johnc Posted March 20, 2001 Share Posted March 20, 2001 Although I haven' done this mod myself, I've seen it on a couple cars... You will need to remove the cowl cover and add some bracing from the hood latch area back to the firewall. Or you might be able to add a 1/8" steel plate to spread the load out on the vertical section behind the hood latch. Once that's in place then you can build a triangulated front strut tower brace: 1 leg from tower to tower and the other two going back and inward to the hood latch area. Make each of these legs removable so you can work on the engine. ------------------ John Coffey johnc@betamotorsports.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 John has the right idea. On my Z I used a piece of 1/4" X 1" X 6" steel bar (1/8" would have worked fine). I then drilled 3 evenly spaced holes, 5/16" diameter, and then welded 3 5/16" flange nuts (over the holes) onto the bar. Then I drilled 3 3/4" holes in the firewall so that this steel bar could now be welded to the firewall and have the nuts pass through the 3/4" holes in the firewall. Be sure to take advantage of the angles at the very top of the firewall for added strength (my bar butts up against the drip rail at the top of the firewall. Anyway, now that the mount for the bar is installed, you can make your bracing so that it can bolt onto this piece. For those of you with the hood latch still there, just build smaller versions of these on either side of the latch. A (not real good) picture of this is at: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1541023&a=11727986&p=41718673&f=0 I also did a similar thing on both towers, and then built a removeable "triangle" for the bracing. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 Terry, I did something similar, triangulating the towers with 3/4 steel tube welded to a piece of angle bolted to the top of the firewall under the lip at the top. This setup noticeably stiffened the front end and has not caused any structural problems with the firewall-it is braced pretty well in this area from the factory. Top end performance sells a piece that is very similar to this idea. ------------------ Tony 1972 240Z w/ZZ430/T56/GTO body kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin_Jason Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 Just curious here. What is the advantage of triangulating the strut brace on our cars? Is it really noticeable on a street car, more so than a single brace i mean? Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 I would say, HECK YES! I hardly ever drive my Z in a "normal" manner, and any bracing makes a difference. The Datsun unibody is not exactly a space frame, if you know what I mean I can't wait to get my 8 point cage into a Z, yeah, yeah, yeah!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 Hell yes it makes a difference stiffening up the front end. I did a tower to tower bar last year and I couldn't believe how many less creaks and groans there were, and the turn in was a lot crisper. (on the street) I plan on making a bar to go to the firewall as well, like terry did. Very nice. You can see pics of my car with the strut tower brace I made for it, if you click on my link in my signature. They are on the page that has pics of my old 73. ------------------ Richard Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian 75 280 Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 I am curently fabricating a strut tower brace for the rear towers and I have been thinking of how I will build the front brace. I would like to attach two separate braces to the firewall but I dont think the firewall will take that stress. How can I manage this project. Where should I start? Brian 75 280z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 The cross bar from tower to tower will help, but you still get a lateral flexing of the towers (now in unison instead of independently) because all you have done is create a parallelogram with this single bar. Sure, the towers will no longer flex relative to each other, but will now flex in unison until some kind of triangulation is made to prevent the towers lateral flexing relative to the firewall. The lack of lateral sheet metal connecting the front of the frame rails, or the top of the towers, to the rest of the chassis leaves them pretty much open to flexing unless they get them tied to the rest of the body with some kind of bracing. I even went a step further and triangulated the towers down to the block (only because the block is solidly mounted onto the frame rails). Unfortunately you can't triangulate the front of the frame rails because the oil pan interferes, so you do the next best thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 21, 2001 Share Posted March 21, 2001 check out my 3 point front strut tower bar. tell me if its a design that you might like to use.http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/cheezer240/myhomepage/auto.html ------------------ John N. Aiello 1973 240Z L28/SU'S/5-Speed(for now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted March 22, 2001 Share Posted March 22, 2001 Hey John do you have any pix of the interior I was wondering what the prelude seats look like in there ------------------ Remember it is only a piece of metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 22, 2001 Share Posted March 22, 2001 And I'm wondering how you did the 95 Ford heater control swap! Did you switch everything over to vaccuum actuated, or did you just use those new controls with your cable setup? ------------------ Richard Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian 75 280 Posted March 22, 2001 Share Posted March 22, 2001 That is exactly what I am thinking about. All I need to know is how the best way of attaching to the firewall and I will be set. Oh, and by the way. I liked the quote earlier by davy z about hardly ever driving in a "normal" manner. Normal is all relative. Brian 75 280 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 26, 2001 Share Posted March 26, 2001 brian, what i used was 1 1/2" gusset with a 90° break on the long end, i added 2 hole for attachment to the firewall and the rod end attach's at the point of the gusset via hole. quote: Originally posted by Brian 75 280: That is exactly what I am thinking about. All I need to know is how the best way of attaching to the firewall and I will be set. Oh, and by the way. I liked the quote earlier by davy z about hardly ever driving in a "normal" manner. Normal is all relative. Brian 75 280 ------------------ John N. Aiello 1973 240Z L28/SU'S/5-Speed(for now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 27, 2001 Share Posted March 27, 2001 ray, i currently donot have any pics of the interior i am planning on taking some, but ive been busy building my 350. send me an e and ill try to send you some. quote: Originally posted by Ray: Hey John do you have any pix of the interior I was wondering what the prelude seats look like in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 27, 2001 Share Posted March 27, 2001 drax, i have not as of yet hooked up the vacuum yet, but im going to,the heat control is electric and the selection set is vacuum.i have the panel installed and the fan curcuit working as well as illuminated. it looks very cool. ps ill post a pic to my website when i take it. quote: Originally posted by Drax240z: And I'm wondering how you did the 95 Ford heater control swap! Did you switch everything over to vaccuum actuated, or did you just use those new controls with your cable setup? ------------------ John N. Aiello 1973 240Z L28/SU'S/5-Speed(for now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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