Going Coilovers

[CDL1542]

Alright so I've decided after taking someone elses Z for a spin this past weekend (and being thrilled with the ride quality) that I want to go coilovers. The kicker here is that I do not have the know-how or ability to section the struts or weld so I'm looking for something that I can bolt in directly if possible. The only place that I have found so far that does this is Techno Toy Tuning however (and please correct me if I'm wrong) I feel that $1950 for coilovers all around seems like a bit much even with included springs. Is there any other available bolt in ready product on the market that someone can suggest, or can someone let me know if spending the money here is worth it? I'm not looking at cutting into the car for camber plates or anything of the sort although I may be going with fender flares in the near future which is another reason why this must come first. Thanks for the help and I appreciate all responses you might have for me! -Chris

[John Coffey]

$1,950 is a good price if you don't have any skills.

[gundee]

Look at coilovers for other makes.

$1,950 is not bad for direct bolt on.

[Mark Maras]

If you can give a detailed description of what you don't like about your ride & what you did like about the other, I think the members can give you a lot of ideas that can improve your ride & everyone has an opinion or experience they want to share. There are many combinations of springs, shocks & sway bars & they are bolt-in.

[CDL1542]

If you can give a detailed description of what you don't like about your ride & what you did like about the other, I think the members can give you a lot of ideas that can improve your ride & everyone has an opinion or experience they want to share. There are many combinations of springs, shocks & sway bars & they are bolt-in.

 

Good point, The main thing that bothers me is how worn and tired the springs are. They're very soft being 45 years old and I think that what I liked most was how firm the others were. That said, I have done some research on the ground control ones as well as AZC ones but am thinking that in the end after having to pay for labor it shouldn't be that big of a gap from the T3. I'm not looking to lower the ride height any but the option would be nice to have as well.

 

Both practically and aesthetically I would like to install fender flares to allow for the watanabes I have on there right now so my thought was to take care of the suspension before making any cuts.

[CDL1542]

Just adding an update on this. I have installed front coilovers from T3 with drilled and slotted rotors and 4 piston calipers with SS lines. Also bit the bullet and cut the front fenders and installed flares (correctly too!). The Z also has forward fender mirrors and a front air dam. I'm working on the rear right now. Have one side 95% completed and going to get to work on the other side and rear flares shortly before the stroker goes in!

[Pmg]

Did you take any install or progress pictures you'd be willing to share?

PMG

[rcb280z]

Yeah pics would be nice.

[CDL1542]

I have some lower quality cell phone pictures but it'll do for now. I'm really into the fairlady styling and Japanese classic cars and car culture, so flares and fender mirrors and the like are a part of my build. But performance is necessary so brakes, suspension, engine, transmission etc are all being redone. Posted a couple pictures of the 3.1L Stroker going in there as well. I've done too much time looking up pictures an information but I have a solid idea of what I'm going for with this. Basically a fairlady tribute with a classic race engine.

 

This is the first day it was in the shop after a couple months of not being able to work on it. I did a ton of work prior but this is where I'll start.

 

 

Fender mirrors were a must for me. I always loved the style of them. Somewhere down the line I might break the bank with some JDM ones but these will do for now. The black complements the car well in my opinion.

 

[CDL1542]

With the air dam waiting to be put on too. 

 

Then I pulled all the old components off the front right side. Not too complicated really. This part was pretty straightforward and I didn't have any issues.

[CDL1542]

Took some vice grips to the old brake line to prevent air from getting into the system and also prevent fluid from dripping. These were dry rotted and replaced.

 

 

What you can't see here is that I took the original strut insulator and modified it to fit the new coilovers. I opted for no camber adjustment plates because I didn't want to cut the strut towers. I also went for the pre-fabbed T3 components for this and am VERY happy that I did. For me it was worth the extra price. You can also see the new rotors and SS hoses here. I'm using 4 piston calipers (not shown) which I painted black.

 

 

Then I did the front left side.

 

Then I decided to take a break from the performance aspect and put the air dam on the car. Also I had to wait to get some caliper paint (there was no way I was going to paint them red!) I've read horror stories about them not lining up right and having to drill the holes yourself but this was a breeze. I drilled all the holes by hand (not with a drill) and marked, measured and remeasured everything to get it to line up right and it fit flush as could be. Very happy with this and I took quite a few pictures after I got it on too.

[CDL1542]

This picture just shows how flush the air dam and bumpers fit once I got them on. I was really thrilled with my craftsmanship here.

 

The big gap between the wheel and the fender is because I had the car jacked up and just lowered it down. You really can't see it here but there are toyota 4 piston calipers in the front. I wanted the bigger brakes without them being obnoxious and ruin the aesthetic aspect of the car. I think the black calipers compliment the watanabe wheels quite well. 

 

 

As for the big lettering on the windshield, I'm a big speedhunters fan... Some might hate it, but then again it's just a sticker.

 

The driver's side rear quarter window is also my designated sticker spot minus one on the back glass directly behind the driver's seat. These two spots don't block the view at all when driving either.

 

One thing I'm personally not a huge fan of on Z's is spoilers. The rear 3/4 view and the smooth hatchback lines look better without it to me. That didn't stop me from doing a ton of research on fairladyZ emblem placement on cars without spoilers and replicating it. I'm not going to do any forward fender emblems though.

 

 

Then I did the first of the front flares (and yes, this is taken while on jackstands!). I even used the allen head bolts and welting strip for the right look.

 

 

Then the second one.

 

And here's the last picture I took of the first half of the rear suspension once I pulled it all out. This was by far the hardest thing I've done on the Z to date. I had to cut the spindle pins and wrestle everything apart with more 4 letter words than I'd even like to admit. That side is at about 95% put back together right now and once I get it 100% and rebuild the rear drums I'll either start the other side or start on flares in the rear.

 

 

And last but not least is the 3.1L stroker. 10:1 compression. Triple Mikuni 44's on an interpart manifold (all bored and polished to match the head). Forged pistons, diesel crank, aggressive cam, upgraded alternator, high torque starter, 5 speed tranny, dual centerforce clutch on an 8lb flywheel, and from the 6-1 manifold is going to be running a 3" exhaust all the way back. Also going to be using SS lines with AN fittings. I'm basing my fuel setup off of Z wolf's on hybrid Z here: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/100736-1971-240z-series-1-z-wolf/