jmortensen

If you're going to lay down $900 for a header you might as well do a before and after dyno run to show us all what the difference is.

Anyone else get deja vu reading this???

The difference between the two is so small it isn't worth the hassle to install it. Find a cam grinder and have them grind something that's large enough to be worthwhile. I can only assume that you have cam grinders in Bahrain. If not, order a larger cam from MSA or better yet from some other cam manufacturer. MSA is not the only game in town, ISKY makes cams for Z's as do many others. As far as size of the cam goes if you're running stock injection you really can't go too big, I think the MSA stage III is about the limit (and that's still very small). If you have SU's the MSA Stage IV is the one that I'd start with, and for triples on the street I'd look for something in the .520/300 lift range. When you start getting into the bigger sizes, it helps a lot to have more compression than stock, but even so, I got a healthy bump in power going to something very similar to the MSA Stage IV from something like the MSA Stage II on my otherwise stockish engine with SUs. There are some other things to consider. RIP260 already mentioned the internally oiled vs spray bar cam. The other thing is the springs and retainers and valve seals. If you get over lifts of around .470 or so you run into the valve spring retainer hitting the valve stem seal. The solution here is to run a lower profile valve stem seal. Here is more info on that: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=90825 Also at around .490 you run into coil bind on the valve springs. The Schneider valve springs and retainers work with cams up to .600 lift, so they'll do the job and they don't have excessive seat pressures either. The last thing to worry about is that at some point, and I'm not sure where this is exactly, the pistons will contact the valves. You need to check this, or have the pistons flycut to provide clearance.

My impression of the stock fuel rail is that it gets at least some if not most of it's heat from being bolted to the head. I only had vapor lock problems on one single day with my SU's, but after looking at it my solution was to eliminate the stock rail and get rid of the stock fuel pump. I never had vapor lock again. Basically what I'm saying is I'd avoid any metal line that bolts to the head.

Have you tried Todd @ www.wolfcreekracing.com? If he doesn't have a pre-built solution I'm sure he has some ideas and parts to put something together.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116207 Maybe 1/5th of the way down there is a write up on how to swap it to bolt in style. I haven't done it myself but I understand this works the same way on the LSD as it does on the open diff.

Found it: http://e46m3performance.com/tech/strutbar/index.htm <<<< Dead link

The 240 bar from MSA bolts straight to the frame rails. You drill holes through the floor in the back and the bar sits on a bracket that is right on the bottom of the rail. In this configuration on my car the bar was binding horribly with the floor to the point where my car would pull inside rear tires when slaloming. That's pretty weird for a Z... The 280 bar that MSA sells might not have that problem because the 280 (and I think the 260 also) have brackets that drop down from the frame rail. I think dropping the bar lower away from the frame would prevent this interference. The Suspension Techniques bar for a 240 mounts in a much better position for the 240. You replace the uprights in back of the diff with ones that have bolt holes to mount the bar, and then the ends of the bar bend forward to hit the control arm. This is a much better position for a 240. There is some indication that the bar may hit the uprights, but can be spaced back 1/2" very easily to prevent that problem. The ST bar for a 280 mounts in front of the diff just like the MSA 280 bar.

Jeff is partially right. With our old cars and especially with high spring rates the strut towers do flex in when the car goes over bumps. That's kind of what you'd expect to happen. Cornering is different. When cornering the load is pushing on the bottom outside of the tire and that then pulls the top of the strut outward. I read this first in an old Porsche Owners Club magazine where they had done some testing with a tattle tale dial indicator and measured the flex before and after installing the strut tower bar on a 944. This was also on a BMW racing site, and for the life of me I can't locate that site anymore. May just not be on the internet anymore. When I set mine I always preload a little tension in the bar. Realistically I don't think it matters too much one way or the other though...

If you're doing it yourself you should weld it. That is superior to bolting it in. Mohamed, there is definitely a difference in materials. Most people use DOM tubing 1.5" x .120" wall thickness. Some prefer 1.75" x .095" wall thickness. Definitely use DOM or "Drawn Over Mandrel" tubing. Both of these tubing thicknesses are legal for SCCA/NASA road racing for the Z. For NHRA drag racing I think they require .134" wall tubing. You should check with the rule book of the sanctioning body you want to race with before you start building anything. Panamared, it sounds like you don't have much experience with this stuff. You might want to do some more research before you start welding on your car.

I'd be willing to badmouth the factory FI. Let's see... The factory FI uses a very restrictive AFM. It also has "batch fire" where all 6 injectors fire at the same time, regardless of whether they're firing on an intake stroke, and exhaust stroke, power stroke, whatever. Not good. Later EFI systems are sequential so that the injector fires at the end of the exhaust/beginning of the intake stroke for every cylinder. The computer on these old systems is a joke and has a set fuel map, so it can't handle too much out of the ordinary. A decent sized cam will make a factory FI'd car run worse, and the stock cam is very small. The manifold has small runners and a small throttle body, limiting it's potential. One can pretty well assume that the connectors are junk on the old cars, so most driveability problems on the factory FI stem from that. SU's have their problems too, don't get me wrong. Leaky throttle shafts, the taper on the needles might not be ideal for a given motor, spring rates, oil weights, etc. I also believe that they do not flow enough air to feed a big L engine. The Mikunis that I'm running aren't perfect either. Again leaky throttle shafts, rough idle to power transition, poor atomization of the accelerator pump jets, etc. One could argue that they flow too much air, and hurt bottom end performance. I just get tired of people dogmatically (is that a word?) trying to make the point that FI is always better than carbs. Usually this comment is backed up with some ignorant point like "carbs are just a metered fuel leak" or some such thing. A really good example of this is the new GM LS2 crate engine. You can buy a carbed version that actually makes MORE power than the factory FI, but if you look online all you'll see is all sorts of people stating how inferior the carb is. Don't get me wrong. If you aren't looking for performance and just want to drive a car that is period correct, the stock FI is great once you work out all the bugs. It's when you try to make more hp than stock with a normally aspirated engine that it's limitations become immediately apparent. Modern FI is definitely the way to go. Unfortunately it's not smog legal in most places. If it is legal, a good modern FI is the best solution.

I used this drawing for my hoop. I gave it to a rally car fabricator and he adjusted things for his bender and bent me up a main hoop. It fits TIGHT. Really tight. Mine is attached at the rockers rather than to the floor. http://album.hybridz.org/data/500/medium/7833tubeDimensions.JPG Here is a thread on my rollbar, which will eventually become a cage, there is also a lot of discussion here that may help you: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=102715

I just got done cutting my stock fenders to add 3" flares. With the 3" flare installed and a 5" backspace and coilovers, I can comfortably fit a 10" wide wheel and a 11.5" tire or thereabouts. With your offset you'd need a wider flare. They do exist, Reaction Research makes a "YZ" kit which will fit 12's, and there are some older kits from the 70's IMSA cars which will fit wheels that wide. I'd suggest that you narrow the rims to 10" and run the 3" flares which are quite a bit more common. It looks to me like your front rims aren't nearly as wide, which makes the 12's in back hard to balance for handling. Might do well for drag racing if that's your game. Here are some links for you: http://zlalomz.googlepages.com/imsagtuz http://www.reactionresearch.com/280yzgallery.html

I believe all of the 87-89 300ZX turbos came with the finned cover. As Bryan points out it wasn't just the LSDs that had the cover. What I don't know is whether the earlier 84-86 turbos had it as well. Keep in mind that there is no room for the cover so you'll have to make a new link to connect the rear control arm bushings that is spaced further back to allow clearance for the fins. There are pictures of various solutions to this problem as well on Hybrid Z.

That's a good quality bearing. Sells for about $24 here: http://www.stockcarproducts.com/rodend5.htm More info on FK and this bearing in particular: http://www.fkrodends.com/RSM%20RSM-T.htm

The lever is actually the same, just really long. You can use the length to get the bend you need, which is nice. Mine was cut down A LOT because it is way too long at full length, and my buddy did a functional but kinda hokey job on getting the threads on the end. He took the shifter to a grinding wheel and turned it down close enough to cut the threads on the end. If you use the truck shifter you should move the pivot point up a bit. I'd drill a new hole just above the existing pivot hole in the transmission. Reason being the dents on the front and back of the shifter are from the shifter hitting the inside of the hole there in the front and back. Never caused the car not to shift, but it isn't what I would consider to be "right".

On mine which were the earlier version there was about 3/16" or 1/4" gap, but only in the back, not all the way down the floor pan. Again, it is just a non-issue for me, and I think it is given too much attention as a "problem". In my opinion it really isn't a problem in any sense and it is not worth trying to "fix".

You must be asking my kind of questions... I'm not worried about sealing the rails to the floor. If you look, really none of the frame rails are sealed. They all have holes or open corners of one sort or another. I'd prefer to have drain holes just in case something did get in there, and then coat them with Zero Rust on the inside, so that's my plan. I'm also going to oil the inside of all the frame rails. I've looked around quite a bit but haven't figured out what kind of oil to use yet. It's a pretty common practice in Canada, they have Krown Rust Preventative places where you take your car and they do this service. I've heard everything from WD-40 to fish oil. I'd like to find something that turns to a gel after you spray it in, like Wurth's HHS2000, but I haven't been able to find anything like that yet. I don't think the Wurth stuff would work because you need to spray it with a gun inside the frame rail. Here is the gun that I have to spray with: http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=10966&itemType=PRODUCT

This has been discussed at length at Hybrid Z. I do not see the problem. When you cinch down the nuts on the end of the spindle pin it locks the sleeve in place. It's never going to move again. From there the inside of the poly bushing rotates around on the sleeve. Theoretically there could be an alignment issue, but I don't think that's a very real problem either, and one might even be able to make a very small adjustment with the slop by loosening the nut, prying the strut one way or the other, then locking the nut back down. One thing I would recommend to you guys using poly is that you drill and tap the outer end of the control arm so that you can install a zerk fitting. Unfortunately you can't do that on the inside end of the arm because it won't hold any pressure and the grease just leaks all over the place, but on the outside end you can grease it and it should make the suspension move a lot more freely. Here's a pic of mine with the mod, before I cut the end off of the control arm and went to rod ends instead...

I have the Bad Dog subframe connectors and I think they were well worth the money. I didn't install them exactly as they are intended because I changed my TC rod setup, but I have pics and show how they would be installed here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=106974 I think it's page 2 or 3 that has all the pictures.

Sounds small.

A friend of mine had a Yakima on her Z. It fit on the drip rails, and I think she had to cut the length of the tray down because it interfered with the hatch opening all the way. As long as you don't have a very long bike it should work.

You might ask yourself what you'll gain by swapping in the T5. Is it really that much stronger? Do you NEED more strength? Does it shift better? What's the gear spread like? How would that work on a NA engine vs a turbo?

Sounds like Marty and I have pretty much the same thing going on. Here's the pics you asked for Arne: And here's a thread about the difference between the truck shifter, the 5 speed shifter and the Nissan Comp short shifter. Also deals with moving the pivot point, etc. Pretty much all you need to know, thanks to Darrel: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=96707

The problem I had with the truck shifter was particular to the truck or 4 speed shifters. They are longer on the bottom between the pivot and the ball than 5 speed shifters are. That is the reason why it hit. If you have a 5 speed shifter you won't have that issue. Mine has a more severe bend at the back than yours, which probably alleviates a lot of the pressure on the boot. Mine is bent in a fairly sharp 90 degree bend and comes directly out the center of the hole in the floor. As far as breaking the shifter goes, I don't think that is an issue with any shifter unless you shift like an angry gorilla. I know a couple guys who have broken shifters and the idea of that just kinda leaves me dumbstruck. If it isn't going into gear, the solution is not to yank as hard as you can on the stick... ;-)