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HybridZ

A musician's therapist (The $300 Z)


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Got the chance to empty the extra parts and store them yesterday. Will be finishing up removing some last bits of trim and extra things like the brake and clutch MCs, the steering shaft, and any other small pieces that aren't part of the frame.

 

In thinking about what the car will be used for I've been considering the sorts of reinforcement I want to do. Everything I've read, especially comments from John Coffey who actually cut up a 280z and has done some testing, point to the fact that the 280z seems to be substantially stronger than the 240z. Was also reading through this thread:

 

Slightly conflicting information and I the main point JohnC made was that the seam welding instead of stitch welding might be what caused the discrepancy. Regardless, what I'm getting from this is that the 280z was actually WEAKER after doing some seam welding. Is that right? 

I was going to ask about about that affects SCCA classes because autox or some other racing on very rare occasions are something I've thought about, but after reading the rules, some of my must have mods would put me into the Modified category (I think...) so even in a turbo L-series would be up against LS engines. All moot, no point point chasing rules, I'm just gonna have fun and not worry about it if that's the case. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

For those who didn't see my other thread on porting/cleaning questions I got a non-egr N42 intake! Making it a mini-project while I'm in washington.

 

In other news, I'm always curious about finding japanese examples of S30s, but it's difficult to find anything other than what the major US car magazines put out. I ordered this magazine from Japan to satisfy my curiousity (no overnight parts from Japan here... took a little over a week and I thought that was surprisingly fast). It's interesting to see that US magazines place high emphasis on fancy photos  and the writing, at least from my perspective as someone with a college degree who teaches for a living, is generally mediocre. This japanese magazine/book on the other hand has almost the same shots of every car and all of them have the more unique engine mods detailed as well as exact wheel/tire specs for every car. This thing is very nice is close to 200 pages, more than half of them being 1 page features of different S30s printed on thick photo/magazine paper. 

 

If you're curious how I'm getting any info out of this... I'm not. Bixby vision on my galaxy phone is helping and anything I see that I'm more curious about with it. It's hit and miss, but it's really neat to see this technology develop!

 

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1 hour ago, seattlejester said:

Ooh neat,

 

If you want anything translated let me know, the kanji takes a while since I'm not native, but I can struggle through the hiragana and katakana and have the automotive perspective to put things in context.

 

Gotta get your Z  out here :D

 

Oh, definitely would be nice! 

 

And the Z is definitely coming up here this summer! :D Dad has already been meaning to come up and visit, so we came up with a plan for the end of the summer. I'll have to have most of the drivetrain, at least the heavier bits, bolted to the new shell, but the plan is to rent a trailer and pull the car up here with my dad's Tahoe on my way  back this summer while my dad comes to visit this part of the country. Need to make sure I get rid of that other shell first otherwise my roommate will hate me haha. 

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Oh I was thinking if you are getting rid of the shell would you mind if I took a portion of the firewall if it doesn't sell? I want to make a jig to make the electric power steering setup and fit it up so it is pretty much a bolt in affair. Happy to share of course :D

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I'm all for that. I doubt the thing will sell, unless I basically give it away. the exterior looks half decent and some of the panels could still sell, but the floors and that passenger firewall area where the battery tray was chopped are so far gone that they're practically non-existent. Probably more valuable in scrap and for the bits and pieces I can use to help friends with their own projects. Do you have anything I could chop stuff with? I still need to build up more of my tools up here and I don't have any big cutting tools. 

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5 hours ago, Zetsaz said:

I'm all for that. I doubt the thing will sell, unless I basically give it away. the exterior looks half decent and some of the panels could still sell, but the floors and that passenger firewall area where the battery tray was chopped are so far gone that they're practically non-existent. Probably more valuable in scrap and for the bits and pieces I can use to help friends with their own projects. Do you have anything I could chop stuff with? I still need to build up more of my tools up here and I don't have any big cutting tools. 

Are you talking about the 240Z you bought, or your old 280Z shell? Might be interested in a patch or two depending on what's still solid. I bought a lower rear quarter, but when it arrived, it was obvious the car was sitting outside, and the inside had rusted :(

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Yea, I have all sorts of things, sawzall would probably be the best for bigger cuts. Die grinders care the least for what you are cutting. I imagine if we got the main section from where the steering rack passes through the firewall to pedal box out that would be useful. Happy to come up and help take bits off and such, if you want to save body panels and such we can definitely cut them off, pulling glass if you want to save it as long as it isn't glued in isn't too bad with two people as well.

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@rturbo 930: It's the $100 series 1 shell I picked up. Pretty much just got it for the steering wheel and early style turn signals/tailights. Never would have picked it up if it cost me more. I could probably chop of the lower rear quarters. They seem to be in decent shape. You'd have to give me some sort of way to ID where you want me to cut from. Send me a PM to remind me to get you some pictures of the condition when I get the chance. 

 

@seattlejester: It'd definitely be nice to have some help taking some stuff apart, especially since my tool selection is limited. I probaby have enough room in my small storage room to put everything in, even if it's not ideal. Whenever you have a free night or weekend let me know, although weekends are usually my only time to see my girlfriend so she'd have to join in on the chaos haha. 

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Weekends would work better for me given the return trip would add an hour not to mention the drive up after work I imagine would be pretty bad at least till Everett.

 

I don't have anything particularly planned this Saturday :D. I can head up to arlington in the morning and grab the power steering unit and then head further north to you and help you tear things down. As long as it doesn't have anything like the engine or something of that nature we should be able to tackle removal and deconstruction. Don't let me intrude on your plans though.

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  • 1 month later...

Small progress today on getting the new shell moving. Chopped the spindles to mate the coilovers to and split apart the entire suspension. Will be redoing the rear wheel bearings while I have anything apart.

 

Took the rear pieces to a shop a block from my folks' house to have the spindle pins pressed out. Will be pulling them and putting antiseize or swapping out for the grade 8 bolts some people have used instead. Don't want to have to deal with stuck spindle pins down the road and take everything apart again when I decide to upgrade the rear arms. 

 

Will need to figure something out for my seat rails since none were replaced when the floors were redone on my new shell. Past owner was going to use racing seats in a lower position so the originals weren't needed. Still deciding whether I want to take the time to make some shorter custom mounts or cut the floor mounts out of the old shell when I'm ready to move everything over.... will have to think it over while I'm finishing the coilover upgrade and brakes. 

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Before and in progress shots of the OEM fuel tank I've been trying to clean. I was conflicted about cutting into the new shell since it has solid metal all around. I was getting frustrated that OEM tanks were so expensive and I couldn't find any in junkyards. Was lucky enough to find this fairly straight but rusty (as they all are) tank out of New México.

 

Ordered a POR15 sealing kit for it, but trying to get as much as possible cleaned up with the chain like some other guys have done on different projects and a LOT of vinegar. I think it's doing a great job. Trying to make sure I only drag the chain around and don't ram into pieces of the baffling. I'm removing the sending unit any time I need to slosh things around and break stuff loose with the chain so I don't break it. Making progress! Goal is to get the new shell on refreshed suspension and working brakes at a bare minimum by the end of July so I can take it to Washington with me and actually make progress. 

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My friend took his tank to a radiator shop that dipped the tank and then sealed it. I think it wasn't that much more than buying the stuff and trying to do it yourself. He did the try it yourself with a chain but it didn't get everything out and clogged his injectors, so the sealer kit plus injector cleaning costed him more than taking it to a place.

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A very very very big thank you to @jpndave and his sone for helping me weld these things. I don't have a MIG and even so I don't trust my very minimal experience with it enough to do something like this on a critical component. Welds turned out super nice. 

 

Made sure to cover all threads and was able to do a rough sandblasting job on them before welding.  Covered all the threads and tried to cut the tap right where the black coating on the new pieces meets the silver, or just above it. Used Krylon rust protectant stuff in satin black. Surprisingly good match to whatever black BC is using on these! Not a perfect job, but these are mostly out of sight anyway. Excited for my bearings to arrive early next week so I can start putting everything back together.

 

Next job is probably figuring out whether I want to make custom floor mounts for my seats or hack them out of the other shell. Other car will probably become a parts car and eventually be parted out when this project is "done," so chopping them out doesn't seem like a bad idea, but I need an inch or two more of head clearance. Currently, my hair just barely skims the headliner.

 

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Edited by Zetsaz
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11 hours ago, Zetsaz said:

A very very very big thank you to @jpndave and his sone for helping me weld these things. I don't have a MIG and even so I don't trust my very minimal experience with it enough to do something like this on a critical component. Welds turned out super nice. 

 

Made sure to cover all threads and was able to do a rough sandblasting job on them before welding.  Covered all the threads and tried to cut the tap right where the black coating on the new pieces meets the silver, or just above it. Used Krylon rust protectant stuff in satin black. Surprisingly good match to whatever black BC is using on these! Not a perfect job, but these are mostly out of sight anyway. Excited for my bearings to arrive early next week so I can start putting everything back together.

 

Next job is probably figuring out whether I want to make custom floor mounts for my seats or hack them out of the other shell. Other car will probably become a parts car and eventually be parted out when this project is "done," so chopping them out doesn't seem like a bad idea, but I need an inch or two more of head clearance. Currently, my hair just barely skims the headliner.

 

 

 

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Dang man! Those look great! I'm jealous! 

 

As far as seat mounts, I'm doing custom mounts in mine. I'm 6'0" and with my Corbeau I'm basically touching with the seat cushion in, so I bought some side mounts from ebay for $20, and I've already cut out the old cross bars so now I'm welding new ones in that will only be like an inch above the floor pan and I'll bolt it to that. it's tough because I like being a bit higher and being able to see more of the hood, but in order to race it I'll need 2 inches of clearance between my helmet and the roll bar and right now that is not happening ha. So if you're planning on racing, I'd suggest that, if not, then use the old mounts!

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