Valkyrie Autosport did the 350Z crowd proud this last weekend at the NASA 25 Hour's of Thunderhill.

Head over to our facebook page and check out plenty of video and a write up from the weekend.

We finished 6'th in class and 21'st overall, what an amazing event!

 

That impressive. Crazy the amount of torture those cars endure for such a long time.

Anybody have any idea why there is a defroster on the front windshield?

 

Congrats to the Valkyrie Autosport team for their amazing finish at the 25 hours of Thunderhill! As a current 350Z racer, that's quite the accomplishment against such formidable competition.

 

Awesome! So glad to read about the milestone.

 

I love how this happened on basically a stock junkyard motor. Keep up the great work

 

Congrats guys. I love to see the Z out there on there track.

 

Most likely, they pulled the heater box and needed a cheap and effective way to keep the windshield from fogging during the race. That'll ruin a good race in short order.

 

Awesome work! Nice to see a couple more Zs in the 25 Hour field this year. Well done finishing the race! Fast lap looked pretty darn competitive, too.

Putting 2 and 2 together... You must be the guy who had the P/S pump/bracket for us late on the eve of the race last year. Great to see good people have success.

 

Congratulations!
It's nice to see the z33 competing and doing well.

 

Hey Bryan, yeah that was us. Did you drive one of the 370's again this year?

The car certainly had the pace and mechanical reliability, if it weren't for that stupid electrical gremlin I think we could have challenged for the podium if not the win.

We'll do it again next year, thanks for the support guys!

 

Bingo. It did pretty well in light to moderate rain. However when the car was on track in the heavy rain long enough, and the inside filled with water and started to steam from the heat of the floor, we were in trouble. Probably lost 5 laps or so in the morning before we found just the right amount of soap to put on the inside of the window .

 

How much of a rebuild is necessary after competing in a 25-hour race? I've heard older cars need to have an extensive rebuild after each endurance race, but know the Z33 is pretty durable.

 

There are a lot of variables on that. On the chassis side it really depends what was done prior. My last (and only) E36 endurance car I built had a fairly decent refresh after its 24 hour events. I cant imagine the Z would be any worse/better.

Chassis:
Replace all wheel bearings
Replace wheel studs
Remove and inspect all driveshafts/axleshafts for play, torn boots, wear patterns on splines, relube.
Replace all rotors, brake pads, teardown and rebuild calipers
Measure all radial and axial play on all spherical bearings
Shocks, inspect and rebuild as required
Inspect rear subframe for cracks and tears
inspect body panels, splitters/ducting
Inspect/lube all bushings
Replace end links

Drivetrain:
Send oil off to OA
perform a leakdown/compression check
Cut and inspect oil filter
Remove oil pan and inspect for metal
Clutch, inspect pressure plate/flywheel and replace friction disk throw out bearing
Replace all belts
Replace motor mounts
Replace seals as needed(usually trans output seal)
lube all joints
Replace fluids

The biggest thing was fixing what happened during the race which we usually were already tracking like when we lost a 2nd gear synchro. Bumper covers usually were a given and rear fenders as well. We never had to rebuild the S52 motor.

I'd be interested to see what they do to the Z.

 

Very nice story, rock on Nissan !

 

Not this year. I seem to be starting a schedule of running the 25 every other year.

 

Nice, congrats!!

Doing race like T25 can really bring typical chassis issues into light. Miatas(NA/NB), for example, struggle with hub failures in enduros. Which leads to better aftermarket development of the parts. Did anything stick out as a problem child that could be improved with the z33 during the T25?

 

No not really, the car was mechanically perfect. Other than our sensor issue (which I think is more related to using a wiring harness from the junkyard), everything went perfectly to plan. I will likely run all year on all the components from the race, and I plan to run them until failure to figure out how much harder we can push them in the race.

 

congrats guys!