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OlderThanMe

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Everything posted by OlderThanMe

  1. Right now I am in the middle of building a new Dash for my early 74 260 out of .063 aluminium at my welding school that I am almost done with. right now I am just playing with ideas of what it should look like but the main attachment points of the grame are about half way done. I am thinking of having the top flat with a downward 180* bend with a .75in radius. and the face being recessed a little bit behind the end of the top piece. I'll post some pics tonight of my 4'x8' piece of aluminium and some drawings of my idea. I am also going to make a center console to match.
  2. so I feel like I have some good power on my motor and since I am now redoing everything on my Z...Aluminium dash,new clutch,coilovers...I was thinking I would like to add a little 25-50 shot of nitrous just "in case" I am just behind them I would like a little extra kick but I would like it to be all hidden...use a tiny co2 bottle or two and have jets just inside my air cleaners. I have beat a couple turbo ricers around town and even a 03 vette once...(probably didn't know how to drive)...I would like to keep the total cost of my Z under 12k and I already have ~7.5k in it now. I would like to keep it under $300 for the setup and will probally route the nitrous lines under the fuel lines. My Z is more of a handling based car rather than straight line crazyness...just a little will do me good. I think I could just use a dry shot system since I run the carbs a little rich. thanks any thoughts or considerations would be appreciated.
  3. it just takes a while...do a little at a time...and it helps to remove the driveshaft to vent air out of the transmission.
  4. just clarifying the subject...for those "less experienced" welders..
  5. ok...MIG and MAG are almost the same thing. MIG (Metal Inert Gas) uses a shielding gas that is inert (welds "softer" or "smoother"). MAG (Metal Active Gas) uses an active gas such as cO2 (welds stronger and has more penetration). FCAW (flux cored arc welding) uses the MIG setup but the wire has flux in the core so it can be used with or without shielding gas. CAUTION do not MIG weld with solid steel wire without shielding gas!!! You will have all sorts of oxides in the weld and possibly have a lot of porosity. MIG welds without shielding gas are not safe!!! this is not possible 99% of the time. No major welding company has a set where you can attach a wire feeder system to a SMAW/TIG power source. The ONLY company I have seen that has this capability is ZENA. their website is www.zena.net. they make car mounted welding systems and a backpack welder that is REALLY cool and is a GREAT PRICE. Miller XMT 304 welders can run all three processes except TIG-AC and they cost about 4 grand with the MIG/TIG/SMAW setup. Welding Stainless to mild steel will work with a stainless wire BUT...The stainless in the weld and near the weld will no longer be as stain resistant and will easily rust. Stainless is not stain-proof!!! that is why they call it stainLESS...because it stains less than regular steel. just leave a piece of stainless outside for a while and see what happens. Medical grade stainless is the most resistant to oxidation(rust) because it must go into your body and not damage you from an operation.
  6. currently you can't find a welding machine that is a 3 process (MIG,TIG,SMAW) that has High Frequency for aluminium or have HF arc start. all of that is for TIG. I have welded aluminium with SMAW-AC but it was not pretty...I could have welded better by spitting on the metal.
  7. Are you sure it can do MIG and TIG? if it can do that then it can do stick(SMAW or "Arc welding) welding as well. A welding power source to do MIG and TIG generally costs about $3000 and up.SMAW and TIG are both constant current processes. MIG is constant voltage wire feed welding. SMAW is the conventional welding with electrodes with flux and has been in use since the 1800s.
  8. I got the 7" carrera black sleeve pn# COK12455 the price is $18.40 each the black adjusting nut with allen wrench style setscrew is pn# COK 12460-B the price is $12.87 each. total price for 4 of each with shipping was $135.82 those pn's are only for A1racing.com
  9. I just got my coilover stuff in the mail today...250 lb. rear 10" springs and the 225lb 10" springs are on their way because they are on backorder. I got the QA1 springs from http://www.summitracing.com and I got my carrera threaded sleeves and nut from http://www.A1racing.com . I just have to get some of that 2.5 in. exhaust tubing from a muffler shop somewhere for the top hat to center the spring...could get some scrap from an old exhaust or something. and I have a supply for the 2.0 in. tubing for the sleeve support. Now I just have to figure out where to get some ball-joints...I guess a Nissan dealership will have them.
  10. there is no thing as a s30zx...an s30 is a 70-78 which was the original Z series. then there started the S130 series with the 280zx...and the saga goes on from there. *edit* unless you have a zx drivetrain installed...I guess then you could call it a S30zx.
  11. Those are the same wheels that I have ,15x8 diamond racing "pro series" wheels with 4 in. backspace, except mine are black. Those wheels are the best thing for the money for light-weight wide wheels. They are like $85 each after shipping. Not too bad at all. I was going to get the Avenger series but figured that that would give myself too much of an advantage over vettes and rice-burners...wouldn't want to roast those bee-in-a-can cars that bad...lol
  12. so what year is that Diaken pressure plate from and what engine? I am going to order a new clutch for my 260Z with a header, head work, cam, and early su's. It has a really high compression ratio ( previous owner dosen't know much about what was modified). I am guessing I am just shy of 190 hp at the back wheels if I had a good clutch. I drove my Z the other day and shifting into second it got squirrely at about 5k rpm with 225/60r15 tires, stock r180 and 4 speed. It lightly drags the rear tires on downshifts and when I had a flat and had to use the 175/60r14 spare I could hardly drive with the spare on there and downshifting was a joke. it would lock up the spare completely and leave a black stripe. I think that Diaken pp will do fine but I would like to know what year model of truck it comes from. thanks
  13. I just bought a small $8 can of the gloss black rustoleum protective enamel and started experimenting on my Z. My 260 is currently flat black/or gloss black that the clearcoat is peeling off. I tried some of the paint on bare metal, and on scruffed up paint. I didn't thin it enough I think. it seemed to settle out better on the bare steel. I bought one of the 2" rollers that cost about two dollars and it is working fairly well for not being thin enough. Tomorrow night I am going to try to thin the paint out a little more and take off more of the black and original blue paint to get to bare metal. so far I am about $30 into this project with paint, mineral spirits, sandpaper, and a few other little things. I think this is going to work very well once I figure out the consistancy I need to roll the paint on.
  14. I was thinking they were a little big but shouldn't be much of a problem...maybe I will make a pair of camber plates for my self since I am taking plasma cutting as the last course in my welding program and will have free access to a plasma table that can cut upto a 5'x10'x 1.5" thick material if I could draw a 2D version in autocad. I would just have to get the $5 of steel needed for the plates and monoball joints or johnny joints. hehe...$ 40 ea. camber plates... I could even buy a 4'x8'x3/16" and make up a bunch of them to sell:mrgreen:
  15. this is straight off of the currie enterprises website Currie's Johnny Joint offer 30 degrees of unrestricted movement in any direction as compared to 22 degrees on a common heim joint. The bushing in the Johnny Joint rod ends are made with a high density, "tough 88" urethane that encases the inner ball. Its a very durable material and it is impervious to weather. The special ball is heat treated steel for extra strength. and on the 2" and 2 1/2" models the ball is cross drilled for thru-bolt lubrication. The 3" joint is lubricated via zerk fitting on the outer shell. Outer shells on the 2" and 2 1/2" are heat treated steel. The retaining washers on the 3" are machined out of 4340 chrome moly and feature a snap ring safety machined into the face of them to protect the snap ring safety machined into the face of them to protect the snap ring from coming out. 2" joints include a 9/16" greaseable thru-bolt, and the 3" joint accepts but does not include a 3/4" bolt. 2" and 2 1/2" joints are also available with a threaded stud welded to them. The 2" joint with stud has 2 1/2" of 3/4" thread, and the 2 1/2" joint with stud has 3" of 1" thread. All rod ends with thread welded to them include the necessary jam nut.
  16. so why use the monoball joints like everybody is having problems with and use a johnny joint like they use in the baja 1000 trophy trucks? you wouldn't need all of it's travel (35 degrees) but it should be plenty strong and tight and the races are thick enough to be welded on no problem. plus they only cost like $35 each but they are bomb-proof and the rebuild kit is like $8 or something.
  17. unless you want to have hot oil all over you I would take out the strut inserts..
  18. I was looking at the thread below for the BMW headlights so I started browsing around and I think I could build some steel headlight covers and graft in some Bimmer 92-98 e36 headlights into my Z. It would be a lot of work but I think it would be well worth the effort. some of these are basically what I was thinking of. Except OEM not cheap aftermarket. if someone could graft them into a z with photoshop In would greatly appreciate it. I don't have any really good software for editing photos.
  19. I have to add some rigidity somehow...since the underbody is noth there anymore at the lip I can just bend the metal with my hand really easily.
  20. here is a shot after most of the initial rear fender hacking. I will fill the holes in the rear fenders later on. I did not use that big hammer but had it there just in caes. there you can see where I popped the spot welds. sorry this one is sideways but you cabn see the amount it is flared I have flared it a little more since this picture was taken you can see the whole package in this photo. since this photo I have given the car a $4 flat black paintjob just to cover up that peeling clearcoat and rust that came from the bumper. The drivers door is mostly stripped of paint and just a little bit of primer on it. I like the current ride height but the suspension is way too soft so hee come the coilovers...and maybe a half inch lower:twisted: I am going to finish the rear flare starting from just above the door handle to match with the front flare. I also added some " door edging stuff from pepboys so I don't cut myself every time I rub against the fender.
  21. It all started when I was driving and exploded a roll pin deep inside my transmission. Well while the transmission was out I decided to put the new Toyota 79-85 pickup calipers and the new cross drilled/slotted rotors, both from www.motorsportauto.com , so once I had the brakes back together and the transmission repaired (all that took two months on my limited spare time) I was putting my 14x6.5in eagle 5 point star wheels(just like the American racing ones) back on to go for a test drive but the wheels barely hit the caliper (1/8 in. of clearance would have done it). I saved up a bit of cash and bought my 15x8 "Pro" series wheels from www.DiamondRacingWheels.com and when they got here 6 weeks later... I installed them wrapped with some no-name "VISA" 225/60r15 tires that I got from the local tire place. Well when I finally went on my test drive the tires made this HORRIBLE noise when I got to the street. I had just ripped a chunk of rubber from the side of the tread on the driver’s side rear tire. well my Z was driven a little bit around town for a couple days until I said that is enough! I didn't have the cash to get any flares from anybody so I just took a pair of vice grips and started pulling the inner lip out. All the time Bondo was flying off everywhere and black and blue paint chips where everywhere. I then proceeded with a hammer on the front fenders and started havoc on them first because they were rubbing first in cornering. I then went to the rear and started popping the spot welds with a screwdriver and beating the fenders out to clear my immediate problem. I had no care on how it looked because I had to drive my Z because it was the only thing I could drive at the time. Right now I am about to purchase a Miller 175 welder from www.millerwelds.com to restitch the wheel well to the outer fender skin with a fresh piece of steel. I will proceed to cut out the outer half of the wheel well so that I can get into the wheel well and continue shaping the fender from the inside to my desired shape. When I am finished I will stitch weld a piece of .25 in. steel round bar just on the inside of my newly shaped fender to add reinforcement. This process will remove paint and may show horrors of thick bondo and is not for the light of heart. This process is not going to strengthen your fender but will WEAKEN IT. I have had a door hit my flare and it bent the sheet metal pretty good but left that door in worse condition. tools used 16 oz. hammer carpentry hammer (for low clearance areas like near the struts where a normal hammer would hit the strut all the time) Vice grips screwdriver ear protection (hammering on a fender while you are inside is like being in a drum at a concert) eye protection (z87.1 shatterproof safety glasses) spray paint (to temporarily keep the body from rusting any more than it already is...HAHA like my car doesn't have enough cancer already, if a little more surface rust would make much of a change) I will post pictures in a minute
  22. ya I know...I will get it back solid as soon as I get my Miller 175 and get a lot of bodywork done...My Z is normally driven 200-300 miles a week but since the clutch went out and it wouldn't maintain grip on the flywheel in second gear I decided to cut up the rear underbody since tire was slightly rubbing on long sweeping turns...eek!!! I am getting a piece of 20 Guage Aluminium 4'x 8' to make my dash and other interior stuff I will get a small piece of sheet steel to redo the wheelwell after I have the shape that I want on the outer skin. it is a little hard to hammer on the outer skin with the wheelwell there so I will probally remove the outer half of the wheelwell, get the shape on the rear flares final, and then weld in the new wheelwell. I am also looking at the 81-83 5 speed swap with my 3.54 rearend to get better gas mileage...right now my first gear feels too short with the amount of power the engine has. ( The previous owner was not a very car-knowlegable person, he said it had "webers, a cam swap and other engine work inside the engine") So I really don't know what is inside this "Mystery" engine that is really too powerful to drive everyday. I am guessing they increased compression greatly because when downshifting at 3k rpm from 3rd to 2nd it almost drags the rear tires (225/60/15) and when I had the spare on there after a flat(175/60/14) it was really undriveable. I could hardly accelerate without rotating that skiny little tire and downshifting was a joke. it would leave a black streak about 50 feet long. it has topped the rev limiter when I blew a shift pin inside the tranny and I freaked and instead of hitting the brake I jammed the gas . I glanced down and the tach was topped out and a huge black cloud behind me...but after a week (after I fixed the tranny) or so it mostly stopped smoking. now it does not smoke until I get real close to 6800-7000 and runs great...??? I have probably changed the oil 15 times and it has gone from thick chunky black to almost see through black.
  23. I didn't say ZG...take a hammer and beat out the fender...my z looks cool but the fenders haven't been smoothed yet...about to buy a Miller 175 mig and build an english wheel. I swear I must have as much tire coverage as a zg flare but it is free...and it is a good way to get rid of old bondo...the rear fenders are a little more difficult though. got to get rid of the inner fender wheel well
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