grannyknot

You will have to do many small tack welds with thin Mig wire and then join them up, as I'm sure you know, sometimes the old metal on these cars really doesn't like being welded to new metal. You could also try Silicon/Bronze brazing Mig wire, interesting stuff to weld/braze with, it melts at a much lower temperature so the panels don't get as hot and little chance of warping.

I don't know how I missed this thread, just found it now and a treat to read all the way through. Big project to tackle, good on you, we have to save those rusty ones! Excellent work you are doing, I especially like the BMW engine. My first rotisserie was made of wood but no where near as nice as yours. Are you going to leave the custom antenna hole? I think that is what the old hot rodders called Frenching.

I think I'm almost ready for spring, the new cooling system is in and the oil cooler, installed the "drive by wire" gas pedal(not thrilled about that but we'll see), the rad support cross over is finished now, exhaust system in place. Just waiting on a fuel regulator to come from Germany before I can start it up. Still have to hang the fenders, hood, grill, bumper and spoiler. This is probably the cleanest this engine will ever be so posted extra pics.

I got the cut out of the radiator support all finished so thought I would post some pics of the final product.

Geez! Cheap crap, at least it looks like you may be able to slip the collar back on and place a few tack welds around it.

Welcome to the forum! $3-4k to spend on the engine is pretty damn good. First off you want to find out what kind of compression the engine has, you are not necessarily looking for the highest numbers but consistency between the numbers. If the numbers are good then consider just replacing the main and conrod bearings leaving the rings and pistons alone and put some money into the head where the power is made. Or, since you posted on Hybridz, put the L26 in the corner and pick up an engine with a lot more power and transplant it into you Z, $3-4k will open you up to a wide range used engine/tranny combos.

That is seriously undersized😬 If you don't mind going back into body work you weld a 1/8th" welding rod to the inner lip of the hatch opening all the way around with tack welds then fill and sand. Not ideal but only another Z guy would notice it.

Yes you can, some of the s30 racers have done just that. If you go for one of the expensive lithium batteries that are smaller you could go lower than 6".

It certainly looks right.

haha, that stuff will be dribbling out the drain hole for years to come.

$3,000! Yeah, you got a great deal, looks like it's in beautiful condition. Congrats and welcome to the forum.

Thanks, 16ga or .051" So easy to blow holes through, actually I just got it back from a friend who welds for a living. I would have just buggared it up.

Moving along, trying to get this swap finished before spring. I got the Silvermine brake kit installed, I ran into a couple of bugs that should have been worked out before shipping but all in all, pretty happy with it so far. The stock plastic airbox elbow runs straight into the D/S shock tower so I had to come up with something to bring the fresh air in, this aluminum contraption might do the job but not sure yet. I haven't come up with a way to attach it yet so I'm open to suggestions. The radiator is from bmw M Roadster so a little narrower and fits well in the Z and with the Spal 30102082 fan I shouldn't have any cooling problems. I couldn't bring myself to push those plastic cable ties through the cooling fins of the new Rad so made up a couple of braces to suspend the fan. Kassel Performance did a great job on the PnP wiring harness, also deleted all the unnecessary programs from the ECU and added a tune that should boost the power, most of that is installed now. I stayed with the original MAF for now as I don't want to spend the summer chasing potential problems with the CSL program, it seems some guys have no problems running the CSL program on these engines but many others can never get it right. The MAF will get me on the road the soonest I think and if more power is needed I can change over next winter.

I've had that same leak and I temporarily stopped the leak by wrapping the joint where it's leaking from with thick cotton kitchen cord. 8-10 wraps as tight as the cord will let you without breaking, it wicks up some oil and stops the rest. It worked for over 4 yrs before I sold it and is probably still holding.

I suspect you're not finding much on it because the benefits would be minimal I think, you would shift the front/back weight ratio a bit and bring the stick shift back to a more comfortable position, any others? But it shouldn't be too hard to do, come up with 2 plates that mount to the stock engine mount at the back of the plate and the front of the plate secure it to any holes between the engine mount and the timing cover, the 2 larger bolts on the timing cover might do the job if something closer can't be found. The stock engine mount would be secured to the plate depending on how far back you go. The transmission mount would have to be cantilevered towards the back unless you build new mounts on the trans tunnel then shorten the drive shaft.

Hmmm, I thought Charlie's frame rails had that taper but if they don't then you just have to make sure the radiator will still fit if you install the new rails un-modifided.

It shouldn't make any difference, any kind of panel, floor pan/rail replacement is only going to be a rough approximation of the finished product, it's up to the body man to massage into something that looks good or in your case fits well.

I've used the Eastwoods internal frame coating and it's pretty good but it comes out of the can very quickly, I bought 3 of those big cans thinking that would be enough to do the sub frames on the Z, not even close, you really need 6 cans. As you can imagine it makes bloody mess under the car so use a tarp or lots of newspaper.

Personally I have stopped using weldthru primer, useless. Stitch weld, clean everything up well, 2k epoxy prime, continuous bead of seam sealer just the way OEM does then paint and undercoat. Good for another 40yrs.

Just know that welding dis-similar metals together will result in corrosion at the weld regardless of how well you seal it up. On long stretches like the frame rails you should try and avoid continuous welds with no gaps, it makes it too ridged and can lead to stress cracks in the body. A stitch weld is very strong and allows the body a certain amount twist and bend and helps avoid cracking.

You should know that when you finish off the rails with extensions going right to the sub frame at the back, sometimes you'll will have difficulty with a forward mounted rear sway bar. It can rub or you may need spacers to bring it down away from the bar, a sway bar that goes around the back works fine.

Depending on how good of a welder you are flanges are easier to weld in using the drilled hole filled with weld method and will look more original or you could stitch weld it the way it is right now. How did you end up with Zedd Findings floor pans and not the rails, they are usually sold as a kit?

I think you are going to need the whole roof including the A pillars, then sell your roof to someone with a sunroof repair. The A pillars are a tough repair job.

I guess it's much easier to get a hold of bmw parts than it is to have aftermarket Datsun parts shipped over to you. Yes you can weld on to the strut, the only thing that might possibly be a problem is you'll have a lot more pressure on the ball joint than you would normally.

I can't help you with the zcardepot springs but the Eibach springs lowered my Z by 1.5" in the front and about 2" in the rear, in fact I had to install a 1/2" spacers in the back to bring it up to level. I can't say I love the progressive either but if like you say, you just want the car lowered then you probably won't even notice, it's a good firm spring for the street. 2" and lower you may have to start thinking about your choice of tires, some rub some don't even when they are labeled as the same size.