tonycharger72

How did you select you filler rod?

What do you reckon!

BOC Australia sell the following entry level ACDC TIG Machine. http://www.bocworldofwelding.com.au/aitdownloadablefiles/download/aitfile/aitfile_id/69/ Spot the difference between it and the one on EBAY. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BOSWELL-200AMP-AC-DC-INVERTER-TIG-ARC-ALUMINUM-WELDER_W0QQitemZ270507388880QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Welding?hash=item3efb7f2fd0 BOC ones costs $2500 for just the machine, EBAY one is like $1500. This is a Plasma Cutter they sell for about $1k with the Torch. https://boc.com.au/boc_sp/downloads/industrial_equipment_brochures/BOC_Smoothcut_Plasma_Cutters_Brochure.pdf Once again spot the difference between it and the one on EBAY. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WARRIOR-SERIES-50AMP-INVERT-PLASMA-CUTTER-WELDERS-MATE_W0QQitemZ270538874631QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Welding?hash=item3efd5f9f07 Only difference is the price is smaller, its more powerful and has a longer warranty ! I personally wouldn't buy a multi-purpose machine though - Mainly because the TIG will be sh£t! Those cheaper TIG Machines usually don't have AC Frequency adjustment, so you will probably struggle Tig welding alluminium with it, having said that old School Transformer style TIG's usually don't have AC Frequency adjustment either. BUT..............If you flogged it for a couple of months I really, really think it would die on you - if you only occasionally use it I think you would probably get years of service out of it.

Hehehehe, that made me laugh ! Now it is time to dispose of the engine oil down the drain and turn on the sprinker to give my drive-way a wash ! Thinking about the dash design and I don't know if it is that much of an improvement over the original, allows me to situate all the gauges in front of the driver and stuff a TV screen in the dash, but not convinced it is all that good looking compared to the original! Also, I was going for a different look - originally started out with something like this in mind! BUT............to difficult to create those sorts of complex shapes with Foam, I need to go back to the drawing board me thinks and work out a way to construct that basic frame, maybe with steel and plywood - then bog over the top to make it smooth and ready for fibreglass, or maybe even Carbon Fibre!

Hehehehehe, good old Wheelie bins - amazing how much old steel and grass clippings you can get into that big Yellow bin ! Yes I am a Canberra local ! How about you mate?

Yeah,could use a tougher tooling gel instead of normal gel coat so I would get many, many more copies of it before I f#ck the plug. But.................I am in Australia and drive on the other side of the road, I don't know how useful my dash would be for the Yankees?

Bog and lots of it ! What you see in the pics is just a plug for making fibreglass copies - it will be discarded.

Any updates mate? Still love to see some pics of your custom headers ! How did you find the Soarer Bible mate?

I decided I needed a new dash, so I whipped up the below plug ready for fibreglass. I based it on an old Z dash I had kicking around. I saw a custom Dash in a Z based on a 250 GTO Dash, which I really liked the look off, so I made mine to look vaguely the same. However, mine has a large centre section just in case I wanted to stuff in a large TV screen ! There is a really good build of a front spoiler on this forum where the fellow uses expanding foam and then cuts it down to shape, I used the same basic process in the initial stages of making my dash plug. Anyways, enjoy!

I welded some spring perches onto my Brother's struts and he was advised to throw on some Zinc paint underneath the threaded collars before welding to protect it against rust. I am just going to slap seam sealer over all the welded joins after I have hit with a good quality Epoxy Primer. Here is some pics of how the front wheels sat before I moved the Crossmember back................bit to much caster ! And this is how it sits now. & these are the new Engine Mounts I made to suit the new Crossmember position. I left the Gearbox Crossmember the same, so the engine is still in the same position as it was before, just moved the front suspension back. I might throw in some gussets for the engine mount with the centred tube - these engine mounts use the original style of Z engine mounts - makes life a bit easier when installing the engine compared to the earlier mounts I was using from an R31 Skyline.

Hehehehe, and it keeps changing ! Well the design at any rate - I got it all done and slapped on the front guards (fenders) and they foulded on the wheels at the front. I was running 7deg of Caster, which I thought would be fine for clearance, but apparently not. So I have moved the entire crossmember back about 55mm, which has taken the front wheels back to dead centre in the guards and should be giving me close to 0-2 Caster (I haven't re-checked it yet). This also required me to make new engine mounts. I decided I am just going to modify the rear mounting point of the LCA's to except a bearing and make my own adjustable LCA's............which in the long run is probably a lot better option than just fixing the struts in one position and unable to move it at all (or very little). That is if I change it at all. But figure out all that stuff later - I have had enough of playing around with the crossmember and making engine mounts for the time-being - I will get stuck into my Dash and wiring harness for now !

I am 6ft and had to modify the height of the Seat Rail Cross Sections to be a touch shorter than the original ones. I basically lifted up the floor pans by 25mm, this was so I could use the 65x35x1.6mm Rectangle section for the floor rails and not have them either, in the car with me or scraping along the ground. The original Z seat rails mounting fixtures are quite tall, about 120mm at the front and down to around 90mm for the rear seat mounting section above the original floor pans. From memory, I used 50x50x2mm box section for the new Section Rail cross sections where I would attach the seats. This effectively lowered the seat mounting position by up to 40mm, which would compensate for the raising of the floor pans. You can still stick your hand under there to move the seat backward and forward - so still ample room, but Yes, it is a lot closer to the floor than the original mounting points were! As for how I have mounted the seats............... All I did was weld a bit of flat-bar 25x25x3mm section and bend up the ends so I could quickly mount in the seat. But this won't work long-term, the flar-bar is to flimsy and the seat can move around. I will have to figure out a better way of securing the seats in place...........but when I decide on what seat I will use, then I will work out a good way of mounting it in place. Also.............I actually originally used the 65x35x1.6mm box section (same as the stuff I used for the frame rails) for the Seat Rail Cross Sections, and I found when I sat bolt upright - my head touched the roof - which was awfully tedious, so out it came and in went the 50x50x1.6mm. A point to note here is that if I were to do it again, I would install the seat rail cross sections before or at the same time as I tack in the new floor pans - I used 1.2mm steel for the floors and there ended up being a little bit of distortion on the inside edge (floor area adjacent to the transmission tunnel) which made attaching the seat rail cross sections a bit of a nightmare........bits of the floor just weren't flat anymore!

If you don't care about appearances in the interim you could just pop rivet on a bit of 16ga and throw some seam sealer around the edges, that'd do the job ! Honestly though, probably easier to just throw the sun roof back on until you get the new roof!

I would give it about 12-18mths before it starts cracking and falling apart - if your lucky. What dodgy Panel-Beaters do with rust repairs. Instead of cutting out the rusted steel, just lay fibreglass over the top, then bondo to make it all smooth and your done, all better ! Either way, at some stage you will have to deal with it properly. So I would probably just fill the hole properly to start with mate. Stick a piece of 16g sheet metal up underneath it - draw the exact shape that will fill the hole, then cut and trim to piece. Tack weld it in place, start at opposite ends and tack all the way around with about an 1" between the tacks. Pour to much more heat into it by laying continous beads or lots more tacks and it will create warping issues. This would be butt-welding it in place - which can be fiddly as the sheet metal on the Z is really thin and I have found that sometimes it just blows away - you could look at over-lapping (or probably under-lapping) the new sheet metal, which would make it a lot easier to weld in place. So the cover piece sits about a 1/2" over the existing roof sheet metal. Either way.........but the 2nd method is a lot easier to do. Then bog or lead over the top to get it nice and smooth - I would also recommend getting in there with the hammer to panel beat it as flat as possible before you start pouring on the bog as well. If you pay a man to weld it in place - make sure the bugger butt-welds it in place, your paying for a good job !

Thanks mate, I will certainly keep the pics coming! Body rigidity has certainly improved - my garage floor is quite uneven and when I put the car on Jack-Stands I never require 4 corners supported, 3 Jack-Stands do the trick now ! I still put a 4th in place just for safety of course ! But, as you mention, think a bit of weight has been added - all be fine as long as add sufficent HP to compensate ! I dont know............I think the driver side mount would have a similar force applied to it like a hammer slamming into the top of it, which could cause it to bend and dent downwards as the engine torques over, which would cause it to eventually crack and then fail. The engine mount above it would just compress, compress, compress - the passenger side mount could rip over for sure. I think you could spot the depression on the mounting plate itself as the first sign that there is a problem - I am sure there is some quite simple mathematical forumla I can plug some numbers into to verify beyond doubt that these mounting plates should hold the force of the engine or if they require a few decent gussets thrown in place.

About 3.175mm is 1/8", I always remember an 1" is 25.4mm and work back from there - I was never a big fan of fractions in school though ! Whenever I get a measurement in Inches I always convert it to mm's so I can gauge the size of it. I have no conception of what 15/16" looks like in my mind ! That is exactly what I was thinking with the design. The only thing that I think that can really happen is the steel get's depressed on the drivers side (passenger side for US), but for that to happen it would have to be a fairly large pushing force, which I don't think would happen. Well, not to the extend that the metal would actually warp. If there was only one tubular section, instead of the upper and lower sections then I think Gussets would be the order of the day!

I work with Engineers and they helped me a lot with the design of this crossmember. I originally had the rear crossmember mounts in front of the rear LCA mounts, but was advised that under heavy breaking this could cause all sorts of flex in the LCA arms and a pretty ordinary driving experience - so that was modified. They said the double decker design is crazy strong and because the Tubular pieces are mounted both forward and sideways, this thing should stay together under extreme pressures, because when you impact a tube front on it is extremely strong, when you impact it on the side, it isn't and will bend. And they they all mentioned what you have noticed ! There is a little trick to this bit thought...............It is 3mm plate and I have positioned the drivers side engine mount (opposite side for me as I am in Australia) further inwards, so when the engine torques over, most of the force should be pushed downwards onto the Bend of the engine mounting plate area - and not the centre of it. However, this still didn't convince my workmates - they said it should be strong enough, but would still prefer to see a few gussets in that area for piece of mind ! I am going to POR-15 this thing I think, so when I strip it I will add in the gussets to be sure!

Hey Guys, Thought I might post an update with the Z! Just finished making a new Tubular Crossmember, Engine Mounts and Gearbox Crossmember. The Tubular Crossmember took a fair amount of trial and error, but It should be right to go now. Enjoy ! The New Engine Mounts and Gearbox Crossmember! Here is some pics of the new Crossmember!

I purchased on of these Fastrax Camber/Caster Guages from another member and it seems to be of decent quality and fairly reasonable for giving measurements. My garage has a fairly unlevel surface and it was pretty straight forward to recalibrate the gauge to suit the uneven floor surface. Using it for the Camber was quick and simple, the Caster was a bit more fiddly and took awhile to get the measurement. It would be good to check my measurements with an alignment shops to see how close they are, but at this stage seems like it was a worthwhile investment.

Thanks mate, I will check it out!

I have been occupied with other fun car stuff and put the suspenion on the back burner, but am starting to think about the front suspenion again, you manage to dig up anything on what an RX7 S4/S5 looks like from the factory or what the LCA angles look like from the factory? On a similar note, I had a peak under a friends Supra the other day and was quite surprised, the LCA angle on that car was just past the horizontal, the car isn't lower the stock, I know, I changed the springs to raise the ride height back up from where it was !

Was wondering if anyone could help me with finding fuel retaining clips? I am installing new fuel lines and routing them down the chassis rails, underneath the car, and was trying to find some after market fuel retaining clips. What I had in mind was some sort of rubber grommet with a provision for two fuel lines and a brake line. I have had a good search on the internet and Summit, but don't seem to be able to find anything that fits that description! What have other folks done to secure the fuel and brake lines when they have re-routed them out of the tranmission tunnel down the chassis rails?

I did, but decided against it - the connecting material on the sides is very flimsy at only 1-1.2mm thick plus my front sections have been replaced, so there was a join there - if there was no join and I was able to use the original meterial I think it would have been a different prospect and very much possible! Cut out the original panel and weld in some supports so you could then bolt your new custom made radiator support panel to! Sure would have made the engine easier to get in and out ! But, I do think alot of those old US cars are not monocoque designs, or are at least partial monocoque designs, like you can unbolt the fenders, inner fender walls but the cabin is welded to the chassis. However, in either case they are built on chassis that resemble a Land Rover from the 1940's! I think not welding in the radiator support panel for a monocoque design might lead to flexing issues? So, maybe if you welded in a brace at the bottom between the chassis rails and then had a removalable top piece you could have the best of best worlds with the Z? When I was popping the engine in and out before I had completed the radiator support it was soooo much easier to do !

I think all those Porsche Motors are single cam? they just changed displacement throughout its life, like from 4.5 to 4.7 to 5.0 (something like that), How are you going to do the gearbox? just make a custom bellhousing and throw in a T56 or you going to keep the transaxle - now that would be a project ! I have always wanted to know this after seeing an episode of Top Gear where J Clarkson purchased a 928 and the engine started to let go, how does not having bore liners effect things?

The welds don't look to horrendous, but I would probably run another pass either side at the bottom and stich the top bit the whole way around again after giving it a good grind - it would annoy me if it was messy !