preith

This coincidentally was a recent hot topic over at the prodcar forum: http://prodracing.com/prodcar/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12703 Apparently blowers of any kind typically don't work as both side windows of course need to be open and the moisture won't be removed from the interior, makes sense. A lot of guys are recommending dawn dish soap, simply wiped on and allowed to dry - but not specific on the concentration. One veteran mentioned diesel fuel in dire situations (when it's actually raining and too late). You'd think living up here I'd have more sage wisdom, but surprisingly I've only had one "wet" session and that was right after a heavy rainfall but not during. Suffice it to say no fogging issues for me. I installed pro-tint tear-offs on my polycarbonate windshield and was happy with them, VERY scratch resistant. I see they do sell an anti-fog laminate as well, curious how well they'd work. The problem installing them in my mind is my windshield is flat stock bent to fit, and I see no way installing it in the car. In other words applying it flat and THEN bending it when installing may be a problem. BTW, the lexan was a PITA to install, with almost no weight savings when done as the SCCA calls for 9mm (1/4") material and support bars. I did have defroster lines on my glass windshield, they worked great for clearing up the morning fog after sitting out all night, I have to wonder if they'd work on lexan too as they were the JC Whitney foil type.

Yeah I thought Greg had it in the bag in the rain. Brakke dropped off and eventually spun too. The chamois-on-a-stick unfortunately didn't cut it, too bad. On a side note, I was a bit surprised to see SCCA chose Elkhart for the runoffs as the weather up here is always a coin toss at this time of the year. When sunny it's absolutely beautiful, but... With the numerous races affected by rain the past few years I have to wonder if they'll have a change of heart.

Very cool car, I saw it in person at Road America back in the late 90's when Dave Dutko owned it. Had the pleasure watching him battle it out with an uber-expensive rear/mid engined Jaguar prototype car. They swapped the lead every lap, in the end the Jaguar came out on top but not by much. It's also THE car the molds were taken off which John Washington sells at reactionresearch.com

I browsed over final qualifying times and it looks like Greg just squeaked out 2nd place over an RX3 surprisingly, driven by Aaron Downey. A quick google search yielded a vid he already posted from earlier this week: http://player.testing2.vimeo.com/29445505 Should be an interesting race.

Round three of qualifying was completed this morning, Greg will be starting in 2nd. His best time was a about 1.2 seconds off Brakke's best. Unless Brakke offs or breaks, I suspect the results will be much the same as last year unfortunately.

At 70 lbs, yes an average guy can lift one relatively easy, but it's the jack's ability for finite adjustment and movement (more the floor jack model too) while suspended which makes it so valuable - all 4 casters pivot, height & angle adjust-ability, you won't be disappointed. At $70 it sure saves a lot of cussing.

I picked up the same one for my Powerstroke - at 175 pounds I wasn't going attempt to bench press that transmission. It was a godsend, trans slid in and out like butter, my first thought, "why didn't I get this along time ago for the Z?!"

Actually you've confirmed what I said, they Yellow (now returned to blue trim) is the Blackburn/ex-BRE car, and thanks, I had a brain fart, couldn't remember Parkinson was in the blue one behind sharp

My guess is Sharp and Fitzgerald on the front row, the yellow z, third row, is Logan Blackburn - there's been some discussion this is the blue BRE Z which the Mason's now own. The Silver/red #17 Z driver has a last name of Carpenter IIRC, he's been in some Blackhawk Farms pictures which I posted towards the beginning of this thread. And agreed Larry, definitely Road Atlanta, runoffs.

Second what LeonV said, no worries, you can swap the towers.

Thanks Jeff. Yeah, I shouldn't be surprised being the owner of a carb'd N42 head (without FI notches). One tidbit on the spray bar - don't forget the little oil block-off plates if you use the towers originally used with it.

, well said. Unfortunately in my case I'll be making big changes to the car so I won't be able to substantiate this claim. I too will be very curious how your times with the two transmissions compare at the Runoffs, very cool you're pulling this off. BTW, I'll be there on your qualifying day this year. Just playing devil's advocate, but if the additional weight yields better corner weights, who knows... Thanks for the pointers on launching too, that puts me at ease. I too will have a 5.5 Quartermaster. Phil

The N47 to the best of my knowledge was internally oiled - every one I've seen has been this way. It's my guess it was swapped out. I ran a P90 on a naturally aspirated engine WITHOUT a spray bar on my street 280, it was trouble free. As long as the cam is internally drilled I don't see a problem without the spray bar. If you're doing any kind of sustained high rpm, such as time trials, etc, you may want to run both with a high volume oil pump, and the oil plug at the top of the block bore out a little larger - per Honzowetz's book.

Yeah, the production guys claim 1-2 seconds almost guaranteed. The spur gears have a lower parasitic drag too, IIRC about 3% over the Helicals. What kind of box are you running? Clutch type??

Thanks much Terry. I recently picked up a 4pd Jerico, which currently has a 1.8 1st in it, and already have it mated to a t5 bell housing. At least for me, race starts in 2nd on the ZX OEM box (1.8) w/3.70 rear were phenomenal, so I'm not too worried there. Nobody could touch me. I'm kicking myself now because I never tried taking off in 2nd with that box and the car is now in pieces!

Thanks for the update. How anyone can be 3 sec a lap slower, block all session, and at the end of the day come out feeling good about it is beyond me. This seems to happen too often, not cool. By my calculations you have a 108 lb weight penalty with the dog ring box? Not too bad I suppose if you couldn't make the minimum anyway. Are you running a 1.8 1st gear? If so, how is it starting off from a standstill?

I'm sure this goes against forum rules but this is such a niche market item, the right demographic is here. Anyway I'm selling my race clutch setup if anyone is interested: http://www.datsunclassifieds.com/showproduct.php/product/5863/title/tilton-7-25-26quot-3b-dual-disc-racing-clutch-w-2fflywheel/cat/4

When I had my street Z I didn't bother with the bellows. If this will be a fair weather machine I wouldn't worry about it too much. With that said if you're still keen on using them I can't help you out with the part numbers. They typically are fairly flexible, it's my guess if you find out the dimensions and get something fairly close some tie wraps should be able to take up the slack.

This has been discussed at length on other threads. IMO it's really for the most ham-fisted drivers. Many speculate the actual problem is the pins "walk" out of the forks and some guys actually safety wire them in place.

Speaking from experience, a Quaife WITHOUT a cooler will lead to trouble. My R200 without one was hitting 300 degrees at the end of a 1/2 hour session. No experience with a welded, but I'd venture to guess it would operate a bit cooler. The flip side is it does put additional strain on the halfshafts - the only time I'd hear about guys breaking them was with a welded diff. 2nd on the ATF/swepco, my synchros were getting a bit tired, this cleared up the grinding immediately, and the shifts were quicker too. Technically both the 77-79 and 80-83 5spds are "b" transmissions, all fs5w71b's. I ranted about this on the transmission/diff setup thread. While yes, 2-3 is a bit closer on the 80-83, for all practical purposes 1-4 on both the 4sp and 5sp (77-83) are the same. You're not going to see any big difference until you go with something like an option 2 comp box or ratios similar to that. The only time I'm going slow enough to use 2nd is at race starts or with lapped traffic.

You'll probably have more luck at hybridz. With that said a quick google search yielded these: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/PRC01/10-1832

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?