Sway bars, Strut bars, etc.. need some help.

[Guest ON3GO]

Hey guys.. got a few questions.

Ill be swaping in a L28ET into 1973 240Z, and when i was looking through the MSA book i saw there Strut bars and i was wondering if there front one would clear the L28ET motor.

Also what Sway Bars are good on the market.

 

And whats the biggest wheels you can run with out Coilovers, the thing is i want Coilovers but everybody says there not worth the money, but i plan on running 16x8 or 7's up front and 16x9 or 10 out back with the ZG Flares.

Should i get coilovers or still no?

 

thanks always

Mike

[Mudge]

What would be YOUR reason for going coil overs, worth is in the eye of the beholder.

 

If you want, a narrower assembly, then thats a plus. If you want adjustable ride height in any spring you could ever want to put on the car, there you go. So, whats "not" worth it? If you dont need it thats one thing, if you want the benefits then there is no other way to get the full set of bennefits.

 

If all you want is wider wheels, then of course there are other, more difficult ways to get there.

[Guest Anonymous]

Mike...Find your wheels first. Datsun 4 bolt pattern in rear wheel drive wide wheels is hard to find.If you are going to use flares with wide wheels,, you probably will not need coilovers since the flares will require a 4 inch or less backspace on the wide wheels. Getting modern wheels will probably mean front wheel drive wheels coupled onto spacers to fill out the flares.

[Guest ON3GO]

im getting custom wheels made for me to any size i want, any backspacing, anything, even any color.

Thing with the coilovers is that the rims are gonna be wide.

prob gonna go with 16x8 up front and 16x10 out back.

and i figure it would look great with ZG flares.

Also I just dont want coilovers because i want wide rims and tires, but i really want to set this thing up to handle well, im gonna be pissed if i go to a FAST 240Z but doesnt handle well from my great handling 300zx i have now.

also can anybody help me with that strut bar question?

 

by the way this is the site ill be getting my rims from.

 

www.superlite-wheels.com

 

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes the MSA front strut bar will clear a L6 and probably just set in front of a 14 inch air cleaner on a SBC V8.. 4 inch backspacing will probaly fill out the flares and off the big springs. If you want a handling car get the coilovers in 10 inch 180 front 200 rear with adjustable Illuminas with a 1 inch front and 7/8 inch rear sway bar which should be compatiable with the spring rates....

[Guest ON3GO]

thanks for the help man...

anything else i should consider for the suspension?

 

mike

[Modern Motorsports Ltd]

Originally posted by ON3GO:

thanks for the help man...

anything else i should consider for the suspension?

Refresh all your bushings..and ensure you can get true high quality treads to wrap on those wheels, for true stickum top notch narrow treads will outhandle fat meathooks in cheap treads any day...and top notch meathooks can really stickem I frequently see this mistake, thankfully more commonly on some domestic leadsleds trying to sneak my old Datsun The classic fat Cragars with hard/greasy comp TA's, makes me smile every time.....especially if theirs a drop of rain on the road

 

...and make sure your brakes can meet your needs when it's not just lateral G's you need.

[Guest Anonymous]

do not section the struts since you will get about a 2 inch drop that is adjustable up with the coilovers.Do a full kit polyurethane bushing on the car suspension.

[Guest ON3GO]

well whats a real good brake upgrade but yet not alot of money either.

I mean Brembos or brakes like that would be awesome but i dont think ill have that much money for stuff like that.

any ideas as to which is a Budget brake kit for a z

 

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

Ross C/Modern-Motor Sports has some shoes and pads for the stock Datsun system taht will stop a locomotive.. You should check out his site since his prices are very competive.It does not take long to get a few thousand tied up on wheels,tires suspension and brakes. The Illuninas almost cost their weight in human body parts.Past your bedtime grass hopper and getting close to mine.

[Guest ON3GO]

ahh its only 2:37am here

and i only have to get up at for class at 7am

so ill just stay up.

im still doing math h/w too.

 

about the brakes.

i have a set of 240sx rear disk brakes, and i guess ill upgrade to bigger rotors on both the stock front and 240sx rear's.

then pads, and maybe nicer and bigger dront calip's...

thanks again.

 

mike

[Mudge]

Some people seem to think the stock brakes on the Z are crap, if you want to know what crap is put another 1200 pounds on the car, then it will be sucky, thats what you call an early 4th gen Camaro braking system, other than the vented rotors.

 

Good pads, steel lines, should go quite nicely. I am actually impressed with the brakes so far, so "crap" is a relative term

 

I like stiff suspensions, so to me somewhat that is a good handling car, I do not like huge amounts of body roll on a road course, it just feels disturbing. Michael Shoemaker likes stiff suspensions as well, so it must not be that bad and you just aren't going to get there without coil overs and some good struts.

 

Good luck on the wheels, I am envious

[Guest ON3GO]

well thank you...

Im with you man, i hate body roll and i love a real stiff car, i like feeling every bump in the road as long as my car doesnt hop all over the place when ya hit one.

 

mike

[Pop N Wood]

The MSA strut bar did NOT clear my stock 240Z engine. I don't think this is typical, but it does happen. Some engines ride higher than others. I just cut it down and put it on my rear struts. A very high quality piece either way.

 

Also I think one of the bigger advantages of coil overs is the availability of different spring rates. With such wide tire and 50 series (or lower) profile tires you going to have a stiff ride that will be uncomfortable on long drives no matter what you do. Might as well go all out and gain the adjustablity of coil overs.

 

Also for "cheap" brakes here are some of my favorite HybridZ threads on the topic

 

http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001514

 

http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001298

 

http://www.zhome.com/rnt/FordPower/BrakeUpdate.html

 

http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/Calipers/toyotaCalipers.html

 

I ended up with a set of Ross's 240 SX disks for the rear and Mike SCCA's Toyota 4x4 calipers and vented 300 ZX rotors for the front. The only reason I went this way is I got a fair deal on a complete set up from another member. I haven't installed them yet but man, the 4x4 calipers are HEAVY!