Matthew Abate

It’s great, but use a rag. My phone doesn’t recognize my fingerprints now. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Before on the left, after on the right:

Five months after starting this suspension refresh by pulling the wheels off I am over the hump! After blasting I put the parts through a rinse. The middle bottle worked the best: not to harsh but still effective. Acetone to neutralize the acid in the rinse. POR-15 Spray booth and POR-15 Top Coat Not sure if I should paint these or not. Opinions? Still waiting for my rear inner bearings and some random hardware. Once that comes I’ll start reassembly. After that I’ll flush and repaint the differential. Then it gets new bearings and seals, even though it’s only three years old. I’m just paranoid about the possibility it had dirt in the bearings from sitting in the junk yard.

Okay, duh. Never bothered to check that. We know the copper washers aren’t the washers in the illustration. I think the measurement of the space between the bearing seats and the measurement of the distance bearing indicate that there is no room for a different washer to fit, let along two of them. We I’m all good now. Ready to reassemble. Thanks guys. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Regarding my possibly making a mistake, yes, that could have happened, but here is the sequence of events: First I used a dremmel tool to cut the peened nuts so I could get them off the hubs. They appeared to have never been removed. I took the assembled struts to a shop to have them pressed apart. They came back disassembled but the inner bearings were still inside the hubs and the outer ones were on the spindles. Then I took the spindles to a different shop that could follow directions to have the bearings pressed off. Then I putt everything except the struts in a tub and cleaned the grease off. This is when I noticed I only had one copper washer. Then I pulled the seals out of the hubs. This is when I found another copper washer. So from this I found that I had one washer between the bearing and the seal, and another one stuck onto a distance bearing with grease. From this I assume it was always between the bearings because the first shop didn’t pull it out from under the seal and then put the seal back in. I know this from the dirt that hadn’t been disturbed. —- I used the depth gauge on my micrometer to measure from the outside of the inner bearing (it’s still in the hub and will be pressed out when I take it to the shop to have everything reassembled) to the outside of the outer bearing seat. It is 69.48mm. I still have the new inner bearings coming in the mail so I can’t summarize all of this until I get them. I’ll get more numbers when I have a chance. —- Something else I noticed is the outer bearings go in one way only. The inside race is thinker (21.93mm) and offset from the outer race by about 2 or 3 mm. This extra bit protrudes toward the hub. The orange on in the illustration below: Note this illustration also has the bearing washers. — Here are the numbers I have again: 52.56 - distance bearing 21.93 - outer bearing 86.32 - spindle bearing seats (edge to edge) 11.83 - available space on spindle minus distance bearing and outer bearing 16.64 - inner bearing (rough measurement) 5.01 - leftover space inside of hub minus distance bearing, inner bearing, and outer bearing 52.69 - space between outer bearing seat and inner bearing still inside of hub (this measurement gives me hope!) 16.97 - seat inside of hub for outer bearing 1.01 - copper washer

I have some numbers to report: The distance bearings / spacers came in at 52.56 mm long. There was a small amount of variance as I went around the diameter of up to .02 mm and this was true of both. The washers came in at 1.01 mm. The amount of variance around the diameter was .01 mm and from outside edge to inside edge was also .01 mm. I have to wait for the POR-15 to dry to do the hubs, but the distance from the very outside of the area on the spindle where the outer bearing seats to the very inside of the same for the inside bearing is 86.32mm, although there’s a good chance this is wrong because of the radius at the point where the spindle flares into the wheel hub. I used the edges of the shiny spots where the bearings were as my guides. I need to fish my bearings out later to add it all up. Hopefully they’ll add up to 32.75mm. —- Caveat: nothing but the bearings is available new so this is pretty much academic at this point. I’ll probably just put them together and cross my fingers.

Right but my car confirmed both the diagram and the tsb by having washers in two different places. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Okay, so it looks like I can reuse the two I have provided they aren't worn too much, or I can leave them out. And one last thing: I found one between the seal and the bearing, which sounds like the right place. The other one was stuck to the end of the distance bearing with grease, which sounds like the wrong place. Notice they are using two different part numbers (4100 vs 3400). Glad I'm overhauling all this now that I'm finding discrepancies.

Hmmm. Okay. I'll mic the distance bearing and the copper service file washer later (loaned my micrometer to my father in law). However, I did find another copper washer. It was between the seal and the bearing, which is weird, because as far as I can tell these hubs have never been disassembled before now. The nuts were still peened. So one was where kCars mentioned above and one was where the exploded diagram of the hub says it goes between the bearing and the distance bearing. Or am I confusing parts? I'm looking at #14 in the diagram:

You are correct. I mis-typed and have a 3.54, which is what I wanted because it's the stock ratio for the Z

I just got my rear hubs back from the shop and the guy threw out all my old bears "because they were shot." I got the distance bearings, usually referred to as spacers here, back but he only saved one of the four copper shim washers. They are part number 43211-N3400 and go between the bearings and either end of the distance bearing. Any chance someone has a line on these? I need three. Looks like this:

I haven't run it yet, but I got the 2014 3.9. I think it's the newest one that is limited slip (newer STIs have an open diff). So far what I've found is that you need the input flange and rear mounting studs from a Datsun. I got the studs along with a complete rear cover just in case the Subaru cover has clearance issues against the various parts that are in there. For example, the Subaru vent is really tall and might hit. I'll be swapping the covers and input flange right after I repaint the case. It was fairly rusty when I got it. Other than that, you just have to figure out if your going to use Datsun half shafts or CVs. CVs present their own complications, which I covered in my original post.

Yes. I already have it. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

I saw on Instagram this morning that someone I follow had a pair of Silvermine Motors Subaru r180 output shafts fail on him before they hit 5,000 miles. I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on the quality of these parts. Otherwise, these are the options: 1. The sane option is to get some output shafts that mate the stock half shafts to the Subaru differential. These seem to be limited to the Silvermine ones ($375) or the ones at Futufbab ($550). The Beta Motorsports ones seem to be NLA. 2. The insane option is to get the output shafts at Z Car Depot that mate a Subaru differential to a Porsche 930 CV axle as well as the CV-to-27-spline stub axle that they have ($1,220 for both), buy some 280ZX stub axels ($250 to 500 on eBay although I'm sure I can find them for less), and get some custom 930 axles made ($???) 3. The sketchy option is to get a CV conversion kit that works with what I have and stock Subaru output shafts ($$$ plus a lot of extra bolts and billet aluminum in my driveline).

Another thing I'm wondering is whether the caliper adapter requires the dust shield to be left off in order to align with the rotor. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Has anyone tried to put dust shields on the back after doing a rear disc conversion? I was considering trying to adapt something from another car (280zx, maxima, Silvia, etc.) but wanted to see if anyone has tried, succeeded, or even just had parts laying around to see if it's feasible. Right now I'm thinking some 280zx shields could be red ripped to mount 45 degrees to their original position as long as the diameter works with the discs that come in the kit, which I still need to identify. Edit: the thread title should have said Fabricating, not raving (autocorrect).

Not sure if they're related. Campagnolo wheels for cars go way back and we're used on Porsche 911s and 914s. DeTonasso Panteras also got them. Hayashi made the Hayashi Street Mag, which is actually manufactured by Campagnolo. It came only in 14x6 and looks almost identical to the 40802 except the Hayashi branding and Manufactured in Italy castings. The Hayashi Street is their polished face version with black recesses and is readily available. The Rota Shakotan is a knockoff of the Hayashi and comes in black with polished face or black with just the lip polished. If you want the mag look, which I think is cleaner and more period correct, you're going to have to get the Group 4s.

I am also investigating wheels and have heard a variety of responses to this question. From what I can tell, 15x7 all around will fit with no clearance issues, but Hayashi recommended 6.5 in the front and others have said 8 will fit all around. I am going to stay with 7" or less in the front and might go as wide as 8" in the back, depending on the wheel I choose and the options available.

I was sniffing around a Porsche forum and found this company called Group 4 that makes a replica of the Campagnolo 40802 wheel. The Campagnolo 40802 wheel is what the Hayashi Street is based on, which is what the Rota Shakotan is based on. Group 4 sells a couple of different diameters in a handful of widths, and you can get them in 114.3 4 lug with a custom offset in either mag color or gold. One 15x7" wheel costs, £336.00 including VAT. I've reached out a couple of times but not gotten a response, but that might be because I've been using social media instead of email. http://group4wheels.com

I just saw this on instagram. Not sure where the photo was taken but it's an L series head with FI and a plate on the head that said "Mikuni" and one on the throttle body that says "fuel injection prototype." I've never heard of this. Anyone know what's up?

Okay, so two systems that are within the margin of error could be conceivably be considered equal, whereas outside of that margin of error the superiority of one over the other would be actual, if not indisputable. This doesn't undermine the exercise. We just need people to actually post something. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

If anyone has a better idea of how to get this information tracked in one place, I'm all ears, but so far all I've seen is people insisting based on theory. I haven't even seen more than maybe two butt dyno comparisons let alone actual data. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

There has to be at least five people who dynoed two systems, right? Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

But it might be possible for people to do this with what they have experience with, so, for example, if two people compare two exhaust each, and they both have one in common, we can infer a hierarchy. In other words, I show dyno charts on exhausts A and B with B being better, and you show them on B and C with C being better, we can make a strong case that C is better than A. And even without that, a consolidated thread of people giving data on their systems is better than nothing.

Received and looks great! Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile