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Luna: The cause of, and solution to, all of my problems


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So....This car has been neglected since I have returned from Rhode Island. Now that I'm feeling confident that the 280zx won't leave me stranded (Ironically, I blew a coolant line today :laugh::laugh:), I'm going to put most of my focus back on the 240.

My tax returns came in, and instead of buying my Ford ignition stuff, which is relatively cheap and easily purchased,  I instead bought the rear coil overs for the car!

I was going to make them. But, I'm honestly tired of making EVERYTHING for the car, so....I'm letting Gabe at Techno Toy Tuning do his stuff.

So while those are being built, it'll give me time to prepare everything else.

Having the rear coil overs allows for more available work, as I can then source out my rear brake components and bolt everything together at once.

It's time to DUMP money into the suspension of this car. :2thumbs:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got a package from Techno Toy Tuning today.

Sectioned struts.

Koni Yellows.

Eibachs: 250 # spring rate.


Hnnnngggggg!!!!!!

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Needless to say, I'm very happy. I cannot say enough good things about Gabe at T3 and the product they offer. And I really appreciate not having to do this myself, as I can now see there is no way I could have come close to this result, in my current capacity.

Thanks so much Gabe!

I'm going to stare a bit.

 

Welp...there goes any hopes for progress this evening. :D


And I'm currently in the final stretch of a complete garage overhaul, and clean out. I must have found $400 in scrap copper; Looks like more parts are on the way!

 

And a clean work environment too, yay!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update: Garage clean out is at a manageable stage. There's no way to accurately show the extent. And this is still only just the beginning. But, at least now it is manageable.

Before the garage was full of, but not limited to, some of the following:

-c.1925 single cylinder 60 gallon air compressor
-2x MG-B engines
-3x Transmissions (2x Z, 1x MG)
-3x L series engine blocks
-Late Father's horde of goodies he accumulated through his career as a boiler maker, handyman and car guy. (lots of copper, fittings, pipe,specialty tools, gauges, you name it)...So a lifetime of his stuff, that for the most part, I had no use for. This accounts for roughly 75% of what was removed.


So here are a few shots of the car, from various angles, to attempt to show the garage progress and where we left off on this project. Plus some 1970 Boston Whaler center console rebuild action! 1" Solid mahogany sides. No fasteners. All carbon baby. No more rot!


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I'm rockscaping the waterfront today, in preparation for putting the Whaler and the lift in the water, so that's this afternoon, but progress on both vehicles will resume in a day or so.


I love all the new space. Sometime today I'll try to grab some pictures for the areas I missed.

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  • 2 months later...

Apologies for the lack of updates... The summer months are my busy season...





..So here's what has happened since you last heard from me...





-Been daily driving the 280

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-Painted a motorcycle for a Gentleman. Bed liner.

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-Got some garage walls! Doors too.


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-Cleaned.

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-A little landscaping

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-And finally, the sailing program that I teach has now come to a close for the season. But I've been doing this as often as possible.

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Here's some Moth footage I took a couple weeks ago.



Went sailing yesterday, broke the boom...WITH MY HEAD.. Already fixed by this morning.

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Lots of stuff has been happening, luckily, my busy schedule has paid off.

Got these boxes yesterday.....

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Suspension baby!

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Talk about a milestone. I've wanted this stuff since I first bought the car in '07. Courtesy of Gabe at Techno Toy Tuning.


-Fully adjustable Front and Rear lower control arms

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-Front coilovers (sectioned struts, Koni dampers, 200# Eibach springs)

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-Bolt on camber plates + bearing top hats

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-Neg camber roll center adjusters  (bump steer spacers)

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-Adjustable tension rods

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More parts are on the way!

Things are changing.

I am excite.
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Thanks for the continued support, everyone, I really do appreciate it.




Today happens to be my birthday (25), so I have spent most of the day working on Datsun stuff.

I decided to begin the camber plates, as I feel they will be the hardest, and scariest of everything involved.

 

NOTE: This is my first foray into coilovers/camber plate stuff, so if you guys see me making oblivious mistakes, please feel free to comment and call me ignorant, cause I am. I'd love to only have to do this once.
 

 

With bolt in camber plates there is somewhat of a debate as to if you should mount the plates on top of, or underneath the strut tower.

Through my research, I decided that I wanted to mount these underneath. Gabe's, slightly ambiguous, description says to mount them on top, but I don't believe this will hurt anything (again, please let me know if I will regret this)



So I took a bunch of measurements, made a template of the area to be removed, and got to cutting.... The pictures will better explain the process.

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Right now, the passenger side is pretty much there, (Although mocked currently) but, I need to slot the mounting holes outward slightly to allow the gold block of the coilovers to clear the camber plate mounting bolt nuts. Other than that, I think it will work. Hopefully; fingers crossed.

And worst case scenario, I just buy weld ins, and skip the middle man. I didn't realize the steel was so thick up top. I'd definitely be comfortable welding. Time will tell what has to happen I suppose.



Well.....Time for birthday steaks. I love me some grilling.

More will surely follow.

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Looks good to me. I'm not sure why he said to mount them on top since everything I've read says to mount them underneath, which makes sense IMO. Hows much can they adjust in terms of caster? I know the GC plates have caster adjustment advertised, but no room to actually adjust them once mounted.

 

 

Happy birthday, man.

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Thank you! It was a good day.

 

Yeah caster seems limited, I won't know for sure until I get the rest of the suspension fit. We'll see...

 

 

Follow up....

The first stages of making it look acceptable.

A little filler, some sanding, then some black primer. Followed by, you guessed it, another mock fit. After making the necessary modifications the gold block no longer hits.

A little more shaping, sanding, and a touch up respray then it will be good to go.

Some pics for clicks...

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More to come. This is fun.

Edited by OldAndyAndTheSea
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Here's more of what I did tonight. Slowly moving along, enjoying the process.

Tonight I removed the steering knuckle from the old strut assembly, pressed out the ball joint, cleaned the part, and shot some powder at it.

I love detail work like this.



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Cleaned up.

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Powder -semi gloss black

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Fresh out of the oven

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Next step: Lower control arms - old vs new

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Going back to working composites tomorrow, so I will continue the progress tomorrow evening once I get home from work.

Til then....

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Great work. Looks good. Hopefully I can get the front struts by first of the year. TTT3 stuff is good stuff

 

Thanks, yeah, I am very happy with everything I've purchased there so far. The quality is top notch.

 

Bondo on a strut tower. You, sir, have a problem! Looks awesome. Everything you do is class.

 

Haha. I DO have a problem. Thanks for the kind words, I try to do my best.

 

 

Update:

 

Attached the steering knuckle, and bolted the lower control arm to the bottom of the strut assembly.

 

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Touch up paint.

 

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Tension rod with lower control arm mocked in place.

 

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Hooray for progress.

 

Edited by OldAndyAndTheSea
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