Illumina identification question

[Guest THE73Z]

I just purchased a 240Z from the original owner and his records show that he purchased 4 Tokico Illuminas and Eibach springs in 1992.

 

How can I tell if these (the Illuminas in particular) are currently on the vehicle?

 

The suspension seems very stiff, how can I adjust the Illuminas if I have them?

 

Thanks, Z

[JMortensen]

Illuminas have a red adjuster at the top of the strut. If you have the little caps on the strut towers you have to pull them off, and then you can adjust them with a small flat blade screwdriver. The center part has a tiny little arrow, and you can spin it to line up with any of the 5 settings. 1 is the loosest, 5 is the tightest.

[Guest THE73Z]

Thank you.

 

It turns out I do have them. They were set at 2 and seemed really stiff - is it possible that I'm feeling the springs instead?

 

I don't really mind myself, but I do feel for the 32 yr old vehicle and my gf won't be caught dead in it if it remains this stiff.

 

Ultimately, I would like a set up where I can have a sport setting for weekend drives with the gf and a race seeting for autocross etc.

 

Ideas? Seems like I'll need to have the right combo of spring psi plus shock setting. Btw, its a 2.4L soon to be 350.

 

Is there an easy way to go from sport springs to race and back. I don't want to bleed my brakes everytime I race...

 

You may have noticed, I'm a newcomer to the Z - but I jump in with both feet!

 

Thanks for the input, Z

[JMortensen]

Try the 1 setting. I used to drive on the street with 200 in/lb and 250 in/lb springs on the 1 setting, and I found it fairly comfortable. Then when I'd arrive at the autox I'd turn the struts up to 4. Worked well for me. A couple times I'd forget to set the adjusters back and about 1/2 way home I'd have to stop at a gas station and change them, because it would beat the crap outta me, and it was a 2 hour drive.

 

Autox a couple times before you ditch the springs. I think you might find that for the autox the Eibachs are a little on the soft side.

 

If you go with an aluminum headed V8 the weight is only going to change by about 40 lbs, and I believe if you do the JTR most of that weight goes to the back although I'm not exactly an expert on the V8 swap. I seem to recall that if you do a T56 trans that adds close to 100 lbs too, so that will tame the springs a bit too.

 

As far as springs go if you went to coilovers and 2.5 ID springs they would be a lot easier to swap, but I wouldn't swap them out for autoxing. Not worth the hassle IMO for 3 or 4 minutes of racing.

[Guest THE73Z]

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm planning an iron head 350 with a t5 "world class" JTR conversion which adds roughly 100# fr and 40# rr.

 

Can you explain the whole coilover conversion thing to me? Or point to a good link explaining it.

 

Thanks again, Z

[JMortensen]

Here's a link to the Arizona Z car:

http://www.arizonazcar.com

And another to the Modern Motorsports:

http://www.modern-motorsports.com

 

They both sell coilover kits for the Z.

 

Basically you have a threaded sleeve that sits on a new ring which you weld to the strut tube. Your new spring perch threads onto the sleeve, and you can adjust the ride height by screwing it up or down. The real advantage is that springs are cheap at about $40 per spring, you can get just about any rate you want, and they're easy to change since they aren't compressed. The smaller spring diameter also means that you have a little more room for bigger tires.

 

That's the basic rundown. If you want to know more try searching. Should be tons of info on coilovers here.

[Guest THE73Z]

Thank you very much. I assume I would still be able to use the Illuminas?

 

Z