Whittie

15 May 2010 Well, good day today =D I picked up my nice, new, VERY shiny PWR Aluminium Radiator. I don’t know how much a standard steel and copper radiator weighs but this thing is very light. Did I also Mention that is it HUGE? Because it is! I’ve put an order in for a couple of Davies Craig 10” thermo fans and a new Davies Craig thermo switch so I’ll have a crack at fitting the radiator when they come along, perhaps later in the week. I even got to drive the zed to go and pick it up! The battery has finally died though and is no longer holding a charge. The little rebuilt original alternator just can’t keep up either so that new 60amp Bosch alternator looks to have catapulted up the To-Do list pretty quick. The new rear suspension was setup on Friday and feels fantastic. Combined with a rebuilt gearbox, the new diff mount PolyUrethane bushes I put in a few months ago and the CV shaft bolt mod that Dad did during the week, this car is finally a pleasure to drive with absolutely NO play in the driveline, you can drop the clutch and the drive train doesn’t make a peep. The body is so creaky though, I’ve never noticed it before. I got some wheels from a friend probably going on a year ago now because he went up to an 8” rim width to fit even wider tyres. The rims I have on the car are only 6.5” with a 205 tyre so we did a little deal and I took these, 15x7”, rims and tyres off him. Dad finally got around to giving them a quick spruce up and I’ll get the tyres fitted during the week before the next track day and see if I go any faster with an extra 20mm of rubber on a wheel that is designed for it. Fingers crossed! Even though I did spot the word “Performance” stamped into the face of the rim they are still heavier than the 3 piece aluminium rims on the car. I suspect the extra rubber will offset the un-sprung weight and rotating mass cost but time will tell. June 5th should be the next event. Look how fantastic the wheels turned up, Thanks Dad!

Cheers Peter! The spoiler came on the car actually but I'd try "Alfa Motorsports Fiberglass" I think they'll have the same one. I did have an email with all their zed stuff but I've gone and lost/deleted it. http://www.motorsportfibreglass.com.au/

11 May 2010 Got a call from my mate and my PWR Aluminium Radiator showed up at his shop today and is ready for me to collect. I’ll probably try and get it fitted over the weekend. 13 May 2010 Thanks to Osborne Park Service Centre the rebuilt gearbox is in the car. I’ve not yet had a chance to drive it but I’m told it’s still notchy... Better have a drive and see how it goes. A synchro and Bearing job should not be notchy changing gears even if the box has, allegedly, been run dry and had water in it. I’m still convinced the gearbox guy was having a go at me, especially when he wanted $900 for a new gear set. I could buy TWO gearboxes and a couple cartons of boutique beer for that money. The rear suspension finally got fitted after all the trouble getting the struts off the rear trailing arms. The good guys at Wheels World also re-adjusted the suspension back to how it should be, plus a little more rear camber now that the rear allows it =D I am very happy with the rear arms and having talked to Shane, the suspension guy, he’s convinced me to buy the TTT front arms as well. Not sure I want to spend more money on shipping though. Dad also organised some longer Hex bolts and Nyloc nuts to replace the botls inside the CV shafts. Teach those suckers to come loose again!

Haha, cheers Tom! Atleast it will be an easy name to remember! I wouldn't mind some patience instead of luck for this build tho...

Haha, I like this expression! 21

This event was held on the 8th May 2010, last Saturday. My zed was stuck on a hoist cause the rear suspension wasn't playing ball (see my build thread) so I ran in my Dad's Mk.4 Supra instead. This thing feels unbelievably similar to a zed on the track. I use the same brake points and turn in points, everything. It probably means I could be braking later in the zed, but it's sensational to drive. There were about 6 Zeds there on the day but unfortunatly I didn't get any photos, it was a very rushed day.I did, however, get this video of me going faster than my dad who also drove the car in another class. We both took out First place in our classes. The bastard was using high boost on his runs and putting it back to low boost for me as well btw, so I take it as a double win

8 May 2010 Well the rear suspension and the gearbox were supposed to be in the car for an event today. Unfortunately the pin that holds the strut to the rear trailing arm had seized inside the strut and was impossible to get out. The workshop blew a hydraulic hose on a 50t press trying to get it out... Hopefully it’s out by Monday so the car isn’t stuck on the hoist in the workshop Also, the local zed mechanic who I’ve been stirring up about weight loss and aero dynamics bought a 2+2 a few months ago and has it down to 1130kg. He did a time the same as my Dad’s PB, 0.1s slower than my own. It’s time to get a move on with this build! 10 May 2010 Suspension and rebuilt gearbox are back in the car. A car is stuck underneath the hoist with my car on it so no pictures of the suspension yet. On a brighter note, the Alcantara sample card my Aunty sourced for me showed up today. This stuff is AWESOME!!

I have a 3.5 Viscous LSD in Perth if you are interested

Cheers Bruce! Haha, you beat me to it, I was proof reading the thread and hadn't even posted the link!

Photobucket has broken all hosted photo links in this thread. I am hugely apologetic but there is little I can do at the moment other than pay their US$400 extortion fee or hope that the internet bands together for a longer term solution. In the meantime I will look for a more reliable image hosting location and link to the photos. I will not personally be re-linking each photo but I can try and upload them in a single spot. Tom. Dadson Racing – 2010 Rebuild Introduction Well, originally I wasn’t going to start a histogram on this build; I wanted to keep it to myself and just appear one day with a totally new car. But (there is always a but ) then things changed and what was once going to be a quick re-spray with fibreglass front and rear end has turned into so much more. The History The History: This car is an English delivered 260z that now resides in Australia. Back in the day rust-proof meant coating the entire car in grease and tar. The panels from the underneath of the car all have about 2-3mm of tar on them and the inside of the car was sprayed on the panels. 33 years has done its worst and now all that grease is pooled in nooks and crannies EVERYWHERE. I’ve owned this car since I was 15 (2004), the day before my 16th birthday and I got my L-plates. The first time I drove it was on the race track. Since then I’ve never had enough money to do more than keep the old girl in good enough condition to enjoy her at the track. Now, a newly graduated uni student with no financial ties and a new job I want to tackle the project I have dreamed of since I first drove this car all those years ago, sideways in third =D When I started this project my car weighed in a hefty 1180kg (2600 pounds for the slow Americans). This puts it in a territory heavier than some of the 2+2 cars I compete against. I did the sums and thought about a 3.1L motor. With 175rwhp on tap and an expected gain of 30rwhp (17%, 173.7hp/tonne) for probably not much change from 10k I thought about what else I could do to get some decent performance from the car. Keep in mind I already set the benchmark for the guys I compete with and consistently go undefeated in fastest times. Basically, I want a fun, street driveable race car without trying to totally blow away the competition. In the regularity events here in Perth, there is nobody in my class faster than the zed I could possibly catch in a zed without a turbo motor, so I want to stay in touch with the zeds without having people chapping too close at the bit. Introduce bright thought number 2: Weight loss! With weight loss I will not only gain straight line speed but also stop and turn faster. When 2km/h increase in speed around the local track is worth 1s I rekon I can take more than this out of the car with weight loss. 100kg (10%, 166.7 hp/tonne) less in the car will give me almost the same extra power to weight ratio of that 3.1L too! All things equal, 10% less weight to haul around the corners should give more than a 2kph (1.7%) corner and straight line speed increase. I could do the maths, but it’s late The Goal So, the goal: Take 100+ kg out of the car, make it a show stopper and track stomper, for not much more than a cheap stroker-motor build. 1050 is the target, but lower would always be nicer. The Parts To get 100kg out of the car should be fairly simple. With a literal metric ton of rust proofing sprayed on the car back at its birth in the UK the car is carrying a lot of tar and grease. I want to remove all the old fashioned tech rust proofing and apply more modern stuff. So, the parts to get me to 1050 or less kg: Fiberglass bonnet Fiberglass Hatch Fiberglass mud guards Fiberglass front and rear bumper bars Acrylic rear window Acrylic winding side windows Acrylic quarter windows Replace sunroof with a new roof skin Headlight Covers 1” master cylinder Fiberglass driver and passenger seats PWR Aluminium radiator Aluminium Radiator Air box Fiberglass Cold air intake box Aluminium front splitter Full ground up bare metal rebuild Front strut brace, braced across, to firewall and to front chassis rails Delete rust Delete old-school grease and tar Metallic blue paint High-tech sound deadener and rust-proofing under body coating Powder coated suspension Roll centre adjusters On car adjustable rear suspension arms Gearbox rebuild Central Locking Alcantara interior trim The Deadline This year over Easter I competed in the regularity trials held annually at Mount Panorama Bathurst. I did a 2:55.4, 5s faster than the last time I went there in 2008 and clocked a top speed of 240kph. Next year I want the car there and I want to do a 2:4X.XX (probably a 2:49.99 ) and 245+kph. Initially I was going to hoard parts and then do the rebuild in one go, but things changed and I’ve decided I will do it gradually over the course of the year. December/January will be the final deadline. Diary This “Diary” will cover the entire build process, any changes of mind (expect many ) and all the heartache and pain along the way. 7 April 2010 Headlight Covers, new roof and 1” master cylinder purchased. The car is in Sydney in these pics and has a 3500km truck ride to get back home before work can start 20 April 2010 Roof sent to the panel beater for storage. New PWR Aluminium radiator ordered. 30 April 2010 I ordered Roll Centre Adjusters (RCA’s) and Rear Control Arms from Techno Toy Tuning. I already have their front torsion/compression (T/C) bars and LOVE the strength and over-engineering of their parts. I had a T/C snap at 200kph on full brake into an 80kph 90o right hander and don’t need another similar scare again. Unfortunately the box was pretty tattered when it rocked up and one of the control arms had been damaged in transit But, Gabriel (the great man he is!) covered the cost of the repairs and so I sent them to a shop. In the mean time I got stuck into fitting the RCA’s: This pic shows a modified arm on the right of the pic and the unmodified arm on the left of the pic. You can see how the control arm points upwards on the left and down on the right. Down is better =D. Another quality TTT part! The close fit with standard rims. In fact I had to remove the wheel weights on the front right hand wheel because they fouled on the steering knuckle The new look front suspension with both of the RCA’s fitted Tom.

Hi Everyone, I've kinda jumped the gun on this forum a bit and I've not introduced myself yet. My name is Tom and my dad and I run under the banner of Dadson Racing. We have campaigned successfully in WA and have been coming to the East Coast for Philip Island and Bathurst for the last few years. We have also run with the FOSC at Oran Park and Eastern Creek. I currently have the the fastest time around the local track here in Perth, Wanneroo, by 1/10th over my dad and another driver. I was directed to this site by a few of the guys I have met over east at Bathurst primarily and hope to see more of you for Philip Island and Bathurst next year. Pics: http://smg.photobucket.com/home/Tommo560/index Vids: http://www.youtube.com/user/whittie260 I also have a build thread over here showcasing the rebuild I am doing this year: http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,6991.0.html Tom.

This: and this: I used a Viscous centre out of a Silvia to do this, so I had to modify the axles (take the original and the silvia ones, cut them up, swap the axles from the silvia to the zed hub, and weld them back together) cost was about $1000 for all the work including getting a shop to put the diff together. Buying something like this would be about $1500, so you're still better off, and you can get ANY ratio you want. I have 4.4, 3.9 and 3.5 all using the same method.

The 16" will be the big dollar adder. What did you get quoted just out of interest? Was it a good price compared to other quotes on that side of the country (I have no idea to be honest) and will you be going with him? I don't want to be promoting his stuff if it's not good value...

Hahaha! Um... long day?

Gareth, I meant $150 plus shipping of $50, but Wow, was I WAY off or what! I just checked the reciepts and they were $220ea for the tyres incl fitting at his shop, or add shipping. Something ridiculous cheap anyways considering my road tyres cost me more than this! I have bought my last three sets from him and will always recommend him with the way the local Toyo dealers (well, here in WA) seem to want to screw you over by charging above rrp. Landed here in WA they are still $100 ea cheaper than the local distributor (350+ea/$11-1200set), and he supplies all the dealers in WA so there isn't anywhere cheaper for us. These are brand new semi slicks. As I said, he parralel imports instead of going through Toyo's official distributors. You'd be amazed what you can get tyres for with the good aussie dollar when you're not going through a dealer with an rrp! Email or call him (his name is Ali) and tell him that John with the Silver zed from WA sent you on to him. He should still remember him considering it was only about 3 weeks ago we bought the last set.

I get mine through Taleb Tyres. This guy (I think it's lee?) parrallel imports toyo's. My last set for bathurst cost about $150ea incl fitting for a 205/50/15. CAN NOT beat him on price. http://www.talebtyres.com.au/ My dad organised the last set so if you say John with the silver Zed from WA sent you, he should be able to match that price. He will also ship tyres to you if you are not in NSW and can't get to him. I can't remember the exact price per tyre but I know that INCLUDING shipping to WA they still come in $100 EACH cheaper than the local Toyo retailer.

G'Day aristo! The 2g was my plans when I first bought my car too! Like gyra said, body and driveline strengthening should be top priority if you want to drive it further than past the driveway. If you have a squander over at hybridz.org plenty of guys have done the swap and you can read how they solved there issues. Good luck!

I disagree. I think it's what you make of it. I bought my Zed when I was 14 and the first time I drove it was on a racetrack. Was it a good first car? Who knows. I did end up buying another shiverter 4-banger to get around in cause it was off the road so often though. Was the experience anything short of extraordinary? You bet it wasn't. If I had my time and money would I do it again? Definitly! Just be aware of what you are buying in to before you get one. 10k will NOT buy a decent zed for a daily. It WILL need work and it WILL have rust. Is the pain worth the fun/fury/aggrevation/elation of the build? That's up to you. I've been building my car for 6 and a half years now and it's had its share of down sides. My dad was a mechanic in another life and without his mechanical and, at times, financial assistance the zed would be long gone and I'd be in something like a skyline for sure. I'll say to you what I say to my friends: Newer cars are easier. That doesn't mean you can't have fun with an old car but they are not easy/cheap, I could have bought a KILLER R34 GTR for what I've spent on my car now, but I would still take the zed anyday. Just my 2c

I got mine from All Z Parts (www.allzparts.com.au) in sydney. They have everything, BUT (there is always a but ) They are not overly cheap. Mine, a brand new 1", set me back about $200 if I'm not totally off the mark (don't have reciept on me, but it was about $100 more than I expected). Certainly wasn't expecting it to be as high as it was, but, they had it and I needed it.... They are good people though. For instance, they kept a roof for me for 2 years before I could pick it up without selling it to another person!

Don't get me wrong I think they are VERY strong, but typical american... stuff... it's not made to the best tolerance's. When the wheel is not drooped you can't move the shaft at ALL. I do get a lot of droop so it could be that. I just don't think they are the perfect solution. They were the 'best' solution for me given my power figures and the want for something cheap and simple. It's always a compromise. Performance, Reliability, Cost. Pick 2 =P

The Ron Tyler mount with the proper urethane mount can't be beat. Energy (?) do a locally supplied mount that is the same as the GM mount. It's not cheap at about $100, but well worth the conversion. I went for a few strips of Clark Rubber between the two folds of the leather strap. Granted, 230Nm is not likely to break leather, so it should work. I was at the drags and a failed front mount (no rubber stripped up leather) caused the moustache bar to fail. If you consider the twisting movement allowed by the Ron Tyler mount on the moustache bar, even if the urethane mount fails (unlikely), the moustache bar should be able to handle it.

I have the wolf creek ones and they are OK. To be honest, I would do the Z31/2 upgrade that you have if I was to do it again. The shafts have a LOT of backlash and make a fair bit of noise when changing gears due to this, even when tightened as much as possible. With the wheel off the ground and the suspension slacked I can turn one wheel about 15 degrees just on driveshaft play. It's always been there, not getting better or worse. I heard they are good for 500rwhp when I bought them. They are also pretty reasonably priced (Bout $1000 from memory with a good exchange rate) They also are FOREVER coming loose (had to tighten them about 4-5 times in 2 years) for me! I have lock wired the outside bolts and locktighted all the inner and outer bolts, but the super graphite grease just gets into everything and it gets loose. Other than that they seem very beefy. Only running 180rwhp but at the drags on slicks with 5k clutch dumps I have gone from busting uni's, to gearboxes (then went to Silvia gearbox) and now diffmounts :-\ So yeah, they seem to be going OK, had them on the car for about 2+ years now. Time includes about 5,000K's road, 10,000 racing K's and about 15 passes down the strip.

I am horrifically slow at doing the videos this year! Another one up of me following Narelle in her and Gary's 2+2

I am pulling 175hp/230Nm at the rears and only doing 240 and it was a KILLER forrest elbow. In 2008, with 165hp, I was only capable of 230 down the mountain. When I first built my motor with dished pistons it had 130hp and I can tell you that there is no WAY it would have done anywhere near 200 down that hill. Conrod is not such a huge drop as I think some people think it is, most of the drop is done from skyline to the exit of forrest elbow, it is just very long. I was hitting 5th still coming down conrod, well before the hump, and still only doing 240. I would say you have a fair few more ponies than you think to be pulling 235kph down the hill. My speedo reads to 200 and it was about vertically down at those speeds (english car with a kph sticker over the top of the mph speedo ) but I cannot feasibly think that the maths works out 240kph with 130hp unless you have some crazy aero mods! Here is an excel file to calc top speeds. Enter your tyre and rim size and 6500rpm and it will tell you the speed you were doing. This does ignore tyre expansion, which probably does occur at those speeds. http://members.iinet.net.au/~johnwhitfield/3.9%20Silvia%20box%20bathurst%20speed%20calc.xlsx

I had a 3.9 in the car for Bathurst this time around and thought it was almost perfect. I have a silvia gearbox, so the 0.76 5th gear. We were also pulling 6500ish down conrod (240.3 according to GPS) and I thought the car pulled great up the hill, I was hitting 5th just coming over the rise so it was being used for more than just the run down the hill, indicating good gearing. The gearing also worked very well across the top of the mountain with 2/3/4 all being used. It's interesting that we were getting the same downhill speed but you didn't like going up the hill. My car also weighs 1250 with a half tank and me in it, so it's 2+2 territory. At home here I run a 4.4 and that I think would be too short every wheer and in 2008 I ran a 3.5 diff (0.83 5th gear with a standard 260 box) which was SHOCKINGLY over geared. The perfect gearbox, personally, I think would be a 4.1. There are a couple corners (Murray, Hell, Esses/Dipper/Forrest Elbow) that are about 300-400revs too low with the 3.9 in 3rd but to fast for 2nd and I think a 4.1 would be exactly on the money/power.