JMortensen

The big piston is one feature I always liked on Bilstein struts. It would be interesting to have someone like katman or johnc look at a shock dyno graph and tell the rest of us laypeople what spring rates they would be good for. Really doesn't look like there is a lot of travel available, not that that matters to most people who would buy these...

That's a retail coupon. Not going to work online. As to 30% Pop, well I should be auctioning another HF gift card in the next week or two. I think it's going to be ~$150, so if you've got some other crap to buy from HF I might have you covered...

Well this one is about 15% off from the one you linked to: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91214 EDIT--Hey, here's the cheapest one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91212

High quality springs are ~$45 or $50 from pretty much any race shop. What you need are the coilover pieces. I'd get them from somewhere else, maybe Coleman Racing or one of the circle track parts suppliers if you don't want to pay Ground Control or MM prices.

I think some of that sag that you're seeing comes from the front frame rails and the rad core support. One of my issues was when I'd set the car on jack stands at the TC rods, the front of the frame would sag and creak and groan when I let the jack down. I don't think it was my mind playing tricks, but I swear I could SEE it on my car. Set it down on the TC buckets and you could watch the front end sag 1/4" or so. I used the Bad Dog rails, I'd do it again, they fit into my project great, but I don't think they would cure the problem. You're looking at strengthening the front frame rails in addition to the SFCs to get rid of all the looseness in the front end IMO. The stock rails are pretty thin and flexy, so you're either talking about a lot of bracing, or replacing the rails with somthing more substantial. I went with bracing, and I think what I ended up with will be fairly stout. Pete went with new stiffer rails, 2 x 2.5 x .093. Regardless of which way you go, I just wouldn't count on SFCs to do the whole job. I think you'll be disappointed if you do, especially since you autox. I had a triangulated strut tower bar and I still tore up a couple of brass radiators because of the flex in the front end. That says something about the frame flex. Just look at the structure up front though. There are UPPER frame rails too, and the uppers take a lot of load from the strut towers (since you're turning a lot this is more important than the engine torque). My plan is to make an X that ties uppers and lowers together, and hopefully that and the other bracing I've installed will keep the 4 long rails in front from moving around too much. I haven't tested my structure since I've added any the stuff that I've done. There are relatively easy ways to do so and it probably would have been a good idea. But it's kind of hard to do on a rotisserie, so I'm just trying to go extreme enough and hoping that it will turn out satisfactory when I finally get behind the wheel again.

I had an idea about hatch seals that I haven't put to use yet, but I still plan on. The Nissan weatherstripping for the hatch pretty well blows chunks I think we can all agree on that. So why not grind off that lip and use a real DOOR weatherstrip in that area??? Then you're talking $20 for the JC Whitney type seals which slide onto the the sheet and won't deform or fall off like the crappy stock hatch w/s.

There are lots of good reasons for solid rear axle, in GT2 I believe there is a pretty significant weight penalty for IRS, and for drag racing its a no brainer. Won't see me swapping my suspension out for a live axle, but it isn't always a bad decision.

I think that guy's name is Leith. He is installing the Power Brute that Clifton linked to in this thread. I think it runs about $500, and it is a rebadged Nissan LSD. KAAZ also makes a diff that works and it is ~$800 and is much better than the Nissan. The Quaife is priced at about 5x what it is worth IMO.

If you're replacing the weatherstripping, cut it with a razorblade. If not then push on the glass from the inside while prying out the weatherstripping with your fingers.

You should be able to search and find the specifics but IIRC the US version 240SX LSDs were viscous LSDs so unlike the clutch type that came in the 300ZX the 280Z stub shafts don't fit into the viscous units. This means that you have to use the CV shafts from the 240SX, and I think that they are too long for the Z. You could have custom shafts made but it would be cheaper/easier just to get the clutch unit and use the stock halfshafts, or if you want CV shafts there are already easy solutions like the Z31T or 280ZXT shafts with adapters from http://www.modern-motorsports.com

There was a previous middle eastern video posted maybe 2 years ago where a car drifted straight into a crowd at ~100 mph. Anyone else notice the one driver wasn't even wearing a seatbelt? Gotta wonder how they don't lose control of the wheel when the car transitions...

If you're still concerned about the nuts, I just remembered I sold my friend a couple of Illuminas and nuts from the front of my 240 that he was going to use in some 280ZX front struts he was installing in a 510. So if the nuts fit the ZX, you can bet they fit the 280z. The oil in the housing isn't to fill the gap, and the strut inserts are the same size regardless of the 240 or 280 tubes. The oil conducts heat and keeps the strut from rusting. When you tighten the gland nut it pushes down on the strut and forces it into the bottom which is slightly concave. This centers the strut and it doesn't normally contact the wall of the strut tube. Cyind, MSA and Ground Control should have the sleeves for the 280 struts as well as the 240 struts. If you got the wrong thing they sent you the wrong size, that's all.

K member done:

I guess this crossmember stuff fits in this thread pretty good. Didn't feel like it warranted a whole new thread. Anyway, I finished up my front crossmember mods. This ties into the TC rod mod a bit. The crossmember is slotted for pivot height adjustment, the rack is moved back about 7/8" for Ackerman, the stock rack mounts are gone, no more bushings. Had to clearance the crossmember for room for the pinion housing, filled in that area with a piece of pipe. Installed the crossmember, double checked everything, then took the plunge. I stitch welded the crossmember to the frame rails and welded some supports from the crossmember to the TC brackets, making the crossmember into a K member. I also stitched the crossmember seams while I was at it. I'm hoping this front end should be pretty stiff...

Nice. Very nice. That is gonna kick ***. Can't wait for pics.

If you're going to run without the dust seal, extend the pistons out further, clean as much as you can, THEN push them back in. According to people using Wilwoods, getting all the dirt and grit off the piston before you push it past the seal pretty drastically reduces the need to replace the seals every time you change pads.

I wonder if that's the same stuff as BG's synchromesh. Heard goods stuff about the BG fluids from DSM guys, and I've used some of their other additives myself with good results. EDIT-Checked a bit online and it looks like Pennzoil, Quaker State, BG, and GM Synchromesh are at least similar if not the same thing.

There's the side that doesn't do anything, I haven't seen the other side. Be careful of products offering results that are too good to be true. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I'd never heard of this thing, but in researching it for a couple minutes looks about as good as the magnetic fuel ionizers and the rest of that fuel saving psuedo-science BS out there.

You can use the CV shafts but you need an adapter for the outboard end. http://www.modern-motorsports.com sells one, but they're in Canada. I don't think the propellor shaft adapts easily, and the trick there is to get the pinion flange from a S30 R200 and swap it over. As to the brakes I haven't seen anybody adapt the rear Z31 brakes to an S30. There are many threads on the subject of CV conversions and R200 swaps and such. Search and you should find all the answers you're looking for.

Yes that is a clutch type LSD. The ring and pinion count will be stamped on the edge of the ring gear. The US market Z31T's had 3.70s, but you can verify this by finding the r&p count, which will say 37:10. Then you divide it out. A 3.36 is 37:11, 4.11 is 37:9, etc.

Actually, it shows "usually ships in 4-10 business days".

Someone with a carbed car that isn't on a rotisserie should give it a shot and tell the rest of us how it works.

Have you tried this? Looks way cheap compared to tolulene/xylene or race gas, but seems far too good to be true.

I don't think they make LSD carriers for the Nissan diffs, then again I NEVER SEARCHED FOR "LSD" EITHER. If you find one be sure to let the rest of us know...

Actually the same struts for the 240 should work fine for the 280. You just need to make a 1" spacer for the bottom of the rear strut, because if you sectioned the tube to fit the strut the butt would drag. Oil in the tubes is a good idea. Transfers heat from the strut to the housing and also prevents the strut from getting rusted to the housing.