620Z

Keep us advised Hank. How are you reproducing these? Have you taken a mould? I wasn't overly keen on the headlight surrounds since the stuck out so far. I was sort of thinking the ideal situation would be to mould the lens covers with say 4 one cm plastic lips on them at various angles to slot and secure into the G-nose. This with a nice slim line rubbr might get them to fit on flush. Just an idea I had.

The Rev makes some good points. But in Nato's defence I don't think he was too serious about the 2+2. I own one and certainly don't feel inferior to any other Zed. to me it's personal preference. Some like the 2 seater and others the 4. For me the wheel base of the 2 seater is too short which makes the car twitchy when driving. No my cup of tea. Had both and went to a lot of trouble to transfer the good stuff from a 2 to 4 seater mainly for that reason. Besides my young kids lover driving in the car. Ha. Another benefit. Well till they hit about 10years. then I think it might be one at a time in the passengers seat. Besides I can get a set of golf Clubs in mine.

Yeah interesting. The jury is still out as to whether my 1310 Uni's are failing. But I hear some drag guys with 1800bhp are running these 1350 uni's against advise but still holding. Bit of over kill for me but at least it's another problem area to eliminate and look elsewhere should I still have a vibration. So I will see when it all goes in.

Well looks like someone has taken up the challenge and done some home work Nato. Thanks for the heads up. Those CV's look interesting I notice they are rated to about 6,000 rpm. Look more like for use in machines. Also the speed variation theory makes sense and hopefully this new DS will eliminate that. Anyway we are now well underway to making this new DS so I will stick with the original plan. Rob is getting me some good prices (compared to what it could cost) so I guess once it's all in I will know for sure if it fix's my problem. Yes they are pretty big Lurch. But that's the next size up from the 1310 uni joint that is only rated to 500bhp. So I have to go to the next level 1350 even though I am just over. These 1350's are significantly bigger and made of titanium so no chance of breaking or wearing in the near future. I also need to plan for the future so I don't end up having the same problem later down the track if I increased the power to another level. The way I see it if the problem get's fixed I can always work backwards and get another DS built only with thicker shaft only and see what happens. This would save 1-2kg if I still use the 1310 uni's. But one thing at a time.

Yeah I think he will be lucky.

I will have to ask about the chrome molly tubing for the shaft. I haven't heard much about the CV diff Nato. But I figure if the V8's don't have them nor most cars then I should stick to the conventional. As said previous the diff and G/Box seem to be in alignment. So I will know for certain when this DS goes in. Remember it temperarily fixed the probelm when the other new one went in.

The MX5 rack "shaft" is narrower or smaller in diametre than the Subi rack. The picture I have of the MX5 conversion doesn't seem to have any butchering of the cross member. I am still undecided. At least the auction doesn't finish for a few days.

That's the one Mossy. Excellent find. I reckon I might try and get that one. I will have to speed up my enquiries to make sure it will do the job. As usual I will probably never know till it is in the car. Cheers Actually I just did some checking and the MX5 Car weighed 1042kg compared to the Subaru of 1400kg. So something tells me that maybe the Subarua steering might be beefier and handle the weight of my car 1320kg better. Any comments or recommendations people?

Yeah I think these mods should do it. But I agree it is starting to get heavy. I have already gone from 4.5kg to 5.5kg. I am guessing this one will take me to 7kg which will drain some of my HP. I am figuring the Dyno might show 10-15kw less next time. Still not much I can do about it. I wouldn't mind so much if it was dead weight in the car but this is extra weight in the drive line.

I also agree the hatch isn't my style either. But it still looks a nice clean model with plenty of mods that do cost money. Granted the power is pretty crappy for a Turbo but I figured this could be beefed up. But then again if I was paying 20-25K for a Zed I wouldn't want to be doing to many more mods.

The first one, before that was 1.6mm wall. The guy increased it to 1.9mm (After I suggested it) and said it should be more than enough. But as usual the so called experts wouldn't have a bloody clue what they are talking about. Aparently the guy Rob spoke to said it sounded like the tubing since it was getting progressively worse which is supposed to be a tell tail sign. But I will stick with the stronger fittings so I should be right when I add another 250hp one day.

I went and saw all the components to make up my new DS this arvo. Looking good. All forged steel 1350 fittings with titanium uni's plus I am going from a 1.9mm to 2.4 wall thickness on the shaft as well. Should be unbreakable or bendable this time. Rob has got some "experts" welding it all up to make sure it is aligned and then balancing it in 3 places. So this better fix my problem.

No worries. Cheers

Thanks for the heads up RBZ. If it's lighter or the same as a Holden or Ford then I would be happy with that. I just presumed the lock was one to one like the standard steering. With the power does it lose the one to one cornering? Also I presume it is not variable by the speed or load on the wheel. I have seen some pictures on Hybid Zed (and printed them) of an MX5 rack and it almost just slotted straight in with no hacking to the cross member. It looks so neat. Do you have a contact for your mate at Mazda here in Melbourne. Maybe I should pay him a visit. Otherwise I am sort of thinking I might just buy a new one to make sure it is all OK.

I understand now. I was talking to Sinisha this afternoon and he told me about your brakes. Well done. Sounds like your car will be awesome. As for the other half. Well they get over it eventually.

We didn't try the left and right aspect. But why was the problem fixed when the new Drive Shaft went in. Drove perfect for months even at high rev's till it got a number of hard work out's. Well when the new Drive shaft goes in and the problem goes away again it will only confirm where the problem was. If it's still there then I know to keep searching. But I am presuming it will go away again only, hopefully not return since it will be beefed up more than the last one. Actually I finally found some statistics matching HP to U-Joint sizes and they say 500bhp is the max for a 1310 U-Joint. Since I have 530hp and more torque than most motors with the same HP due to the config of the engine and cam, I reckon that is my problem. Not quite enough to break it, just bend it a bee's dick. Mmmm

Well the time has come where I am going to finally put some power steering into my car. Not sure if this is the right category on this site but seemed the closest fit. Anyway I know this has been done a bit on other sites and I bit of stuff on the subject. But I want to know what people on this site had to say about comparing the Mazda MX5 and Subaru Racks. In the past people have talked about one or the other. What I would like to know is which one is the strongest or has the lightest steering? To my way of thinking the Mazda one requires the least amount of mods to the front cross member. To me the less chopping the better so I am "steering" towards the Mazda MX5 rack. But is it strong enough or light enough to handle 1320kg car? Does anyone know what specs on a steering rack would tell me this if I was to look up and compare the two racks? Is it the Pump or the diametre of the rack that makes it better? I will try and speak to an "expert" at some time but was hoping we might have an expert on this site to give me a heads up. All comments are welcome to enlighten me on what is best for my car.

OK there you go Dimitri there is a 3.9 R200 LSD on the OZDAT website at the moment for $1,200-. Sounds good and that would be a good price since they don't come up much anymore. I know it's a bit of money but a good investment for your car. Maybe even get some cash for your old one? Can't go wrong if it's still available.

How come you don't want an LSD Dimitri? I know they are probably harder to find but I found one (3.9) after 6 months of searching.

Thanks for all the ideas and advise guys. Yeah the alignment has been checked quite a few times. We tried it either way up and down from the point where we reckon it was exactly right. No difference. With the new diff coming I am getting a new rear flange made up as well to suit the new larger bolt holes and flange. I guess the thing to remember is the the problem went away imediately after I put this new drive shaft in. That tells me for sure that this was the problem. Since it is reaccurring again (after some real hard driving) I can only assume that one of the 3 main components is giving way in the Drive Shaft. So seems, larger it will have to be. You have to remember my car isn't a turbo or a straight six so the torque from my motor is greater than everyone seems to think and is on for much longer than a turbo car which has a spike on the dyno. Where as mine is on pretty hard from 3500-7000 rpm. I will keep my fingers crossed that the new one will do the job. Will give you an update when I get it made up. Cheers

Yeah I cracked a rear moustache bar 7-8 years ago. It's a funny one because no one can tell me where the problem is. A few people had looked at my old drive shaft and said there wasn't a problem with it and wanted me to spend another 2.5K searching in places I didn't think were necessary. After several re balances and cutting and re aligning. I insisted they make a new one at my expense despite advise to the contrary. But I figured I know my car better than them since I was driving it. Anyway to cut a long story short. The new DS fixed the problem. Anyway 8 months later and with the new tyres before Tassie giving me more grip (I was breaking traction a lot before that) the vibration through the car got progressively worse over the week in Tassie. With the last day at the track being the final straw. So there is no doubt, I repeat no doubt it is the drive shaft. The problem is locating the part breaking down. Is it the uni's, is it the U-Bolts or is it the shaft it's self. (The old one had the Uni's replaced but still same problem). All of which the experts have viewed and insisted were all OK. So I guess going to a 1350 Universal joint I am eliminating two of these things and the only other is the shaft which was increased in wall thickness last time. So my conclusion is that the Uni's can't take my torque. V8 Super cars use 1350's and I am not that far off torque wise, further off HP wise. So I am guessing this is the way to go. I have made some enquiries for a Carbon Fibre DS in the States but haven't got a response yet. I might call them tomorrow. But I have Rob Creighton on the job sourcing some good quality parts. Either way this should (I hope) fix the problem happenning again. The last DS was only $250- but the next one will probably be $1,000- to be done properly. The only problem is trying to keep the weight down but maintain strength. I hear what you say Ash but I think the torque in my car is the problem. It's huge and at full noise it must be straining something in the DS. Maybe it right's itself when it is not under stress? Not sure.

Yeah Sulio I have some great footage. I will email you to arrange a drop off time.

Yeah seen it before. A very nice car with heaps of mods. For anyone looking if they got it for 20K I reckon it would be a bargain. To build something like that would cost over 40K I reckon. For all those talking about modifying their own cars and spending a bomb not to mention the time. This would be a quick entry into the higher end of the Zed market.

Ha Yeah Joel. I think Sulio is trying to get something together soon. I think we were going to try and get a DVD made up of the Tassie trip and play it at the BBQ. I think there is something coming up on the calander soon. Although it would be more visible if it was on the front page in pace of the poll.

Well the trip down to Tassie certainly tore into my Drive Shaft. About 8 months ago I set up all new bracing for my R200 diff after which I realised I had a fair bit of vibration. After much searching and expense I insisted on getting a new drive shaft made up even though everyone told me it wasn't the problem since it was balanced etc etc. Well to cut a long story short it did fix the problem. I got it made with a stronger shaft and a bigger uni on the front. The rear already had an extra large 1310 size "U" Joint and uni. Anyway before I went down to Tassie I got a new set of "R" spec tyres. This extra grip didn't give way like my old 4 year old set which would often giveway to a burn out. So Tassie was the first real time since the new DS instalation that it had a serious work out. Anyway over the course of the week a small vibration progresively got worse and Symmons plains really finished it off. Whilst not breaking, something definately was bent. Anyway I am in the progress of getting an even bigger one made up at the moment a 1350 same size as the V8 Super cars use including the same uni's so let's hope my 750nm of torque won't screw this one up. Will keep you posted once I get it in.