PaulR
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Posts posted by PaulR
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Danno, another Hybrid Z'er correctly noted that the tie rod angle is measured from pivot point-to-pivot point. A line drawn from the outer pivot
point to the inner pivot point, shows that on my set-up, the tie-rod is, in effect, NOT parallel to the A-arm! To correct this I need to put a spacer between the rod-end and the steering arm.
The main reason I created the adapter was because I couldn't find a rod-end that had a 9/16 female thread. The adapter, in effect, creates that from a 5/8 male rod-end.
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OK, got a chance to weigh the rear wheels while I swapped them back to the correct side. The wheel/tire combo wheighs in at a hefty 58lbs. Seems a bit heavyOriginally posted by Tht1KSguy:Here's your chance to weigh them
Love the wheels, but i wonder what lighter combinations are available out there in that size? I also weighed a OEM 300ZX ('85) with a 225-50-15 tire and it came in at 43lbs... of course this combo is dwarfed (width wise) when put next to the 10.5" wide w/ 275-40-17 Cobra R.
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DOH!Originally posted by auxilary:that looks great, but i have a question
Is it me, or is the tread pattern backwards on the rear wheel?
You're right! I didn't pay attention to the roatation direction and swapped the rears side-to-side last time I had them off. Nice Catch!!
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Hi Ross,Originally posted by Ross C:Paul, great stuff as usual
Did you by chance get any weights on the rims alone or rim/tire combos? (or packing slips for the pairs...). Curious what their weight/each is.
Sorry, didn't weigh the wheels, but I would guess that being light-weight is not one of the benefits of these wheels. The casting is fairly thick (like an OEM) and at 17x10.5, there is a lot of metal at the outer diameter. Next time I have the wheel/tire off, I'll try to remember to weight them.
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Thanks for all the compliments... here are some answers to your questions:
>Paul,
>Nice Job! Are you using coilovers? What kind of fender flares? Car looks awesome.
>I need fender flairs badly but don't want to start cutting until I find the right ones.
>
>--------------------
>John
>77 280V8Z
>66 383 Charger
John,
Yes, I have coil-overs all around.
The rears are flared with the MSA fiberglass "Street Flares" P/N 50-1552
>Paul,
>
>Very nice machine! Are you using the original 240Z struts? If so, did the '86 300ZX hubs
>bolt right onto the spindles withou any machining? Which wheel bearings did you use?
>Thanks in advance.
>
>RacerX
>
>RacerX,
>
>Don't want to step on any toes here. The 5 lug hubs will fit on the existing spindle. The
>bearings are the same but the rear dust shield is different and should be replaced with a
>new one. I would also update the bearings.
>
>The five lug 300ZX hub has a different offset then the 4 lug hub. You can swap the two >but be aware the wheel mounting point moves outward about 1". Your new rims need about >24mm of offset to counter this new mounting location.
>
>Danno74Z
Danno74Z is correct, the 300ZX hubs slip right onto the 240Z spindles, but changes the offset. Turns out the 9" Cobra R's I bought have 24mm offset, so they work great with these hubs (no spacers). As I mentioned earlier, though, the rotor needs to be spaced back by 1.40 inch to line it up with the caliper.
>Paul, you said "aftermarket" Cobra R style wheels. What brand and model are they? They >look perfect on your car.
>
>Mike Mileski
>Tucson, AZ
Hi Mike,
I got these wheels from www.performancewheeloutlet.com The rear wheels (the 10.5" wide) took a long time to get. The fronts, which I ordered separately, showed up in just a few days. There are other aftermarket suppliers of Cobra R wheels, but not many that have 10 inch or wider, which is what I wanted to fill the rear flares. Prices are pretty good too... $185 ea for the rears and $150 ea for the fronts (painted)
Paul
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RE: Short steering arms.
Yes, I've noticed its more sensitive to input, but its not too bad, even at highway speeds. (It might be a problem at the track, though) Another thing is that initially, I was tending to cut the corners at intersections a bit short. Just takes a little time to adjust to the smaller input needed... probably made worse by the fact that I've been driving a pick-up truck during the time I was working on the Z and it has about 4 turns lock-to-lock.
RE: Mounts Below the Crossmember.
I had to mount it below in order to get the rack to clear the harmonic damper. Not only that, but I had to tilt it, putting the back sides of the mounts lower that the fronts, in order to get the steering shaft to clear the motor mount. I think these issues may be unique to the JTR Chevy installation and not an issue for the Ford engine.
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The rack and tie-rods are out of an '84 Thunderbird. I used 1/2 inch, high-misaligngment rod-ends to connect to the steering arms. BTW, since I was adding the power assist, I decided to use the shorter steering arms to give a quicker steering ratio. I made steel couplers with both a 9/16 and 5/8 tapped hole and threaded the tie rod (9/16) and the rod end(5/8) into it. As you can see in the last picture, the tie-rod is parallel to the A-arm, which is what you need to eliminate bump steer.Originally posted by VertexZ:what sort of car are the rack/tie rods etc out of?
The power assist works great! Even with the wide tires (245-45-17) and the quick ratio steering arms, parking lot manuevers are a breeze
I am using a Chevy pump mounted in the stock location.Oh, one last thing. Special thanks to Alsil and BlueovalZ. They had both done similar conversions in Ford powered Z's. Mine is Chevy powered, and there were some additional clearance issues with the harmonic balancer, but they provided a lot of the basis for my conversion.
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The stock rear hubs were re-drilled for 5 lugs. I then added a bolt-on, 1.25" spacer (like Ross C. sells).
The front hubs are from an '86 300ZX. These have the correct offset for the Cobra R wheels, so no spacer was needed for the wheels. The rotor, however, needs to be spaced back to align it with the caliper (Toyota 4x4). I got these spacers from Mike-scca.
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Hey, we've got to get together sometime to compare rides... You're like, about 10 miles from meOriginally posted by madmanadam:Sweet, looks real good with all that meat.
Keep up the great work, NW rules
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At full right lock, the left tire rubs the sway bar. At full left lock nothing rubs. I will try to adjust the tie-rods to see if I can get everthing centered and hopefully not have anything rub. BTW, the steering is not stock. (see my other post about Power Steering)Originally posted by jeromio:Sharp. Those 17X9s don't rub in the front? My 17X8s are pretty close at full lock.
What kind of tires are those, Kumho's (kuhmo, khumo - H is in there someplace)?
The tires are Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's
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Oh Yeah, and to help turn those big tires that I just added, I added power steering. I plan to go into more detail at some later point, but here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea.
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I just finished the installation of some aftermarket Cobra "R" style wheels. I'm really pleased with the outcome
The fronts are 17 x 9 w/ 245-45-17 tires and the rears are 17 x 10.5 w/ 275-40-17
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I wrote that article on zhome.com about 6 or 7 years ago. Here is some background on the part number I mentioned in the article. I a local driveline shop (Drivelines North West) made my drive shaft at the recommendation of a local Z shop (Z-Sport) that had done several V8 conversions. I asked Drivelines NW which flange they use and that is the number they gave me (NEAPCO 2-2-899-1). Several years later, I changed transmissions and needed a new driveshaft. I went back to the shop and again used this same part number for a new flange on the driveshaft. The flange I have uses the Chevy U-joint and bolts up to a 280Z R200. Its interesting to me that this number isn't working for other set-ups.Originally posted by ljohnson:According to the conversion article, the conversion flange is : NEAPCO 2-2-899-1. I am posting the part # to see if it is the right flange for the 200. Since I will be needing one shortly. Any one know the correct part #???????????
Paul
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I was wondering if any of you have recommendations on which wheel bearing grease to use on our Z's. The shop manual specifies NLGI No. 2 Lithium soap base grease. Is this adequate for the higher speeds, more weight, heavier and wider wheels and tires etc? Or, Is there something better I should consider??
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I don't think its that much. My measurements put it at .740 out from the stock location. (I'm the process of converting to Z31 hubs now)Originally posted by fastzcars:I beleive the z31 front hub moves the front wheels out 1.25 inches from the stock location.
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Yes, you need a spacer. I don't remember the exact thickness (I have the drawing at work) but is was around .7 inch. You can see it in the previous picture between the hub and rotor (its steel so it has some surface rust like the rotor).Originally posted by zthang43:Those pics are very helpful. Question though (Paul R), what has to be done to use the 300ZX vented rotors? Any spacers or anything, or do they just bolt on? I've been pretty confused by a lot of stuff I have read here. Also, which years could you use the 300ZX rotors from? They went to 5 lug after a while didn't they? So far I have been reading posts talking about differences between the Z31 and Z32. What the heck is Z31 and Z32? Anyway, sorry for all the questions; I'm still learning. Thanks yall.
The 4-lug rotors are from 84-85 non-turbo 300ZX's.
Z31 refers to 1st generaton 300ZX's (84-89) Z32 refers to 2nd gen 300ZX (90-96).
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Pads were new, aftermarket (KVR), and for the truck. Rotors were used and had been turned once by me to true them up. I'm not sure if they had been turned prior to that , but they were well within the spec limit.Originally posted by scca:have you tried those calipers with new pads on new rotors or ?
and did you buy truck or 4runner pads IF it was all new
I am going to be using different rotors soon, going from 4 lug to 5. (I've ordered the spacers from Mike) If I encounter any problems I'll let everyone know.
Here is another pic showing the caliper installed on the 4-lug rotor.
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Maybe this will help. These are the calipers I've been using with 300ZX vented rotors on my 240Z. They are from an 86 or 87 Toyota 4WD Truck which also uses vented rotors. The gap where the scale is is about 7/8" The caliper is stamped "S12+8"
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I'm running KVR carbon/metallics (KVR Web Page) on my Toyota calipers w/ 300ZX vented rotors on my 240Z. They work good when cold and showed no signs of fading during hard use at the track (Seattle International Raceway). A good pad for street and occasional track use IMHO.
Paul
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quote:
Originally posted by johnc:Are you folks raising the spring perch and running short springs?
I'm using 10 inch springs in the rear which gets the spring perch above the tire. This allows me to run 5.5" backspacing.
Paul
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I think the 300ZX wheels have quite a bit of offset (+40mm ?) That might contribute to the steering pulling hard when you hit a bump.
As for spring rates, I think the stock 240Z is around 110 lb/in. I would think 150/170 would be OK for a atreet car. Competitve autocrossers are in the 250 range.
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quote:
Originally posted by pparaska:Paul I agree. This is exactly why I have 300 lb/in springs in the rear. To fit my wheels and tires under stock fenders, an 8" spring was needed. And the guy at Carerra suggested going to at least a 275 lb/in spring to keep it from coil binding on bumps.
Ouch! My kidneys are aching just thinking about it
I rode in a local autocrosser's 280Z BSP that had 250 lb/in all around... too stiff for daily driving for my tastes, especially with all the potholes around here. Sure did handle well on the autocross course though. -
I was wondering if an 8" spring would have enough travel. 200lb/in Eibach's have 5.3 in travel while the same rate in 10" has 6.4 I was thinking of switching my rears from 10 to 8 to get the additional clearance. Ross, thats a good comment about coil bind vs strut bottoming though. Anyways, I'll do some measuring tonite.
Paul
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On the rears, you can simply space a shorter collar up from the cast base by using a section exhaust pipe (2 1/2 i think). I did that with my set-up and was glad I did since I wound up a little long and needed to cut off another 1.5 inch off the spacer... much harder to do once its welded up. The front tubes have a bracket for the brake line welded to it, which makes using a "spacer" unlikely.
Love the wheels, but i wonder what lighter combinations are available out there in that size?
I also weighed a OEM 300ZX ('85) with a 225-50-15 tire and it came in at 43lbs... of course this combo is dwarfed (width wise) when put next to the 10.5" wide w/ 275-40-17 Cobra R.
I am using a Chevy pump mounted in the stock location.
I rode in a local autocrosser's 280Z BSP that had 250 lb/in all around... too stiff for daily driving for my tastes, especially with all the potholes around here. Sure did handle well on the autocross course though.
Power Steering Completed
in Brakes, Wheels, Suspension and Chassis
Posted
No kit, all custom fabricated.
Paul