preith

It's a bit confusing but no, I meant remained. They were changed/shortened from OEM back when I installed the Tokicos and in my case "remained" the same when converting to the Bilsteins. I suppose we need Coop to clarify. I interpreted his post as the rears were sectioned (w/spacers), only too much for the AD's travel. IIRC, GC's instructions were originally written for the Tokico's - using the front S30's as mine were. I feel safe saying he had to use a spacer as well.

I sectioned the front to fit the struts and used a spacer in the rears. I don't have my notes in front of me but wanna say about 3 inches. Essentially the difference between the Tockico's and Bilstein's body. In other words the overall length of the strut tube (from gland nut to hub) remained the same as before.

I can emphatically say no. I've recently sectioned a set of 240 struts for Katman's somewhat infamous re-valved Bilsteins and DID section the rears. One race under my belt on them so far (@ Autobahn CC if it matters), the car the most stable it's ever been, with lap times a good second faster. Maybe I'm able to get away with it because the rear squats considerably under acceleration with the GT2-ish motor. The rear ride height is actually about 1/2" higher than the front too. Current spring rates are 325fr/275rr, bars are 1.125fr/.875rr. I'd imagine the bar diameter would affect this too. I kinda-sorta followed GC's instructions, sectioning the rears to the same overall length as the previously used Tokico's (forget the p/n, their "front" S30 replacement). Because of the stepped design on the Bilsteins I was forced to use a 1/2" spacer up top for camber plate bearing articulation, thereby making the overall piston length close to the old Tokicos. I actually sectioned the fronts as much as possible, the end result about 1" shorter than the Tokico MR2 struts prior, NO spacer. New coil over sleeves were purchased from GC well. My biggest complaint was their high tolerance, about .060 larger than the struts. Thinking they sold me the wrong ones I called Jay and to my amazement he said "no, that's how they're supposed to be", and went on to ramble about how grinding down a weld will thin the area around it, but in my case the area was chamfered prior and TIG'd. My solution was wrapping the struts with 22ga sheetmetal, tightening with hose clamps and tacking welding. I completely agree about mounting the camber plates on the underside, a big pet peeve of mine, I can't fathom why anyone would put them on top.

I assume you're referring to the Mid-Ohio Vintage Grand Prix this past weekend? If so that's an SVRA event, they have detailed rules on their website as well, http://svra.com/, click under the car info tab. Not all vintage clubs run the same group numbering scheme. The VSCDA you referenced is an exception, they pretty much parallel the SVRA, but HSR differs - wanna say a group 8 car would be group 3 there. The 1972-3 rule doesn't apply as much anymore. SVRA released new S30 rules in '07 for the 260/280Z (also in group 8), '74 to '78 years, which allow an L28 and 4 wheel discs to name a few. This fits nicely with my car, I'll be applying with SVRA shortly, If all goes well I may even be at the M-O event next year. The S30 could technically run group 10 as well in SVRA, but this is catered more toward a later GT2 SCCA prepped car (with slicks). They're pretty much "throwing you to the wolves" in that group anyway as you're up against some exotic machinery which includes newer AMLS cars.

Thanks for the insight, makes sense. I'm always amazed how much you can learn, even on a single lap, following an experienced driver (a fast one) at any given track. Great to hear you already had Brakke too before he broke. IMO Road America is not the most technical of tracks, it probably requires more bravado than anything. The long straights provide plenty of time to think about the next corner, very different from the Alan Wilson style tracks of today, or even an older course like Blackhawk Farms. WOW, one handed through the kink, that takes some moxy! For some reason I'm reminded of a spin one of our members had through there a few years ago in an ITS 944. Amazingly he never touched a wall: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8567454532851601546&ei=uxxBStz3LImyrgKkv9GeAQ&q=+kink+road+america&hl=en

I was just looking over the mylaps results... Greg would've had his hands full if the two lead cars didn't retire. The late Mr. Thrash qualified 3.5 seconds faster, John Brakke almost the same. John must've had a mechanical problem or something, retired on lap 6. With that said, still a great job, gotta be there at the end! On a side note, it's too bad Ken Kannard is no longer running his Z in EP. He was VERY quick at the Sprints in the years past, want to say he's won his class as well. He's been running a Spec Miata with our club lately.

Congrats Greg! A bit ironic, I vividly remember watching Mr. Upchurch lead flag to flag in the same car at the '00 Sprints. It's a shame about Tom, his death really shook the production ranks in particular, most of the guys are in disbelief. He did go out doing what he loved.

Thanks. Yeah the newer p/n sounds intriguing but from what I understand Nissan went to opposite threads on all of the later B boxes anyway, which would lead me to believe it's a dead end. I was considering reusing the old one and spot welding it too. On one of my "professionally" rebuilt transmissions it appears he reused the original and double staked it of sorts, it held up very well. Double nutting is a good idea too, maybe go that route with a spot weld on the nuts rather than molesting the mainshaft.

Just received an email from Courtesy... the part is NLA. Perhaps I'm not crazy after all.

On the contrary. You'll find some very serious rides at a Council solo1 event, in many ways more so than the w2w guys. For example, Cameron (Heavy85 @ Hybridz) competes with an LS1 powered Z in them.

Thanks Arne!! Yup, Courtesy shows it available and a quick google search confirms it's for a F4W71B. I ordered a few as well. Jon, I want to say I read it about a year ago or slightly less.

Sorry if this has been covered already but I didn't have much luck with a search. I seem to remember posts elsewhere which stated the mainshaft nuts were NLA from Nissan. Is this true, and if so, is there another source for them? If not, can anyone provide a Nissasn p/n? My particular app will be for a F4W71B, I believe it threads the opposite of the later model trans, but in which direction is unknown.

The pics were taken at Blackhawk. I'd venture to guess the cars run in either Midwest Council's solo1 (high speed autocross) or some type of open track, possibly NASA. They wouldn't be running any vintage events with forced induction. They do look good! What group does your friend race with? What kind of car?

Any older pics I post are found elsewhere on the web. There are some of Logan & Frank in the "vintage pics" thread, but I don't know what year: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33512

Agreed, but IMO it's ultimately about being in the right place at the right time in regards to rules and allowed preparation, or modifications. I feel one poster on the prod board hit the nail on the head "the SCCA classified the car figuring it would never be developed to it's full potential", or perhaps didn't realize it at the time. Thanks for sharing, wild that you were there, I wish I was. I've heard similar stories from some of the Blackhawk Farms old-timers as well.

Here are a few more photos Jim Fitzgerald is helping Fred Baker Jaguar E-type down the esses on the first lap. Jim was later disqualified for helping Fred.

This was posted on the prodracing forum. Even though it's about a Jaguar, it is Z-car related and perhaps you guys might find it interesting. Nissan of course dominated the SCCA CP championships through the 70's but 1980 was the first that got away from them. The article is a bit biased, but assuming the info is true, I found the "DH" claim to be appalling. Here's the original URL: http://www.jtc-nj.com/jagcorner/GTJNo19.html

Good question. I looked at the GCR, the 240 is listed as prep level 2 and this may fall under the final drive section, it states: o.5 - Axle shafts, bearings, bearing carriers, hubs and universal joints/CV joints are unrestricted. With that said, knowing the SCCA, it wouldn't surprise me if they were declared illegal...

I'd suggest a pair of billet 4340 axles from Ross @ Modern Motorsports, done up in 280Z dimensions, first class part!

The Quaife crossed my mind too but I'm with you, they're pretty much bullet proof. You could remove it and send to Quaife for inspection, but I'd think it would go open, not locked, if worn and of course not cause a push. I toasted a diff pretty good with the Quaife installed and it came out of the carnage completely intact. I'd think any loose ball joints or tie rods would jump out at you. A fellow club member has Wayne's old ITS Z (mountain motorsports) and I do recall him saying Wayne mentioned the rear uprights (the 1/8" plates) had a tendency to crack. The swaybar mount captured nuts pulling out of the frame rails is a common problem too. Aside from that, I'm at a loss. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Very weird! My immediate thought is the corner weights are off. Have you scaled it? I have heard of coil over spring perches loosening (and moving) on a few occasions, but I'm sure you would have found that. I find it very hard to beleive a suspension spring yielded but just throwing it out there... Maybe it's something as simple as a defective tire, perhaps try another set of skins? I assume you haven't made any changes to the car since the last race, and no off course excursions either? Speaking from experience, I did make changes which affected weight bias and mistakenly did not scale the car as well... sure enough it went loose on left turns. On a side note, you're running a Quaife without cooler? That baby must get toasty! Maybe it's a bad thing, ignorance is bliss, but I finally installed a temp gauge on mine (R200 w/Quaife) last season. I was in the last race session of the day (plenty cooled) and it still hit 290 with Amsoil severe gear racing lube too. A diff cooler went on after that, but I hear it's not legal in ITS.

That's true too, but I was under the assumption the input shaft would be installed with it's "mate" on the countershaft, this gear is removable. That being the case, it would install just fine but again, bad ratios.

Even if you had an input shaft from a later "b" 4 speed I would suggest against it. It would work from a fitment standpoint, but the gear counts on the 80-83 trans are different for the 1-2-3 gears. In other words the end result would be weird, unfavorable, ratios. I spent a great deal of time counting gears, hoping for something good, but unfortunately that's not the case. It would work wonderfully on the earlier 77-79 trans though as they use the same gearsets for 1-4. Also, a fun tidbit of info. The input shaft is also 4th, but 4th really isn't a gear as when engaged, the input & output shafts are locked together forming a solid shaft straight through (1:1 ratio) and all the other gears are simply "freewheeling", along for the ride.

Check your organization's GCR. Most sanctioning bodies have a minimum size requirement on the numbers themselves and many don't allow magnetic.