I was thinking about freshening up the suspension!

[Patcon]

On 2/7/2017 at 9:58 AM, Captain Obvious said:

Charles, I was hoping you would see this thread. I remember you were having troubles finding those things.

Yes, I am really surprised they are available. I wonder how limited their supply is. It might be time to finish some dies...

[Captain Obvious]

If I only had a pair of bushings from which to take measurements..... 

[Patcon]

10 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

If I only had a pair of bushings from which to take measurements..... 

Doohhh!!!

[jlenownnab]

Don't get excited about the oem mustache bar bushings! I have stalled my project 2 wks waiting on them and now I have been informed they are on national back order. I saved a few bucks on the prothane kit on Ebay, but by the time you have to order the rack and pinion bushings from Energy and deal with time lapse and frustration.... not worth it. The Energy suspension rack and pinion bushings fit perfect. Heres the last few times at the shop progress. More cleaning and painting... belly pan, engine, oil pan, headers (baked also). Got intake and headers on before dropping motor in, also hung a new 15" Konig Rewind mounted on Yokos.

[Patcon]

I won't be using any urethane bushings on my build. By the way take good care of that splash pan. They are hard to find in that kind of condition and priced accordingly

[jlenownnab]

I would put a standing order in with MSA for them and play the waiting game. 

[Patcon]

1 minute ago, jlenownnab said:

I would put a standing order in with MSA for them and play the waiting game. 

I may do that. I have sourced a couple of sets but wouldn't mind a spare set

[wheee!]

I won't be using any urethane bushings on my build. By the way take good care of that splash pan. They are hard to find in that kind of condition and priced accordingly

I would love to find a nice splash pan....

[EuroDat]

7 hours ago, Patcon said:

I won't be using any urethane bushings on my build. By the way take good care of that splash pan. They are hard to find in that kind of condition and priced accordingly

I don't mind the urethane bushings in certain sections of the suspension. But then the 280Z is a little softer than the 240Z. I wouldn't recommend urethane on the tension rods, the mustache bar or transmission cross member.

The tension rods can break due to the rigidity of poly urethane and it can increase bump steer.

The mustache bar and transmision mount transfer a LOT of drive train noise with Poly urethane. I know this from first hand experience

Steering rack bushing would be another to think about.

[Jaymanbikes]

3 hours ago, EuroDat said:

I don't mind the urethane bushings in certain sections of the suspension. But then the 280Z is a little softer than the 240Z. I wouldn't recommend urethane on the tension rods, the mustache bar or transmission cross member.

The tension rods can break due to the rigidity of poly urethane and it can increase bump steer.

The mustache bar and transmision mount transfer a LOT of drive train noise with Poly urethane. I know this from first hand experience

Steering rack bushing would be another to think about.

After living with my complete urethane system for about 6 months and 1500 miles or so, I would concur with EuroDat.  I was advised to drill the tension rod bushings to soften them and am happy with this.  The mustache bar seems to be the main noise culprit, then again my car has lowering springs making things even stiffer.  I replaced the trans mount bushings at time of trans rebuild.  Im so damn happy to be rid of the rumbling bearings that I haven't noticed anything negative due to installing them. 

[jlenownnab]

Is the 280 worse for noise and vibration then a 240? I have had the Energy suspension bushings in my 70 for 4 years now with lowering springs and have not found anything more than just a stiffer ride and more bumpy, no diff or tranny noise or vibration though. Would anyone recommend a worn out set of Mustache bar bushings over new urethane? Just wondering. Had a good day or so working on my labor of love. Had to get project off rack and p.o.s 79 on rack for transmission removal, pain. The 79 looks really bad, I hate to think I'm taking a part off this thing and putting it on my build. My buddy assures me the internals are better then the externals. I forgot to take a before picture but the process was as follows. Spray down with Gunk engine cleaner, 10 min later, spray down again, pressure wash trans, dry with torpedo heater, hand clean with degreaser a brush and rag. Next, I used my drill with a wire wheel and went over entire case, blew clean, wiped down with Prep All and put 2 coats of primer on. Turned out really nice and is ready for paint. I am thinking the burnt black coffee crap I drained from the transmission must have been in there 30 plus years. I'm leery but it shifts nicely into all gears including reverse. Oh' I noticed the drain plug had a little bit of shavings stuck to the magnet, I'm sure that's not optimal. I'm going to look around and see about flushing a detergent/cleaner through it, not sure if that's a thing or not?? Threw in the second picture just for kicks, I like pulling in to the shop and seeing Z nostalgia!!

[grannyknot]

2 hours ago, jlenownnab said:

Is the 280 worse for noise and vibration then a 240? I have had the Energy suspension bushings in my 70 for 4 years now with lowering springs and have not found anything more than just a stiffer ride and more bumpy, no diff or tranny noise or vibration though. Would anyone recommend a worn out set of Mustache bar bushings over new urethane?

I have read many times about vibration noise because of poly bushings in the mustache bar but I have never noticed any.  The car had fairly new rubber bushings on the M bar when I got it so I left them in but after a year burned them out and replaced with poly while I was trying to eliminate a clunk in the rear end.