jeromio

My solution, borrowed from Simon DeGroot, is fairly time consuming, but very effective: http://240z.jeromio.com/diffmount.html Terrible picture, but basically the original member was bored out, "sleaves" welded in (small diameter exhaust tubing) and then polyurathane transmission crossmember bushings inserted. The diffmount then got sectioneand drilled and I welded the nuts to it just to make it slightly easier to install. So, all the advantages of a solid mount without the harshness - and no strap.(there's another really terrible pic of the complete installation here, http://240z.jeromio.com/images/DiffInstalled.JPG) ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com [This message has been edited by jeromio (edited April 16, 2001).]

About 2 or 3 years ago I saw a web page that described fender lip rolling ( I think it was on a BMW). The guy had apparently borrowed a specific tool from some tire store - I think it was Tire Rack. He had to pay for shipping (and a CC for deposit). They sent him this fancy tool that bolted to the hub in place of the wheel. It had a soup can sized roller (like a giant skateboard wheel) and a handle. It worked by rolling it back and forth and cranking it each time so that each pass pressed a little more on the lip. He also said that he bought a heat gun - like a paint stripper heat gun from the hardware store, to soften his paint so that it wouldn't crack. When he was done he sent the tool back. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

I dunno - There's more room up front than there is in the rear. Pete Paraska (http://members.home.net/pparaska/wheelstires.htm) has 17X9 in the rear with 255/45s. He explains that his perch had to be higher than the tire and his rear fenderlip was rolled. I agree that the 255s would fit in the front sans lip rolling, but not in the rear - my 235s are pretty tight right now and I will definately be rolling the fender lip. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

You can only fit 255s with coil overs (short spring, high perch) and rolled rear fender lips or else flares. I definately recommend coilovers - it's a fairly easy conversion and well worth it. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

'Preshitate the nice comments on the car. It's a plain old Z, except now it has some pretty rotaters. All the real effort is invisible unless you crawl under the car. My wife was making fun of the fact that I've blasted and painted all the parts nobody can see and yet the bodywork is dented, faded and full of rust bubbles. Sigh. Been toying with a .sig that 'splanes the state of my car: The Chassis is pretty much done. With the purchase of the wheels, I am Mr.BrokeAss. It'll be awhile before I can do anything to the car - years likely. But, yes, long term I don't plan on keeping the L28 dual SU setup. As to the airdam - I completely agree. Even with the change from short 14s to tall 17s I noticed a big difference in stability - adversely. I'd like to find a very subtle front dam that is insanely cheap. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com [This message has been edited by jeromio (edited April 12, 2001).]

-- -- Didn't see BLKMGK's post before... I may have jumped the gun on the 245 thing. Firstly, upon closer examination, specifically of the tire to spring clearance, I'm not as confident. I mean, it's only another 5mm in theory, and there's probably room on the inside there, but it's close. The outside is already too close and would definately require fender lip rolling. Actually, before I paint this car (like that's gonna happen before my kids graduate college), the fenders will be rolled. Also, tire sizes are just completely relative. Before, I had 215/60 14s all around. The Firestones that came on the car rubbed the fender lip on the rear. The suckers wuz fat. I punctured one and replaced it (knoing I wanted 17s) with a cheap as possible uniroyal 215/60 - completely different. Plenty of clearance - no fenderlip rubbing. These 235/45 17 Dunlop SP5000 tires actually seem to have a narrower contact patch than the firestones. So, that width thing - varies from brand to brand - may vary from model to model even within a brand - varies from diameter to diameter Anecdotally, it's much easier to turn the steering wheel now - could be the compound, I suspect it's evidence of a smaller contact patch. Anyway, I believe I could get 245/45 Dunlop SP5000s under there if I rolled the rear fender lip. Another brand - who knows, doubt it. My rear springs are 10inch, so the perch is fairly low. [end diatribe] ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Finally - here's a link to some pics: http://240z.jeromio.com/newwheels.html And here (hopefully) is an actual pic: ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

I think that's Hoover's PrimaDonna Z? Not much space between the exhaust and the road. I've seen several cars with variations on that sway bar mount, such as Terry Oxandale's car and Darius's car. When I re-did my rear susp, I left the stock metal uprights completely alone (didn't blast or paint them). I currently have no rear sway bar and I plan on attempting something like this, using 1/4inch aluminum plate. I'll try using the stock 280Z sway bar I have now, with the arms cut down. I suspect that will make it way too stiff though. Then it'll be off to the yard to try and find something suitable. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Yes, you will increase travel vs. merely lowering the car, and that's what will keep your strut from bottoming (which is apparently really hard on them). But, compared with the other options, camber plates or strut sectioning, you will have less travel. This is because you will be effectively "shortening" the cartridge shaft. With sectioning, you use a smaller cartridge. With camber plates, you lower the car by effectively lowering the top point. You still have to deal with your spring perch issue for the increased tire width/height though. With strut sectioning, you can lower the car, not lose any travel, but your perch may be too low and interfere with the wide tire. If you convert to coilovers and camberplates, you will squash all birds with your stone. The car will be lower, your perch will be higher (using an 8 or possibly 7 inch spring) and you will have many spring rates to choose from. Also, the camber will be adjustable - added bonus. There's a couple different vendors of camber plates, but I can't imagine they'd be all that hard to fabricate - in my opinion less difficult than making the part you are describing. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Forgot to mention - No spacer. These are dual pattern, 4.25 on 4 and 4.5 on 4. I personally prefer the extra holes since the alternative, 4 lugs, 5 spokes, just doesn't look right to me. Turn around time on these was excellent. Got them from Discount Tire. I jacked up one side and on the sunken side the tires didn't rub. I mean, I couldn't stick my fingers between the tire and the fender or anything, but they cleared. I will definatly roll my rear fenders and get 245s when these tires wear out. Raised the car up more than I thought they would. I guess I can actually drive over speed bumps now (unless I decide to crank the coils down even further - I love having coilovers). The wheels do look good - I poked my head out several times this evening to gawk. Not as nice as they looked on Evan's car - I'm not a big fan of my car's red paint. But still, a big improvement. I'm looking forward to my drive tomorrow. Actual traction will be very nice. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

...and they fit perfectly. 17X8 Konig Monsoons with 20mm offset, 235/45 Dunlops. No rubbing. I do have coilovers. Inside fender lips are not rolled. If they were, I think I could easily fit a 245, possibly 255. I'll have some pictures up tomorrow. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Dunno anything about that formula, but from my experience, if you remove a coil, the chances of bottoming out go up. As a teenager I cut the coils on my 78 Celica to lower it. I cut it down by about 2 inches and that sucker was a kidney mangler. Bouncy bouncy - on the bumpstops all the time. I suppose it makes sense that to compress the cut spring vs. the uncut by the same distance would require more force. Hrm. I dunno - I still don't really even understand how Backspacing and offset apply to wheels ferkrysakes. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

It seems like your talking about something like this: This would keep your strut from bottoming out, which is a good thing, but you won't have much suspension travel. Also, if you simply move the stock perch up and use a cut down stock spring, you're going to be pretty likely to hit those bump stops alot. Springs are rated as a unit, so if you take a 150lb, 10 inch spring and cut 2 inches out of it, you're left with a 120lb spring - much softer. In my opinion it would be easier and more effective to either buy or fabricate some camber plates. But then, if you retain the stock springs, they're too fat to allow very much camber adjustment. Still, you'd be able to lower the car by almost 1.5 inches without cutting the strut. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Aha: <img src="http://www.1upautomotive.com/zcarsonline/art/carshows/cs040801/Disk2/Mvc-025s.jpg"> I think it looks pretty good. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Cool. I dig the bulldozer and locomotive engine specs. That info is actually kind of a tease - I want more info and maybe some pics! Like how about the 1964 Chrysler CR2A turbine? That site has a whole lot of other info too - great find. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Well, if/when I do it (long time from now for sure), I think their ability to keep rain off the side glass is far outweighed by the turbulence they create. I actually don't believe that cars really need "gutters" (most modern cars don't have them) - they're there because of the manufacturing techniques used to form the body structure. I have a feeling the car would look much better without the gutters, but it'd be nice to see it first. As to the structural issues, I'd want to re-enforce the area, probably with some square tubing: weld the 2 ragged steel edges to that rather than butt welding them to each-other.

Can anyone point me to pics of a Z with the rain gutters removed? Seems like this would definately improve the looks of the car - and possibly reduce the wind noise. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

My rear tubes are sectioned by 1.5 inches. Using front 240 Tokico Performas in the shortened rear tubes, I needed only 1 of the "shim" pieces that ships with the cartridges to make up the difference. In the front, I also sectioned by 1.5 inches and needed a 1/4" piece of pipe to make up the difference in the front 85 Rabbit GTI cartridge length. As to the camber plates, the reason they lower the car in and of themselves is that you no longer have the rubber isolator. This may (or may not, I have no experience with this) make the car's ride more harsh. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

The car in the video you refer to is Darius supercharged LT1 (I think it may be stroked to 383 as well??). He has an R230 from a Z32TT. There are actually a couple of people that I have heard of who have done this swap. Mostly they do it by using only the inboard Z32 CV, and a (custom?) flange and UJoint outboard. There is a person on this forum who has been discussing the possibility of using the entire Z32 rear drivetrain by modifying things like the 240 carriers and the Z32 halfshafts. Certainly seems like switching to CVs and seeing how they hold up would be wise - no sense taking on a complex and $$ project if you don't need to. If you have a 240, the ZXt CV halfshafts are a simple, bolt in swap. They can be had for less than $150 at most yards. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

The R180 and R200 have the same nominal dimensions - that is, the mounting points, input shaft location and output shaft locations are the same as the R200. So if your car already had the mustache bar with the little curve in it, mounted with the bushing rings forward (and behind the rear vertical uprights), then you're driveshaft is the correct length. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Maybe try wacking the flange (lightly) with a hammer. Could be that the snap ring is somehow jammed. Perhaps a few wacks would knock it loose? Also, the prying definately needs to be quick. If you just apply force evenly, it doesn't work as well. Needs to be a quick, violent jerk at the prybar. You gotta sneak up on it. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

Yes, you need a longer driveshaft. I used one from a 75 280Z. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

I found and hopefully cured my passenger footwell puddle issue. The plumbers putty or whatever it was that was used to seal around the "chimney" for the fresh air vent had failed. There's a gap of about 1/2 inch between this chimney and the firewall and that area was completely rusted thru. So I had to kind of bend things up in order to fix it - it gets covered up anyway. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com

I plan to put a side impact "bar" in place in my car this summer. It will most likely be 2 pieces of tubing with plate steel welded in between. Like so: / O | | O I may or may not upgrade the latches to bearclaw style. One way to get around a latch upgrade is to re-enforce the doorjamb area with an extra "lip", like this: (imagine looking down at the door from above) During a side impact, the doorbar should deflect energy towards the front and rear of the door. The rear part of the door will press against the latch, and if that fails, the extra "lip" there, made by welding steel plate to the door jamb, should keep the door from moving inwards. Of course, this is not going tobe as good as a side bar welded to the frame, nor will any of this added weight contribute to stiffening the chassis. But if you drive your car everyday like I do, it's a good alternative. (Yes, by driving the car everyday I increase the chances that someone will smack into me, but I'm not going to make a modification to my car that makes entry/egress any more difficult than it already is.) ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com [This message has been edited by jeromio (edited April 02, 2001).] [This message has been edited by jeromio (edited April 02, 2001).]

I was at the advanced auto store picking up something else and I saw that they had some generic Mr.Gasket rubber shift boots. I bought one ($8) and it looks like it'll work pretty nicely. ------------------ 240Z.jeromio.com