Cuban Missle Crisis!!!

[batfastard]

I'm just thinking, if you can move it by hand, something is loose.
Deflection under a heavy load, fine. Blame the squishy 40 year old parts...

But things are new and replaced and being worked on.
It's gotta be something simple.

Moving it by hand was a figure of speech. However you may be onto something about it being simple...Let me back up and give some history on the rebuild of the rear suspension. Some of you may recall that I had one RCA bolt that I could'nt get out. I ended up having to cut the bolt off with a cut off wheel. Next I bought the RCA bushings from NAPA that I had read about somewhere here on the realm. When I recieved them I realized that the inner diameter was different. I thought with some new bolts (ordered from Mcmaster Carr) they would work just fine. Then I installed Byrons camber/toe adjuster and saw that the decreased inner diameter of the bushing would not sit well in the slots in the camber adjusters. After a search here on the realm I bought a set of NOS bushings so that they would fit the camber plates like they should. Now, only having 3 stock bolts, I opted to only replace the inner LCA bushings with the NOS ones, because I had the specialized bolts for the outer (NAPA) bushes. Fast forward to today....

With the car on the lift, I checked everything for tightness.... everything was tight. Then with prybar in hand I wedged it in between the X-member and the RCA at each bushing and guess what I found...The inner bushes (NOS) were very hard to move. The outter ones (NAPA) were like a rubber band. Easy to move. At this point, I think replacing the outter bushes would do the trick. Only problem is, I dont have another bolt for the RCA. There is a shop close by (where I bought the car) that has an 86 300ZX parts car. Anyone know if the RCA bolt will work for the 510? I'm going to try it tomorrow and see what happens.

If it does work I think I still want to make custom ones. After looking at it today, I should be able to get 16X8 wheels to fit, along with more rubber. Does anyone have a set of stripped down RCA's for sale? It would be nice to keep the set I have AND have a custom set for comparison.

BF

[batfastard]

I'm making a front bar now out of two S14 hollow front bars. Because I moved my motor back towards the firewall, I can't use the bars that Dan sells here, but maybe you can.

http://www.dgrfabrication.com/

I have the motor back as far as possible as well, and to allow some movement, (I was trying to make room for A/C) so it may not work for me either.

I do like the looks of this one...

BTW, does anyone run front sway bars (or rears for that matter) on their 510's with an ...

not for an SR, but out of the way for anything

middle of page 2 http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.ph ... 4&start=15

I do have a question though, does anyone think it is safe to mount the roll bar to the T/C rod? I may use a similar style, but I think I'll mount it to the LCA instead of the T/C rod.

BF

[thisismatt]

Get some bolts from a 280zx, they should work fine.

It seems like it just makes more sense to attach the sway bar to the LCA. Plus, you're adding stress risers to the TC rod if you weld a bracket to it.

[batfastard]

I need to look around for a 280ZX parts car first... Same thing I was thinking on the sway bar. BTW, has anyone reading this thread had the same experience using the NAPA RCA bushings as I have?

BF

[Byron510]

No, but I'm really glad you shared your experience.
I have a set of OEM rear LCA bushings for Ole Blue, but I hear they can't be bought any more through Nissan... so it's good to know the aftermarket ones aren't worth beans.

Let me know if you have problems locating a bolt, I know I can help you out if necessary. It won't be nicely plated, but I have a few from the last parts car.

Byron

[batfastard]

I just got back from the place that I bought my car from......and $200 later, I am the proud owner of an 83 280ZX! $200 for a RCA bolt seems quite expensive, but the guy said the car runs fine. So we put a jump box on it and about 2 seconds later the car was running. Aired up the tires and drove it about 1/2 mile to my shop. Anyone want an 83 280ZX cheap that is missing 1 LCA bolt? I'm going to tear into my car next and replace the outter bushings and see what that does to stiffen up the rear.....

BF

[five&dime]

Jamie,

You know my dad can't resist anything Z related. I will ask him. he may want the motor if nothing else. 5 speed?

[batfastard]

Jamie,

You know my dad can't resist anything Z related. I will ask him. he may want the motor if nothing else. 5 speed?

The engine, tranny and diff are sold! (to the man who has 4 engines for each of his 4 S-30's)

[batfastard]

Well, I changed out the bushings and did an "eyeball" alignment. Its been raining off and on for the last few hours so all of the roads are wet. No testing today. Maybe tomorrow the roads will dry out enough to see if the axle still bottoms out.

BF

[five&dime]

Jamie,

You know my dad can't resist anything Z related. I will ask him. he may want the motor if nothing else. 5 speed?

The engine, tranny and diff are sold! (to the man who has 4 engines for each of his 4 S-30's)

Hahahahaha. He actually has 2 engines for each car. For serious

[Byron510]

Well, I changed out the bushings and did an "eyeball" alignment. Its been raining off and on for the last few hours so all of the roads are wet. No testing today. Maybe tomorrow the roads will dry out enough to see if the axle still bottoms out.
BF

So how do the new bushings "feel" compared to the NAPA ones on the hoist?

Byron

[batfastard]

Much stiffer. I can barely move them with a 2' pry bar. Maybe I got a bad set. When I pressed them out, the rubber on both of them were debonded from the the outside sleeve.

BF

[Byron510]

Much stiffer. I can barely move them with a 2' pry bar. Maybe I got a bad set. When I pressed them out, the rubber on both of them were debonded from the the outside sleeve.

BF

Ouch! That doesn't seem right, with only a few hours on the car!
Glad you have it sorted out.
Byron

[batfastard]

Update:
To who ever the guy is here on the realm that said that the 280zx turbo cv's wont work unless shortened.......I'm sorry I did not listen. I could have saved myself a lot of work. To anyone on here that is following my thread, DONT USE 280ZX TURBO CV SHAFTS UNLESS YOU SHORTEN THEM. They will bottom out with normal suspension travel.

O.K., glad I got that out of the way. To fix the problem with the shafts, I ordered a set of Wolf Creek Racing CV axles last week as well as a shorter (drivers side) axle from the Driveshaft Shop. The ones from WCR showed up first so they got installed. I now have a spare CV setup to boot. They work great! Now I can corner as hard as I wont without any binding in the rear.

I made a 3 sided jig to get the car aligned and once squared up I found a few problems. The right side was 1/2" shorter than the left. (the car also pulled to the right) So, after moving stuff around and setting the toe front and rear the car is pretty straight. I drove it around today and I'm very happy with the results. It tracks well and feels very stable. Now lets talk about the next problem........

Driveline vibration. At 55mph and around 70-72mph I can feel a vibration in the drive train. Its speed related and not rpm related. At 50mph I can feel a very slight amount, at 55mph it is at its worse and at 60 its gone. The same thing happens around 72mph. Where I can feel it start a few mph below 72, 72mph is the worst and its gone at about 77mph. I replaced the u-joints in the drive shaft maybe 200 miles ago with standard ones from AutoZone. Any ideas? And learning from my previous CV problem......I'm all ears!

BF

[thisismatt]

Since you're running CV's now, and it's not rpm dependent, then I would look at improper tire balance, wheel damage, bearing damage, or a bent axle halfshaft.