79 510 with 280zx suspension!!

[Boom death]

so after countless hours of searching online for suspension setup for the a10 and very vague guideline i decided to just go out to a junk yard and try some setups myself...

what i found was a 1982 280zx i took the rear springs from it and put them on as my front springs on my 510

side by side comparison stock a10 spring on the left 82 280zx on the right almost a half inch difference between them

stock ride height on a10

new 280zx ride height

it went from aabout an 1.5 inches(stock) to a little over 3in on (280zx rear springs) ran out of time today but tomorrow cutting coils to go moar lowar im thinking im only going to be cutting half a coil at a time that way i dont screw it up and cut to much cuz im running 195/55 on 15x8 so cant go to low or will rub B)

couldnt find anything for the rear the stock springs on the 510 are longer than any of the z's i've seen

[herculesinwyoming]

Its a lift kit B)

[Boom death]

Its a lift kit B)

Yeah the thicker springs give less travel gonna have to cut a coil or two to get it moar loar

[I'm BLUE]

You can also measure current perch height ...

carefully cut the perches off and slide the springs down ..

then re-weld perches at new desired height or use bolt-on split collar's in place of them. ?

 

Then... if you don't like it

you can put it back to stock height... whenever !

[LenRobertson]

Did you see this on swapping struts from a ZX?

 

http://community.rat...980-510-struts/

 

Probably the main reason to do this is to be able to use ZX brakes with larger vented rotors. Although I have no idea what brakes are stock on later version 510s. Probably better than the earlier 510 ones. Also could be ZX rotors and calipers will work on your stock struts. You may be a pioneer on this stuff.

 

Len

[Boom death]

Yeah I did see that but I'm actually happy with the stock brakes on the later 510 besides stock l20b aren't that fast for all that cutting welding and new brake lines and brake master cylinder for the bigger calipers... in my opinion the trouble do not out weight the benefits .... Besides all I wanted to do was stiffen up the ride and this was the easiest way to achieve it ..,, I think I read that stock a10 springs are at around 100lb rating and 280zx rear are at 126lb rating if I cut a coil or two it might go up more than stiff enough for a nice sporty ride

[bonvo]

not worth the benefits? better brakes are ALWAYS worth the hassle of getting them on there it doenst matter how fast or slow your car is having bigger better brakes is always something you want to do a cars braking performance should always be better then anything else on the car

[ggzilla]

So the only thing you've done is swap the front coil springs for those from a ZX? That's a coil spring swap, not a suspension swap.

 

It's a good way to gain stiffer springs, but they do need to be cut, because they are stiffer they will hold the car up higher.

[Boom death]

Y change something that's already good Datsun manufactures thought the stock brakes were more than sufficient to make the car stop ..., besides the chances of u fucking something up while "upgrading" ur brakes are too risky for me u leave a loose bolt somewhere or don't properly bleed ur brake or leave a loose brake line ur "upgrade" just turnt into ur death trap my brakes have been proven to work on the car for over 30 year so yeah they're reliable

[datzenmike]

Yeah the thicker springs give less travel gonna have to cut a coil or two to get it moar loar

 

This will increase the spring rate, perhaps too much. If you carefully and accurately measure the thickness of the wire (a guess is not near close enough. The slightest difference makes a big difference in spring rate) used on the zx coils, the number of full active coils (looks like 8 to me) and the diameter of the coil from one outside to the other outside across the top.... I can work out the rate. I did this on my 710 front coils and increased them 50%. to 150 pounds per inch.

 

 

 

Y change something that's already good Datsun manufactures thought the stock brakes were more than sufficient to make the car stop ..., besides the chances of u fucking something up while "upgrading" ur brakes are too risky for me u leave a loose bolt somewhere or don't properly bleed ur brake or leave a loose brake line ur "upgrade" just turnt into ur death trap my brakes have been proven to work on the car for over 30 year so yeah they're reliable

 

 

Car companies never give you great brakes they give you adequate brakes that will do the job. These adequate brakes were just that over 30 years ago!!!! Are you up to stopping behind a late model Civic with ABS who panic stops for some kid running out on the road????

 

A loose bolt... a death trap??? Hell you're changing the rear springs. Aren't you afraid of leaving a lug nut off or loose doing that????

[bonvo]

dude im not going to argue over the internet the point is you already had the 2 cars apart why not take that extra step and get better brakes yeah the stock ones work but there still tiny and just barely do there job

[ggzilla]

Boom D, nice work on swapping to the heavier duty springs. How does it drive now? Much firmer ride?

 

 

If it aint broke, don't fix it. I find the stock brakes -- if working correctly -- do the job time after time reliably.

 

Yes, larger brakes will stop faster and arguably can be safer. But that doesn't mean the stock brakes "barely work".

[yellowdatsun]

As mentioned above, be careful on cutting the springs, as it will make them stiffer. They're already more stiff at stock height because the front end of the 280ZX weighs a lot more than your car, and cutting them will make them even stiffer. I'd look at relocating the spring perch. Maybe do a set of el-cheapo adjustable coilovers by making the bottom perch movable.

[bananahamuck]

yup^^^ it`s probably gonna bounce down the road if you cut the stiffer springs ,,, using collars and slightly cutting stock springs will give you the height and adjustment you seek..

 

 

Stock 79 A10 warthog height

 

 

 

Warthog with collars to lower spring perch and about 1 and a 1/4 coils cut out..

 

 

We even had car an 1 1/2" lower all summer but it ate tires because of lack of camber adustment so we raised it back up to this..

[Boom death]

So I cut a coil of each spring and put it back on it went down about an 1in almost back to stock ... I will go lower but not by cutting anymore coils Im happy with how firm it is no more crazy squatting on heavy breaking or body roll on curves ..,. If i do cut the perch off to lower it won't I need smaller inserts to keep pressure on the spring so it won't slip out ???

[Boom death]

yup^^^ it`s probably gonna bounce down the road if you cut the stiffer springs ,,, using collars and slightly cutting stock springs will give you the height and adjustment you seek..

 

 

Stock 79 A10 warthog height

 

 

 

Warthog with collars to lower spring perch and about 1 and a 1/4 coils cut out..

 

 

We even had car an 1 1/2" lower all summer but it ate tires because of lack of camber adustment so we raised it back up to this..

That wagon looks good what did u use as a front lip??? Me Likie

[bananahamuck]

I think it was off a 82-85 Ford ranger by the part code date on it ,, part was laying around in garage and alot of vehicles have been through here, so can never be positive what it was off of , but we are pretty sure.. It fit really close with only needing to sand off ribs on top edge of part ,, so it lays flat against body. And repositioning of center screw holding gravel pan on car,, and cutting off the lip that hangs down , so it`s flat all the way across. My guess would be it`s a very cheeep part at junkyard.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/36659-doodies-new-datsun-now-fat510s-79-a10-warthog/page__st__40

[ggzilla]

If i do cut the perch off to lower it won't I need smaller inserts to keep pressure on the spring so it won't slip out ???

 

1. No need to lower the spring perch to lower the car. Just cut the springs, up to 2" lower than stock is conservative with stock struts, inserts and perch will be fine. This means the car body is 2" lower, not meaning the springs are 2" shorter.

 

2. The inserts do not hold the spring into the spring perches. The tension of the spring does and your new springs have more tension even at the same length. Do not cut a massive amount (like 4" lowered). If you go over 2" the rule of thumb is to lower the spring perch and shorten the strut tube.

[yellowdatsun]

You move the spring perch itself, you don't cut the top of the strut off.

[Boom death]

found another set of 280zx rear spring for the rear of my 510 had to cut them pretty low to get just the ride height i wanted since the rear springs off the 280 are about a 1.5 inches taller but they fit right in and flared out my rear fender a bit for a nice tuck

i cant make the front go any lower messed up my first springs by going to low ans didnt want to mess these up so i played it safe

 

im kinda thinking i should put my rear bumper back on ??? yes or no???

this is the only shot i have of the rear bumper and it was when i first got her home

[Komeuppance]

besides the chances of u fucking something up while "upgrading" ur brakes are too risky for me u leave a loose bolt somewhere or don't properly bleed ur brake or leave a loose brake line ur "upgrade" just turnt into ur death trap my brakes have been proven to work on the car for over 30 year so yeah they're reliable

LMAO... "leave a loose brake line". Seriously...?? Better not put anything but OEM factory air in your tires!!

 

-Robert

[datsfun]

Had you swapped the 280ZX strut into the A10, this would have reduced the track width by .75" each side and the front wheels would then kinda tuck in under the fenders ? You may have to convert the 280ZX strut to coilovers though? As has been said already, the bigger brakes would be very useful too. The only slight hiccup might be that your wheels may need a spacer to clear the 280ZX struts as they only have around 3.5" back space.

 

The A10 rears can be converted to coilovers too quite easily and suddenly you have fully adjustable suspension all round; viola !

[Boom death]

 

LMAO... "leave a loose brake line". Seriously...?? Better not put anything but OEM factory air in your tires!!

 

-Robert

U bet I do .... and I made ur mom blow it in for me too lol

[ggzilla]

Yes