300ZX Turbo Track(ish) Car Build

[Eye of the Tiger]

An anti-lag system will only add negligible weight. But it will increase track performance times infinity.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

An anti-lag system will only add negligible weight. But it will increase track performance times infinity.

Not hugely concerned with that, since track time will be non timed/competitive.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Not hugely concerned with that, since track time will be non timed/competitive.

They sound badass.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

It's dumping raw fuel into the manifold. I think i can do without that wear and complication.

[Eye of the Tiger]

It's dumping raw fuel into the manifold. I think i can do without that wear and complication.

Compound turbos, then.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Been making some progress on this, albeit slow(I'm cleaning a lot, it's OCDish).

Starting getting the drivers side tore down, as you can see it's pretty dirty in there.





It's an interesting suspension setup, and kind of cumbersome to take apart.





Decided to pull the bumper off and get it out of the way. I intend to clean up the intercoolers and the surrounding area. Also I'm on the fence about picking up the 99 J spec front end and converting that over.





Setting some shit up, I did weight the stock parts vs the aftermarket parts. IIRC it's about 5lbs saved per side between the lighter coilover and tension rod.



Did I mention the cleaning, are you down with OCD???

I actually cleaned the lower control arm on the right(closest) with brake cleaner and other chemicals. The one on the left(furthest) was cleaned with my new steam cleaner I picked up(figured it would work great for interior detailing). Did a fantastic job on these, make them look like new. Saved me from repainting them.



So clean.





Took the steam cleaner to one of the intercooler too.

Passenger side uncleaned.



Drivers side after about 3-4 minutes.



I steamed cleaned the wheel wells, and also hand scrubbed them(sad, I know). Drivers side mostly done.





The table of parts is starting to thin out(good, because I have more on the way).



The table of old parts is starting to pile up.



Passenger side stripped down, mid cleaning.



I got the passenger side all done, and then threw the brakes on both sides so I could get it rolling. I'm going to back it out of the garage and so I can discharge the air. Want to do that before it gets too cold.

Once that's done, I'll start tearing into the rear end. So hopefully I'll have another update in a few weeks. I'm pretty happy at the progress so far, compared to last year(I didn't get shit done). Going to definitely get done all I want to(sans money issues) on the Z. Should also get a fair amount done on the R32 by summertime.

Still in the que for the Z

Complete rear end component replacement, bushings(solid subframe and diff), drive shaft(1 piece aloominEum) maybe a quaife(I'll make the decision when I'm back there, it's a cash thing at the moment).

Would like to address the brakes.

Pull the a/c and some other small things(cruise) and clean the engine bay.

Partial roll bar install

pair of seats

and of course a full detail and fluid change.

This thing is going to be great come summer, can't wait to see the final result.

[giant_mtb]

Such clean.

[CaminoRacer]

I love struts but I hate struts. Limits the max tire width so much. Gotta get some flares.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Front tire width is an issue with these cars. I think 245 is on the bigger end. The rear end isn't an issue, it'll take 295's and 10" wide wheels.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Got this past shipment of parts un packed and put out on the "pending" table. Take some off the table and install them and then just go and pile more on. I figure there will be only 3 more orders before I'm done adding to the table.



Added spl solid subframe and diff bushings, decided not to use the energy suspension ones. Also added spl tie rods, brake cooling plates and the one piece aluminum driveshaft.

Backed the car out today since it was nice out and took care of the ac.

Also started tearing into the rear end.



Thats about as far as I got on the drivers side. Had to make a tool run to get a 36mm socket and grabbed some extra wrenches.

Also opened up the subframe bushing box to confirm my suspicions.

The good news:
The box had instructions inside....

The bad news:

Step 1


Gotta pull all the exhaust up to the downpipes anyway to get the driveshaft out. By the time I drop all the suspension components, hicas system, rear differential and sway bar. The subframe is going to be pretty much bare anyway. Going to order a quaife next week. I was on the fence about doing this now or waiting. Given the depths of the work I'm doing, it would be foolish not to do it now.

Going to need more space to put all this stuff.



Wish I could redo the exhaust too, but I'll take care of that when I upgrade turbos (likely next winter).

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Decided to work a bit this morning. Got the passenger side striped down.



Then finished getting the exhaust, heat shields, and hicas system out. It's pretty much bare. Just have to pull the diff and driveshaft and the subframe will be ready to come out.





Starting to run out of room for all this shit.

[Eye of the Tiger]

wuts the funny looking yellow wheel go on?

[FlatBlackCaddy]

300zx spare, didn't think it was still in there.

Oh well, good news is it was in there for my beginnig weigh in. An easy 20-25 lbs shed.

[280Z Turbo]

Best way to reduce weight...put the Z32 engine in the Miata...put the Miata engine in a Spitfire...put the Spitfire engine in a lawnmower...put the lawnmower engine on a bicycle

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I'll keep that in mind.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I've been doing some rough math. Around 3150 for a final weight seems possible without going to extremes. I'd be happy with that, would love to he closer to 3k even but I don't think that would be realistic.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Drill more speed holes!

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Overdue update, I actually should have added some of this weeks ago. I missed like one or two weekends over the holidays but I'm still making fairly good time on this.

Continued on in the rear and got the differential and subframe dropped out, Diff was heavier than I expected.





Subframe was a piece of cake, pretty light and came straight down(as opposed to forward, tilt and down with the diff due to mount design).



Not much left back there now.





Next step was too work on the subframe, get all the old bushings out(pain in the ass) and get it cleaned up and ready for the new solid subframe bushings. Read a lot of opinions online about getting the bushings out. I took a shortcut and skipped all the heating and torch nonsense. I just drilled holes around the bushing and then used a vice grip and a lever to twist the inner right out. Worked great, then I just used a sawzall to cut the outer shell and then punched them out. Still was a lot of work and very time consuming, but it did the job.

Ready to get worked on.





I did a quick comparison, what a complicated heavy piece(stock driveshaft). Should see some nice weight savings from this.



Pressing the bushings in was a pain, big and bulky subframe. It was hard to get it set up in the press. I ended up actually pressing the subframe down onto the bushing which worked great, but just made it difficult to manipulate the subframe and operate the press. Once some pressure got on it though it supported and guided itself.





sammich



The subframe cleaned up(well I'll wipe it down one more time I'm sure, ) and all the bushings in place.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

With the subframe done, it was onto the hard part(for me). I've never done a diff install, so I figure I'll just take my time and check everything over 10 times(I do that anyway).



I tossed around the diff options for awhile, decided to do the quaife. Supposed to be great on the track and with no setup and service issues that the clutch units have.

Digging into it.



What goes where again???? I did label everything with a cryptic multi dot pattern that only I can decipher. Sadly I'm already starting to forget what it was since this was right before christmas.





One of these is not like the other, but according to quaife I have to change that. The passenger side(longer) has to be cut down. Shouldn't be hard, I'll do it myself instead of bringing it to a machine shop.



Which brings me to the present day, hopefully will have this diff all done and put back together this weekend so I can button up the rear end and get back to the suspension stuff.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Now that you have it out, you should paint it hot pink or something faster than dirty black. Or swap to a solid rear end. Ford makes good ones.

[MexicoCityM3]

 

[Eye of the Tiger]

 

[68_427]

[Eye of the Tiger]

HURRRRRRRZ

[giant_mtb]

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I've been thinking about doing the rear JDM light conversion, it's not very expensive but I never really minded the yellow turn signals. That picture does make them look nice though.

[BimmerM3]

I've been doing some rough math. Around 3150 for a final weight seems possible without going to extremes. I'd be happy with that, would love to he closer to 3k even but I don't think that would be realistic.

How much was it stock?

[Cookie Monster]

How much was it stock?

2900 lb.

All that rice is heavy.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

How much was it stock?

So, I've decided to get off my ass and back on this. With 2 more cars coming into the stable and the Z project untouched over the winter I've got a metric shit ton of work to do.

So last night I got the Z back down in the garage and got my initial weight readings with my new(last fall) scales.





Not bad, IMO.

3433lbs with a weight distribution of 55/45. Should be pretty easy to work with.

I'm hoping to drop 150-200 lbs off the curb and hopefully shift the distribution back 2-3 percent. We'll see if that will happen.

Also got started on the front end, installed the steering rack bushings.

Looking over the rear I realized that installing the rear subframe and differential bushings pretty much requires dropping out the subframe. So to save time in the future I'm going to order my driveshaft and Quaife differential today(probably grab some new ball joints and tie rods too).

It's nice to get going on this, finally.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

3400 lbs, not nearly as heavy as people thought these cars were.