The time has come!

[ptown green]

Before

 

 

After

 

 

[Laecaon]

Ah, so that is who's car it is!

 

Nice work! I liked the wood grain dash, is that hydrographics?

[ptown green]

Thanks dude. Yep thats hydro dipped. It was all cracked so I sanded in smooth and fiber-glassed it then had it dipped

[ptown green]

So I have been collecting parts for a while to due my 280zx strut swap. Well today I went to install all of it and it didnt work out. About had a panic attack as I was already rushing haha heres the pics.

 

 

So these inserts are sw20 rear inserts, tokico pn bz3126. Where I ran into my problem is with the top threaded part where the nut threads on.

 

 

So the one with the red top is the mr2 insert. The 280zx strut has a flat shoulder that fits up into the d shaped hole and the mr2 one does not. So when I went to install it everything was wrong and I stopped. What are you guys doing that Im missing? camber plates? drilling out the hole? I guess I could order some camber plates and have them use the sw20 bearings and 510 bolt pattern as an adapter but Id rather not spend another 200 bucks lol

[ptown green]

in this post he has the same struts and he said they just went in

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/40948-the-blue-go-on-build/?p=926196

[The Dat-side]

I just took a round file and filed that flat spot out.

[ptown green]

Oh okay that makes sense. Then did you have to use some kind of bushing or something to use as a spacer so the nut can tighten down?

[The Dat-side]

I don't think so. I just got it so the threads were above the top hat and used an impact wrench to tighten it. I have the top hats still, but I now have camber plates so I can't check for sure.

[Draynor]

On mine it was just the bearing on the bottom of the top hat. After I drilled the hole bigger for the insert it slid right in and I tightened the nut down.

[ptown green]

oh okay you guys must have used that initial small step to set it on. I was thinking I had to use the one further down because its a little bigger and probably whats used on the actual mr2s.

[ptown green]

Struts and brakes are in. I used a steel bushing that sits nicely on the second ledge and then put the top hat over that and held the strut underneath the top hat to tighten the nut.

 

 

So now my wheels and tires rub! of course!

 

 

The wheels are 15x7 +15 and the tires are 205-50-15 and those are 280zx struts and brakes with mr2 strut inserts. So I managed to weld on my coilover perch EXACTLY where the wheel is. If I grind that down then the coilover adjuster is going to hit the tire. So I think Ill try and get a small spacer and longer studs and hope it doesnt rub.

 

On a good note I drove it 150 miles down to sisters and back. Heres a pic i took on my phone

[Draynor]

Sweet! Glad you got the inserts figured out  :thumbup: 

I saw you at PCC a while back. Looks clean man!

[ptown green]

So using washings to mock up what wheel spacers i need it looks like I'm going to need a half inch spacer or the tire will hit the yellow coilover adjuster. Even if I had 15x7 +0 offset wheels I still wouldnt even be able to adjust the coilovers half way down and thats usually the wheel I see guys running on this tire size.

Even on this chart

 

http://kmhafer.datsun510.com/wheelchart.htm

 

it shows "team dynamics" running a 15x7 +18 wheel, 205/50-15 tire and only needing a 1/4 inch spacer to clear 280zx struts though I doubt he had shortened struts and coilovers but still would have a big ass spring perch in there if it was stock. so wtf! Not sure what to do but the only way I see this happening is using a 1/2 inch spacer and loosing a ton of adjustment

[ptown green]

I figure I better update this. Here's where I'm at with my car today:

 

Engine/Drivetrain

L18, 1mm over flat top pistons, closed chamber a87 head with ports opened up, roadser pressure plat, stock clutch disc, new slave master, lightened flywheel, 5 speed dogleg, 32/36 weber, headers, 2in exhaust, thrust turbo muffler, stock rear end, saturn alternator, fiero radiator,

 

Suspension/Brakes

280zx front struts and brakes with sw20 illumina inserts, ground control coilovers, t3 camber plates, 1in rca spacers, roadster comp springs in rear with tokico hp struts, stock rear brakes, 1in wilwood master cylinder,

 

Wheels/Tires

15x7 +15 maximm four play wheels with 205/50/15 toyo eclipse tires. Had to run 1/2 spacers to clear the 280zx struts and had to run camber plates with -1 degree camber and rolled fenders to reduce rubbing.

 

Exterior

Nissan TV2 bayside blue paint, shaved door handles, marker lights and bumper mounts, black powdercoated grill and surrounding trim, black window pillars and side vents, windows tinted to 35%

 

Interior

Nissan 350z seats, 350z air vents, wood grain hydro dipped dash, wood 240z steering wheel, rubber floor mats, futo fab dogleg 5 speed shift knob, from the firewall to behind rear seat covered with paint on bed liner, fat mat, carpet padding and carpet, aftermarket tach installed in dash, 3 point shoulder seat belts

 

Coming soon: full exterior detail including polishing out all swirl marks and buffer trails (wash, clay, wash, polish, seal, wax), refinish trunk with paint on bed liner, dyno mat and carpet, dyno mat under all side panels, move battery to trunk and delete battery tray, lsd, full stereo...

 

 

 

 

 

Here's some water beading right after a good wash and wax

[ptown green]

And then this happened yesterday. Pretty ashamed. Totally my fault! I drove it to cannon beach for the weekend and as I was trying to back out of out tiny little driveway I bumped into the fence!

 

 

Looks terrible. Smashed in my tail light and actually chipped some paint all the way to the panel above the lights frame and cracked the bondo and paint about half way down the body. No quick fix. Really sucks.

 

So I need some tail lights if anyone has any please let me know

[ptown green]

Oh and a pain in my ass that Im trying to figure out. My gas will come up my filler and leak out of my gas cap while Im driving. I have a new cap that seams to seal well. Its a sealed cap and my tank vents out of the bottom. Tightened all of the screws around the cap and replaced a couple with nuts and bolts. Still leaks. I also can smell gas fumes if the tank is more than 1/2 full and the car sits for a few hours/overnight. Ill get in and everything smells like gas. not sure what to do other than modifying the filler neck since I had make my own. Ill grab some pics of it

[ptown green]

My other question is about the handling. The suspension set up is listing just above. So when I'm driving at freeway speeds is when I notice the issue. It just wants to go all over the place and wander around. I really have to hold the steering wheel with both hands to keep it straight. It feels like its loose and just wants to float around. I know nothing is loose though. Then when I go to change lanes all I have to do is slightly touch the wheel and it will dart across two lanes. I will not drive in the middle lane because of this. The rear cross member is stock so I cant adjust the alignment back there yet and up front the toe and camber are set. Camber is at -1. Anyone else have an issue with this? I was thinking of maybe installing a rear sway bar but I doubt it will help because it tends to corner well and Im not turning hard enough on the freeway to experience oversteer I wouldn't think

[rusty12ver]

Okay, so it darts and wanders. I haven't read your thread all the way through so check these:

1. You said everything is tight. Check that again.

2. Check strut rod bushings. Old? Replace. Those give stability, vg30.com sells a kit.

3. Lower control arm bushings.

4. Idler arm bushing.

5. Tie rod ends

6. Ball joints

7. Draglink

8. Steering box - adjust and swap oil.

My car had 40yr old suspension with the exception of new driverside inner and outer tierods and driverside control arm. It sucked to drive. I changed all the bushes and tierods, and ballpoints in the first stage, then went on to change the drag link when it came in, there was major slop in the steering joint. The box got adjusted, there is some center wear in the box from not being adjusted over the years. but not much I can do there besides swapping the box out or finding a rebuild shop.

[ptown green]

Ill check again on Wednesday to make sure all bolts and nuts are nice and tight. While its hanging I can grab the wheel and shake and I don't feel much play. I have all new poly bushings, new balljoints and new outer tie rods. Inner tie rods were good and had been replaced before and the center link seemed fine. I didn't know there was adjustment in the steering box so ill check that too along with the fluid. I havent replaced the idler bushing either so ill do that too.

[Stupid_fast]

My 510 was twitchy at high speeds until I got adjustable tension rods and dialed in some castor.

Steering box adjust helped too.

 

Now its stable cruising over 80...

[ptown green]

So I replaced the center link, inner tie rods, idler arm bushing, adjusted the steering box and re aligned the toe all at the same time. Everything feels a lot better! It still wants to wander around and i have to constantly sdjust the steering wheel but its a lot tighter and not jerky at all now.

[Work280]

It's your castor it's to up right your upper ball joint needs to go back ( towards fire wall) or move lower towards the front this will increase your stability and get rid of the wandering problem and jerky steering, looks really clean and I like the blue

[rusty12ver]

Glad it's more stable, ^ he is right about more stability. Is there any slop left in the box after adjustment?

[dime'n daily]

car looks great, cant wait to get mine on the road.

[ptown green]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Its coming together for me. So ill plan on getting some adjustable strut rods so I can set the caster a little better. The vehicle had front end damage when i got a hold of it and I'm sure that's creating some issues. The camber is way different I can hardly get them close using the camber plates. And the tires rub against the actuall wheel well on one side so the caster is probably way off too