So, in my search for a new truck, I knew I would have to travel.  The truck I wanted was a Dodge 3500 with a Diesel and a 6-speed manual and there’s only about 60 in the whole country.  There are 3 types of these trucks: 1. normal guy who gets the truck, takes care of it(very rare). 2. Construction guy that uses and abuses it(most of them). 3. and then there are the Hot Shot truckers (rare).  These guys roll on the miles and take amazing care of their trucks, similar to the life of a Big-Rig, lotsa of miles on the ODO, but the truck’s in great condition.  I set out in search of an Ex-Hot Shot truck.  I found the one I wanted in Alabama, only 70 miles from every single interstate that runs through that state.   I got a flight and headed down to get my new truck.  I had to ride with the owners 71 yearold father who drove like a bat out of hell to get there.

Features of my new Racing Tow Rig: Dodge 3500 Cummins Diesel, 6-Speed manual, Bullydog controller, 5th wheel and gooseneck, 115 gallon auxiliary fuel tank and 5 inch stainless straight pipe exhaust.

Oh yeah, and 265 THOUSAND miles.  I did a carfax and found out that the last guy to own this truck put 190k on it in 1 year and 4 months….with the mods the miles and the HUGE fuel tank…this guy was a hotshot trucker for sure and now I got his truck.

Short story long, I bought it, drove it home and got 24mpg through Tennessee and Kentucky.  Here she is.

Check out the mud flap in the center

Aux tank that when full, can take my from Columbus, Ohio all the way to LA without stopping for fuel.

Cant wait to get started this year.

Dennis

So I got in contact with the guys over at Competition Clutch to get a replacement for my current 6-puck unsprung high torque clutch and lightened flywheel I got from them 2 years ago.  This clutch has been in my car for 2 seasons and has performed amazing, so why change what works.

When I spoke with them, they offered to let me try the new twin-disk clutch they just recently developed for the 350z.  Are you kidding, heck yeah Ill try it.  When it came in I got right to work.  It looks great.  Its my first twin disk, so I’m sure i’ll love it.

Thanks again to Competition Clutch for the help.

Ok guys, this is it………the 350z diff is officially installed into my 240sx.

The first thing to understand is that you will have to fabricate to get the diff into the car.

The test fit of the z33 diff into s14 subframe didn’t go well.  As you can see in the picture below, the stock diff fit very well into the subframe.

This is the way the z33 diff fit into the stock s14 subframe.  The location of the z33 diff input flange is about 1.5 to 2 inches away from where it should be and the bolts holes are 1 inch further apart than the s14.

Asyou can see, it needed to be about 1.5 inches closer to the subframe.

So, I cut and welded the s14 subframe to fit the z32 diff.

I cut out and used the stock nuts that were located inside the stock s14 diff.

Now the z33 diff is fitting into the s14 subframe perfectlly.  What about the rear cover mounting point you ask?  Well, the one mounting point on the z33 diff lines up perfectly with one of the rear s14 subframe mounts, so no modding necessary.

So, I installed the subframe back into the car and installed the z33 diff into the car to make sure everything fits.  The diff fits perfectly, it clears the swaybar and ebrake cables.  I am very happy with the location of the input flange.

I fit the driveshaft into the diff and as I had expected, the flange for the diff needs to be drilled to fit the smaller s14 driveshaft flange.  The center of the driveshaft fits perfectly into the z33 diff input flange, so you just have to drill the smaller s14 bolt pattern, as seen in the picture.

The next step is to have custom axles made.  I am doing custom axles, so I can get stronger ones for competition.

Step 1: Buy the Differential…..DONE

The first thing here is to understand that there are a few types of differentials to choose from.   There is a 3.3 ratio from all the automatics, 350z and g35s.  There are VLSD forms of both of these…not 100% on the 3.3s though.

I chose the 3.53 diff out of a base model…..BIG MISTAKE because all the aftermarket diffs require the output flanges out of the VLSD, so you might as well start with the VLSD, its a little more money, but less than buying new output flanges. My mistake, but I got a diff from an 07 with almost 0 miles on it, so whatever.

Chris from KAAZ is really giving me a helping hand getting the correct output flanges.  The customer service at KAAZ is great and it’s worth dealing with them for sure, and if you give them a call to tell them they are awesome, tell them you heard it from me.  Back to the story.

OK, so I heard the backing plate from the 240sx will bolt to the 350z, NOT TRUE, not in my case anyway.  I will say the dimensional placement of the single rear mounting bolt is in the same location as the 240sx, so I think it’ll fit. The front mounting flanges are about an inch wider that the 240, so I will be making a bracket that bolts to the subframe and the diff will bolt the the bracket.  And as far as the input flange goes, I am guessing you can drill out the same bolt pattern for the 240 drive shaft. I will let you know tomorrow.

So, Im prepping my car for FD now and I found a few things I figured they wouldnt like.  One was the battery tie-down.  All I have to say about all of this is………….Im putting this in all caps so you will remember. BUILD YOUR CAR ACCORDING TO FD RULES SO YOU DONT HAVE TO DO THINGS TWICE.

Before

After

I understand, I like it better this way.

Well, I either have to fabricate a 350z diff into my car, or find a LSD that’ll fit into a q45 differential.  The q45 diff will fit pretty easily into an S chassis.  But I really want the 350z diff………….there are pros and cons for each, but I think with the work of the 350z diff done upfront, it’ll be a better solution.

As soon as I figure out what I am doing, I will post the complete solution.

Dosent she sound sweet?  And the final result is………

2009 was a great year and I learned a ton.  I did alot of smaller events and believe it or not I was much more stressed at the smaller events because I knew I could win.!!

I thought this was a cool picture of me taken by Changzilla…

http://s3mag.com/blog/?p=1113