440man Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 Hey Gang, Question for those of you who have assembled your own coilovers. The article at "Brians Garage" details the parts list for the 240Z coilover installation. Apparently the strut tubes on my 75 280 are a bit larger than the 240 therefore the threaded tubes from Stock Car Products are to small to slide over them. For those of you who have done this conversion, where did you get your threaded tubes and nuts that work on the 280 strut tubes? Also, would a few of you chime in and provide examples of the exact location of your lower spring perch, spring free length and any other details you care to share about your setup. This board is outstanding for invaluable information on our cars and I think beginning to end details and specifications about particular mods (ie coilover setups) would be a great help to those who want to give it shot but aren't as technically knowledgeable (like myself) as some of the experts on this board. I am a lot more comfortable performing a modification if I don't have to guess at anything because I know someone else has done the exact same thing and that it works!! Sorry so long, just my .02 worth. Thanks 440Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 Couple of questions for you... Are you planning to section your struts? What spring length will you run? This will dictate where you place your base for the threaded sleeve to sit. You need to decide on these before you can really set the spring up properly. I bought mine from Ground Control, but MML, Mike Gibson, AZC and others sell them at about the same price... The 280Z tubes will cost you about $20 more because the are an odd ball size. Keep in mind that you'll have to moch up the whole assembly on the car to measure for strut stroke as well... Most struts for the Z have 6 full inches of stroke, and you have to account for 3 inches stroke, 1.5 inches to top out, and another 1.5 inches for the stop, assuming you'll trim your bump stop down the way most do. John C. has an excellent tech writeup posted for sectioning. Ross at MML, as well as the guys at Ground Control are ALL good sources for instruction on how to do all the setup for what I've just described above. My gift, to you! Merry Xmas! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
440man Posted December 25, 2005 Author Share Posted December 25, 2005 Hey Mike, Thanks for your reply! I don't intend to section the struts, although I do want to lower it as much as the setup allows without sectioning. I was hoping to go ahead and get the struts and put the units together without the mock up. The reason is that the car is just a hull right now.(completely stripped & on a rotissiere) Do you think thats possible? Thanks again for your help and anymore comments are welcome. Oh yeah, I have 10" QA1 springs, 150 rate for the front and 175 for the rear. Keep in mind this car will be strictly show, cruise & touring, no racing, so I'm basically most interested in stance and ride comfort with some improvement in handling. 440Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
510six Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 http://www.proshocks.com/srshocks/dwncat.htm If you downlog the catalog they have the threaded collars and the nuts as well as any spring rate you should need.I used the proshock kit on several 280zx struts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 You can have a machinist bore the 2 inch threded sleevess out to 2.170 inch for the 280 Z strut tube. A1 Racing had this 280 threaded sleeve but sold all 100 to some fellow that I am tying to reach....... e-mail me for details. You can also buy big washers for spring perches and easily grind them with a Harbour Freight drum sander and file to fit.A1 Racing has a 2.100 sleeve and it may be possible to easily enlarge the I.D. by .70 with the sanding drum or a cylinder hone. http://www.a1racing.com/index.asp?PageAction=ADVSEARCH&Page=1&txtSearchAllWords=&txtSearchExactPhrase=coil+over+sleeve&txtSearchWithOneOfTheWords=&txtSearchWithoutTheWords=&lngLookinCategoryID=0&txtSortOrder=1&intResults=50&btnSearch=Search&AdvSearchAction=GOFETCH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 SCCA Mike has a good deal on coilovers in Hybrd classifieds For 10 inch springs, he once recomended the OEM spring perch location for the 10 inchers coilovers new spring perch.... I have 12 inch progressive coilovers for 250 GTO with camber plates which I should place a new perch 1/2 inch under the OEM spring perch weld bead. If I use 6 1/2 inch threaded tubes... I could get away with the spring perch 2 inches below the OEM spring perch weld bead........ I sectioned the 280 tubes 2 inches for my 350 V8 Tomahawk (165 front 180 rear springs)( 6 inch sleeves). The 2 inch section was taken from one inch below and one inch above the OEM spring perch weld bead and I placed the new spring perch washer right above the joined section cut incorporating the new weld with new perch and cut for a strong weld. I can adjust the springs where the front cross member is about 4 inches off the ground or adjust the height clearance up for some speed bump assault free maneuvers What Mike K was pointing out that there is a lot of factors to consider in placing the spring perch and when you weld that perch in place.. you better be sure where...........use a hose clamp to temporarlly hold the unwelded sprong pech in place...... Mock it up fully loaded. If I get the 6 1/2 inch sleeves, they will be positioned tightly under the unsectioned strut tube gland nut and the spring perch will be welded under the threaded sleeve so when I fully tighten the gland nut, the threaded sleeve is locked in place without silicone. This makes for a very tidy coilover.... and as confident as I am concerning that new spring perch location I WILL MOCK IT UP FIRST fully loaded and make changes if needed before any welding. I have no clear idea where those 12 inch progressive coilovers and camber plates will place the ride height and hopefuuly over 6 inch of sleeve will give me some options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 http://www.heldmotorsports.com/........ This is a website for kit car/Pontiac Fiero suspensions. which requires the 2.170" inside diameter threaded adjusting coilover sleeve that the late 260 and 280 Z strut tube requires. The sleeves rhat Lee Heldmiller stocks are 5 inch in length at $16.95 each. The longer length is great for switching between 10 and 12 inch springs... I ordered 4 sleeves this morning.This 2.170" inside diameter sleeve isvery difficult to find if you are piecing your own colilover kit together as I do (for about 1/2 price) ...........EDIT.I have been wrongly reporting the 2.170 sleeves are 6.5 inches in length which may place them at the OEM lower perch mount on the strut tube's weld bead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cable Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Another run at the top..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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