mustard-z

How is track width measured? From the the hub mounting surface? From the outside edge of the tire? Thanks, Aren

I've installed 8" coilovers on my 78z and wanted to move from 13x8 wheels to 16x10 wheels. I've read and been told that 16x10's will fit on my car with 5" bs and ZG flares. I was reading a post by jmortenson and he said that he had a crack of sunlight worth of clearance between the strut and the tire/wheel. Will I need to cut/roll fenders to install 5" bs 16x10's? The front fenders are no issue as I am replacing with glass/carbon but what will the rears look like? Any ideas? Thanks, Aren PS. I am building some mockup wood wheels that I can change the bs and diameter with to see the differences.

According to GC, what I have is correct. Go figure. I would have thought a helper spring setup would be the better way to go. Oh well, time to weld!

Thanks guys. Why would GC supply 8" springs if their literature lists 12" springs for a 280z? I know that 300# springs are right on the edge of being controllable. I wanted to have something for when I upgrade the struts next year. GC said that 300# springs should be OK with the Tokico's. Although that is differing info than what I have read here. I'm going to try it though, hopefully I won't break anything. I guess next step is to call GC and double check with them.

spacers change the offset of the wheel

This is my mockup for installing my GC coilovers to the front struts. The struts are Tokico's and the strut tubes haven't been shortened. Is the gap between the tophat and the camberplate normal or do I need to do something different? The picture is with the strut fully extended. Thanks, Aren EDIT: The spring is a 300lb/in 8" spring. The location is per the documentation i got from GC.

I called them and they said that they have 2 models. A urathane and a metal and the metal is the race plate. I dunno though if the quality would be a little weak for a FP autox car. The guy I talked to said that the metal plates are definately the way to go though.

Has anyone used these? I called them and they said that max. adjustement yields +2° I am a nervous that 2° may not be enough adjustment, but @ $125/pair the price is reasonable. Thanks, Aren

that makes perfect sense. Thanks.

In reading some other previous posts it seems that bias ply slicks don't need the excessive camber. Is this true? If people that use them for autox could help me out on what camber settings they are using the would be sweet. also, if bias ply doesn't require the camber that a radial does, what is the reason? thanks.

How much cutting is involved to get the clearance needed? I thought you only needed to make an oval hole to allow the top of the strut to move inboard. Do you have some pix of what your front/rear strut towers look like after you fitted the GC camberplates? Can I use GC plates with the Modern Motorsports coilover kit? Thanks,

Has anyone used this setup, the one they want $879 for? I am doing some research on coilovers for my FP Auto-x car and wanted to see if they have been used. The design on the camber plate in particular is interesting to me. I'm not sure how it works, and more importantly how WELL it works. Here is what I am talking about, just for reference. http://www.zcarparts.com/store/graphics/00000001/group234120.jpg Thanks, Aren

Well, I've already got the tokico's so i'm going to wait until I am ready to run super-stiff springs(aka 400#) before I go and buy some new koni shocks. After reading some other posts, it seems 300 lb springs are about the limit on the tokico shock? What should my initial spring rate be? 250lb front and 275lb in the rear? Also, lowering the car; Mine is about 2" to the frame rail and it's a pain to get on my trailer. What kind of ride height should I be looking to end up at? It seems the lower the better, but damn, you need to get it on the trailer. This past year I drove to events with the autox tires in the car with the jack and all that crap. The car feels like a caddy on the cruise up, i'll give you that! I would definetly take a trailer any day though. 8)

Jon, What you have done seems to be the direction I am heading. I have .7° camber in the front and am only using 3/4 of the tire because of it. I think just getting camberplates on the front will help me use all of the front tire in the turns. The diamond racing wheels are exactly what I was thinking. I know they are able to make them in just about every bolt pattern/size/backspace. I just need some idea of what "I" need. I think installing coilovers/camberplates should be my next project because of this. I also need to do a bit of research on common 15 & 16" tires and find which is more plentiful. 260DET, I have been thinking about swaybars, I've been thinking about moving to a 1" bar in the front instead of an 1-1/8" bar. I just need to find one.

Thanks guys. Right now I am fairly competitive in the local clubs in OR. I'm just looking to go faster and keep up with the club prez in his Sunbeam Tiger. I kind of like the idea of working up to a more competitive car. My first year I drove only on street tires, this past year i drove on autox tires. Next year I plan to drive on slicks. I like to drive the car and get to know it. Right now it is very tame, but turns good times with my competition. I'm not worried about making a National's worthy car, cause I definately don't have the money for that. Some of my concerns with slicks were finding common sizes, as I am not ready to shell out $200-300 each for new slicks. The compound won't matter as much either I think, because of the extra rubber on the road and the fact that slicks. It should be better over all. Have any of you had problems getting the back to come around? I've swapped an R160 3.7 lsd into mine and it pushes bad. It seems everyone I talk to seem to think that z's are tail happy. I'm just trying to get mine to really step out and let me drive it with throttle. I've thought about stiffening the rear or softening the front to try and help, but I think that adding camber and rubber to the front should help the turn-in. Jon, I may take you up on that offer. I'll need to see about finding a steel wheel with the backspace to accomodate the coilovers and fenderflares.

I'm looking for some help/insight on some mods for my 78 autox car. here is what i've got now: 78z @ 2550lbs with 1/2tank and driver 13x8 wheels with kumho ecsta v700 rubber stock brakes front/rear ST swaybars ST springs Tokico Illumina's front/rear Adjustable control arm bushings front/rear This is what my setup should look like next year: 78z @ 2300lbs with 1/2tank and driver 15x10 or 16x10 with some type of slick 300zx rotors with toyota 4puc calipers coilovers with spring rates approx. 250/275 or 275/300 (haven't decided) camberplates ST swaybars Tokico Illumina's front/rear Adjustable control arm bushings front/rear My car is going to be dedicated FP autox'er with no or VERY little street driving. I am going to gut it and add fiberglass fenders/hood too. Am I on the right track with this? Can 16x10 wheels fit under ZG flares if the fenders are trimed out? Will my 140hp @ rear wheels be too weak to push the car sufficiantly? Has anyone used the MSA coilover/camberplate setup? Thanks, Aren

you could be sucking air into the system somewhere, check that the bleeder valve is tight, causes a heck of a problem.

http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19879&highlight=

Success!!! After installing the 32's and using a "working" unisyn the thing screams!! I made a good run up though 2nd before my throttle shaft sheared and shut-down the front two carbs!! Now I gotta make a new one It sure is a lot closer to correct now! Thanks for all the help.

well, after some checking I found a few things that can cause problems. First my unisyn was not giving acurate readings so I was having a hell of a time balancing the carbs. Second, the #2 sparkplug wire seems to be intermitent. Third I found abnormally low compression in #5. I've reinstalled and have the following setup: 32 chokes 130 mains 170 airs 45f5 idles 50f9 pump f16 e-tubes With my new Unisyn, I am hoping for better results, I'll see tonight. Also, it may be informative that I am at 3500ft altitude so maybe some of the numbers need to change a bit. I know generally everything will need to be leaner than sea level. Thanks for the help.

I am totally confused now. I bought some weber 45's with the following: 32 chokes 140 mains 170 airs 45f5 idles 50f9 pump I called Pierce Manifolds and they said I should run the following: 29 chokes 140 mains 170 airs 45f5 idles 50f9 pump Then I talked to Top End Performance and they said: 34 chokes 140 mains 170 airs 45f5 idles 55f9 pump The car is a stock l28 with a 260dur. 450lift cam and 2-1/2 exhaust(no header). What the hell do I do? I've already purchased the 29's and it runs like crap with no top end. I suspect that Top End Proformance is correct in the settings but at $21/ea. I need to be sure. Maybe someone here would be willing to let me try some the parts? Thanks a ton, Aren

You should pull the plugs and inspect. If very clean, then you are lean. If sooty, they you are rich.

Bang, I rebuilt the head on my 77 but not the bottom end. In less than 2 months I had the engine torn apart and installing new rings, which had shattered in cyl. #2,3,4,5,6. If you have the cash, it might be worth the effort. It would deffinately be worth the effort if the pistons don't match.