Suspension total refresh

[loudoun]

I am replacing the bushings/shocks/springs on my 12/70 car with Prothane, Eibachs and Koni yellows. Since I had a 2/71 parts car, I thought it might be easier to just prep that suspension and replace that of the 12/70 with refurbished parts (plug and play!). As I go, I will replace the ball joints and steering rack. I plan on sandblasting the old suspension and either powdercoating, painting, or using KBS rust sealer. For those that have done it, what method did you use and were you happy with the results?  Any tips for someone who has not done this before?  

[grannyknot]

The suspension parts should be identical between the 2 cars so you shouldn't have a problem there, the poly bushings, although they may improve the handling will give the car a harsh ride, if you're tracking the car they will be an asset, if it is a street car you may regret your choice.  There are a number of members here, myself included who have installed poly bushings only to turn around and replace them with fresh rubber bushings.

Sand blasting then paint or powder will give you great results.

[Derek]

38 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

There are a number of members here, myself included who have installed poly bushings only to turn around and replace them with fresh rubber bushings.

+1 on this. The more poly I ad to the car the more cabin noise I get. I'm toughing it out for now but at some point I'm going back to rubber. 

[jfa.series1]

Been there, done that! Poly bushings gave my car a horribly harsh ride and I swapped them out for OE rubber.

[heyitsrama]

I might go back to OEM rubber.

it’s hard to make a streetable track car… or a trackable street car. 
 

I did por-15 then spray an on my suspension, it turned out pretty good. If you don’t do powder coating it would be worth to get a cheapo harbor freight paint gun and paint everything with that. Should save time. 
 

oh make sure you stamp the orientation of the yoke ends of the half-shafts. I def messed that up the last time I was in my car, might be 180 out, who knows I can’t tell. ง︡’-‘︠)ง

 

If the tension control arm is super rusted out it might be worth getting new ones, there are some threads you can read about them snapping on people when they switched to poly on both sides for the body mounts.

 

oh if your going to lower the car it might be worth taking the time to modify the control arm pivot location on the subframe. There are some “bump-steer” threads you can read about. But I found after switching to eibach springs there was a lot of bump steer. I used t3 NCRCAs because I did not have the car apart.

[Jeff G 78]

After living and driving my all-poly 1"-lowered 280Z in NE Ohio, SE Michigan and now in the Phoenix area, I would tailor my mods to the roads I drive on.  Ohio roads are bad, but well-kept compared to the horrid roads in Michigan.  Arizona roads are coarse and can be bumpy, but there is one huge difference between the three states.  Frost heaves and other freeze/thaw cycle vertical features are terrible on full poly Z's.  I found myself never driving the Z because it always felt like the car was being destroyed by the bad roads.  I took my Z to NE Ohio several times and their roads got the same exact weather conditions, but were nowhere near as bad and the car was fun again.  Of course, there were always potholes and other vertical inputs, but they weren't constant like in Michigan.  Fast forward to this year when I moved to AZ.  I haven't driven my Z a lot yet, but it's a very different car here.  The rough roads don't phase the Z here.  Yes, there are bumps that shake and rattle the car, but it's very acceptable.

EDIT:  Sorry, I misread this and thought you were in Canada.  I see that you live in Toronto and from what I recall, I'd say your roads are more similar to the Ohio roads than the Michigan roads.  I'd strongly suggest not going full poly.  At a minimum, I'd run half rubber on the TC rods.  Use poly in front and rubber on the nut side of the body.  I'd probably run all rubber on the TC's, but you will lose a bit of track performance.  Keep the poly in the front LCA pivots and steering rack for precision.  The rear didn't seem to be as sensitive as the front. I'd still do half rubber/half poly in the TC mounts.

I agree on the front subframe mod for bumpsteer.  I have not yet done it on my 280Z and it sucks.  I modified it on my 260Z race car and it's great.  Both are about 1" lower than stock in the suspension and both are full poly other than the half-rubber TC mount.  The subframe mod is easy once you have the subframe out.  It can be done in a few hours once apart with the right tools.  You need to knock the doubler washers off, mark and drill the holes and then tack weld the doublers in place in the new locations.  Of course you could get fancy and get an Apex Engineered subframe and have the ability to properly correct the bumpsteer.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Jeff G 78

[loudoun]

Thanks to all for the comments. That is a good bit to think about.  I already have the Prothane in hand and this will just be an occasional commuter/weekend car.  Where do you all suggest for the rubber bushings?  Any good links that you all would recommend for how to do the subframe mod? Thanks guys!

 

[Patcon]

Nissan still sells most of the rubber bushings with a few exceptions that are NLA

[jfa.series1]

20 hours ago, loudoun said:

Thanks to all for the comments. That is a good bit to think about.  I already have the Prothane in hand and this will just be an occasional commuter/weekend car.  Where do you all suggest for the rubber bushings?  Any good links that you all would recommend for how to do the subframe mod? Thanks guys!

 

Rockauto typically carries a good selection of aftermarket rubber bushings that can fill in the gaps for missing Nissan items.

[grannyknot]

36 minutes ago, jfa.series1 said:

Rockauto typically carries a good selection of aftermarket rubber bushings that can fill in the gaps for missing Nissan items.

Rockauto, why pay more for the same thing?

[loudoun]

1 hour ago, grannyknot said:

Rockauto, why pay more for the same thing?

I checked, but it seems like Rockauto no longer offers rubber bushings.

[KenFirch]

I bought the rubber bushing kit from Z Car Source.  Pricey 💸, and I guess I'm too lazy to research other sources.