74_5.0L_Z

I run 275/35-15 Hoosier A6 on all four corners. I also run 6 degrees of caster. Turning the steering wheel when stopped is a challenge, but is no problem while moving. That being said, I feel like I've had a good upper body work-out after a day of autocrossing. I would love to install a power rack and pinion set-up with a quicker ratio. Often my speed through a course is limited by how fast I can turn the steering wheel.

I would be really concerned with the structural mods that were performed to compensate for the removal of the roof. As a minimumum, this thing needs a roll bar that ties into the strut towers, the rocker panels, and has a diagonal door bar to the foot box area. Also, no rust is allowed in the floors or rocker panels since these areas are all that are hold the car together. Just my opinion, but what do I know.

Actually, the perfect offset is somewhere between a red **** hair and and gnat's arse. My front wheels have about 1/8" clearance and there is no evidence that they have ever rubbed.

I made it from some 1/4" 6061 T6 aluminum that I had laying around (about ten years ago). It's amazing what you can do with a hole saw and some drill bits.

I have the stock master (15/16") cylinder and no booster. My car stops great, the pedal effort is not too heavy, and I have great modulation. That being said, the master cylinder is the only stock component in the brake system. 11.75" x 0.081 Coleman machine vented rotors Outlaw 2800 series 4 piston calipers (1.75" pistons) Hawk HB237 HP-plus pads On the rear, I have 1985 modified maxima rotors (10.75" x 0.81) Outlaw 2800 series 4 piston calipers (1.38" pistons) Hawk HB237 HP-plus pads In the picture below you can see the adapter plate that bolts where the booster would have been and has provisions for the master cylinder.

I agree! Offset is a relative term that is specific to the centerline of whatever width wheel you have. Backspace however is an absolute value that is independent of wheel width. Once I find a backspace that clears my struts, I can then vary the width to clear the fenders.

I ran 245/45/16 when I had the stock bodywork. Check your front tire clearance at full steering lock in both directions. Mine would rub on the frame rails near the sway bar mount. I had to limit the rack motion to prevent contact.

Thanks, I was going by memory, and I am getting a little older....

Yes, that nut must be tight as well or else you will have slop in the strut during its motion. What you can do though is to put a tubular spacer between the shoulder on the shaft and the isolator that attaches to the strut tower. Just make sure that you have full engagement of the threads and that the nuts are tight. The 225/50-15 will fit much better 24.7 tall rather than 26 " tall.

The gland nut that holds the insert in the tube must be fully installed and tight. You can and really should preload the rear springs of that rate and length. As a rough estimate, you can assume that you will have approximately 600 lbs of sprung weight at that corner. Therefore when you let the car down off of the jack, the spring which has a rate of 250 lb/in will compress 600 lb / 250 lb/in = 2.4 inches. If you don't preload the springs at all, then the car will drop 2.4 inches before the force in the springs equals the weight on the corner. If you preload the spring by 1.2 inches then the car will droop 1.2 inches before the force in the spring equals the weight on the corner. Without knowing your exact corner weight, you will have to play with the preload. Here is what I would do: 1. Put a tie wrap or bump rubber on the shaft of the insert so that it is tight and will indicate the travel of the shaft in bump. 2. Adjust the preload to 1 inch (250 lbs). The loaded spring will be nine inches long. 3. Install the struts, push the tie wrap or bump rubber down against the gland nut, and lower the car onto the ground. 4. Verify that the tires don't rub and then roll it back and forth to settle the suspension. 5. Jack the car back up and measure the distance that the tie-wrap or bump rubber moved when the weight of the car was carried by the springs. -----The measured movement of the tie-wrap or bump rubber is the amount of droop travel that you have available with the springs preloaded by 1" If that number is more than two inches and the car is still too low, increase the preload and repeat step 2 through 5 until you are happy with the ride height. DON'T ADJUST THE SPRINGS TO GIVE LESS THAN 2 INCHES OF DROOP. If you cant get the height you need with 2 inches or more droop, then you need to do one of two things: Stiffer springs or redo the strut sectioning to make the tubes longer.

I run Hoosier A6 tires. I only use the car for autocrossing and track days. I found that my driving record stays a lot healthier when I don't drive the Z on the public highways.

That is a really tall rear tire to try and use with sectioned rear struts. You probably should not have sectioned the rear, instead put a spacer under the insert to fill the tube. My struts are sectioned as per John's instructions, but I am running 23 inch tall tires (275/35/15), I have flares so that the tires car fit into the wheelwells, and I am running really stiff springs (8 inch 450 lb/in rear and 8 inch 500 lb/in front). As it is, I only have 1.5" of droop travel at the rear. Here is an old thread where I went through a simlar issue: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/62475-sectioning-struts-for-koni-8610-1437race-insert/

What rate and free length springs did you use? What size tires? What year car? Are you using camber plates? If so, which ones? Pictures?