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HybridZ

1980 280zx


CaptainJoe87

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  • 1 month later...

So, a buddy of mine has an Impreza that he has on coils and lowered and such. He had a spare camber plate laying around so I decided to check the bolt pattern for the front of my car. Since I'm lowered on the Tokikos, I've been getting some annoying camber wear on my tires and the car has been pulling all over the road with the slightest grove. Here is my question, Is there a reason that most of what I have seen for camber plates on a S130 are cut out and weld in? I find it hard to believe that no one has tried any other camber plates before. From the look of it all that would need to be done is cutting out that bump in the middle. Thoughts?

 

Just realized I should probably post this question somewhere else... Like the suspension section... my bad

Edited by CaptainJoe87
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That bump is structural. cutting it out weakens the top and should only be done when reinforcing the strut tower. That's wny I just adjusted my camber plates (s13 coils) and bolted them in like that. 

 

I do not know why you are getting camber wear in the front. That back is obvious since lowering it induces camber. Possible getting some offset bolts should be enough to correct it, but I actually think you may be getting toe wear. How are your TC rod bushings? 

 

Also have you gone in for an alignment since getting the new tires/rims on?

Edited by BluDestiny
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I took it in for alignment and they said there was nothing they could do for the camber because there was little or no adjustment for the camber and just gave me shit for how horrible my frame was. hahaha Which I will be getting fixed asap, I just haven't had the money. The wear could possibly be from the hard cornering I do. I haven't been able to take it to a track yet so I just have fun on empty roads. The wear is mainly in the front on the inside of the tires, which leads me to believe its from the camber. Also, it catches and grabs and pulls all over the road with the wider wheels on it. When I put the stock tires on to have fun in the snow, and drove it around on the road a bit, it felt fine. Maybe because there was less wear on those tires or maybe because something else. The wider wheels seem to grip on every possible road rut, the steering wheel seems tilted when going straight, and the fronts wear insanely fast. I will double check all the bushings, I could probably use a good bushing kit either way.

 

But as for the camber adjustment, are you saying you adjusted the setting then bolted on the camber plate without cutting the bump out? I need to find some way to get the wheels aligned properly because buying a brand new set of tires every year just from driving on weekends is a bit much for my budget.

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Wear from hard corning is on the outside, not inside. You're making it sound like you have a tweaked frame. The reason you feel nothing with the stock tires is because they are just plain small and probably all seasons. They don't have the gripping power that your wider wheels have.

 

I maxed out the negative camber on my s13 coilovers and then bolted it in without cutting the hole out. So basically if I want to adjust them, I have to unbolt and remove them.

 

I mean spot wleding the crappy tack welds and reinforcing the top with some kind of plate.

 

There has to be something wrong with the frame or moutning of yor crossmember. There is no reason your tires should wear out that fast, unless they are some sticky summer tires rated at 180 treadwear anyway. I mean I used to burn up sets of Khumo ecsta XS's every 3 months when I would go canyoning about 4-5 times a week, and that's an extreme case.

 

just curious can you post a pic of your alignment printout? or tell us how bad your camber/toe was? like -2 degrees?

Edited by BluDestiny
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, its tax return time so I'm about to start taking care of some long overdue things on my car. The floor pans and frame rails are first because they are most important. I found a guy selling rust free fenders, hood, and hatch, as well as some other misc. Things I might need for the future so I'm picking those up as well.

 

A buddy of mine has a 1980 something BMW with black plastic bumpers, so I am going to try and chop them to fit and fill the spaces between the headlight buckets and air dam. I'm hoping to get rid of those gaps so it looks a little less awkward going bumperless. If I come up with anything good, i will be sure to put up pictures.

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  • 1 month later...

The BMW bumper idea was a bust. I did however order the frame rail and flor pan kit from thezstore.com. when it got here and I looked it over, I took it to the body shop to see if I was seeing it wrong. The frame rail is 1/4" too short to the floor and 1/2" to narrow compaired to the stock rail... Also, these don't have the bump up for where the seat is. The other thing is that if the existing floors were just to be cut out, these would be installed on an angle sloping towards the front of the car. Motorsport insists they have been selling this kit for 30years and no one else has had this problem. So I ask, has anyone on here ever used this kit? My thing is, if the kit was supposed to be used as a starting point or supposed to be cut and or bent to fit, they should probably tell you that in the product description. If anyone has any advice I'm open to it. I'm in the process of trying to get motorsport to refund everything, including shipping but they are fighting it.

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Problem solved! Just got off the phone with Aaron over at motorsport. He talked to the guy that makes the pans for them who said himself that he was unhappy with the design of the pans that they have been selling for 20 years now... Why it took 20 years of not being satisfyed with the design and my phone call for them to get the idea to discontinue the item I will never know. But that's what it is, I'm getting a full refund for the part and all shipping charges. It was quite the hastel but it all got sorted out. So, don't even try to buy these pans, they are horrible. I'm gonna have they guy at the body shop build them from scratch. Getting a way better deal this way too.

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While I was waiting on the call back to get my car into the body shop for the floors and frame I decided to do some smaller cleanup work myself. I drilled out those ugly chrome and plastic side strips, sanded it down, bondoed the holes, and repainted the sides of the car. Also, I got a rattle can of plasti dip and went over all the chrome parts so now everything is black. First time using plasti dip and it came out pretty well. I'm highly concidering doing the whole car with it now.

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Plasti dip sounds good, I've been trying to figure out something to cover the bumpers.  Could we get some pictures? I would also like to know how it holds up to speed.

 

I did the same thing with my side strips, it improves the look of the car tremendously.

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When you ask about holding up to speed, your asking about the plasti dip right? Dude that stuff is fine. They have a video where they take a power washer at 1800 psi and it doesn't damage it. You just have to let it cure for a day or two before you go scrubbing on it or anything. Check out their website faq's, they have a couple videos showing how to do it and the durablity. There are also a bunch of videos on youtube about it. I'm having a hard time putting pictures up from my phone.for some reason but as soonas iI get to a computer ill put them up.

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