6/6//2011
Last week I picked up the springs from my friend Jack at his shop
(FASTTRACK Santa Ana,CA). We were going to do an experimental setup including the 280z linear springs rather than the 240z springs. The difference is that the 280z springs are a higher rate than the 240z, which the highest rate for them is 165lb. Jack is more conservative than I am and is running the 240z spring with the Tokico Illumina's
(which are adjustable mine are the non-adjustable HP's), his are set at 3 out of 5. The HP's are set factory at about the number 3 like Jack's Illumina's
(I've driven his car and it was a little soft for my taste) so since I don't have the freedom to spend large amounts on the my Z right now it's a slightly makeshift setup. I was originally going to run the 280z springs on all for corners but was unable to get the fronts since their on back order so I opted for the 240z rears for the front and the 280z springs in the rear so the normal spring rates will be 165 front and 225 rear which will be a huge jump from what the stock stuff was. I was also informed that as I cut the springs (yes I'm going to cut the springs) it will increase the rate too. I will have to get together with Jack to get a better idea on what the rates have become as I make the adjustments. So I planned to set aside most of Saturday to do the work on the Z, I asked Brian if he could give me a hand and he said he would. So I the plan for the weekend was as follows.
List of things to do:
-Remove and install new struts and springs-
-Remove broken bleeder on drum and replace-
-Bleed brakes-
-Adjust handbrake-
-Cut springs to get the ride height I want-
Friday afternoon after I got back from Jack's with my car packed with work things and car parts, I unloaded and got started on installing the front springs and struts. The install went relatively smooth minus the retaining bolt for the strut tub as well as one of the nuts on the strut itself but the channellocks on the strut tube took care of that. The initial decision on cutting the springs was to cut the "dead coils" first and continue from there. If you don't know what the "dead coils" are they are the coils that the top hat and the perch rest against once there is weight on the actual spring, I was really excited to do everything so I didn't measure the spring height before I cut so eh.
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| The nasty stock parts. |
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| Yeah that wasn't fun. |
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| My little roly-poly pal |
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| Tokico 240z Rear Springs (165lb) |
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| The "dead coil" top |
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| The "dead coil" bottom |
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| The initial cuts to the spring the normal uncut on the right |
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| Old strut insert vs the new Tokico HP |
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| New vs Old |
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| All back together for now. |
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