Hi All,
Just a couple of quick questions before I get start buying bits to lower my 120y.
My goals are to get down about 60mm, stiffen the rear end a bit, and keep everything bolt on and as cheap as possible... I am a 120y owner after all.

First the front:
From what I've read, I believe the cheapest and easiest route to get about 60mm out of the front end would be a combination of -30mm kings springs and b110 strut tops. Is this realistic? Am I going to have strut length issues, or any other worries with this combination?

Then the rear:
Planning on using 50mm lowering blocks, and want to improve the soft rear ride. Looking for recommendations for firmer rear shocks of an appropriate length for this purpose. And will I need to cut/modify the bumpstops?

If you want to be really CHEAP a 4" angle grinder to cut 3 or 4 coils of the front springs. For the back 50mm lowering blocks will do the trick. You can use the standard struts.
When you cut the front springs make sure that you cut them so that the cut is in the same spot as the original spring end

_________________
First Car
1982 Nissan GC211 Skyline EFI L28 5sp
Second Car
1981 Datsun 280ZX 2+2
Current Ride
1982 Datsun Bluebird Venturer (62000km grandpa spec)
2004 Ford Escape (Daily/Family)
Have Owned
1983 Nissan R30 Hatch
1979 Datsun 280C
1995 Audi A4 B5 Quatro 1.8lt Turbo 5sp AWD
1976 KC Centura

Haha, there's cheap and then there's dodgy. I'd still like to have some ride quality at the end

lol I never did say it wasnt nasty just cheap ... If your nor driving it this would be a good way to see how she would sit

_________________
First Car
1982 Nissan GC211 Skyline EFI L28 5sp
Second Car
1981 Datsun 280ZX 2+2
Current Ride
1982 Datsun Bluebird Venturer (62000km grandpa spec)
2004 Ford Escape (Daily/Family)
Have Owned
1983 Nissan R30 Hatch
1979 Datsun 280C
1995 Audi A4 B5 Quatro 1.8lt Turbo 5sp AWD
1976 KC Centura

Cut one coil from the 120Y coil and set aside. Trim around the bottom of the spring perch just above the weld.


Remove and set aside.


Grind the old weld smooth.


Re assemble and attach 2" split collars under the lower spring perch




You now have an increased spring rate that resists bottoming and an adjustable ride height. You will have to use the car's weight to compress the spring as you lift up under the lower spring perch with a hydraulic jack. Set the split collar and tighten. Don't worry they each will hold over 2,700Kg that's like the weight of over 1 1/2 120ys. Do the other side and adjust till you have the ride height you want. I wouldn't drop more than the 60mm just to be safe.

You don't need to spend $1,200 on coil overs (or even $400) that you adjust once and never again. What's the sense of that??? I did mine including replacing the strut fluid for under $50 Canadian.


If you have the original struts you likely have the original dampers inside that sit in an oil bath and can be rebuilt. The oil is very watery and thin so I replaced with 20W motorcycle fork oil. Thicker oil is harder to push through the valving so the shock firms up nicely. Motorcycle fork oil comes in a variety of viscosities to suit your ride tastes.

Thanks Mike - exactly the sort of tech I was looking for

Where would I look for the split collars?

Also, does anyone know how much drop I can expect from the b110 strut tops? I think I read somewhere about 30mm? I'm thinking that if mike's lowered spring perch and a shorter spring will give me 60mm, then raising the strut mount will give me bonus lift for not much coin. Any issues with going down as far as 90mm so far as steering etc is concerned?

Lowering by cutting the spring and or sliding the perch around simply compresses the strut closer to bottoming out. Have a care a couple of inches is probably ok. Stiffening the spring and using thicker fork oil will hep but keep in mind there are limits.

A good way to get an inch and a half with no worries is to swap 280zx Or Maxima struts on. I got a set of '84 Maxima goon struts and they were a fat inch shorter than my stock 710 (Violet?) struts. Use your stock springs. Note that they have monster calipers and vented rotors and on a 510 will increase the track width 3/4" a side so tires may not fit the wells. Additionally a 15/16" zx master cylinder might be a good idea as the stock 3/4" will travel quite a way to work them and may feel spongy.

Split collars are a fastener so any store that carries similar stuff. About $12 each.

Regarding the rear of the car, take the leaves out and give them to a suspension shop and have them reset. You can only achieve a small amount of lowering with the reset (as the springs are a slight "C" shape and if you go too far they are too flat and/or start to reverse when you hit bumps), but at the same time (and this is the whole point) they can look at adding leaves (or replacing some of yours with stiffer ones) to get the firmness you are after.

Once the springs are back, put them in the car and see how it sits/rides with the reset height and leaf pack configuration. Further adjustment can then be done with lowering blocks between the leaves and the diff.

This is the 'correct' way to do it - not that there's really such a thing, more it is the ideal solution. If you just slam it with blocks by themselves all it does is ride lower, it has no impact on the spring's ability to react to bumps & load.

Someone (as above) with Datsun-specific knowledge can help best with the front end.