Heavy Duty frame rails and connectors

[christianmoller]

Those mirrors looks very nice, very close to the 1974 oem that i have on driver side.

 

/C

[toolman]

CREATING A HOT WHEELS 1/64 REPLICA OF MY 240Z

 

      While awaiting my Ford 8.8 Differential Conversion Kit,  I decided to create a Hot Wheels Replica of my 240Z.  Sure I made a lot of 1/25 scale model cars when I was a teenager.   But I never made a 1/64 scale car.   Maybe some other 240z owners might be interested in process.

     First, I started with a Hot Wheels version of a basic 71 Datsun 240Z.

 

   This car must opened up by drilling out the two Rivets that secure the body

to the chassis.  The body is stripped of all windows and prepared for paint stripping.   Regular Automotive Paint Stripper can be used.   This process should take only a half hour or so.  The body shell is sanded with #400 sandpaper to provide smooth surface and eliminate any small burrs. 

Now, the most difficult portion of this job is the creation of opening doors, hood and hatch of this 240Z.   As this car is a sports car, cutting the body must be 

performed carefully.  I have used a regular hack saw blade to do the cutting.  I would recommend to purchased a Hobby Saw(from Amazon).  The Saw comes with blades small as 2mm and is much easier to handle in tight cuts.

 

 

This pic shows the cutting of the Rear Hatch with a modified Hack Saw Blade.

 

This pic shows a Pin Vise used to drill a .030 hole for the Hatch Hinge Pin.

 

The Hatch Pin and Hatch Hinge shown.

The Working Rear Hatch.

 

 

Next time, Creating Opening Doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2 by toolman
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[armorer]

Who's 8.8 kit are you using?

[toolman]

Armorer,  After much thought. I decided to use Incredible Extreme Muscle Car Garage one.   He uses 

the Ford Super Duty 8.8 Differential which is much Stronger than the older Ford Explorer one.   The kit uses Ford Mustang Suspension Parts( Hubs, bearings,etc) which readily available.  His Box Structure

for the differential makes the whole unit very strong.   Watch his suspension work on that 8 second  Green Z confirms this fact.   Late Model Mustang used softer bushings in their rear suspensions.   This caused

many Mustang crashes because of being excessively soft.   Drag Racers ended up in replacing all of the Rear Suspension Bushings in their cars.   The Super Duty 8.8 differentials also has 34 splines vs 32 splines in Explorer ones.  More splines gives additional torque strength.   Broken axles can make

the vehicle veer 90 degrees and cause a crash as there is no way to correct in time.  Another reason to use a Super Duty 8.8 differential is it has a Torsion Limited Slip.  Only a few Explorer 8.8 differential came with Limited Slip.  I hope this info helps you make your decision.

 

Edited October 5 by toolman
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[armorer]

Toolman,

I have his kit waiting for installation.  Look forward to seeing your writeup on installation. I just got my LS3 & TR 6060 transmission. Will finally be starting my build late this fall.

[toolman]

Creating Opening Doors and Hood-

 

       First thing in creating Opening Doors is cutting the Doors from the Die Cast Body.   A

Hobby Saw makes this easier if there curves involved besides just straight cuts,

 

Notice the Shape of the Wire( paper clip can be used).  The Straight End will attached to the inside of the Door Panel and Cruve Side willbe attached to the inside of the Fender( a flat side of plastic will drilled for the Hinge Pin to be inserted).   This will the Hinge Pivot Point.

   The Body with Door Opening

 

 

 

The Door Hinge installed first on the Fender   The Horizontal Side of Hinge can be glued to the inside of the Door Panel.  You can use masking tape to test fit the door before gluing this end of the Hinge on the inside

of the Door Panel.  Test Fit the Door by opening and closing the door and checking its alignment.  You can carefully bend the Hinge till good alignment is achieved.

 

The Hood Hinge is easily made by drilling a .027 hole in the headlight buckets on both sides of the Hood.

Then a straight .025 wire is inserted between the Two Headlight Buckets.  A Drop of Instant Glue can be used to fasten the Hood to this Pin.

Test Fit the Hood and Bend the Wire carefully to get the Hood Aligned properly.

 

 

 

The Car should resemble somewhat like this-Opening Hood and Doors with Hatch Open.

 

Body Work-Rocket Bunny Flares

    Using Tamiya Epoxy Putty(available on Amazon)  I formed the Putty into a Rough Shape of the Rocket Bunny Flares.   Using a Sharp Knife, i sharped the Putty into Final Bodywork.   Then Hand sanding with

# 80 Grit Sandpaper.  Then going to# 400 Grit to get the surface smooth.

 

Priming the Car-

    Now, the Whole Car must be Primed inside and outside with Primer Filler.   This will cover any left over scratches and small imperfections.

Inside of Car Primered

 

 

Outside of Body Primered.

 

 

Next-Sanding and Painting

 

Edited November 13 by toolman
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[calZ]

You're a crazy man - in a good way. 

[toolman]

Painting  the 1/64 scale 240Z-

    I masked off the Bottom of the car for the Bright Red Top Coat.  I had to mask off the sections that would end up White.

 

Next, After the Red Top Coar was sprayed and dried overnight, the masking paper was carefully removed.   Now, the Red Section must masked off for the

painting of the White Lower Section to be painted.

  At this point, the car should resemble something like this.

 

While allowing the White Paint to dry 24Hours, I decided to work on the Engine

Compartment.   I had to fabricate the Aluminum Radiator.  It made from Scrape

Flat Plastic Sheet.  I glued a tiny piece of fabric to give the radiator finned look.

Then, I brushed it with Chrome Silver.

 

Yes, the Radiator is Tiny.   That small size of parts gave me the biggest headaches

as parts were so easy to lose.

 

Engine Compartment  was also constructed with Flat Plastic Sheets.

  Note-Battery on the Left Side of the Firewall.  The Radiator was mounted on the Fabricated Core Support

which has the Holes on both sides of the Radiator.  The Strut Tops were painted Red Metallic.

 Tweezers had to be used to 

installing all of the components (like brake  master cylinder,etc)

  Brake Master Cylinder

 

Finally, the LS3 motor (got from Ebay).  but nobody made T-56 6speed 

transmission.   So I craved on out of Balsa Wood.

  LS3 Motor detailed painted with Gloss Black on most engine components.

 

 

LS3 AND T-56 Transmission installed in engine bay.

 

 

Next-Detailing the Interior

Edited October 28 by toolman
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[toolman]

Detailing the Interior-

    Installing the Battery into the Engine Compartment.

 

LS3 Motor installed in car-

 

 

Roll Bar installed and Chrome Rear Hatch Floor.

 

using Tweezers to put in Door Handles and Window Crank on Left Door.

 

Installing Door Pull on Door Panel on Right Door,

 

Ebay supplied the 240z Morton Race 240z Decal Sheet for $10.

 

After the Red and Blue Stripes with "DATSUN" were put on the cat then Clear was sprayed on.

 

The Finished Car Pics-

 

Top View

 

240z with Open Doors, Hood and Rear Hatch.

 

 

Next-  Ford  8.8 Differential Conversion

Edited November 13 by toolman
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[toolman]

    Before I start I wish apologize for not having photos of my JDM Tour in Tokyo. I had about 20 pics to show but they got erased while correcting and lost all of them.   Anyway while in Tokyo, I found a 5 hour Night Tour covering various Car Related Places to see.

I chose the Shared Group Tour (about 6 to 8 people in a large Toyota van) and because it was a night tour,

it didn't interfere my daylight plans.  The cost of this particulate tour e  $250 per person.   It started at 4PM and ended about 9PM depending on traffic.

Pickup Up point in my case was Toer Records in Shibuya.   It was 300 yard walk  from the Shibuya Train Station.   At the end of the tour, you are dropped off near your hotel in Tokyo area.

  The First Stop was the Liberty Walk Store which is tiny 2store in a back alley on Tokyo.   It was mostly

Promotional Type of Store with t-shirts, hat, key chains,etc.

   Second Stop-AUTOBACS is a two building which houses a Parts Store (similar to our O'Reileys) on the Second Floor.  The Top Floor held 

high end Racing parts(like Nismo, HKS,etc).    Foreigners with Passports can get 10% discount off purchases.

 Their Book Section had car magazines, books,photo ablums,etc)

ica 1/64 cars and all types of trucks and heavy equipment were on display...

to purchase. Even had a STARBUCKS CoffeeShop.

  The Ground Floor, there was a Garage that could handle regular car maintenance or installation of even Turbo setup.

Last Stop was the Daikoku Parking Area.  This large parking is located in Yokohama Harbor.   This parking area is next to where the Japanese Cars(Nissann Toyota,etc) are exported to US, Southeast Asia,etc.  There was

about 200 cars on the Friday Night that I went.   Most of the cars there were

the typical Street Racer types.   Some JDM cars had UnderCar Lighting systems.  A few cars had Full Body Wraps(Cartoon Girls Designs were popular).   Majority of the cars were mostly on the quiet side probably because Toyko Strict Noise Regulations.  There was one vehicle that caught my eye-it was White K Truck with an Extended Cab and Flat Bed.  It had a Dual Floating Rear Axles( total  of 6Tires and wheels).   The rear axles move individually of each other.   Unfortunately, the vehicle didn't stop and kept moving thu the parking area.  People said the best night for car viewing was Sunday Night but

I was leaving Monday morning, maybe next time.

    I would still recommend this Tour for Car Lovers to learn Japan Car Culture and see some unique vehicles.

 

Edited Monday at 05:17 PM by toolman
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