sevangelos

The bottom tube of my 6/70 240Z Macpherson strut has a horizontal plate inside about 3/4” from the bottom opening. Recently purchased new ball joints with larger diameter stud and used later-model steering knuckles fit together well. My problem is that the new stud is about 1/4” longer than the original stud and won't fit inside the strut, interfering with the strut plate. I haven’t cut down the stud of the new ball joint yet because I feared it would be of hardened steel (difficult to cut) and the hole for the cotter pin/castellated nut would fall right in the middle of the cut. Alternatively, I wasn’t sure if drilling a whole through the strut plate would affect the structural integrity of the strut. Has anyone seen this problem and have a fix that’s worked?

The bottom tube of my 6/70 240Z Macpherson strut has a horizontal plate inside about 3/4” from the bottom opening. Recently purchased new ball joints with larger diameter stud and used later-model steering knuckles fit together well. My problem is that the new stud is about 1/4” longer than the original stud and won't fit inside the strut, interfering with the strut plate. I haven’t cut down the stud of the new ball joint yet because I feared it would be of hardened steel (difficult to cut) and the hole for the cotter pin/castellated nut would fall right in the middle of the cut. Alternatively, I wasn’t sure if drilling a whole through the strut plate would affect the structural integrity of the strut. Has anyone seen this problem and have a fix that’s worked? Thanks, Scott

For a stock 1970 240Z, what is the maximum rim width (assuming 0” back-spacing) that will fit inside the rear wheel wells without rubbing on the fenders? I’d like to install 225x60x14” (or 205x60x15”) tires on 5-slotted, dished, brushed aluminum rims (maintaining the original overall wheel diameter of 24.7” based on the stock 195x70x14” wheels). I’m not sure what the width of the stock rims is (5” to 7”?) or what rim width to purchase for the new tires that won’t require trimming the fenders. I have located used 5-slotted rims in 7 1/2", and 8” widths (can’t find them in 5” to 7”), but have been told that the wider ones will rub on the fenders. Does anyone have any hands-on experience with this situation on a stock 1970 240Z?