Jeff G 78

WTF? That has to be one of the worst looking cars I've ever seen. It almost looks Photoshopped. I can only hope that is the case. Even if he put duallies on it, the flares would still be too wide. I think I'm going to be sick.

We will be meeting at Hines Park in Westland next Sunday. Most of our members will be there. Let me know if you need additional info.

The ball joint-to-LCA nuts and TC rod bolts/nuts were torqued to spec as was the castle nut and I had to use a pickle fork to disassemble the taper, so all that was tight. The castle nut is sandwiched between the knuckle and the strut, so the only thing I could watch was the grease boot. I could watch the boot compress and stretch when the tire was moved left-right by grabbing at 3:00 and 9:00. I thought for sure I would see a tie rod loose, but that was not the case. The play appears to be coming from the socket itself.

About three years ago, I rebuilt my suspension with new bushings, springs, dampers, and ball joints. I had heard that only Moog and Nissan ball joints are any good, but for some reason, I was in a rush and bought a set at the local import parts store. Normally, their parts are Beck Arnley and the quality is very good, so I bought them there rather than waiting for parts to be shipped from MSA. I installed them, but have never driven the car other than around the block once or twice in the last three years. Now, I'm trying to get the car on the road and while I had the car on jackstands doing some other work, I noticed weird play in the front wheel. I could move the tire a lot and hear a clunk. Hmmm, I crawled under the car and thought I could see the ball joint moving. I went to the other side and found the same thing. Since it was tough to move the wheel and see what was going on, I had my wife move the tire back and forth while I was under the car. Sure enough, the ball joint was moving up and down 2-3mm at the socket. WTF? Has anyone even seen a brand new ball joint with tons of play in it? Since it was over three years ago, I can't return them :tapemouth , so I guess I'll order a new set from MSA, but I was shocked at how much play they had. I removed the parts and they feel fine when moved by hand. As far as I know, there should be no vertical movement correct?

Palmer, I measured the wheel lip height before and after the spring install and got exactly a 1" drop at all four corners. I expect this to grow a bit after the springs sag though.

Thanks guys. Enigma, Panasport does offer the wheels in a gold finish. MSA quit selling all of the colors, but I believe you can still get them from other dealers. The biggest problem is that the price keeps going up. I was lucky to find my set on Ebay. I got them a few hundred cheaper than most places charge.

He never asked if they fit a Z. He only asked if they fit. So, the answer is YES, they WILL fit a Baja bug.

Mine doesn't neatly fall into any one catagory. I bought the car way back in 1990 in Atlanta as a wrecked, non-runner for $700 and worked on it quite a bit for the first few years. I then got a real job and moved from Ohio to Michigan, leaving the car behind in my dad's garage. Many years later, I retrieved the car, but to this day haven't had the time to finish it. Since I brought it to Michigan, I built the engine, went through the whole suspension, replaced most of the interior, cleaned the fuel tank out, and got new wheels and tires, but it still needs a few last items before it goes on the road. In 16+ years of ownership, it probably has less than 2-3 miles on it. I am really trying to get it on the road this month. I thought it was ready, but when I jacked it up to install the wheels, I noticed that there is a lot of play in the ball joints. I have no idea what is going on, because I replaced them with new Beck Arnley parts when I did my suspension. The car has only been driven around the block twice since they were installed, but they have play in them. I need to pull them off and see what's up. After that, I'll insure and plate it and see how it drives. Right now it's somewhere between "It has wheels, and the horn works-when you put the battery to it!" and "Good mechanical shape, but needs some attention"

Thanks for the compliments. I really like the color of the wheels. Someday, when the car is painted, it will be a bit closer to silver. The splotch you see on the driver's door will be the final color. When my buddy painted the engine bay, he sprayed that spot on the door to get a good idea of the difference. Here is the enging bay pic to see the color better. It's still gold, but a bit more of a champaign color. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i256/jeffg78/91bb7395.jpg

Here is my Z with the Panasports I got off Ebay. They are 16x7 and have Hankook Ventus R-S2 P225/50R16 tires on them. The car needs paint, but once done, I think they'll look great.

I got a set of shank M12x1.25 lugnuts at Autozone. Just make sure you measure the thickness of the wheel through the lug holes and get the right length nuts. They come in various lengths. You don't want them to be too long as they could bottom out before putting any clampload on the wheel. Also when you get them, always antiseize the outside of the shank before installing as you don't want a false torque reading from friction between the shank and the wheel hole.

Remember that "Hugo" the Swedish car was "rust free" too!

Thanks for the insight Carl. I agree that my car isn't show worthy yet and that what I have in it and what someone would be willing to pay for it are very different. Fortunately, it's not as bad as what I might have described. Other than the hood (for now), the car is one color and really doesn't look too bad from a distance. I will call Bob and see what he thinks. It will probably not see any track time for at least a year, so even that isn't too big of an issue for me. I just worry about getting plowed into by an SUV and being told that I my car is only worth one tenth of what I have into it.

Does anybody know how Hagerty feels about cars being used for occasional open track days? The car would obviously not be insured during any on-track (or would that be off-track? ) incidents, but I've never heard if that is within their rules. I certainly have more invested in my car than a regular insurance company would ever give me for it, so I don't want to get stuck with regular insurance. In my case, my Z is a rust-free southern car with the usual mild engine mods, new springs, bars, dampers, bushings, 16" Panasports, nice interior, etc, but the car hasn't been painted yet, so it doesn't look like much to the non-Z guy. The car will be in the garage 80% of the summer and will never come out in bad weather or over winter, but I do plan on hitting one or two track days each year once the car is completely proven out on the street. Even though it doesn't look pretty yet, I have between $6000 and $7000 in my car so far and would hate to have to settle for pennies on the dollar with a regular insurance company. I have owned the car for many years and am just now getting it ready to go on the road for the first time, so I will need insurance within about a week. Do I NEED an appraisal for Hagerty? If so. how do appraisals work on 'ugly' cars?

It looks more like he stole some handicapped bathroom railing and bent it up for exhaust. :laugh:

I saw the same C&D article and was shocked after reading many reports of how great the Ecsta MX's were for track use. I have also heard that the ES100's were lacking grip on the track like you mentioned. I don't know a lot about the Falkens, but people seem to like them. I know that the KDW's would be good, but I was hoping to get something a bit cheaper. I guess it's just like the wheels. You get what you pay for. Thanks for the tire reviews.

I can't wait to get them, but it will take me a bit of time to afford tires now. I was leaning towards the Rota Grids so that I could have spacers, tires and wheels for ~$1100 shipped. I'll have to dig a bit deeper now, but I'm MUCH happier with what I'm getting. I had all but given up on finding an ebay set, let alone a NEW ebay set for that price.

Yes, I was looking at the Yokos like you have as well as Kumho Ecsta MX's and Falken FK451's. I want summer only tires that I can run on the track without feathering or chunking too quickly. Most of the tires I'm looking at are around $100 each.

Done! Yay, I finally have my Panasports! Now I have to figure out how to afford some tires

Thanks Daniel. That's exactly the fit info I was looking for. Zero offset it is. Steve, I can't believe a set just popped up on ebay! Dammit, I don't have $1000 handy at the moment, but I REALLY want those wheels. If I don't act within the next few hours, they'll probably be gone. What to do, what to do...

Thanks for the offset clarification. Does it look like you have a few mm's of extra inboard clearance, or is zero offset the best fit in a 16x7? I really love the Panasports in gunmetal/polished, but the price is getting really high. I figure that with spacers and Rota Grids, I can get a second set of track wheels and still be cheaper than one set of Panasports. I too don't like the idea of spacers, but I think Locktite-ing them on, would cut the chances of losing the joint. As for vibration, yes, I expect that it will be worse. Our options are getting very slim for 16" wheels, unfortunately.