1974 260z Suspension upgrades

[JersyThor74]

Hi all! I'm looking for any suggestions for a bolt in suspension upgrade. I like the look of the Silvermine BC racing coliover kit with camber plate. It bolts in but requites that you Cut Factory Spindle, and Weld it. I don't have access to a welder so it limits me substantially. I'm going to be running a Ls 1 swap and planning to add a turbo. Looking to autocross/street race but not such a firm suspension that it rattles my teeth out. Also looking at purchasing the CX racing V8 swap kit if you guys have any opinion on those motor mounts. Thank you!

[datzenmike]

If you still have the factory oil bath dampers in your struts you can dump out the thin watery hydraulic fluid and replace with thicker (BellRay 20w?) motorcycle fork oil. This will be harder to push through the valves and orifices, firming up the action. This re-news the shock absorbers for about $15. A liter will do 3 struts. You can go thicker or thinner as you want and $15  beats $80+ each for replaceable inserts.

 

You can lower the front 2-3"and make it adjustable for about $25. All you need is a hacksaw (a 6" angle grinder is faster though) Carefully trim above the weld on the lower spring perch and slide up and off. Do this when the spring is off to change the damper oil. Grind the old weld down smooth. Buy a pair of 2" split collars about $20. At this point some serious thought should go into stiffening the front spring to limit the chance of bottoming out, specially if lowering and even more if supporting a heavy ass LS1. Two ways to go here. Buy $prings in stiffer spring rate or calculate your stock spring rate and trim them to the rate you want for free. Well it takes some multiplication and dividing but basically... free. Re-assemble the strut with the split collar clamped under the bottom perch to hold everything up. I just pushed up on the lower spring perch with a jack, slide the loosened split collar up and clamp in place. Collars will support 3,000 pounds each, don't worry. Do an equal amount on the other side. Keep adjusting until you get it where you want it. You don't need coil overs unless you plan to adjust your ride height every day. That would mean adjusting your toe alignment as well. Who does that? Basically once you get the height where you like it, an expensive coil over set up is simply money along for the ride. 

 

Firmer, higher spring rate and adjustable ride height... (within reason)