I am looking at turning my second 1200 coupe into a circuit racer. I am unsure of which class and what modifications are allowed but I was wondering what sort of suspension
mods can be done.
I know this has been talked about over and over, but Im not clear as to what will fit and how.
I have heard about 180B, 200B and Stanza struts but what will work best for circuit racing?
If I replace the struts will I get bigger brakes?
Does this mean replacing fluid cylinders?
Thanks for any help

Simon

Simon,
I am in the middle of builing a street registered club racer myself. My suggestion would be to us the 180B struts with stanza spring platforms welded on. Essentially this creates a "Drop
Spindle Effect" ie the car can be made to sit lower (approx 1") whilst still retaining the same higher suspension geometry. This is a good thing as far as handling goes. The only problem
you may have is wheel track. I have not calculated exactly how far it broadens the track, but would imagine that it is atleast 40mm. If you can run flares and don't want road rego, this
will present no problem.

180Bs had two strut types in australia. If you get the ones with the outer bearing cone marked LM11949 you can then redrill verada 11" vented disks(1993 On V6 DBA425) to bolt to the back
of the 180B hub. (Get a machinist to do it! cost me $40) Then you can add commodore PBR calipers. They are the finned calipers form vp series 2 upto VS commodores. Hope this helps
Good Luck.
Incidentally I found DPA slotted rotors DBA425-S were cheaper than 2nd hand ones up here $110 each new and slotted (Sweeeeet!)

Simon. I am also building my 1200 up. And a possible circuit racer. I have Stanza struts (1980) which allow Toyota Hilux 2 spot calipers to bolt up. I am actually in the process right
now on getting these struts and brakes all setup and ready to go. I am still stuck on the actual disc tho. I have a few in mind that *may* be able to sit onto the stanza stub axle.
They are all 10" vented disc's - Nomad, Gazelle and Vanette.

This setup should be good as it will also give a bit more negative camber. That is because i have to use stanza lower control arms.

Paul, You suggested 11" vented verada disc's. Now you have my attention! The 180b, 200b and stanza's all have the same stub axles right? Therefore these disc's may fit with the
required machining???????? 10" would be good but 11" would be better. But then again, would the Hilux calipers fit with the 11" disc's?? Any help on your setup would be excelent.
Cheers

Scott
Davo

I think you'll find that the -S ones have the ABS holes in them. And yeah, for some reason they are cheaper. I run these brakes on my 1200 sedan, they work great. Although be
prepared to get a bigger front brake fluid reservoir, mine runs low much faster.

Chris

Hi Simon,
Before you start it would be a good thing to decide what size wheels you are going to use. The rim diameter then determines the maxium size for your discs. The bigger the better I say.
Wheel size also determines how low you can get the car without flaring the guarding and lifting the inner wheelarches. If you choose a 13" rim the range of standard Datto discs is vast. A
smaller rim allows you to run a low car without having to resort to extensive re-engineering of the suspension. If you are really serious about racing your car, decide before you start
exactly what you want to do and stick to it. All too many times I've seen guys rip apart their cars to build a kick arse racecar only to have all their "expert" friends tell them they are
doing it wrong. The builder becomes confused, disillusioned and gives up, with the car usually getting split up and the parts going to other aspiring racers. I have a copy of the Datsun
1200 competition suspension book , it's basic stuff but can be still applied. I could send you a photocopy if your interested.

Good advice stirlingmac!

Davo & Chris-The "S" type DBA rotot are slotted, as opposed to the "X" type rotors which are drilled and slotted(and have a tendancy to crack when worked hard). Chris, what suspension
components do you run and how have you gone about getting the rubber to fit under the guards?(Flared?) Davo, I believe that the 200B has the same hub? so you could modify the verada rotor to
fit. Your problem will be the caliper. If the hilux caliper works with 10" rotors, I doubt it would work with 11" rotors while mouted on the strut in the same spot. It would probably need to
be moved out 1/2" to accomodate the increased radius. The comodore will bolt to the 180B struts, but won't fit on the girlock stanza stuts as the bolt holes on the strut are a little out.
Incidentally the 11" rotor with VS commodore calipers will just fit (5mm clearance) within the 14" aloys I have. I don't know if they will fit within all 14" alloy wheels though.

A copy of that book would be great.
I have now stripped the diff and rear suspension aswell as the front.
Im now looking at setups so I CAN plan ahead, I know I want to run A15 and 5-speed, still undecided on shocks and springs (basically all suspension!) except I know I am going to
run those nolathane(?) bushes instead of crappy rubber ones, I am going to weld all seams and put in a roll cage and probably paint the car high gloss red.
I am surprised how light the shell is. Having such a light shell means I can lift it onto the trailer when it goes to the welder and spray painter instead of having to put
wheels on it.

Thanks for all your help guys, anymore setups would be greatly appreciated.

Simon

Yeah. That was my major concern. Would the hilux calipers fit over the 11' disc's. My initial guess was no. So, im still on the hunt for some decent 10" vented disc's. Anyone
here have any clues as the guys at DBA are no help. Anyone know a brake specialist in Sydney that could answer some of my idea's - the gazelle, nomad and vanette disc's.

Scott
Davo

PS. I saw a Lamborghini Diablo smoke the wheels today...that made my day

jsut goin through old messages again. will the VS calipers bolt up to the non girlock stanza struts? or are the 180B
struts a neccesity?