I need 240z Help desperatly

[RussSTi]

I have a its prepped 73 240z I bought about 1 1/2 year ago. I've been running autox mostly but have done 1 hillclimb and a few track trials. I started prepping the car for this season of hillclimbs and part of the prep is to raise the ride height. When I bought the car it was on old hossiers that were 225/60/14's. Well as you probably know those aren't made anymore and I have been running 225/50/14 kumhos. The tire change is when I discovered just how low the car really is(I tried 3 different trailers that all remove the exhaust). To give you an idea I can't get a low profile race jack under the car without rolling it up on wood first. I have gone through all the paperwork that came with the car and best I can tell I have koni's with a ground control coilover set up and the springs say hyperco and are blue.(the height was around 24" to the highest part of the wheel arches with 40psi all around)

Alright now you have the background story here comes the problem. I raised the front 1 inch no problem and have about 1.5 inches left on the threaded shock body. I got to the rear and it is already as far up as you can safely go. This is a huge problem as the car already looked like a lame dog dragging it's rear around. I would like to get 2 inches higher with the rear since most Z cars I have seen have a slight rake with the rear higher. I measured the springs with the car in the and didn't get a real clear answer on length. The front seem to be 9 inches and the rear about 9.5. I was hoping they were 8 inch springs so I could just slap on some 10 inchers and call it a day.

This is very concerning to me and any help from people with more experience would be much appreciated. It just doesn't seem right that the rear would be maxed out in height yet I can't get a jack under the rear end to lift it.

Also I can try to provide more details if they are needed, I have added all that I thought would matter. I got the car in Milwaukee ad it s bright orange with a black stripe. If you have seen it before you would remember it.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.

[pballance]

Hey Russ,
Couple of questions:
what is the distance from the v mark on the rocker panels for the oem jack points to the ground?
Also, are the struts sectioned or are you using the oem perches as a stop for the coil overs?

BTW, you coming to Crow this year?

Paul

[RussSTi]

Hey Paul. I should be at Crow, I am doing this prep to try to make it to Wolf Ridge. I want to make it to all three SE hillclimbs. Oh and if you saw what my alignment settings are you would be amazed that I made it up the hill last year. I dn't even now how I could drive the thing straight. I sure wish I had check it when I first got it, but I figured I should learn the car before I played with stuff.

I measured to the "notch" in the seam(this is the spot I think you are talking about) and it is 5 inches in the rear.
I'm not sure how to answer the strut question, I know very little about these. The factory perch is gone though. The threaded body goes almost to the bottom of the strut.

[pballance]

I will send you an email in the am. In the mean time, if you browse through the Nissan/Datsun posts you will find Kthomas and the settings he has used in the past for a Z car.

FWIW, I drug the exhaust on every open trailer I have used. I had to use extra long ramps and raise the nose to load at Crow. The enclosed is a non issue. I also cannot get a jack under the front crossmember without blocks but no problem on the rear. I normally just lift from the sides these days :)


Paul

[pballance]

email sent to virgil_united.....

Russ, there are several great Z set up guys that read here. Maybe they will chime in. :)

Paul

[ddewhurst]

Russ, I don't know stink about hill climes. I crew with an SCCA National 240Z E Production car. Looooong gentel slope with the enclosed trailer front jacked to the sky for loading. The car has a spud tube each side welded to the lower side protection bar sticking through the rocker panel for jacking. The spud tube may be iffy by the rules but a guy has to jack the car.

[RussSTi]

Well I bought an enclosed trailer since the open ones were only good for exhaust removal Also I take the front airdam off for loading so I have no issue there.

As a side note the adjustments I am trying to make are based on suggestions from a very experienced triumph guy. He is basing his suggestions on his experience and observations of fast Z's. So take that for what it is worth. Also he makes triumphs go faster than they should.

Now I am rambling and will stop.

[pballance]

Here is a pic of Russ's car

[mom'sZ]

Russ: if I'm getting the problem right, you need to raise the car right? For hill climb, for added ground clearance right? Adding taller springs or more spring is going to put the suspension up at the upper end of it's travel. Just as us road race guys have to deal with stuff that happens when we lower the cars a lot, when you put the suspension at one end of the travel or the other, you are no longer in the 'sweet spot' of the suspension. The geometry get screwed up and other things have to be done to fix it. So... why not switch to 15" rims? More tire choices and you gain ground clearance while keeping the suspension in it's useful range. Unless the rule prohibit something like that, wheels are cheap enough, you could even swap stuff from the junk yard.
For lots of help with all things modified Zcar go to hybridz.org great group of guys, vast zcar knowledge, no keep it stock mentality tolerated

[kthomas]

[quote=RussSTi;266022]As a side note the adjustments I am trying to make are based on suggestions from a very experienced triumph guy. He is basing his suggestions on his experience and observations of fast Z's. [/quote

:eek:

For ITS with 225/50-14's you want to be at about 5-1/8 inch from the ground to the flat horizontal part of the bottom of the rocker at the front and the back, with 1/2 race worth of gas and the nearly worthless carbon based lump in the driver seat. No rake. At this ride height you need 2-3/4 inches of bump travel and 2-1/4 inches of rebound travel as minimums in the shocks, if you're using typical ITS spring rates in the 275-400 lb/in range.

What model are the Koni's and how long has it been since the upper gland bushings were replaced in them?

Search the Nissan/Datsun forum for setup info and then ask questions there. We'll be glad to help.


triumph guy. ha. (no offense jeff).

[JeffYoung]

Wasn't me, I swear! I've never seen a fast Z. Do they exist? Plus, I make Triumphs go slower than they should.

Russ: listen to the K man.