BACKGROUND- my neighbor has two Z32's. One is a parts car, automatic,no front seats, motor,trans or rear window. After the oil pressure droped on his second Z and the rod started knocking he needed a rebuild. Im the only guy he knows thats willing to help him out. In return he is giving me the parts car.

I am going to put the brakes hubs rims and rear end on my 240sx turbo project which leaves me with a full chassis to do what with?

I thought about
RB26
V-8 small block
JDM VG30DETT conversion


Also would be cool to turn this car into a full road course car but then i have to fit it in a class but i dont know what to build to be competative in any class.

What do you guys think?

 

It depends on what class you will race in... there are different guidelines for each.

 

so you want to make a race car out of a Z32 with no engine, no seats, and no suspension? Crush it and work on your 240SX

 

You don't need seats and suspension... just a JDM motor y0!

 

you are beyond nuts to try to make a z32 into a too heavy for itz class racer----look up the specs in sports car club of america and imsa.....you will relegate the z32 to fully comfy street driving and find a realistic car to race in a realistic class.............i so love it when nooooobs in racing try to make a competitive car out of non-competitively capable overweight "luxury" cars------so much work and so few positive results.......have fun and welcome, it is not so bad here......but do not try to make a racer of the z32----pln was the only one i saw make that happen----WHEN THOSE CARS WERE NEW and he had a PROFESSIONAL TEAM --sharp racing--behind him to do the work.........learn from our retired brethren.......have fun.......




pln=paul newman.....

 

Sorry for the confusion. Lets try this before i get fustrated.

If you think that not having the suspension,brakes,vlsd,and hubs is a bad thing then you probobly dont have alot of history building race cars, by this i mean that whenever you build a true race car you imediatly upgrade brakes and suspension, the stock vlsd and axles are weak and the VLSD isnt as fast throught urns as a true lsd.
I wont even mention the jdm motor comment.

Here is my history. I worked in an import shop in Oklahoma as a hand. (Trizone Performance) which you may have seen in Primedia publications. Worked at a honda rebuilder, and i have built cars with friends and family for years.

I also know the following friends that can anwser any questions that you guys cant.

Gerrald Barret- Finished 6th in the SCCA runoffs in 07 (several podium finishes and national championships)

David Mckennon-SCCA racer and several time track record holder at several tracks including Hallet motorspeedway in Oklahoma.

Bill Bonadio-you may have watched him loose his truck to bullydog on pinks.

Leroy O'bryant-finished first in his division for the summit bracket racing championship, also won the iron man and qualified to get into the international bracket racing finnals in 07.

Mike Wheeler- Race car driver owner builder.

These guys are my knowledge for frames, rollcages, and correct suspension geometry but none of them run Z32's. No its not the weigth its personal prefrence.

So i came here to kick the dirt off the tire's with you guys, im thinking it may have been a mistake since i havnt gotten any input on racing choices or motor ideas. Instead i got people telling me things that make no sense.

I dont have the funding for a front running car. I dont have the backing to stay above the development curve that is in racing. I do however have the driving talent and the mechanical abilitys (with my contacts help) to deliever a very nice race car no matter what the class or sanction that will be in the pack. No not first but hopefully not last. Racing is about going as fast and fun as you can with your budget. Im not trying to campaign a car for the national championship.

As im typing this im actually watching the SCCA runoffs and i want it to be known that the number 74 GT2 class Z32 300zx (i bealive its from the nissan sport publication)is in sixth place, Definitly not wining but COMPETITIVE. Given it is GT2 but geez some people are so quick to pass judgment on someone else's abilitys or project outcome's.

Now that i said my piece let me apologize for dumbing my question's down, from now on i will elaborate further and try to make the question very strait forward to stop this situation from happening again.

Thanx for welcoming me here to your forums and i hope i can help you guys while getting some anwsers my self, now please someone tell me what you think of these choices.

V-8 5.0 ford Bracket racer with a power glide
V-8 SBC bracket racer with power glide
or
vg30dett track car- I bealieve that if the engine came in your generation car then it may be legal.
rb26 track car (not worring about class's just power) Maybe take it to a time attack or something.

 

do you know anything about the Z32 drive train? everything you said about the rear diff is wrong. the Z32's is very very very strong, as well as its tranny, both have held over 700hp in the stock forms.

also you say you have all these friends that can answer everything but you still ask us and then bash us as a forum?

then you say you dont have the money for this and that, but you want to build a Z32 race car and on top of that one with a motor swap and can build this drivetrain and suspension of your racing dreams cause similare to stock setup just isnt good enough.....


my honest opinion, run the TT motor (usdm not jdm thats asking for trouble) and a stock TT drive train with the late model tranny to avoid the synchro problem then build your suspension. the VG30DETT motor and drive train can produce and handle w/e it is you want.

 

id say do it. i know quite a few people racing z32s, and doing well. and id race my "non-competitive capable overwieght luxury car" any chance i had

as far as the engine, id say keep a VG in there, or an LSX or RB25.

 

snwbrderphat540 I apologize to you, especially since your the only one on this forum to constantly give me good imformation. Others feal the need to just heckel, this boggles me but whatever.

Im not bashing this forum, just those who post nonsense.

I actually do know alot about the rear end. It is the same rear end that is in my 240sx but it is an open diff in my non SE 240sx. A stock 300zx N/A is a vlsd rear end which should hold 400hp (with sticky tires) as anyone who knows racing, knows that this vlsd takes time out of every lap compared to a true clutch type lsd or locker/cone design.

I also realy dont bealieve that my auto tranny will hold 700hp maybe the manuel one but not my auto for sure. Thats why this is a perfect race project, all the parts i would need to replace are already gone. haha

I also agree that the vg30dett is the way to go. I think i might just get a jdm front clip so i can get a manuel tranny and rebuild the motor so i dont have to worry about the motor swap woes.


Yes i do ask you guys and maybe that is my mistake, is it?

Motor swap with suspension and rear end probobly 8-12K depending on my goals and parts. Fully built COMPETITVE race car starts at 12K and goes up from their, now do get my point?

Sorry, im not bahsing a whole forum just those who try to ruin it for others, im not asking for sarcasim im asking for facts and opinions.

 

it ok just dont let your temper get to you from a few tasteless posts. and dont use a V8 if you absolutley want to swap lol. and yes the turbo rear end is the very strong R230 i believe the NA is an R200 not as strong both are VLSD and any VLSD is going to be good, i know these are fairly tight as well so if it does shave off any time its probably only going to be a tenth of a second lol. its nothing significant enough to start swaping rear ends, just to much hassle. and i didnt know you had an auto, i dont care if its strong or not road racing an auto is stupid.

 

i have a feeling Greg Dupree would disagree with you.

 

Yah there might be some autos running around with upgrades but i dont think thats in my future unless the car becomes a bracket racer which is why i thought v-8.

Sorry bout my temper but i was brand new here and only posted twice and it seemed both posts were being ruined and i was being ridiculed. That is a great way to sway someones opinion about a forum.

The comment that i dont contain the automotive knowledge necessary to complete my projects happens to be one of my personal faves of the coments i got.

 

not just "some upgrades". Greg Dupree has a street driven, full factory interior Automatic Twin Turbo that runs in the 9s.

 

the trans isnt stock tho

 

very true. but it IS auto.

 

i'd like to see some one to a swap with a VG33ER and upgrade the supercharger on it, just my 2 cents though.

 

Z32 isnt a car for swaps like the S30 and silvia and crap. they are great the way they came. so you can save time and money and make your TT and with the extra $$ you saved from a full motor swap you can get some upgrades. but chances are you wont be able to make money off of it racing anyways in some road racing. to get licensed and legal is alot of work and time and then to qualify in a race worth the time and money you put into a car, just bad in the end. its pointless almost. its only useful for a weekend fun racer and in the end, why put so much money into a car that gets you nothing but an hour or two of enjoyment. idk, just sounds like you should do some good thinking on this project before you start heading in one direction.

 

Well to be honest i dont want it for the money or to campaign nationally, the freinds i have spend upwards of 75k every year they win an scca national title. I just want to go racing. I dont even care how much i get in return. I have a street car a muscle car for cruises and drag racing on the weekends but neither are built solely for any class.

Here are my options

Braccket racer (hense the V-8 ideas) i would enter an electronics class and since bracket racing is about consistency not weight then i can be competetive.

I would also realy like to take it to pinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with a turbo motor and some goodies.

Track car to take to track days with COMMA and SCCA. Basicly just to have a track car to practice with. Not to be competitve. I only want this route becouse i need to hone my skills for my upcoming true racing class projects.

SCCA solo car. Also would be hard to be competitve here but easier then in true track style racing, again it would mostly be for my learning curve and to find my true skill level.

Thought about a drift car but i think this car wont transition well, or i might not be able to get it to transition well. H ere i wont know till its driving if it will do as a drift car or not.

Private entry- this is for tuner challenges like gimihana (however you spell it) time attack events or street car challenges.

I realize the hassles with registration and licensing iv actually been their before so im not worried about that, these racing things take time and money. I will be entering slowly.

 

k. sounds like yah did some thinking then. honestly, the Z wont do that good in drifting, its to shalloe of a turn radius for the front wheels. there is one Z drifting in japan though i believe. only one i know of thats doing it on a profestional level. as for bracket racing, its boring. a fast car that launches hard is cool but just not as respectable as a fast good handling car with a skillfull driver behind it blasting past some vettes and what not in the twisties and the straight aways.

 

a z32 is a big car to drift, z31's in my mind seem better suited for that, if you want something to hone your skills buy something cheap and rwd with alot of aftermarket support.

 

i agree with the comment that Z32's arn't too great for engine swaps. however much power you want to get out of another engine in it(within practical reasoning), you can get out of the factory V6. and when you do a conversion, you change that perfect or near perfect 50/50 weight distribution

 

z32s are not perfectly distributed...55/45. installing an LSX or RB25 may actually even out the distribution.

 

Weight balance isnt an issue, since im going to be building a race car i will be running coil-overs. With coil overs and some corner scales you can acuratly corner weight the car and even out the weight distribution in the car, this technique can give you an overstear,push,or nutrally balanced car.

I like the idea of a v-8 for bracket racing becouse its easy. Big motor lots of compression and dial the car back to make it consistent. Plus you cant posablie tell me that a V-8 with a crazy cam doesnt make you love life.