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Sounds like the simple solution is to use 15" wheels with the bumpspacers for that wheel size and be done with it, at least for a daily driver or occasional driver.

You probably should if your using lowering springs. Your center of gravity will actually be below the driving surface without the spacers.

Hi Mperdue- I don't know what the difference is between the two. Your probably correct in assuming differences in thickness based on wheel size as the geometry will differ between the two sizes. The only thing I can suggest is to call MSA and ask them what the differences are and if one of the spacers is more universal. My guess is you will need to know what size wheel you'll run before you order. Maybe you could post this information once you get it. I didn't bother asking because I knew I would go to a 15" wheel.

Found this on Ebay. What do ya'll think? Worth the money being asked? 12K for a car with less than 9000 miles on it? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2413271721&category=6187

Hey Jeff- I'm in the westminster area, where in Colorado are you? I would have loved to have had a Z at the tender age of 16. Not sure if I'd be alive or not but they are fun. I've been reading this whole chick magnet thing and find it interesting that no one's mentioned the lack of nooky room in these cars. Perhaps an Aztec or minivan???? Kidding, Kidding. Now I'll get flamed! I remember in high school I had the only car in my group of friends on a regular basis and I got so tired of shlepping everyone around I took out the back seat so I would only have a two seater. You won't have that problem. But if you have more than one friend you want to travel with, well you'll have to wait to get to where your going before you can hang with them. You should be able to find a pretty clean car in this state. Be careful and make sure you know what your looking for as far as rust and all the little pitfalls of the Z go. I got lucky and only had to look at two when I bought mine. I've looked at a few more since and they do have rust around here but not like other places (east coast). Do your research, take your time and I would suggest when you get your Z you upgrade the brakes especially if you plan on driving 'spiritedly'. Good luck.

Thanks guys. One last question - if you are running a particular type of fluid in the carbs and I want to change to something else can I simply start adding new over old or is there a process of flushing the units and then adding the new?

Excuse my ignorance but what is a brass drift?

Depending on your budget I would recommend getting a compressor and air tools. Since I got mine last spring life has completely changed:love: Especially since I no longer have to go to the gas station to fill my tires. 2 sets of jack stands to get all 4 corners up off of floor is nice. This isn't so much a tool but foam pipe insulation to wrap around the handle of your floor jack is nice. Keeps from scratching the ground effects. The variaty of wrenches spoken of earlier, magnetic tray for bolts and nuts and beer for afterwards.:classic:

I'm glad to hear ATF is acceptable. It's weird, but it seems on occasion when I put fluid in my carbs it initially fills and then after a few seconds it seems to dissappear and look as if they need to be filled again. About 4 or 5 months ago I was refilling the resevoirs and I must have filled them 3 or 4 times each and they finally started to appear like they would hold their levels. I looked all around the bottoms of the carbs to see if they were leaking but nothing. Perhaps they were just really low. Would this phenomenon indicate an potential oncoming problem?

What about something along the lines of transmission fluid?

Can anyone tell me where the fluid in the resevoirs for the carbs goes? These are round-top carbs. Does it evaporate or leak out somewhere, burn up? How often should those things be topped off? I'm mostly a weekend driver so it's not getting daily use. Thanks

Another angle of the spacer.

Here ya go. It's kind of hard to get a good picture without lifting the car but this will give you an idea of where it goes. It's the shiny aluminum plate you see in the center. I think it's about an 1" thick +/- and gets sandwiched between the strut tower and the wheel spindle (?). Not sure of the terms here, but it's real easy. The bump stops are in the strut tower and I can't get a shot of those without dropping the strut assembly but basically you stick those things in a vice and cut the top off which I believe is the narrower end. I'm trying to remember if they're tapered - I think they are. I used a hack saw to cut the stop. I do have the non-adjustable tokico's. I previously had KYB's (unknowingly) and they felt sloppy in comparison but that was also with stock springs. If I can remember, I'll get my car up on a jack and take a better pict. of the bumpsteer spacer for you this weekend.

Hi mperdue- Everything turned out really well. I'm very happy with the set up and have become an even more aggressive driver! Half kidding. If you haven't started the install yet, as I have mentioned before, be sure to get the springs in the right spots. Each spring has a part # on it that ends in either XXXX.100 or .010 and .200 or .020 or some combination thereof. The point is the part # with the .100 goes in the front and the .200 series in the rear. That was my one hangup. I had switched the two spring sets and the result wasn't good so I did it again. Other than that everything went together pretty well. I would recommend airtools if at all possible or it will take a lot longer. The impact wrench was invaluable when it came to compressing the springs. I did use the spacers and I'm glad I did. The more I thought about it, it made no sense to push the camber out anymore than necessary. The spacers are real easy to install and bring everything basically back to original configurations. The one thing I have wondered is whether to install the camber kit to help with the overall adjustment. I also cut down the bump stops about 3/4" ( a little off the top please) on recommendation from MSA. I did not grease these parts and wish that I had although it's not a big deal. I think what you will find with this setup is that it's an absolute blast to drive the twisties and I look for corners and accelerate through as many as possible because I can! I'm not the fastest off the line but I will kill alot of cars in the curves. You will also realize just how bumpy most roads are out there. I spend a lot of time avoiding bumps and things in the road as it is a bit rougher but well worth it! The performance, for me, far outways the rougher ride and the car looks a lot better in its stance. Good luck and have fun!

I just came from Las Vegas and I paid $2.04/gal. for 87 octane. Here in Denver the price is more like $1.60 something.

Mdyer- Not that I have noticed but the ride is pretty stiff. Are you on 215's or 225's? Nick- The new springs do the lowering for you. They're basically a direct swap out and when all is said and done your car is lower. To tell how much lower from before/after measure from the center of your wheel hub to the bottom of the fender. Note the before dimension and then after your swap remeasure and note the after. You'll need to do this for warranty anway. The shocks drop in and there's no modification there either. I did shorten my bump stop by a 1/2" or so as recommended by MSA. Other than that just a straight swap.

I used the Eibach pro-kit and tokico non-adjustable shocks on my car. I have 15 x 7's and 50 series tires. Handles great. You will definately feel the road under your seat but the performance is much better than OEM. My car lowered about 1 3/4" from stock ride height. A little more than what your typically told to expect.

What is footy season?

That car is shot! but I guess that's obvious. I'm with 240Z - I wouldn't touch it! Bad omen!:dead:

Here's the name of a guy in Westminster who is supposed to be really good with Z's, specially modified. A member here, Boholio, recommended him after having a very positive experience. If you do a search in the open discussions and put in 'Denver' you can find this tread. Jeff Winter 303-427-0510 (MST) 7102 Raleigh St. #3 Westminster, CO 80030 My car, used to have triple webers on it before I bought it. The previous owner got rid of them because they were really inefficient and ran poorly in this altitude. I have the dual round top SU's on my car and have no complaints. I also don't have anything to compare them too but I like the way it runs. So far they've been bullet proof. As for the springs, looking in my Haynes manual a few weeks back, the rear springs are the same for both models. The front springs on the 240z are 3/4" longer than the 260z, 15 3/4" vs. 15" if memory serves. I just overhauled my garage and can't find my manual so I'm going off memory. If this is true, you will have some aerodynamic issues with the nose being heigher than the rear end and it's ugly. I know because I accidentally reversed my new springs and that's what happened to me (nose heigher than rearend). Hopefully this helps.

Hi Tanny- I live in the Denver area. This may not help you but I have an early 260 that I removed the stock springs from and are just sitting. They're in good shape and I know the rear springs will fit but I think the front spring on the 260 are longer than the 240. If you're interested let me know. How's that Z in all the snow you guys got last week?

KYB= keep your Bilsteins. Go Tokico's. I love mine, non-adjustable. I had KYB's in before I changes my suspension to Eibachs and Tokico's.

I think a lot of us struggle with this question. As Nigel said, it depends on the condition of your car. My car is very clean and has relatively low miles (79K original) and I have no appreciable rust or problems. I bought a car that didn't need a lot of work but I could have. That said, I have decided to 'Refresh' my car. I have rebuilt most of the suspension, redone the brakes and fixed some minor interior problems. I love driving my car and have decided any repairs will by as short as possible and I have never had my car down for more than a weekend. I don't need to do engine work so no need to rebuild. If I did I would by a different engine and rebuild it while I left my car running. Get as many parts together as possible and then try and dis-assemble and re-assemble as quickly as possible. I should probably reserve judgement though, until I'm in a situation where I have a more serious problem to correct. At some point I will get me car repainted and that will be tough giving it up for multiple weeks instead of days. I guess the short of it is, if your car is in good shape why not keep it running and work on short projects. If it really needs some work maybe you go for it and realize your won't drive for a while and it will cost a lot more in cash. Personally, I think I would get drepressed if I walk into my garage day in and day out and just saw it all over the place in pieces and parts. Especially if I had to leave it that way for an extended period. If I could work on it daily and make progress things would probably be okay. FWIW, for those of you that don't have cars and are looking, unless the 'project' is the fun for you (shopping parts, tear down, repair, fixing rust issues, etc) I would find a car as complete and trouble free as possible (I know, they're far and few between) and enjoy driving the car rather than having an on-going project. I think a lot of people fail to consider the value of their time when they take on a project. I'd rather pay a couple hundred or thousand more for a car that works than save a few hundred or thousand to work on the car. Good luck. I'm sure it's not and easy choice.

Colorado - Rocky mountain high! I'm voting myself into the west coast. I'm kind of in between the west coast and the midwest IMO.

I'm voter #99! & male. I scored a cool 20 something in the 'are you gay' pole. FYI, the closer to 1 the less gay you are. An affirmation of my maleness. This is sometimes significant if you are a male in our wacky culture.