wheee!

Welcome to the forum! And hello from Fort Saskatchewan!

Garbled or missing info highlighted in quote above.

@Mike W that last post was garbled. Try again?

I have the box from energy suspension and it is printed right on top “74-78 280Z rack bushings”. What are the chances they put the wrong parts in the right box?

So I should order another set? This is the wrong one?

[emoji15]

Makes sense

Thanks Chas! The replacement poly bushing kit for the 280Z is very nice, but the driver side bushing is too wide for the rack and needs to be trimmed down to fit. Not too happy about that. It is also almost a little small for the circumference as well. Might be the wrong part in the energy suspension kit but it is labeled as a 280Z part. The passenger side fits great.

Learned something else yesterday too. The Techno Toy Tuning custom hubs are beautiful BUT they are only manufactured in the 240Z offset. They are supposed to come with spacers for the 280Z application. Needless to say, my package shipped without the spacers and I discovered the issue as I was trying to mount my BBK without luck. 8mm difference in offset means nothing lines up. Good news is they are shipping out the adapter plates for me today.

Ignorance is bliss. I didn’t know I COULDNT do it, so I did.... I am not afraid to try things so I am fortunate to have learned a lot of new skills as I have progressed. The IR lamps are available as build it yourself kits on eBay for cheap. I used a 220v system for maximum power. The stand I made from scrap metal.

Previous owner obviously had some play in the steering rack... That’s two layers of rubber added to the worn out bushing.[emoji15]

Paint: 1. I use the Eastwood dual voltage gun with the setting on high for most of the work I do. 2. I used the Eastwood gloss black for the cross member. I choose gloss for this part because it is such large item and will be easier to clean in gloss. I like the result and am glad I went that way. The satin will attract more dust I think. 3. This part used maybe an ounce and a half? not sure. The bottle was only a quarter full. 4. Nooks and crannies can be a challenge if you have the charge electrode too close to the piece as it will create a dead zone. I hooked the electrode up about 10" away from the part on welding wire for good conductivity. After that, keeping the voltage high and a high flow rate of powder allows it to get it into most areas. There will always be a few dead spots inside the pieces that just don't get heavy coverage. I can usually touch those hidden areas up with a rattle can to protect the metal. Nothing noticeable. Also, make sure you keep the round dispersion cap on at the end of the gun. It allows the powder to disperse rather than "shoot" out. 5. The lamp was placed in about five position around the piece at each level for about 15 minutes each position. Then raised each time for a total of three heights. (15 total positions) This is a slow way to do powder coat, BUT it allows me to coat almost any size object! Paint prep: 1. I used Black Beauty Copper Slag. It cuts well and doesn't contain any sand. 2 & 3. I had about 2 gallons of the media in a bucket and ended up wasting about half with the siphon feed gun. Normally I use a cabinet and have no waste, but this was done outside in an open box.... (and it was +2 degrees celsius yesterday when I did it, so I didn't suffer too much! 4. It took about an hour to clean off the part properly, including all the nooks and crannies. I didn't want old oil and grease melting and catching fire, ruining the paint job! 5. I did nothing more than blast the piece off with an air gun before powder coating. The results are phenomenal and I don't think I could have gotten better results with an additional cleaning process. The copper slag does not adhere to the piece and blows away clean.

I believe the powder coat is more durable, but that also depends on how long you ‘cure’ it with heat after the powder flows out. I really like the versatility of the heat lamp, but I am always paranoid about getting enough cure time using it instead of the oven.

I’m liking it! Keep in mind, locally I would have been charged about $300 to get this part stripped and powder coated. Buying my own system has saved me thousands in the long run I’m sure. I have powder coated a lot of parts already!

Finally got around to sandblasting the front cross member. Too big for the cabinet, so I did it outside with a big box to catch the majority of the grit. Messy but effective. I didn’t stop to get sandblasting pics, but the powder coater did a great job!

Try the Skillard mod...

+1 for Orange Pearl

Maybe he has a different Wilwood caliper? Mine will not fit. Period.

A little bad news. The Stanza spare tire and wheel do not fit the big brake kit. I will need to order 5 wheels and tires and pack a full size spare.

, Edmonton Alberta Canada is officially colder than the north AND south poles today... -31 Celsius plus windchill to almost 40 below. http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-cold-warnings-north-pole-south-pole-1.4467337

True, but I think more people are restoring to factory specs on the 240’s versus the 280’s. Seems more people are resto-modding the 280’s and are less picky about original dash quality etc. More people spending more money on classic 240’s. However, as a 280 owner and modder, I would buy one....