Aaj2k5

Hey guys, been a while since I've been able to get to shop. Picked up Contano S14 5 lug hubs Borrowed a buddies tube bender and bought a Princess Auto tube notcher. This is the biggest POS I've seen but it was cheap and I needed something asap. The blue bushing housing had a ton of play to the shaft and the hole saw adapter had huge runout so I made a new shaft assembly out of some spare bearings and milled a plate with a step to align them. Popped a 3/8" hex socket into the end and pinned it so it will never spin so I can adapt to any drill and the wobble of the drill will be taken up by this adapter. Bent up some scrap pieces of tube to get angles right without using the good DOM Bent up full A-pillar bars Halo bar notched nicely. Front view of today's work Next will be dash bar and halo to main hoop. Should I go straight back or X for the roof bars?

Soo this happened a few weeks ago So I was out of the game for a bit, but starting back into er now. Took this setup And stuffed it in here Had to chop the factory transmission mounts off the car to get the TR6060 to clear but there is plenty of room in there otherwise. The shift is about 2" too far back but that is no sweat since it has a 6" long bracket connected to a rod which can both be shortened. The steering rack is going to be an issue but ill deal with that after I make my mounts. Also, this is waiting for a rainy day. While I've been down with the ACL tear I had some powdercoating done by JP @ Strip Tech. My Cusco RUCA's as well as the LQ9 valve covers in wrinkle red. And to start rebuilding the RUCA's since it seems like the PO didn't know they were left hand thread.. QA1 XMR12 chromoly rod ends - I just need to turn up the 3/4 to M26x1.5LH adapter this week. Picked up a set of JDMFlares Wide ZG fender flares - 3.75" in the rear, 3.25" in the front. I'm not a fan of doing the usual sheet metal screw so I grabbed M8 nutserts and the tool to install them. The interior was pretty haggard from welding the rails and sitting forever. All seam sealer is gone, penetrating welds smoothed and all the remnants of sound deadening gone as well. Made these up for the front cage mounts Now that the front mounts are done, need to clearance the cowl a bit to allow a nice tight fit of cage to A-pillar. Also need to cut some tube with an ID larger than the OD of your cage, in an odd shape similar to the pic. I still have to finish up the cowl clearancing but that's it for today!

I used button head cap screws and use the stubby side of an Allen key - works great

I've been called in to work every weekend so this has not progressed all month Matched the DS fenderwell to the PS Turned these up on the lathe since I don't like paying $$$ for $3 in 6061 T6. Solid diff bushings - new to make a few more for the front of my Q45 diff. Started sketching my front knuckle to design CTS-V Brembo caliper adapter. Old setup: New setup - not shown but welded pipe nipples into the holes like the old setup to sleeve bolts/help crush. Opened up the subframe bushings to 20.25mm Tacked in place after measuring from a number of reference points. I'll have new front subframe mounts done next weekend and continue on with cage A-pillars!

Thanks Sunny! RebekahsZ, I designed that bar to 1) support the bulkhead as it does hold a fair bit of rigidity of the unibody, especially since I was cutting out the two bins. I plan on tying in the two 1x3's (only one completed at this point), with basically the mirror image of that bar coming from the main hoop. I'll add this in to Solidworks and it should be a bit more clear. 2) My seat mounts are going to be two tubes dropped from this tube. Similar to this: Matt Powers 2012 S14 build on MotoIQ (below) has given me alot of inspiration. http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/2605/PageID/4852/Matt-Powers-2012-Formula-D-ride-Part-4.aspx 3) Like you mentioned, leaves possibility for a strong bulkhead in case I need to open up my wheel wells and tie them into the bulkhead. A trailer hitch AND a chute? Interesting combo for sure!

Removed the old 2.5"x2.5" Crossmember. New 1.5"x3"x.120 cross member - just roughed for now since I didn't get the M20 Socket head shoulder bolts in time. Clearance to bulkhead. I added 3/4" angle to the bulkhead for strength in that corner, notched the bulkhead and the angle for the 1x3 horizontal piece. Brought a tube from the frame rail down to this at what worked out to exactly 45 degrees Also added 2" angle 6" long to brace the factory crossmember where this 1x3 meets it. Also picked up one of these for dirt cheap since the powdercoat was dinged on the front face as shown. 50% off for a pure aesthetic? Sold! 04-07 Cadillac CTS-V Brembo Front Caliper # Pistons: 4 x 40/44mm Total piston area: 8.61 sq. in. 5554 sq. mm Rotor Thickness: 1.26 in. (32 mm) Part #: (L) 89047727

I am currently switching my rear subframe setup. The setup shown before was a 2.5" square tube mounted just behind the original mount. I am now going to a 1.5"x3.0"x.120" rectangular tubing. As I said in the last post, the 2.5" square tube allows 3.5" of wheel travel (5" max with clearancing) and the rear LCA had a 5 degree angle to the rear mount and a 0 degree angle to the front mount. From what I've heard, the rear mount should be parallel to the ball joint. I also figure it is easier to shim the subframe down from a 1.5" connector if I have to dial anything in rather than be SOL. Keep in mind this isn't finished, it is just as far as I got today. I haven't seen anyone do the rear rails this way but it made sense - complete clearance of the subframe, and can be triangulated. I'll sketch it up in Solidworks this week so it makes more sense.

From the looks of it, I would say that the rubber donut with the flange on it is mainly for locating the center of the long driveshaft and helping NVH on the Camaro. The rubber spacer between the transmission and the driveshaft is where I see the main impact absorber for the driveline to be - it will only allow as much shock as the durometer of the rubber permits. I'm glad the Camaro driveshaft came with my TR6060 as everything will bolt up if I measure right and weld on a Q45 diff mating flange. From what I've seen, guys run 600+ whp through these driveshafts without issues.

Seattle - those pics help thanks - but from what I've seen on racing series specs I'm not allowed an adjustable bucket and I have to have those 6"x6" plates. I've put the hoop at a 9 degree angle back to try and gain a bit of room but I do have to get a fixed bucket to test fit everything before I make my A-Pillar arms. Hit up the shop today - got the main diagonal in. Before someone mentions it, I plan on taking the tacks off and cleaning up the weld joints next weekend before continuing the rest of the cage - I just didn't have any emery cloth today. Also finished up that lift plate. Buying some engine goodies this week hopefully come in for the weekend. I've decided on making a tubular front subframe - anyone have any good reference examples? It will hold my engine mounts, steering rack and control arms. Obviously not the wheels I will be running, however these 205/60/R16 have the exact same OD as the 275/40/R17 I have at the shop. Someday will be 315/35/R17, but I'll run the Yokohama 275's I already have first. The forward rear control arm mount is at 0 degrees centre of mount pivot to the centre of the balljoint at the ride height shown. This leaves 3.5 inches of wheel travel upwards from ride height once I cut out the wheel well and run extra wide ZG flares The rearward rear control arm mount is at ~5 degrees from centre of mount pivot to centre of balljoint at the ride height shown. Suspension experts: Is 3.5" enough wheel travel or am I leaving too much or too little of a gap before hitting tire into wheel well? The optimum parallel RLCA - is this to the front mount or the rear mount of the RLCA? All arms will be adjustable, but if I have to move my subframe mount up - now would be the time to do it. Also, made these braces up - will make the same for the other side of the engine mount bracket all the way to the firewall. Factory 2012 Camaro driveshaft with the isolator placed where my transmission flange will be: This means I can cut the second half of the camaro driveshaft off at roughly that weld line and weld a Q45 flange onto it for mating to my diff. I'll have a U-Joint, Slip yoke as well as the rubber isolator at the transmission output shaft. Picked up GM LS7 Lifters As well as GM LS2 Lifter Trays Everything in blue is done. I put the Z back on rotisserie today so if this week I can come to a conclusion about the subframe height I can continue on with the cage.

Oh true I haven't really put any thought into that - any chance you have a pic of your main hoop setup with a seat in place?

Thanks Seattle - glad someone is reading it still! That's a good point - I should borrow someone's Recaro's for a day and test fit with a helmet and a steering wheel. I am doing floor mount pedals so that can be adjusted to where I need.

Same old game - days off getting farther apart and I'm going to McMaster part time to finish my B.Tech. Updated the Solidworks model with cage: Plated the rear strut tower tops and fitted the rear tower member of the cage. Also cut out the rear floor to the frame rails so I can start on fuel cell frame. Hit up BendTech for the main hoop - thanks Joe! Cut the main hoop base at ~9 degree angle towards the rear so it sits flush at base when hoop was in place. Didn't wanna waste $100 on a lift plate - cut piece of scrap 1/4"x6"x18.5" plate, drilled 10 holes, zipped two 1" pieces of scrap pipe, ground flats on each of them to sit square and just need to weld er up. $2 lift plate (cost of fasteners haha)

Finally found some time to work on Z (truck needed yet another motor ). Got all 4 corners done for camber plates. Started on the boxes for the main hoop: Not nearly finished as the R34 subframe has to mount to these somehow. Spent a bit of today time on this: FWIW, little while ago I received a hydraulic power pack, a hydraulic ram (6" bore, 2" rod, 4" stroke), 8' of 1.25" stainless rod, 8' of 1" threaded rod, 1/4" wall 6x6x10, 40 feet of 1/4"x2x6, 8 feet of 6" c channel and some other bits.... FREE! so I am turning them all into a hydraulic shop press. I haven't done the math on it yet but I estimate the ram to be roughly 50 ton. I'm making attachments so I can use it as a brake, shear, mounting a JD Squared model 3 vertically on the back (baller tube bender), hydraulic hose crimper (ends came on the ram for this), as well as a general shop press (bearings, bushings, dimple die's etc..).. Pretty stoked to get going on the car and press now that the truck is all wrapped up. Got some work done on the press today. Would've been a lot farther if metal supply stores were fricken open on Sundays.. 1.5HP motor to the hydraulic pump, should put out more than enough. Motor is held to the press via a plate with 4 holes with bolts welded and their heads cut off flush, then the plate welded to frame. The gauge was fubar'd so I picked up a digital readout gauge that has a programmable pressure setpoint. This means I can hold the handle full tilt and it will automatically shut off the pump (or divert) back to tank if I set it up as a pressure relief. Last few weekends I've had to help buddies move n crap but I got to put some time in today. First I took some 2.5" square and cut it to size w/ angled ends for access to weld inside (and it looks better), drilled 1 1/4" holes where mounts are, made a "sleeve" out of a pipe nipple with 3/4" ID and welded it inside and out. Then I clearanced where the subframe contacted the inner wheel well Then I clearanced where the front diff mount contacted the tub (with a BFH) Measured 10 times at 12 places and tacked the subframe lol an extra hour in this step will save many hours in future alignment and vibration issues.. Note the sleeve in the tube Arms on, knuckles and hubs on, they are within 1/4" of centred in the wheel well side to side. Picked up some S14 coil overs from Brendan - the fronts fit well even though my camber plate template is for a HSD/Stance rather than JIC. My front suspension setup is going to be reverse of what I originally wanted. The traction arms and sway bar have to point to the rear of the car to allow for a front steering rack setup. This is not set in stone as I have to see if the motor will fit with steering rack the other direction. And some more CAD for whoever is into that kind if thing, this is the basic layout of the underside of the Z. Motor is to size, and T56 is to size Old crapiness: Side by side (LQ9 pan vs LS1/LS6 Z06 "Batwing" pan): New hotness: Holds same capacity (6.5 qts) but much better baffling design and the obvious 4" of extra clearance doesn't hurt either haha and this one was a "new take-off" and is mint shape Soo, I took a month of weekends off to try and have a life outside of work.. But I'm back at it again - had full day on er today. Took the LQ9 Truck manifold and tossed in storage: Took the NTO LS2 manifold and tossed in on the motor: If you squint from 30 feet it resembles a car: How both sides looked after all the cancer was cut out: Cut off the traction arm mount, the gusseting to the footwell. This leaves a gap along the length of the from rail. Also note the new panels in footwell, formed to the curve in the new floors and all panel intersections fairly nice. (I now have newfound respect for tin-whackers haha) Test fit my new rails - bent up 14ga CRS into (Inside Dimensions) 2.25" along top, 2.5" along side and 3" along bottom, 42" long. These are oversized length ways so I can trim down to fit minty. Welded in patch panel out of 18 ga CRS - 2.5" wide roughly 15" long with an extra 1" angled as flange support up the footwell. Boxing patch fits fairly flush. Frame rail fits even flusher. First pass of welding it in. I forgot to take a pic after the cap pass and cleaned up. Cleaned up the wheel well and painted everything to keep the bare metal from rusting up. Nice, flat and straight. And I feel 10,000,001 times better about bolting 450 horse to this frame rail as opposed to the stock. That's all for today peeps, I'll hopefully have the passenger side matching this next weekend now that I've figured out how its done haha. This is actually a much bigger step in the build than it may seem. After this is done, I can tie in mid frame rails front to rear, cage mounts, motor mounts, tranny mounts etc etc. Thanks coolwhip! And as far as hood hinges go I haven't gotten to doing that section yet - ill post up when I do though. This ladies and gents is a TR6060 6 speed from a ~2012 Chevy Camaro. Thanks to a man named Joe, it now resides in my shop staring the LQ9 down. Also joining it is a bnib GM TR6060 concentric slave cylinder and a Camaro driveshaft, flex couplings and the shifter. TR6060 is fairly factory with exception of carbon synchro's. So probably one of my more productive days woohoo! Did the passenger engine bay same as the drivers so no real process pics required: Then I did a 1x3x.120 up the footwell at a 60* angle and all the way along the floor. The floor was bowed from welding the whole panel in but with a bit of planning and a bit of weight on it - it squared up to 0.1 degree side to side and 0.2 end to end relative to pinch weld and 0.6 degree relative to the engine bay rail - not too bad. I capped the top of the 60* piece so it's nice and flush but I might add a small drain hole for condensate inside the rails. Nice and square Ill match the other side up next weekend hopefully. Then tie both into rear subframe, add the 20* pieces connecting the engine frame rail with the floor rail and get some wheels bolted up and set on em! Had some time today to get some done on the Z Matched the passenger footwell, floor rail and footwell rail to the drivers. Made the mount for the front of my rear subframe. I have to find out if the subframe fastener can stick through the mount plate for my cage main hoop. If it can't, I have to inset a nut inside of the 1x3. Anyone know if I can?

Also, from what ive researched, the Z33 6MT has held ~550hp without issue in Z cars and the 240 guys that have converted but V8 torque curve is a lot different so I can only assume it should be good to go.

Haha no worries. I have not fitted the Z33 tranny to the LQ9, it was fitted to the KA24DE-T when I was going that route. When I swapped over to LSx motors I decided right away I wasn't going to go any route other than a new or like new Magnum T56/TR6060. That's why I have to take the Z33 off my parts list lol. I can't imagine it being that difficult however, using a T56 bell housing and adapting it to the Z33 tranny. They are roughly the same size at the point that the bell housing joins on both. Thanks, Aaron