stony Posted September 29, 2002 Share Posted September 29, 2002 Ok i tried the search and came up empty on this so i had to ask. I have a left and right 88 300z turbo struts in my garage. i still have to go get the steering knuckles and ball joints. but before i do this has anyone ever tried to convert the entire strut over to a 260-280? the top half looks pretty easy. takes the same strut cartridge, and is the same length. just have to cut off the perch for coilovers. the bottem half looked like it would bolt up to the 260 knuckle but was a bit larger. Im Hoping the ball joints between the 300z and 260 are the same size and i can just swap the knuckles around. one thing i saw is if it does work i will have to reverse the sides of the knuckles because the rack is on the backside of the engine member. So .... is it gonna work or am i retracing 1000s of others footprints on this. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted September 29, 2002 Author Share Posted September 29, 2002 Oh yea i also aquired the entire rear end from the same car hub to hub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted September 30, 2002 Author Share Posted September 30, 2002 some pics So far only hitches are ball joint dosnt fit and strut housing is too short for the s30 Koni struts i have. I also had to swap steering knuckles from the z31 ( this is why the ball joint is too small) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 30, 2002 Share Posted September 30, 2002 Hope this works for you since it would be a very interesting swap with big brakes and 5 lug wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 4, 2002 Author Share Posted October 4, 2002 well didnt need a different ball joint after all just needed to shim mine to fit the z31 steering knuckle The only amount of work ive done that was hard was cutting the struts. measured and re measured before i cut them and did the cutting with one of those tubing cutters the muffler shops use to cut the tailpipes ( worked but very slow ) this pic is of my old strut with the coilover removed and the z31 strut cut and almost ready to weld. i will cut my old (s30) strut and weld the piece so the z31 strut new length will equal the s30 old length. I will be able to use teh s30 coilover i was using before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 isnt the caster angle WAY different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 Actually it looks like it does what effect will this have? Will it be bad for drag racing? I was looking at it like a the cheapest brake upgrade ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 ok heres a pic of the strut cut and ready to weld. it will be the same length as the s30 strut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 if i remeber from my rc car racing days the way the caster is will make the car a little more twitchy or more sensitive to steering inputs ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 Actually, it's exactly the opposite. High caster will make the car more stable, but will also make steering effort higher and also tends to transfer more road vibration through to the steering wheel. You'll find cars that have very high caster angles will always have power steering. Cars with notoriously high caster angles are Mercedes and BMWs. HTH, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 so the z is gonna be harder to steer i also found out the gtr rotors and calipers bolt up to the z31 strut not sure if anyone have ever seen these brakes but they are big Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 6, 2002 Author Share Posted October 6, 2002 ok in the final stages now just have to weld and install the struts and get 5 lug wheels ;> heres a pic of how they look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted October 6, 2002 Share Posted October 6, 2002 What kind of ball joint are you using with that aftermarket lower arm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 6, 2002 Author Share Posted October 6, 2002 It came with the arm.. Dave at arizona z car could tell you exactly where it came from but it almost looks like its a tie rod end from a bigger car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 12, 2002 Author Share Posted October 12, 2002 well now i have the z32 calipers and they bolted right up ;>here is the latest pic. will be welding the struts tomorro and installing more to come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Ok the struts are insatlled with z 31 rotors and z32 calipers. Only problem now is the tie rod steering arm is too short. Im going to fabricate an arm with spherical rod ends and solid aluminum tube threaded so it will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 17, 2002 Author Share Posted October 17, 2002 heres the final pics of the struts welded up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zwhore Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 any word on the rears yet? tell um to hurry up, i want to start on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 17, 2002 Author Share Posted October 17, 2002 should be done soon.... they are for sure gonna need custom axles. Im gonna have a set made... shouldnt be to hard since they are splined on both ends. Looks like they will have to be shortened atleast an inch on both side. Ive heard you can reverse the cv housings and make them shorter but not sure if its gonna be enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted November 24, 2002 Author Share Posted November 24, 2002 ok on the rears the machining is done and everything is being pressed together after the new longer studs are installed. instead of going with the 300z bearings we went with tapered roller bearing. the housing was machined out and races installed. once i get the housings back ill need to see what length the axles will need to be and then on to the brakes. 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.