NZeder

I know a guy that has owned a few Porsche's but now he races a 240z - does that tell you something? He enjoys the zed more Don't do it, I will never sell the first zed I purchased (this is the only one I have left currently)

I agree with Peter - technically there should be no problems so I would follow his advice and find an engineer who is better informed.

I believe the Wilwood caliper piston seal also acts the dust seal. However if you want calipers with dust seals rallydesign.co.uk have a wilwood caliper with dust seals not sure but I think they have the only right to sell these modified calipers from wilwood. You could also have a look at hi-spec calipers these are again a UK design so dust seals might be a requirement for their MOT too. They also do a rear caliper with built in handbrake setup the SVA range is a pure mechanical handbrake setup and they have others that I am not sure about as I believe they won't pass the SVA (UK cert process I think) as the mechanical part is like a little hydraulic handbrake setup in the caliper acting on just one piston on the 2 pot or 4 pot caliper. http://www.hispecbrake.co.uk/ If I did not have my Brembo monobloc Porsche caliper I would be looking at the hi-spec billet4 and the SVA Spot Rear VW Lug for my zed - never know might just do that if my drum in hat setup does not work out for the rear (which it might not as there is not a lot of room in the back of the zed for a drum under/in the disc)

thanks Stevo - hope the idea does work.

What about painting the needles in something that will show up under black light (ie UV) then install some black light bulbs in the old holders this is what I was thinking when I was looking at these speedhut faces.

You have answer the question your self They could also be a set of the Kameari Engine Works Close Ratio gears (close the FJ20 ratios they sell). Talk to Ben on this site for a set http://www.kameariengineworks.co.jp/catalogue-P47.pdf

Know the car - know the owner those used to be my mags off my first 240z race car. The PO before this guy purchased them from me. Ross has since done a lot more to the car, new paint, Tremac 5 spd, new body kit front and rear. And a lot more. It used to be road legal too. But looking at it now not much chance of that happening again. He also has up for sale a 260z/280z box with very close ratio's (well 5th needs to be changed to make it perfect but that should be easily done) here is the box ad on Trademe http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=174689395

If you really need a 128mm rod here is an idea (I know in Japan they did this - took a post 79 L20a 135mm rod and offset bushed it to bring the length out to 137mm ie same length as the L14 rods - not sure but I can only assume they would have had to do the crank journals also) back the idea. Take a set of L28 rods with a length of 130.3mm and offset bush these to have a centre to centre length of 128mm. My last L30 bottom end using L28 rods and crank (and a 90mm bore) I had the rods bushed to take the RB30 bushing at the little end so there is enough meat to do the job as the RB bush is large vs the stock L28 little end bush (both still have the 21mm pin diameter) So that is one option to consider.

Never head of 128mm rods for a L series ever. The L20a have 133mm and 135mm with the 133mm the pre 79 and the 135mm post 79. The shorted rods I know of for a L series are the L26/L28 at 130.3mm I won't go into the longest as I don't know if the Z Series engines (4 cylinder based on the L4 block with the cross flow head) work or not. If you are basing the 128mm rod length on the engine design on Ozdat then the info is incorrect (notice how the block height is missing). The L20a rods that I have found here in NZ have been either the 133mm or the 135mm rods. The standard specs for the pre 1979 L20a are as follows. Block height = 207.85mm Stroke = 69.7mm Bore = 78mm Rod = 133mm Piston Pin Height = 40.1mm So that makes a deck height of -0.1mm or the same as the L24 The post 1979 L20a have the following specs Block height = 207.85mm Stroke = 69.7mm Bore = 78mm Rod = 135mm Piston Pin height = 38.1mm Again the same deck height. I hope this info helps. See here for some info too. http://www.kameariengineworks.co.jp/catalogue-P7..pdf

That would be not that common in Australia given Nissan Australia never sold them new shame on Nissan. I have owned 2 HS130 2 seaters and would like to own another one some day again.

also you want pre 79 L20a rods as the later and L20ET rods are not the 133mm long units like the L24/L16 but are 135mm and have a smaller journal and pin. Early units share the same journal as the L24/26/28 and LD28 but the later 135mm long units have a 49mm journal not the 51mm and the pin is 19mm not 21mm. Not sure about the rod thickness if there is any difference there either but if they are the same I guess you could just have the engine builder machine down the journal on the crank to take the smaller journal rods from the later L20aE and L20ET units. Just a heads up on the difference between the pre 79 L20a and post 79 L20a rods - confused you soon will be.

Yes I have seen that - I have some Porsche Boxster mono block calipers that I got for the right price so I am using these. The rear is designed for a 20mm vented rotor that is 290mm in size. I am going to use a Z32 300zx rear rotor which is 297mm x 18mm thick with a hat of 63mm. These have an internal drum ID of 172mm. So now I am just looking into a simple backing plate mod using a common Commodore backing plate. However their internal drum is 160mm so I will be looking at getting some new linings added that will take the ID out to the 172mm ie some extra 6mm of brake material on each shoe. I was looking into the VP-VQ IRS senator rear rotor as these have the 160mm drum and the following rotor spec. 280mm x 20mm with hat of 67mm but the centre hole is 70mm and PDC is 5x 120mm via the 240z of 68mm and 4x 114.3mm. The only thing that has put me off these rear rotors is that they are not that common = limited suppliers. With the Z32 rotor there are number of rotor suppliers as these are also the same rotors used on some of the Skylines (R32, R33 and R34) and other than the mod to the shoes you can order the rotors in 4x114.3 from some suppliers = no mods to the rotor. Sorry for the slight high jack this is why I have been looking into other rear conversion to see what size hat is used on these conversion so I know what alternative rotors I could use. The 280zx S1 conversion uses a 68mm hat and this is the biggest you can go without doing other mods. So this lead me to the VP-VQ HSV IRS rear rotor and also a Subaru rear rotor which is 290x18 with 67.5 hat. The issue with the Subaru rotor is the shape around the stud axles as the Subaru has a 5x100mm PDC their rotor has a stepped design. The smallest part of the step is 129mm = no way will a 240z stub fit in here ever. So a spacer between the rotor and stub would be required. The Subaru uses a 170mm internal drum. The issue with using the Z32 shoes is their height they fowl on the back of the 240z stub so this is why I am looking at the Commodore VN/VP internal drum as they have a much lower profile. The other setup I have that does work is a 190mm internal drum as used on the new Commodores and most Falcons since the EL range - however these have a much smaller hat and this setup does not work with the Porsche monobloc calipers that I have. I could just get some different calipers but my pedal box that I have with the master cylinder has be calculated with the piston sizing for the Porshce calipers so I would be up for new calipers and master cyclinders vs a mod to the shoes. So this is a lot of stuffing around but once I have the solution down I will be set with rear disc conversion that is using a caliper with dust seals (not a legal requirement here in NZ but I live in the country on a non sealed road = lost of dust) and an internal drum for the park/hand brake. And with all this stuffing around etc it would have been easier to just purchase a vented kit like this http://silverminemotors.com/product.sc?categoryId=2&productId=38 before I got the Porsche calipers and master cylinder setup. So back on topic now guys - sorry. For a straight disc to drum conversion either of the S1 or S2 280zx conversion is a good way to go. If you want to upgrade the front brakes then you should consider a larger rear piston setup to put the bias back in a good range again. A friend here in NZ with this race car had the MM conversion on the rear ie Z31 rear rotor (290mm x 10mm with 47mm hat) and the S31 caliper. But when he upgraded his fronts from Z31/Toyota 4x4 to a 12.2 x 1.25 (310mm x 32mm) with a large 4 pot we worked out the back was only every going to via 10% max. So he modified the MM brackets (cut the ears down and redrilled lower) the install Z32 rear rotors and calipers (the MM bracket had the correct offset already...bonus) the installed a hydraulic handbrake. So I am now heading in the same path as my friend but as my car will see more of the street I am not going for a hydraulic handbrake hence all must work to get an internal drum setup to go with my 4 pots on the rear. There I go again off topic (sort of still talking about rear brakes just not the 280zx conversion now) So my views 280zx rear conversion = good for drum replacement for like performance. Consider something else if you will be running anything larger than the common Toy 4x4 front conversion.

If you are talking about the pic above - it is hard from that angle the difference in rotor size is hard to pic (269mm vs 258mm approx 10mm) the easiest way to tell is from the side. The S1 with the 68mm hat will be very close to the strut and the S2 with the 47mm hat will be almost 20mm away (near the bottom of the strut that is) I have a done a lot of research into the rear brake conversion on a 240z/260z and have been working through a vented conversion that will have a little drum inside for the hand/park brake so I can run a 4 pot on the rear. I have got it down to 3 possible rotor choices but I am waiting for technical drawings of the rotors to work out which one will work best. Once I have this down I will post a thread on my conversion (I do have a conversion that works currently but the rotor is very large and 4 pot I have is causing issues with my RS Watanabes so I am now back to square one - this can be fixed by purchasing some Wilwood powerlite calipers but these are not designed for the size rotor I have on this current conversion...ahhh....)

Thanks Lurch, I thought they might work with the S1 given the look of the bracket and the offset as I believe the S2 have an almost flat bracket setup. The guys in the US that do the S2 setup use the Maxima brackets which are flat.

Question is this setup for the S1 or S2 rotors? They are different diameter and offset. The S1 are 269mm x 10mm with a total hat height of 68mm but the S2 are 258mm x 10mm with a hat of 47mm Cheers Mike

If you want to get this book new I got a copy from there guys here in NZ - good to deal with (purchased a few books from them before hand too) - they will ship to Oz too - just shoot them an email - on their website. http://www.manuals.co.nz/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=8818&keyword=datsun&searchby=title&offset=20&fs=1&CLSN_728=1220429807728cb13e9df69f3170842f

Found it. First here is a pic of the modified PowerLite Caliper (check the specs of the powerlite caliper on wilwood site if you want more info on the disc sizing etc they support and tech drawings etc) And this is the place that sells them. www.rallydesign.co.uk I found out about these when a mate imported these calipers for his Ford Carpi racecar as he still wanted a handbrake but not a hydraulic setup.

You know there is a place in the UK that have an agreement with Wilwood (an exclusive agreement as in you can only get these from him) to sell a 4 pot caliper with built-in handbrake setup and I also believe they have an exclusive to sell the 4 pots with dust seals too. I will see if I can find the link.

man that sound of the triple tb sucking make me want to get my car back ASAP so I can get mine running too.

Well how to a put this - great news on it running and sounding great, not so good news about the water pump/sealant issue. No news on my font again still waiting on the body like I have been for 10 years now - family.....got to love a family job....I just want to get this project done once and for all.... Pleased you have made good progress

You must have a 240z then as that much backspace does not work on a 260z front suspension as the standard spring perch is about 1" lower and with the stock angle on the strut this would foul on the 260z strut.

135mm backspace is 5.3" of backspace and these would be a tight fit on a zed with coilovers. A 260z with the larger ID and lower spring perch on the front (vs 240z) about 4.5" back space ie 114.3mm is a good fit with a little clearance so these would need a 20mm spacer so not going to cut it. So you would have to change the inner shells on these = more $$. Not worth IMHO

I would be happy Jan at least someone is helping you zed guys by importing them. I had to import mine local here in NZ by myself = getting an import number, taxes, duty etc So I import 2 extra sets to help offset the costs for the rims that I installed my 240z (now sold ) So I say well done Ben - and maybe in the future I might have to get a set from him and have them shipped to me in NZ - however I will be after some of the new RB-R in 17" x9 or 9.5 I would really like some 16x9 -13 in RB-R but they don't make them so I will have to save for a second set of RS Watanabes.

Re the clutch - if Exedy state they can't do a twin plate racing unit for the L28/L26 etc then tell them you want one for a R32/R33 RB20DET or RB25DE/T in the push type setup - and infact the RB flywheel will also fit got to love how Nissan makes so much parts interchangeable

turbo or NA if NA stick with the N42. N42 are a good head - yes they don't have the nice shape of the P90 but then the valves are easier to get in larger size. The P90 valve is shorter due the raised CC floor. We don't see too many P90 heads here in NZ and most just take a good N42 and spend the $$ with a good head shop to get the performance you require and budget will allow. I am sure one of the local guys can recommend a good shop/guy to deal with. Another option is to find one of the guys racing and see if they can point in the right direction (I know some guys don't like telling you too much but that is usually the Escort vs Escort racer type most of the zed guys are happy to help and share info and also tell you what to avoid as it will be good money after bad idea/solution etc) So with that in mind - I recommend getting, a well known Oz trick from way back and we do it here in NZ (not too many outside of this region do this mod - not sure why might be as they have access to good local solution/product for a good price), and that is the BMW balancer on a custom adaptor. I had two adaptors made locally here in NZ and they cost $180 for the adaptor, then a visit to the local BMW wrecker for a balancer then some time on the lathe to turn the outside down to the correct/required diameter and you have a balancer that will not fail unlike the stock unit. For big HP don't waste good money on a clutch that will only last a few track days or turns down the strip. Do it once, do it right. Spend the $$ on a good custom 4340 flywheel and twin plate clutch like a tilton 7 1/4" unit, or quarter master etc - or as you are in Oz maybe a exedy racing clutch. I thought a twin plate would be too much for the street but it was easy and very streetable after a few hours of getting used to it. Also if you can't find a L28 - don't worry about it given the $$ involved in locating one you might have to go through a few to find one that will take the bore you require. So I would talk to an engine shop and find out how much it would cost to put liner into a L24/L26 block. This way you know it will be good for job now and into the future. This might be cheaper in the long run if the L28 are hard to find and as Ben has stated they had to test a few before they found a good one for the 90mm bore (very large). Just look at it this way say one L28 cost $500 and you don't find a good one right from the start you might be up for 3 or 4 before you get one that can take your 89mm so that could be $500-2000 but it might only cost $800 to have some liners installed into a L24/L26 so yes $300 more than a L28 but you know what you will have. Some more food for thought. Cheers Mike