I wanted to see what everybody thinks of my Idea. A couple days ago a light went off in my head. I've been wanting to get strut bars for my front and rear. I don't have the extra money to buy them at $100 or more a pop, so I went to the hardwear store and looked through all the metal. I found 3/4 12ga steel piping in 4' lengths. I cut them, drilled them and polished them up as shiny as my drill wanted to get them. Put them on, they look good but I can't tell if they are very funtional yet. So if anyone has any ideas for me let me know if I'm wasting my time or if I just saved $180 bucks.

What turns? There all straight to my Z

 

I'd say you probably just saved yourself 180 bucks. The only potential problem might be with the way you attached them to the strut towers. I believe most of the "commercial" bars attach with at least two of the three tower bolts. Not being a mechanical engineer, I can't judge how much stress would be on just one bolt. Any MEs out there want to comment?

 

thye look pretty good my buddy asked me how much I paid for them cause he wants a set I told him $40 buck a pop so I might make a profit out of this deal. We are going to fab some better ones that attach to all 3 screws next those were just a rough draft. It took and hour to cut and mount&drill both bars.

What turns? There all straight to my Z

 

Could you post a pic of your first attempt? I might be interested in buying a set from you....If you decide to produce them.

 

I don't think you would want to pay me much more but for the price of the stell I used on my first set. My buddy Andy and I took pics of my Z today, and they are in a couple so you can see what I did and try it out yourself. I'll be posting the pics in my profile and in the rides under the 70-83 cat. He should send them to me tonite, sometime. So if I can figure out how to attach them to my profile from my e-mail I'll have them up tonite. He said that we are only able to get 2 pics per disc so it will take a while to up and down load them. He also said they will blow up big will crazy clarity.

What turns? There all straight to my Z

 

Oh yeh if you want to try to build them yourself all you need is 2 4' pieces of 12ga or better 3/4" steel, I think the 3/4" would be stronger than a bigger diameter so that is what I used. Get a hacksaw, a drill with a bit the same size as the bols on your struts, measure, cut, press the ends flat and bend them to match the angle of the towers, drill and in front you will have to bend the bar in the middle a little to fit over the valve cover and install. The rear is a snap same way but it's staight. You will see in my pics.

What turns? There all straight to my Z

 

By Strut tower bars, do you guys mean the bars that go from the left strut to the right strut over the engine? There may be complications with the associated forces, possibly making the strut useless- I don't know though, you would need to have a decent knowledge of Statics to work out the associated stresses in the structure

Alan, Australia

 

Yes thats what they do. I don't know if there would be too many complications with them they were designed by engineers all I did was make a ruff more simplified design of those. I'm drawing up designs of some that will actually be able to take more of the stresses the body give when your really tweaking it. I like the design of the one from top end performance it also stablizes some of the up and down with the rear bar. The front one stiffins up the diagonal forces it looks like to me.

What turns? There all straight to my Z

 

GOOD ON YA MATE!!!
DOING THE SAME BUT GETTING THE "O" PIECES THAT HAVE THE 3 BOLT HOLES IN THEM CUT BY A METAL SHOP.
THE BARS ARE OLD WINDOW SECURITY BARS CUT TO LENGTH AND PAINTED.
CHEAP BUT EFFECTIVE.

 

Sweet I hope you are happy with them it's an easy way to save a few buck or several. Good luck. I think my next task is to build a custom airbox for my 240Z, and mount a K&N in the front grill for some fresh air. I wish I still had a civilian job cause then I would not worry about money. The military does not pay what you are worth. I made more money when I was 15 years old. It was my choice so I'll live with it and make the best out of it, penny by penny, literally.

What turns? There all straight to my Z