A to Z

It is as firm as a rock.

How many of you have played around with Crossmember plates/shims, hammering a trans tunnel in a bit, engine height, trans height and driveshaft angle? I am now stepping into this new realm. I have my Vortec 4200 in, now for the trans. If you plate the crossmember you give up ground clearance, and the more you plate the more fender wheel well gap you will have, so you raise one, then adjust the coilovers to take it out, but coilovers only have so much adjustment......using aluminum plates, I can get it to where I may have to actually take the plates in to a machine shop to mill them to a precise measurement. I have some megan racing coilovers being welded on to my spindles right now. Not interested in messing with the motor mounts and like my engine riding high, so I guess we shall see!

it is the angle of the pic. Look at the one right above this. It is clear of any obstruction.

well, the factory motor mount for the L series six is a solid design with a rubber pad on the bottom. I have poly bushings where the engine mounts attach to the arms coming from the crossmember. The arms are made of 3/16" steel, very thick and heavy and professionally welded. In short they won't break, and they won't bend. Twisting forces, I guess that could be an issue down the road, but if it is present, then regardless of what style is used it would be present. the style used is one that is currently used by a ton of guys running LS powered cars. If you can grab this engine at the top and pull on it, and bend those 3/16" steel plates you have balls of cast iron. In fact I would be seriously willing to wager $1,000 that you could not do so. You could take these out, put one of them on its side and stand on it and it wouldn't bend. I will allow that something could go wrong.....I'll address it when it does. I appreciate the points to ponder though. Cheers.

4200 parts being finished at Ortiz Metal Polishing

11-08-2025. VERY busy day. running around trying to finish all the little things keeping me from being able to drop the 4.2 into the Z. Then I dropped it in. Feels great to have gotten it done, at least this far. I also was able to do some old paint removal.....the paint on this car is SO THICK.........anyway, pics.

Some of my stuff at Ortiz Aluminum Polish Specialist. Still in the process of being finished:

THANKS! Well, that is my intent. as it is hollow, I will fit a spacer inside for the grade 8 bolt to go through on both sides, so 4 total. I may have to get inventive as far as a strut tower brace, the 4200 doesn't leave room for that!I I am planning on making a thick aluminum plate that goes across the top of the entire radiator support and have it polished for looks.

Today I cleaned up the motor mounts and alternator bracket and gave them a coat of paint. I also drilled out the holes in the motor mount pads on the crossmember and painted the visible spots. Lastly the wheels came in....16x8 in the front, 16X9 -15 in the rear. Tires are 205/55R16 and 225/50R16. have to slot a couple holes ont he alternator bracket still and a couple holes on the motor mounts needs some time with a burr bit but almost ready to drop the engine into the Z.

11-04-2025. I did a little bit of spot putty work this morning, have a few spots a couple thick coats of filler primer then went ahead and painted the engine compartment and cleared it. Yep, the work isn't very good.......I did what I could. PICS.

11-03-2025- VIN verification day. Trailered it to the dealer to get the VIN verification done. You can see some of the work that has been done, as far as rust repair.

Got the title transferred. all legit now

thanks. God willing I will continue to. I got very lucky, buying a car looked over due to the rough paint, but clean....rails, doors everything clean no rust. 2 spots int he floors and a couple other spots, that's it. Still love my 240Z best, but this is a nice home for my ATLAS engine.

11-01-2025. 260Z work. I got the engine compartment sanded down after the glaze and then cleaned up the crossmember and rack with cleaning solution "g@s" and a toothbrush, and then steel wool, etc. Then I vacuumed out the cowl and primed it with rustoleum rust primerand top coated it with gloss black paint, then painted the engine bay with filler primer. Once dry I will use some spot putty I picked up on the areas that need it, hand sand it smooth and filler primer over that. Once it is good, then I will progress to color and then clear. Busy day! Pics:

I went ahead and snagged the wheels I really wanted for my 260Z. I will make the factory flares work, mod a tad in the rear but I decided instead of making the wheels fit the car, get what I want and then mod the car a tad to make them work. 18X8 0 offset for the front, and 16X9 -15 offset for the rear. Tires will be 205/55R16 in the front, and 225/50R16 in the rear. So, Gunmetal grey ROTA V's.

260Z Rust Repair Day. I had "The Floor Pan Man" from Denver come over and got all the rust cut out and welded up. In the process of doing that we found damage and THICK Bondo in the rusty area behind the passenger rear wheel. Through sheer luck the Klassic Fab Vintage JDM patch panel was high.....high enough to remove all the thick bondo, and the rust. Once removed, we found a vertical welded section that the original body man had made to straighten everything out. So, Corey was able to cut that open again, and get it all straightened out correctly AND replace the inner panel that was rotted away also. While he was doing that I tore drivers door window and mechanism out, and replaced it with a refurbished part from Adam Sylvester at Datsun Rescue. The window had been held up with duct tape for over 10 years, and getting that "goo" off the window frame took quite a long time with steel wool....the glass I was able to use a razor blade to get it 90% done.....more will have to be done later.....but the PITA job I was dreading is now finished. When the bondo was found, I took my angle grinder and flap wheel and started looking for other areas it might be hiding.....luckily their isn't any.....but the thick paint on the car is in such a condition, that I need to use the flap wheel to remove it all, and then step it out with finer and finer paper to remedy it. I also put the glaze on the places needed in the engine compartment....doesn't look good. Why? Because the Dolphin Glaze I decided to use is "self leveling"....on vertical surfaces it "self levels" it's self down the panels! Not a biggie, it will sand smooth, but I don't want any more self leveling glaze! LONG DAY! Pics.

My valve cover, intake and motor mounts are done. Valve cover and intake are at J&S Polishing now.

My valve cover, intake and motor mounts are done. Valve cover and intake are at J&S Polishing now.

Today I began making my own alternator relocation bracket.

today I began making an alternator bracket to put it where I want it.

One way to make your own alternator bracket for an ATLAS 4.2 / Vortec 4200, part 1: Ok, so to make a bracket, I took my alternator down to the hardware store, and found that 3/8 bolts fit in the holes just fine, I took three 4 inch long 3/8 grade 8 bolts what were all thread and dropped them in each hole and then used nuts to adjust and get the alternator sitting level and off the ground. Then I played with spacers and nuts to come up with a height that was level and off the plate It will need 2 nuts back to back welded together to give plenty of threads to hold the alternator on the bracket. I stuck the spacers and nuts stacked together under each corner to ensure the height was sufficient to keep the housing off of the plate. After that I centered it on a piece of cardboard and used a pen to draw around each bolt. then I removed the alternator, and made sure the piece of cardboard was cut in straight lines so I could get measurements later. once I got back to the garage, I then took the cardboard and held it up in the area I wanted the alternator to sit. After determining that, I used a pen to push holes in the cardboard where the bolts go through and then held it up and used the pen to push holes where the bracket will bolt to the engine. Lastly, I took a straightedge, and lined up the alternator pulley with the crank pulley and used the pen again to punch holes through the cardboard into where the mounting holes are. I now have the template. the bolts I bought and put through the alternator brackets will hold he spacers and nuts and they will be welded together and welded to the spots on the metal plate. The hole I punched through the cardboard into the engine block holes will be drilled out. once welded there will be 3 2-3" tall "towers" sticking up. I will cut gusset "triangles" out of steel and have them welded to the plate on the bottom and backed up to each tower for reinforcement. As I get further I will continue to show the progress, and will give all the specifics so that the next guy, free of charge, can get his alternator on there.

sizes avaialble: 16x8 16x9 or 16x9 -15.

I am thinking I can run a 16X8 0 offset in the front on my 260Z without flares, and the wheel should sit inside the wheel well. I am sure tire width will come into play, but the idea is to not lose any steering....I want to be able to turn lock to lock, no rubbing and possible lowering the lip down to the tire. Opinions please? 16X8 or 9 in the rear not to exceed the outer lip edge with a lowering just to eliminate wheel gap. definitely like to have some dish to the wheel and a lip. Thanks.

Progress pics on the valve cover and 2 pics of the intake. getting ready to go to the polisher! all the welds on the valvecover will be sanded smooth.

Progress pics on the valve cover and 2 pics of the intake. getting ready to go to the polisher! all the welds on the valvecover will be sanded smooth.