Poly bushing : Not worth it ?

[mikemerkury]

Doing a complete refresh/restore of a 73 this winter. Project is being done by a restoration shop owned by a highly skilled/experienced/knowledgeable car passionate. This Z will be my primary week end ride next summer. Everthing is going great so far and level of service and workmanship is first class. Wish to have all bushings replace by poly bushing (Black dragon #62-455). I am being told by the restore shop that unless i plan to race the car this type of mod is not worth the money spend and will actually discomfort/harsh my ride to an unpleasant point for my 47 year old body... Any help/comment appreciated.

Edited January 10, 2009 by mikemerkury
clarity

[Zs-ondabrain]

That would depend on the rest of the components in the system. What combo are you going with for your suspension??

Struts?

Springs?

Tires?

Wheels?

I ask because I have Urethane all around and 225/50ZR16's with KYB struts and Eibach Springs. My ride is great, not too harsh, not too hard. Taller sidewalls will be even softer.

Dave.

[ToXIc]

very good question...

i'm also gonna do an original restoration and I'm also planning to use polies ver rubber... i was hoping it would make the car feel tighter if you know what i mean...

[Zs-ondabrain]

It will, and you'll eliminate the "Slosh" of worn rubber bushings

[gnosez]

Unless you plan on restoring that Z to drive like a '70s American made vehicle I would suggest installing the poly. It will last longer than the OEM rubber bushings, give you better feedback and make your car handle like new for many years to come. The new rubber bushings will be a great improvement over the 35 year old ones you have now but will start to lose their response factor in a year of so of aggressive driving.

I can understand why a muscle car shop would think that upgrading to poly would be cause for some concern since the change over from sloppy Mustang or Mopar to tight can really be felt now that poly is available for these cars as well. All that (non-rack and pinion) front end play would run right up your arms.

Your Z, when new, was a whole hell of a lot tighter than any car made in America at the same point in time. I owned them new back in the '70s and the Z was on par with more expensive cars like Porsche and Jaguar, and head and shoulders above my "68 Mustang or '73 Cuda.

But ride feel is a personal thing and while I sacrifice my fore arms for the feel I get when I drive my Z may not be your idea of how a Z should handle.

What you want from your Z is the most important thing.

Edited January 9, 2009 by gnosez

[mikemerkury]

Thanks for all the great answer. I love this forum, there is so much to learn from. Wish to do the following bushings :

- Front/rear control arm

- Front strut rod

- Front/rear bumps stops

- Rack and pinion

- Mustache bar

- Steering coupler

- Tie rod end boots

- Front sway bar endlinks

What should be my expection in term of effort/time estimate ?

[Zs-ondabrain]

The rear inner control arm bushings are a breeze to put in, as are the Ball joint and tie rod end boots, as long as your installing new ones. 2 minutes, tops.

The mustache bar bushings are more involved. You need or want to burn out the old rubber and center sleeve, then use a dremmel with a drum sander to clean the remaining rubber out. Them use the Mfg Urethane lube before installing the urethane. This ones a pain because you tend to get an air pocket in there and they try to push back out. Urethane first, then the new metal sleeve. Half hour to 1 hour. DO NOT cut the large metal sleeve from the mustache bar.

Outer control arm bushings in the rear are a pain in the a$$. First, burn out the rubber or the center sleeve then the rubber can be almost cut out. Then use a hack saw or saws all to cut the outer metal sleeve in 2 places, out 1/2" apart from each other. use a flat head screw driver to ply the sleave away from the metal of the control arm and seperate it from the body. Then clean it and prep it for the urethane grease.

Similar to the picture of the front control arm below.

Same thing for the front inner control arms but pay attention to which side is long and short, Take a picture that you can refer to when installing the urethane bushings. Don't forget to use a thin film of the supplied lube on every urethane to metal surface.

The Steering coupler is only a couple bolts. no grease needed.

Front strut rod bushing easy enough. but unless you're racing, you might wanna stick with rubber on this one. They typically just need to be retightened a little to remove the slop.

Steering rack bushings are fairly easy as long as the motor is away from the front crossmember or vice-versa. The only problem I had with them was the Squared edge of the urethane bushing into a round edge seat. You'll see what I mean. I believe the one on the gear-set side (drivers side) is the problem child.

Hope this helps. You can also check out the rebuild pics of my 260Z on cardomain, link is below, in my signiture. Also, either replace or clean and regrease the front strut bearing that sits between the upper spring perch and the mount. You'll thank me later.

Dave.

Edited January 9, 2009 by Zs-ondabrain

[Zealous]

Dave that is fantastic and very useful thank you

[Mr Camouflage]

I think any new bushes, rubber or poly would feel alot better than 30year old worn out one rubber ones.

You can get poly bushes in black now too, so you can keep that original rubber look, if that's a concern to you.

[five&dime]

I wouldn't think that you would want poly bumpstops.

My 510 has all poly bushings and most of my BMW bushings are poly. I love it. Everyone told me it would be too loud and too harsh. Hogwash!!!

Definitely makes it ride tighter. May be a little more uncomforatable over potholes and cobblestone but normal driving should be very nice.

Just be sure to grease the bushings unless you want a symphony of squeaks

Edited January 9, 2009 by five&dime

[Arne]

Poly bumpstops are a no-brainer and great. If you do no other poly, the bumpstops are the ones to do -- there are no downsides to the bumpstops, no ride concerns, no noises. No reason not to use them.

Other than the bumpstops, all the rest of my suspension is rubber. I've always used OE Nissan bushings, and they work fine for normal street driving. Like Dave mentioned, if you are selective in where you use poly, the ride harshness increase (and there will be some) isn't too bad.

As for color - unless you just have to have something flashy, go with Energy Suspension black, not red. The black are graphite impregnated, and are MUCH less prone to squeaks and noises.

[five&dime]

Really b/c my BMW hits the bumpstops from time to time. They are rubber. I can't imagine how bad my teeth would hurt if I bottomed out on poly's