PZG302

Check the rules for suspension, whilst rose jointing the front end is OK the S14 front end more than likely isn't. Also you have limited amounts you can move mounts and mounting holes. Also check rules when building your cage, no through the fire wall to strut towers, nor can you have a brace from the front towers to the firewall. If not already, seam weld the shell, only way to stop the chassis rails moving, and they will, they are looong compared to most cars. The good 2F mazdas are getting 200-220hp at the fly and weigh 960-980kg in 2F trim. Power isn't the be all and end all of these cars, or any sports cars. Get the handling right and you don't need huge power. My car was 960kg wet with the only fibreglass panel being the bonnet. Guards were steel, but lighter than fibreglass. I ran perspex windows, 3mm for the side and 1.8mm for the hatch, glass screen as per the rules. Interior was gutted and I could have gotten another 10kg or so with wiring changes and 'glass hatch. The lighter weight will give you more advantage than extra power. Also aero is limited, again read the rules but basically what you would want to run will be illegal, especially for the front. Best to stick with a MKII spoiler on the front and an IMSA 3 piece wing on the back, modified slightly, Biscuit balls on here was going to make one for me but the wall intervened before he started. rear wing has to be single chord, no higher than 250mm from the rear of the hatch, no further rearward than the bumper and no more than 400mm wide and no wider than the body at the point it is mounted. Best rear aero for a Zed would be a cut down Group C RX7 bird bath. I happen to have one that needs to be cut down, so good to make a mould from. Diffusers are basically banned and front tray is too limited to be of much use, only allowed to go back as far as the front edge of the tyre IIRC. Personally I would build the car to be as insensitive to aero as possible, you will break bits with other cars around. The S14 will be built with a spoiler on the back similar to a bird bath, front airdam and that's it. If I biff the front I hopefully won't have issues with turn in that can and does happen with more aero sensitive cars like Porsches and Loti. The big thing that will hurt is the car is 40 years old and technology has moved on so far in that time. The rules basically keep you in that 40 year time warp. Even the NA MX'x are on the way out when it costs $40-50k to build one and cheaper faster cars can be easily built. I was running 18x8" -2mm offset all round with subtle flares, front guards were pulled and rears were tubbed for the inners and ran a zuki sierra flare on the rear. Suspension was standard struts with the spring perches dropped 2 inches, running standard length lovells springs at 450/420 lp/in IIRC and Koni adjustable shocks revalved to suit the springs. As I said, if you need further info PM me and we cango from there, probably easier to explain over the phone or a beer.

Jake, for your car to go racing in Qld you are limited to two groups. AASA - run in outlaws or with prod sports. CAMS - run with prodsports or sports cars. In AASA if you want to run with prodsports you have to run to CAMS rules anyway, so it's 2B for you. Wherever you run, get a CAMS compliant and certified cage, good seat and HANS device. Also get the car log booked for CAMS, this will add the most value when it comes to resell time. In Cams you can currently run in sports cars at the Qld state meetings at Morgan Park, but you will be against not a lot of cars unless prod sports are running, and then you are up against everything from clubmans to porsche cup cars. I won't race against clubmans, too dangerous you can't see them and I have seen one run over by another car at Amaroo, not nice. For 2B, you need to join PSCRAQ, this will let you register for the Championship up here and also let you play in the CUE one hour enduros which are run in NSW, Vic and Qld each year, this is where the old GT3 cars end up running with us. In Qld the field is generally MX5's, a couple of C7 corvettes, a couple of Loti, a GTR and a Mosler. Once the S14 is finished then one of them too. PSCRAQ for this year hav tightened up on the eligibility of cars and been checking mods for both 2B and 2F. They have also introduced a driver standards officer, who is also the eligibility officer, who is independent of all competitors so no collusion or cheating. The systems seem to work well. For your car it will have to be 2B due to engine. Competitive, not sure, the better 2F Mx5's are doing 58's round lakeside, the Vette's and GTR are doing 54's not really trying. For 2B, you will need slicks to play at front, though tyres are free. Also suspension, what have you done??? this is where the cars are fast, not just power. What are the brake mods??? You can run flares. but check the rules, you are allowed a certain size flare and only increase total trak by 100mm over standard, also depending on weight you are limited to a total of 40" of wheels for under 1100kg and 44" of wheels over that weight. Check the manual to get final figure. I only kept my Zed for as long as I did because I couldn't afford to upgrade, the prang forced my hand. The plan for me was to build a new car, and if I could keep the Zed set it up for hill climbs where it would be competitive with different brakes and a lot softer set up. In my opinion, a Zed is outgunned these days by cheaper equipment that will go faster. I had a tick under 200rwhp, 960kg and could play with the front running 2F cars. The panels are expensive to replace and I didn't go another Zed shell when the worst happened as I got a S14 shell for $1,500. The cheapest Zed shell I could find was $4k and needed another $10k of work to get it ready to put a cage in. In terms of the racing up here, it is generally hard but fair, there a couple of guys that are a worry, but panel rubbing isn't the norm and definitely not encouraged. The comradery is good between everyone. If you want any more info PM me and we can go from there. Matt

In all seriousness, get a cheap PS2 or PS3 and a 2nd copy of v8 supercars with PI on it. It's accurate enough that you get a good idea of where the track goes and what the corners look like, so when you do run there you have a fair idea of the lines and speeds and aren't floundering around in the dark for the first few times.

Gunna be busy on the mountain then, the Hairdresser cars are having their Christmas run and presentation on the 8th at Bellbird Grove.

Same with my S14. Priced probably a little high for the market, but had high km's. Was standard and presented well. It took around 6 weeks and a few texts asking for swaps for pieces of shit like a 626, a Hyundai Excell and motorcross bike plus cash their way (drugs were involved there I think) but was offered cash at what I wanted so it was driven away. If the cars are priced at what the market is prepared to pay they will sell quickly, at this point the market is next to nothing for most cars. For cars like Zeds, they take a long time to sell as the market is small and most people know each other and the cars with their true worth and condition. Similar with MX5's, a lot of the guys selling on the hairdresser forum are dreaming and want way too much for them. Pay more than $5k for a NA6 or NA8 and you're paying too much. Good NB's can be had at about $7k. About the only cars bucking the trend seem to be falcodore utes which hold their values stupidly compared to sedans. You can expect to pay $5-10k more for a ute over the equivalent sedan depending on year and model, yet there are generally cheaper than the sedan to buy new.

Very sad news. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends. I never really got to meet Peter, but he was a legend of the Zed and racing communities and he will be sorely missed by all.

To put all the power figures in perspective, one operator asked me what power would you like your engine to have? Realistically, with those mods you will have a little over standard for an l28. Ask those who have good engines what it cost them to get where they are in power. My last l28 was measured at 198rwhp on the dyno. Quick specs for my old motor where 3mm overview, 133mm rods, custom pistons to replace the Mitsubishi pistons that were broken, and now used as ashtrays and paper weights. N42 head with a lot of work to porting and some to the chambers, hard to get manifold, custom extractors and using n47 injection manifold with haltech f9 computer and electronic dizzy. Cost was around $8k last rebuild when taking out some extras that needed to be done. There are other motors out there with more power than mine, but will have cost a lot more to achieve that. I have no idea what the true cost of my motor was as it was built for me as part of my sponsorship deal with a workshop when I raced in Sydney, but 20odd years ago would have been around the $6k mark easily using the old adage of $1000 per pot for a reasonable motor. If you want to go fast use the bolt in cheap power from another motor option and don't worry about the l series motor unless you want to keep everything original.

But for 2b the s30 is too old and too slow to be competitive compared to other cheaper cars. A 350z was available in Jan at 45k ready to go and does 27's at Morgan park only running to 5500 before breaking down due to computer issues. My s14 build is still on budget to hit the track for $15k and will easily do sub 60sec laps at Lakeside

Big risk without documentation or having someone go over it with a fine tooth comb so you don't have to spend big dollars getting it ready to play. Having said that there was a genuine IMSA car advertised about 2 years ago for 45k, the one with the chassis on the floor and the panels hung on the wall behind it. That would have been interesting to see how you went with group T as it had the full history documented from the 70's, hadn't been modified from its original spec and had a full set of spares but didn't meet the spirit of the rules.. I would say it would have ended up as an orphan out here, didn't comply with group T, not quick enough for group O/R sports and not eligible for 2b and not competitive in 2a.

Nope, not group N or Group S and with the list of mods I doubt would be eligible for Group T without a lot of work to take it back to how it raced in the 70's. Also would probably need a bit of work to be eligible for prod Sports.

There won't be any dramas in getting a run, but if you are chasing a bit of plastic you maybe thrown into sports cars, group 2a potentially up against gt or le mans type cars.

Richard, as the R6's aren't on the production tyre list you maybe put up to the next class depending on how the class structures are set up for the champs.

It could bump you up into proper sports car/sedan groups rather than road registered, but that should be covered in the supp regs. At one NSWRRC event many years ago I had a few people have a whinge about my blue zed running in street registered with Dunlop d03's in the old road legal class when it was tripled entered to give the guys in the shop a thankyou day. From memeory the car took all threeplaces in the class with the three drivers.

Feck Mick, just because they're your wheels you can't abuse them like that!!!!!! ;D

Or as I did on mine, cut the perspex to sit on the ridge of the hatch and about a dozen tech screws through the perspex and straight through the hatch. But mine was race only, using 1.8mm thick perspex and I cared not for pretty.

So by that logic we can rule out anyone on here buying it then if it came up to Qld ;D

Nope, isn't eligible for improved production so would be prod sports if doing door to door, or would make a good targa type car. If for prod sports, wouldn't be competitive these days, even with turbo as you have to use original turbo and manifolds. If it's being used for sprints then will fit into whatever generic category that it best fits into.

With bloody Lurch getting work at the wrong time I have found someone else to throw my money at for the fabrication work. The car should be heading off to the fabricators on Friday morning for the cage and some seam welding in the engine bay and the 2 seams in the floor pan. I don't know what is worse stripping out sound deadener or body sealant. At least with sound deadener you can have fun with the left over dry ice. The seam sealer is just a pain, paint stripping wheel first, then wire brush and then finally scrape out the seam with my pointy dentist pokie thing type tool. At least it is for only about a dozen seams all up and has only taken about 5 hours so far and another couple of hours tonight to finish off. Then it's fit the steering column, dash support and dash loosely for the fabricator and it can be dropped off. I also got a nice delivery from the UK. A full set of plastic windows for the S14 from http://www.plastics4performance.eu/. A tick over $1000 to the door and they look factory and will fit. The rear screen is 3mm thick, the rear quarter windows are also 3mm thick and the door windows are 4mm with aluminium stiffeners fitted. These should still work in the standard mechanism to allow them to be raised and lowered using the standard electric motor and switch gear. They also do kits for Zeds. Whilst you can get cheaper, I doubt you will get the same fit. Perfect for replacing rear hatch glass as the window will have the compound curve of the standard glass. Plan is for the cage to be built, the shell welded in the engine bay and the two floor seams and then when I get it back my Christmas break will be spent painting the engine bay and interior in POR15 in a satin white and hopefully be able to get the body work done and the exterior painted, or close to it. After that it will be time to get the hanging panels sorted in either 'glass or plastic and painted. Suspension won't take long as I have the subframes ready to go and will by all the arms and so on off the shelf and a set of MCA red coilovers will finish it off. So whilst progress is slow it is still moving along. If the work keeps coming as it is I should have the dollars to be hopefully thinking about taking it out for a shakedown in about 12 months time.

If you are looking for some bits and pieces I have a L28 sitting here that would be perfect for rebuild as wella s some 133mm long rods that came out of my last motor, that Jim also rebuilt. I also have a bare N42 head that is currently standard so very good as a base to get work done if for whatever reason your head is not suitable.

Happened today apparently. When I left Morgan Park yesterday there was the white V8 Supercars transporter omn the entry road waiting for everyone racing to pack up and piss off so they could go in and unpack. One restaurant booked out tonight was some of the scuttlebut I heard up there on Sunday. Car tested was the first Holden CotF built, the one with the circuit board livery. It was wrapped on Friday with an Xbox livery for the test. Was interesting to see who the invoice was made out to for the work.....

And the car would be fully compliant with 2B prodsports by fitting the headlights and changing the rear wing by fitting something a bit smaller. You could then run anywhere, such as sprints, hill climbs in championship classes as well as door to door when you want to step up. Door to door includes CAMS championship sprint races in QLD, NSW and Vic, as well as the one hour series that is run at Bathurst at Easter, Wakefield, QR or Warwick and finishes at Phillip Island in November each year. PLus can be run various AASA events that are either prod sports rounds or run to prod sports rules in Qld, Vic and NSW plus the 300km races at Wakefiled and Winton.

A well set up 1200 will be just as good on the track, a leaf sprung rear end can easily work very well and you don't get alignment changes under brakes or acceleration that can happen with a Z.

I'll need it for the car I'm driving in and then the 200. Terry's old school, a big pit board to come and change drivers is all that's needed, no need for fancy pants radios......

1200 coupe, depending on specs would make a better track car and more scope for cheap mods. For example, can run in IPRA with A12, A14 or A15 motors, plenty of go fast with those. Want to go faster then step up to CA18, SR20, both non turbo and turbo are legal. Cheaper to get good power out of those than Lseries. So you can start relatively standard and be competitive and step up as budget and experience is ready. 1200 will be lighter than a Zed, and live axle rear end is better for smooth roads like tracks. Only downside is parts can be harder to get, but he same as a Zed anyway.

Well done on taking the step to competition. Hill climbing is the toughest,oldest, and some would say most pure discipline. Just you and the clock, cold tyres and brakes and away you go. As Jason and Simon have said, baby steps is all you need. If you can get a set of 15x7 or 15x8 wheels cheap, see the IPRA guys when they run at Mallala and pick up a set of second tyres from them. Will be no good for what they do, but perfect for you and should only cost you a $100 or so a set and they will do you for quite a dew hill climbs. Would also be worth getting some octopus grip to get a little bit of life back in the tyres too. The tyres will fix the brake problem you are having. Cheap road tyres are good for skids only and won't help the braking at all. Once you have the tyres sorted, the brakes will be fixed, and then if you want to carry on with competition get a rule book and work towards the end goal. If you just want to do hill climbs and sprints then you have a few more freedoms. If you want to end up door to door, or Targa events in that car then all modifications need to be done within the rules you want to run in so you are only doing things once, so you don't end up with an orphan that can't really compete in anything. Glad you enjoyed it, and you now have the first symptons of the disease called self induced poverty......