pparaska

It sunk in for me a while ago, mostly due to your posts . I just want to find out from this guy where there "readily available" 10mm to 12mm bushings are sourced from, as this question comes up alot. I have a spare LSD that needs some clutch parts, and a set of used 3.545:1 gears I'd like to try swapping together as a backup diff to the 3.7:1 LSD that's in the car.

I've only seen this asked about once, and then flamed. Of course, we won't do that here (any flames will be immediately put out). 400 lbs is not that bad for all that displacement! Seems that I've read that the L6 is heavier than that, before any turbo stuff was added. How long is the engine? Welcome, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Terry, Welcome! I'm so glad you sent me the pics to scan and put up here. It's a terrific addition to the Featured Cars page! SuperDan (Dan Porter, the sys admin and owner of HybridZ.org) shoild be able to yank the HTML off of zhome.com and add it locally to this site - it is linked in the links page under Ford, for all that are interested. Best Regards, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Mike, I think the isolator is there for NVH reason because of the spring AND the damper (strut cartridge) loads. Impact loads (hitting a sharp bump, expansion strip, etc.) are transmitted through the strut very well, since the time constant of the strut is very large compared to the time characteristics of the impact load. The strut damps more as the speed of the suspension movement goes up (Force=damping*Speed), so a sharp bump is transmitted well by the strut and the noise will come through well, especially on a stiffer (more damping) strut. Of course, this is bench racing again, you might prove me wrong with your experiment.

Chris, buddy, I'll take that as a compliment! Very interested to see the results!

There is a guy that posted on the IZCC list that he's used a 240SX viscous carrier in a 280Z R200 case, but used 10mm to 12mm bushings in the viscous holes. He said they were readily available in New Zealand. I've emailed him to get more info. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 29, 2000).]

John, I think this has been another of those good, long, detailed threads that we have here at HybridZ. Hopefully any confusion has been cleared up! You wrote: quote (All below in my opinion, obviously) Not sure I totally agree. The stock Z can benefit from an inch or two of lowering in handling, not to mention looks. And taking even an inch or so out the ride height using lowering springs will cause you to need some pretty large rates and/or hitting the bumpstops. I know, I've done it with MSA lowering springs - the ride was horrible (IMO), mostly because I was hitting bump stops too often. Yes, I even cut the stock springs and had the same bad experience - taking the bump travel away is what made the car such a poor riding skate. ...And coilovers really aren't that much trouble to install, even if you section the struts. I did mine (sectioning and coilover install) myself with a large pipe cutter, angle grinder, and MIG welder, and though it was pretty easy. (BTW, I used a piece of angle iron to keep the pieces aligned while I tacked it back together.) The prices on some of the coilover packages isn't all that much when you come down to how much Tokico Illuminas cost. Plus the availability of all those spring rates and lengths is a real plus! And the springs aren't obscenely priced either. In other words, if you take even an inch or so out of the strut tubes, use shorter cartridges, and coilovers, with not-too-stiff springs, you can tune the car to a good compromise much better than just putting lowering springs on the car. I think it would be better to have a shorter top spring perch/isolator than to shorten the strut. For me, I wanted the stock isolator there for NVH reasons, and the stock spring perch mod (welding in a piece of exhaust tubing) was what some might "backyard" but it was cheap, simple, and effective. Just my opinion. Mike, that bearing is maybe 5/8" tall. Not much room to gain there, unless you can find a way to put a Torrington thrust roller bearing in there, like the front of SBC's can have behind the timing chain cam gear. You might have something there. I've heard of taking the isolator apart and removeing some of the rubber and crimping it back together. That seems to be viable as well, for taking height out of the hardware above the top of the spring. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 28, 2000).]

Ross, for your documentation purposes: On my 240Z with JTR mounts, I left out the frame to crossmember spacers (for u-joint angle reasons - see my page if interested) With a Holley 300-36 (contender, street dominator, etc.) high rise dual plane intake, 750 vac sec 3310 Holley, and 14" Moroso drop base air cleaner w/ 3" element, I have 1/2" clearance at the tightest spot (near front of air cleaner, where the hood hump disappears on each side). ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Jim Biondo looked into this as well and decided it wasn't worth it. His solution was to take C3 Vette stub axles (actually billet ones available from some specialty house) and have bushings made to go between the uter race of the C3 bearings and the 260Z (240 and 280 have the same dimension here) hub housing. He made them a bit longer and had a step machined into them to locate the bearings laterally. He was going to use a C3 Vette companion flange. but had a custom set made up to adapt to the 280ZX Turbo CV shafts. Not sure what was up with the seal, but I think he found an available seal that worked. The billet C3 stubs he got were drilled for the 5x4.5 Ford/Nissan bolt circle, to go with the 5x4.5 300ZX 5 lug hubs he used up front. He went with an available SSR Integral wheel made for a Mustang I believe. I helped fund this entire project by buying his wheels, tires, front hubs, rear stub axles, 280Z to 280ZX Turbo companion flanges, AZ Z car brakes, etc. Glad I could help him with that ! So, there are alternatives, but not very inexpensive ones, except for scca-Mike's 5 lug conversion.

Danno - wrong direction - not necessarily! Largerdiameter tires help with straight line traction. You get more tire grabbing the pavement.

Mike, not really sure what 17s have to do with sectioning. In fact, with a wide tires (255 and larger) and 17s on the street, and 45s, you end up with a taller tire, and it raises the car. Of course, you could go to 35s or 40s and get the car lower, but once you are at 265s, even a 40 is pretty tall compared to the stock ~24.8" tire diameter (265/40-17 = 25.4"). Granted the 275/35-17 is 24.6". But 35s on the street sounds pretty harsh to me. So the way I see it, going to 17s on the street (assuming you want to stay at or above 40 aspect ratio, and use 255s and larger) means you actually have to offset the effect of larger-than-stock tire diameter with either sectioned struts or less isolator/spring perch (top) height. Of course, 1/2" less bump travel with shorter springs or a lowered bottom perch on coilovers doesn't really call for sectioning, but if you are going to lower the car, it aggravates the situation of bump travel even more. As far as a shock tab on the tower, I'd be concerned that alot of impact loads/noise would be transferred to the strut tower. Not that anyone cares, but the purists hate 17s on the old Z's - all the more reason to do it, I say . Seriously, I don't care what they think, by finding decent performance tires these days means 16s at least, and even more selection in 17s. OE be damned! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 28, 2000).]

quote: Originally posted by BLKMGK: ... 2) Z's supposedly have only 2-3inches of suspension travel according to JTR. 3) Lower the car an inch and you lose 1/3rd travel. Lowering springs or sectioning the struts - same thing. Yes, they both lower the car, but lowering springs takes away bump travel, and strut sectioning (if done the correct amount) does not. quote Not sure what you mean. If you are referring to removing some of the stock distance of the isolator/upper-spring-perch from what's above the top of the spring, then you are lowering the car WITHOUT losing any bump travel. quote: Using cambercaster plates that raise the mount of the strut higher into the body of the car would be "safe" - they make these for Mustangs but I don't know about Zs. Yep. Safe, as in it lowers the car without taking away bump travel. quote That will have NO effect on ride height, but will improve the driveshaft u-joint angle problem with many V8 engine swaps, and lessen the halfshaft u-joint angle when the rear of the car is squatting on take-off by raising the back of the diff relative to the wheel hub - especially useful if the car is lowered. quote: 4) To compensate for loss of strut "at rest" height you can use shorter strut carts - see #1 above. Grr! I never realized my car was this low. My 2nd rear cart was totally dead too. 5) You can use stock front carts in back to help solve #4. VW Rabbit carts go in front? Yes. Depending on how much you section the strut tubes, you will probably need spacers under the front 240Z cartridges in the rear shortened tubes and under the VW rabbit cartridges in the front shortened tubes. quote: Am I tracking right guys? Which VW struts work? Valving okay? Good question. I've heard the GTI struts have better valving. Another option is MR2 struts. Supposedly the guys at Dando's and Ground Control know this stuff well, so I'd call them. You might be able to get Tokico's for the GTI, that'd be good. Also, cartridges are just cartridges. Sure the lengths are different, and the method of holding them in the tube and at the top mount are different, but you can mix and match things if you know the lengths, so I've been told by Carrera guys. The issue is what are the differences in valving for the GTI strut and 240Z front strut from the same manufacturer. I think I've just talked myself into Illuminas. Of course double adjustable would be even better. quote Maybe, depends on what cartridges and how much you section. quote Going taller will raise the hub height, so it will raise the car (obviously). Then to lower the car back to where it was (if that's what you want) then you need to either section the strut or shorten the space above the upper spring end to lower the car and keep bump travel. Hope I got all that right and helped some. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Oops. Reading too fast. Yep, I got "John C" mixed up with "johnc" Sorry about that.

Straighten it out? I guess they might have to pull it or move it some how. If I were to try it, I'd probably tack weld a lug to the jamb of the hatch where it's come apart and applied forces/impact to the lug. In the mean time, I'd not paint the streets with your back tires (like you did last week ), until you get that taken care of . This is a know weak point in the Z shell, all the more reason to be careful driving and have the area welded. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 27, 2000).] [This message has been edited by pparaska (edited December 27, 2000).]

That weather strip kit is the same one that Arizona Z car sells, along with Ztherapy. It's from Precision products. The door seals don't fit as well as the Nissan products, but supposedly the latest design of that kit is better. I'd go to Ztherapy.com and get them, as Scott Bruning is sensitive to this issue and is sourcing new kits. Leaded joint. The rod shop guys tend to want to melt the solder out and Mig weld the area up, then grind, and a TINY bit of filler to make it smooth. This is the way to go, as this will make the joint stronger and stiffer. Any decent body shop can do this. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

John, I had no idea that "John C" was the famous John Coffey! Welcome! I followed Wayne's advice when doing my strut shortening, and took out 1.5" I needed to space up the VW Rabbit strut cartridges in the front shortened tubes, and the 240Z front cartridges in the rear shortened tubes. One thing that doesn't get mentioned is that the design of the strut top mount has ALOT to due with ride height. In fact, using some of the camber plates and short top spring perches can lower the car over an inch without having to use shorter springs, or shortening the strut tubes. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Eastwood has cold galvanizing paint that they claim is weld-through. Search http://www.eastwoodco.com for "galvanizing" and you'll get hits on the spray and brush on types. Personally, I've used this stuff, and I really doubt the usefulness of it in that application. It burns at and adjacent to the welding and what's left is areas right next to the weld in the overlapped steel where there is no paint. I feel the best thing to do is to butt weld, or overlap and use a very good sealer. I really like the firm set seam sealer "SEAM SEALER BEIGE FIRM SET CARTRIDGE Item-no 31024 Z" and the plyable 3M seam sealer. I guess the galvanized paint will help, but it won't protect ALL of the metal in the overlap.

...It's been done. Jim Biondo has seen a 240Z with the late Supra Turbo motor and trans in it at a drag strip. I don't remember the particulars, but the engine, even in stock form was making the thing fly. This guy was actually having problems with the 280ZX Turbo CV shafts wearing out, due to all the torque. Sorry no details. Those engines are basically detuned racing engines, from everything I've read. Very capable of big HP numbers while staying reliable. If you can make a big heavy Supra go fast with one, think what it would do in a 1000 lb lighter 240Z! That'd be a cool swap! ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I just sent drpete an email asking him to come join us (again). And cc'd it to SuperDan to ask him to put a link to it.

Chris, I have a write-up on driveshaft vibration issues due to excessive u-joint angles on my site: http://members.home.net/pparaska/drivelinemods.htm Don't know if that was the one you were talking about. I know I read some other stuff on halfshaft vibrations on someones page but can't find it. It seems Paul Ruschman had problems with this and raised the back of the differential to fix it, but I can't remember if it was him for sure. Anyway, CV's in the halfshafts are much more forgiving as far as vibrations and joint angles over 3 degrees - because they are "constant velocity" .

If somebody wanted to copy my car, I'd be flattered. Then I'd let them know all the things I'd do differently the next time (and there are a ton of them!) ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Just an FYI. My 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX (turbo 4 cyl.) has a steel tube from the turbo to the oil pan. The tube has an expandable bellows section (also steel tubing) for heat expansion/contraction.

Lone, the Hydraulic Throw Out bearings have two hoses that come out of the bellhousing - 1 is for the fluid pressure to push the bearing against the clutch hat, and the other is for bleeding. The latter hose has a bleeder fitting in it. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

I know Ross C has been after a set of spacers to use a 10mm ring gear in a 12mm carrier and found that "Tony D" posted about a particular bolt type that might be available to use a 10mm bolt Ring gear on a 12mm carrier. The link is: http://zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=4&i=12532&t=12196 My only concern would be the material of these bolts. Usually, socket head bolts are grade 8, but that might be too brittle for this application. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

Morgan -Pretty cool for Parking brake duty! Where did you find it? My concern was to have emergency brake capability as well, so I had to go to the calipers.