Damn it is fat!! I am using the S13 lower control arm assembly, hubs brakes, etc and S13 coil overs in the front end of my datsun 1200 sedan race car. I just put the front end back on the ground. It has extra track and thanks to drilling out the crossmember and moving the control arms out a bit more it is running a deg or two neg camber. It has so much extra track that I have to run fwd offset rims. It looks so FAT!

Also at the rear to fit my new coil overs in I am having to massage/cut away the outer skin that surrounds the rear shock tower to get the upper springs mounts and spring to fit in. It all looks unreal. Very excited and motivated to finish this little car off. Someone just buy my supercharged corolla for 6g now.

Craig

Got pics?

Unfortunately not at the moment. id on't owna digital camera. i shall see if I can hunt up a mates one after chrissy.

Craig

hay sounds awsome what are your future plans for 1200 ute? i was heaps interested in doing that s13 full conversion 2 my ute how much is the coil overs in ass end im interested.. i have a hilux diff though will that interfear? i would luv 2 have coil overs in the ass end.. would make it alot easier 2 launch with better suspension and reduce axcel tramp..
wouldnt mind getting the guys number of u he is situated in brissy a?
cheers Andrew

What's your steering setup consist of then? Any mods required for the strut tower? I've got an extra set of S13 coilovers sittin here

OK here goes. (Big Post)

Parts required. S13 lower control arm, spindle, brakes and outer tie rod ends. A set of S13 coil overs. You will also need another 1200 driver's side inner tie rod end and r31 radius rods.

Redrill your xmember to accept the s13 control arm bolts. The hole at the back of the xmember will be bigger than the front one because of the design of the bolts. When you bolt the arms in you will need to put a small spacer/washer to make them fit as they are slightly slimmer than a 1200 one.

Replace your 1200 passenger side inner tie rod end with your extra drivers side tie rod end. (This is so that the tie rods turn in the correct direction when used in conjunction with the s13 outer ends.) Your 1200 tie rods will need to have the outer thread machined to accept the s13 outer tie rod ends. There is your steering.

The shox will need the 1200 upper spring platform on them so that they can bolt into the top of the strut tower. So just change them with the s13 ones. Easy. The bottom of the shock will go onto your s13 spindle which is already in place.

Your r31 radius rods are next. The two bolts that come with the rods are 8mm from memory and are too small for the s13 control arm. So the holes on the radius rod will need to be drilled to accept 10mm bolts and obviously after doing this you will need to exchange the 8mm bolts for 10mm ones.

All of the above is thanks to Kev Rowley.

The rear coilovers are a little different and can only be done on sedans as their shock towers are straight up and down. Apparently all the others are angled. Corrcet me if I am wrong. Graham at Fulcrum told me that this will only work on cars with a straight up and down tower due tp the strength issue. He apparently did this same sort of setup with Murray Coote back in the 70's with a 120y. I am having to flare and cut a bit of the dust guard for the tower to make the rears fit.

Craig

NoPsi,
Two things stand out to me in your post. First is the drilling the pivot points for the lower arms. How has this changed the relationship of the arcs described by the lower control arms and the steering arms. If the arm pivots are not concentric, you generate bump steer when there is vertical suspension movement.

Secondly - Using FWD rims to solve a clearance or track problem is not the best solution. Rim offset and rim diameter change can have dramatic handling effects through changes in scrub radius.

For 0 scrub radius, the tyre contact patch centre should be at the same point on the road surface as the extended strut axis from upper pivot through ball joint to the road surface

You can make small changes to scrub radius with positive results to steering behaviour, but like a lot of things a little can be good and a little bit more disastrous!

Firstly the drilling of the lower control arm points. For street use the drilling would only mean enlarging the holes to accept the S13bolts. I however moved them out a fraction to create some more camber for track work. They are still on the same horizontal axis and the castor that the factory bolt holes have is till the same even though I have moved them out.

Secondly the FWD offset issue. I dont't see too many problems here as the silvia runs very close to this offset from the factory. As I am using pretty much a complete silvia front assembly I see no reason why it will be too bump steery to drive.

I shall keep you updated on how it drives once I begin some suspension testing. We can theorise all we want here on the net but on the track is where I will get my answers.

Craig

I look forward to hearing how it goes on track.

What LBS spring rates are you using in the rear and front .. Did you make a 5 link rear ?