Stock Car Mafia's '78 280z LS2 Build

[Stock Car Mafia]

Spend a few minutes throwing some paint on the calipers.  They turned out ok, but they are going to be very subtle with how much dark/black paint that are on the car.  I was going to paint them red which would make them contrast really well but wanted to do something a little different.  

 

I chose the alloy gray metallic that is the same color as the Mustang and Datsun valve covers.

 

 

[Stock Car Mafia]

Updated suspension/drivetrain goals:  

 

1.  Get struts sections and welded up.

2. Remove old bushing, ball joints, and tie rods.

3. Send parts off to powdercoater.  Still considering colors for this.  Black or a medium gray to change it up.  Have brother sandblast.

4.  Scuff and paint suspension.  VHT Rollbar & Chassis satin black.  

5. Install front wheel bearings.

6.  Replace one rear inner stub axle bearing. Ended up replacing both.

7.  Install new bushings.

8.  Tear in to the R200 CLSD and check tolerances and install the new clutch discs.  

9.  Swap open R200 pinion flange on to CLSD R200 pinion.

10.  Wait for Chequered Flag Joe's shortened axles and 27 spline flanges.  Rebuild axles and assemble rear drivetrain.

11.  Cut front spring perch for camber plates.

12.  Reassemble.

 

This should wrap up this upgrade so I can move back to the motor swap:

 

1.  Install clutch MC

2.  Install brake MC and adjust push rod.  

3.  Weld up engine bay holes.

4.  Find firewall plugs or weld in patches.  

5.  Drop in motor.

6.  Fab and weld up exhaust.

7.  Find solution for steam vent.

8.  Mount and wire gauges in dash.

9.  Wire up engine harness.

10.  Make battery cables.

 

There are still a few things I need to obtain:

 - Vacuum tee

 - Driveshaft bolts

 - Nut Serts and welting for flares

 - 18 gauge sheet of metal to tin off the gas tank

 - front brakes lines and bending tool

 - Diff. fluid

 - Trans fluid

 - Weatherstripping for tach and speedo

 - Speed bleeders

 - Seamsealer

 - Fish scale

 - Extinguisher

 

This week is busy at work so I hope I can get a few things done.  

Edited May 17, 2016 by Stock Car Mafia

[Stock Car Mafia]

Not much happened last night except for getting a lot of misc. shit and wiring goods.  

 

I noticed the alternator pulley was off by about 1/8" when I had my motor assembled last so I bought a washer and drilled it out.  I did end up putting it on the back side underneath the black pulley washer.

 

 

 

The coolant temp and oil pressure senders got wired up in to the car.  I am going to use O-ring terminals on both ends and tighten it to the gauge.  Then throw a quick disconnect of some sort in between the dash and the wire inside the car so the dash can easily be pulled out.  

 

 

[Stock Car Mafia]

I spent some time on Friday fabbing up the mounts for the 3 pod gauges.  I decided to put them in order from left to right:  Oil Pressure, Water Temperature, and Fuel Level.  After some thought I didn't want to **** with making new brackets for the most part and chose to gut the stock housings and use those for somplicity.  

 

The hardest one to determine to mount was the clock housing.  It is much deeper than the other two and the threads of the autometer gauge wouldn't stick past the back.  I ended up cutting the back portion off.  

 

 

I cut right above the 2 screw holes for the back gauge bracket.  

 

 

I then cut out a groove for some aluminum strap to sit across for the gauge to bolt to.

 

 

I cut some aluminum and drilled the holes for the gauge.

 

 

I had to do this because there still wasn't enough clearance to get the aluminum brace and nut on the threads.

 

 

Here is the gauge all mocked up.  Turned out really nice.  

 

 

The other two gauge housings worked just fine.  All I had to do was get them roughly centered, drill the holes for the gauge and cut out a section so the lights and wire hookups could be accessed.

 

 

 

It's not shown in this picture, but all the holes that were cut, were cleaned up so they aren't sharp and won't cut any of the wires.

 

 

The clock/fuel level gauge didn't fit really snug when bolted down and could be turned slightly.  I fixed this by adding a little 3/8" weatherstripping.

 

 

And the great thing is they bolt in the stock location.  It definitely turned out nice and didn't take to long to get put together.

 

 

 

[Stock Car Mafia]

Today I ran and got some 7/16" weatherstripping.  I was recommended to use 3/8" and then make some brackets but this was the only size that was available at O'Reilly and I am hoping to get away with just having them pushed in snug.

 

 

I wrapped the gauges right behind the bezel and pressed them on so the adhesive would stick.  

 

 

This was a 5 minute job and now allows me to fine tune them to where I'd like them.  I want them as far back as I can get them.  If I ever get happy with the location I have them positioned, I can then take the dash back out and fab up some mounts.

 

 

Today I hope to get most of the wiring done, except for the battery cables which I may be able to do tomorrow.  

[Stock Car Mafia]

Updated suspension/drivetrain goals:  

 

1.  Get struts sections and welded up.

2. Remove old bushing, ball joints, and tie rods.

3. Send parts off to powdercoater.  Still considering colors for this.  Black or a medium gray to change it up.  Have brother sandblast.

4.  Scuff and paint suspension.  VHT Rollbar & Chassis satin black.  

5. Install front wheel bearings.

6.  Replace one rear inner stub axle bearing. Ended up replacing both.

7.  Install new bushings.

8.  Tear in to the R200 CLSD and check tolerances and install the new clutch discs.  

9.  Swap open R200 pinion flange on to CLSD R200 pinion.

10.  Wait for Chequered Flag Joe's shortened axles and 27 spline flanges.  Rebuild axles and assemble rear drivetrain.

11.  Cut front spring perch for camber plates.

12.  Reassemble.

 

This should wrap up this upgrade so I can move back to the motor swap:

 

1.  Install clutch MC

2.  Install brake MC and adjust push rod.  

3.  Weld up engine bay holes.

4.  Find firewall plugs or weld in patches.  

5.  Drop in motor.

6.  Fab and weld up exhaust.

7.  Find solution for steam vent.

8.  Mount and wire gauges in dash.

9.  Wire up engine harness.

10.  Make battery cables.  - Purchased terminal cables and will make alternator cable.  

 

There are still a few things I need to obtain:

 - Vacuum tee

 - Driveshaft bolts  - Purchased the 5/16 -24 x 1 3/4" grade 8 bolts.

 - Nut Serts and welting for flares

 - 18 gauge sheet of metal to tin off the gas tank

 - front brakes lines and bending tool.  - Going to wrap the lines with fiberglass.

 - Diff. fluid

 - Trans fluid

 - Weatherstripping for tach and speedo

 - Speed bleeders

 - Seamsealer

 - Fish scale

 - Extinguisher

 - 1/8" rubber for a lower shifter boot.  Where can I get this from?  

 - Battery

 - Vacuum Hose

 

Mostly everything has been acquired to start the car.  I was able to get the 3 accessory gauges wired yesterday.  I started on the tach and speedo and stopped to try to figure something out.  I need a 12 Volts that runs to the "lamp" spade on the gauge.  Does this have to be switched power or constant power?

 

I should be able to get the tach and speedo done tonight.  I have the ground triggers for the fan relays run to the engine bay.  I just need to wire up the relays and quick connectors for the fans and those are set to go too.  

 

I am waiting for a coupler for the steam vent that is coming from China.  Hopefully that gets here soon.  I will be calling Joe to see the status of the axles.  He has the flanges on hand but is just waiting for the manufacturer on the axles...I am getting way too damn antsy!  

 

I will post up more pictures later of the gauge wiring.  Let's hope I didn't miswire anything but I have all the wiring details that I can share with everyone.  

 

Differential Thoughts:

 

 - I marked the pinion nuts and pinion as to where they were tightened to.  I am going to spec the thickness of each flange as they come off.  If they are different, I would assume these markings would be irrelevant.  I was planning on reusing the same nut, but I do have a new one if need be.

 

 - I made an elegant tool to hold the flange in place while the nut is broken loose.  I backed up my phone so I don't have a picture now.  I was using my torque wrench (rated to 150 ft./lb.) so I could determine the breaking torque of the nut.  It of course is WAY tighter than that.  I ordered a wrench rated to 250 so I should be set.  It was about time I replace my cheap ass harbor freight special.  

Edited May 17, 2016 by Stock Car Mafia

[Stock Car Mafia]

I took the time to swap the flanges last night.  Both flanges were the same height.

 

 

The best way I found was to measure the depth of each flange to determine how thick the flanges are.  Both were slightly different but came out to the same thickness of 0.620"

 

The tool is not pretty but extremely functional for holding the flange while the nuts are loosened.  I did get the larger 250 ft.lb. torque wrench so this made the job easy.  The breakaway torque for the CLSD flange nut was 182 ft.lb..  The nuts were marked as well to realign them when retightened.

 

 

I drained the open diff so I could swap the cover on to the new one.  Now instead of a paint shop, the garage smells like diff fluid.  

 

 

The pinion nut was tightened to the torque that broke it and the nut lined right back up.  I threw some blue loktite on the nut as well.  I plan on scuffing and painting the diff. before it goes in.

 

 

I was able to get a vacuum tee so I could tie together the vacuum coming from the inside and the fuel pressure regulator to the back of the intake.

 

 

I also got the radiator hose fitting so I could get the steam vent hooked up. 

 

 

I marked the hose as to where I would make my cuts.  The 1/4" hose will run under the intake.  

 

 

I need to pick up some decent hose clamps.  I broke the cheap ones that I had laying around.  

 

 

 

Last but not least, I wrapped up the tach wiring and started on the speedo late last night.

 

 

Two questions are left hanging:

 

 - How important is it to install a "fast-acting fuse" for the tach and speedo?  

 - Which color wire running to the tach is the power wire?  The only info in the service manual is the illumination wiring.  There is a green wire running to power the bulb I believe for the "brake" bulb.  Is this one switched 12V?

[Stock Car Mafia]

I do believe I will be able to fire the car up this weekend.  I am trying to get some friends to come out and be another set of eyes and ears for me on Sunday.

 

Things I need to finish before Sunday.  I'll be gone all of Friday and part of Saturday :/

 

 - Finish speedo and install dash.

 - Wire up reverse light.

 - Overflow tank - 20 oz. bottle.

 - Wire fuel pump

 - Wire fans (not critical for short runs).

 - Add battery cables and make alt. cable.

 - Wire up engine and fuel pump grounds

 - Make driveshaft bolts and bolt up.

 - Torque diff to spec. and add fluid

 - Fill tranny.

 - Add motor oil and filter.

 

Next week I am gone untl Friday travelling which is a bummer.  

[Stock Car Mafia]

I got the speedo wiring finished and the dash put back in the car.  I will have to say it does kind of suck putting the dash in by yourself.  I loosened the steering column bolts to make it easier to get the dash in.  

 

 

 

I also found some thin rubber at work in just the right size to make a shift boot for the car.  I made some basic measurements to see where the shifter would fit through the rubber.  The B&M rubber cover and clamp came off for this.  Then I left an extra 1/4" or so so it could fit snugly over it.  

 

 

 

I laid the stock boot retainer over it to line up the screw holes and make some marks.  The retainer was too small for the shifter so I had to cut and dye grind out material on both size to make it line up.

 

 

Then I cut out the shape of the retainer leaving 1/4" hang off.  The B&M boot and clip got installed prior to this.  I had to pound down the passenger side of the retainer to it would fit tight.  I might have to take this back off and contour it a little more.  I'm hoping this keeps the dust out of the car!

 

 

I then was going to install just the straight shaft for the shifter but the guy must have red locktit'ed the bolts and I broke two allen wrenches trying to free them. 

 

[Boben]

The dash looks really good.

[auxilary]

Killer progress. Lots of good ideas, keep it up!

[Stock Car Mafia]

Thanks Boben, I am very pleased with how it turned out. Let's just hope that dash doesn't have to come out again.

 

auxilary, I hope to have it running and driving soon.

[Stock Car Mafia]

Here were the remaining tasks and what yet has to be completed for the day.  The goal is to have some friends over today and give it a shot to run the motor!

 

 - 1/8" rubber for a lower shifter boot. 

 - Battery

 - Vacuum Hose

 - Swap open R200 pinion flange on to CLSD R200 pinion.

 - Finish speedo and install dash.

 - Wire up reverse light.

 - Overflow tank - 20 oz. bottle.

 - Wire fuel pump

 - Wire fans (not critical for short runs).

 - Add battery cables and make alt. cable.

 - Wire up engine and fuel pump grounds

 - Make driveshaft bolts and bolt up.

 - Torque diff to spec. and add fluid

 - Fill tranny.

 - Paint diff

 - Add motor oil and filter.

 - Wait for Chequered Flag Joe's shortened axles and 27 spline flanges.  Rebuild axles and assemble rear drivetrain.

 - Fab and weld up exhaust.

 - Tear in to the R200 CLSD and check tolerances and install the new clutch discs.  

 

The last 3 will be later points of getting it going.  I talked to Joe last week and he was hoping he could get the parts and ship them out Saturday and provide a tracking number.  I didn't hear from him so I am sure he didn't get the parts.

 

Yesterday's progress was pretty good.  I started with scuffing and painting the diff.  I wanted this to dry before I put it in later that night.  

 

I finished up the fuel pump wiring.  I ran the wire against the firewall and had to extend it to run it along the stock wiring harness.  I then looped it through the rubber gromet where the fuel level sender is.  The ground was run to the bolt where the fuel cell cage bolts to the frame.  I didn't take any pictures of that.  I also put little rubber boots over the fuel pump posts.

 

 

 

 

The fuel level sender was also piggied off of the stock harness and wired to the autometer gauge.  

 

I decided to wrap the brake lines that were close to the headers with 1/4" heat wrap.  I needed to get the new SS lines installed so I could see how much wrap I needed.  I just went ahead and swapped the new rotors on so I could install the brakes as well.

 

 

The new rotors fit way better than stock rotors.  The I.D. must be a little larger.  The silvermine product rocks!  I put on the calipers to check the rotor to claiper clearance.  With the paint on the strut and the caliper, I was a little close on the outside edge.  I just sanded off the paint on the caliper side to get it a little more centered.

 

 

Other than that, the new pads and calipers went on quite smooth!  The stock hard brake line that goes to the caliper needs to be reshaped a little bit to get it to thread in.  

 

I think they look great!

 

 

 

Keep in mind all the brakes have speed bleeders now, so I could do the bleeding by myself, which I did.  I started with the master cylinder, RR, LR, FR, FL in that order.  I used the Mity Vac first and then in combination with pumping the pedal and topping off the resirvoirs.  I went around twice and all the air seemed to be out but went around a third time just to make sure.  These suckers are now FIRM.

 

I then took the driveshaft bolts and cut them down to size.  I don't recall the actual length I cut to, but I was enough to have a couple threads showing after they were tight.

 

 

I picked up the R/T style mount many months ago but put this on the diff.  It was easier to leave the top bolt loose so you can tighten the 4 lower bolts.  

 

 

I will have to say putting in the diff alone is a really SHITTY ordeal.  I ended up using a large 12" x 12" chunk of wood and balanced this and the diff on  a jack.  Once I got it high enough I slid it back in to the mustache bar and threw on the nuts.   

 

The driveshaft went in next and pulled the plug for the tranny before I decided to call it quits for the night.  I am hoping to be posting up more solid progress today.

[LS6240z]

U are doing some amazing work very clean and detailed. Glad I saw the post on FB. Keep it up!

[Stock Car Mafia]

Thanks LS6!  It's been a lot of work and will be well worth it.  

 

Tonight we weren't able to start the car.  Luckily I had a couple friends Alex and Dave come give me a hand today.  They were able to get the whole rear drivetrain assembled while I dealt with the rest of the wiring.  

 

We pushed the car out and went to start it.  click click click click click.  The starter wouldn't engage and turn the motor over.  We checked the connections and everything seemed good.  The battery cables were really hot.  We ended up taking the starter out to test it.  It acted really strange and didn't want to pop the gear out and turn.  So now to get one on order.

 

I am looking at potentially getting a mini starter.  This one was a kind of tough to get out with the headers.  Are there any good reputable brands I should look in to or some I should stay away from?

[disepyon]

Never thought about having to take a starter out once the engine and headers where in the car considering how narrow the engine bay is with these cars.  Got me thinking now, a mini starter would be nice. I to am curious as well.

 

Man you are super detailed, your like my brother, very detailed oriented when it comes to refreshing all the small and not so noticeable parts. Keep it up!! and be sure to get a video of this beast running, want to hear it.

[Stock Car Mafia]

Thanks disepyon.  It really comes down to how much energy I have left when I get on HybridZ.  Some posts I've left out information because I have been drained BUT I try my best to get everything posted up here.  I know most people loose interest because as they dig in the car they say "while I'm in here I will tackle x, y, and z."  Well I have done that and still haven't lost the passion!  It's been countless hours of work however...

 

I ended up ordering a stock LS2 starter off of Summit late last night.  It should be here when I get back in town on Wed./Thurs.  I don't want to chance running in to any other starter issues if I got a mini unit i.e. post location, etc.  

 

I hope to tin off the back gas tank before next weekend.  I have a rough cutout of cardboard for the shape I need.  I ended up picking up a 4' x 3' piece of 18 gauge metal.  This should be plenty to have enough for a makeshift gas cap cover.  I will be picking up some pop rivets and RTV sealing the panel in for now.  at some point I may make it permanent by stitch welding and seamsealing but I will do that when I can figure out a permanent solution for the gas cap fill neck.  I'd love to document making one so I can fill behind the license plate

[Stock Car Mafia]

I can't post in the drivetrain thread nor find the information for this from any of my searches...

 

Joe does not provide the bolts for his flanges for the Z31T axles.  Does anyone know the thread pitch and length of the bolts that are needed for these?

[Stock Car Mafia]

Neighbor was kind enough to pick up a few boxes that would have sat in the rain this week.  I should be getting home today and will be putting the starter back in and wrapping up a handful of other things.  I hope to get this running and driving this weekend!

[Stock Car Mafia]

I've been really busy this week with work and taking the little time I had to work on the car, but IT'S ALIVE!!!  I have way too much to post up for details but wanted to drop a couple videos for everyone to see!