disepyon

Here are the transmission tunnel mounts welded up. Just put a coat of POR15 and Bloxide Aluminized weldable primer on the inside of the box and the backside of the plate before actually spot welding it to the car. Will do this tomorrow. I dont really like the way it turned out, look wise, but i am fed up with tinkering around with the tunnel transmission mounts, these will do. So the exciting part... Finally made a first/practice attempt at making the driver side inner rocker panel. I am actually surprised with the results on how it turned out and how fairly easy it was. I put a lot of thought into this before attempting, but sometimes just doing it hands on will reveal what needs to be done. There are a couple of bends and measurements that didnt go right, but now I know what to do when I make it again tomorrow. I didnt have a 1 3/4" hole saw so I just used 1.5" hole saw and dimple die for this practice panel. A 1 3/4" dimple die wouldnt had fit anyways since my measurements were a bit off.

Well havent done much to my car but starting to again. Will get back to that later... Recently I was working on a friends car. He brought his RX7 FD LS1 to me to work on the exhaust and fix the transmission mount. This car is mainly for road race with not much street driving, or so he says. These are pics of the mount he was using. It didnt fit worth a damn, it didnt bolt up correctly and was rubbing the transmission. The stock rx7 tunnel tranny mount on the driver side ripped half off, however that was from the previous owner. Pictures of the mount I made. I wanted to weld the tunnel mounts on but couldnt really get my mig gun good up in there comfortably, instead opted to bolt them in which is what he wanted to begin with. Also he wanted this solid mounted with no bushing. once I had it all bolted up for test fitment, I told my friend that he needs to take it off and coat it to prevent rust, instead he decided to just spray paint it on the car... I went ahead and removed the original tunnel mounts since the driver side was already in bad shape and the passenger side had a broken off bolt stuck. Helped with exhaust clearance anyways. Forgot to weld the holes shut from the spot welds of the original tunnel mounts, but he said he didnt care, told me not to worry about it. Just so you know, making this mount was a pain in the ass, did not enjoy one bit of it. The exhaust went smoothly and I did enjoy fabricating it, for the most part anyways. So he thought he bought stainless steel mandrel bends and tubing, but instead it turned out to be aluminized steel (YUCK!). The only stainless steel components were the muffler, resonator, and y pipe. I went ahead and tig welded majority of it. Good news is that the inside of the weld is nice and smooth as you can see in the pic below. Actually wasnt to bad to tig weld, but still welded nasty. Mig welding on the other hand had no issues, went smoothly. I dont have a big enough welding table (didnt feel like tig welding on the floor), so after I tig welded multiple sections, I tacked it all up then mig welded the rest. Told him to paint the exhaust, he just used spray can high temp coating, works I guess. Exhaust note sounds good, not too loud and not raspy, but still a little loud for my taste. Alright back to my car. Been working on the tunnel tranny mounts. Made these support/stiffener plates out of 18g cold rolled steel, kind of like the stock one. I put a 1/4" bead in it and formed it into the shape of the tunnel. Will be working on making the mounting ears for the transmission mount to bolt. Deciding if i want to make it out of 1/8" thick or 3/16" thick plating. Ill probably just use 1/8" plating then wrap it up with more 18g sheet metal to tie it in with plate I made for extra support. Aiming to make it look stock. Using Cleco's to hold the plates in place. Bunch of sheet metal for practice with my bead roller i hardly used and misc. parts I need to make. I had some custom bead roller dies made so hopefully work will start on the inner rocker panel.

Transmission mount mocked up, not welded yet. Must of had like 6 ideas for this mount, ended up going this route. Will remove the factory mounting points on the tunnel later. Still need to make mounting tabs to go on the transmission tunnel. Been holding off on ordering the bead roller dies but thinking that this week or next will be the week to get them ordered. The tranny still needs to move to the passenger side a little, but there is a spot on the tranny hitting the tunnel, ill probably just end up cutting it off later to allow for that movement.

Passenger side engine mount made. For some reason I had a difficult time fabricating the passenger, not sure why but just glad its over with. Next on the list will be the transmission mount, then ill get back to working on the driver side inner rocker panel. Still need to order some dies for my bead roller.

Driver side engine mounts made. Lots of pictures!! Pictures of the subframe mount for the engine, will weld it to the subframe later, dont feel like mig welding it, prefer tig. The mount that bolts to the engine block. Hopefully i can make the passenger side tomorrow.

Interested to see how your driveshaft from the driveshaft shop turns out. Same place i want to get mine from. Yeah I'm with you on wiring, I absolutely hate it. When I bought my ls1 it didnt come with a harness and i didnt feel like buying a used one to hack up and figure it all out so i went with wiring specialties. Pricey but worth it, so far it looks nice but havent had a chance to test fit it and wont know if it actually works for when its time to fire up the engine.

Thanks a bunch, really appreciate it. Maybe now ill reconsider the placement of my engine. Sucks that you have to cut the bracket. Was gonna suggest adding washers to you mounts to raise the motor up a bit, but forgot your using a different style mount, which im sure you already thought about.

A little over a week ago I dropped the motor in to get it aligned/positioned so I could make the motor and tranny mounts. Since I have the T56 Magnum Tremec transmission, the shifter location is positioned further forward even in its most rear shifter location than a stock t56 or even a TKO transmission. Kind of sucks but i think i can manage to make some kind of shifter handle to set more rear. Today i went and bought some 1/4", 3/16", and 1/8" plating for the mounts at my local metal supermarket. Tonight i got the stock L24 engine mounts on the sub frame removed thanks to my plasma cutter. Didnt feel like taking the engine out for this. Then ground down the left overs with my handy belt sander, one of my favorite tools and the belts last a long time. The alternator with its rear cooling shield has good clearance from the steering shaft and from the u joint. The crate that the bead roller shipped in, I turned it into my tool chest/work bench. Had to restructure the inside a bit to make it more sturdy and added hinges.

Thanks and yeah all those parts is overwhelming. I would had worked on my car last week but got pretty sick. Was in hospital for couple days then at home for another 3-4 days in bad shape. Had a severe reaction from a pebble size kidney stone. Out now and feeling better. This week i plan on getting my engine mounts made and practice some with bead roller.

Looking good man. Any chance you can get clearance pic, perhaps a measurement included of the front pulley to cross member or better yet, how low does the pulley hang down from the top surface of the oil pan ( i have the exact same oil pan as you). Making my own mounts and i got stupid and took engine apart and junked my harmonic balancer cause it was no good with out thinking about what is need to make my engine mounts. Tried looking around for measurements or a good pic on the web, but nothing gives me a good reading. As of now i have my motor setting higher than it probably needs to be on the safe side since i dont have that measurement.

The Baileigh Bead Roller showed up. Cant test it out yet, no sheet metal and the plating that i do have is to thick to run in the bead roller. Thought this company was USA made, or at least they were in the past i thought, oh well, guess majority of american companies are heading the china route/overseas. The other Wilwood front brake caliper showed up and the welding material I order aswell. Tested out my dimple dies on a scrap plate of aluminum, dont remember the thickness. My Injectors came in the other day. What was supposed to be Racetronix 33lb injectors (01D106X) that i placed the order on, the WS6 Store sent me Accel 36lb injectors (01D106B). Called them up and the guy i talked to said the accel 36lb injectors they sent me are the same as the Racetronix 33lb injectors i ordered, just stamped differently. Said no need to worry. Still questioning it though, i sent an email out to texas speed for their input. Your guys input is welcomed too. The Eastwood sheet metal shrinker and stretcher arrived this week aswell my sheet metal shaping hand tools from Eastwood. Also the laser cut flanges for the Clecos to hold panels in place showed up this week with the scribe tool from Lazze metal shaping. Now just waiting for the week day to buy some scrap sheet metal to practice on the bead roller in preparation for the inner rocker panel and plating for the engine/tranny mounts.

Bout to start making my engine and motor mount brackets while I wait for my bead roller so I can work on the inner rocker panel. Pics of the motor some what put together for preparation for the mounts. My T56 Magnum transmission. The shifter can be located in 3 locations. The shifter plate that came with it only works for the back two locations, you would have to buy the other plate to fit in the front location. Block, tranny, heads, and intake mounted. Engine and tranny mounts. Engine bay stripped down except for the brake/fuel lines.

Tires mounted to the wheels today.

managed to cut down most of what was left of that tree in the backyard. Will finish it up tomorrow. Made my own tree pole saw. Had a fruit basket catcher and zip tied the wood saw handle to the basket. The meshing was just wide enough to fit the saw handle so it wouldnt move side to side. Worked great! My Silvermine front caliper brackets showed up.

There were plenty of times when i felt like discarding this project and selling it off. Never could do it though, just had to remind my self why I got into it in the first place. I purchased the zg flares, forgot the name of the maker in japan, supposed to be copies of the original flares. Not going crazy with the body, thought about making my own flares but dont feel like purchasing an english wheel to make the wide curves you would need, maybe for a future project with another car I might. The zg flares work for me and I always liked the look. For the rear wing, i went with BRE. So to start my day off, this is what i woke up to: I always wanted that tree in the back yard gone, guess i can thank mother nature and be thankful she tore it down without involving the house.

Small update to my project. Finally got the inner rocker panel taken off, ended up using the plasma to cut some areas out. Gonna have to cut out some more rusted metal. Good news is that whats on the car now isnt to bad to replace, for the most part just straight flat metal, no complex curves/shapes. Dimple Die set arrived. Capable of dimpling 3/16" thick plate. Brake rotors, went with 2005 Nissan Sentra SE-R V Spec for the fronts and Z32 for the rears. I went with z32 rear brakes. Still waiting for the calipers to arrive. One Wilwood caliper showed up, the other is on back order. So i order new pads for the calipers but they were the wrong ones. Did not get the correct part number when i ordered. Now i have to ship these back and wait for correct pads. Still waiting for my sheet metal bead roller. Currently ordered: Silvermine front Wilwood caliper brackets, random welding stuff such as rods/wire, tires (275/40-17 Nitto NT555), Racetronix 33lb injectors, sheet metal shrinker/stretcher, and sheet metal hand tool set.

I guess follow along if you have nothing else to do. So after a year from graduating college undergrad, i moved to Colorado Springs to stay with my father for a bit, figured i give Colorado a try as far as looking/getting a job. My father was in town visiting, told him to bring his cargo trailer to haul my Datsun back to Colorado. Some pics of my car loaded. Tight fit, but made it safely. After about 5 months of looking for jobs in Colorado Springs, got hired on as an Engineering Technician for a company that produces diamond wire. Same kind of wire used in tires, but this wire of various sizes has diamonds of various sizes attached to it used in cutting various crystals and even some metals. While I was at work, working, seemed like the dogs were having fun. The two little ones are mine. The two bigger dogs are my fathers. Well enough about personal life. I did manage to do some work with the Ls1 in my dads garage disassembling it. As you can see from the pics, not a very big garage. Did not feel like working on the car outside either. Also didnt feel like taking over his garage, im a person who respects other peoples property/space. Dont have to many pictures of this process nor any good pictures so bare with me on this part. For the two and a half years I was there, that was all i accomplished, i know pretty pathetic. I just took all the parts and boxed them up. During that time, all i did was save money and buy parts after parts. Dont have pics of all the parts i bought and dont feel like unboxing and taking pictures, would take me all day for that, but you will see them through out this thread when it comes time to work on that area of the car. Here are what i did take pics of. Monster Clutch/Flywheel kit, i think its stage 3, cant remember right now. Yes these are authentic and real. Still wondering if i should use them or not. Rota RKR 17x9.5 all four. Wanted Watanabe wheels, but i guess im not baller enough to pay the price. These will do. Speed Hut custom made gauges. Not the gps, kind of wish id go back and order gps instead of hard wiring the speed gauge. I know picture sucks, There will be a better one when its time to install these. 8.8 rear diff I pulled from the local pull parts salvage yard. Was a b*tch to take off the car because I didnt bring the right tools, but with some clever thinking and lots of time, I managed. What made it worse and really pissed me off is that it rained half the time i was there. Well i did work on something, my brothers turbo manifold for his all trac celica motor. Though i didnt have his car, i did have a spar engine to help me mock up the manifold. First my what was once a new band saw. One of my favorite tools. Pictures from back in Oklahoma when i worked on it some. The collector made and test fitting. He originally wanted a simple ram horn style bottom mounted turbo. That idea didnt work out to great and i wasnt liking it. Told my brother i am doing top mount. I spent some serious time working on it. Had multiple set ups to go about it. This was done in Colorado. That path was scraped. Finally ended up making it this way. All tacked up. This is where the manifold came to an end when i was in Colorado. I didnt want to weld it yet cause i wanted to actually test fit it on the car. About 6 Months ago, i got a call from my other brother telling me he could hook me up with a great job back in Oklahoma City. After thinking about it i took it and moved back, working now as a Petroleum Landman. My Engineering tech job in colorado springs wasnt all that great and the company was pretty much in the grave. I went through 3 lay offs the 2 years i worked there, first layoff was the biggest, second about half amount of people let go, third about half of the second layoff let go. Fortunately they kept me each layoff but i knew there wasnt a future with them. Glad to be back in oklahoma, now making twice the amount of money i made at my tech job and actually able to have pay increases through out the years. One thing i did miss was the weather in Colorado, believe it or not, the weather was enjoyable, yeah it did have its bad cold moments but for the most part not bad at all. Out in Black Forest where my father lives does have strange weather. Lightning shows were cool, literally couldnt count to 2 or even half a second without lightning flashing, no pics of that though. Looks like some kind of wedge tornado, but just a cloud passing by. When it fogs out it, it is thick. Be times where you cant see 10 feet in front of you. Deer passing by. Strange looking beetles, glad i didnt touch them, if my memory is correct, if you touch or smash one on your skin, it creates a rash/blister, hence there name "blister beetles". Well anyways, back in Oklahoma now, finished my brothers turbo manifold, worked on my car some. Sold the original motor. Been working on repairing the rust. Havent done much yet. But will be, just waiting on some tools to be shipped to me. Now that my Brother is a doctor, he has money to buy the cool cars, Jealous! Back to me and the datsun, got off topic. Pics of the datsun and all the parts in the garage. Much more room now to work on it and if this isnt enough, my other brother is building a shop at his place. Right now, waiting for my Baileigh bead roller to come in, also waiting for my dimple dies to arrive so I can work on making a new inner rocker panel. Bout to order brakes, waiting till next week though, never know if black Friday/cyber Monday has any deals. Mean while ill work on getting that rusted piece of crap drive inner rocker out. Lastly, my fathers cat. Nicest cat ever, but you have to wonder what she is thinking. During the winter all she does is sleep and stare at the pellet stove.

Yo, Figure its time to start posting again as i am working on my car now. Going to take some pics and upload a bunch. Been busy/ had no place to work on my car, but do now. Be back in a bit...

Quick question, those of you running 17x9.5 wheels up front, are you using a bump steer spacer? Are there clearance issues?

Im waiting till black friday. I would assume the sale on this day would be great.

Sweet i just got me a set of those rkr's in royal flat gunmetal polish lip. Loving your project, cant wait to see those wheels on your z and the fitment up front.

Never mind i found them.

Where did you get the rkr wheels in that size ?

diy weld cover kit is about 60 bucks off their site. http://www.bluetorchfab.com/Product/961/BTF-Ford-8.8-Kryptonite-Differential-Cover-DIY-Kit.aspx Fill and drain bungs i bought http://stores.hi-potek.com/magnetic-drain-plug-and-threaded-fill-plug-custom-weld-on-kit-for-steel-differential-rear-end-covers/

Any idea on brake setup yet?