1978 Datsun 280Z RB25 Restomod

[Jethoncho]

 

34 minutes ago, Kevlars30z said:

I see you're thinking about welding on T3s tabs on your BC Coilovers. I had the same idea since I wanted to run their rear upgrade with my BC Coils. I actually contacted them and the end result was that it would not work.

 

This is what Gabriel at T3 told me

"The backing plates we can sell for $550 the pair. The weld on tabs $40 the set of 4. Yes, the mustache bars and LCA's are in stock. 

 

For the rear backing platses our setup is meant to work with our coilovers specifically. We've had only marginal success adapting other brand coilovers to it.

We've tried many times to adapt coilovers like the BC stuff, but invariably, the fatter lower tube causes problems with the CV Boot and puts the coil spring into the inside of the strut tower. It tends to kick the camber to positive and require slightly extending the lower control arms as well.

After having to re-do things 3 times on some kits, we no longer offer the service of welding our tabs onto other brand coilovers. We'll sell the tabs, but from there out it's on the customer to try and get other brands to fit. If you want a no hassle install, then I would suggest our coilovers."

 

Thanks for the heads up, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here but I want to try to keep to BC stuff on all four corners.  Right now the car is mocked up with the T3 tabs on my BC coilovers.  So far camber and clearances look fine but I’ll have a closer look after I get the axles mocked in.  

[Kevlars30z]

No problem man. I’ll be keeping an eye on your updates. Since I would love to run their rear setup with my BC Coils. I’m not looking to be spending 2k plus on coils, since I have mine already. 

[winstonusmc]

 

On 12/3/2018 at 11:50 PM, Kevlars30z said:

I see you're thinking about welding on T3s tabs on your BC Coilovers. I had the same idea since I wanted to run their rear upgrade with my BC Coils. I actually contacted them and the end result was that it would not work.

 I did this very thing. The deal to get the strut tube to clear the CV boot is to kick the bottom slightly to the rear. The strut isnt perpendicular to the ground anyway and leans slightly towards the front of the car at the top, so kicking it out at the bottom isnt a big deal. If you see in my picture, the strut is threaded way down. The way it is now, the car can be lowered way further than the stock BC setup. I might redo it in the future and slide the tube higher so I can weld it differently. You have to be careful not to put too much heat into the strut tube as to not warp the threads. Mine are still pretty tight due to the warping. I am not a pro welder, so a pro welder might do a better job at minimizing the warping. I dont have any clearance problems, but that may be due to making my own tabs to place the strut in a better position. I oversized the upper holes to give me some camber adjustment and the camber plates are now at center at ride height with 0 camber. 

 

On another note, I think if I used a TIG welder, the results would be better.

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by winstonusmc

[Jethoncho]

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Edited December 5, 2018 by Jethoncho

[Jethoncho]

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Edited December 5, 2018 by Jethoncho

[Jethoncho]

6 hours ago, winstonusmc said:

 

 I did this very thing. The deal to get the strut tube to clear the CV boot is to kick the bottom slightly to the rear. The strut isnt perpendicular to the ground anyway and leans slightly towards the front of the car at the top, so kicking it out at the bottom isnt a big deal. If you see in my picture, the strut is threaded way down. The way it is now, the car can be lowered way further than the stock BC setup. I might redo it in the future and slide the tube higher so I can weld it differently. You have to be careful not to put too much heat into the strut tube as to not warp the threads. Mine are still pretty tight due to the warping. I am not a pro welder, so a pro welder might do a better job at minimizing the warping. I dont have any clearance problems, but that may be due to making my own tabs to place the strut in a better position. I oversized the upper holes to give me some camber adjustment and the camber plates are now at center at ride height with 0 camber. 

 

On another note, I think if I used a TIG welder, the results would be better.

 

 

Your rear setup looks great!  I appreciate your input regarding the requirements to run T3 style tabs on the lower BC Coilover Mount.  This is helpful...I’ll keep this thread updated as I make progress.

[Jethoncho]

On 12/4/2018 at 4:58 PM, Kevlars30z said:

No problem man. I’ll be keeping an eye on your updates. Since I would love to run their rear setup with my BC Coils. I’m not looking to be spending 2k plus on coils, since I have mine already. 

I’ll be updating this thread as I progress.  The BC Coilovers are new but they shipped me a set of fronts that are currently mocked up on the vehicle.  BC already sent me some replacement parts to swap out to correct this issue.  Once I get these swapped out and install the axles I’ll get some more photos up.  I am traveling for work so it will be a couple days.

[Kevlars30z]

13 hours ago, winstonusmc said:

 

 I did this very thing. The deal to get the strut tube to clear the CV boot is to kick the bottom slightly to the rear. The strut isnt perpendicular to the ground anyway and leans slightly towards the front of the car at the top, so kicking it out at the bottom isnt a big deal. If you see in my picture, the strut is threaded way down. The way it is now, the car can be lowered way further than the stock BC setup. I might redo it in the future and slide the tube higher so I can weld it differently. You have to be careful not to put too much heat into the strut tube as to not warp the threads. Mine are still pretty tight due to the warping. I am not a pro welder, so a pro welder might do a better job at minimizing the warping. I dont have any clearance problems, but that may be due to making my own tabs to place the strut in a better position. I oversized the upper holes to give me some camber adjustment and the camber plates are now at center at ride height with 0 camber. 

 

On another note, I think if I used a TIG welder, the results would be better.

 

Seeing someone do this makes me so happy!😁 Definelty going to proceed and do this. I probably won't be doing this till later next year as I'm currently working on my motor set up....But don't mind if I hit you up down the road for any questions on this. 

[Jethoncho]

Thanks to those that reached out to me regarding the CV boots clearance on the lower BC coilover mount with T3 mounting tabs.   I returned from four days on the road and decided to tackle this dilemma...I previously mocked up the rear suspension and figured out BC sent me a set of front coilovers instead of rears.  I contacted BC while I was on the road and they were kind enough to send me a set of rear shocks and springs so I disassembled the rear and built it back up with the new parts while also incorporating T3 camber plates. To use the T3 camber plates T3 sent me bushings meant to integrate their camber plates with the BC coilovers...I decided I wanted to use the BC bushings instead so I took the BC nut and pillow bushing and turned (lathe) the bushing portion down to 15.76mm to fit inside the T3 bearing in their camber plate.

 

Next after building up the rear coilovers with the correct parts I mocked in an axle and I have good clearance on the CV boot.  I attribute this to the fact my lower mounts are likely front mounts and my T3 tabs extend beyond the lower end of the lower mount by a little over an inch or so.  My lower mounts have a reduction in diameter about 4 inches from the lower edge so I attached the T3 mounting tabs even with the upper edge of the larger diameter on the lower mount.  I posted up a few photos to illustrate what I’m talking about.  With the T3 camber plates and T3 lower control arms I don’t anticipate any issue with camber adjustment either.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by Jethoncho

[Kevlars30z]

Success! I wonder why T3 was having such a hard time figuring this out... Or is there something we're not noticing? Either way, based on both of your attempts being successful, I'll be proceeding with this as well. 

[Jethoncho]

Back to metal work the past couple of days...finished welding on the left rear quarter replacement.  It needs a little hammer and dolly wok but overall I am happy with how it turned out.  Next the forward section of the left door jamb had a bit of rust neat the hinges.  It wasn’t rusted through but I cut it out and replaced it anyway.  The upper windshield frame had a small area of rust through...it took a small 2” by 0.5” patch welded in to correct this area.  Still to go on he left side...small area on the floorboard (7”x10”), this will be a little work since it’s in the area where there are two drain holes and some bead rolling.

 

I did take a little diversion to restore a 240Z steering wheel that I plan to use...I bead blasted the metal to remove old paint and surface rust.  Next I repainted the spokes with POR15 satin black.  After a day to dry/cure, I sanded the simulated wood and newly painted surfaces with 600 grit and applied thee coats of satin clear coat.  I am extremely pleased with the outcome...too bad I’m likely a year away from installing it but it is gratifying and does help to keep me motivated.

 

[boosted300]

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 9:57 AM, Jethoncho said:

 

 

Given these dimensions I believe I should be able to stuff a 9.5" wheel in the well but its going require a positive offset of approximately 40.  I may be able to adjust the lower control arms in a bit to get this down...I'll have to take a look at that.  

 

 

So in going back and looking at my setup, the modification to my wheels gave me a +17 offset, and then I added a 10mm spacer, which actually ends up netting me an offset of +7...if my math is correct?

 

Rear suspension looks great!

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by boosted300

[Jethoncho]

Not very glamorous but very necessary...removed the reinforcement panel to get to the obvious rust behind it.  Cut out the rust damaged panel then fabricated a replacement panel. Butt welded (tacked in) te patch panel.  Still need to complete the welding then fabricate the new reinforcement panel to install over the patch panel.  Not sure what the reinforcement panel actually does as it was original fabricate from very light 20 gauge material.  Anyway, the new patch panel and reinforcement panels are going to be 18ga so they will have greater structural strength then the original stuff. 

 

 

[fluidmotion]

Nice patch.  Had to do the same on mine.  Perhaps Datsun knew those panels would be prone to rust and added extra material haha.

[Jethoncho]

16 minutes ago, fluidmotion said:

Nice patch.  Had to do the same on mine.  Perhaps Datsun knew those panels would be prone to rust and added extra material haha.

Thanks! I think the reinforcement and the failure of its seam sealer is the cause of the rust in this area. 

[boosted300]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 5:07 PM, Jethoncho said:

Not very glamorous but very necessary...removed the reinforcement panel to get to the obvious rust behind it.  Cut out the rust damaged panel then fabricated a replacement panel. Butt welded (tacked in) te patch panel.  Still need to complete the welding then fabricate the new reinforcement panel to install over the patch panel.  Not sure what the reinforcement panel actually does as it was original fabricate from very light 20 gauge material.  Anyway, the new patch panel and reinforcement panels are going to be 18ga so they will have greater structural strength then the original stuff. 

 

 

Leaving everything better than you found it...nice.

[Jethoncho]

1 minute ago, boosted300 said:

Leaving everything better than you found it...nice.

Finished the repair yesterday... Complete the butt weld patch and added the plug welded reinforcement panel..I’ll likely dress down the plug welds but structurally it’s repaired.

[Jethoncho]

Is anyone else going crazy with S30 vendors?  Retro-Spec Carbon is driving me crazy, my parts were suppose to ship 12/21 (after over 4 month of waiting)...they didn’t, Techno Toys Tuning orderedrear end swap kit, shipped me incorrect axles and CV boots (after 2 months still waiting for correct axles).  Apex Engineering, promised two weeks on their cross-member with RB mounts after 4.5 weeks still waiting...

 

These guys are niche companies so I guess they can get away with these kind of shenanigans.   Seems to me they would quickly go out of business if there was greater competition.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Jethoncho

[EF Ian]

Dealing with suppliers/vendors/businesses was the most stressful part of my build. Especially when you are dealing with the useless ones.

[Jethoncho]

On 12/5/2018 at 11:04 AM, winstonusmc said:

 

 I did this very thing. The deal to get the strut tube to clear the CV boot is to kick the bottom slightly to the rear. The strut isnt perpendicular to the ground anyway and leans slightly towards the front of the car at the top, so kicking it out at the bottom isnt a big deal. If you see in my picture, the strut is threaded way down. The way it is now, the car can be lowered way further than the stock BC setup. I might redo it in the future and slide the tube higher so I can weld it differently. You have to be careful not to put too much heat into the strut tube as to not warp the threads. Mine are still pretty tight due to the warping. I am not a pro welder, so a pro welder might do a better job at minimizing the warping. I dont have any clearance problems, but that may be due to making my own tabs to place the strut in a better position. I oversized the upper holes to give me some camber adjustment and the camber plates are now at center at ride height with 0 camber. 

 

On another note, I think if I used a TIG welder, the results would be better.

 

Here are a couple photos of my BC Racing coilovers mocked up in the rear of my car...to cure the clearance issue with the cv joint I lowered the T3 tabs so the are off the end of the BC weld on mount.  As far as camber issue my T3 lower control arm are currently extended out on the bottom and the T3 camber plates are adjusted out, once the lower control arms are adjusted in the upper camber plates will bring the rear camber in spec.  I’m very pleased with the mock up and happy to be able to use BC stuff on all four corners.