I wanted to "refresh" my Z so I could attend local autocrosses, time trials, track days, test & tunes, and eventually vintage racing. Here are some pictures of my Mighty Z-car at some local events in South Florida.

At an autocross in September 2005...

This is a shot of my Z in the the pits at Homestead/Miami Speedway for the first autocross. I pulled up in a long row of Evo's without realizing it, but they were cool guys. I ended up coming in second place and won a trophy. I edged out a Porsche 944 and a Mazda MX3 but another Porsche 944 stomped me by 10 seconds for 1st place. I plced 132 out of 146 cars that raced. Sorry about the crappy picture.

At an autocross in Fort Pierce...

Here is a shot from a Fort Pierce autocross where a driving instructor is giving me some constructive criticism. I needed work on hand positioning, although the lack of power steering makes slow tight turns tough.

There I go through a back corner, taking the instructors advice I shaved 2 seconds off my first lap time!

Again in Fort Pierce, I ended up spinning out during two of my six runs. Other drivers and spectators told me my street tires were screaming throughout the entire course. Also, the light weight Z was easy to fishtail with pleanty of horsepower on tap for my lead foot. Sometimes you have to go slow down in order to go faster!

Unfortunately on the way back from Fort Pierce I lost 5th gear and reverse. Time to put my Z back up on jackstands take out my factory service manual and start reading up on transmissions. I think I may just need to bleed my clutch, down but not out!

So there was a Z Club of South Florida annual meet. Me, my wife, and my Mighty Z showed up about 2 hours early so we took some pictures, walked around, then bugged out. I still need to tear down my transmission because I still don't have 5th or R (I had to limp it down to the meet in 4th).

Drag racing for the first time at Moroso...

With the transmission fixed I went to Moroso Motorsports Park and tried my Z at drag racing during one of their open test and tune events. Car and Driver reported my stock Z would run the 1/4-mile in 18.4 seconds at 81 mph. My best time of the night was 17.1 seconds at 82.7 mph. I had a really good time and will try to do this once a month, there were awesome cars, hot chicks, and everyone there seemed really cool.

I took my Z to the Dyno In August 2006 to get a baseline on the engine before I start modifying it and upgrading it. I took some pictures too!

There was a new 350Z in the parking lot. Rusty's younger brother! Same ZNA...

I went to Japtrix in West Palm Beach for the dyno testing and Roger was freindly, professional and liked talking z-cars!

Another shot of the Mighty Z-car on the dyno. It is a mustang dyno. It is cool to see my Z at this angle because I normally see it either on the ground or 18-inches off the ground on jackstands in my garage.

The numbers! 123 max hp at the rear wheels. As you can see my air/fuel ratio at high RPMs is really really lean. Roger suggested changing out my fuel filters to start with and then I should notice a big difference in responsiveness but should also have my injectors serviced. He also ran a test on the dyno and said I should be OK for autocrossing, but my want to take care of starving my engine for fuel at high RPMs before I go back to the drag strip.

I participated in an autocross on 8-20-06 near the HomeStead Miami Speedway sponsored by the ER club. They put on a really well organized and fun even.

Here is a picture of the Mighty Z in the Pits. I drove it 2 hours down to the race, got in 4 runs, and drove home 2 hours all on one tank of gas! Talk about reliable too. There was only one car older than mine - a 1972 Datsun 510 race car. But everyone loved the Z and everyone had a cool Z story.

Out of 130 cars I finished 105th overall which is not too shabby, about middle of the pack. My transmission replacement, urethane bushing installation, AC removal, and new wheels and tires made my Z feel more sure footed. I run BSP because of the "backdating" rule SCCA has about some of my modifications. So I am in a class with modified Subaru WRX STi's. The Z could not keep up with these 300 hp 4wd monsters, I came in last in my class by almost 2 seconds. I am hoping with some work on my Z within BSP and work on driving skills I will trophy one of these times. But I did have a blast!

After completing the fuel injection system servicing, it was back to the dyno at Japtrix for more testing. Just the way Rusty was ideling and running, I was expecting maybe 10 more ponies...

I did pick up a couple more horses and lb/ft of torque, although nothing to write home about. I am still concerned about the air/fuel ratio. My next step is to install a fuel pressure guage after the engine compartment fuel filter and make sure the fuel pump is working properly. I dont get it, dravability (even at the high end of the power curve where the dyno shows I am lacking) seems fine...

Got back from the dyno and gave Rusty a bath.

There was an autocross in Hialeah so I registered and drove on down. On the way there a white Porsche 944 blew by me (he also blew by me on the course too!), It was Ernie, who I met later, who owned a couple early Zs and always liked them.

A shot in the pitts.

On the track.

I ended up with 5 runs, three of which, I spun out. As for a nice, clean, smooth, consistent line...I couldnt find my potty spot. It was a slick course and I kept kicking my back end around attempting to steer with the throttle. I ended up placing 4 outa 4 in my class. I did have a great time though.

Here is a shot from a professional photographer that was on his website. There is an action shot that i want to get...but apparently someone had already paid for this one. Its a good shot!

At the gas station back in Boca for a Diet Coke.

Participated in another autocross in Hialeah. It was a Toys for Tots charity event. I thought I was clever by bringing all car toys, apparently so were most of the other entrants. It was a great turnout and lots of fun.

Since my wife Shelley wasnt with me, and the set-up of the course was more long than wide, I have no on-track action shots of this race. I am working to fabricate a rear strut tie bar and a custom camera mount so I can get some good in-car video with my digital camera!

There were around 9 Z's registered, as always, I was driving the oldest Z. The Z guys were fun and there was lots of talking in the pits and the grid. The black 350Z pictured next to me beat me for a second place trophy by 0.007 seconds. I guess I zigged when I should have zagged!

I had another ride-along by an instructor and shaved another second or so off my time. With the increased seat time, help from the local instructors, and the Z on jackstands less (just some fine tuning), I can develop as a driver and start being more competative in BSP.

Time to go to School! This was an autocross school and I wanted to learn more about car set-up and driving technique. It was lots of fun, got in about 10 runs and met some cool people. Lots of compliments on Rusty...

A shot of the Z when I got to the parking lot. The staging area is being set up behind my Z.

I also fabbed up a camera mount from my custom rear strut bar so i could get some in-car camera action. My digital camera also takes movies but is pretty low resolution. The movies should come in handy for looking at shifting, and driver postion, but mostly something cool to email the link around and watch at work! Autocrossing Video

Took the bull by the horns and bailed out of work early to go to Moroso Motorsports Park and participate in a tenst and tune. I wanted to see how the new wheels and tires, removing the AC, fuel injector sevicing, did to help my times.

Here is my Z in line. Lots of cool cars and trucks. I am setting up my Z for autocrossing and eventually time trials and HDPE events, but drag racing is a real hoot, banging through the gears is fun!

And the timing tower through the interior of my Z. The winshield, clean when I arrived, is now covered in fluid, rubber, clutch, and brake dust from the runs. It is a great way to get the Z dirty - beats the hell out of getting dusty in the garage!

My time slip. I am running almost a full second faster than when I took the Z to Moroso the first time. I also weighed the car and it came in at 2,650 lbs (with a full tank of gas and tools). Is rust considered weight reduction?

After I got done with the brakes I wanted to go somewhere to safely go from 100 to 0 to test them out and decided on another Moroso Test-n-tune night. Couldnt break into the 15s even with the wind at my back! Maybe if the track were pointed downhill...