They Don't Call Me Racer For Nothing!

RacerX69

Retired Gear Jammer/IBEW Retired/Wingnut
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There are only a few things in life that really grab my attention, and hold it very long. Women, of course (usually one at a time, as monogamy is the way to go!), and cars, planes, boats, trucks, trains, you know, things that go.

And look great going.

So here are a few pictures I took at (then) Seattle International Raceway at the annual SOVREN (Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts) meet. I think this was in 1997, after I had foot surgery, and couldn't race myself.

Enjoy.

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More to come!
 
Later that year was a NASCAR Northwest Tour road race event.

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This car is driven by Pete Harding from British Columbia, Canada. A couple of longtime friends of mine crew for this team.
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Anyone recognize the number on this one?
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Yes, that's right..

Michael Waltrip.

To boost ticket sales the race promoters usually get drivers from the top levels to come run as "ringers". Way back in 1986 there was a Winston West race at this track. The promoters had Dale Earnhardt come out. And for the Winston West event at Evergreen Speedway at the fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington they had Bill Elliot a time or two, and when I drover the hauler for an also ran (Larry Gunselman) in 1991 and 1992 they had Davy Allison and Kenny Schrader.

Good times.
 
Nice pics, Racer, wow you could eat off those engines! I have al friend at work that I need to get over here. He LOVES this kind of stuff.
 
Nice pics, Racer, wow you could eat off those engines! I have al friend at work that I need to get over here. He LOVES this kind of stuff.


Thanks, and yes, get your friend to become a member here! The more the merrier.
 
Here is a shot I took of Nigel Mansell at Portland International Raceway in the early 1990's.

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Now for some Grassroots Racing. And of course a street version of the same model.

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My race Z and one of my street Z's.
 
Great pics!! Now give us the specs on the race car. And the street car too.

The street Z is all stock, an original, one owner car. They came with a 150hp inline overhead cam 6 with dual SU carburetors. This one has the automatic (ugh!) which is essentially a carbon copy of the Ford (C6?) automatic that came in small Ford sedans like the Fairlane and Maverick.

I still have it, but it is due for a major renovation, paint, engine, suspension (upgrades) and swap the auto out for a 4 or 5 speed manual gearbox. Plus I have a set of 15x7 Panasport wheels for it. The car will look very nice when the rebuild is done (if I can ever get the time!).

The race car is (at the time the picture was taken) set up to run in a production based class, an ICSCC (International Conference of Sports Car Clubs) class rule. On "street" tires it ran in E Production, on slicks it ran in D Production. ICSCC is a regional road racing club that has racing meets similar to the SCCA, you can read more about the club here: International Conference of Sports Car Clubs

The class allows for balancing and blueprinting of the engine, port matching and cylinder head "cleanup" but no alterations to the stock configuration. Although the camshaft is a stock grind, there are "tricks" that can be done to gain a little extra lift and duration, which of course I have done. There is also an ACCEL high output coil and a Pertronix hall effect trigger that replaces the points. I added an Oberg plate type remote oil filter and a large oil cooler (without it the oil would get so hot the engine would lose lubrication in about 10 minutes of hard running on track).

The class requires the stock intake system be used. These cars came with dual SU carburetors, which are very tunable. Additionally, when I had the head built the guy also worked over the carbs, intake and exhaust manifolds.

Any exhaust system is allowed provided the stock manifold is used, and I was burning my right foot during a race (the exhaust runs alongside the transmission in the tunnel) so I had a shop bend up some tubing and built the sidepipe you see in the pictures. The muffler is called a "Lowback". Although it looks like a glasspack it is not. There is a small tube running through the center (1/2" diameter) and a piece of flat material twisted into a spiral around it that just fits inside the outer part, is s;id in and welded in place. It makes for a great muffler that gets the sound levels at or below what the rules require (I think it is 105 decibels measured at 50 feet from the track), never really wears out (I had the whole setup aluminum coated in and out) and I don't burn my foot anymore.

The engine at this stage of development makes about 250 horsepower.

Stock transmission with a heavy duty clutch. In the 20 years I ran this car I only had clutch troubles one time. One of the bi-metal pieces that hold the pressure plate in the cover broke, and the pressure plate got off center. It really made the car shake. I was a couple laps from the end of a race and running up front, so I kept on going. It made it to the checkered flag, and when I got home I pulled the tranny and replaced the clutch. It still has that clutch in it today.

The suspension is still stock configuration with larger anti-roll bars, aftermarket strut cartridges (adjustable dampening) and springs, adjustable inner pivot points on the lower control arms. The class allows slicks (D) or street tires (E). The slicks are long ago out of production, and the various tire manufacturers offer great DOT approved tires that work every bit as well as a slick tire, they just have the required DOT approval and one or two grooves with 3/32 (I think) tread molded new. The compound is very sticky. And for rain you can use the autocross tread compound which has even better grip, but don't run them on a dry track, or even a wet track after the rain stops.

Since the class required using the stock brake setup but the linings are free, I was having a local shop make up shoes for the back and pads for the front using the same material that is used on commercial jet airliners. It worked great, didn't require bedding in, and the material gave consistent and reliable braking cold or hot, and believe me, the brakes get hot. I also added 2 cooling ducts to each front brake and one to each rear.

As required by the safety rules the car has a full roll cage, 5 point harness, window net and a Halon fire suppression system. I also mounted a 15 gallon fuel cell with dual pickups and 2 fuel pumps.

I am now changing the car to a GT class spec. Semi-tube frame, fiberglass hood, fenders, doors and hatch, wider wheels and tires (slicks are available for the size I will be using), and bigger brakes (including disc on the rear to replace the stock drums). I will be ditching the SU carbs for fuel injection, a throttle body and injector for each cylinder. The distributor will go away in favor of crank triggered direct ignition. I'll use an L28 cylinder block, over-bored and a diesel crank which should get the displacement just over 3 liters. Forged pistons with the bump to get the compression ration up and valve reliefs to clear the valves. I've already put larger valves in the head, shaved it and opened the ports up as big as they can go. And of course a more radical cam grind.

The flywheel and clutch will change too, there is a competition flywheel available that uses a small diameter multi-disc clutch. Also a custom made vibration dampener, and a dry sum oiling set -up.

It has been a few years since I ran the car. The last time I ran it was at Thunderhill in Willows, California, where the two pictures of me on track here were taken. One of the fuel pumps quit, and the engine ran lean, and then scuffed the pistons. At the time I didn't have the money to build another engine, so I rented a seat in a few different cars from fellow club members. A Mazda Miata (lots of fun, kind of like a go-kart, only bigger), several first gen Mazda RX-7's (also fun and fast but too small for me) and the last car I rented was a second gen Mazda RX-7, by far the most fun of all the cars I have rented and very fast. It was even able to run in the same class I had been running in my Z, and I won the race I had entered with it.

I'll have to dig around and find the pictures of the other cars I have ran in. They're around here somewhere.
 
Now for some Grassroots Racing. And of course a street version of the same model.

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My race Z and one of my street Z's.
My son wants an old Z sooo bad. There's a guy down the street that has a 280 just sitting there rotting but, he won't sell it. I stopped and asked him about it, he says he's gonna restore it but, I don't see that happening...he doesn't do a damn thing around his house..lol.

My son is into Nissans/Datsuns (for some reason) he has a 95' 240SX that he wants to Drift or get into something called Global Time Attack.
 
My son wants an old Z sooo bad. There's a guy down the street that has a 280 just sitting there rotting but, he won't sell it. I stopped and asked him about it, he says he's gonna restore it but, I don't see that happening...he doesn't do a damn thing around his house..lol.

Yes, I have about a dozen sitting out behind the shop slowly returning to the Earth. The thing is they all leaked a bit, and the water would sit under the seats. It doesn't take long before the floor rusts away. They also rust out where the front frame rails attach to the floor/firewall, and where the compression rod (a part of the front suspension) mounts to the frame.

If you can find one that is relatively rust free (read California or the South/ Southeast) the rust repair parts are available to restore them to new condition.

My son is into Nissans/Datsuns (for some reason) he has a 95' 240SX that he wants to Drift or get into something called Global Time Attack.

The 240 SX was a great car. Here is one that is a full tube frame GT2 road race car. It has an L28 Datsun 6 cylinder engine in it. The cars came with a 4 cylinder engine, and the road race versions ran GT3 with the 4 cylinder engine.

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This car was recently offered for sale for $20,000. A steal to be sure. Fast, fun, reliable.
 
Yes, I have about a dozen sitting out behind the shop slowly returning to the Earth. The thing is they all leaked a bit, and the water would sit under the seats. It doesn't take long before the floor rusts away. They also rust out where the front frame rails attach to the floor/firewall, and where the compression rod (a part of the front suspension) mounts to the frame.

If you can find one that is relatively rust free (read California or the South/ Southeast) the rust repair parts are available to restore them to new condition.



The 240 SX was a great car. Here is one that is a full tube frame GT2 road race car. It has an L28 Datsun 6 cylinder engine in it. The cars came with a 4 cylinder engine, and the road race versions ran GT3 with the 4 cylinder engine.

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This car was recently offered for sale for $20,000. A steal to be sure. Fast, fun, reliable.
I'm in NC, like you said, even here, they rust..lol. The neighbors is actually in really good shape, it's just got a thick layer of green on it (it's white)..lol

My Son just got an engine for his 240 that was only available in Japan, can't think of the code off the top of my head. I'll have to show him this thread
 
My Son just got an engine for his 240 that was only available in Japan, can't think of the code off the top of my head. I'll have to show him this thread

Oh yes. "Home market" engines. Only available in cars sold in the home market, Japan. There was a twin cam turbocharged six cylinder engine only available in Japan for the early Z cars that would produce some huge horsepower numbers when "breathed on" some. A few were found and brought over here and put in Z's.

Another thing I mentioned was the diesel crank for the L-series 6 cylinder engines. The L-series engine was used all over the world, in the Z car, the Maxima, and in light duty trucks and delivery vans. The truck engine was a diesel version, and the crankshaft is much tougher, and has a (I thiink) longer stroke. It drops right into any L-series block, and is the only way to get the maximum displacement out of the L28 engine, something just over 3 liters by boring to the maximum overbore, etc.

Another cool mod is to get the Mazda 3 rotor engine (home market only) and build it up, mate it to whatever manual tranny you like, and drop it into an early Z. They make stupid horsepower, rev like there is no tomorrow, and do it all on regular unleaded pump gas, so you don't go broke buying expensive racing fuel.

And here is another very nice Z, set up for autocross.

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And it gets "hooked up".

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I've done this with my race Z on the road course, even been up on 2 wheels with them about 6" to 10" off the ground.
 
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