Dat73z

Did they mount the tires correctly to minimize weights? I've had a couple sets of R comps mounted over the years which have balancing dots on the tire. I've found most shops don't know what the dots are used for 😅

Looking through some old reference videos I found one from a couple years ago on carb sync check, throttle response and engine movement with the new at that time Milkfab engine mounts. You could balance a glass of water on the valve cover on idle and rev 😆. I had played with a few configurations and had it pretty dialed at that point, with an emphasis on driveability and response. I'm hoping when it comes back together the response will be even snappier with the more free flowing Protunerz manifold and vband G Series turbo. 20230207_161111.mp4

Thanks he's usually around when I'm working on projects but mostly out of frame. Spent a couple weeks recovering from surgury but feeling well enough now to start back in on things. Working through clearancing the rear end for the twin 60mm exhaust tonight I realize I should probably just fully modify everything now versus after the underside gets refinished. I clearanced the t3 r200SN front mount, and while the welds aren't the most aesthetic, I'm fairly impressed as it has full root penetration. Working forward, I had previously clearanced the rear crossmember but I think I want to fully plate it out and weld in some structural reinforcement.

Awesome attention to detail. It's all the small projects that add up and make the build 😁. Do the Resurrected Classics hatch hinge seals follow the curvature of the area and bracket well? I have the vintage rubber seals and they seem slightly too large/bunch up which I don't think trimming would fix. Looking forward to your review of the spare tire as well. I was thinking of getting a full size spare and custom carpet but the hatch of the s30 looks so much cleaner assembled to OE spec imo.

Took a break from the build this past month to focus on family and other projects, but I'm constantly reminded of the Z 😂. Picking up where I left off, the bare chassis is strapped on a body dolly tentatively scheduled to the bodyshop in August and misc. parts have been trickling in for the eventual reassembly. I saw an episode of the new Freiburger and Finnegan show where they brought back the v8 blowthrough turbo Rotsun and found their T3 rear diff mount fasteners coming loose. I have the same T3 mount and have also ran into the same issues as I've posted earlier in the thread. My plan is to drill and safety wire everything, but it was a good reminder that I still needed to check clearances and modify if needed ideally before everything is painted and finished. The diff still bolts up as it should with the nice PTZ rear cover and escort rear member. This weekend I'll mock up the rear section of the twin 60mm exhaust again and see what needs adjusting.

I doubt we'll see a resurgence of forum activity. I agree with @Derek, the trend since 2010 or so has been towards short-form social media, soundbytes, instant gratification scrolling, and now AI. Unfortunately e-commerce has basically all but migrated to other platforms as well so it's near impossible to fully unplug if you're looking for parts. We're a small remaining userbase but I think we can at least keep the HybridZ discussion boards alive. Which are good reminders, just put in my donation to HybridZ operating costs and time to put down the phone 😁

Looking forward to your feedback on the Resurrected Classics seals, I've been meaning considering that or Vintage Rubber. My experience so far with various companies and seals is can be hit or miss depending on the specific seal. Hopefully everything fits up well for you 😁

@calZ I agree, the logo location is unfortunate but I'm running with it as I'm working around various clearances and I didn't find great options. Given all of the modifications required of any cover, I had also weighed making my own but PTZ cut me a great deal 😁 I suppose the silver lining and eye opener for me was how much more aftermarket there is now for r200s than when I was looking to build one 10 or 15yrs ago. Just the availability of monolithic chromoly conversion stubs alone versus welded options is huge. @Zetsaz if you run the older r200 style covers you also need to open up the mounting flange bolt holes as they are upsized from m8 to m10 on the more "modern" r200s. Attached are some pics of the machining operations on the cover for a better idea. Unfortunately still delayed for my chassis to get scheduled in so I think I'm going to do some more fabrication and welding on various aspects while I wait so the shop won't need to worry about it. I've been hesitant to get too far into the bodywork at home as our garage is attached and my wife doesn't like the mess and chemicals 😂

Quick weekend update. I picked up the diff this morning and it came out great. Some people had asked me to share what it takes to build a r200sn q45 diff as they aren't typically built, and as a result there isn't much info out there on these. So I got to be the guinea pig and put my own money and time down to find out 😂. Most, myself included, tended to run these diffs as cheap junkyard specials over the decades but as they've aged over 30+yrs all of the bearings and viscous LSDs are worn at this point. This one in particular came off of a turbo nitrous v8 drag race s30 and was starting to get noisy and show signs of metal in the oil. The builder, Weir Performance, is local to me and has set up a lot of Formula D cars over this past couple of decades and are very knowledgeable on Nissan R200s among other types. Having been around for a while they also make custom parts for diffs and actually have a full machine shop in-house working on other industrial projects. Basically the formula for this diff is s13/14 240sx OSG LSD, custom equal length stub axles that Weir has made in Italy with the stronger q45 6 bolt pattern, and a 39/11 r34 GT-R ring and pinion. I think the important things to note are OSG, unlike other brands like KAAZ, don't make a LSD that fits the q45 unequal length stub axles. The ring and pinion swap is due to the Nissan street car style diffs running smaller toothed gears, I believe the q45 was a 46/13, and the high performance cars like the GTR came with larger and stronger toothed gears in this case a 39/11. I also had a PTZ rear diff cover custom machined to clear the ring gear, open the bolt holes from Datsun to modern r200 case sizes, and also milled off the logo for more of a low-key look. The PTZ cover was needed to change the bolt pattern to suit the Escort rear end setup so I couldn't just run any r200 cover. I could write a lot more detail but I think those are the key points for anyone wanting to build a q45 diff.

It's been a while but I've been getting back into the build this week. Since the last update the chassis is waiting to be scheduled in for restoration hopefully next month and I got busy with house projects, which coincidentally led me to South Florida where I picked up a Nissan competition oil pan from motorsports legend Greg Ira. The oil pan has seen better days with some motorsports style clearancing and a bunch of JB weld slathered over the side which after torching turned out to be covering a large crack. I think it's an interesting piece worth saving, and as the pan needs work it seems fitting to further modify it. The plan is to repair the cracked area and also weld some reinforcement along with a -10AN turbo oil drain. I'll try my best to straighten everything out then have it re-zinc coated. I also received word that my r34 GT-R geared Q45 OSG LSD diff is done so I'll dedicate a post to that when it's back in my garage.

The actual ZCD L brackets themselves were not consistently bent. The widest gap I measured was almost 1/4" which I suppose can be filled in with weld, but is absolutely unacceptable for my standards. There's definitely a spectrum of skill and expectations when it comes to metalwork. My buddy had floors and rockers put into his 60s mustang by a mobile welder...sure it had new metal but the fit and welding was terrible. I took the time and massaged the metal to 0 gaps all around on both rails before welding. I shouldn't be surprised at this point tbh, even the door hinge kit from ZCD was garbage. I ended up having custom bushings machined after zinc coating for perfect door actuation. With that said I probably won't learn my lesson and will order more stuff from them to fix in the future 😂.

The car is headed off to the bodyshop on Mon so I figured I'd do some final welding and chassis prep to save some labor. What was supposed to be a couple hrs turned into several mostly due to the poorly fitting front sway bar reinforcement plates from ZCarDepot but nothing a bunch of relief cuts, hammer, and brake time couldn't fix. If there's a next time I'll bend the reinforcement plates consistently myself as that may have saved me hours having properly bent brackets from the start. I haven't actually seen any pictures of how others did theirs, so I'll post these up for reference. I have done quite a bit of overhead mig, but never overhead tig and on my back so not my best work but it's under the car 😅

Last night I was disassembling the cooler packaging and snapped a quick picture of the frontend. It's interesting how the sheetmetal of the s30/s31 changed over time. On the later s30s a lip at the top of the core support was added (missing the seal in this pic), as an improvement to further force air through the coolers. On some builds I've seen this lip cut out for intercooler or other mounting. The lower support was also changed for the impact bumper, which also affects the valence mounting for the 73 year.

I'm not a fan of the bolt-in s30 Autopower roll bar or cages overall but they have their place and purpose. Today got busy but I managed to squeeze an hour in check the final fit of the roll bar and prime the floor in, which gives an idea of what things may look like painted. I'm planning to run full interior and custom carpet so it'll all be hidden anyways. The bodyshop also let me know the rotisserie is ready for my chassis. There are probably a dozen other things I could do on this but I'll leave it to the shop as they're going to paint the entire underside, inside and outside.

Yeah the geometry of the s30 is just difficult. I am also tall and every s30 with an off the shelf roll bar or cage (autopower 4 and 6 points come to mind) has put the main hoop at my head or had some combination of factors making the seating position awkward. I would definitely go custom. Last night I was able to mostly stitch weld everything in. Not my best work but I was getting good penetration so I'm confident it's strong. Every weld was done crazily out of position with the foot pedal on the floorboards or contorted sideways with with a leg out the door 😂. I'm really hoping I can wrap this today as I need to move back to welding in the engine bay.