SZM1

I run 205/55 16's with the 16 x 7 rims and still have about 1 1/4" or more of space between the tire/rim and spring in the rear. The front is apart so I can't tell you what the space is there until I put it back together in a couple of days. My wheel/tire height is the smae as when I was running 14" rims. This way I can run larger rims and not effect the speedo.The spring setup won't change since all springs are the same dia.no matter what brand since they all sit in the same perch (unless there are some that expand beyond the top and bottom ring). The struts sit inside the springs and should have no effect at all with the space between wheel/tire and spring.

This is just to good of a discussion not to get into. I loved my early Z (before the accident) and had no intention of driving anything else. The car was bone stock but had been 95% restored. Wheels don't count in my book as a mod that makes the car faster. It might have been 31 years old, but it drove like a new 31 year old. I've driven the 350Z on many occasions, up and down the coast of CA from LA to SF, at willow springs and the mountains of Colorado and I can honestly say it is a fun car to drive. Granted, it's fatter and heavier than I would like, but you can say the smae thing for every Z from 74.5 and newer. Comparing my stock 240 to the stock 350 is not fair for either car. They each have differences not worth comparing such as the 350 has so much more power than my freshly rebuilt L24 could ever dream of and it's appearent when you drive both of them.And the 240 interior has a look all its own unlike the 350 which looks like any other interior of any Nissan product. And that's fine. In todays market, if you want to sell cars you have to cross platforms to make it affordable. I will always have an early Z in my garage probably until the day I die because it has withstood the test of time and still turns heads because there are still a lot of people to this day that don't know what it is, which makes it unique. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate a different model. Yhey all have there plus and minuses and that should be left for another discussion. I think it's great that Nissan took some advice from old Z car owners and started producing a new model. It will bring an awareness to the old Z which will make it that much more valuable as a collectors item, which in turn will maybe keep a few from going to the scrap yard when people who own them as daily transportation realize they have something worth saving instead of beating it into the ground. You can bash the new Z for as long as you like and I doubt it's going to go away anytime soon. The Z31 and Z32 have been and still are bashed, but they've continued to thrive and have a following as deep rooted as the early Z's. Passion has no boundaries and for that I'm thankful. All Z's are fun to drive, period.

It should bolt up fine since the caliper is from a Toyota as well.

I got them as part of the 300ZX vented rotor brake upgrade kit for the early Z. My guess is if they got enough requests, they might sell them seperately. It couldn't hurt to ask.

Here is a close up of the caliper side fitting

Here is a picture of the brake line.

The braided line is 15" long and will run all the way to the inner fender mount.There looks to be enough play.

I'm doing the upgrade as a how-to for the Summer 2004 issue of Sport Z Magazine. The weather has been crappy the last couple of weekends so I'm hoping next weekend I will be able to complete the upgrade. I will probally grade this a 4 or 5 on a dificulty level of 1 - 10, 10 being the hardest.I will be doing some extra things, like re-routing my pass side brake line so instead of coming over the tunnel/firewall I will have it run along the front crossmember. These are extra things that will not be part of the how-to unless I put them in as optional things to do. Once the issue is out (around May 23rd) I will be able to post images.The weather has not allowed me to sandblast my engine bay which is what I want to do first before the brake upgrade I plan to do that this Wednesday). I don't want sand getting into any part of the new brakes.I will also be re-routing the rear brake lines so they don't cross over the tunnel/firewall as well. I want the firewall to be superclean with the least amount of lines attached to it or coming out from it.

An FYI for anyone in the US. I'm doing the 300ZX brake upgrade on my 280Z and the SS brake line they sent me is a direct bolt-on to the caliper. The s-bend is no longer needed. With this being the case, I see no reason that this same brake line couldn't be used on a stock caliper.

MSA sells them as a direct bolt-on to the caliper

The information I posted came from the magazine, I cut and pasted from the original file. Like I said there was a lot more but then I might as well have pasted the whole article. Attached is a nice picture of the car.

Here is most of it. I didn't brake down pricing, just listed what you got or coukd get: Standard Features: Drivetrain: • Balanced, blueprinted Chevy 350 (300hp) smallblock with electronic ignition • specially designed cross-flow radiator • high-performance water pump • flex fan to cool the 22-quart-capacity system • Borg Warner Super T-10 4 speed with special Hurst competition shifter linkage • complete exhaust system with a pair of glasspack mufflers Suspension: • Koni adjustable shocks • front and rear sway bars • Teflon compression strut bushings • high-performance rack and pinion mounts • and springs by Scarab • torque control arm, it is essentially a quarter-inch-thick piece of steel bent into a U shape, with about 3/8” of rubber laid in the bottom of the U. Scarab installed it from beneath the front differential mount, bolting front and back into holes tapping into the metal framework of the differential insulator. The torque control arm minimized the forces on the mount and on the front end of the differential itself without totally eliminating the cushioning effects of the insulator like a solid mount would. Brakes: • Disc/Drum (power) with HP pads/shoes or optional FIA 4 piston calipers • Later cars could be had with four-wheel discs, and those with drum brakes could have optional finned cast-iron drums Interior: • Door panels are soundproofed and covered in glove soft, hand-sewn Scottish leather • Momo leather steering wheel • Seats were re-padded and covered in Scottish leather and velour to match the door panels and console lid • Deep pile carpeting Exterior: • Trans-Am front air dam, rear Trans-Am spoiler • Twin exterior rally mirrors • louvered hood and access panels • Scarab logo with associated emblems • high-speed driving lights • All exterior Datsun badging was removed from the Scarab factory cars: the low production volume of these vehicles was highlighted by Scarab factory-specific badging that included raised Scarab lettering to replace the Datsun front fender nameplates, and Scarab Performance black-and-gold rectangular decals in the lower left corner of the windshield and the lower right corner of the rear hatch glass heavy gold medallions containing the Egyptian Scarab Beetle emblem Optional Features: • Drivetrain: • 350 SB (325 or 370hp naturally aspirated) • Turbo (425hp) • automatic transmission • Limited slip differentials in R-180 or R-200 Brakes: • four-wheel discs • finned cast-iron drums Interior: • Recaro contoured, reclining bucket seats with headrests • 12 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer Exterior: • whale tail • reverse scoop hood with side fender louvers • rectangular headlights • flared fender packages • rear window shade Wheels: • Cromodora Turbina wheels • Campagnolo or Appliance Wheels • BBS wheels • Pirelli CN36 tires

I will paste it in later tonight

Here's some info. If you need more just ask specific questions and I will dig up answers for you. Founder of Scarab Engineering: Brian Morrow Meaning of Scarab: Egyptian symbol of longevity and rebirth. Company startup: January 1976 Owner of Scarab #1: Joseph Morrey Number of production cars built: 200 to 300, Kits were also sold for around $1200. Cost for conversion: $7,950 (1976) Standard conversion upgrades: too many to list I can cut and past the list if you want. Options; Again, too many to list, can cut and paste as well Scarab also put together a turbo version in 1980 (0-60 in 5.1 seconds) Cost: $35,000 Undoing of Scarab: Emissions Standards and recession of the early '80's