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My not so Fairlady Z...VH Swap


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Hello, new member here. I joined specifically to glean info on VH45 swap as I'm considering swapping my 2+2.  

Anyway, I read earlier where you said the stock intake won't clear the hood without spacing the subframe, is that even with chopping the oil pan?? 

Awesome built, props to you. I'm not planning on going this deep in mine, but it looks Great!

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  • 5 months later...
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Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile! Getting married next month, and bought a house back in July. I've been working mainly on the house. The garage will have to wait for a little while. 

 

Updates so far. Body work is coming along, no rush since I'm not ready for it at my new place. 

 

The TBO sideskirts didn't have that great of fitment and needed to be modified for perfect fitment. 

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Antenna hole welded closed and roughly smoothed over. 

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Passenger side is all done! Next is the driver side quarter and hatch/spoiler.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey man, love the Z! You're taking really similar steps with the exterior as I'm planning. I've been planning to do the combo of the Twin Z rear bumper and WinFactory spoiler for a while now, so it's cool to see it finally!

Any more progress? Would love to see pictures after paint.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks! I love the Twin Z and WinFactory combo! 

 

As for progress... I've been busy working on my garage while the Z is at the body shop. Hopefully we'll see some paint on the exterior by early next year. 

 

Here's some pictures of the garage!

 
This is what the garage looked like with the previous owner...
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This is after we removed the floor tiles:
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Then degreased the floor, and went to Home Depot to rent the floor grinder (THANKS FOR THE HELP 93fairladytwinturbo!)
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Then degreased the floor a 2nd time, rinsed, acid wash, and rinse again
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The floor right before the first coat of Epoxy
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After 1st Epoxy coat
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After the second coat
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It was a mad rush trying to get the epoxy down while the temps were semi-warm yet, but it came out great! I put a quick floor plan together to get things rolling with the electrical and whatnot.
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Then the first load of tools arrived from the old shop. Keeping everything in the center of the garage for now so we can install the electric and rapid air.
20141102_160537_zpsica4fhoj.jpg
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  • 2 months later...
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Updates!

 

Molded the Winfactory CSL-R spoiler into the hatch. The fitment of the raw piece was incredible, very well worth the money. 

 

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The sideskirts and flares have been bonded to the body, the screws are temporary. The TBO side skirts took so much work to fit correctly, the door sizing was way off, one side was too long the other too short. They fit perfectly now. The TwinZ rear bumper has been edged and permanently installed.  

20150310_204015_zpsrjpsfh0n.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
So I decided to go a different route with the car. I was hoping to finish it up later this year, but with my new idea it might be a few months longer. Not that bad in the grand scheme of things. 

 

So, since I am this far into it. I am going to rewire the body harness. I will be using a megasquirt stand alone MS3 ECU for the engine. This decision also prompted me to switch to the newer style S2 engine 93-96 as I was using an S1 1991 engine. I don't want to have to build a second harness down the road. Also the new intake flanges that I have designed fit the newer style engines. So I will be building another engine and selling the current one. The MS3 will also allow me to run a MAP instead of a MAF sensor :) So current to-do list looks like:

 

Finish Front Bumper Supports 

Mount Front Bumper

Paint

Rewire body harness

Fuel System

Rebuild new engine

Fabricate Intake Manifold

Fabricate Header back exhaust 3" stainless w/ X-pipe (I'm thinking SLP LM-I mufflers) 

Build Engine Harness for MS3 ECU

Reupholster Interior panels & seats

 

It doesn't sound like much, but that's the plan! I don't have much time to work on it (between working full time, renovating a house, running Performance VH, and spending time with the wife) but I've been trying to keep things moving. 

 

So started working on the new engine already... Got the valve covers shaved! Off to be powder coated!

 

11026223_10153449482518829_7113397787956

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  • 2 weeks later...
Got the heads and engine block completely disassembled over the holiday weekend. 

 

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Got ARP stud sizes for the main caps. 

Ordered the AN fittings for the crank case vent setup.

 

Figured out the best way to remedy the oil starvation issue these engines have getting sideways at high rpms. I'll be plumbing in a 1qt. Accusump to the front of the block where the main oil gallery is located. Any loss of oil pressure and the accusump will flow directly to the crankshaft. My larger capacity rear sump oil pan should also help with the problem as well. 

 

Next step is to get this engine cleaned up!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Well I finally got back over to the body shop last night to work on the front bumper of the Z. I was able to fit up the brackets and measure everything up for the front splitter (or as I like to call it... my bumper shelf) I'll be drilling everything out tonight to fit the splitter to the mounting brackets. Once this is installed we can do the final bumper fitment and get the Z in paint! So very excited for that day to come. Here are some pictures.

 

The splitter is rigid enough to support the front bumper and will allow me to mount the oil cooler and other accessories to it. It's pretty light too considering the size and thickness of the aluminum. 

 

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