at about 2500-3500 rpm, especially when you punch it from 2000. My first inclination was to go bigger on the pump nozzle. IME that didn't help very much, what helped more was to fatten the pilot. Cutting the venturi size down works too, but then you lose some top end.

Here's the difference between sanding and spreading from a practical perspective: If you sand the bushing down so that it is the same thickness as the sleeve in the middle, then there is less pressure on the side of the bushing when you tighten everything up. Less pressure means that the suspension moves more easily when you're driving and doesn't have to overcome as much initial resistance to movement (stiction), and that is a good thing. What you don't want is for the sleeve to protrude out from the poly bushing, because then even with the bolt tight, the strut will be able to move back and forth on the sleeve as you're driving. I think you'd have to sand off a lot for that to happen, but figured I'd throw it out there in the name of disclosure. So I would suggest that sanding the bushing is best until the bushing (installed in the control arm) is the same thickness as the sleeve, or just a hair wider than the sleeve to minimize the stiction. If that is not enough to get the strut in, then spread the control arm. It is also easy to put zerk fittings on the outer end of the control arm so that you can grease the outer bushings. Just drill and tap and screw them right in. I did this and it worked great, then I decided to make my own control arms with rod ends instead. Being able to grease the outers is a nice thing, as the little tube of grease you put in when you install the bushings won't be in there very long. Unfotunately zerks do NOT work on the inner poly bushings. The bushing caps are not tight enough to hold the grease in, so you squirt it in and it just runs right back out.

These symptoms don't make a lot of sense. If you just have a pull when you step on the brakes, that is generally a sign of a stuck caliper. But your calipers are new... Have you tried cracking a bleeder when the brakes are hot? Could be that you have the pedal to master adjustment too tight, which will trap the fluid in the system. The more you drive the hotter the fluid gets and the more the brakes apply themselves. Very strange...

Nothing to do with WWII? The flag that all Japanese military used during the war has nothing to do with the war. Cognitive dissonance much? As to its prior history, this flag doesn't go back millennia. The hinomaru (big red dot) goes back a millennium. The rising sun with rays was used as the Imperial Japanese flag from 1895-1945. Any clue as to what exactly Japan was doing during that time period? Hint: it involves imperial expansion and ideas of racial superiority. After WWII the use of the rays was disallowed, and then they brought it back in 1954 when Japan was again allowed to have a navy.

The only reason our cities weren't firebombed is that we were out of range. In 1935 the swastika flag became the official flag of Germany and remained so until the end of the war. Look it up if you need to. As to the actions of the Japanese vs Germans vs Americans vs British, there's enough history out there that you can read up and decide for yourself. We did plenty wrong, but I stand by my original statement.

Probably the same guy. It was a really fast track car with a turbo, and at the end there the same huge 15x14 wheels that I'm going to run on my car. It's a really fast car. Why compare to a swastika? Well, Japan and Germany were allies during WWII, both committed horrible atrocities, and at the time Japan used the rising sun and Nazis used the swastika. Just doing the big red dot won't elicit the same response from people who know the history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes

There was a longtime member of HybridZ named Clifton that had a white Z with the rising sun flag on a white hood. I thought it looked good and Clifton seems like a good guy, but I still think it's akin to putting a swastika on a car.

Wrong motor, wrong carbs, wrong bumpers (either way, if it's a 240 shell you still have the heavy 73-74 bumpers, if you have the 280 shell then you get the really heavy 280 bmpers), which suspension do I have and what parts do I need for my brakes and suspension (?), and as reported by a friend who worked at a Z shop for years, wiring issues. Other than that what's not to like? If you're building a race car or are not afraid to swap the motor or deal with the wiring, really it's just a chassis, and the chassis is fine.

Could be that you just aren't going fast enough for the diff to start whining.

Did the math, the truth is somewhere in the middle: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?34234-Found-some-Bilstein-inserts.&p=367955&viewfull=1#post367955

Insomnia is a bitch. Just found a calculator and did some estimating: http://www.pontiacracing.net/js_coil_spring_rate.htm If you plug in .455 for the wire diameter and 10 coils and an outside spring diameter of 4.625, you get a spring rate of 83.12, which is pretty close to stock. I found a picture of a stock spring, and it looked like it had 10 coils. Remove one coil, spring rate goes up to 92 lbs, which is ~11%. Cut two coils, it goes to 103, which is 24%. It may be that Dan just cut 1/2 coil. Regardless, 103 in/lb is still a really lightweight spring. Looking at Arne's example, if the Euro was 15% stiffer than stock, that would make it about 95 lbs. Adjust the spring wire diameter to .47 and that gets you in the ball park, and then cut a coil and a half (guess), and you get 112 lbs, a change of 19%, but still, a very light spring.

Not in my experience. The tolerances for Z alignments are pretty loose, and the only thing adjustable from the factory is front toe. If you cut the springs in the same increments (one coil, two coils, etc) it's been my experience that there is no alignment problem at all. Coilovers are much better, but too much fuss is made over the perils of cutting springs. So long as you do it with a cutoff wheel and not a torch, it's not that big a deal. How are you figuring this? I just commented on another thread that Dan Baldwin did the math when he cut his stock springs a long time ago and the spring rate change was very low, like 3% or 5%.

Go do the math on spring rates. I remember Dan Baldwin did the math maybe 10 years ago, and with the amount of spring he cut off the rate increased something like 3 or 5%. Euro springs are still pretty soft. Softer than Tokicos or Eibachs or ST springs as I recall. Bumping them up a little isn't going to hurt anything.

I would also suspect pinion bearings, although the main shaft for the trans spins the same rpm as the diff, so it's possible you have a problem there as well. You might be able to pull the shift boot and use a mechanics stethoscope on the back of the trans housing to see if it is the trans, and if not, then you can be pretty sure it's the diff. It's usually cheaper to find a new diff than repair one. You might see if you can pick up an R180 for $50, throw it in and see if the noise is still there. If you're wanting something more track oriented, you might look for the K-R180 from the newer Nissans that has 4.11 gears. John Hines provided pics of how to switch it to bolt in axles in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/49194-differential-cv-lsd-hp-torque-r160-r180-r200-r230-diff-mount/

I don't think you can switch sides, because the end is angled wrong and I think it would be pretty apparent. Might be worth double checking the part number. A longer tie rod would be a nice thing for guy with longer front control arms, so they didn't run the tie rods with just a couple threads engaged. If you figure out that it is the wrong part, post the part number.

If you just twist the nut loose, yes. If you CUT the peened section of the nut off with a dremel, maybe. I'm probably running about 75% need thread file work, 25% are OK. I think the key is to get ALL of the peened area off, even if you take a bit of the thread at the corner too. That's much less damaging than twisting the nut off.

Wrong stub axle Zed Head. He's talking about the wheel side, I'm pretty sure. I like to use an air hammer with the sharp tip in the dimple on the inside of the stub axle. The vibration pushes them out pretty easily usually. If the air hammer doesn't work, I use a center punch in the dimple and a BFH. Sometimes it's helpful to have someone handy to catch it as it falls off. As Jim stated, you need to cut the peened part of the stub axle nut off. It sounds like you did not do this so you're likely to have some really mashed up threads on the end of the stub axle when you get them out. You can clean them up with a thread file so that you can put the nut back on if this is the case, or you can replace the stub axle.

Looks like a crappy attempt at a cowl induction hood.