Suspension & Steering

It took awhile, but I finally finished the rear suspension rebuild on my '73 240Z. I found the hardest part to be cutting out the old outer bushings on the transverse links. :lick: I used an air powered body saw to cut the old shells, but it took quite a bit of hammer & chisel work to persuade the old shells to come out. The right spindle pin came out with just a bit of persuasion with a brass punch & hammer. The left side was rusted together pretty good. I ended up taking the strut assembly & transverse link to an alignment shop and they were able to use a press to separate the two. Once I had everything apart, I spent a few weeks cleaning all the pi…

After upgrading to my springs and struts to the tokico ILK-252, I have been a bit concerned about the amount of travel in the front. The pictures posted below are of my car sitting at the curb, no passengers and a half tank of fuel. FRONT REAR As you can see, the front has virtually no travel left. Even with the struts on the highest setting, around corners I can feel the front end bottoming out. The ride height does not look significantly lower in the front and the ride quality is not 'too' bad though I think it should be a litlle softer. I am concerned about damaging the strut insert since I did not install bump stops but that is another story. Do I need to hav…

I have bought a new shift knob from MSA. I told the guy I dealt with over the phone that I was buying the shift knob for an 1983 zx transmission in a 1973 240z. He told me that the thread size from 1970 to 1983 is the same, 8mm. The knob won't fit on my car. My shift lever is too big and I will start to strip the knob if keep forcing it on. The shift lever thread size is more than 8mm. Maybe the guy at MSA is corrrect and I have no clue as to what my tranny is. It is a five speed, and I thought it was from a 83 zx. All I really want is a shift knob that fits. Ideas?

I pulled the suspension off the '72 last week, and went about takeing everything apart for cleaning up, painting and replacing the bushings. I had three corners done, and when I got to the lower pivot on the DS rear(links the strut carrier to the lower suspension member), the MFSOB shaft will not come out. I have tried liquid solvent over night, a two lb hammer(that shaft sure is maleable) a 4lb hammer (did I mention distorting the shaft?), massive doses of oxy/acet, and welding up a jig to use a 4lb slide hammer on the (at one time) still pristine end. The shaft has not moved at all, needless to say, it is trash now, but I would still like to use the pieces from that …

I thought I might share a few things I learned recently when replacing my bushings on my rear control arms. First, grease the hell out of all the bushings, inside and out and all the sleeves too. I learned the hardway. I had to remove my control arms twice as I forgot to grease the first time. I learned a trick to removing the spindle bushings on the outer control arm while making my swap from stock to urethane. The bushings are actually pretty easy to remove once you figure it out. I've attached some pictures to help describe what I did. I started by drilling the rubber to loosen it a little (I'm not sure if this really helped or not but it's what I did) next to th…

Ok, I finally got the hose that I was waiting on to replace my clutch slave cylinder. I removed the old cylinder and hose and reconnected it with the new one. I had a few leaks that were taken care of when the hose was not connected tight enough. But now when I pump the clutch pedal it does not seem like anything is happening. The rod does not move that sticks out of the slave and no fluid seems to be leaving the resevoir. I am trying to figure out why this would be happening. Does anyone know of a reason? There does not seem to be leaks anywhere else now. SuDZ

I'm getting ready to install a new set of Tokico blues and I'm on the fence whether to install some Eibach springs or not. Basically I'm looking for input from 240 owners that have lowered with springs and if you have any regrets or not in doing so. Thanks, Will

I need to adjust my handbrake so that when I pull it up it doesn't need to be lifted up really high before it will hold the car still. The Haynes manual is hopeless because it tells me to adjust things that I don't know since the diagrams don't label what it's telling me. Anyway I need a detailed description on where to adjust from and how to do it? Pictures would be the best if anyone has the time if not I'll post pictures from the manual and see if anyone can help from there... Thanks heaps.

Had everything done about 500 miles ago. Replaced EVERYTHING: Master, calipers, rear cylinders, rotors, pads, shoes, drums, all the fluid.....everything. The brakes work great, but squeal very loudly when under very light pressure. Like when just idling through a parking lot or in line at a stoplight--just going very slow with light, constant pressure on the pedal. It's really embarassing! Everybody looks at me like I'm from Pigswallow. It doesn't happen when I'm really USING the brakes. steve77

For those of you that stuck with me through my rear suspension rebuild, I have rolled right into the front end and this will be the thread. I would like to think that I am getting much better at this, but I'm not sure if that is the truth or not. The front end came apart much easier than the rear end. Tasks accomplished today are: Removal of front struts, removal of front hubs and wheel bearings, removal of all brake components, removal of rack and pinion, and removal of the front anti-sway bar. The objectives are: To rebuild the rack and pinion - it's stiff. To replace the wheel bearings and ball joints. To replace the anti-sway bar with a thicker one. To re…

Has anyone sectioned their front struts too give more front suspension travel? I am thinking of making this modification, and using the Rabbit or MR2 struts, but I haven't found any thing on springs used. I have considered coil overs, but i want the car to look stock(I will remove the perches with a lathe and a steadyrest, figure out the proper ride height, and weld them back on.) I searched out forums and didn't find anything and through Google found only two or three blurbs. The modification makes sence, and absolutely reclaims suspension travel. Will

Yes, I search and did not find this problem. I have a 240z with a 240z rack (diamond/hole bushing arrangement). I am in the process of reassembling my front end and hoped to get the rack in today. The passenger side bushing fit perfectly - a little bit of grease and the bushing just popped into place. However, the driver side bushing refuses to go on. I have determined that the bushing itself is too wide. As I press it into place, the ridges of the bushing are compressed towards each other. Yes, the mounting area is clean. As a matter of fact, I can not get the bushing to stay in place. It keeps popping back out due to it being too wide. Yes, the packaging indica…