seattlejester

I think the 6061 was the cheapest offered, I think it was less then 10$ for 2 ft of 1.5 inch bar stock. Picking it up today if things go well. Looks like the dimensions are ~1.5 wide and either 3.5 or 4.5 inches long depending on the type of bushing used according to energy suspensions for the clamp diagram. From the same post that was linked, I was told long end links and a 1/2 inch spacer, it might seem like it is close at full droop, but once one the ground I think you gain clearance if memory serves.

Depends on how rusty the studs are. If they all cooperate, a couple hours. If a couple breaks it could be a little more irritating. If you want to be prepared, get a couple extra studs and a left hand drill bit set or easy out and a drill. If your car is really lowered the header will be your lowest point on the car. I paid a muffler shop $100 to bring the collector up so that the exhaust tucks into the trans tunnel.

That might be a little more convenient, but my local metal supplies is close to my work and has 0.5 inch aluminum in stock in a variety of widths .

That sounds fancy, I plan on just ordering up 0.5 inch 6061 aluminum bar stock and cutting it to width or length if I can get one of the measurements.

Mind taking the dimensions of the spacer you end up making? I'm planning on ordering some stock, would be nice if I got at least two of the sides right, right off the bat.

Apparently it is recommended to do so to prevent binding, so the answer seems to be yes. 1/2 inch spacers are recommended from other forum posts. Edit: Post 42 http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/122993-adjustable-rear-lca/page-3

Something interesting I stumbled across http://www.eng.fsu.edu/~jthagard/vlsd.htm Reposted below as I have found more and more posts disappearing off the internet. "Let me impart some of my wisdom onto you. Have you ever heard someone tell you, "It can't be done" or "It will not work?" To me, that is music to my ears. Too often that means the other guy was just too lazy or too stupid to achieve the desired end results. Don't always accept things for face value. With that in mind, I began my journey of doing something "that can't be done." Granted, modifying cv halfshafts is not rocket science, but I was told that special shafts would have to be made and I have found a way to use OEM pieces to make this conversion work. We just won't consider the spacer that has to be machined as non-OEM stuff. WHOOPS! Anyway, we know that with the VLSD we are forced to use the input shafts that slide into the diff because they are special to the VLSD. We also know that the VLSD shafts are way too long to use in the 240Z. Here was my philosophy in doing this conversion. I needed to use the VLSD input shafts for the diff side and I wanted to use the 280zxT companion flange and outer CV on the stub axle side. The 280zxT companion flange can be used with the 240Z stub axle and allows for the outer CV from the 280zxT to bolt to it. Now, here is where the secret comes in! I needed to find a shaft that used the race/cage design on the diff side and was compatible with the input shaft and that had the tripod design on the stub axle side and was compatible with the 280zxT outer CV. What was the magical shaft, 84-89 AMC Eagle 6 cylinder front CV. I will need to get the specific part #'s so that you can do this swap if you want. Let me just put down some info off the top of my head for now until I get the part #s with some explanatory pics. On the diff side, you will use the input shaft and the cage from the VLSD, I believe it is a #175 'cage.' You will use the #174 'race' that comes on the 84-89 AMC Eagle 6 cylinder CV. Don't worry, they are compatible. The #174 and #175 'race' only differ in the ID and # of splines. On the stub axle side, you will want to use the tripod from the 84-89 AMC Eagle 6 cylinder front CV and the case from the 280zx turbo. The same is true for this side, even though they have different part #'s they are compatible. Do not try to use the 4 cylinder CV stuff, it will not work. I will try to update with part #'s and a better explanation soon. This should be a good start for now. Here is the specific information to do the VLSD swap ***Input shaft(diff)- must use from VLSD ***Cage(diff side)- #175 cage(from VLSD) ***Race(diff side)- #174 race (from 80-87 AMC Eagle 4WD 4cyl) ***Shaft- OEM Replacement Axle # 87-7699-0 (from 80-87 AMC Eagle 4WD 4cyl) (from 80-83 AMC Eagle 4WD 6cyl) ***Complete Tripod(wheel side)- # 87-7801-0 (from 80-87 AMC Eagle 4WD 4cyl) ***Tripod Housing(wheel side)- 280zxt So, using the AMC shaft the #174 race is placed on the shaft for the diff side and is compatible with the #175 cage. The complete tripod from the 80-87 AMC Eagle 4WD 4cyl fits onto the shaft and is also compatible with the 280zxt tripod housing. Whala....you have the shaft that works. The shaft is 13" long. As I said before you will want to use the 240z stub axle with the 280zxt companion flange and the passenger side will require a .5" spacer. Good Luck." I have more or less already gone my route, but for others it may be a viable option. Edit: Apparently already on here. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/16316-vlsd-flange-pics-for-refernce/

Sorry for the lack of clarification. Long power axle side still has its retaining clip in the differential captive as designed. This is for the non engaging side. The longer engaging side will be reusing the infiniti input. The shorter one on the picture, as pictured it retains its ring when removed. My original thought was that the ring should be retained in the differential, but seems like it comes out with the axle. Since I plan on replacing the shorter side with just a 280zx axle and forgoing the input, I was thinking it would be easier to have the c-clip in the differential, turns out you just have to have the c-clip on the axle and it retains the axle in the void. Thanks for those links, it looks like I might need a thinner ring or maybe a deeper groove machined if the spring doesn't compress enough to clear the splines.

Kind of similar, mine are round and have AN breathers and baffles. A little bit cheaper then those as well.

Hmm I'll have to play around with that. It was a real tight fit with just the axles as you said, I'm not sure how nice it is going to be with the spring clip as well.

Yes I should have clarified, putting a 280zx turbo axle into a VLSD on the driver side. Nope, I've just been playing with the round wire spring clip in the VLSD. I pulled it off the original stub and put it in where it is supposed to rest and realized that it wasn't correct. Diff is out of the car so it was pretty easy to remove. I'm planning on putting it onto the zx axle and then hoping to get it to seat without much fuss. I'm not sure how nicely it will go in being that one side is spring loaded. The groove for the ZX axle also doesn't look as deep as the infiniti axle.

I'm not sure if I am explaining this using the correct term, but the gasket has a valley that it sits in, it is not a flat gasket. 7mgte valve cover The edges of the flange are also rounded to I imagine prevent it from cutting into the gasket. Machining the flange would expose more of the gasket and I imagine could cause it to fold over or not be retained as nicely. The front would definitely be off limits as it seals against the camshaft, the rear I guess could be milled flat with the hope of not exposing too much of the gasket. And then further machined round to prevent gasket cutting. I think the plan of action is to install it and pull it down on the head, if I feel resistance, I am going to pull it off and try a newer gasket, if that doesn't work then straps or bolting down onto something with gradual heat, and if all that fails probably a trip to my local machine shop to have them throw it on their mill or belt sander or what not to flatten it out.

So apparently with VLSD's the retaining clip is supposed to come out with the axle and it is supposed to stay with the axle on the drivers/shorter side. The cavity in the differential is quite a large expanse, nowhere for the spring clip to sit, it just ends up kind of bouncing around in there. When it is on the axle it acts as a stop to prevent the axle from pulling out. The many many pictures I found seems to indicate this as well as the fact that the diagram shows a distinct lack of the c-clip in just the images showing just the differential parts on the one side.

^Oops, RebekahsZ raises a good point I forgot, a 245 is on the wider side for an 8 inch rim and depending on manufacturer you are going to have a bit of bulge on top of rim width.

Very very cool. If height is a concern, a flush mount unit would be pretty useful. The dyno shop I went to had a 4 post lift flush mounted to lift cars onto the dyno. They had some stanced/slammed cars that came in and had no problem getting them on. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55006 Has a pretty nice center lift. Anyways, would be very cool to see how it goes!

Motorsport auto is also only about 30 minutes away, wouldn't be getting the best deal, but you could pick it up right away if they have it in stock.

Sure thing, there are some pretty good calculators online, but as mentioned, some manufacturers vary in what they consider width, I would call them and ask for a tech person and just ask what it is lip to lip and such to make sure it clears. With coilovers with smaller diameter springs and perches you should have some leeway, although that is a pretty big tire size to tuck under the car.

I can take a look the next time, I do recall the standard sizes being like 14 or 16 inches though. A factory bucket may indeed be more or less something you would end up wanting.

I have been meaning to visit a shop close by. Have a hip measurement side to side?

In theory 8 inch +0 offset = 4 inch of backspacing 8 inch +6 offset ~ 4.25 backspacing In practice, since backspacing is measure from the hub and an 8 inch rim is actually closer to 9 inches wide lip to lip for a lot of manufacturers 8 inch +0 offset = 4.5 backspacing 8 inch +4 offset = 4.66 backspacing 8 inch + 6.35 offset = 4.75 backspacing You can always call them and ask for the physical dimensions. The iron cross wheels are 14x6 + 10 offset In theory it should be roughly 3.5 inches of backspacing, but as you point out in reality it is closer to 4. Just an FYI, diamond racing has had a few reports of wheels being out of round on occasion. Bart and bassett (sp?) also make similar wheels in similar price ranges.

Given how much the k20 power curve keeps climbing, would love to see a built bottom end reving to the moon. Hang in there!

I think the point is though that it isn't all that necessary. It is nice if there was sufficient meat left for those chasing the dragon to do so, but the only underlying reason to not run the Vtec killer type of deal is insufficient torque down low, with a 2 liter there is a noticeable difference, once you shift to a 2.4 liter and up the compression less of a difference, and I imagine with a 2.8 liter 6-cylinder there would be even less of a difference. The few guys I know who did it went back, but that is because they were both base k20a3 cars. Relatively low compression, daily driven, you miss the 30-50 tq down low off the line. With the L6 I don't think that is much a concern given how traditionally flat those torque curves are. Would be interesting to see, but I'm not sure interesting would be enough to warrant that much of an investment given how the head flows enough up top and should rev to try and save torque off the line. With all that aside, I would love to see a comparison, would be quite interesting.

The local z shop said that a lot of people don't fit the hatch gasket correctly, he says with a ton of clamps it takes him about 4 hours to ensure a good tight fit including hatch adjustments and copious dollar bill checks. Personally Mine never sat quite right either. I just ended up moving the exhaust to the side. It felt like a never ending chase. Good luck on your search!

Seems like you have a level head, thanks for not taking it to personally. Lots of good people and help available, and if you need to reach out more, take a look and then come back with more information and lots of pictures and others can chime in. On reflection, I think I saw a little bit of my old self in this situation, wished someone would have come and poked some holes in my chassis and told me to hold on or wait. I thought I knew what I was doing and it turned out ok in the end, but it took a while to get there.

Those look quite sturdy, hopefully tube was used? That is interesting to think about, essentially you are lowering the shock mount and the dampening takes place lower in the body. Not sure if there is any effect, but fun to think about.