Careless Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 so today I acquired all the bits between the frame rails of a JDM S14, as well as the front clip itself. I'll be removing the surrounding unibody parts from the frame rails and using the front strut towers to recreate the suspension at the front of my car, hopefully keeping the strut towers in the same location. I would have to cut the stock strut tower locations out and weld the s14 ones in the same place hopefully. I don't think this would be a problem with an N/A RB30, as the engine isnt that wide, but with a turbo system, I can foresee it being a problem. Then again this is my first full on project car and I intend to make the most of my skill and see where I can improve on my fabrication and engineering skills... and if I get it working, I may just get into college doing this stuff because graphic design isn't keeping me all that interested as I thought it would due to my peers having clients that don't like freedom. I'm doing this to undertake something that I don't think anyone has done before, and so that my front suspension may match my rear suspension as well. Also, it will allow me to run the full 5 lug (i know, there are hubs for the 280z alread) as well as the power steering doohickeys from the s14 front end. I know everyone is gonna come up with posts saying "why bother" or "there's no need"... but how many ppl need a 500 hp zee for the street anyways? my car wont make more than 400 to boot, and i think it will be fun trying to get it to work =) project car, right? so who's wif me! questions/comments/advice (other than the wholey negative) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjc5500 Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 lmk how it comes out. id love to see that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 If you have'nt already, consider what suspension angles are going to be appropriate eg caster, camber, etc. Also what adjustability is going to be built in eg adjustable strut tops. As I've said before, the hard part will be building in the front mounted tension rods that the S14 has, compared with the stock S30 rear mounted rods. Done properly it will be good, some useful Ackermann for a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 If you have'nt already, consider what suspension angles are going to be appropriate eg caster, camber, etc. Also what adjustability is going to be built in eg adjustable strut tops. As I've said before, the hard part will be building in the front mounted tension rods that the S14 has, compared with the stock S30 rear mounted rods. Done properly it will be good, some useful Ackermann for a start. well I have the entire S14 front clip. LOL. frames and all. I literally took a used front clip and cut it down the middle. I was getting it to acquire the front crossmember, then i said, "what the hell" and took the rest of the clip with it. Since I do metal scrap, if i cant use it, i'll scrap it. But seeing as I want to go full s14 front suspension, and my rails are otherwise non-existant, and the rails on this piece are solid, i'll just make it work as best I can =). If i get the suspension parts for the front (i can use 4 lug setup for mocking up the angles and whatnot) I think it would be worlds easier, as the front clip comes with everything I need except the rad support, but I wont be requiring that because I don't want to mount an S14 front end on the Z (which might actually be pretty cool if it's the s14 kouki, but naaaah) I Figure using some MDF to get some cross-wise templates made to make sure the rails square up would be my best bet. Some precision cuts and some hard glue'd edges to keep everything square while tack welding would be a good idea, I think. I plan to keep all the stock mounting points for all the current body panels, and screwing things into place before doing final welds. I've been looking for a good book on suspension principles, but can't find any local ones. Are there any on Amazon? Thanks for the input. EDIT: Also, the increased width/track of the front of the S14 will be desirable on my end, seeing as I want to run custom Spirit-Garage style flares. Granted, I'd much rather run wider wheels to acquire that extra track width, but I'll go with some wheels that have as much backspace as possible without obviously hitting the strut assembly/upperframe rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 This is a typical S14/15 race setup which may be of interest. F: caster 8-9 degrees, camber 2.5-4 degrees, toe zero. R: camber 1.25-2, toe zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 This is a typical S14/15 race setup which may be of interest.F: caster 8-9 degrees, camber 2.5-4 degrees, toe zero. R: camber 1.25-2, toe zero any more info or snags that you think i might come up against? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky12 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 BUMP! How about an update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Haven't gotten thus far in my build, so no updates for me yet. sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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