gramercyjam

Nice setup Alan. Do those Bilsteins screw on to the uprights? --John B

Here's another choice that looks pretty trick - I'd like to have these bilsteins. I forgot where I saw these .... Here are a few more links to whet your appetitie: Another choice is Carrera. They have some trick stuff too. Wouldn't refuse their stuff http://www.carrerashocks.com/MagneShock%20Gen2.htm They have a bunch of Z suspension stuff. Penske - Oh yea http://www.penskeshocks.com Ground Control/Eibach spring catalog http://www.ground-control.com/gcers250.htm Don't coilover without it. They have coilovers and camber plates too. You can probably find Tien for a Z too http://www.tein.com/products.html Of course you could always just buy sleeves and seats and hats and springs ala carte from a stock car parts house and end up with the same thing. The choices are almost endless if you have deep pockets. --John B

Yes, I autocross. Wow, you do everything right. I drive my car onto the trailer, try not to slip it going into grid and into start, just bump it and go to neutral and let it roll. And I did drive it for a couple hours on the road, making pit stops for gas and dealing with traffic lights and stop signs. After driving it on the road, it definitely seemed to lose some bite but it didn't start slipping until another half dozen events after that. See what I mean. I told you I thought I might have abused it. A winch for my trailer might need to move up the list of priorities, (after I replace the rotten wood floor with some steel). So little time, so much to do. --John B.

I suspect that too. I was told it was good for 250 HP when I got it. My car is less than 1900# and I'm running a stock stroke and bore L24 so I figured 250 HP was pretty safe. --John B

Make sure you have the tapered bolt that comes out the bottom first. You can try to hit it by leaving the nut partly to protect the threads but it doesn't take much to mess those pins up. You are guaranteed to mess them by pounding them out if they haven't been off in recent history and lubed with anti-sieze. I would try the trick where you add washers behind the nut and tighten the nut to pull it out, or borrow or make a puller, or just order new ones overnight now. --John

What kind of flex plate? How do you hook up a starter? Ring gear on the flex plate? I've got a tilton flywheel and single 7.25 disk quarter master and the single disk started slipping on 3rd gear shifts after maybe 35 runs on a new disk so I'm thinking I might need to upgrade. I may have abused it so I'm going to put a new disk in a try not to abuse it and see how long it lasts first. --John

Just thought I'd post that I run the XR700 without a ballast resistor and an aftermarket performance coil. I know what the directions say, that you need the ballast resistor unless your coil has an internal resistor - the resistance on this coil I am using looks like it doesn't have an internal resistor though. And I was very leary of taking the ballast resistor out, because without one, coils just get too hot and die. But it runs with a much hotter spark without the ballast resistor than it does with. In fact, it run so good with out the ballast resisitor furture plans for a MSD ignition has moved down to the bottom of the priorities list for the car. I have been running it this way for 5 years without any problems and 2 of those years were daily 200 mile commutes. If it ever does die, I guess I'll go get the expensive race-car ignition. Until then, it has to be the only thing I ever got for a car that actually paid for it self many times over. --john B

I suppose. Although if it is just a propane torch you have in mind, I wouldn't think it would help much. Did you try penetrating lubricants? Tighten it first, then loosen it? Impact tools? With a good impact tool, you should be able to twist that bolt with enough force to move it or snap it off. How about drilling the head off of the bolt? --John B.

Take it out after you get the half shaft disconnected. Put your jack under the strut before removing the nuts on the top of the strut. Lastly, take nuts off the top of the strut. Lower strut assembly to the ground on the jack as it is pretty heavy. --John B

If we are talking about the long "screw" that runs from the front to the back, with a large nut on each end, that is on the very bottom of the strut, yes. --John B

yes. assuming you have disconnected the brake line, emergency brake cable, pull out the lower suspension arm (transverse link) pivot bolt (which is the thing most people get stuck on) , and remove the top strut mount nuts. --John B

You aren't taking the hub out, just disconnecting the half shafts from it. You need to get that last bolt out. You need to rotate the axel until it is at a point when you can get the wrenches on the bolt and nut. If you are unable to get that last bolt out, you could try unbolting the halfshaft at the diff ... --John B

John, What does the 5.5 quarter master bolt up to? Flywheel or flexplate? --John B

I believe you just need 2 good 14mm wrenches. I use one box and one open end. One should be long enough to get leverage. I usually jam a BIG screwdriver through the u-joint to keep it from turning if I really need to pull on it. --John

There you go! But think of what you could do for your Z with $2500! --John

Back when I was a poor struggling drummer, I moved from NY to NC in my 'Cuda for a band job. Bought some 2X4's and some lag bolts and bolted up the 2X4's a huge cargo carrier across the roof with 2X4 legs on the front and rear bumpers and covered it all up with a tarp. I put all my stuff on the roof, including my drums, band equipment, welder, tool boxes, stereo, clothes, etc etc. But the 'Cuda had a 440 and plenty of power and air shocks in the back so weight didn't sag the suspension. I was kinda worried the cops would pull me over, seeing something like that going down the Interstate, but they never did. --John

How many threads grab - 2 or 3? If so, I'd take out a washer. --John B

If you you have drilled out the tops mounts, I doubt you can get it that high holding the top of the piston with vice-grips since they will turn. Put some threadlocker on and tighten down the best you can. If you still have the "D" hole, go with the spec. --John B

I've had an XR700 for about 6 years in my '73. No problems at all. --John B '73 FP 240Z

You could fab some. Way back when, guy's used to cut them out from 50 gal barrels, and weld some steel rod around the opening and roll the lip around the rod. --John B

The tach needs to be in series with the power going to or coming from the primary side of the coil. So you have 2 wires coming from the tach - one goes to the coil, one goes to the power. At least that is how the tach in my '73 works. --John B

Those are the Carrera camber plates - they aren't the same as ground control but they are good too. I've seen them on one very fast prepared autox Z car in Austin.

They aren't noisy at all as far as I can tell. They are 280Z struts wtih Ground Control/Advance Design shocks. He has a pretty detailed writeup on the construction here http://sth2.com/Z-car/

I know, but the cut will be way better than a pipe cutter. It will be "close enough" for welding if you cut slowly then put a tube inside the strut and clamp it in some angles. After all, you are going to get heat distortion when you start welding anyway, no matter how precise your cut.

John, Very nice writeup. I have used a pipe/tubing cutter for this job and I didn't like the results as the cutting wheel tends to wander and produce a cut that requires lots of dressing to make it square. I think a good cut-off saw or mitre saw will probably yield better results than a tubing cutter.