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Boben

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Posts posted by Boben

  1. 13 hours ago, Jboogsthethug said:

    Very interesting. Does the subframe swap just give your rear suspension better geometry overall? Just curious why people swap it out if they're not doing the AWD or something.

    I was mainly looking to get a differential with a lock and capability to take a serious amount of torque.

    I was also intrigued by the more modern double wishbone type of suspension setup which offers very good adjustment options. There is also at least a theoretical benefit over macpherson in terms of keeping the camber gain negative throughout the whole suspension travel whereas in the macpherson strut suspension, the camber gain turns positive with larger outwards travel. 

  2. 2 hours ago, Jboogsthethug said:

    Dang this is looking good! Is that an R32 subframe? How hard is it to fit in? Also, you're not doing AWD are you? Just rear?

    Yep, it is an R32 subframe. I went about the fitment by gradually cutting off more and more of the original sheet metal from the bottom. The task was quite tedious, due to the fact that I wanted to retain the original GTR32 suspension geometry with the control arm angles so it meant fitting the subframe quite deep into the 240Z body. I've seen others fit the subframe much more to the surface.

    The car will be RWD.

  3. About the feed through hole on your motor mount. The material thickness on the mount seems adequate so I would not bother to try and dimple it. Also, due to the thickness, it will be a pain to dimple anyway.

    I would maybe increase the diameter of the hole for a bit just to make sure that the sharp edge of the hole does not eat into your oil return line. If possible, you could even make the hole big enough to fit a through hole grommet in between.

     

    Your intercooler looks like a nice fit. Is that an off-the-shelf model?  Are you able to run the 90 degree angled rubber piping through the stock openings or did you need to cut them bigger?

  4. 13 hours ago, Exposed said:

    @Bobendid you ever get this complete?

    Thanks for asking.

    I worked on the car quite regularly until end of 2016, but then life happened and the project was pretty much on hold until beginning of 2020. I am still working on it so I guess this one of those never ending projects.

     

    The progress is documented here:

     

  5. The BMW V8 with overhead cams and the 180 degree exhaust manifold is so wide that the steering axle rubber joint does not have enough room at the upper end of the axle so I decided to flip the axle the other way around and move the rubber joint to the bottom. This obviously meant disassembling the universal joints. Luckily I was able to source a new set of joints as they did not actually dismantle very easy, required the use of a hydraulic press and got damaged during the process.

    I am quite happy with the outcome although I still need to finish the parts off with some fresh paint.

     

    The first picture illustrates the situation where the axle has not yet been modified. It is quite evident that the rubber joint would not fit.

     

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    Before dismantling the joints...

     

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    Afterwards - everything back together with all new joints...

     

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    This is how it looks like from the bottom with the engine and exhaust piping. Extension axle from the steering rack relocates the bottom joint to the other side of the motor mount. I also added an extra support with a bearing due to the remote location of the joint.

     

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     The new configuration can be more easily viewed without the engine.

     

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  6. As the GTR rear hubs are 5x114.3, I needed a five lug conversion in the front. The plan is to also move the brake discs on the front side of the hub. As I was not sure about the rim offset measurement I finally want, rather than going all in with some billet aluminum hubs, I decided to make the first version by converting the existing hubs.

    I acquired a set of bolt pattern conversion spacers made out of aluminum.

    First thing to do was to machine a centered surface to the cast iron hub on a lathe to firmly seat and position the spacer.

    Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the machined surface.

    Then I sand blasted the hubs from the back side and painted the hubs in black.

    Getting everything to work required also machining some custom washers and nuts on the lathe.

    While I was at it, I assembled a set of new wheel bearings.

    The PO had customized the strut towers to accommodate some Tein adjustable coilovers a few years back along with other custom adjustable front suspension parts. I just sandblasted the parts and applied some paint.

     

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  7. It's been over a year since my last update. Here we go!

    Once the engine bay and bottom paint job was done I sprayed some rock guard on the bottom and ran the brake lines and fuel lines  in the tunnel.

    Then it was time to assemble the GTR rear sub-frame, but only after renewing the bushings and sandblasting and painting the sub-frame.

     

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  8. 20 hours ago, Jboogsthethug said:

    @Boben That is really good to know. I just looked it up! Do you not have to worry about the paint coming off inside?

    Well, as many times is the case with these kind of classic restomod project cars, they don't see a whole lot of miles. So I cannot say whether it is bullet proof, but it is the right stuff for the particular environment and designed to endure oil on the surface.

  9. This tip does not help If you have leaks on the gasket seam due to warping, but otherwise, If you have a leak on a welding seam, you can apply Glyptal engine internal red enamel. It is intented to close any porous on the internal walls of an engine block. Also works on the oilpan internal surface since it can endure oil and temperature upto 130 degC. I once sealed my modified steel oil pan with that stuff, when it was leaking from a welding seam.

  10. That is a nice pan. Was there any warping of the gasket surface area due to the welds?

    I need to do something similar on my build, but the BMW OEM pan is aluminum and I'll probably use more than just the gasket plate.

    I did some minor modification on an aluminum pan in my previous build and the gasket area warped to the extend that I needed to machine it straight. And this happened even though I had the pan firmly bolted on a metal table while welding.

  11. It's been waaay too long. It is over two years since I've worked on the car, but I finally found some time after finishing our new house and garage (to the point that we were able to move in anyway...)

    Actually, I needed to make some shelves for my garage and got some rusty old industrial shelves for free. They needed sand blasting and painting so I decided to do the 240Z "on the side".

    Of course the work on the 240Z ended up being the more time consuming task, and the Wife also expressed herself on the long hours at the garage.

    Anyway, the very tedious process of sand blasting the shell to remove all the surface rust from all the welds, spraying the first layer of epoxy, seam sealing everything and finally spraying the second layer of epoxy (in black) to the bottom, to the interior and to the engine bay is finally done!

    May the pictures speak for themselves:

     

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  12. Depends on the fans initially design orientation. 'push' fans will often be optimized for higher static pressure than a pull setup. That being said, the real world difference isn't probably that big... Adequate shrouds are probably the most important factor.

    What I've come to understand from work dealing with filtered air cooling systems for electrical cabinets is that a fan has a hard time sucking air through a filter, which is basically the same thing as pulling air through a radiator. Also, while axial fans are capable of producing the same amount of air flow as radial fans without restrictions, the situation changes quite dramatically when a restrictive element such as a filter is introduced in front. In this confuration, the radial fan is the winner in terms of air flow.

  13. The Alfa fan geometry looks also suitable for both applications so I think it is going to work. Also, a fan can produce a much bigger volumetric air flow in a push configuration compared to a pull configuration.

    Now that I look at the picture of the fan I posted assembled in front of the condenser, I realize that the geometry is definitely meant for a pull application and not optimal for a push aplication. Too bad... I guess I'll just need to wait and see when the day comes when I finally get the car running, weather or not I run into heat issues.

  14. I hope those fans are intended to be mounted in front of the radiator (intended to push the air).  Most fans are mounted behind the radiator and pull the air through the radiator.

    You are right. This is how most of the fans are mounted. The bracket was already removed from the Alfa when I got my hands on it so I am not entirely sure of the OEM installation. Based on a quick google search, might have been assembled in the back and meant to pull air through the radiator.

    Quite many after market fans have the blade geometry symmetrical (straight) so that the direction of the rotation can be changed by switching the supply polarity, hence enabling the use of the fan both in a push and pull configuration. The Alfa fan geometry looks also suitable for both applications so I think it is going to work. Also, a fan can produce a much bigger volumetric air flow in a push configuration compared to a pull configuration.

  15. With the condenser and radiator mounts finished, it was time to modify the opening in the front to accept the Alfa Romeo 156 V6 dual fan bracket / shroud. I removed the original fixing flanges from the bracket by drilling through the spot welds and finishing off with an angle grinder. Then I cut the opening. around 2mm from the top all the way and cutting into the corners of the opening on the bottom did the job and the bracket slipped right in place. I applied some weather stripping around the shroud edge and mounted the shroud firmly agains the condenser. Should work quite nicely. After a light sand blast along with the rest of the body and some epoxy primer, the bracket should blend right in.

     

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  16. One of my friends at the garage dismantled an Alfa Romeo 156 V6 for parts. At the same time I was looking out for an A/C condenser for my 240Z and luckily enough, the Alfa unit has the perfect fit and refrigerant connections at a convenient location. I used the beaten old unit for fitment and fabricated some fixing points for it. I found some nice rubber grommets with thread inserts on them to use in the fixing. I have no idea for which car they are for and what they where meant to fix in the first place as I found them from a box we have at the garage that has all kinds of rubber grommets, seals and plugs everybody has just thrown in over the years. Anyway, worked quite nicely for me.

     

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    After fixing the condenser in place, I was finally able to weld the lower radiator mounts on the rails and fabricate the upper mounts. The BMW Z3 M Coupe radiator sits nicely between BMW OEM rubber bushings.

     

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  17. It has been too long since I've updated on this build. Sorry for that. Well, here comes.

    I got the tunnel finally welded back. With the new position, the HVAC unit was obviously not going to fit without modification so that went under the knife along with the original fixing points on the tunnel. The new mounts are not entirely ready yet, but at least I have proof now that the HVAC fits inside the dash. The lower fixing points on the dash also needed some cutting to make the dash fit. Here is some pics.

     

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  18. The clearance between the valve cover and the brake booster was tight to begin with and the situation got worse when I lifted the engine. However, this did not come as a surprise and yesterday it was time to execute my plan to increase the clearance.

     

    Here is how things looked after rising the engine with the brake booster in the original position.

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    Here is the unmodified pedal box with the brake booster and clutch master cylinder inplace.

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    I forgot to take pictures during the modification, but basically all I did was drill some new holes 15mm aside the original ones and cut some more space to the center to enable assembly of the booster 15mm aside from its original location. The displacement is big enough for the fork to clear the pedal axle and at the same time small enough for the booster to not hit the clutch master cylinder.

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    Here is how things looked like inside the cabin before cutting the fire wall. This is how I marked where to make the cuts and drills on the fire wall.

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    And finally the end result with increased clearance. Sweet!

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  19. Dude that Rear diffuser is sexy.  Awesome jig for the collector area of the headers.  Are you able to weld everything with all the headers tacked like that?

    Thanks, I am quite pleased with the little more modern appearance that the diffuser brings to the rear.

     

    As for the design of the exhaust manifold. The primary for each cylinder is a separate piece which connects to the detachable collector by slipping under a sleeve on the collector. Each primary is then secured to the collector with a retaining spring and holder. Even with this arrangement, the assembly of the exhaust manifold is a real pain, but what can you do.

    When I finally get to the full seam welding part, I'll probably try and TIG weld as much as possible on the engine stand with the collector jig in place and then finnish off with the rest of the welding with primaries separated from the stand and jig.

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