Dan260Z

Heres a pic. Also I discovered the green and blue marks on my springs are just that.. dots that appear to be identifying marks (perhaps to identify them on a production line?). The rest is black through to the metal. My 2+2 had air con and I suspect was originally manual.. and is a DRS30 if that makes a difference. I don't have a manual unfortunately... mind if I ask which one you have and where to buy it?

Cheers... time will tell once I get my hands on some king lows. I agree though.. it is very disconcerting. Even if I can keep lows captive I've no idea if they'll actually lower my car.. and it'll be years before it's all in one piece and a representative weight so I can find out. Certainly as I progress though I'll keep you posted. Would be great if someone in melb could even loan me some king lows so I could at least let you know if they fit! And I'm still super eager to run the spring calculator over them and see what rate they really are. The plot thickens further re the z31 shocks.. my kyb gr2/excels are 36cm... longer than Gareths kyb agx's. I have 4x kyb 365056.. supposed to be z31 fronts... perhaps Gareth has rears or a different variant of z31 (eg. turbo/non turbo?)

OK so I've bit the bullet and decided to section the fronts on the weekend... with the roughly 6mm shorter Z31 shock and by removing a further 5mm from the bottom of the shock's little perch/foot, I was able to section the strut by 12mm (with 1mm of crush on the shock to hold it in place in the gland nut inner taper). Hopefully that allows me to keep king lows, cut stock springs, or some other spring solution captive (with the added benefit of adding some suspension travel). Any more and I would have needed shorter shocks or to lose the shock perch/foot completely, which I preferred not to do. Haven't measured the assembled length yet between the spring perches but will let you know once I do. Also meant to measure the KYB Z31 GR-2's for comparison to the AGX's over the weekend but forgot - will try to do so this week.

Cheers, they sound near-identical to the 2 I've bought off ebay for $25, so if it's ok with you I'll wait till they come in and see if they fit, then buy yours for the rear if they do? I prefer to check first rather than stuff you around. Thanks for the universal rack boot suggestion - that's a great idea too if these don't work out .

Sold pending payment

Cheers mate much appreciated. Could I be more of a PITA and get some very rough dimensions? ID of the holes and unstretched length? Just worried they look shortish (pics are deceiving I know) as my stock broken ones are very long.

Or if anyone is interested in calculating it themselves: http://www.acxesspring.com/spring-calculator.html I got around 190lb for the stock 1974 260z 2+2 Fronts, tad higher than what King advertise but I may have chosen the wrong material (or perhaps mine aren't stock? They're dirty/black but on some chipped areas they appear to green or blue underneath. They measured around 330-340mm long free)

Let me know if you end up selling the king lows - I haven't decided yet either which way to go, but I may be able to use them as I have a set of Z31 shocks that should reduce the drop on the front by about 5-8mm (more if I take the perch off the bottom of the shock and space it down further). Stiffer actually sounds good to me as mine will only be a weekend car - but yeah I'm still curious about the raised height. My calcs on the standard (OEM) springs I have suggest they are the same rate as what King supply (for both lows and std), so in theory we have same rate as OEM, only shorter - should equal lower. Perhaps the 2-seaters have lighter OEM springs given they're lighter? (I have a 2+2) If you're interested, ping me the Spring diameter, wire diameter, free length, and number of coils and I'll try to work out if the OEM 2-seater springs are softer than mine. Also as a side note I measured my FRONT struts last night and they also appear to be about 290mm between the perches - so with the 280mm springs they'd also be non-captive - but perhaps using the shorter z31 shocks I can keep them captive.

Awesome cheers

FWIW, I got the following info from King springs (cut and paste from the guy's email): KDFL-04 175lb Low 260Z Front KDRS-09 175lb Low 260z Rear KDFS-04 180lb Stock height 260z KDRS-05 175lb Stock height 260z Also - if I understand this, most people are reporting "low" springs "raise" the car? In that case what's the point of using them? Man nothing is easy with an S30! I'm literally at the stage of cleaning up and reinstalling the struts on my '74 2+2, and I have no idea whether to use 260z kings lows and full length 260z KYB's... or shorter Z31 KYB's spaced down and cut springs? Custom Kings? ($$), some other brand of springs? Gareth, I ended up getting a set of Z31 KYB (just GR2's) from Baz - I measured them as being only 5-7mm shorter than stock at the front - haven't tried the rear yet (possible the 30mm you mention was the rear?). I was about to sell them and just buy 260z versions and king lows... until I read this thread...

A couple would be perfect - especially since I just bought a pair of generic ebay items (didn't want to take the risk on two pairs if they might not fit!). Let me know how much you want...

Having too much trouble finding any at a reasonable price... tried ebay, uxcell, etc. Any ideas?

For 240z the strut tubes are smaller than later 260z's (I think 51mm OD). They will usually fit from what I've heard/read, however they very tight and often require stripping/sanding back the paint on the shocks and cleaning up the bore of the strut to get them in. Then the other mods are adding a spacer either at the top or bottom of the shock (as they are shorter than the original shocks) - I measured roughly 8mm (inc allowing for some crush to hold the shock centered in place) for the front - haven't measured the rears yet though they're longer so the spacer would also be longer. You can a.) make a spacer out of some steel tube and slide it over the little foot/perch at the bottom of the shock (easiest option), b.) machine something up to space the shock downwards in the strut (harder option, though less likely to bottom out if you're running very low), or c.) cutting the thread down lower (M52x1.5 tap) for the gland nut and cutting down the top of the strut tube so the gland nut sits lower (may not be an option for the rears given the longer depth you'd have to cut the thread). Also the thread at the top is M14, so you'd need to drill out the top of the strut from 12mm to 14mm. Most guys apparently go for Option A, which means all you'd have to do is make it fit in the tube, cut off a bit of tube to make the spacer, and drill out the top mounting hole to 14mm.

Quick update - definitely for sale now. Don't be afraid to make an offer! Bit more info about them which I obtained from KYB... 361002 (260z front) Extended 565mm, Compressed 410mm, Body length 379mm, 12mm mounting stem. 361003 (260z rear) Extended 659mm, Compressed 497mm, Body length 463mm, 12mm mounting stem. 365056 (Z31 front) Extended 558mm, Compressed 392mm, Body length 392mm, 14mm mounting stem. 361002 is 10% percentage firmer on compression than 365056 while 365056 is 50% firmer on rebound than 361002.

Brand new in the box, # 365056 x4. Bought from Baz at Datsport for $530 inc shipping from SA (95% sure.. will dig up receipt) only a few months ago. Was going to put them in my 260z 2+2 with a spacer but am thinking of going another way now. I'm waiting on some info regarding my other option and if it's not going to work I may decide to keep the KYBs... but if you're interested PM me an offer and I'll keep you posted. Pick up from northern suburbs Melbourne, I can deliver if you're between Bundoora and Richmond or Bundoora and Greenvale as I frequent those areas. Or shipping interstate at your expense.

Cheers mate see how you go... no stress if you can't find one.

I've got a weird part request - there's some giant washers (roughly 55mm OD, 22.5mm ID) used on the rear suspension lower control arms under each of the main retaining bolts that hold it to the chassis... I need one as some dummy at some point in the car's 40 years has lost it.

Done Peter (PM sent). Donations will be made now...

NatO how did the ones you made turn out when fitted to the car? Was the lack of a profile to clear the fuel line an issue? If they worked out well id be interested in buying one...

Definitely interested Peter... pm'd you

If anyone has a red energy suspensions mount they want to sell let me know... likewise if anyone has the complete mount they'd like to sell...

I emailed king springs and discovered the rate on the lowered springs was identical to stock... 175lbs. Ideally I'd like something slightly heavier. They offered to do custom but at $300 a pair (not set) I'm not sure it's worth it. Might try cutting a coil of the stock 2+2 springs if I can get a set cheaply and if it looks like they'll remain captive.

Very interested in the springs - let me know if they are/become available. Do you know if they suit a 2+2 as well? The king catalogue doesn't say...

Baz called a few weeks back but I missed the call - hopefully give him a call at lunch today and see what we can sort out. In the meantime I'd tried ordering some Tokico Illuminas and Eibach springs from motorsport/the zed store - great service from them - however eibach aren't coming to the party after 2 months so I cancelled the springs, and Tokico is in the middle of changing distributor and thus their stuff is unavailable for a couple of months too... so I'm back onto trying to get springs and shocks sorted out locally.

Cheers Gareth, I've emailed Baz and will report back some details to help out anyhoen reading this in the future From what you've said though it sounds like it should be a no-brainer. Thanks for that. How do you find them? Mind if i ask which spring rate you run up front, and which setting you prefer on the KYB's?