Anytime the engine is out of your Z car is a great opportunity to maintain or overhaul the front suspension. Removal of the suspension as a unit is a simple matter of unbolting six mounting points: strut towers to fenders, tension-compression rods, and the sub-frame from the frame rails. Here is the complete unit with all fasteners already bagged and tagged.


Breakling down the suspension is a straightforward process.


Taking apart a strut requires a good set of spring compressors. This set has safety retainers.


Here is a strut as it comes apart. The rust spray helped loosen the strut shaft nut.


One strut completely apart and one to go. The brake disc is taped for painting. I do not have the fancy special tool to remove the gland nut from the strut, but I do have a big honkin' 18" pipe wrench from my grandfather's tool box - it works quite well!


Here are most components prepped for painting.


Painting complete.


New parts include ball joints, tie rod ends, bump-steer spacers, and a complete urethane bushing kit (all from MSA). Not shown are new Tokico HP shocks and bump stops. Note that new ball joints for a '69 or '70 car require replacement steering knuckles (see my previous post in the vendor raves).


Some re-use parts are the eccentric bushings and delrin inserts for the lower control arms I installed several years ago.


Humpty-Dumpty all back together.


Bump-steer spacer installed between strut base and steering knuckle. I am reusing lowered springs purchased several years ago.


Eccentric bushing on control arm.


Random thoughts:
- A couple of wraps of duct tape on the spindle threads will protect them during handling.
- Duct tape on the jaws of the spring compressors will keep them from scratching newly painted springs.

_________________
Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Now try picking up the whole unit and moving it from one spot to another about 20 feet. After 4, my arms were killing me. I finally got them broken down. (I'm talking rotors and all, and I'm not a big guy) You left out brake lines and steering shaft, but isn't it fairly easy. I do all the bottom stuff first, then the top shock bolts last, and just lift the car right up. You can also do the engine that way too. Your parts spread picture looks great, and should be very helpful to some. The final pic is awesome, I bet you can't wait to drive her. Texas? I bet your club dues are expensive, (4-1 joke) I sell alot of parts down there, must be a shortage of junk yards? "Enjoy the ride"

Paul - thanks for keeping me honest. I've had the brake lines and steering shaft out for so long I completely forgot about them. Getting the calipers off earlier also helped somewhat with the weight issue. You are absolutely right about moving this assembly around. I strained a knee last week horsing it around the garage. Note that the rotors are still not installed and the calipers are waiting for paint.

_________________
Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

This is a great display, Jim ~ and very timely. Please get in touch with Marc_A when you do the rear suspension. He is about to tackle that on his own, and it's his first time. You could step-him thru it so he doesn't hurt any innocent bystanders or end up with spare partz.

Marc? Are you following this great thread?

Frank

Frank - thanks for the kind words. I'm not sure when I will get started on the rear suspension, but it is not anytime soon. I need to get on to the front end paint work before moving further back on the car. Since your rear suspension is now torn down, perhaps you can get some pics to Marc_A or post more to your thread. Besides, you said it is his first time and you are suggesting another rookie show him the enlightened path?

_________________
Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Well, you CALL yourself a rookie, but so far nothing has fallen off your car and the ambulance hasn't had to respond to your address. Your progress has all been FORWARD and you haven't had to sell any of the kids to pay for your project.

If we can arrange for the same success at Marc's house, I think his wife will allow him to continue living indoors and share the refrigerator with him.

We're really interested in any MISTAKES you're making. Humans don't learn by success, only by failure. Smart humans learn by other peoples' failures. Marc is smart ~ keep in touch with him.

Frank

A comment by PhrogZ46 (interesting handle) on my Steering Rack thread got my attention. He mentioned seeing zerk fittings - hereafter to be called Z fittings - on the rear LCA's of a car. I realized I have Z fittings on my front LCA's. A check of my parts catalog confirmed they are not stock and then I recalled I installed them years ago when the eccentric bushings went in. I don't remember if they were part of the kit or just one of those "makes good sense" actions. So, for all of you working on a front or rear suspension project and replacing your original bushings, I echo PhrogZ46's recommendation: give some consideration to adding Z fittings to your LCA's.

Frank asked about any mistakes I have made along the way and one recent one comes immediately to mind. I installed the eccentric bushings on the LCA's and cross member and had everything else bolted up including the strut towers - no steering rack yet. I went to my factory manual to get the torque settings for all the various bolts and spotted the cross section illustration for the control arm and cross member. At that point I realized I had installed the eccentric bushing in front of the control arm. The manual clearly indicated the control arm is positioned to the front of cross member and not as I had it. Everything had to come off so I could manage the removal and reinstallation of the LCA's. About an hour later, all was back together again. Lesson: browse the manual more frequently before and during assembly steps.

Finally, one new picture. I call this my small parts paint booth. It is a very large box (30X32X36), double wall corrugated. I anchor it on the saw horses with bricks. I have been able to get all of the front suspension parts painted inside this box - although the sway bar was a challenge! A wire clothes hanger protruding thru the top allows me to hang small parts for painting.

_________________
Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class

Several comments (all complimentary):

1. Going back to your spring compressors with safety retainers ~ having known FOUR guys who nearly had their heads shot off while trying to change their 240Z struts and springs, I'm pretty religious about both the compressors and the retainers. (Only one of the guys managed to escape without injury or property damage). The safety retainers are NECESSARY, since they prevent the compressors from sliding down the spiral springs and losing their grip, which results in a sudden release of all that compressed power. Even if you can't find (or afford) safety retainers, at least use a pair of Vice Grips below the compressor to keep it from slipping;

2. Any time you're this far into the front end, make a point of replacing all rubber ~ bushings, boots, bumpers, etc. It would be a bummer to have to pull it all down again in another 10 months just to replace $100 worth of rubber;

3. Installing parts backwards or in the wrong places used to be referred to as a "Murphy" ~'if it can possibly be installed wrong, someone will do it'. Our local Z car racing mechanic (Vinny Bedini) has my Apr/70 car now, doing basically the same thing you're doing to yours. It's the first time the car has been apart since the previous owner rebuilt it ~ and Vinny's finding all sorts of Murphys;

4. What treatment (if any) are you giving your fasteners? Reusing the same nutz/boltz?

5. I happen to like your paint booth. Many of my partz simply got suspended from the clothesline by a coathanger. Small, hi-temp engine partz then got cooked in the oven . Mama raised a fuss over that ~ I later read here that I should have used the BBQ grille instead!

Keep up the good work ~ you make this look like a clean job.

Fasteners are a mixed bag - the tie rod ends came with new castle nuts; the ball joints likewise came with new fasteners; the bump steer spacers by definition have their own bolts to attach the strut to the steering knuckle. Each shock came with a new gland nut and new nut for the rod. This covers the most heavily loaded components with all new parts. I have re-used the steering rack fasteners and will re-use the strut tower nuts, TC rod nuts, sway bar fasteners, and cross-member to frame bolts/nuts.

_________________
Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class