cockerstar

Electronic versions of the FSM are even free online, but, in my opinion, getting a real copy that you can write in/tote around/physically hold is definitely worth the less than $50 it will run you. I think I have 6 copies of different s30 FSMs laying around? Definitely a valuable resource. PM me if you want one and I'll check to see if I have a spare 280z one.

Dapper lighting offers an awesome HID kit that fits our cars well. A bit pricey compared to the Hella lights, but they're great quality and quite a few members on here are running them with no complaints. The owner's screen name on here is bens1088. http://www.dapperlighting.com/classic-headlights.html http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/90868-projector-headlight-hid-kits-for-all-240-280zxs/page__p__860998__hl__hid__fromsearch__1#entry860998 http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/93740-official-order-list-for-hybridz-projector-headlights/page__p__885249__hl__hid__fromsearch__1#entry885249

At least I had the guys over at MSA pull all of the covers and check to make sure the red adjusters were there before they shipped them out! From now on I will be asking for every component of the set to be verified before they ship... Not to get too far off of topic here, but any word on those new Bilstein shocks?

Just two, but they're cheap enough that I would order 4. My last set of 3012s shipped with 240z gland nuts...

BZ3099 is the correct strut application for the fronts of a sectioned 280z suspension. BZ3012 is the part # you'll want for the rear. Run the BZ3099 up front with the 280z Illumina gland nuts (MSA sells these separately! You just have to call and ask for them.) and section to the length provided for the 240z fronts given by JohnC. 280z front tubes are the same length as 240z front tubes and have about the same ID. The 280z tubes have a thicker wall with the same ID to give a larger OD. The 280z rear tubes are longer than the 240z ones. You need to measure the front tubes before and after sectioning to know how much material you removed. Remove the same amount (or very slightly more) from the rears and make a spacer out of aluminum round stock to take up the slack in the bottom of the tube while giving the right fit on the gland nut (1-2 threads showing when fully tight). The last set of 280z tubes I did for a customer I ended up removing about 1.5" from the fronts and 1.7" from the rears. These dimensions will vary from set to set though! Don't blindly remove these amounts on your suspension without measuring first. The overall front length is the important dimension. Then remove the same amount from the rear to keep an even drop at all four corners. Make sense?

Plan on a CV swap! It's pricey, but it's definitely the right way to do it. The adapters to run them are available here for $375. Depending on your specific car you might need to run shorter axles too, which are available here. If you need both there's a group buy Jon runs to get both together for $800 ($150 off normal price), here. Also look into the Wolf Creek setup using porsche axles, here. Probably a bit cheaper considering you don't have to buy another set ov stock CVs to run the shortened Z31 shafts with. Then again, you might be able to get away with using the stock length Z31 axles...

Definitely has potential to be one of the more valuable Z cars out there if it isn't too far eaten by rust! If you're going for a high dollar car, do it up as a completely stock factory "correct" restoration.

Use the directions from the first link for the tokico struts (you'll have to read the whole thing!) and the instructions that come with the ground control coilovers and you'll be golden If you're not comfortable with the install I know both JohnC and myself offer the installation as a service.

Looks like you're making some pretty good progress! I would seriously consider having someone with some more experience look at those welds on the engine mounts though. They don't have any kind of penetration and are very weak.

Start reading! Both of these threads come from the suspension FAQ section at the top of the forum index. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/38589-strut-sectioning-faq/ http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/98897-step-by-step-coilover-conversion/

PM sent

Which coilovers are you using?

Just checked the tracking number MSA gave me, and the illuminas should be in by the end of the day today! As we previously discussed, I have the ground control coilovers and your strut tubes in hand. They'll definitely be on their way back to you within a week's time as the most. I didn't realize you had a build thread going, but now that I know I'll snap a few pics along the way for your documentation

Any updates?

This is what I would do. Get a good set of horns on there and fab up a piece to allow you to inject directly into the throat of the carbs and hide it all in an airbox! The look and sound of oldschool carbs, the tunability of modern efi, and the atomization/mixture of an F1 design all in one neat package. What's not to like? TonyD bounced this prospect off of me a few months ago, and it's very appealing, in my opinion! They're a little pricey, but the guys over at DIYautotune offer some bungs, here, that would make this pretty straight-forward process. The same thing could be accomplished with the tools Ross Machine offers and some bar stock.

I have access to a CNC plasma cutter and might be able to cut you a new flange if I can find one of my gaskets. Shoot me a PM if that's something you'd be interested in and we could work out a price. edit: I found a spare gasket I have for the stock manifold. I shot you a PM.

Also, on some struts the part with the largest diameter is the weld at the end. The penetration that should be ground down on the inside of the tube won't let you pull the old strut out after you weld it in. Ask me how I know It is a good tool to place the tack welds though, since it keeps everything perfectly lined up! I usually put an old insert in and clamp it into the angle. Rotate to place 4 tack welds around the perimeter and take it out to weld it solid.

Welding more than a tack weld with a strut in the tube was the most dangerous mistake I've ever made in the shop! The strut ruptured spraying a fine mist of damper oil onto a red-hot weld. This ignited and the stream persisted for a good 3-5 seconds which made a giant (ie. 4-6 ft.) sustained fireball. I got hit right in the face with it when it erupted, but luckily didn't sustain any burns as my welding hood took everything as I jerked away. And I thought those old gas shocks were dead and okay to weld on... boy was I wrong! Never, ever again! Be safe, always have a fire extinguisher on hand, and think through everything you do in the shop/garage!

If you take the tubes down to your local machine shop I'm sure they'll be able to turn a piece of bar stock or tubing for you pretty simply to fit it. I'm pretty sure the 280z tubes have the same ID as a 240Z tube, so it should be right around 1.730". If I remember correctly the wall thickness of the tubes is thicker, accounting for the greater OD on the 280z tubes.

Why would you put a pipe inside? To keep everything in line while welding? Just clamp the two pieces into a piece of 3" angle iron.

Guess who happens to have a "trophy" consisting of a snapped crank, a pair of these cheap HF calipers Tony alludes to, and a camera all within reach of his laptop? This guy! Looks like 3.150 inches to me. No idea what the tolerance on these sub $10 calipers are though. Their precision seems to be just fine, but I don't know about the accuracy. The last digit shifted from a 0 to a 1 as I snapped the pic. The designed measurement is probably 80.0 mm. Sorry for the cell phone quality. The real camera was across the room and I was feeling lazy. edit: A quick google on their accuracy turns up a few guys that have measured them against standards and found the advertised accuracy (+/- 0.001") to be within spec.

I believe BRAAP had a set of these for sale on here awhile ago? Might be worth sending him a PM to ask.

FYI, if you go into the message and look on the far left there is a section labeled "Participants". It shows the last time the message was read by each person, and it will say "not yet read" if they haven't opened it yet.

Measure your car to find out what you can handle for backspacing and width, and the offset will fall into place from there. 4.5-5" of backspacing is common with coilovers.

Use whichever shock you'd like in the rear. Just make sure you take out the same amount from the rear as you did in the front. If you sectioned out 1.5" from the front, take 1.5" from the rear. If you took out 2", then take 2". You want to remove the same amount so you'll have the same amount of drop front and rear when you have the suspension adjusted to have the same amount of travel. Then you'll use whatever size spacer you need under the shock to make the gland nut fit correctly. With the BZ3099 the spacer will be longer than the BZ3015/BZ3012. Does that make sense?