Bartman

Yes it works, and I am currently using them on my car with the same size rims, offset and tires...at least for now. If you search you will find a lot of information regarding these puppies. There are also some lengthy discusssion regarding the safety of adapters/spacers as well.

Glad to hear your back on it! Hope you have it running soon and get that all important first drive. Once you drive it you'll have plenty of motivation to complete the project. Of course taking a ride in 1tuffz's car can help provide some motivation as well.

Here's a pic from last weekend: I am not crossed up in this picture and it's from the front. You can see I'm still leaning quite a bit. So here's my plans so far: I have the sway bars on order through Summit (they're on backorder though) I'm in the process of getting wider rims and stickier rubber. I'm going to install Bad Dog Framerails (I've already received them). After I get everything done above I need to adjust some toe in and camber on the rear. I think I already have what I need to do that with adjustable lower control arms and eccentric bushing already installed. I also need to get some camber plates for the front to allow adjustment on the front as well. Does it sound like I have the bases covered? Edit: One more thing; Im thinking of moving the 225 lb. springs from the back to the front and installing 250 lb. springs on the back.

Puller fans are far more efficient than pusher fans (I don't know the specific dynamics of why, but there is a great deal of discussion regarding this here and other sites on the Internet). It looks like you have plenty of room to use a puller in your installation if you decide to switch back. Some fans not will also require flipping the blades themselves as they are specifically designed to work in one direction. The air should be able to travel through the radiator, so you need to determine why it won't. When you changed it to a pusher did you notice that it moved less air?

They should be very close to fitting with coilovers and stock fenders. They may require some rolling of the lip..but we won't know for sure until a set comes out and gets installed. If you go with ZG flares you would probably want spacers to push them out more. The important thing is to get them manufactured. I don't know you're relationship with RB, but if you can get them cheaper there could be a definite benefit there. I think that most people are waiting to see them mounted and installed before making a commitment.

You can see all the RB sizes and offsets that are currently available, or will be soon on their web site: http://www.rotawheel.com/rb1.htm The new sizes will be 16x7, 16x8, 17x7.5 and 17x8.5.

No, when I first inquired about these rims Kim told me they were back ordered until July. I then asked if I could order a set and he (or she?) replied that he would save me a set. I am planning on running 245/40-17's, and I'm specifically looking at getting Kumho V700's.

I'm going for the Royal Hyper Black...I think the price is the same regardless of the color. The real issue is how long it's going to take to get them. I figured it may help get them going if they see how many people want them.

So I decided to wait for the 17" Rota RB's to come out for my new wheels. I contacted Kim and they should be getting a set out to me in around 6 - 8 weeks for $650 shipped. These should be a direct fit if you're running coilovers, and they may or may not require some fender rolling (no spacer/adapters needed). If you want to wait, I'll post up pic's when mine are installed. You can contact Kim with Rota wheels at kimcosmic@juno.com. This is not a group buy, everyone is on their own to purchase individually as they see fit. AFAIK anyone that contacts them will get the same deal that I am getting.

So, I'm thinking that I can POR the inside of the new framerails (not the bottom of the flanges that are welded to the floorpan) and the outside of the old ones, but leave it bare on both the old and new where I'm going to be welding. Then seam seal as necessary and POR everything that's exposed after the welding is completed. Does this sounds like a good plan?

I have a set of Bad Dog framerails that I wil be installing and I need to figure out the best way to prepare the surface. I've searched here and on other sites and there doesn't seem to be a good consensus on the use of weld-thru primer. Some people swear by it, and others think it's a waste and can actually make the weld weaker. Here's some info I found: http://www.autobodystore.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1351.html http://www.autobodyonline.com/whatsnew/feature/archive_story.cfm?date=05/05/2003 This last link states that "Research over the past year or so has found welding through weld-thru primer makes a weak weld because weld-thru primer doesn’t strike the arc well, creating poor penetration. And the zinc in the weld-thru primer combines with the weld, making the weld weaker." It also states that "Damlier-Chrysler recently stated that shops should not use weld-thru primer on anything on any of their cars, period.†The first link is more towards which of the weld-thru primers work best. So I'm going to clean up my floorpans and stock framerails before stitch welding on my Bad Dog framerails. Should I prep the inside of the new framerails and the area that wil be covered by them or not? I am planning on using seam sealer as well and attempting to completely seal the new framerails to my car so maybe rust shouldn't be an issue anyway.

Looks like you have a good start to a great project. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks Clifton, that is a much better price than I found. So the 280Z kit will fit on my car? If so, I'll buy it.

I have the strut bars already and the framerails will be installed soon, so I think I'll get the sway bars then the new tire and wheel package (possibly in conjunction with stiffer springs...especially if I need to switch to 8" in the rear). So I need to determine which specific bar's to get. Will the MSA 240Z kit work with my rear end setup?. If you think I need the ST setup, which one's? MSA Sway Bar Kit 70-73 Z, 1" Front, 7/8" Rear ST 50095 240Z 70-73 1" Front 51075 240Z 70-73 3/4" Rear 52095 Front and Rear Kit Both MSA and ST have different bars for 74 and up Z's but I don't know if they would fit on my car. The ST bars bump up 1/8" in size for the later Z's. The ST's are definitely more, but are they worth it? P.S. - I appreciate all the advice I've gotten so far and the compilment from Ben, but I've still have a long way to go! The journey is fun...but expensive.

I have upgraded my bushings with urethane. The wheels and tires are a big item, and I'm still trying to figure out the best combination of size, cost, compound, weight, etc. I think I'm going to stick with 17", but I haven't decided on the width. There are a few people running 8" shod with 245's on the front and 9" shod with 275's on the back (like 2fiddyz and Clifton). Others are going with 8.5" 245's all around (like what John Coffey posted on another thread). The more expensive route for tires would be something like V700's and the more economical route would be something like the RT-615's. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks for the sway bar info. I have the Q45 LSD, Adjustable LCA's made by Tim240z, and rear suspension from a 75 280Z; so maybe I do need the 280 bar anyway.

I'll have to measure my car, but I don't think mine is too much higher than 4". I've heard those Azenis may be a good compromise for street and AutoX, Ill have to look into that more. How wide are your rims, mine are 7"? Maybe I could keep my current rims and just get stickier tires. It still sounds like the MSA sway bar set would be a good upgrade for me. At $229.95 it doesn't sound to expensive either. BTW - I have Bad Dog framerails sitting at my house waiting to be installed as well.

Guy, I know you must be ecstatic and I look forward to the day I can have mine painted as well. Can't wait to see better pic's, but so far it looks incredible. It looks like all that time and effort getting the body right has paid off.

Yes, the pic I posted earlier was prior to a spin. You can see a pic during a slalom section by clicking on the hyperlink in my signature. The brakes were a bit soft, but I think they just need to be bled. I'm running Toyota vented 4x4 front and ZX in the back with a larger master cylinder. I thought I could upgrade my wheels fairly easily, but just that is winding up being much more expensive than I figured. Even going with inexpensive rims I'm looking at around $600 for a set and then around $800 for tires not counting adapters/spacers. So I can definitely afford to bleed the brakes, and maybe the next thing would be some sway bars from MSA...after that I'm not so sure.

The rear's are 225 and I think the front's are 200. JohnC posted a while back that the Tokico's made for our Z's are only good to 250, so there's not too much room for improvement without the extra cost of changing shocks as well.

So I did my first Autocross a couple of weeks ago, and it was a blast. I still have a lot of room for improvement on my diriving skills, but I'd like to start improvements on my car as well. Here's a pic from my first event taken by HybridZ member David K: I'm looking at getting some more rubber on the ground already, and I'd like to minimize the amount of lean as well. With budget being a major factor, what step(s) can I take now to help? I'm thinking installing a rear sway bar and maybe a larger front sway bar may be a good investment at this point.

My congat's as well. Even though the first engine start on my swap was quite a while back, I still remember the feeling well. I let out a whoop that I'm sure the neighbors heard...as if they didn't hear the open header engine running first.