Guest scca Posted January 10, 2001 Share Posted January 10, 2001 rears look nice, not sure it is worth it though.. as for the fronts they are functional but i think i would go a different way. i make a heim end a-arm and Mikelly makes (in process) a heim a-arm that will adjust like a tie rod end. ------------------ 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...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Well, The reason I ask I plan to build a frame simular to petes car (take out the old sheet metal and put in 2x3 square tube ect.) The Arizona setup looks like they get rid of the TC bracket and bolt strait to the frame this would make it a ton easier to do! But I wrote Arizona Z car today and it still uses the TC bracket. I had also thought about useing a Fiero A-arm setup or a Mustang II setup but It's all still in the works so who knows? Pete do you have any tips? Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 How does the sway bar attatch to the tubular arms front and back? I noticed that the front arms replace the tc rod does it mount in the tc bracket? Do you like them? Worth the money? Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Cutting off the TC bracket and welding it to the new frame rail was pretty easy - plus I got a chance to weld it in there very well - better than stock. The issue is making all the measurements to get everything in the right position in 3 dimensions and at the right attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Yeah, that will be fun too! I did have one thought on makeing the job easier by keeping part of the old frame rail and welding the square tubes to that as oposed to makeing the sheet metal to connect the frame rail to the strut/wheel wells as you did pete, in retrospect anything that you would do differant? How did you get the diementions right in all three dimentions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 You have to be very careful when doing something like you describe (in your last post). If you layer metal, you increase the danger of rust formation. If you can "seal" the whole layered area with welds, chances are good that the heat will remove all the water vapor and you'll left with (hopefully a very tiny volume) of basically dry air. But, if there's any entry into that area, or (as is the case with the flimsy Datsun sheet metal), if one layer gets compromised (as in a rust hole), then the whole assembly is doomed. It's better to just tear out the old and replace it whole. You may even end up with a more accurate assembly measurement-wise anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 If you look at the "Structural Mods" page on my site (see sig), you'll see that I attempted to just cut the top of the rail off and put a tube above it so I wouldn't have to go from scratch puttting the T/C bracket on. A buddy (Ken) did that, as his car was pretty rustless in that area. Mine was too far gone, so out came the entire rail, firewall around it, etc. How did I measure it in 3D? , Liquid level (clear tygon tubing and colored rubbing alcohol), plumb bob, rulers, protractor, grid on the floor, etc. and measured the lateral, for/aft, and vertical height of the T/C rod hole bottom from the mark on the floor. I also did this for all the cross member attachment points, sway bar mounts, front and rear extents of the bottom and top of the rails, etc. I used white electrical tape on the epoxy painted floor, with pen marks at where the plumb bob landed. Very low tech, but plenty accurate. When the new parts went in (rails) I would jig them into position until the measurements matched. The critical ones are the suspension T/C mount, the crossmember holes, and the sway bar holes. Plus I did some overall measurements from the rear suspension pickup points on the car (control arm mount holes, strut isolator mount holes, etc.) the same way and measured about 100 different distances, using diagonals, etc. to make sure the car suspension points were square and in parallel planes. I have about 40 pages of notes on all this for future reference. I know, it's all obscenely anal . What can I say? Donations for phsyco-therapy are being excepted . Seriously, you don't want to mess around here, as a twisted car will have screwed up handling. Having a frame alignment rack to do this on would be ideal, but with some simple tools and patience, you can get there. ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 I am very much like you Pete so I can honestly say I undestand! If I even have a doubt about something it's not good enough! My 260Z As little to no rust with exception of the floors the frame rails are solid with no rust. What I meant by keeping the old framerail was the upper portion. From petes site it looked like he had to make a 2" sheet metal piece to fit between the wheel well and the "new" frame I was thinking that you could still use the old frame rail "lip" to connect the new frame rail to the wheel well? Hey pete you say two pages of notes? He He He? You wouldn't happen to have a fax machine? [This message has been edited by Sundance (edited January 11, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 And because I don't even undestand what I wrote look! Can I use the original sheet metal in this area or do I need to do as you did Pete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 15, 2001 Share Posted January 15, 2001 Pete did you cut the section out due to rust or design? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted January 19, 2001 Share Posted January 19, 2001 Sorry, I missed this thread getting updated. Yes, that 2" piece that you outlined in yellow was cut out of the stock inner fender steel. You can use the stock sheet metal. But in the area under the strut tower reinfocement in the iner fender, it stops about 2" above the frame rail. I cut out the thin stock sheet metal to that dimension and replaced it with a thicker piece (16 gage I think) to carry the suspension loads down to the frame rail better. So the answer was design (creep). On the other side, I found it easier to remove a bit of the sheet metal above the rail and add a strip. The strip on that side of the car (right side) was not as tall and I added a piece between it and a bit higher to meet the bottom of the strut tower reinforcement. So on the second side (left side as in the pic) I decided to just do it with one ~2" high piece. I have seen the inner fender sheet metal rust in that area just below the strut tower reinforcement, just above the frame rail. I believe that it's a fatigue corrosion failure so I decided to beef up the stock sheet metal in that area. Better yet would be a tub running down from the to of the strut tower to the top of the frame rail. Hope that helps, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 19, 2001 Share Posted January 19, 2001 Thanks Pete! I didn't mean to offend you by asking if it was rust or design, if I did I am very sorry. I appreciate your help and again apologize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted January 19, 2001 Share Posted January 19, 2001 Sundance, don't worry, no offense taken. Rust doesn't offend me, but I do hate it! My Z was fairly rusty - I should have never started a project with that shell, live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 19, 2001 Share Posted January 19, 2001 That makes you and me both! My car is from California and it's got its fair share of rust too! Bad points: floors, rear deck under the hatch, passenger door seal, and a hole under the passenger side quarter window! Good points: The rest is pretty good even the battery tray area. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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