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1973 240z 5.3 / ls1 microsquirt build


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  • 9 months later...

I recently had surgery so I finally have some down time to update this thread.

 

I took my rusty turd to Z Attack at the  Nissan Headquarters. They do the event every two years. I had a blast, saw a bunch of cool z's and had a great time. Nissan really does a bang up job at this event. No ricers, no stupid kids doing disrespectful burnouts, just a good time. Thanks Nissan for putting the event on. Also thanks Jonathan for all your help putting the event on.

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The coolest part of the show was how much love I got from everybody on my car. It really is a good feeling for others to appreciate all the work you have put into your car. I actually won two awards and was completely floored by it. The Diamond In the rough is my favorite.

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Another shot of the engine bay.

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Took her to the dyno

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Almost made 300, but for a 5.3 on a dyno dynamics, I was happy.

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That Z in the middle is AWESOME! Hope you are stronger every day. While you are freezing in Franklin, I just went snorkeling, bathed in both a volcanic hot spring and a cool waterfall, and went sailing on a catamaran! Tomorrow is water skiing in the tropical blue water. Good thing the folks fown here dont mind a fat, hairy little man in a speedo! Keep holding down the fort back home and get well soon!

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Well as with any Datsun that has not been restored, you will eventually need to start addressing rust. I started with stuff that would not completely take my car down so that I could still drive it. This is a pic of the rear area under the hatch. In this pic I had already removed the top panel by drilling out all the spot welds.

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I sourced some sheet metal from a buddy and started fabbing up replacement panels. It is a little thicker than stock, but I figured it cant hurt. I bent a few pieces in the break that I have and this is what I came up with.

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I got most of the rust cut out and started to patch it in and make it fit the best I could before I started welding it all in.

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Starting to burn it in. This cheap ass 1973 meal does not weld too good...

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Here is the replacement panel almost ready to weld in.

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I also bought some much needed seats. Just like titties, I can feel them so they are real enough for me.

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I tried to place them so that I will have room for a cage in the future.

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I also picked up a turbo, this is getting fun.

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Here are my favorite pics of my car so far. I was bored, drove my car into the yard and snapped a few pics.

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Now on to more rust... Dammit man. The floor pans are completely screwed.

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I bought some floor pans and Bad Dog frame rails / sub frame connectors. They are much thicker than stock and should help stiffen up the car for the added horsepower.

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In the next potato quality photo you can see the ever growing mountain of parts for this car. Wheel bearings, seals, every tie rod, bushings, frame rails, floor pans, wilwood brakes, and everything else you need to restore a classic turd such as my ride...

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I also decided that my current motor mounts were taking up too much room and were not advantageous to running a giant down pipe. I bought this kit and figured Id have my go at it. http://www.randyellisdesign.com/DIY-Caged-Bushing-Tubular-GM-LS-Series-Race-Motor-Mount-Kit_p_85.html .

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More Fab work...

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This is the last picture I have of the car before I started tearing it down to do the full restoration. It looks like the giant light is calling it home. It is about to die and go to heaven, lol.

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The motor is out and ready to be put on hold for a while.

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Front is on the rotisserie.

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Now the rear.

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Shit just got real.

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More rust, this time on the lower rocker right in front of the driver side rear tire.

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Drilling out spot welds and trying to get the cancer cut out.

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All this did is expose all the cancer behind the outer layer. Shit. I haven't repaired this yet because I really don't know where to start.

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This is where I welded the motor mount flanges on the frame rail. I hope it will all work as I want it too.

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If you are not a Datsun owner, you have no idea how big of a deal this picture is.

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Now it is time to start trying to make things look pretty. Sand blasting can make a hell of a difference.

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Powder coating has started.

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The chrome powder is not exactly chrome, but I give it a solid polished aluminum.

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Here are the mounts done in black.

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I shaved the original motor mounts off the cross member because they are not needed and will help with adding room for previously mentioned gigantic down pipe.

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That is all I have now. I am wanting to go work on my car sooo bad, but my surgery will not allow it. I am 3 weeks out of it, but I still do not feel like I can do much. I am not going to rush it because I dont want to go through this shit again. Man how I would love to do some fab work...

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Dang that looks sweet! What size turbo? And I can't wait until I get to rip mine back apart, fix all the rust, turbo and get some actual paint on it. Keep up the good work! It looks awesome!

 

You gotta get it all done before the z Attack next year in Franklin at headquarters! Hopefully we can meet up again before that sometime too

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Love this. It's very similar to all the crap I am doing. Should finish my rotisserie tomorrow so I can weld in some real frame rails from front to back since mine have more holes than I care to count.

 

Thanks

 

I'm curious to see how you tackle that rocker rust, as I have to deal with the same thing. It's not likely to be a fun ordeal... Your build looks great though!

 

I too am curious how to fix the rust here, lol. I wil go out one day and sand blast it to figure out where to start. I bought the patch panel for the part that is already cut out, but I dont want to think about replacing the rocker...

 

Beautiful TIG welds!

 

I appreciate it. Im just some dude making metal stick together in his garage. I wish I was better. Have you seen Toxic Fab's stuff? This guy is an artist... http://instagram.com/toxicfab/

 

By that time, my paint will have gone to crap and I will take all the trophies home!

 

I got lucky, I cant wait until the next one.

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