240Z: A rare competition adjustable 240Z Suspension for sale?
Recently a friend asked me if this suspension which he found for sale in Japan could be the real deal?
But let’s start at the beginning. Those who know my Suspension knowledge post (i have a bigger update on that planned soon), might know that Nissan / Datsun sold a set of adjustable “Competition” / “racing” / “Sports option” suspension kit:
I don’t think they ever sold many of those and so they are extremely rare to see these days. so when the set from the first picture showed up, we had to investigate. The sales ad says it’s for the S30Z but the seller is not even sure. He states the suspension has been in a shelve for many years and the origins are unknown.
If you look closely, many of the details seem correct, or at least do not point towards a homemade backyard hackjob, but something more professional.
First: The “competition” MK63 double dual piston brakes, with – even more rarely seen: Modified dust protection plates:
Second: You can’t see any welds which would be there if the original strut housing would be modified.
The top rubber seems to have a very special shape, unlike the original ones, as far as i recognize them.
And the special short springs seem to fit when you count the amount of coils:
But then some details also seem different to the ones in the ctalogue shown above. for e.g. they seem to have used a different type of top nut. the one in the picture appears to be closer to the original factory 24oZ suspension type.
There seems to bee some tack welds and modifications. Most probably to keep the setting sin place but again that points towards direction of something “homegrown”. it doesn’t look really professional.
With an asking price of 1’000.- USD without shipping, plus the fact that it needs serious restauration (if even possible), and the fact that it’s only half of a complete set, combined with the risk of buying a useless set of homegrown stuff, made me any my friend avoid to buy it. SO most probably it will pop up again soon. nevertheless, a rarely seen peice of competition parts, most probably worth it’s money, if it’s the real deal and you find the real buyer. that IF it’s the real deal.