75 280Z Front Suspension Work, Brake Upgrade and 15x7" Konig Rewinds

[HusseinHolland]

So, I finally got around to stripping the front end.  Balljoints fkd, tie rod ends, fkd. Every bushing, fkd. 

Left side pivot bolt came out clean , no damage to subframe

 

Left side hardware all cleaned up

left side spindle. Hub was loose - I was able to turn the nut almost a full flat. The bearings look OK though. So this time around I think I'll just clean & repack them

Right side was a bitch. I had to cut the control arm pivot bolt off, it was seized inside the bushing sleeve, and has elongated the holes in the subframe

I have a longer M14 bolt (probably off the X1/9, which will work if I have to weld reinforcement washers to the subframe

So, the wheels - they will not fit the stock short studs, since they use cone seat nuts that do not recess as deeply as the shoulder lug nuts I removed. Technically, that may be just within safe thread depth for an M12 nut, but I'm not risking that. I didn't see any mention of a stud or lug nut concern when I was searching wheel options.

I found the rear studs are longer - so I'll use the 25mm thread depth rears on the front hubs, and get 2" length for the rears

Brake hoses are also shot

Caster rod seats are good

made a start degreasing the back plates, control arms & link arms. Everything was covered in copious amounts of grease from the (lack of) boots of the tie rod & balljoints

I'll have to dismantle the struts next. Ho[pefully no nasty surprises with the tubes

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Been dealing with my Mum & hospital the past few days, so not much happening here. I took an hour break & pressed out the C/arm bushings. She's out of hospital now, so after I spend time with her, I should be able to get some more done one the front end

[HusseinHolland]

Had to take a break from the Z - I'm driving the X1/9 to Carlisle Import Show tomorrow, so yesterday I changed the oil & filter (been about 500 miles since the rebuild) and swapped out the wheels & tires for the new Federal 595's on Rota TBTs

Edited May 14, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Still focused on getting things set up for my mother's change in health, so not much time for the car right now. I got about an hour to futz, so I started cleaning up the front hubs and tension rods, and acid-dipped, cleaned, primed & painted the AC compressor mount brackets (for the Volvo conversion) 

An array of suspension & brake parts

[HusseinHolland]

Some siblings are in town visits with my Mum, so I had a bit of time to work on the front end stuff. Never marked which tension rod was which, but they have the same marking, so I'm assuming L & R are equal. Volvo offered several lengths when they had a similar design.  

used a silver enamel on these, easier to see leaks against the lighter color, but I'm not sure I can deal with it if the suspension components stand out looking at the car. Probably going to repaint them black

I had acid dipped & cleaned all the hardware, so I primed & primed the sway bar & tension rod bushing plates

stripped the struts. everything that I'm keeping is in good shape, just had to strip the strut tubes of the crust around the upper tube

top bushings and spring seats cleaned up

wheel bearings all flushed of old grease. The races and bearing really look good, so I'm just going to re-grease them & pack the hub this time around. I didn't hear any bearing whine or grumble in the front end when driving.

hubs need to be cleaned up

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Had time today to work on the front end. I spent a fair amount of time cleaning, scrubbing, degreasing & prepping the inner fenders & strut tower, frame reinforcements, so I could get some seam sealer in there followed by primer & paint. Not that the car will ever see winter driving, but any moisture getting into those areas will happily rot the metal I'm sure. The larger undercoated areas will get further cleaning, then I'll go back with some fresh stone chip & then undercoat. DTR, I'll remove the fenders & redo the seams back there

he inner fender liners need some work, and the lower right mudflap was gone. Much silt wedged between the fender & inner panel, not good for NY

cleaned up somewhat, need to address the cracks

cleaned up the right control arm mount hole & welded a heavy washer in place to remove the slop from the ovaled holes

Din't bother welding all the way around, it's not going anywhere 

Steering rack mounts, new boots & tie rod ends in

New control arm poly bushes & sleeves in place

Edited May 27, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Put the struts, torsion rods & swaybar/links back on today. That was fun. The poly kit doesn't come with the front sway bar bushings (WTF?), so I put the old ones back, and put rubber instead of poly for the links. I've ordered the poly for the 18mm sway bar pivot. The torsion rods I have heard that the poly can damage the rods, since it cannot flex & pivot through the suspension travel arc. So, I put new rubber ones in.

 

Hopefully get the brakes on in the AM.

Edited May 30, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Finally got back to the brakes. I bought the ZcarDepot kit, which comes with no directions. I didn't realize that the supplied hose is intended to replace both flex & rigid lines, it didn't appear long enough. Besides that, the back plates have to be modified to clear the larger Toyota S12 caliper. 

I had cleaned out the old grease from the hubs, and repacked the wheel bearings in preparation for reassembly. So, I filled the hubs with new bearing grease as per the FSM, and installed the inner bearings & grease seals.

I also found I never received the 8 longer bolts with the brake kit. Thankfully I had extra bolts from a CEIKA brake kit. Rotor spacer in place. CEIKA bolts. 

Vented rotors bolted to hubs.

Single hose to replace original hoses

Hose installed into caliper first, to prevent twisting or binding the hose

Modifying the back plate. Sections removed

 

I didn't want to leave cut edges on the back plate, so I reduced & welded the folded edges back on

 

Cleaned  up, primed, painted & installed

Hubs & rotors installed, bearings adjusted. Longer studs installed for the Konig wheels

Nice touch on the grease caps, oring seal

Pads & hardware installed. The outer pad didn't have the hole for the damper spring, had to drill it out

Just need to bleed the brakes

Edited May 30, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Got the brakes bled, then worked on the fender liners & the wheel well coating.

Did some plastic weld repairs to the cracks around the mount points

Added closed cell foam to the inner rear panels, they are not exactly a snug fit by any means

added a foam lip for the main panels, they also don't seal against the fender as supplied. I looked for an EPDM lip, but the ones I have are too bulky. I've since found one online, so I'll revisit that when I remove the fenders in the future

reinforced the forward sections with plastic washers. Also using Volvo M6 hardware with large heads, to spread the load

Shouldered hardware - prevents crushing the liner

Scrubbed the wheel arches with a wire brush, then prepped the undercoat with lacquer thinners to help the Rocker Shutz adhere

wait 45 mins then apply undercoat

Put the Konig on to find that the backside of the hub doesn't clear the Toyota S12 calipers. Had to add a 1/8" spacer to each side

Edited May 31, 2023 by HusseinHolland
added details

[Zed Head]

Other people have noted the lack of instructions with the ZCD parts.  He has a good thing going so doesn't seem to care about the small details.  If you get the rear brake kit pay close attention to the parking brake cable.  Apparently the cables supplied and/or the fittings are of poor quality.  Can't remember if the ends pull off or some other part fails but people have had to fix the problems themselves.  @Derek has posted about it on Hybridz.org.

Good luck with your mother's health issues.  Those are tough.  It's good to have something to keep you occupied in the free time.  The car looks good, I don't think I've seen a full view of it before.

 

I found Derek's post on Hybridz.org.  It's the bracket for the sheath.

https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/131360-rear-disk-kit-from-zcar-depot-anyone-using-it/#comment-1219981

[HusseinHolland]

9 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Other people have noted the lack of instructions with the ZCD parts.  He has a good thing going so doesn't seem to care about the small details.  If you get the rear brake kit pay close attention to the parking brake cable.  Apparently the cables supplied and/or the fittings are of poor quality.  Can't remember if the ends pull off or some other part fails but people have had to fix the problems themselves.  @Derek has posted about it on Hybridz.org.

Good luck with your mother's health issues.  Those are tough.  It's good to have something to keep you occupied in the free time.  The car looks good, I don't think I've seen a full view of it before.

 

I found Derek's post on Hybridz.org.  It's the bracket for the sheath.

https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/131360-rear-disk-kit-from-zcar-depot-anyone-using-it/#comment-1219981

 

Thanks Zed Head - with my Mum it's only going to get more involved moving forward. I'm retiring from teaching at the end of the upcoming school year (2023-2024), so I'll be able to give her more time. She has a long to to list for stuff on her house & yard that I really don't have time to address as things stand. 

I had looked at that and a couple other posts before I decided on the rear brake kit. I went with the MilkFab kit, in part because they include specific directions, which can also be downloaded off their website . The other main reason is that it uses much newer & readily available Mustang (Girling?) calipers - they are very similar to versions used on various Volvos, so I'm comfortable with that. 

[HusseinHolland]

Drove the car about 35 miles today, there is still a vibration in the steering wheel - The only thing I hand't changed yet was the column rubber joint, so I did that after work. The u-joint still feels nice & tight.

 

Also swapped out the 1/8" wheel spacers for 1/4" to get a better safety margin on the caliper clearance off the wheel hub

Edited June 18, 2023 by HusseinHolland
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