newbzee Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share #97 Posted August 24, 2018 I really had no choice to get it in position. It wasn't going to bend w/o a tremendous amount of force. Kind of like buying a 18" pice of 1.5 pipe from Home Depot and thinking your going to bend it. my thought process was people are taking whole sections out to lower their car or do a coiler conversion so this is really no different and I still have about 1/3 of the pipe intact. Since it's not 100% my gut is telling me to source a replacement but I may base the decision on how it welds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbzee Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share #98 Posted August 24, 2018 new clearance with shock in, gland nut on, tire on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen1 Posted August 24, 2018 Share #99 Posted August 24, 2018 If you're committed to this path, make sure it's perpendicular in both (all) planes. Did your inboard/outboard repositioning affect the forward/aft position of the tube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted August 24, 2018 Share #100 Posted August 24, 2018 I haven't done a coil over project, but I thought they used a slip over collar and did a lap joint. I think that would be better. Can you slip a collar over the slits after you weld them up and then weld the collar in place? I think that could buy you some time while you looked for a replacement. Another hurdle / test will be when it hits the alignment rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patcon Posted August 24, 2018 Share #101 Posted August 24, 2018 Yeah, I was wondering how close the camber was going to be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannyknot Posted August 24, 2018 Share #102 Posted August 24, 2018 2 hours ago, newbzee said: new clearance with shock in, gland nut on, tire on. Happy to be proven wrong, as long as you have the same distance between the tire and the coil seat on both sides then your camber will equal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbzee Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share #103 Posted August 24, 2018 So here is where I'll leave this. First, I think part of having a project is learning. I've learned a ton about the suspension of the 240z because of this thread, and identified some other issues "ball joints" in the process. Second, I've never been big on throwing parts at a problem and try to minimize most problems to their basics, nuts, bolts, metal, all of which can be manipulated. In this case, what I see is a condition that can't be fixed to better than close and that's probably not good enough. Do I think welding it up will be structurally sound? Yes. Can I do added things like sleeve the area to help? Yes. But the bottom line is this car will not be ready for the road until next spring which gives me a lot of time to source a replacement strut assembly. I'm going to weld up what I have and put things back together including new ball joints and move on with the project. I'm not thrilled with having to take it all apart again some day but oh-well. So lastly, although many would read this thread and think what a waste of time, why didn't he just buy a replacement to begin with, I got to meet and converse with some really great people. I really feel like you all bought into trying to get this resolved and it was amazing how responsive you all were. So, I think case closed on the strut assembly being bent, and needing to be replaced. I just feel where it's bent will be a continued problem. I thank you all and look forward to resolving the next problem with you. Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbzee Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share #104 Posted August 24, 2018 Oh and if any has or knows someone with a front LH strut assembly let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patcon Posted August 25, 2018 Share #105 Posted August 25, 2018 40 minutes ago, newbzee said: Oh and if any has or knows someone with a front LH strut assembly let me know. Did you contact Chuck (post #85) ? He is in PA You can PM him by clicking on his name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen1 Posted August 26, 2018 Share #106 Posted August 26, 2018 If you can't find one closer to home, PM me and I'll get you a FedEx shipping quote on the 1972 front strut assembly I have. It'll be coming from Arizona though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbzee Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share #107 Posted September 18, 2018 A quick update, I found one on ebay and have since installed it with new inserts and all appears well. It also gave an excuse to replace the ball joints. Thanks for all the help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted September 19, 2018 Share #108 Posted September 19, 2018 Excellent. Glad it was that simple. Don't forget about an alignment before you call it "done". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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