jpndave

Comparing the power/acceleration of the FR-S is a very low bar. My son Colton has one and I love the car but power is severely lacking. He recently picked up a Triumph Spitfire that I think will replace the FR-S, largely because of what it would take to get it to satisfactory acceleration on top of the cost of the car compared to a complete build on the Triumph.

As far and the Datsun sending unit and the large jumps, how coarse is the resolution output? I wonder if those sending units are not a very fine resolution. It may not matter new or old if the steps are very large.

I'd suspect the sending unit long before the gauge. I'm going to see if I can rig the one I have here up and see if it swings smoothly. @ihiryu I need a couple of gauges for the pillar in my Jeep JK. I'll get specs together and shoot you a message. Dave

Outstanding photos Omar! I like the inspiration. I like the interior, seats are modern/race with a touch of retro. I've been toying with the saddle/buckskin colors. Not sure about the weight of leather. I'm also torn between a wrapped vs carbon dash. Anyway, I like where you are going with your car.

Nice Mark! Those canards are going to be really cool. I'm looking forward to the final version. I'm going to have to look at those StopTech brakes. What ECU are you going to run? Very nice as always, thanks for the updates. Dave

I would agree with Derek. These Speedhut gauges are very nice. The fuel is just a calibrated ohm meter. If you send it a bad resistance you get a bad reading. I'll be running Speedhut gauges just need to find time to get the old girl along further.

Looks like it should work. Some serious engineering there! A few random thoughts - Whar color are you using? Painting the parts separately could end up with a mis match. For example the JK Jeep in my avatar is a House of Kolor "sunrise yellow" and the pearl coat has to be even or things don't match. A simple solid is much less issue. To minimize this spray the parts and body separately then assemble for the final coat. Practice and getting the feel for a high quality gun is good advice. I have Iwata. They are excellent guns and I'm about due for a new set. I use the LPH400, LPH300, LPH50 and also have their airbrush. I'll spray the Z with the 300 and maybe jamb with the 50. Make sure you have plenty of even light. Color temperature is good to consider but not so much as being able to see everything evenly. It honestly doesn't matter if everything looks yellow as long as it's all the same yellow. The color itself won't change. That said I'd get the highest CRI light you can get. I'm sure it will turn out nice. Dave

You'll be OK for a bit. Then the bug will bite and you will be piecing together a turbo setup. Going this route is safer anyway. You can get everything sorted out before adding the power, complexity, heat, everything that will be there with the turbo. It's easier to swallow in smaller bites. There will always be something... Once it is running you can dial everything in to perform while enjoying driving it. I need to go back through your thread in more detail. I have just caught highlights as you have gone along. Keeps nudging me to look more seriously at my old girl. I'm excited for you with your car. Hearing it run is sure encouraging! I have a Megasquirt and a Microsquirt here that I need to get rid of or do something with. That LT1 is sitting in a Cherokee XJ out back that needs to go away. Same with the Harley custom bike project I got the Microsquirt for. I need to sell the lot and put time and money towards the Z and my Jeep. I keep looking at S85 V10 and Voodoo V8 engines, kind of leaning towards the V10 if I can sort out the T56 Magnum transmission connection and a dry sump. I have seen quite a few reports of issues with the Voodoo and the size and flatplane makes me nervous. The smaller displacement per cylinder (especially the short stroke) of the V10 is more settling. Either rev past 8K and both have the exotic sound. Decisions decisions. My son Colton is looking at swaps for his FRS. In that process he mentioned Motech controls. I didn't realize that the Motech computers allow traction control, so another reason to go BMW V10 would be to have that to keep from wrapping the Z around a pole.

Looking good Omar! When you get it all figured out I have a 92 LT1 down here that needs powered up on Megasquirt! 😁

Return vs returnless pressure regulation isn't really a big deal as long as the engine has the correct pressure and volume of fuel.

JD and I both have 3d printers. I've done a few small projects that I have drawn and am bringing in a spool of carbon reinforced filament soon. If your cousin falls through one of us should be able to print something up. The last parts were for a rifle but I'm certain car parts are just a matter of time.

Nice work Omar. I say drive it! More power later.

That makes more sense. Kind of cool option I hadn't seen.

The footrest in my 73 looks much different than that. I actually used the footrest quite a bit when I was driving the car.

Other than a little reinforcement and a few gussets aren't the front subframe rails pretty much stock? They should collapse at a more or less stock rate. I would be more inclined to keep the strength you have up there. Just my opinion though. I would keep in mind the collapse in an accident but you want all those bits to stay rigid and aligned. I think you are headed in the right direction and progress looks great. 👍

Nice job on the control arms! I really like those fabricated/boxed parts. Should be super strong and reasonable weight.

That's correct, it's not the aluminum case that is different it's the carrier. We have both here. I don't see the ears being an issue in our cars. The aluminum case would have the potential to deflect more giving clearance issues to the ring and pinion under high power/traction/stress. I'm running aluminum to save the weight. In a drag car or heavier the iron would be safer.

Lizardskin is good stuff! It does work on sound and heat insulation. Also VERY lightweight. The urethane is a good idea. I used a black single stage industrial urethane on my JK project over the Lizardskin. Your project is really coming along nicely.

Leave it to you @1969hondato run this right over the top. That would probably work quite well! Any takers?

I'd be concerned about the kick out, especially the right one. Also as high as those are it would dump into the firewall. If the engine is kept more forward there might be room to get it turned down. The engine bay is plenty long. I don't think they will work very well if the engine is held tight to the firewall for better car balance. With how short the Coyote platform is a front/mid engine setup should be possible with the strut towers about even with cylinders 1&2. My firewall is messy anyway so I'm going to set the engine right back into it and box a bit as necessary. I plan to do some shorty equal length headers. Reports I have seen show these engines really respond to a good exhaust and tune. Because the pulses are perfectly even side to side the Voodoo exhaust can be much less complicated and still have no compromise. If they don't flare too much, those manifolds might work well to get an engine in and running initially. You could always add headers.

John, Keep up the good work! I enjoy following along on your progress. Very ingenuitive solutions you pull together for lots of this. I'm very interested to see how that HVAC turns out. Dave

Tube80z and JMortensen are correct, there's no free lunch on this. The only place you might "cheat" a little are coilovers with the smaller diameter spring allowing a little more width and larger diameter wheels the same. I think you either optimize what's there with coilovers, camber plates etc. the best you can and deal with it or go the SLA direction and clean sheet. I am planning similar direction to tube80z but am even more pathetic on progress. I don't think I'll use the double joint lower but wouldn't rule it out. Minimizing the distance between the wheel mount surface and the pivot would help things out quite a bit. The SLA will require pretty much a complete new front subframe but since mine is a crusty mess and needs replaced anyway, why not? Sadly a new house/shop and Murphy living in my back pocket have prevented much of anything looking like progress.

Nice! Beautifully executed, if that doesn't give you perfect regulation, I don't know what will.

The desert race boys loosen up the star/ball clearance for more travel not the splines. They resort to finned housings to control heat and 300M cages to keep things from exploding. Spline fit stays tight. The shafts need to float somehow either in the splines captured at both ends by snap rings and a plunging style joint which is strongest/best/lightest if the application will allow it. The shafts can be stronger as the inside doesn't need a shoulder or snap ring which allows for zero stress risers in the stressed portion of the shaft. That method needs to be pretty minimal distance change. If memory serves correct maybe 1/2" but don't quote me on that. The other method has both splined ends captured. One non-plunging joint and one joint that has in and out travel like the tripod. Front outer steering joints travel/angle too much for a Rzeppa joint for example. Sloppy suspension design with lots of distance change can be an issue too.

If it's loose on the splines I wouldn't even think about it. They need to back up their work.