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I will be upgrading brakes at some point in time. I dont know why but I speculate that I am going to run out of cash before the event so I am strategically budgeting. I considered finding a set of 350z/g35 brembos or (more likely) going with AP Racing (further my love affiar with AP). And the car doesnt have to be 100% perfect on day one. Brakes and suspension (as I’m learning from you) will be upgraded.
The plan is to use my RPF1s with the R888s for the May event. I’d like to go with a narrower wheel (the ones I have are 10.5”) but we’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
I want to stay with a small front mount turbo and I dont necessarily want to over-rev the engine. Also, these are lower compression pistons (compared to stock - only a little lower in reality). But all valid points. NA cars are stupid slow here. But you make a good indirect point of if you can’t drive it slow, then you wont be able to drive it fast!
The rpf1 are a good choice, just everyone runs them! R888 are good tires too, that will do well. 18x10.5 is perfect with the right offset and camber. I would go with some brembos and good pads, should be cheap/light and work great, AP can come later once you get all the other stuff done. Dont overlook the safety stuff, you got a cage which is good, seats. harnesses and hans are a must!
The rpf1 are a good choice, just everyone runs them! R888 are good tires too, that will do well. 18x10.5 is perfect with the right offset and camber. I would go with some brembos and good pads, should be cheap/light and work great, AP can come later once you get all the other stuff done. Dont overlook the safety stuff, you got a cage which is good, seats. harnesses and hans are a must!
For now and this upcoming track / lapping day I’m running OEM and I’ll upgrade pads - I’ve just gotta take it one step at a time.
Safety for sure … said wife is batshit crazy about the safety stuff and I whole-heartly agree with her.
will be purchasing the seat over the next few weeks. Looking at setups with the halo.
Sparco 6pt came in a week ago and have a hans and autocross helmet.
Any good write-ups or tips on anchoring the harness? Can the shoulder belts be anchored to the cage? Or do they need to be bolted to the chassis? If so, could they be anchored to where the rear OEM seat belts are anchored in?
For now and this upcoming track / lapping day I’m running OEM and I’ll upgrade pads - I’ve just gotta take it one step at a time.
Safety for sure … said wife is batshit crazy about the safety stuff and I whole-heartly agree with her.
will be purchasing the seat over the next few weeks. Looking at setups with the halo.
Sparco 6pt came in a week ago and have a hans and autocross helmet.
Any good write-ups or tips on anchoring the harness? Can the shoulder belts be anchored to the cage? Or do they need to be bolted to the chassis? If so, could they be anchored to where the rear OEM seat belts are anchored in?
Safety items I can comment on:
1) When selecting a race seat, be aware that a large halo headrest may be a issue. The limited headroom in the G or Z makes it difficult to use many halo seats and get out of the car quickly. A good HANS device will help protect your head in the first place, and egress from a burning or smoking car is critical.
2) Speaking of helmets, autocross standards are not what you should be aiming at. Use a SA15 or SA20 rated helmet with good HANS anchors built it.
3) When installing seatbelts use the shortest lengths to reduce the stretch on the belt. Shoulder belts should be properly mounted to the lateral bar of the main hoop behind the driver to reduce compression loads on the spine. For lap belts, the OEM seatbelt mounts are hard to beat- they're reinforced and already threaded. I'd avoid the rear seatbelt mount locations as the belt stretch issue will arise there as well.
It might cost a bit more to do this right, but make sure you let your wife know that it's all in the name of safety. Batshit crazy may work in your favor this time!
Safety items I can comment on:
1) When selecting a race seat, be aware that a large halo headrest may be a issue. The limited headroom in the G or Z makes it difficult to use many halo seats and get out of the car quickly. A good HANS device will help protect your head in the first place, and egress from a burning or smoking car is critical.
2) Speaking of helmets, autocross standards are not what you should be aiming at. Use a SA15 or SA20 rated helmet with good HANS anchors built it.
3) When installing seatbelts use the shortest lengths to reduce the stretch on the belt. Shoulder belts should be properly mounted to the lateral bar of the main hoop behind the driver to reduce compression loads on the spine. For lap belts, the OEM seatbelt mounts are hard to beat- they're reinforced and already threaded. I'd avoid the rear seatbelt mount locations as the belt stretch issue will arise there as well.
It might cost a bit more to do this right, but make sure you let your wife know that it's all in the name of safety. Batshit crazy may work in your favor this time!
Thank you DK - great insight. Looking into the sparco Circuit QRT and it doesnt look like the halo is huge.
The rails are low-profile and from the rails to the headliner I have 42”. The QRT is 36” from the base to the tip of the seat. Factor in an inch or two for rails it gives me 4inches of room.
As I sit in my office chair, sitting 100% straight up and down (no recline) I am right at 36” from my tailbone to the top of my head. Add 2” for the helmet thickness (on top of my head) that puts me at 38” - roughly 2” to 3” of gap between the top of my helmet and the roof liner. Anything I’m not thinking of?
The helmet is a Simpson Bandit and Im fairly sure its a SA2015 - havent had any issues with it at the 1/2mile events or at bandimere - has the hans anchors built in.
10-4 on the shoulder belts. My shoulders are about 25” from my tailbone(add 2” or so) for the rails/seat/cushion(call it 27”), the cross bar behind the driver is 28” to 29” above the seat base and the belt holes in the seat are 28” to 29” above the base … so slight downward angle.
How did you mount your belt ends to the OEM mounting points? Can you mount to the seat bracket? Or to the threads used to bolt the seat down?
How did you mount your crotch points?
I’m budgeting quite a bit on other items so that I can spend whats needed on these safety items - she’s onboard.
How did you mount your belt ends to the OEM mounting points? Can you mount to the seat bracket? Or to the threads used to bolt the seat down?
How did you mount your crotch points?
I’m budgeting quite a bit on other items so that I can spend whats needed on these safety items - she’s onboard.
I prefer to use the metal brackets (triple folded to lock-in the belt fabric) that come with the belts I've purchased. Mount as close to a 45-degree angle as possible, and yes, you can use the seat bracket. The problem with using the seat mounting bolts is the bracket will hold the seatbelts at an angle and this puts unacceptable shear forces on the belt material. I like to mount the sub belt to the seat frame if possible, behind the mid-line of the body and (with a six-point) underneath each hip to spread the load.
Last edited by dkmura; 04-05-2023 at 06:25 AM.
Reason: clarify
Thanks DK - the threads on the hardware are 7/16”x20 and are not compatible with anything OEM on the chassis (blitz that idea) and what you’re saying with the shear force makes sense.
Making progress … I’ve been going every which way and making progress on the car …
For what it’s worth - we pushed the track day to June 30, 2023 as things are allllll *****…
Engine and transmission are in - had to source a transmission bracket along with a few other parts.
Decided to not use the OEM radiator shourd / headlight buckets and cut some custom radiator brackets that’ll hold the radiator. The intercooler and oil coolers will hang off a aluminum 4” square tube bar.
Trying to figure out how to mount the intercooler upside-down has sorta been tricky…I have a method and an idea but getting too fancy with the brackets and it sorta has blown out on me … more to come.
No news with the seat / brackets / sliders other than the brackets arrived and I just put them in the trunk.
Oil lines / fuel lines / fittings / fpr / etc have all arrived but I havent installed them … I’ll be working on that over the next few weeks. I have a set of OEM fuel rails that I welded on AN -6 fittings but I’m still holding out on finding some basic rails. More to come.
Also sourced a AP Racing brake kit from a guy who was parting out his track car that I picked up. It’s still arriving but doing a once over on it before it goes on the car. Happy to have found this setup bc the brakes on this car were in pretty bad shape.
My power goals are around 500hp and I was contemplating purchasing Z1’s 370z axles & wheel bearing kit for this car. Didnt necessarily want to spend the $600 for it so decided to take the axles and bearings from the white z, put them on this car and purchase the 370z axle kit for the white car - which I will be exceeding the capacity of the oem parts (at some point in time - god willing).
The turbo kit is coming along very well - the hot side from the headers to the turbo is about 90% complete and I have a few very simple welds along with clocking and mounting the T3 bracket to hold the turbo … hot side from the turbo to the exhaust will be a little tricky but I have room to work. My wastegates (tial 38mm) and blowoff valve (tial q) have arrived as well. The cold side will be very very easy - The turbo outlet is a 2.5”, the intercooler is 3” in/3” out and I am thinking about running a 2.5” or 2.75” from the IC to the TB.
Bought a set of CZP’s aluminum valve covers and got them sealed and installed and coil packs and spark plugs installed.
Doing an oil filter relocation kit and will plumb the oil cooler into this setup - all this stuff has arrived.
Been pecking away at it … decided to get the hotside where it needs to be (still have some stainless welds) and get the cold side wrapped up…
I’m looking at the turbo-to-exhaust portion of the kit and I dont know that I am going to be able to sneak a 3” around the steering shaft and cross pipe … emotionally, just telling myself to do a hood dump and be done with it, but I may try oval pipe around things …
going 2.5” from turbo to the IC, and 2.5” from the IC to the TB … hoping this keep spool-up time to a minimum and if I dont reach my power goals (around 500hp) than I will bump it up to 2.75” … I should have room for it.
Going to set the turbo stuff aside for a little bit and focus on the oil cooler / power steering cooler and get those mounts fabricated and welded to the crash beam and get the oiling all wrapped up.
More progress on the front end - Getting the bugs worked out with the CNC machine and able to consistently make brackets … made two sets (one for power steering cooler and one for the oil cooler) and welded onto the crash beam and made a quick bracket to hang the (remote) oil filter - I thought they came out pretty good.
At the moment, I only have 120v and can only push my welder to 90amps and its simply not enough to get the required heat into the aluminum … I will probably take the welds down and re-do them on 220volt (which means I gotta move the machine to the other garage). All that to say, the welds are 50% complete.
Got going on cleaning up the brakes - disassembled (mostly) and soaked in hot water & dishsoap an brushed, and dried with compressed air and they are coming out pretty good. If I had the time I’d send them off to get soda-blasted and powder coated red (with black lettering) but I dont know if I can get them turned-around in time.
Got brake lines swapped out and I’m graving flushing the brake-line system before I re-assemble everything.
I’ve got two bolts that have stripped out allen heads (that hold the brake pads in) so going to PB-Blaster them for a few days and see if I can break them loose or just leave them. Since everything is out I’m going to replace those allen head bolts with stainless steel hex-head bolts.
Had a little extra time today and got all the hardware cleaned up and got brackets installed aswell.
I’ve got two bolts that have stripped out allen heads (that hold the brake pads in) so going to PB-Blaster them for a few days and see if I can break them loose or just leave them. Since everything is out I’m going to replace those allen head bolts with stainless steel hex-head bolts.
i actually ran in to this same problem the other day on my rears. i even bought this which didn't work
i did not want to have to destroy it yet (cut slot / drill out screw extractor, file sides to try and grab with vise grips, etc.).
if you aren't completely rounded yet, i assume it's the same stainless steel button head 4mm allen bolts on mine (i actually have the same CP5200/CP5147 calipers).
this is what worked for me: take a T27 torx, hammer it in very hard full seated, and use a baby breaker bar. it will come right out surprisingly easily
i can still use them, just knowing that my rears are now T27 torx, but i have ordered titanium replacements. i hope this works for you too good luck
Little desktop 2.5dimension/axis setup - it cuts aluminum decent but gotta keep your depth of cut to about .01” to .005”. It’s alot of fun - I told myself that if I can master this machine that I’d invest the $5k to $10k to get a bigger setup. This setup takes a dewalt 2hp / 1/4”mill / 27k RPM router which is a must if you want to mill aluminum. I had some issues with my rails that I’ve worked through.
04-02-2023, 11:16 AM
