Phantom

I put my 1977 280Z on a set of truck scales a few years ago with the following results. The car has a complete leather, dynamated, 500 watt sound system interior, LS1/T56 conversion, MSA Aero II ground effects & 3/4 tank of gas. Front - 1,440 LBs Rear - 1,560 Lbs Add a 240 lb driver and the weights go to: Front - 1,500 Lbs Rear - 1,740 Lbs As you can see by the above numbers, 75% of the drivers weight ends up being supported by the rear axle. Put in two people and it gets even more pronounced toward tail heavy. The driver/passenger weight distribution will be consistently the same among all S30 coupes,and probably S130 Coupes. It will be less pronounced in the 2+2 versions where the driver sits further forward of the rear axle.

Jon, Yeah, you're right as usual. Ma bad. The torque tube is set up with a slight angle but evidently it's the right one as I've had no issues with howling or vibration. I do get some noise but its always been minimal.

I got a bit creative and used a baseball bat on my rear fenders. Wrapped a towel around the handle, inserted the handle end up on top of my rear tire and then, using the ire as the pivot point, pullled up on the fat end of the bat. I worked my way carefully across the top of the fender opening moving about an inch at a time. It rolled the inner lip up a bit and also stretched the fender out minutely. No paint damage which was the goal because the car had fresh paint at the time. I still get a little contact on really hard bumps on the passenger side if I have a passenger in the car. If it's just me, no issues. This was done when I had the stock suspension. If I'd had coil overs at the time I'd have gone with an 8" wide wheel with about a +10 offset.

Photos of 225/50-16 Dunlop Direzzas on 16x7 wheels with 0 offset on a 1977 280Z. 0 Camber.

Never had this issue but then I have the torque tube set-up so there is no angle on mine. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Also on #3 check the front differential mount. They are notorious for degrading over time and needing replacement. You will get a "clunk" with nearly every shift after a while. Do it before you twist the rear mustache bar mount because the worn front mount is letting things move around.

I agree with thedarkie. If you have Tokicos you should have more room that stock. I have 225/50-16 tires on 16x7 wheels tin 0 offset on my 280Z. With coil overs you should be able to squeeze in some 245's on 8" rims with 10-12mm of offset (moving the center of the wheel toward the differential). After that do a thorough study on your tire options (Tirerack.com is good for this) to compare actual cross-sections and diameters as it varies from brand to brand. Just a little but sometimes that is what makes the difference as to whether it will fit or not. If I could put a new set of Wheels/tires on my car now that I have coil overs I'd go with 245/40-17's with 12mm of offset - after I did the measurements to confirm it.

Hmm - I bought the MSA full weatherstrip kit when my car was repainted back in 1997. Still have them and they're mostly still in good shape. 17 years and 100,000 miles has taken it's toll on them to some degree. Replaced the windshield twice during that time-frame so not sure what I have in there now. Had the glass shop provide the seals.

Using 225/50-16 Dunlop Direzzas and they hold in every gear except 1st. Then my LS1 is a bone stock '98 vintage. Living in a small town the word is pretty much out on my car and most everyone leaves me alone. Exception was a Porsche 911 GT2 club racer a couple years ago. I didn't know we were racing until he jumped. By the time I got the car settled in he had me by 6 lengths. A 1/4 mile later we're into triple digits and my front bumper is even with his rear bumper and gaining. Bridge coming so I shut down. Never saw him again. Had a lot more fun with the car when I lived in the DFW area because it was new and no one knew it for the first couple years. Frustrated a lot of 'vette and F-body drivers.

Mine was done in 2003 and has about 37K miles on it now. In that time I've: Replaced both the radiator cooling fan relays - infant mortality Rerouted a burned through starter wire - moved it further from the header Replaced the oil pressure sender Reattached the exhaust on the drivers side at the header due to some loose nuts Retorqued the bolts holding the R200 to the Mustache bar Trip to track cost me a left rear brake caliper, e-brake cable and half-shaft universal joint Multiple oil & filter changes Two sets of tires A set of E3 plugs at the 10 year mark Replaced K&N air filter with a larger one Coolant leak under the dash yet to be fixed - either the heater control valve or the heater core - I'm voting for the valve. Did a brake upgrade in 2004 Did an interior and sound system in 2005 Did a suspension upgrade in 2013 So, in 11 years and 37K miles probably $7-800 in actual repairs and then thousands in upgrades.

I started daily driving my 280Z28 back in 2004 right after the conversion and am still at it. I was putting about 8,000/year on it when I lived in Texas but that has dropped to about 2,000/yr since I moved to Washington state. Winters are too tough on the car. Mileage varies depending on how/where I'm driving the car from 13.5 to 24.4. Generally it's in the 16.5 to 20 range. My car was one of the earliest LS conversions and probably one with the least amount of issues since completing the conversion. It's been driven at Motorsport Ranch, Texas Motorplex and Texas Motor Speedway for you Texas folks. For you NW folks its been driven up the Loop at Maryhill, Renegade Raceway, and Sand and Sage events in Tri-cities. Even my wife is riding in it now since we got some seatbelt issues corrected. The seats are comfortable, the ride is fairly smooth, and the sound system is killer. Yes, depending on where I am the car draws a lot of attention - even with 17 year old paint.

Gary, That was the part I didn't understand. Wow, any issues with it under the dash? Accessibility to other stuff? Sticking down below the dash, etc?

Gary, Do you have any good pics of the unit installed in your car? I'm curious how it sets in between all the stuff on the drivers side of the engine bay. Thanks

I've been on several auto parts sites that offer steering wheel spacers. Even found one that had them for Z's only to find out they were "out of stock" when I ordered one. They never got any more in. I thought maybe someone knew of a source.

Ken, It's tough looking at the pictures but it appears that there was some initial cracking (the shiny areas) and then they just gave way suddenly. You might want to die check the next hub you put on just to be sure there aren't any cracks that are difficult for the naked eye to see.

Stock original 280Z wheel.

I had the same issue. Had a funny sound whenever I hit small bumps and a strange noise at highway speeds. Turned out those nuts had backed off enough that the lock washers were loose. Tightened them up and the problems went way. May have to take another look at them - maybe back the existing nuts up with some nylon locknuts.

Anyone know where I could get a spacer for my steering wheel? I need to move it about 1" closer to me to get it further from my long legs.

Why don't you call your local Nissan parts department and ask them? Seems pretty simple to me.

It's posts like this that make me glad I don't have a front differential mount.

ken, You can also check with the Arizona Z Car folks about a 5-lug hub. They make them for their big brake kits so I would imagine you could get just a pair of the hubs without the brakes??

NewZed - dang! Do you remember dinosaurs too?

Ken, I know a gent on this site down in California (CHEQUERED FLAG JOE) has been trying to breathe life back into MM. You might PM him here on the site about it.

I'd get another stock Mustache bar and then make sure all the bolts/bushings are in good shape and the diffy is also solidly bolted to it. The stock mustache bar is very strong. Actually - this is the first time I've heard of one failing. Congratulations. Like I said, make sure you have all new hardware and bushings and that everything is bolted up properly on another stock unit and i'd bet you'll be ok. ZFAN used to run a similar setup to you but in a coupe and I don't believe he ever had that issue. You might PM him.

Hey Ken - I stand corrected - but - by definition a ZR1 with Hoosiers is a race prepped car. Think what everyone else would have to do to have their car equivalently equipped. With two threads on this now you'll be kept busy answering the questions on both of them. Let confusion reign! :-)