JohnnyO

Sorry, I must have misread your post. So the ball joint sits on top of the control arm, you bolt in the 2 outer bolts to secure the ball joint to the control arm. You leave the other 2 bolt holes open so you can bolt the T/C rods to them once the suspension is back in place. Does this sound right? All 4 holes on the ball joint should line up. I did this 2 days ago and still have my suspension out. I've attached a couple of pictures. If yours doesn't match up like that then you either have the wrong ball joints or the wrong control arms. Can you attach a picture? John

You know what they say, "Live like you were dying" and I can't think of a better way to go than behind the wheel of my Z! Now if I could only finish the restore.... John

It's a mess this time.

Somebody made some sorting mistakes to Mike's spreadsheet here: http://www.editgrid.com/user/mlwilliams/Z_Car_Registry It only appears to be on the 240Z tab. Unfortunately, we all need to go back in and correct our own info. I really like referring to this sheet when I see vehicles for sale to see if we have the history. I am sure others use it for other research too. I think we would all appreciate your efforts if you could verify/fix your cars info. Thanks, John

Me too!

Given that you are located in Chicago, this may be the best series 1 you find under 5 grand in your area..... Just something to think about. Welcome to the board. John

Carl, Rockauto.com still sells 11mm ball joints for use with the early series 1 z. I just had mine delivered Friday although they require a 5 day lead time before shipping. Here is a link: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1209147 From what I understand the 14mm ball joint/knuckle combination provide a better steering experience. John

Sounds like you either have been sold 11 mm ball joints (typically for early series 1 240'z) or have aftermarket steering knuckles. If you have a caliper you should measure the diameter of the ball joint shaft. It is either 11 ore 14mm.

While we are on the subject of grease, I noticed grease oozing from the overflow on the ball joints I installed this weekend and wanted to replace it with synthetic grease. Should I just fill it from the fitting on the bottom and push most of the factory grease out? They are already mounted, not sure if this will be effective. Another question: when I removed my old struts their was oil in the strut housings. When I install the new struts should I add some 20 wgt to the cylinders to prevent them from rusting down the road or just leave them dry?

Did they fit snuggly on the rack side or were they loose until you tied them down? John

I purchased steering rack boots from Rock Auto. They are Raybestos brand and they dont fit right. The rack side is too big and the tie rod side seems a little tight. Does anyone make rack boots that fit correctly on an early Series 1? If not, I guess I could clean my original ones up. No tears, just old. They are the type that slip over the rack end without any fasteners. Pretty sure these were the originals. Thanks, John

I greased up both ends and tapped the control arm lightly and evenly until it sat in position. No damage done. Thanks for the help. John

Curtis, I was hoping you would reply. Yes, I do have the boots for both sides, they just need to be cleaned up. Because I want a stock look I am going to install rubber t/c bushings and put this one on the shelf for the next car. I mounted the LCA bushings today in relatively the same position in respect to each other. I will have my alignment guy tweak it for me. Was I correct in my description on the installation of the LCA bushing? I have them mounted now but have not bolted the suspension to the car yet. Thanks, John P.S. Glad to hear Hawaii came out OK today with the weather scare. Take care.

Reposting this with a different title because I wasn't getting any hits. I am rebuilding my front end this weekend and during dismantling I came across a suspension upgrade the PO had installed. After searching here I found this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25877 It describes my lower control arm bushings but doesn't talk about my T/C arm bushings. You can see in the picture the parts in question. From what I read in the above thread the control arm bushings are worth keeping to help with camber adjustment. As for the T/C bushings, I was planning on going stock with the rubber replacements for these. My questions are as follows: I did not make note of the offset on the control arm bushings when I removed them from the crossmember. How do I set them initially during install and how do I adjust them once the car is on the ground? Do I loosen the nuts and give them a 1/6th turn on each side until I get the camber correct? I am assuming the large Hex part of the bushing goes towards the firewall based on the fact that standard bushings have the offset towards the rear. Is this a correct assumption? The Tension Control Arm bushings look cool but I want to get back to stock where visible. Do these really offer that great of an improvement over stock? Pictures below. Thanks in advance, John

Mezzz, Thanks for the link. It will come in handy this weekend. John

Wish I still lived in Boca, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Have fun and post some pics when it's over.

I am rebuilding my front end this weekend and during dismantling I came across a suspension upgrade the PO had installed. After searching here I found this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25877 It describes my lower control arm bushings but doesn't talk about my T/C arm bushings. You can see in the picture the parts in question. From what I read in the above thread the control arm bushings are worth keeping to help with camber adjustment. As for the T/C bushings, I was planning on going stock with the rubber replacements for these. My questions are as follows: I did not make note of the offset on the control arm bushings when I removed them from the crossmember. How do I set them initially during install and how do I adjust them once the car is on the ground? Do I loosen the nuts and give them a 1/6th turn on each side until I get the camber correct? I am assuming the large Hex part of the bushing goes towards the firewall based on the fact that standard bushings have the offset towards the rear. Is this a correct assumption? The Tension Control Arm bushings look cool but I want to get back to stock where visible. Do these really offer that great of an improvement over stock? Pictures below. Thanks in advance, John

Everything is already disassembled, blasted and painted. As for parts I wanted to stay as close to stock looking as possible so I went with Moog tie rods, Raybestos 11mm ball joints (the only 11mm that was in stock at Rockauto with castelated nut and grease fitting, Energy bushings, Raybestos rack bellows, ACdelco rubber tension rod bushings and KYB GR2's with the KYB bump stop and boot. I also bought the beck arnley motor mounts for 13.51 each from Rockauto and they are an almost exact match to the OEM. As for the weather, where I live if you don't have a heated garage you don't work on your car all winter. I have in floor cable heat and a gas heater. Nice and toasty. Now if I could get a 4 post lift I would be perfect.

It is my understanding that the grease just eliminates squeaks. You should be fine.

Yep, Rockauto.com. My outer tie rod ends, 11mm ball joints, tension control rod bushings, stabalizer bar link bushings and steering rack boots all arrived about an hour ago. Can you guess what I am doing this weekend?

He told me to boil them (already read that here) and instead of greasing them he said to use anti-seize. I was going to ask for opinnions on the anti-seize. Anybody want to chime in about anti-seize instead of silicone grease on poly bushings?

I did a search and didnt find any posts about this ebay vendor so I thought I would give credit where credit is due. I needed sway bar and steering rack bushings and a steering coupler but didn't need the complete Energy kit so I turned to ebay to find them. I searched for the sway bar bushings first because I have a performance sway bar that requires 15/16ths I.D. bushings with a 1.5 in. height that would fit my brackets and figured they would be difficult to get. I found zpartshouse on ebay and searched around his store. First thing I noticed was his 100% feedback profile with around 3300 positives. I found some 15/16ths ID bushings for a Mustang so I emailed the seller (Ed) and asked what he thought. He promptly called me back to get details about my sway bar, take measurements of the old bushings and informed me that the Mustang bushings had a height of about 2" which would not work with my car. In fact, nothing he had listed on ebay would fit properly with a non-stock sway bar. He offered to check his warehouse in some "unsorted" stock he had. I accepted his offer to search for them and left off that he would send me a paypal invoice for the total of the parts if he was able to find them. About 15 minutes later my phone rang again, it was Ed. He had found sway bar bushings that would fit and would bundle them with my other parts. While we were completing the deal I got to BS-ing with the guy about Z cars and he offered up lots of performance tips and tricks for the early Z cars and some advice on getting the steering rack bushings in nicely. Turns out he worked at Dragonetti motors in the early 70's which is where my car was purchased new. He spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me and at least that amount searching for parts and filling my order. I guess my point is that Ed of zpartshouse went above and beyond to take care of me and I wanted to give him a recommendation here. It is not often that you get service beyond expectations. John:beer:

Do you know the Dupli-color "color"? Might help anyone on a budget that stumbles across this thread. Thanks, John

Bean dip said the front bumper looked correct for an early 260, no mention of the back. Also, where do I sign up for my disability? Everyone else is getting help from that idiot, Z owners should too!

Being as your car is dated 09/77 it was probably shipped to the US and sold and titled as a 78 in late October or November, possibly later. Hope that helps.