[jeffp]

I have been working in the rear crossmember of the car getting it ready for the new tires and wheels. I have designed a new bushing locater to go in place of the stock rubber mount on the ends of the crossmember. I have made the part on center and that will move the rear tires back .300 thousands and center it in the wheel well. I am trying to get the flex out of the crossmember and secure it to the car. I think this will improve the handeling in corners and stop some of the rear problems the car has when you really get on it.

here is the picture

what are your thoughts on this mod?

 

[aren77z]

I couldn't get the link to work.

 

[jeffp]

alright how do I get this thing to post? They changed the pic name to Drawing_1.jpg any help would be appreciated.

 

[WillieBoy240Z]

Here's the Link

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/280zxt/images2/Drawing_1.jpg

PS - Jeffp -- looks good and so does your website. Very detailed info and good pix.....

 

[jeffp]

Re: Here's the Link

Thanks willy, I took the rear from another car and found out how it was secured to the car. With these rubber bushings and the rubber mount on the diff, the crossmmember has allot of flex. The tires will not stay in place under hard turning and hard acceleration. Also, this part being made on center moves the wheels back .300 thousands to center it in the wheel well. I think this will be a significant improvement for the car. I will have to modify the diff bolt and move it back .300 as well. I am going to keep the rubber mount on the diff so it will have a little flex with torque. I am going to use grade a 10 14mm bolt and nut to hold it to the car with plastic washers 1/4" thick about, on top and bottom of the bushing.
I have also bought a set of adjusters from Special Products through Stillen that will make the rear camber and toe adjustable to get the wheels tracking strait and to adjust for the 1" lowering of the car when I installed the new springs. I powder coated the rear components texture black and got stainless steel hardware to mount it to the car.
The stub axels are out for shot peening, and I have bought the hardware to install 1/2"X 3" studs in the rear and the front of the car. I finally bought the 12" brake upgrade from Mike @ fonebooth.com and I got them yesterday. The wheels are on order from Centerline and I have decided to go with the dunlop tires. I will have a 9" tire on the rear and 8" tire on the front, and I am going to fit them under the car without fender flares. This thing is going to look beefy when I am done. I cant wait to see those wheels and tires on the car.

 

[Yuichi]

Re: Here's the Link

Jeff,

Not to clear what you are doing. But just thought I'd throw in the topic off Slotted Crossmembers. I'm currently installing a slotted crossmeber to help adjust my current rear wheel offset. Which is a -1 toe out due to the rims being 13X 7.5 on my 69 510. I believe the rear suspension on a 280ZX is very similar so just thought I'd show you the link..

http://www.dimequarterly.tierranet.com/articles/tech_crossmember_slotting.html

Also there is a more complicated advance one for more adjustments for the rear.

zya!

Yuichi
http://ZDriver.com
http://StrictlyZ.com

 

[79-280-ZX]

What are the seats out of?

They look great.

Wayne Monteath
Masham, Quebec.

 

[jeffp]

Re: Here's the Link

Hi Yuishi, That is just about what I did with this kit. The diff is that they had me do only the inner control arm bushing. There is 1 degree of adjustment on the camber and .75 degrees on the toe alignment. The kit is very similar to the setup on the 300zx cars. I had to use a hole saw to open the hole to about 1" and the kit has the inserts that fit the holes and it is iffset drilled on the bolt that goes through the control arm bushing. The part I am making goes in the ends of the cross member and replacing the rubber type bushing that is pressed in the crossmember to make the crossmember fixed to the vehicle, in stead of a floating type configuration the factory designed.

 

[jeffp]

Re: What are the seats out of?

The seats are stock in the Ferrari. These are Recaro seats,the ergomed MD seat. I found them on Ebay, they had never been installed in a car and were bought for a HumV by the guy. I looked at them and kicked it around for about 6 months because they were not selling. The guy wanted 3500.00 for two seats. I drove down to get a look at them in person and had to get them, the color was perfect with my car. I got them for 3K and I like them very much. The crazy @!#$ I do for my car, but they are killer, and I fit them perfect. I am very happy with the buy, just wish they were not so expensive, but a real deal if you get them from Recaro.