Mca! Have You Used? Experience?

[Dirtydatto]

Hi guys!

 

Have had a scroll though a couple of the threads on suspension and I've seen the MCA system pop up quite a bit ( https://mcasuspension.com/suspension). Although they've been recommended a few times I haven't seen many people talking about their experiences with the system.

 

I'm pretty sold for a few reasons but mainly the quality seems to be there and the cost is quite affordable being Australian made and not paying an arm and a leg for shipping.

 

So! If you've used MCA I'd be interested to know

- which system you went with (I'm looking at the street performance)

-what spring type you went with

-how did you go with getting these on your z? Any additional parts worth grabbing? More info the better!

 

Feel free to post any relevant additional info!

 

Thanks in advance guys!

Edited April 5, 2018 by Dirtydatto

[gav240z]

I was looking at their suspension for my FD RX-7 and feedback I've heard is fantastic compared to cheaper options (Tein etc..)..

 

I like their philosophy and approach, but I don't know if they have done anything for S30Z's yet.

[260DET]

Murray Coote is the MC in MCA and he has been in suspension a long time, over the last few years the business has become more corporate with kits available for certain cars rather than just the custom work. They are fully familiar with the S30, in due course they will be doing the suspension on my project.

[KatoKid]

I went with their Blue's. 

 

Spring rates as per their recommendation (cant recall what they were).

 

Great quality product and service. Only issue I had was the retainer nut for the front struts came too far through the top mounts and was hitting the bonnet frame. They quickly provided redesigned top mounts (with bearings) and problem sorted.

 

On the road they are firm and yet work really well over bumpy roads, not unpleasant on the street.

 

Would bang again.

[Dirtydatto]

 Great quality product and service. Only issue I had was the retainer nut for the front struts came too far through the top mounts and was hitting the bonnet frame. They quickly provided redesigned top mounts (with bearings) and problem sorted.

 

On the road they are firm and yet work really well over bumpy roads, not unpleasant on the street.

 

Would bang again.

Awesome info! Something I'll definetly ask about

[jacksonneaves]

I'm not seeing a 260z option on their website am I missing something?

[ZED660]

I have MCA Reds on my early 260 and in my opinion they are excellent, a great local product.  Josh was very easy to deal with and after inquiring what use the car would get (road/track) he valved them accordingly,  They came with 4kg front and 6kg rear springs but I later changed the rears for 5kg so as not to have such a large gap between front and rear and I believe for my driving it feels better for it.

Edited April 16, 2018 by ZED660

[Dirtydatto]

On 4/16/2018 at 8:51 PM, ZED660 said:

I have MCA Reds on my early 260 and in my opinion they are excellent, a great local product.  Josh was very easy to deal with and after inquiring what use the car would get (road/track) he valved them accordingly,  They came with 4kg front and 6kg rear springs but I later changed the rears for 5kg so as not to have such a large gap between front and rear and I believe for my driving it feels better for it.

 

On 4/6/2018 at 9:07 AM, KatoKid said:

I went with their Blue's. 

Spring rates as per their recommendation (cant recall what they were).

Great quality product and service. Only issue I had was the retainer nut for the front struts came too far through the top mounts and was hitting the bonnet frame. They quickly provided redesigned top mounts (with bearings) and problem sorted.

On the road they are firm and yet work really well over bumpy roads, not unpleasant on the street.

Would bang again.

Hi Guys!
Getting ready to pull the trigger on this and just have a few questions surrounding the install.
These next questions are directed a bit more generally to anyone who has gone down the path of putting in an aftermarket suspension setup! 

-Can you run me through how you got them on the car? Did you do the install yourself or handball it off to a fab shop? 

-What extra parts did you have to purchase 

-Basically the A-Z process you went though as I am a complete bloody noob at this and don't want to mess it up! 

thanks in advance guys! 

 

[KatoKid]

Very straight forward:

Remove your old struts from the car.

• Disassemble completely: remove wheel bearings and hubs, springs and shock absorbers. so they are completely bare strut tubes and knuckle/bearing housings.
• Send to MCA
• When they come back the new shocks, threaded tubes, springs and adjusters will all be assembled ready to bolt into the car.
• Refit wheel bearings and hubs, bolt into car and drive away.

If you leave the bracket for the brakes hoses on the front tubes be sure to ask Josh to remove them and weld to the new tubes.

[CBR Jeff]

What Dave said.......^^

Jeff

[Riceburner]

@dirtydatto Let us know how you go with this. I’m interested in possibly upgrading to these.

I saw online that the blues are out of stock for quite a while now. They recommend going to the green street essentials.

Interested in spring rates too, @zed660 did they say why they went for stiffer fronts on your setup? Or is it a case of giving them the specs on your car and then they give you options on spring rates?

[ZED660]

Gareth,

I spoke with Josh at the time and told him what use the car would get and he supplied the springs to suit the valving he had set.  I have always run stiffer front springs and was/am happy with the 6kg  (335lb) fronts.  As I said in a previous post I changed the rears from 4 to 5kg (280) as I feel the car is better with only about 50 lbs difference front to rear.

I am sure MCA would advise you on the rate they felt would suit your valving but in the end would probably fit what you wanted.

Geoff

[Dirtydatto]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 3:11 PM, KatoKid said:

Very straight forward:

Remove your old struts from the car.

• Disassemble completely: remove wheel bearings and hubs, springs and shock absorbers. so they are completely bare strut tubes and knuckle/bearing housings.
• Send to MCA
• When they come back the new shocks, threaded tubes, springs and adjusters will all be assembled ready to bolt into the car.
• Refit wheel bearings and hubs, bolt into car and drive away.

If you leave the bracket for the brakes hoses on the front tubes be sure to ask Josh to remove them and weld to the new tubes.

Thanks Kato! Greatly appreciated!!! Very good to know about the bracket, it's the kind of insight you wouldn't get unless you've been down this path.

 

16 hours ago, Riceburner said:

@dirtydatto Let us know how you go with this. I’m interested in possibly upgrading to these.

I saw online that the blues are out of stock for quite a while now. They recommend going to the green street essentials.

I'm hoping to get the car on stands by the end of next week so I can begin the brake/suspension part of my build!

After revisiting the site and having a think about where I'm going with the build I'm leaning towards the greens.
I will probably be getting back in contact with them next week after the car's up as I don't want to stuff them around with waiting for me to send up struts etc

All in all very happy with this thread and the responses I've received!
I'll be sure to update with pictures and info for anyone looking at MCA as a future option.

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Dirtydatto
gramma

[Riceburner]

Thanks guys. 

 

I’ll update too if I decide to go down this path.

[Riceburner]

On 10/26/2018 at 4:10 PM, Riceburner said:

Thanks guys. 

 

I’ll update too if I decide to go down this path.

I’m out, their pricing is way off after emailing and getting the real costs. A few recent discussions have also changed my decision. 

[Dirtydatto]

Yep it's roughly a couple hundred more than advertised.

I'm still in struggle city trying to get my rear suspension out but for lack of local high quality alternatives I still think I'll be going with them.
 

29 minutes ago, Riceburner said:

I’m out, their pricing is way off after emailing and getting the real costs. A few recent discussions have also changed my decision. 

Keen to hear what's been brought up in those discussions if you're willing to share?

[Riceburner]

I think they need to update their website as the pricing and what’s available is incorrect. They said they don’t offer the blues anymore. Street ultimates were the entry range at $2300 + the additional work, then the rest of the range increasing from there.

To have these welded to your knuckles which we need for zeds was an additional $500, the welds aren’t certified. The freight was $100 from them so say $200 all up. It just grows and then all of a sudden you’ve spent over $3000 on an entry level setup.

As far as issues, there’s quite a few reports online about the shocks losing gas pressure. There’s questions on the quality of the shock valving. They also said they weren’t very familiar with the zed, understandable but I thought they’d done quite a few cars now?

Don’t get me wrong they seem ok, but at the pricing I received I think I’ll get the same result without all the extra cash. The way I figured it was I may as well go custom king springs, bilsteins/Koni shocks and call it done.

I have also emailed Bilstein Australia to see what they offer and pricing. Saw them doing Datsun Rally setups on bookface, I will report back when I get an answer.

[Dirtydatto]

Hmmm some thinking to be done and decisions to be made.

Let us know about bilstein when you hear back.

[cracker]

@Riceburner how did you go with other options?

[Riceburner]

I never got a reply back from them and I’m in the middle of changing brakes so I haven’t chased them up. Either way I’ll DIY as I can control the $ a bit more.

I’m still thinking of going the bilstein inserts and custom rate king springs on standard perches. I don’t need height adjustment or any fancy stuff. Offset bushings and roll centre spacers do all I need.