i'm specifically setting up the 1600 for drag and street cruising at the moment. front setup includes polyurethane bushes all through, adjustable lower control arm, adjustable castor rods, mad dat 200b coil overs, 90/10 inserts, mad dat adjustable sway bar, bump steer spacers.

rear so far includes polyurethane bushes all through, adjutable x-member....so far. wheels will probably be 17x7 all round. anyone got some suggestions for springs and shocks??? any ideas would be great. thanks

_________________
1600 with FJ20 & Simmons. something different.

I would have thought for drag racing a 1600 you would want 13" wheels with lots of sidewall?

will probably put 15-16'' with semi slicks for the strip, but think 13'' will be too small.

_________________
1600 with FJ20 & Simmons. something different.

bump.

time has come for installing rear shocks and springs. i'm pretty set on buying adjustable shocks from mad dat, as it allows for playing around and testing after each run without having to buy new shocks or revalve everytime. however still a little unsure on springs, specifically for drags.
i was under the assumption that being a light weights IRS car, you'd want light/medium rear springs so the rear can squat and transfer the weight easily to the rear tyres tp help prevent wheel spin..
however this isnt the case apparently. a few well experienced people have suggested using a heavier spring rate. 800lb and upwards.

if anyone has had success drag racing with a happy medium rear setup, please let me know, or pm me.

_________________
1600 with FJ20 & Simmons. something different.

240K springs from King springs would be a good start.

_________________
1928 Model A CC Pickup

^ spring rate?

_________________
1600 with FJ20 & Simmons. something different.

Just look at what the geometry on a 1600 does when the rear squats, and you'll see why it isn't such a good idea. If you can set it up for a better contact patch under squat, then that will go part of the way towards fixing the problem. The issue is that with lots of rear suspension travel, you'll still get massive camber changes, which is very bad for traction

IRS 1600's aren't the ideal choice for drags. Yes, they can be made to go quick in a straight line, but the inherent design has flaws for this application.

_________________
They have drifting in forests now?
What will they think of next?

i would think about running reasonably soft rear springs and make the rear end adjustable (datsport kit). Then install big progressive rubber bump stops within the rear springs when you want to go drag racing. Set up the alignment so when you launch the springs compress and you sit on the rubber bump stops and you have around 0 toe and 0 camber. This might mean you run slight positive camber normaly and some toe in.
You get weight transfer when it squats, but when it hits the bump stops you have the maximum contact patch on the road.

_________________
Circuit Race 1600 in the build

Best shocks for rear traction are close to 50/50 rate.
Jeff S had a very quick 60ft time with our 01 rear springs and KYB monogas.

_________________
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
www.datsport.com

"R.I.P. Baz. 29 April 2022. Thank you for all your contributions to the Datsun community over the years. You will be missed." - OZDAT

hey baz,
what shock do you recommend for your 900lb spring? I found the monogoas worked great with the 700s but not so well with the 9s. Ive been looking into various alternatives and read that you advised against the camaro replacements, so Ive been considering the following;
1) tokico illumina 5way adjustable (early rx7 )
2) TRD blue 8 way adjustable (corolla ae86)
3) Bilstein (VK commodore)

All of the above have a slightly shorter extended and compressed length which would probably suit a lowered 16 hundred. My only concern is the valving. Ae86 is has my eye at the moment because it has a similar weight distribuition, but others have recommended the bilstein commodore unit.

Any thoughts?

I have no actual experience, but I'd recommend the following:

1. Very small rims with as much sidewall as possible.
2. Note where the point is in the suspension motion where the tyres have zero camber and zero toe. This is the point you want the suspension to compress to when you're launching. The further away this is from static position the softer the weight transfer will be and the harder you should be able to launch.
3. Adjust the swing arm mounts, and the shocks and springs so that the system reaches this point as softly as possible. This will likely involve some experimentation, and running static positive camber.

I recall datsqik building a setup like this for this SR20/1600, though I never caught up with him to see how well it worked.

Let us know the results you have?

Dave

_________________
USA Daily: 2014 Nissan GT-R, very minor modifications for the track
USA Project: 1978 280Z, minor suspension upgrades, VK56DE conversion in progress. SOLD
AUS Race Car: 1973 240Z, L28ET, Autronic, GT35R. SOLD
AUS Project: 1972 1600, 3200km old S15 SR20DET, ground up rebuild. SOLD

My gut feeling tells me to try the AE86 units.
We have some KYB AGX AE86 but have not yet tested them. They are good used units we found at a wreckers.

_________________
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
www.datsport.com

"R.I.P. Baz. 29 April 2022. Thank you for all your contributions to the Datsun community over the years. You will be missed." - OZDAT