Flier129

I was well under 1/4 tank this event. I'm not too concerned with the wheel spin since the OSG is going in the car soon. I need to get the understeer in check.

Flier129

Adding these to things I don't want to mess with again...


It wasn't too hard of a job to swap the rear bearings, but one of the new ones broke apart when I pulled it off the hub because it was slightly crooked. I raged a little, then went to the store and picked up another. Should get a refund on the broken one though.

On the plus side, my bearing noise is gone! My mpg will likely go up and it should help performance all together since the old bearings were pretty rough.

Road Atlanta with the miata this weekend, Dixie with the Z next weekend, should be a good time.

Flier129

Things are happening!!!




.......finally

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

When's that OS Giken going in...?

Flier129

Right, so I'm making some progress! This is due to some unintentional motivation from SilverGLE


FINALLY installing the OSG this weekend. (yes, I pondered on selling it for awhile). I really hope this will be a night and day difference over the shitty vlsd. New subframe and diff bushings should help as well.




Got some 4-event 275 RE71R take-offs, two new ones are on the way too. If these two end up being rocks(they don't look/feel it) then I'll buy another two.




Bought some 5k mi used Konis with some Espelir springs. The springs aren't my first choice, but they're stiffer than my current setup.




So I'm actually really considering buying coilover sleeves & perches for the Konis and running lower rates on them until I get them revalved. Though, I'm not sure what rates I should run or what size springs.

2.5" OD & 7" long front and rear?

Konis yellows are limited to about 600 for OTS valving, so 500f/550r or is that too much rear ratio?

I'm also having a real hard time tracking down the megan racing rear coilover sleeve/spring seat setup. I might just have to send ProParts an e-mail about it.

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

You blame me for this...? :P



I have done nothing, NOTHING...!

I really wish I had the funds for an OS Giken... I'm really tempted to ditch the Yellows and pick one up! It's the install that'll kill me, though. -_-

Flier129

Yay!




****!



Yay, more progress!! ...... I think?



Removing the subframe went about as smooth as it could with the car on jackstands and doing it by myself. Total time of removal for me was about 4hours, but I spent a solid 45min fiddling with the damn e-brake drum setup.

Having a shop install the OSG into the carrier and reinstalling it with the OSG next weekend. Then I'm installing Konis with a ProParts coilover setup during the week while it's up on the stands. Went with 550f/450r based on Mike's and Jeff's recommendations along with the stock Koni valving.

Hopefully it'll feel like a new car once I'm done!

christoc

iTrader: (2)

Can you pressure wash that thing while you have it off?

Flier129

Hah, no joke. It's covered in dirt! I think the PO lived on a dirt road or something.

christoc

iTrader: (2)

You should check inside the little black flaps on the front of the rear wheel well. Probably a good 1/2 lb of weight savings there if you clean out all the crap (dirt/gravel)

christoc

iTrader: (2)

I've got a similar view, but the entire rear isn't coming out just yet.

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

Progress!

Flier129

Progress?


Progress!


Yeah!


Going to pick this thing up tomorrow, finish up the shocks/springs and get the RE71rs mounted on Thursday, swap out bushings on subframe/diff on Friday, reinstall subframe/diff on Saturday, have Sunday to button things up if needed, alignment on Monday. Next autox is at zMax next weekend

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

Really, really jealous of what's inside that pumpkin... Co-Drive...?

GreyZ

iTrader: (2)

What made you go so low on the rates? I was under the impression that the top competitivie 350z STU cars were pushing 1000f/850+r spring rates.

Just out of curiosity.

Flier129

Beat Cathers and the seat is yours I kid I kid, yeah we can definitely sort something out for an Atlanta event.

Yeah, 1000+F/700R is definitely the norm for STU cars. Mine are still OTS valving on the yellows, so with 1000/700 they would of been way past the range and not nearly as effective. I'll send them off to ProParts this winter for a revalve and swap to 1000/700 at that point.

Flier129

I've consumed so much water(and beer) over the last couple of days, it's insane. I'm really hoping all this wrenching time is worth it for this car! A good friend of mine came to help me, which helped tremendously.


Drill+Sawzall+domybestnottocutsubframe=sweat


Ah, install so much easier. It's a satisfying feeling squeezing the new bushings in.


In!


In!


IN!



The rear spring setup confuses me. I feel like I need a more solid adapter between the helper spring and regular spring. I suppose it'll be compress 99.999% of the time, so it won't matter.

I have NO idea what to set ride heights at. I don't have scales and I'm not paying for a corner balance right now. So I think I'll use the pinch welds for round-about height adjustment. Unless, of course some of your good people have a rule of thumb for Z33s, such as "don't go below 4.5" on the pinch welds otherwise you'll rub/bottom-out/have no shock travel

Buttoning the car up tomorrow, playing with ride-heights, and getting it aligned on Tuesday. zMax autox on Saturday!

SilverGLE

iTrader: (3)

I'd love the improvement of the rear subframe bushings without all the $$$$ and/or effort of dropping the subframe!

Driving today really reminded me of why the Z needs a true LSD... Man!

Flier129

Slammed!



Spent most of yesterday adjusting ride heights. Man, I've been extremely spoiled with the Xidas on my miatas..... threaded shock bodies, torrington bearings, nefty tools to spin the spring seats.

With some advice from Mr. Lane I was able to get the ride heights sorted out. With no scales available I measured from the ground to the fender to get the car "in the ball-park". Started pretty low, 25"-ish front and the rear was ~ 24 1/2". Raised the rear an inch and the front about 1/4". Talked to Mike some more, yup too low for my rates (550f/450r). Raised everything up about 1/4", well I attempted to anyways.

Ended up with:
FL - 25 5/8" / FR - 25 5/8"
RL - 25 5/8" / RR - 25 7/8"

I can't get the rear-left any higher..... I'm nearly out of threads. Most of this is guess work since I don't have it on scales. I'll corn balance it this winter when I move up to 1000/700.


I like how it looks though.


Anxious to try out the RE71Rs, the new suspension, and the new diff this weekend

03threefiftyz

iTrader: (25)

Still think you may want to go up a bit out back, but that will have to wait until you get a longer spring.