Twoeightnine

Two here please! Thanks for your hard work! Twoeightnine

Did he rocket off the line, smash into the timing display, and roll gently over the line? Is that how its done? Twoeightnine

Excellent statements Michael. My vote for a stickey to compliment John C's draft about really wanting to "build" the car. Engineering challenge "tinkering" would be IMO the greatest draw. The not excelling at anything, (stock at least), is the deal. There potential for greatness does exist and is the appeal. Done right the car can be a toy on the way to work, a week end warrior on the way to Sonic, a track dog or an endless source of tinkering enjoyment. Not to mention a place to toss ones excess cash. It would'nt be the worst hobby/habbit a person could have. But If one wants to dump an iron V8 in a sorta clean Z so he might have a fun grocery getter. Well after time, it winds up being an old cranky car thats been modified and is hell to work on . An athlete that made a career on steroids. Ground up stock resorations grab a handsome price. Clean custom ground up rods done correct grab some dough. You get what you get when you do what you do. Any car that gets a tig and putty makeover, a shoehorned block and 50 K of foot stomping has been on a depreciating road. Any car. When it comes to tinker time however, cant hardly beat the bang for the buck with these little sleepers. Have fun, put your foot in it, or polish it and show it. You built it, enjoy.

Grumpyvette That was so sweet! You sound more like a true motorhead/sports car guy to me! I could just see your hands shaking as you typed in your explanation of your love of nos! I have used the juice in my hard core drag days but having some on hand for the "moment" while "sporting" had not crossed my mind. That vette vid really shows the contrast when they hit the spray. The only comparisons I ever had was the time slip numbers. Hearing it kick like that was very exciting! Mike, you sound very intelligent and refined in your game. Thats also very respectable. Im dailed for a little bad boy aspect to the Z. A surprise or two and a little class. A surprise or two.. sounds like nos would fall into that catagory. I'll have to work on the class part.ha! You asked for details? Well I feel that a project car that is not a type specific build (dragster, oval, road) should reflect ones personality and or needs. Should contain as much balance as possible and be given the most and best that time and money can provide with the eye on balance. Obviously, to reflect my personality I chose a ford small block. What a surprise. This engine is old school configured to compliment the 70s feel of the first gen Zs. Although N/A, nothing is spared on this all aluminum (minus block) very angry motor. The standard fare for the rest, t-5, ground up restro body, roll bar, buckets, four point, 2.5 coilovers, five lug, brakes, 255/235 rubber, LSD. It has three weeks untill paint, but it will sport a what the hell blood red finish and a F/U racing stripe that matches the gun metal five spoke wheels. Now I have to add NOS to the list! Thats ok, reassembly is the fun part. And hitting the spray every once and awhile sounds perfect! Twoeightnine

Mike.. It wont be long now. Im ahead of schedule at this point for a March 1st completion date. I will be more than happy to share. NOS would be good to have on board for an occasion or two. Yes? I must say that when watching that video, it gave me chills. Love that sound. One can hear the H/P. Wouldn't have to measure it. Highly motivating. Very nice. Twoeightnine

Wow!! Thats an awesome NOS commercial! It tells us, a hot car with a good nos system can blister the street. It convinced me to consider removing the plugs on the nos inserts of my performer intake and bolt one up!!! Remember power to weight ratios? Love the sound of raw HP!!! Gotta love that!!!

Guess I didn't say which monday! Suspension on the way, Z on the stands. If you beat me to it, let me know if had any specific problems. I'll photo the process and pm them if you would like. good luck. Twoeightnine

Welcome mannyvig. Here's what i did. Decide what you want from your car, (race, street, show, ect..). this will define the equipment that you will need to get you there. Make a list from top to bottom of what you will need to do to the selected car. After that, this site has 90% of the answers to the questions that will come to mind. Although still evolving, all of the basic questions, that you have, have been discussed and are published within. Use the search feature located at the top of the page. Search, take notes, and print off all of the pertinent material. Reasearch and reasearch for a few months untill your know what you want and what it's going to take to get you there. When you get stuck, the folks in the forum have emassed a tremendous volume of knowledge and are invaluable. If you learn something new, please share. Your original questions are a little too vague to be answered with out generating even more questions. Cruise the site, search with your questions, dig in, and have fun! Look forward to hearing from you. Twoeightnine.

Hey 440Man. Check out Brians Garage. The part list is in there. I'll let you know how it goes. http://www.geocities.com/bry593/coilover/coilover.htm

Howdy 440Man. I have built a few rods in the past but not a Z. I can certainly thank jmortensen for tossing out the required info. Info good. Knowing that the spring required little or no preload made the task a breez. The fact that I intend to lower the Z only one inch makes it even better. No tubes to cut, no insert procurment issues. I'll tell you , however, when it comes to wheels it gets real interesting. Basicly the offset of the wheel makes all the difference. That is for another thread as well. "Search" and you will see what I mean. There are a gazillon posts, mostly containing theology, on the subject. Some want their tires in the well, some out. one thing for sure is most folks want as much rubber as possible. If you are staying with a modest tire and install 2.5 inch coil overs, you would be hard pressed (barring a radical wheel design) to hit anything. The stock springs are the problem. Their big! I will order on monday and be more than happy to share. The parts that I will start with are readily avalible. Should not be a problem. Do some searches on your lowering issue. It's straight forward as well but very specfic. Thanks to all. Twoeightnine

2126 Thanks for the shout!Agressive set up. I'll take a look at the pics in a moment. The lowering does take care of the bind issue. Yes?Glad to see you chim in in the happy zone with the eight inch. I want only one inch down, old school, sports rod. Still, offset dependent, 245/45/17 has been hung on the 12 inch coilover. Wheel style is the deal. Yes? Thats for another thread. I very much apreciate your input. I just want to begin very soon and want room to grow. Looking for balance, bang for the buck, and a quick build. Have the budget, not so much the time. I'll give you a shout back after I check out you pics. Many thanks for your time. Greatly apreciated.

DaleMX Sounds like what I have learned, as long as your two inch dimension that you spoke of is with the spring at rest? Doing yours anytime soon? The 10 inch length seems to be the pick in the mid 200 rates. is that what I am gathering? My car is sitting there staring at me waiting for the springs. If I beat you to it I'll let you know how it goes. Unless I hear otherwise by monday, it will be 10 inch 225F/250R with an extra long collar kit set at approx 2.5 inches below the adjustment collar snug on the perches at rest. Any objections? Thanks to all. Twoeightnine.

Thank you jmortensen. I had noticed, in what I believe was one of your posts, the tie wrap mod and the "do not concern yourself with the loose spring" issue. I agree that with the right insert, and not going completly airborn, that the spring will never see itself flop about unless jacked up. In my time asa NASCAR crew member I do remember seeing many a flopping spring when they were on the jacks. Tight spring rates though! Dont think I want to push a spring rate to 300 just to hang an eight inch spring. Am looking for the elusive "balanced" street brawler/cruiser. Shes apart, want to suspend first and then move on with the rest. Thanks for the heads up. I'll search for the happy factor on the eights but see that a tight tail is probably required. Much apreciated, Twoeightnine

jmortensen Got to love it when one hears common sense! Being that the stock tubes/springs have some preload, i assumed that the new coilovers would require some as well. Being that I have significantly raised the spring rate, up to snug should be a great starting point! Good call! Longer collars w/ about 2 inches or more below the adjustment nut? Sounds like it may wind up landing pretty low on the strut, but not a bad thing. I think that the long collars are eight inch which would "technically' allow for a change to a shorter spring later as well. Good stuff. I feel better already. Any one else have a comment on eight inch rears at about 250 rate? Thanks jmortensen. Bulls eye!

2126 Thanks. I take it that you have the 8 inch on the back? Are you not running a 2.5 dia spring? Are you happy with the rear spring? Whats the rate? Any bind? lowered? I have seen many a post claiming 245/45/17 with 12 inch spring. Also i hear complaints about ground controls lack of instructions. Have you tried it? Any one? Many thanks

Howdy to all. The above post was in response to information on one of Johnc's FAQ pages concerning coil over questions. It was probably posted incorrectly and landed here. The questions still remain as I have not seen any specific dimensions published. In basic, converting first generation struts to adjustable coil overs seems a fairly straight forward task. I have even seen photographs (Brians Garage) of it being performed. The method of locating the welded ring is another story. Has any one published dimensions as to where the welded ring that the threaded collar rests on should be? If using a twelve inch spring, could one assume to move up the strut this dimension two inches for a ten inch spring? And four inch for the eight? And most important, are all involved happy with the performance of an eight inch spring. I have decided on the 245/45/17 tire option and feel that an eight inch spring will not be required. however if eights work fine at 225F 250R, It wouldn't hurt to have options for the future. Right? Thanks to all, Twoeightnine

{In response to JohnC's Coil Over FAQ:} Good afternoon sir. Always good to see your comments. Facts are good. Disscussions are good for development but I'm building a nice Z, not trying to re-invent the wheel. My questions are.. the 5.25 dimension that you mention. Is that good for 8 inch spring, 10, 12? Are these dimensions published if they are different? Surely they are. I have done the math but, with such a tight fit, I would like to have the threaded collar length right with little left to extend beyound the adjustment nut. Minus the clearance gains, did you like the performance of your 8 inch springs? Im leaning towards the eights for wheel choice. My struts are ready to cut, want to weld only one time. Many thanks for all that you have already taught. Twoeightnine.

Zerrari GTO Thanks for the shout back. Looks like you have plenty of local interest in your rotisserie. Was looking to save a little time. With your pics though I should have no problem fabricating one up. I am an Engineer by trade but work keeps me so busy that when I can buy a fix, I appreciate the value. Obviously you would recomend Reaction Reasearch. Was looking at the subtle Z package. If I may, I would like to e-mail you a question or two and dive off of this thread. Thanks for the pics and info.

Thats what Im talking about! Are you willing to ship? I'll definately take er off your hands. Im just starting to strip one down and that seems the best way going. Good luck with the rest, looking good. P.S Are you going to use a Reaction Eng. kit?