Yowser

If your interested in the Z potential, have a google for SPL 300zx Powertrix 300zx UAS 300zx Incredible track build Z's all of which regularly show up much more expensive race prepared cars on track. Within the UK Bobgenie, Jaffa, Silverbullet and j1mmytt have impressive Track biased Z's too. Mine is far to behind in progress, but its getting there.

Weight can easily be knocked off. Im at 1350kg in the slicktop with full interior - With it stripped out your in the 1200's. Steering lock can be easily fixed, a lot of drift cars run rack spacers anyway. The main reason these are not drifted really is due to cost to repair/modify and ease to work on. Drift cars get pranged a lot and go bang a lot. Well that and reputation. You'll often see the Z regarded in outside circles as old and overweight by those that dont know the car - but they will then get in their Skyline/m3,/911/Supra...etc - all of which weigh the same as the Z. Personally, while it can be drifted and its easy to get the back out and held around the local roundabout I think it makes a better track car. The Z has an excellent race history, and handles quite well, unlike many of the popular drift cars. With plenty of Improvement potential if you like to play with cars and have the pennies.

Yes, with full pedal force applied to a larger brake system will result in reaching the point of locking the wheels quicker than a smaller setup. But were talking hundreths of a second difference. Both will lock the wheels at 60mph as soon as you slam them on, at which point the ABS takes over. Its actually well proven in many tests that Big brake kits do not improve minimum stopping distances at legal speeds. In fact typically the distance is increased ! Why? Becuase many aftermarket brake kits do not retain the same Front/Rear brake bias ratio with the Brake master cylinder......and/or.....the stock ABS system can not cope with the increased braking forces generated and struggles to keep the vehicle tyres at the optimum point of traction. For a road car, the real benefits are noted in pedal feel - A higher clamping force per pedal pressure, which means the car bites and brakes harder with smaller touches of the brake pedal. The real benefits for track use are improved heat dissapation.

Braking force is actually irrelevent of stopping distance though, providing the brakes can lock the wheels (which the stocks can at the speeds were talking anyway). A vehicles minimum stopping distance is dependent on the coefficient of friction between tyre and road. A vehicles maximum braking is done at the point just the tyres lose traction(wheels lock). The ABS's job is to keep the tyres traction with the road at this point. What I would expect the results of this test to be is that the recorded braking before and after for the single stops is about the same. But the brake distance over repeated tests will be greatly reduced as heat dissapation is improved, reducing brake fade.

Great idea. Do it from 60-0mph ? - Its the highway code test figure (for comparing) and its what a lot of modern vehicle brake tests are done from (again for comparing). You will want the road and enviroment conditions to be the same, and your tyre temps. With no other suspension or weight changes made to the car inbetween. Repeat at least 3 times for consistency, allowing a good few mins of gentle driving for cooling inbetween. Release the brake pedal as soon as your stopped, avoid holding the brakes on for anypoint after. For brake fade testing - do the same test over and over without cooling breaks until you experence either a soft mushy pedal, or a hard pedal but poor braking.

My Previous Z's were Daily drivers. The Slicktop could only ever be a weekend toy though. My 100 Miles a day commute would kill me in fuel costs.

For Future reference :

Yes, the Diff is a good place. In fact its the Nissan reccomended rear jacking point. Be sure to use axle stands once its up though.

Been a while since one of these polls were done. As these cars are getting older and petrol prices so high, curious to know if people are shifting more to having them as Weekend/2nd cars, rather than Daily drivers. Daily Driver/Commuter ? Weekend toy/2nd car ?

Bit of a late reply, I was searching for something else and stumbled on this thread. In theory a Longer wheel base means more high speed stability. But that does not mean the SWB has poor high speed stability....not at all. This stability thing often comes up whenever SWB vs LWB is talked about. Im sure somebody mentioned the theory once without any real experience , and it then gets repeated, often along with a comment about the Nissan Race cars using a lwb chassis. For the record - The Nissan race cars use a space framed chassis with a MUCH wider track width and altered wheelbase that it does not resemble neither the swb or lwb model as we know them at all. Wheelbase on its own is not a relevant factor, its actually all to do with the Wheelbase vs Track ratio. Its this ratio that affects longitudinal to lateral weight transfer, stability and control A smaller ratio mean a lower polar moment of inertia , which effectively means it will turn better but will be less stable, and vise versa for a larger ratio. For most cars the ratio varies from 1:4 to 1:7. At the extreme ends a go-kart has a Ratio close to 1:1, and a Drag car has a ratio close to 1:2. In Motorsport/Race engineering an Ideal ratio is considered to be about 1:6. The SWB ratio is 1:58 The LWB ratio is 1:66 Although the SWB has a shorter wheelbase this gives it a better ratio than the LWB for agility while still being at the upper end of stability. Both cars are very stable, but the SWB is just more agile.

I have removed from engine bay- AIV EGR PRVR Carbon Canistor TB coolant pipes Aircon - (Pump, Bracket, Condensor, Radiator, Fan and Pipework) Hicas (Solenoid, piping, rack) Cruise control Stock Boost solenoids and piping Boost sensor Hydraulic clutch bleed piping Clutch Vacumn tanks and piping Battery relocated to boot PTU relocated It all helps create a cleaner, spacious and simpler engine bay to work on, as well as a decent bit of weight reduction and improved airflow. Oil starvation solutions - Larger baffled sump - Specialtyz.com - Oil Accumulator - eg. Accusump - Extra return feeds from heads to sump - Dry sump - Custom, expensive Cooling Not really a big issue when in good working order but a Larger radiator, oil cooler, correctly positioned bonnet vents and the above engine bay changes improves cooling and bay temps.

Injen - Luke does'nt list them, did he order them specifically for you ?

who sells the polished intake/boost hoses these days ? Im after a set with black couplers, but can only find them on Z1 for $200 + shipping + duty. Is that my only option these days ? Im sure there used to be more available. - Smithy/DTA used to sell them, no more. - Ebay ones are still around but they are blue only. - CZP sell them, but blue only. - AMZ only sell the overpriced HKS set in blue.

Good idea :cool: Yeh, dont stick it on the end of your tongue to test if its working!

9.5j is the most common aftermarket rear wheel width on the Z. 35 is an Ideal offset for them on the rear.

Convertibles were also available with a Cream Interior for the Seats, Floors, and Dash material trim, but the main dash plastics and door panels remained black. Convertible Cream

Red Tan Blue

U.S - Black, Blue, Red, Tan Jap - Black, Blue UK/Euro - Black Dash, seats, doors, roof, carpets, most plastics - all colour coded

Nice pics......but whers the Z's ?

Grading the OEM bearings is bit of a PITA, and unnessesary really. Im sure when i first did it I noticed that the the Difference in grades available is smaller than allowable tolerance anyway. ACL are definatly the popular choice. I believe Jimmer uses ACL too. For ACL bearings, If crank has not been machined and within oem tolerances then use Standard size. The alternative sizes are for machined cranks. I had no idea what the difference with ACL Race and ACL standard bearings is, so had a google, and found that the Race version used "high strength alloy steel tapered bore pin to save weight" I guess may as well If the price difference is reasonable, but not a big deal.

:( been going to japfest for the past 7 years, but had to miss this year as Im right in the middle of exam revision. :cry:

As a Bmw fan, I would choose the 911

It's not a series 1 pod. Series 1 are digital as standard. Other than a few very early press release cars the manual controls only came on convertible and series 4 onward cars. Converting to digital is a big job - looms , sensors..etc, not seen anyone do it yet.

If your interested in it there is a long build thread on it on zclub site in case you've not seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo#Historic_models