shock96

There has been a rash of the Fidanza flywheels for sale on Ebay as of late. I bought one and must say they are a beautiful unit. I plan on running the Centerforce Dual Friction unit on the flywheel. I did call Fidanza and they rate their flywheels for use with any clutch material including sintered metal. Mike

Went out to Pacific Raceways today for a test and tune sponsered by the Pro 7 series guys (Mazda RX-7 Spec class) My car is still collecting parts, but I did help tune my buddies 325is BMW EIP/SPM car. Fun fun fun!! Mike

I am getting ready for the big weekend. You know the one...where you get tools, parts, buddies, pizza and beer and hit the rebuild trail! I have not done a single thing to the Z since I bought it. I have just collected parts for the big day! 2 weeks from now I will be: Swapping engines and transmissions All new bushings and front end parts 4x4 disc brake conversion rear disk conversion Sway bar installation New struts and spring installation New steering wheels New seats Install R200 and corresponding parts. Also installing new Fidanza flywheel and Centerforce clutch and tuning a set of webers. Whew! Anyone think I can get it all done in 2 days with 2 friends? Mike '73 240Z "Open track fun...wish I had John Coffey's engine...":tapemouth

I thought of doing a 280 instead of the 240. It does have some advantages such as the better sheetmetal and the improved and extended subframe. Also, many 240's have been run hard and not properly maintained while the 280's seem to be more lightly used. Mike '73 240Z "Open Track Monster in the making!"

Regarding the better turn in on the 16" vs 15"...it does seem to be relative. When I was running my 911 on the road courses, the 15" Fuchs I was running worked very well. When I switched to the 16", I noticed a much smoother transition, especially on decreasing radius turns. My Trans-Am Mustang with 16" wheels was much better all the way around than with the 15"ers. I used the same tire, just with the increased diameter. I have been told that by increasing the diameter of the wheel (with in reason) you enlongate the overall contact patch and that helps decrease time to the outside area of the tire. Mike

John is the man for autocross. I would recommend running a 16" wheel if possible. You will get better turn in. Mike

Hey Everyone! I am Mike and I am 33. I have a wife and 3 kids. I am an MCSE for a big chip company. I have a 73 240 that is blue. I am currently building it for open track events. I have collected so far headers, webers, Recaros, 300zx brakes, and the infamous R200 with the TORSEN LSD! I am also the moderator of the Racing forum on this most excellent site! Lets hit the track! Mike

I just bought a Grant model 773. Now I know you think that Grant is the king of those foam rubber deals and famous for their chain wheels! Well, they are, but this wheel is super nice! It has a decent feel with the fake leather (naugahyde). Not a bad deal at about $80 with the hub. Beats the cost of a Momo or Sparco for $200 Mike

Ooops! Hehe. :sleep: I was asleep at the wheel!! www.opentracking.com

I found this site today and thought I would pass it on. Very cool for those of you interested in open track events! Mike

I am turning my 240 into a weekend track car. Driving school and open track events plus some daily driving. I looked at the Quaife unit. It is basically the same as the Torsen unit except the Torsen unit is a little beefier. I talked with Dave Rebello about setting up the Quaife unit for an R180. $895 for the unit plus about $600 for the install and basic rebuild. Not too bad. I am looking forward to trying out the rear end this May! Mike

I do know that Bob Sharp racing (Electromotive) had some units built for their 280ZX race cars in an R200. I am pretty sure that the Gleason unit is too big to fit in anything but an R200. Mike

That would be great! I pulled the cover off of mine here about a week ago. It has that big ol' Gleason unit. It looks like it didn't require any grinding at all to fit. As far as part numbers go, they are non-existant. If you call the Torsen company (sold by Gleason a number of years ago) they will tell you that they never made the unit for the Datsun. Oh well. Mike

Here is a link to a rally racing 240Z Mike http://www.vintagerally.com/cars/hintz240.htm

I believe that there are more than 6. I know of at least 2 others and now yours (think positive) is 3. The makers of the Torsen unit these days are not the same guys as the Gleason company that originally built the unit afaIk. Mike

Excellent score! Keep on him about the Torsen unit. It is a sweeeeet deal for any Z. The guy at first didn't want to sell either, but I kept at him about it. Mike

Scored the sweetest piece of eq the other day! It is an R200 in 4.11 ratio. Now, that in itself is no big deal right? Well this sucker is equipped with a Torsen limited slip unit!! For those of you who do not know what a Torsen LSD unit is, it is a torque sensing limited slip. The standard Nissan LSD is a clutch type unit (viscous units are available as well but need more mods to fit the early Z) The clutch type units have approx 45lbs of breakaway torque. Not bad, but easily overwhelmed by a strong engine. The Torsen unit (as well as the Quaife) use invex gears (not clutches) to send torque back and forth across the axle as needed. It never requires a rebuild and never wears out, so you can expect the same performance year after year. For example, in a straight line, 100% of torque is split evenly across both tires. When cornering, it sends torque to the wheel with the most traction (the outside wheel). It will split the torque as needed while you are driving. If the outside wheel begins to slip, the diff will reduce torque to that wheel and send it inside. So you can see the advantages of this type of diff. Most clutch units are free wheeling in corners with power on. Not this unit! It does take some getting used to as it forces you to be smoother in the corners and hold more power that you would be used to, but I have been told that they can give you a 1-3 second advantage over clutch or welded rear ends. I will be running this rear end at my first event in May. I hope to have it all sorted before then and I will give a first had report. Mike BTW: I paid $250 for it. An absolute steal. A new Quaife unit sells for $1195 just for the LSD unit. Add installation and axle and you are in the $1800 range! I was ready to buy the Quaife unit until this came along. The Torsen/Gleason unit is a larger stronger unit than the Quaife, which is why it will not fit the R180, only the R200. These were used in the Bob Sharp/Electromotive cars, otherwise they are the same.

Whew! I am not sure that you can get the Z much lighter. If you don't care about comfort. You can strip the interior out, but we are talking about a car that weighs in at about 2300 lbs as is. Fiberglass hood and fenders will help as well Mike

Sorry I have been away. I had @home as my internet connection and they went down a week ago. I am now back up with AT&T under their new network. Stinks though.... Mike

Rally racing looks as fun as can be! I think that a Subaru Turbo coupe would be a pretty great car for that as well. You can pick them up cheap and you can't beat AWD. Mike

Here is a company that I have found that has the best price I have seen on Energy Suspension bushing kits for the Z. http://www.suspension.com/nissancars.htm The complete kit for the 240 is $147.00 Cheaper by about $20 or so. Mike

Hello everyone. I just wanted to take a minute and give out some info on myself to you all! My name is Mike and I live in Olympia, WA. I own a 1973 240Z. It is blue with a cream (ugh) interior. This is my 3rd Z. I have been around high performance cars my entire life and have spent quite a bit of time on the track. My current car is being used as a semi-daily driver. I am busy prepping the car for track events next year. So far I have accumulated the following parts: Square port 6-2-1 header Jet Hot Coated. 40mm Weber DCOE's w/Cannon manifold and K&N's P90, E88, N42, N47(for parts) Heads. Recaro SER seats with brackets Centerline ConvoPro 15x7.5 and 15x8.5 wheels R200 Torsen LSD unit 3.91 ratio (Bob Sharp Racing probably) I will be picking up a 80k mile F54 flat top shortblock here in the next week to work into my temp track engine. I plan on using the N42 head with an Erson cam. I will be going with a coil over setup using either Tokico or Koni struts and 1 1/8" front and 7/8" rear bars. I will be upgrading all bushings to Energy Suspension urethane. I am still hunting for a 81-83 ZX 5 speed as well as other parts. I am also thinking about going with a set of 45 or 50mm Webers in the future. The engine that I will be working on next year will be a 2.9 or 3.0 liter. I am forgoing the 3.1 stroker to get the better revability. I am still undecided on the overbore. I have been working on getting a set of Ross or JE flatop pistons made up that will be either 2mm or 3mm over. I am just not sure. Compression will be in the 10.5:1 range. The reason that I can run that compression on pump gas will be the use of the P90 Turbo head. It has a superior combustion chamber design, albeit too much volume. I will be shaving the head 2 mm and shimming up the cam towers etc to get the increased compression. I will also be polishing the ports and cleaning up the bowls. Nothing fancy. I plan on using the same Erson grind in this head as well. I hope to create articles on all these mods as time goes on. I have myself a digital camera now and will take pics as I make the upgrades. I am waiting to get all the parts for the suspension before I get into it. I am hoping to start sometime after the holidays. So, lets get this forum rockin! The Z is an excellent car for the track. The L series engines are tough as nails and about as sophisticated, but that is ok! My plan next year is to attend the Proformance driving school at Seattle International Raceway in May. I will then attend their open track sessions as well as the Porsche Club events (I am still a member even though I have sold my 911), and especially the BMW club events as I want to whip my buddies 325IS. So watch the forum for info and ask questions and I will do my best to answer. I am not the most knowledgeable guy in the world, but I do have some resources that I can call on for answers. GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!

No. That would be a bad idea. The floorboards are a major part of any unibody car's structure! Mike