Mikelly Posted October 2, 2001 Share Posted October 2, 2001 Guys, Just finished up in the shop on the gussets for the control arms and I'll have a final product picture up tomorrow night after I pick up some flat stock and weld up the sway bar mount. Here is the game plan for this weekend: I plan to devote the three day weekend to knocking much of the list down and getting these out the door. I have the initial order of four sets in house and the machinist sent a supply of parts the Friday before I took off on My hoeymoon,l and I'm expecting that today or tomorrow. So I plan to ship out four sets by early next week to: Rubin, Mike M., Danno, and Mark I. The next batch to go out will hopefully go out the next week to cover Tom and Craig. That will leave me with enough stock on hand to sell two additional sets. I'll have pics up tomorrow night on http://photos.yahoo.com/dat74z2001 and guys I really appreciate your patience. Just a heads up on what you will see: Gussets at every square corner, and a boxed brace at the outboard pivot, as well as the much requested sway bar mount. These things take a BUNCH of extra time to weld up, and are heavy, but it will be worth it, I promiss. Mike Kelly ZF Racing LLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted October 2, 2001 Share Posted October 2, 2001 Just curious, how does the wieght of the new adjustable control arm compare to the stock control arm? Lighter would be great, but a weight penalty would be worth it, because of the adjustability. Hmm, I just remembered seeing a post from you saying that those suckers are heavier than first thought. Some numbers would be cool anyways. !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted October 2, 2001 Author Share Posted October 2, 2001 Just weighed it for you, and a factory unit without bushings weighs 10 pounds, and my unit with bushings installed is 15 pounds per side, so it is a 50% increase in weight. I use .125 wall thickness tubing on the main frame, and the gussets are also .125 thick. The main tubing is boxed 1.5 inch square. I can't safely get these to be lighter and adjustable without moving to a TIG welding setup and using cromoly tubing, but these units do offer a BUNCH of adjustability. I'm not selling enough to make it worth the added expense at the moment. Price will go up November 1 to $550 PLUS shipping, because they are costing me more in materials and time to make, and will be More expensive to ship. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno74Z Posted October 2, 2001 Share Posted October 2, 2001 Hi Mike, Thanks for the update on the rear control arms. I have a quick question. Does the new arm use all the existing hardware and bushings to mount up to the suspension i.e. the transverse link bolts and the notorious spindle. I'm just trying to think ahead to see if I need to order 2 new spindles as mine have never been removed. From past posts those usually get destroyed on removal. Danno74Z [ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: Danno74Z ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted October 2, 2001 Author Share Posted October 2, 2001 Yup DANNO, all original type hardware works... Tip on installing the external bushing that the spindle pin runs through: Heat the metal before youinstall the bushing, then slide the bushing in, and when it is in, run cold water on the part and the bushing will be set. I recommend all NEW hardware including poly bushing kit and spindle pins. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted October 3, 2001 Author Share Posted October 3, 2001 OK, the new pics are up at the above listed link. I'm confident that this new unit is bomb proof. I'll be constructing these starting this weekend and I'll work to ship them as soon as I can. They require about 6 hours worth of work per pair, so the turn around isn't as quick as the fronts by a long way. I'm expecting some tooling by Friday that will make cutting the tubing MUCH quicker (Table mounted pivoting porta-ban saw & A Chop Saw) and I hope to be able to reduce the time by a bit. I'm also waiting on some left hand threadstock... One end of the unit will be bushing bolt for the inner pivot will be left hand thread and have a stud and nut as opposed to the other end, which will have a right hand thread BOLT. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 3, 2001 Share Posted October 3, 2001 Looks nice Mike. I'm wanting a pair - don't worry, not for a while . Get those puppies finished and shipped and get working on the Z! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 3, 2001 Share Posted October 3, 2001 If those things are half as strong as they look i think the wieght penalty is more than compensated for. I want some... just as soon as the exchange rate is more favorable P.S. where did you find that hand model what a pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zthang43 Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Question about stock rear control arms: how do you get the little lock pin out to change the outer bushings? Mine is a early 260Z, so it has a threaded pin with a nut on it. The nut comes off easy, but then what? Should it come out easy, or is mine frozen up, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Soak it in penetrating lube. Tap on it lightly to dislodge. I put the nut on mine lightly and banged on it some. I bent up some of the hardware so I ended up ordering new pins anyway as they weren't super expensive. (shrug) Oh, Heat might help the process some too in order to wick the oil in but don't go nuts. Good luck, those pins are actually the easy part of the job Wait till you start trying to get the long rods out of the arms. Search here for many tips on getting those out - I replaced both of mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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