gfc Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I bought 4 of these some time ago 2nd hand, and have only got around to installing them now. Only problem being I don't have the installation template on where to drill the mounting points etc. Does anyone have this handy? Have tried emailing ground control and previous owner to no avail. My model is the same one on gc's website- 4 bolt, under strut tower and requires cutting. thanks p.s. was having a browse in the local albums and found this I thought the plates went underneath the strut tower! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Uh, yeah, they do install underneath AFAIK. I hope that car has a plate or some sort of bracket underneath. Otherwise those plates are being held in by the 4 bolt heads only. I've see the plates installed like that a couple times on different cars. Never seen a "My camber plate popped out of the strut tower!!!" thread, but I sure as hell wouldn't do it that way. Here's a pic of mine, not nearly as clean as the red car: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 The top plate is the template. Align it on the top of the tower and mark it out with a pointy felt pen. You will have to first cut the sides off the raised center portion of the tower to be able to set it flat on the tower top. For the four holes that bolt the top plate to the tower just drill holes in the center of the slots. The other three slots need to be cut out completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfc Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Cheers for that! should have known the simple solution was going to be the right one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Uh, yeah, they do install underneath AFAIK. I hope that car has a plate or some sort of bracket underneath. Otherwise those plates are being held in by the 4 bolt heads only. I've see the plates installed like that a couple times on different cars. Never seen a "My camber plate popped out of the strut tower!!!" thread, but I sure as hell wouldn't do it that way. Huh, mine are on top like the red car. Didn't know they needed to go underneath but makes sense. With the plate on top and slider plate under the tower top is sandwiched with the four additional bolts for the slider plate. So, a total of eight bolts and the slider plate holding it all together. Not saying this is right or the way it was designed to be installed, just an observation. (And it looks a lot better with the plate on top.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 But the plate on top is the part that connects to the car, and it only connects at the 4 bolts around the perimeter, right? Or are you saying that you didn't cut the whole center section out, just the slots. I suppose if you did that the center 4 would be holding onto two little strips of metal, but I wouldn't trust that to hold the suspension in the car. You're right though, it definitely looks better on top. The only camber plate I've seen for a Z that I am pretty sure is designed to go on top is the Carrera plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 was having a browse in the local albums and found this I thought the plates went underneath the strut tower! The car in the pictures is Dave Kipperman's. I race with Dave and the plate is reinforced underneath. He thought it looked better on top and I'd agree. His 510 is done the same way. This is a really nice car built for to show off at track days and autoxs. Dave built the car in about 6 months. There are a lot of cool features hidden on the car. It features a lot of bracing in the bottom of the engine compartment, rocker panels, etc. Cary Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 ...are you saying that you didn't cut the whole center section out, just the slots. I suppose if you did that the center 4 would be holding onto two little strips of metal, but I wouldn't trust that to hold the suspension in the car. Yes, that's what I ment. The plates don't come with instructions. I just installed mine the same way Jon, a.k.a. Jumbo240ez, did his. As far as I know Jon never had any problems with his installation. He did not reinforce the tower under the plates and he raced hard and street drove the car for about three years before the, uh, unfortunate incident (not camber plate related). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 You're better off without the GC 'instructions' anyway. They're pretty worthless. I'm working on my install now and I curse the 8 year old that GC hired to write them, daily. The plate barely fits underneath the strut tower, so keep that in mind...don't drill the holes too close to the outside of the tower or it won't bolt up. P.S. GC should be sued for calling these "camber/caster" plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 P.S. GC should be sued for calling these "camber/caster" plates. Ain't that the truth!!! LOL You know if you mounted them on top you could actually use the caster adjustment, although that 3/8" isn't going to amount to a whole bunch anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Ain't that the truth!!! LOL You know if you mounted them on top you could actually use the caster adjustment' date=' although that 3/8" isn't going to amount to a whole bunch anyway.[/quote'] Yeah, and I called them specifically to find out about the top/bottom thing and they said definitely do not mount them on top. Mine are finally in there, somehow. I had to grind a flat side on the washer that goes underneath on the 2 side bolts, so that they wouldn't hit the sliding part. Here it is installed: Sam (Sam280Z) re-drew the sketchy picture GC sends (theirs is not scaled) in stdcad (http://www.cadstd.com/) that you can print out and use as a template. Just err towards the OUTSIDE of the car. otherwise you'll be slotting your holes, guaranteed. Here it is: http://members.cox.net/forrest280z/camberplatecutout.cad If you use it tell him thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I like your zinc plated cap screws, in fact I might have to buy some. My black oxide ones rusted about 3 days after I put them in. Not really a problem, but I was kinda pissed about the way it looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicker240 Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I ordered the GC plates a couple of years ago.I set them over the top of the existing stock setup and just like the red car pictured,the installed plates were bottomed out on negative camber adjustment just for a normal alignment,yet had an inch and a half of positive adjustment?what the hell good is that? I was autocrossing at the time and was looking for adding some negative camber.For 500 bucks,these plates looked about useless to me,so I sent 'em back and just got the weld ins from Arizona Z.Street alignment is about midway in the plate with lots of room for negative camber adj. .Maybe I was looking at it all wrong or something,but is'nt neg camber what your looking for here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I suppose it depends if you're running bias ply or radials. Radials need a heck of a lot more camber. FWIW, when I installed mine I was able to get over -2º with the adjustment on the plate. Then I made adjustable control arms, screwed them out and now I'm over -3.5 with them all the way in. Just a guess, but it sounds like maybe you installed them too far outwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I suppose it depends if you're running bias ply or radials. Radials need a heck of a lot more camber. FWIW' date=' when I installed mine I was able to get over -2º with the adjustment on the plate. Then I made adjustable control arms, screwed them out and now I'm over -3.5 with them all the way in. Just a guess, but it sounds like maybe you installed them too far outwards.[/quote'] Jon, where is your camber set in the picture you took above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Jon, where is your camber set in the picture you took above? I don't know. I made those marks when I had the shorter control arms and was playing around with it all the time. IIRC that was -1.7 at that time. I think now it's about -3º. I need to make new marks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rztmartini Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 sorry for digging up such an old thread but did the GC plates only come in a 4 bolt pattern? my Z has 3 bolts, was i supposed to specify that? i had to wait about 3 months for these and i really dont want to send them back again...but i think i must... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 GC makes two different plates. The "road race" plate is the one pictured in this thread and it requires that you cut the top of strut tower and drill the 4 holes. The other type is a "biscuit" type that I think attaches without cutting or drilling, but has more limited adjustment. It is similar to the EMI plate. Design Products makes both styles and has them on their website, but I don't have the link for you (out of town). Maybe someone else will pipe up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 http://www.designproductsracing.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=213 $270 a pair. but that doesn't include the spherical bearings kit, which is expensive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rztmartini Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 okay thanks but i already have the GC plates. i guess i will try to copy what everyone else has done. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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