duragg Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) Mocking up the POS ZG Flares, they just wouldn't sit any higher. I did all I could for now. I am going to make my own flares anyways, AMG DTC touring car style. Its not the end of the world if I have to cut more and re-weld. But I needed to get the coilovers installed and on the ground to make some progress and clear space in the shop. Front is all done. Just need to fab one last Brake line to connect to the flex-line. Not quite sure how I want the alignment of the tube and hose (I messed up and deleted the tube fitting on the strut for the brake line standoff). Rear is mostly done. Need to fit the P/B cable and finalize the new Steel lines. Brake lines are fun. I forgot how much I enjoy making custom lines. Needs: * Assistant... * To show up... * Bench bleed M/C * New steel lines from switch to the old deleted BPV with unions. * Hack front right fender for tire clearance to at least get driving. * Once driving with the final ride height I can tweak any last fender issues and make some trick custom flareZ. Ciao. Edited January 4, 2013 by duragg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Looks to me like you didn't cut the fenders high enough. Did you look at 240hoke's ZG thread in the FAQ section? Most of the pics are dead, but if memory serves he cut and then had to cut again. I did the same on my car. Cut the lips off, looked pretty similar to yours, then realized the tire would hit and had to cut a couple more inches out. Of course, it's more difficult to weld back together when you cut up higher too. If you want to figure it out, the easiest way is to take a spring off of a rear corner, bolt the wheel on and jack the control arm up. If the tire hits the fenderwell, you need to cut more. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/47525-how-to-mount-them-there-zg-flares/ and yeah, I reviewed all of the Hoke posts, yours and other DIYs for months, and finally decided I just needed to cut and move on with life- Right or Wrong. I had a greater need to get "Close" than "Perfect" at this time. I really don't want a belly scraping Z. But a functional hot-rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 My concern is that if you put wheels on that extend past the stock fenders, you might shred the tires when you hit the first bump in the road. It could be that I'm just not looking at the pics right, but it appears you basically cut the lip off of the fender. If that's right, you didn't cut enough. Jacking the control arm up test would tell for sure. I know it's a bitch, but it would be a lot easier to fix it now than it would after paint, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 The cut goes up to the body crease. Its about 3". Timing issue meant I needed to get the coilovers in and back on the wheels. Then I need to make sure these 15x10s are really what I want, set the ride height I can live with. Finalize any further fender tweaks and fab the flares. I still need to go back and do some stitch weld clean up, seam sealer and pick up more rattle cans. This ain't a pretty car... function only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Done. Running again. Pics later. I have about 1.5" below the threaded collar to go lower on front, that should be ok, Brakes are still full of air as I couldn't bleed well with just me and a Mity-Vac. 250f / 225r springs are by no means bone-jarring. With I would have stuck with my initial idea and gone stupid stiff like I wanted, but now its easy enough to swap so we are in good shape. Thanks for all the help to all, hopefully this helps somebody else down the road. Still have my stock 14" turbines on at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Oh, and the clunk from the rear is gone. The one I was blaming on worn stub axles. I swapped to the 27spline type for this conversion and now just have a take-up clunk in the 4.375 R200 CLSD which I hear is common. But all the rest is clunk-free for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 (edited) Posting from yesterday pics. 280Zx rears. And a new brake line. This was a 12" piece from Orielly. I didn't like the NAPA brand tube at all. Lots of clearance around the spinny parts. Edited January 5, 2013 by duragg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 (edited) Posting from yesterday pics. Deletion of Brake Proportion valve. Just made new lines and connected all straight for now Edited January 5, 2013 by duragg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Today: Bleed brakes proper. Connect parking cable. Clean shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Brake pedal soft. Not sure I got all the air out, will bleed some more. Its a 15/16" Master cylinder. I probably need to adjust the pushrod some too. Front brakes are great... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 My concern is that if you put wheels on that extend past the stock fenders, you might shred the tires when you hit the first bump in the road. It could be that I'm just not looking at the pics right, but it appears you basically cut the lip off of the fender. If that's right, you didn't cut enough. Jacking the control arm up test would tell for sure. I know it's a bitch, but it would be a lot easier to fix it now than it would after paint, etc. Ok, now in my defense... I really didn't have a good baseline to Measure from until I had the ride height set with the coilovers and tires installed and driven and settled. So the motto will be: Measure twice, Final cut once. At least now I can dial in the ride height (which I am addressing in the approriate location) and then make my final cut and weld. With a full machine shop at my free disposal this is just a few hours of labor on my behalf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Sure is nice to drive hard and not bottom out the front springs. Quite a different car with the Coilovers. I haven't tweaked the ride down to the final height yet, and the front Toyota S12w calipers aren't nearly bedded in fully yet. They still aren't making full contact with the rotor, so have a ways to go. Not sure a booster is needed with those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattausten23 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Cant wait to see those wheels on a Z with flares! I've always liked those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 I have the ZG Flares but they quality is just not so great. I may have Tony-Baloney do a little of his sheetmetal magic with the Pullmax and Eng-Wheel to make me something cool... I tweaked the ride height down more last night and maybe near the limit for a functional street car. The rear coilovers have about 2" of down adjustment left and probably 4" of bump travel. The fronts maybe 1" left and 2-3" of bump travel I am guessing from looking at the snubber on the BZ shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ghtymaxXx Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Nice work! What year 280zx calipers are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 I don't know the exact year as they came to me in a bucket with brackets for $50 bucks. I recall the rebuild kits were 1981? They are the GIANT ones that look like pie tins with a vice in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) 79-81 are the big huge ones with the opposed double piston design. the 82-83 look like a normal caliper. Edited January 15, 2013 by JMortensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 We are talking about the rear 280ZX anchors? THey have an unmistakable... looks like a large flour tortilla, fried for a salad, draped over a beer keg, with a leg-of-loin hanging out the bottom. I have a picture of the caliper body somewhere, but it is so big, I have to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duragg Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) Oh, wait Here it is. Its only one giant piston, with a goofy ratcheting screw inside. Frankly, they fit on real nice and bedded in with the disks nicely. My S12W fronts are still trying to find the whole rotor surface. Took the Tokickos up to #5 front and #3 rear which seems to help the buckboarding. I hit some turns pretty hard under power and wow, quite a setup. You cannot just plow into the middle pedal or all 4 lockup. Ain't no M3, but I think they could absorb a lot of heat. Edited January 16, 2013 by duragg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Those are the early ZX calipers. There are actually 2 pistons in there. There is one in the traditional place that you screw in to put the pads in, then there is another one on the opposite end of that cylindrical part of the housing. The one pushes the inner pad into the rotor, the other pulls the whole flat plate thingy inwards, forcing the outer pad against the rotor. It's a funky setup and I didn't realize there were two in there either until someone told me. I used that setup with non-vented Toyota front calipers and even with no prop valve I was unable to lock the rears while driving through a puddle at a driver school. It's easier to work on than drums, but it isn't the hot ticket for rear disk conversions IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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