jkube Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 I'm having difficulties finding mustache bars up here in Canada so I can do the R200 conversion on 2 zcars. Have only been able to find 1 (need 2). Seller wants $100 USD. Sounds like too much for this Has anyone tried to fab one up? Please send me your ideas , and I'll try to make one up and post the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 the r200 mustache bar is very nice piece, ive only broken one! they go for about 25.00 in our local jy. People on z car websites usually charge a little more, they either pull them from parts cars or from the junkyard and throw a finders fee on top, which I think is only right. Look around, it will cheaper and easier than making one, its hard to make something as strong as this thing cheap. Just keep your eyes open, you will be able to find one, or two, or 10! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Not sure I'd try to build one - that puppy isn't run of the mill steel. If you've ever tried drilling on one you'll know what I mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 I second everyones comments. That is one strong peice of steel. I would really be interested to find out Exactly what grade it is. I tried drilling through an extra R180 bar I had to test a fuel pump mount.....My best drill bits never had a chance..... Im sure that if you put a wanted add out, you would get some offers. goodluck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 I've been watching the news and I knew things were getting bad up there in the great white north. But now you've run out of moustache bars?? Wow, that sucks. Paid $5 to pull one at the local yank a part. They didn't know what it was even after I explained it to them. I told them I'd pay $20 for it. They said motor mounts are $5 and I could leave if I insisted on arguing. Well, they are working in a junk yard. You ain't making one soon. That's spring steel. Got a nice metal furnace? Have one shipped from the States. We got a million of them here just rusting away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 My guess is that they are made from spring steel, so maybe a leaf spring maker could do you one although that is far from certain. But it would cost heaps. Also they appear to be designed and made from spring steel for a reason, to allow some fore/aft flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Dan, you guys are lucky, our Junkyards are starting to get kinda pricy. Pick n Pull is getting sued for some illegal activity though. One of the guys once said to me: "Do you have a camera" me: "No, only guns and narcotics" him: "Cool, just as long as no cameras" I saw a guy try to use a sawzall to pull a diff before, tore up four blades and got about a quarter inch through it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkube Posted September 4, 2003 Author Share Posted September 4, 2003 Thanks for the warnings. Took your advice and found a bar. It appears to be an R200 bar but the mounting holes for the diff fit the R180 and not the R200. It does have the the kink in the middle like the R200 bar my uncle's got on his car, but the holes are different. Did Nissan have an interm design? (R200 shape but R180 holes)?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 RangerZ is also having a difficult time finding the right bar as well, strange. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I believe there were three different bars for the first gen ('70-'78 ) Z cars. The earliest cars had one type for the forward mounted R180 diff. The standard or aft mounted R180 bar. And the R200 bar. Anybody know of any others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idnevno Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 i may have a couple moustache bars layin around for an R200 if not i am sure i can pull one out of one of my parts cars if ya want i'll charge ya 25 bucks for it you pay the shipping...... i should have a few i can send ya pics of em if ya want. and yes they are made of 1/4 inch tempered spring steel. i have broke 1 of them myself as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkube Posted September 15, 2003 Author Share Posted September 15, 2003 Ok, The bar that I was told would fit the R200 diff turns out in fact to be an R180 bar. I guess I got hosed on that one. Since I couldnt sleep because of this I went out to the garage and compared my Uncle's R200 bar with this R180 bar. I spent all night to figure out what to do now. Heres what I think will work. I placed one bar over the other and found that if I heated ( And cooled slowly) and bent the outer portions of the R180 bar (about 6" from the centre line out ) the R180 could be made to look like the R200. The next problem is that the bar mounting posts about 1/4" too narrow to fit on the bolts on the chassis. So I will make eccentric bushings to replace the steel bushings that came in the Urethane kit. This will move the mounting holes out just enough to fit the chassis bolts. I found that the Diff holes can easliy be milled out instead of using a drill. I'll try to post some pictures showing the 2 bars (with the new bends on the R180) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted September 15, 2003 Share Posted September 15, 2003 Somebody please! Send Jkube a R200 bar before he torches and bends his 240 chassis to match the R180 bar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkube Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 Thanks for the offer, But its too late, I'm almost done with the install. Things actually worked out better than expected. Turns out that the R200 bar that I compared the width to is actually too wide to fit the chassis bolts. Seems it's a bit twisted and will need to be straightened out to fit my uncles car. My modified bar fits perfect. I'm having trouble downloading pics to my home computer so I'll try my computer at work tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkube Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 Ok here are the first pics of the bentup R180 bar The first one is the front view. the R200 bar is below the R180. Grey line on the R180 is where I heated and bent the bar. The second is the top view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Doesn't heating spring steel like that take the temper out of the steel? One fellow Z freak I know snapped his R180 bar after years of autocrossing - he was also known to lay some rubber down on the street pretty often. I hope you don't have the same experience... Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkube Posted September 17, 2003 Author Share Posted September 17, 2003 I looked through some Metal heat treating books and read that if you cool spring steel very slowly (IE Wrap it in heat resistant material to keep the heat in for as long as possible) then the steel is not badly affected. By no means should any water or oil be used to cool the metal. This will cause the spring steel to become brittle and breakage will occur. Iv'e used this technique to make my own sway bars. The material used for this is called"Stress Proof" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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