JMortensen

Bubble flares =/= inverted flares.

Pretty light. Congrats on that!

The hub is the part of the strut that the bearings fit into. The stub axle is the part that goes through the hub. The DSS axles fit up to stock stub axles, at least the ones that I've seen do. You need to look at upgrading the stub axles. So again, search "chromoly stub axles" and you'll find what you need.

Any friction modifier is basically the same. Might be labeled GM or Chrysler or Ford, all does the same thing. Ford is usually cheapest.

PM John Coffey. He should have them in stock.

Search "chromoly stub axles".

I've converted quite a few people to SWEPCO (even a few here) and I did work at a Porsche shop where we used it on every car that rolled through the door, brass synchro, steel synchro, etc. None of them had problems with the lube being too slippery but quite a few have said that it worked better than Redline. In fact I don't think a single person who has tried both has come back and said they preferred Redline to SWEPCO. Between myself, the customers from that shop, and people I've converted, you've got to be talking about millions of miles on it. FWIW my boss at the Porsche shop converted me from running 40 weight motor oil. I never cut the motor oil with ATF (although I did that with the SWEPCO), but he said motor oil didn't have enough lubricity under pressure. He wasn't a chemist, he was a mechanic with lots of racing experience, so take that for what it is worth. I switched, had much smoother shifting afterwards, and never looked back. Really though, I think ANY good quality oil will do fine. Is SWEPCO better than Redline? IMO, yes, but it's not like one is crap and the other is fantastic. They're both very good. The FoMoCo stuff is basically indistinguishable in my Miata trans from the SWEPCO, and it's in stock at your local dealer. I would guess that Amsoil, Royal Purple, et al are also just fine.

In the Miata world, Tein > Megan, so that may be an improvement. Still, if you read DG's page, they're all crap: http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html The question is, how good does it need to be for your usage? If you just want to lower the car the Megans are probably fine. If you're looking to race (and win) shocks is likely to be a big part of the budget.

Has anyone actually dynoed a set of AZC shocks? I'd be curious to see what the results were, how uniform a set turned out to be, especially in comparison to a Megan or similar S13 shocks that are so widely disparaged. They look like every other cheap ass Chinese set of S13 shocks on the market to me.

Arizona Z Car does the same thing. I think they now suggest people use a set screw, but that design has never sat well with me. Put your parts in and then weld a tube across the front and back to hold the other tubes in place. At least that way you won't be twisting at both pivots.

http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/38589-strut-sectioning-faq/

The inserts that you have are much shorter than the housings. You can shorten the housing to match, or you can use a full length spacer and run the housings at the stock length, or you can use a shorter spacer and take less out of the strut. The stock rear Z struts are 2" or 5cm longer than the fronts. You have to use a spacer in the back, otherwise your rear end will be way too low.

You don't have to shorten the strut, but if you want the car lowered then it's probably a good idea. The rear strut housing should be 2" or 5cm longer than the front. You can section the front all the way down to where there is no spacer at all if you want and run a 5cm spacer in back, or you could run a 3cm spacer in front and an 8cm spacer in back. It depends on how low you want to go.

You will need a spacer underneath the bilstein so that you can tighten up the nut on top. If you are going to shorten the strut housings, now is the time. Use a spacer in the rear, even if you're going to shorten the housings. If you don't the rear of the car will be way too low. In the FAQ section there are some threads on sectioning struts that will help with that part of it.

Yeah, the Yukon is functionally the same as the Eaton. Most of the Mustang guys do the T2R from what I have read. Auburn is like the Yukon/Eaton but uses cones instead of clutches. The steel cone is forced into a slightly smaller cone machined into the housing creating friction. They have a regular and a PRO series, the PRO has more lockup and chatters. When they wear out you're buying another one. I'd rate them Wavetrac, then the T2R, then the T2 or Truetrac, then the Eaton or Yukon, then the Auburn Gear.

The Eatons are not very torque sensitive. There is a bit of misalignment of the spider gears that very slightly changes it under load, but for the most part it's the springs that load the posi. I used to work for Randy's (who makes Yukon). Their stuff is pretty much a direct copy of the Eaton. It's durable, but because it isn't torque sensing you might have to load it up tight enough to avoid wheelspin that it acts like a spool. They do sell different clutch packs and springs so that you can adjust it. I sold a lot of them and never had a single issue. If you find some old timers they might remember the problems that Eaton had in the 60s with the 12 bolts, but that's ancient history, they're pretty bulletproof now. The Truetrac is like a Torsen but cheaper and less aggressive. I think the difference is 5:1 TBR vs 2.5:1 or thereabouts. There is another option if you have some money to spend called a Wavetrac. I don't have any experience selling them so I never got any feedback on them, but the theory is that it works like a helical and then there is a camming action on top of that that makes it lock up tighter. I am pretty sure they make it for the 8.8, in fact I think that was the first application they made IIRC. http://www.wavetrac.net/

Get on the Porsche forums and find out where the local roadrace guys are getting their alignments, or if your autox club has a FB page or an email list, get on that and do the same. That's how I found a shop locally that does alignments that puts your weight in the driver's seat. They were also able to get A LOT more neg camber out of the front end of my Miata than I was able to get just playing around with the eccentrics. A good race prep type shop will know all the tricks. My alignment cost $175 and took 3 hours, BTW. Well worth it.

You can level out your garage floor with some 1/8" floor tiles, they work great for slip plates too, just put grease in between. I used the bucket of water with clear tube method, which is discussed here IIRC: http://www.quadesl.com/miata_alignment.html. If you're adjusting a Z with sliding type camber plates, it's pretty easy to do it all on the floor. I tried on my Miata which has eccentrics on the LCAs and couldn't get under the car. Put the wheels up on some stacked up 2x12s and it fell off... twice. Don't think I'll be climbing under the Miata.

Pretty much. It's a harder bushing, so more NVH will come through.

You're right, I did go off topic there. I was apparently wrong about the pillars. To restate though, if it were it my car, it would get a cage and I'd cut the pillars. The regulations thing is going to be politics and I shouldn't have brought it up.

You make a good point. The people I'd seen cut the pillars were putting in a cage, and that is what I would be doing if I had to put a roof on a car too. You make a bad point. Well, not you, but legislators do, since we can buy convertibles and those are deemed safe to drive. Maybe there is legislation out there on that subject, but it's just as bad as the legislation that says that we need crumple zones and air bags, but it's totally fine to leave the car dealer and go next door and buy a motorcycle.

I don't know what that picture is of, but I just cut a roof off and took it to a Z shop when it didn't sell because it was in such good condition that I couldn't let it go to scrap. If you cut say 4" down on the A pillar, there are no layers inside. I don't remember a lot of layering in the rear pillars either. I cut them below the lead in the rear.

SWEPCO 201 or Ford Synthetic Manual Trans fluid.

I had to move my bracket with my early 280ZX setup years ago. I cut the old bracket off the frame and welded it back on a couple inches over and just bent the hard line as I recall.

I wouldn't try and remove the skin off of another car and put it on your car. I'd chop through the pillars and weld it there. Lots of people do that when they do a cage anyway, so it's not unheard of, and it's a lot harder to warp the pillar than it is the skin...