turbonat240

I just found out I have the same problem. One full degree more neg. camber on the passenger side for me. I really feel stupid for not checking carefully for this BEFORE doing my coilovers. Now they're all pretty and powdercoated... damn I thought I was done with that !! I'm not sure one could say it's a manufacturing defect unless it was observed on a brand new, unmolested car. I know my 240z climbed a sidewalk a long time ago (don't ask!). Back then I replaced only the passenger side strut with another used one cause it was visibly bent (probably 5 deg. neg. camber). I don't have any memories about the next alignment but I remember having the straightness of the body checked and it was OK. Now I think the driver side may have bent with a bit more positive camber but not enough to be noticed with the naked eye when you have 3-4 inches of wheel gap! Fast forward 10 years to now and I wonder why this didn't pop in my mind when I was fabricating the coilovers... I believe there is quite a few s30 Z's that have been in small incidents that can bend a strut over their 40 years of life. Now it's something to look into when buying used struts. I remember having seen in a thread here that some people weld a piece of steel to close the gap between the strut tube and the back of the spindle. Supposedly this can close the gap with the shrink induced by the welding giving a bit more negative camber. Closing this gap by about 0.040'' could be enough to get both my struts equal. Or maybe I should do it right and go measure some parts and find a ''good'' strut and then redo the coilover work on it...

That's really a nice build-up ! I'm actually shocked about how fast you did all this work! How many hours per week would you estimate that you were working on the project during the last 6 months or so ? Can't wait to see a little video of the car running!

Hey Brady, your car looks great, I like the wheels. I remember that I bought a vertical defrost hatch from you probably around 2002-03 back when I was starting my Z project. Guess what, my 240z is dismantled since then! So I can understand that motivation is not always at a peak! Maybe this can motivate you a little bit: get her running soon and drive her to my place to see my project 240z / VQ35 swap... I live in Laval now. I'm a member of the ZOOM club since 2000 but I rarely participate in their events (I just don't take the time...and I'd prefer to go with my Z!) Anyways, keep up the updates!

That's a nice stance! I love the look of non flared s30's with wide wheels and this is what I'm working on too (17x9 all around with 245/40 is the plan). Congrats on the hard work you have done so fast! I wish I had the same motivation, I just don't spend enough hours in the garage... I just noticed the disc rubbing on the front LCA issue. I e-mailed Dave at AZC to know if I was gonna run into the same issue. I have a '73 240z and my brake kit is the 5 lug alum hub conversion with 12.2'' discs. He told me to grind the LCA as needed. So I did a quick mockup since I thought I was gonna have a problem too but it's quite different on my car... just as I write this I realise that it's because you have some roll center adjusters (''bumpsteer spacers'') in your setup! This gets me thinking: I don't know if you feel comfortable to drive hard and put some heat in your discs since they're damn nearly touching the rubber boots. I would be worried. Maybe not on the street but I plan to someday use these brakes to their full potential on the track. Nobody ever had a problem with ball joint boots melting or is there an easy solution to this?

Great ! Thanks for the picture. I guess when I 'll go exchange mine I could check for the type of diff with the color of the oil? Red for the clutch type and regular oil for the torsen ?

thanks for the reply. after 2 hours of searching on mostly subaru sites here is the list that I have come up with: year / ratio / type / painted marking on case 2004 / 3.9 / clutch / HK? 2005 / 3.9 / clutch / ? 2006 / 3.54 / clutch / HX <---this is what I got 2007 / 3.54 / torsen / ? 2008 / unsure / torsen / H3 (different than older years rear cover shape for temp sensor) 2009 / 3.9 / torsen / ?

I just brought home a STI R180. It looks very recent and clean with no rust on the outer casing. I was told by the seller that it's a JDM 2007 3.54 so I was pretty sure from some reseach on the web that it should be a torsen type. I decided to open the rear cover just to be sure and this is what I saw Is this some clutch packs that I can see in the hole on the right? The stamping of 39:11 confirms that it's a 3.54 but I want a torsen and I'm not sure this is what I got. Can anyone confirm this is a clutch type center or even better post some pics of a torsen center from a STI R180 ? Thanks guys!

If you need that much force to squeeze the hub housing back between the poly bushings doesn't it create some friction/ stiction in the assembly ? Old thread revival.... at least you can see that I use the search function!

You know you own a Datsun when the muscle car specialist that does your bodywork says he'll never do another one of these cause the sheetmetal is sooo thin!!

Soooo True !! Mine is 12 years in the making.... and still doesn't run !

It's probably a bit nose heavy but it makes for an awesome sleeper! I can only imagine it's probably the best sounding B13 sentra ever!

Happy birthday a bit late. I wish you a great new job for the new year! I own my z since 2000 and it's been dismantled for 10 years (don't know if this is a record for an on-going project ). The project has been on/off and changed direction a couple of times and now it's nearly in the exact same state as yours. I feel just like the others that say that if you let go of your dream car at this point you would regret it in the future. I have been through the same reflexion a few times and I could have just sold my stuff, bought a used 350z, slap a few bolt-ons and drive happily BUT...I know that for the rest of my life everytime I would encounter a 240z I would regret not having kept mine Be patient and I'm sure you'll finish this thing and be sooo happy you kept it! Here is mine. I'm in the middle of my coilovers fabrication. Engine /tranny are bolted in the car and I have the 5 lug AZC brakes on the shelf...

Any updates on your project? Is the weather nice enough to drive a Z year-round in tennessee ? Just curious

I'm about to slot the strut tower holes on my s30. I know that the gains are limited by the lack of space inside the tower but I don't want to go for camber plates at the moment and any camber I can get for free I will take! I 'll grind some thickness off the(stock) top mounts to get as much movement as possible. Now my question : is it OK to slot the holes in diagonal towards the rear a little bit to gain some caster too ? The way I see it any gain in caster will create an angle that will have the stock top mounts and lower control arm bushing working in a certain amount of torsion. But how much is too much?

Honestly I tried to check the stiffness of the stock bushings just by putting back the spindle pin through one and prying it. They seem not too soft as there is not that much thickness of rubber. But... while everything is apart I wish to do as much as I can (and want to) upgrade-wise so that I won't be doing it again in a couple of years. Especially around the spindle pins !!

Nice. Thanks for the feedback!

Here is what I tried first, hammer on lug nut (guess which one!). Then I went to the hardware store and bought a threaded bar 3/4 x 12'' nut and washers. I cut the thin round top of an old lug nut, welded the bar on it and grinded two flats on the lug nut for it to slide but not spin inside the old rectangular steel tube I had laying around (10'' long). I put a lot of grease on the bar and inside the tube before I started turning. At first the tube deformed under the pressure but didn't go past this point and I had to squeeze the tube with vise grips to prevent the lug nut from opening the tube and spin inside After a couple of loud ''booms'' and quite a bit of wrench turning I got them out !! And they are in pretty good shape so I'll re-use them along with the locking studs (on which I'll have to clean the end of the threads a bit). Just as I was finished with the second pin the threads on the 3/4 bar were so ''eaten'' away by the pressure on them that the nut gripped on the threads and the whole thing started turning... The tool is scrap but it got the job done!! I'm not fully decided yet on the bushings I'll use for the control arms(rubber or poly). My concern is the noise and harshness. I'm gonna do my coilovers install soon and I'm keeping the stock top insulators for this very reason. I guess I can go with poly bushings at the bottom since the top mounts will dampen a good part of the noise? And do they skweek a lot? If someone could share his thoughts / experiences regarding this...

Thanks. After finally understanding what I was looking at it took 5 minutes to get them out. Then about 3 hours for the spindle pins themselves . I made myself a puller for less than 10$ and all went smoothly. I got lucky as the threads of my puller lasted just long enough to do both pins(even with a lot of grease) but it's completely destroyed now! Photobucket is not coooperating right now so I'll post some pics later tonight.

Thanks for the quick answers . So if I understand well the locking bolt (stud) goes completely through the strut housing and is locking the pin from the side ? And thanks for the trick about the old lug nuts. I'll probably try this !

Thanks deja . I had exactly the same questions as Pharaohabq. I guess we'll have to look for the 350z pump specs sometime !

I'm starting to ''play'' with the spindle pins on my '73 and I'm also wondering how the hell is the center locking bolt supposed to be removed?? I removed the nut and washers but then I thought how am I gonna unscrew it... I'm not so keen on taking the vise grips right on the threads. So I got my TIG out, screwed the nuts back until flush with the end of the threads, did a nice hot tack weld on the end, sprayed it with liquid wrench and came back 6 hours later and nothing is moving. Well I felt it move a bit but like twisting like it was gonna break! I don't want it to break and have to drill it out.... is there a trick to it? I just took a picture and I think I can see that the threads don't even go all the way up into the strut housing. It looks more like a stud coming from the inside even though this makes no sense. Is there something I'm not getting ? I have been reading for days about the spindle pin removal but this little detail is not covered in any tread. Thanks !

Nice car! What camber plates are you using? And I see only 2 bolts holding them to the towers, no potential problems with that?

What offset did you need to get that fit with your brakes setup? And did you need 8'' springs in the back to clear those wide tires?

cool! would be nice if you could share a small video....it sure must be fast!

Nice! Looks like a bit of an easyer fit than in a S30. Maybe I should have kept my white '82... lol.