johnc Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 This is my first post on any message board or list regarding some engineering Erik Messley and I have been doing. Since June of this year we have been doing a lot of design and fabricating on the 240Z suspension to make a set of triple adjustable, remote resivior Penske 8760 shocks fit. We've got it worked out and will have them on my 1970 240Z by the end of this month. I'll be renting Buttnwillow Raceway in Bakersfield for a day or two in January to do most of the development and tuning of the basic valving package. These are not strut inserts but complete struts using the Penske threaded shock bodies. They are small enough in diameter to allow use of 2.25" coil overs. Right now we are guessing that we can save about 10 pounds of unsprung weight on each corner of the car. The weight savings plus the triple adjustability (slow bump, fast bump, and rebound) should make this setup the best you can put on a Z. I'll be running my car in the local Cal Club autox series and will probably take the car to the Nationals next September. It will be almost impossible to beat the C4 Corvettes and the newly moved E36 M3 in BSP, but maybe we can scare them. If anyone is interested in this suspension setup, let me know. FYI... they are VERY expensive. ------------------ John Coffey johnc@betamotorsports.com [This message has been edited by johnc (edited December 18, 2000).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 Aw man - I was interested right up to that last part - expensive. How much is "very"? Consider that we're already popping in an added $100 per corner for coil overs now - are these WAY rude or just rude? Very just doesn't tell us enough I'm afraid.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 19, 2000 Author Share Posted December 19, 2000 "Way, way, way rude cubed" would be the best description if $100 a corner is your price limit. Erik hasn't nailed down the final price yet so I'm not going to say anything more. The package will include his camber plates, all spring perches, Hypercoil springs in your choice of rates, the Penskes, the special valving, and all the machining and welding that goes into the thing. The major cost is the Penske shocks. These are the exact same shocks that are run on CART, NASCAR, NHRA, IRL, ALMS, and other very fast race cars. You can go here and get an idea: http://www.penskeshocks.com/8760.htm. I think Erik can also do the package with the Penske 8100 double adjustable shocks which would save some money. I'll have more information about how much they help at the end of January 2001. (Sorry for all the edits, Hive com two deepend on spiel chockers...) ------------------ John Coffey johnc@betamotorsports.com [This message has been edited by johnc (edited December 18, 2000).] [This message has been edited by johnc (edited December 18, 2000).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 No, not my limit but it's some of what's out there. Obviously if there are major improvements people will be interested but for street use it could prove too costly compared to a $100 a corner coil over plus cartridge. Including the camber plates, springs, and everything else puts it more in perspective. Will be interested to see pics of the final part and learn how well it performs on the track! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 holy cow.... i think the penskes are about $1500 PER corner. thats likely out of the league of most people. most national cars dont even have them. GC' has a dbl adj strut and a few others do as well. although the external reservoir is better there are a few alternatives to penske now. ohlins, jrz?penske used to be #1 but the rest have caught up with them and possibly passed them. theres a brand called dynamics as well . you'll need the 2days of test time to set them up. have fun at the trak ------------------ Mike mike@fonebooth.com http://www.fonebooth.com/brakes.html raceparts and brake upgrades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 your probably talking $600 to $1000 per strut.the shop that makes these shocks for penske is not to far from my house .they do atv shocks as a sideline .shop is called custom axis in lodi ca.not many people working-just alot of cnc machines running on a computor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 $600 is a deal! isnt there a few versions though ? i thought the triple adj with remote reservoir was more a lot more than $600, or even the $1k in your range .. if i thought i could get them for 600 i would likely put them in the510.. ------------------ Mike mike@fonebooth.com http://www.fonebooth.com/brakes.html raceparts and brake upgrades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 19, 2000 Author Share Posted December 19, 2000 Axis is not involved int eh development of these struts. We are working with the Penske folks in Pennsylvania and England. This setup is absolutely not for daily driver street cars, but if you are building the ultimate Z, drove it only on the weekends and to events, and money was no object then you might want to buy this setup. There are probably only 5 or 10 racers in the country that would consider this suspension setup and they really have to be running in EP or GT2. This setup is legal for SCCA Solo2 BSP, SCCA ITE, and NASA SU. They can be made legal, with a threaded collar, for SCCA ITS and NASA PS1. The strut design that we've done will also work with Ohlins and JRZ and we are talking with Ohlins right now. BTW... this strut design will work on most any other strut equipped vehicle. We were smart enough not to bet the farm on the 240Z market. There are bascially two versions of the Penske racing shocks (excluding specific applications for circle track, motorcycles, etc.) - the 8100 series double adjustable and the 8760 series triple and quadruple adjustable. But with all the shaft, valving, can, tube, end caps, etc. you can build what ever you want at just about any price (from $600 each on up to $2,500+). ------------------ John Coffey johnc@betamotorsports.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.