That should just about answer all the questions(and complaints) voiced by so many, for so long. Maybe it's time to put all the disappointments behind us, and get on with supporting the racing efforts of the DriftZ and the UAS Slot Car(after all, it is showing the flag for Z32's that really matters, isn't it)? There's an old adage that says "The degree to which things can go wrong, is directly proportional to the amount of trouble it will cause when they do". This is never more true than when it's applied to racing cars, especially Zeds.
Without a thermostat or flow restrictor, there is no interchange of cool water from the radiator, so the water continually increases in temperature until it boils.
Since the next one is in adelaide, are you giong to bring the car to melbourne for the nationals before hand
I would personally love to go out to the Nats, for the fans, for more track time and more importantly as I havent driven PI before. I wanna see what all the hype is about. As long as engine rebuild and testing is all under control, expect to see us there.
Agreed, this is imperitive that an engine thermostat restrict the flow of coolant instead of quickly running it through the radiator as this will not give the radiator time to strip the coolant of heat. Thankyou for the info from your end. You will be competitive given enough time to get the package right. It is early days after all.
I was apologising for all the problems and disappointment. I was praising the efforts of the WA Zed Community - who are legends I was praising the NSW guys that gave me a hand, as well as Caz who is an absolute angel. I was thanking our sponsors, without whom we would not have got to the track. I was apologising to Scotty and the WA guys, because after all their hard work the car did not compete. And I criticised the people flaming the thread as they do not know the amount of work and desperation that was spent on this car right up till the dying minutes that it was loaded onto the truck. And of course there is the "I told you so" comments. The Zed Community has been, in the VAST MAJORITY, very helpful, supportive and amazing trying to get this car on the track and competitive. This is the first time it has laid rubber on the track, and at the end of the day, sh1t happens. No matter how much money you spend or how many experts have worked on your car, something can, and will go wrong. Someone should shoot "Murphy" Round 1 was a disaster, but it was also an achievement - we got onto the track after 2 years of trying. Round 2 will be better. Round 3 will be better still. The car and driver will improve as each race comes along. Scott had never ever driven a 300zx until it got to the track. We are trying to make the DriftZ something the Zed Community can be proud of. If it was a simple car with a simple engine it would have been running around the track 18 months ago. Everyone told us it could not be done. I feel your disappointment, as I am disappointed too. Think of the stress and heartache I have had over this car for the last 2 years just trying to get it on the track, let alone competitive. So called Experts have worked on this car and thrown their hands up in the air and given up on it, yet we continued, and by the next round we hope to have all the bugs ironed out. This should not be a "Flame Thread" as we are trying the best we can. If you feel you can do better, come out and give us a hand!!! To this Forum and the Zed Community that has helped and supported us, Thank You very much. :zlove: :zlove: :zlove: :zlove: Cheers Greg
The lack of flow restriction could be a problem, but lack of flow can also be a restriction. In any case, I digress... hopefully y'all can get it running like new again and carve up some tarmac.
Slot car thermostat Thunder thanks for your reply covering things and yes most are helpful and interested as I was. Re thermostat. My Zed race car did not have a thermostat when I ran electric water pump with no probs and did many track days over a few years. But then I did not have a radiator a foot thick like Drift Z with massive gaps around it for air to go past and a thick old intercooler in front of it also with poor air flow directing air, also water pump mounted properly. It may or may not run better as in cooler with no thermostat. Too slow no good but too fast also may not be good. Twin pass radiator does work better as two goes at it, I know of some race cars that run triple pass. Yes it does take years to set up a race car properly as I have been at it for many years and car continually gets better. I have also been very disappointed and missed a lot of days so that I did not go to track with car not right, and present wrong image and destroy motors etc
mmm that's why I didn't go ARP studs, the stock head bolts may only be used once but there's no need to re-torque the bastards either. maybe I'd go ARP for like 600+ hp but otherwise they seem a pain in the butt.
The reason the radiator is so thick is because it is a triple pass alloy radiator. We will be going back to the mechanical water pump and fan before the next outing. Cheers Greg
thank you for your threads above, greg ... certainly sheds some new light on matters and demonstrates the major effort put into the machine before shipment to w.a. as well as reconfirming the great wa effort.. stick to it, greg .. 99.9% of us do want to see this beautiful beast really go ..
WOW, what a thread!.. Firstly... Reading the "useful" responses... Franz & DUB; Spot on... I agree that if a car had existing problems before it goes somewhere that it should be sorted before it visits ANY track ANY where... I think MANY of us have NOT taken our cars on a cruise because of one problem or another, and why would it be different any other day of the week?? Let alone 90% est. of members haven't even visited a race track (sadly) - with their Zeds... and so, these problems of 100% thrashing on a drift circuit are bound to come up... Lucky to get 2 laps out of it IMO. Personally I'd have waited, but we learn from our mistakes, and yes there was a lot riding on this round... but as Caz says, "Shit Happens"... SmokinScotty and Thunder... I know that you will heed the words of the few that know about these cars, if not, we understand... And best of luck for the Next Round. (fingers are crossed).
Your water pump pulley will be coming from me Free of charge. Via Caz. I have a standard Water pump pulley, or if you want to get an UDP, I will donate an overdrive waterpump pulley to you. Neither will cost you a cent, and I will also pay for the postage. Caz will tell me what you decide to do. Good luck in the next round, hopefully with a little bit of PEX on the car it will give you some well deserved god luck
Thanks PEX Thanks for your help PEX & K-Zed Another example of the kind help the Zed Community is giving us. I'm not sure what we will need at this stage as we have left over bits everywhere and I picked up a spare engine today (partial engine). I will let Caz know after the car gets back. Cheers Greg
Some advice too Greg, get the original bolts that hold the water pipes to the block. Someone has replaced the allen headed originals with hex heads and there is a greater risk of them falling into the lower timing cover recess when you remove them (as Ian found out on Sunday). It's all over once a bolt falls in there as it will snag on the timing belt sproket. It's a belts, balancer, water pipes and timing shroud off job to recover it.
Will do. I actually dropped a bolt in there the day before it left, but fished it out with a magnet. Easily done. Note to self: Pack telescopic magnet into tool kit Cheers Greg
an even better magnet solution, greg... will handle any size recovery job as some of the telescopic jobs are not all that strong .. get a magnetic sump plug .. attach it to a strong but flexible length of rubber hose with a hose clamp .. and you will lift anything lost down below ..... works a treat ... lol..!!! ...
