Project Phoenix

[AkRev]

More tear down. 

Got the lower core support removed today. Here is a picture of all of the spot welds that I had to drill out, and two that I missed. 

As soon as I cut the last spot weld, the front of the car relaxed and spread out about a 1/4" over two feet. 

After I removed the lower core support, I decided that I needed to trim a little more off for the radiator.

By doing so, this will allow me to remake the mount for the radiator. I will move the radiator forward 2-1/2" and down about 3-1/2"

In measuring everything, it looks like I will be able to mount up to a 4-1/2" thick core for an intercooler, or a 3" core so that I would be able to run a condenser. I am leaning toward not installing a.c. in the car. 

Here is a small idea of where I am planning to mount the radiator. Looking for feed back with peoples experience with how close to mount the intercooler to the radiator. I am assuming about 1" would be enough to keep heat saturation down on a road car.  

[AkRev]

Got a few moments to try and patch a few trouble spots.

Before.

After.

Got everything smoothed down using a 60 grit flap disk. Got one small high spot that I will have to work a little due to overheating. Pleased with how it turned out. Going to keep going then go back and lead it. 

[AkRev]

Back at it, got the worst rust repair down now. Got the general shape down well. Few ball hammer marks that I am in the process of working out. Drivers side engine bay has all rust removed and holes patched. 

[AkRev]

Small updated, my brother in-law came over on Saturday and wanted to get some sheet metal experience with a wire feed welder. Wile I was off cleaning up he took a stab at patching a few holes over on the firewall.

Before 

After 

This was his first time using a wire feed on thin metal.

Other changes, I finally took the time to remove the rear flares. The flares had been glued and riveted, then had layers upon layers of fiberglass on top of it. 

Passenger's side. 

Driver's side 

One semi-surprise was found on the drive's side. My guess is that the rear hatch or antenna leaked and started rusting out back quarter panel. It looks like years ago the rust was cut out and then attempted to be repaired with fiberglass.

It did not hold up as well as I wish it would have. 

Edited June 24, 2014 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Do not want people to think I have given up. Still working on the car every chance I get, It is only for a few moments about every other day.

Getting things ready for paint, started block sanding and DA sanding the top of the car, got most of the engine bay patched up, and a few parts ordered and on the way. 

Edited July 23, 2014 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Time always goes by too fast when life is crazy. 

Been block sanding the car and prepping for paint. Got the kick to the shorts last weekend when I went to the paint store. My plan was to epoxy the car, do some minor skim coats on top of the epoxy and then to 2k prime and block sand. Well, thanks to the EPA, not an option now. It is now illegal to spray epoxies,or high VOC content in my area, and that rule started last month.

 

So, now I have a change of plans and need to move faster than I am. 

 

New Plan:

Get the rear flairs cut

Install the rear flairs. 

Do all of the body work on the main shell before temps drop into the 50's.

Prime the car with DTM2035 Surfacer (4:1:1 mix) over metal and body work. 

Then get the car on the rotisserie to work on the underside for the winter time. 

 

So yesterday I got back at it. Started off by re-installing the S14 subframe and putting my rims and tires on for the car. (Rims - XXR 526 / Tires (rear) - Falken FK452 265/40z R17)

 

Pictures Pre-Cut:

 

So with only an hour to work, I decided to pull the tire and freehand cut the fender.

Could have been better, half way through I realized I could cut higher, so I did. That did not make it look pretty though. 

Ran out of time (as you can see the sky is dark outside of the door now) to cut the front section back. However, I did take the time to check how the S14 subframe traveled.

It travels forward and up mostly as I expected, It moves forward about an inch over three inches, toes in about 3/4" and cambers quite a bit. I now have a good start to start working on the flairs. 

It has been a long time since I have practiced my fiberglass skills.... this might be the train wreck that you can not look away from. 

Edited September 17, 2014 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Took some time yesterday to clean up the cut around the tire. This time I used a string and marker, so it is actually a radius style cut.

I also starting mocking up my flair. 

This is the part I like, this is the point where I find everything useless in my garage to start cutting it up into a flair like shape. 

Things found in my garage might include shingles, cardboard, aluminum tape, and my new favorite - plastic covers for fluorescent lights.

 

Step one, toss about an inch think of roofing shingles on the rear tire.

Step two, make a nasty shape out of cardboard. 

I did warn you that this could be the train wreck that you might just have to watch. 

 

I will say that my whole point of doing the cardboard was so that I could trace the shape on to the plastic light cover. 

And here is where I ran out of time for the day. 

The top is flexing down at the moment. That is why it looks a bit off square. My plan is to cut the front lip that will hold the inside shape of the flare today or Saturday. 

 

Edit: I should note, the new rim and tire setup is much taller than my older set of rims and tires, because of this, to maintain the ride height, I had to raise the rear suspension. The problem with this is that I have adjustable toe and leading arms, but not an adjustable camber arm. So in the pictures the tire has the correct toe, but the wrong camber. I am compensating for the future camber adjustment as I build this mock flair. 

Edited September 19, 2014 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Few things to update on. I never did show the picture of when I went back and re-cut the rear quarter.

In this picture you can see that I did a few things, the black paint is a rust conversion primer. I used this on all of the areas that I was worried about rust. I also attached the inner fender to the rear quarter skin using two layers of 8oz fiberglass. 

After a few days, I got around to taping off the quarter.

Hit it with rust conversion primer and then the next day with the rubberized undercoating. 

Now for the things that changed. After collecting a few opinions from friends, family, and my wife. I change the look of my flair. At first I wanted to mimic the stock lip and make it look something like this.

But I wanted something different, and after standing next to a 350z, the dim light got brighter. I decided that I wanted a flat lip.... for some reason I just a Sum41 song stuck in my head. So, I get out the heat gun and go to town. Got it to look great and then called it a night. By the time I looked at it in the morning it looked like crap. 

So back at it with a heat gun, and this time, I got smarter, I used shims to hold its shape. 

It is hard to tell from that picture, but this is kind of the lip I am putting in. 

It has a flat face to the lip, gives a little bit more of a distinction. Also, at the same time, the lip will tuck in.... Hard to explain, but I want the top of the tire covered, and then a small sliver of the tire exposed as it goes down. 

Best example of this would be a RWB. You can see how the top is covered then it slightly tapers in near the bottom and exposes the tire. 

And my stopping point for drivers side. 

Will pick up on the passenger side and catch it up.

[AkRev]

Cough... cough... wheeze.

These things collect dust fast.

Been working on a few side projects, one neat side project is my brother-in-law wanted to do some powder coating. He found an old refrigerator and found a way to convert it into an oven so we could powder coat large objects like a sub-frame.

 

As for an update with the Z, I got the passenger side flair done and then decided that I needed to work on the under side of the car. As an accountant by trade I did what most accountants do and use the cheapest way possible to do something.

 

Exhibit A: 

$28.63. (side note, the broom is not holding up the car)

One of the many reason in doing this was to check all of the angles one more time on the rear differential, glad I did. some where along the way I had the nose of the differential 3/8 of and inch higher then the back. This would explain the slight noise I would hear from the rear end on deceleration.

Back at it I adjusted the mounts one more time and everything lined up. Next up, the frame rails. This should be fun....

That is the only part of the frame rail that is rusted through. I will get that welding job started this week. 

Edited January 29, 2015 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Quick update.

We have a metal supply store a few miles from our home. Wile I was there, I found some 3" x 1" rail. I realized that I wanted this to patch up the frame. Then the fun part, they only sold 10' or 20' lengths, and the 10' was $45 and the 20' was $55. So I got 20' with the intent of doing this. 

I always disliked trying to jack this car from the side, normally I would have to lift the car up with a cheap scissor jack so I could fit my jack underneath, it would always run into the side skirts if I tried without lifting it a bit first. 

 

I got it all welded up on the main rail. Now I need to cap the end under the car and then I will run the front up the firewall a bit to help stiffen the car a bit.

 

My welding is improving, this has been a great opportunity to get in some time with my machine. However, I am still getting a fair amount of splatter. Any tips are always welcomed. 

[eduTechnic]

Quick update.

We have a metal supply store a few miles from our home. Wile I was there, I found some 3" x 1" rail. I realized that I wanted this to patch up the frame. Then the fun part, they only sold 10' or 20' lengths, and the 10' was $45 and the 20' was $55. So I got 20' with the intent of doing this. 

I always disliked trying to jack this car from the side, normally I would have to lift the car up with a cheap scissor jack so I could fit my jack underneath, it would always run into the side skirts if I tried without lifting it a bit first. 

 

I got it all welded up on the main rail. Now I need to cap the end under the car and then I will run the front up the firewall a bit to help stiffen the car a bit.

 

My welding is improving, this has been a great opportunity to get in some time with my machine. However, I am still getting a fair amount of splatter. Any tips are always welcomed. 

 

Welds are looking good. wow! I need to practice on more than just sheet metal...it makes me crazy.

[AkRev]

Still moving along, Got the new rails up and about 75% done. So I decided to start patching the drivers rail and extending it like the passenger's side. Odd thing about the 2+2, they had the passenger side rail get an add on rail that took it all the way back on the floor. However the drivers side only went back about 2/3 of the way. 

As you can see in the above pic. So I started by drilling out the spot welds. 

 

Found more things left from all the spiders.

There was a dead one that I tried to re-kill. 

And was surprised by how the rust got to the pinch weld area.

My brother in law is coming down to my house tomorrow, we should be able to patch a few other things and then flip the car to its other side. 

Should be some more things to see on the next update. 

Edited February 27, 2015 by AkRev

[BluDestiny]

This is awesome. 

[AkRev]

Thanks BluDestiny!

 

Got a good chunk of work done on Saturday. Due to the annoyance of welding with your wrists below the item you are welding, I welded up everything that was pointing up and then we flipped the car on the passenger side so I can easily weld without personal harm.

 

Got the main rail on the driver's side extended all the way back on the car.

I forgot to take a picture of it, but the front of the rocker on the passenger side got patched. 

 

One good win, removed the mustache bar bolts. Previous owner had cut them to clear the S14 sub-frame. 

Edited March 9, 2015 by AkRev

[AkRev]

So, about time to show a few parts that I have had hidden away. Pulled these down on Thursday. 

Passenger side. 

Drivers Side

These are 2003 WRX seats. There are a few benefits from them.

 

First, I am a tall guy. Every car I drive has the seat as far back as it can go. These seats have a really great sliding track. They also (driver's side only) can be adjusted up and down for height. So that it can fit someone like me, and someone a foot shorter than me.... (cough...  cough Brad.) But in all seriousness, I know I need to make it so other people can ride/drive the car. 

 

Second, They feel good and breath well. Since I am still on the fence about A/C in this car, it has made me think about other ways to feel good in the car. We all know what happens to a guy in a hot car with vinyl/leather seats, it gets very unconformable from sweat. Cloth seats are great thing. Flip side, getting into a leather seat on a cold day does not sound any better too.  

 

Third, I am on the fence about the air bags. But if I do decide to get the inertial sensors and mount them, it would be nice to have a little more protection on a small car... in Utah.... with way too many people that drive lifted oversize trucks... to compensate for a lack of something else... and all happen to be contractors that will not put down their phone to drive. 

 

So on to the fun pictures. 

Removing the old seat mounts. What luck, more rust. 

Went at it with the wire brush to find out that it was fine, small pits only in one area, but still good overall

More to come. 

Plan is to weld up the corners to the rail, then clean, spray rust inhibitor, silicon up the welds/gaps on the rails, and then undercoat everything. 

[AkRev]

Got a few things done over the weekend. Got the corners welded up on the new rail, so time to get them protected. 

First step was to hit the rails with a rust reformer/preventive. Basically a high zinc primer. 

Second step was to Seal up the all the welds on the frame rail. This is a silicone base that dries clear.

4 hours later.... 

Finally the next day it was ready for the rubber undercoating coat. 

Happy with how it turned out so far. I will be finishing it with a high build rubber coat this week to keep down the noise. 

[AkRev]

Few fun things got done, and purchased. 

First up a few progress pictures of the underside of the car.

Got the leading subframe mount sealed up.

Never did show how I did the corners, might as well show my amateur welding ability on an outside butt weld. 

I cut out a nasty section on the drivers side rocker. 

As you can mostly see on the bottom of the picture, I got a few new parts. First up, new stainless brake lines for the s14 rear.

I did not want to go with solid bushings for the subframe, so I got some inserts for the bushings to stiffen it up and not make a dramatic change in N.V.H.

Last new part/tool is to prevent rust in all of the areas that I can not paint, this is Eastwood's anti rust that came with a wand that sprays in all directions. 

And last, I got a few things layers of undercoating done.

Edited March 27, 2015 by AkRev

[AkRev]

Got to keep the weekly update going!

 

Milestone #1 happened on Friday, first piece to go back on the car.

Took the ebrake bracket and cleaned it (took me a long time to get to the zinc)

I then sanded it and forgot about it for about a week. Got the part and put it back together and lubed it all up, the part rotates smoothly and am very happy with how it looks.

And there we go, First part back on the 280z. 

Got the S14 subframe cleaned up and done. 

Finally, I got 1/2 the engine bay painted. Call me crazy, but I am clumsy, and it would drive me nuts to drop a tool and mess up a nicely painted engine bay. So, I took a different route. When I did the frame rails, I had used a rubber undercoating that I ended up falling in love with. I covered the rubber coat with hard undercoating on the bottom of the car. But I had the crazy idea to use it in the engine bay. So I cleaned the engine bay to bare metal, hit it with rust reformer, and then topped it with the rubber coat. 

I like how it turned out for a few reasons. 

My patches are covered up, I can respray sections at any time and it will blend in, and I am now less likely to damage something when I am wrenching in the engine bay.  

[AkRev]

I should also note, The s14 subframe is cut up, I will explain that more shortly and show pictures. To answer questions though, I am using the stock r200 shell, the internals are from the S14 differential, and, I am using the stock diff mount (leading mount not mustache bar) to mount the front of the diff. To mount the back of the diff, I put the S14 Cover on the r200 and made the mount for the s14 subframe line up with that. 

I did this for a number of reasons, the big one was I wanted to keep the rear seat for my boys to ride with me when they want to. 

 

Hope that answers a few questions. 

[AkRev]

First I must apologize for neglecting this thread. I have been busy on the car, so time for a photo dump.

Got the hard lines cleaned up and painted, needed to replace the vent line, it was a mess on the inside. 

At this point, everything was patched that I need and got all of the parts that I did not want to do on my back, back on. 

So, time to get the car back on the ground and make it wider!

Step one - string line and mount the flair. (String line is from the door so I could copy to passenger side)

Step two - Cover your tracks and make sure it will never come off. (those rivets will take a miracle to find)

Step three - skim with Bondo and sand like a mad man. (hard to tell, but I added a metal section to the bottom to make it strong and hold shape if hit)

And no, the Bondo does not get over 1/8" thick. It is a true skim coat. 

For the top of the flair, I made another change after I started sanding, I didn't like the feel of it when I sanded. So I extended a body line out about an inch. (using fiberglass... and then a little Bondo hair) 

After a few hours of sanding and guide coats of paint. 

I should note, the front side of the lip will be completed after I get an adjustable toe arm. I need the toe to be correct to confirm that I will not hit the car when car is jacked up to replace a tire. 

 

For anyone that is wondering, This is a reason I really like the s14 subframe. (ignore the green mess on the bottom right of the car, I ended up sanding that off, and changing the look)