Heavy Duty frame rails and connectors

[Richard Oben]

When the finished project is done if the pre work in any indication it will be stunning.  R

[toolman]

 Decided to beef up the seat mounts and keep them off the floor to prevent corrosion.  I utilized  1" square box tubing with reinforcing plates on each end.

Even if I go to different seats, these mounts should be a good base to start with.        driver's side mounts   passenger's mounts.   Thanks Richard,  most people don't realize how much work is actually involved in this type of build.

Edited November 21, 2017 by toolman

[toolman]

Hatch section was masked off carboard,plastic sheets. duct tape and plywood to control sandblasting.

Used a plywood sheet to lay down on to do the sandblasting.   It was tight and hard to move around and blast.  

 

After blasting, still more cleaning necessary.

I haven't decided about the tire well yet.  But am leaning to remove it and replace it with a fuel cell.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by toolman

[Richard Oben]

We opted to keep the well and modify the tank so it has an EFI pump in it.  Less work for us, but you could obviously hand either.  R

[toolman]

I needed more room to better job sandblasting so blocked off the front hatch area.Put a large plywood to hold up the blue tarp covering the open hatch area.Richard, the spare tire area was cleaned.  Saved for now.

After blasting, all seams were clean out and spot welded.   This area will be primed with self etching primer to prevent corrosion.

 

Edited December 3, 2017 by toolman

[toolman]

The car was p[aced on its side to remove rear undercoating.

This area is really tight to remove the undercoating.  Mostly the undercoating had to heated with the heat gun then hand scraped off.  The air scraper was used only on large open areas.

 

After scrapping was done, the 4 1/2 grinder with wire wheel removed most of the remaining underseal.Then the area was media blasted with Number #60 grit abrasive.   This media is one step rougher to remove heavy underseal in tight areas.   Even so, I had media blast this area several times to do a decent job.

[toolman]

As if the Holidays wasn't keeping me busy already,  I had a plumbing leak in the house to repair.   But I managed to work on my car.  I wanted to "box in" the tension rod support area.   I painted the inside of the box with black paint.   I used 16 gauge metal for the inner and outer sides of the box.  The interior of these pieces were painted with weld through primer. 

 

                                                                                                                                                         Then  they were tack welded in place.Then  it was covered by self etching primer to prevent corrosion.

 

I can across a deal that I couldn't  pass up.  A 2013 Chinese 50CC 4 stroke Moped for only $200.  It has only 10 miles on the odometer!!   It wasn't running  but had compression.  Probably carb or ignition problem.   Merry Christmas, everyone!!

 

Edited December 17, 2017 by toolman

[toolman]

Finally got some time to work on the Z again.  This is after a trip to Japan, Holiday stuff, get the scooter running and fixing the house drain pipe,

Used couple of days to remove the rest of the undercoating and paint on the bottom side of the left rear wheel well and quarter panel area.Looking up from the ground to left/rear quarter panel

These areas were covered with thicker than factory underseal so made it more difficult to remove.

In case, you are wondering about the brazing in the upper portion of the r/wheel well- this is old( 40 years)  sheetmetal extension from wheel tube

to the added metal fender flares.   This area might have to be altered as the new tires might be 245/40 x 17 with 12" wide wheels and new flares

might have to be set higher.

[toolman]

  Doing some of the small welding stuff before wet media blasting.   Stabilizer mounting holes

  Two 8mmx 1.25 nuts welded to 1/8 x 6" steel plate

  This mounting was taped to 3/16 tubing to install in frame tubing.

The two bolts are loosely installed.  the tape is scrapped off to remove braket off tubing,  Both bolts are tightened down.  Then each bolt is removed and checked individually 

for  hole alignment.  With alignment done,  the mounting plate is plug welded to frame rail.  I hope this additional details were helpful to someone. 

[toolman]

   Sorry for not posting in awhile.   Had rewire my Honda ATV, paint patio railings and my wife hit a parked car.  Then we went to Hokaido Snow festival in Japan.  Nismo Festival had all sorts of Nissan car-street to race carsDrifting is very popular in Japan.  Probably because it does not     require a large race track.   Also, the locals can participate in drifting as it is not as costly as road racing and use basically flat and empty  parking lot.

 

  Now back to the Z project.  I decided to make a temporary paint spray booth in my garage.  It will be only for epoxy priming for my Z.  Not sure how radical that I will go with this booth.

Might use 1 1/4" PCV pipe to build the booth frame.    It will have intake and exhaust filters and lights probably LED ones.   As you can see,it will be a positive pressure booth.   The main

reason for the booth is to prevent epoxy primer from going on everything in my garage.    That stuff is impossible to clean off.  My Man Cave is getting more elaborate quickly.   inside view of booth fan   Outside view of fan with louvers open

Edited February 25, 2018 by toolman

[Richard Oben]

Might consider one of those tent with doors for cars.  With a little creativity you could make a booth out of that pretty easily.  Just thinking out loud.  

[toolman]

I wanted my spray booth to be easy to utilize and store away.    After searching the Internet for ideas, I decided to just build the booth that would be the best fit my situation.   The booth  would

consists of basically four 5/16' x 4" lag screws inserted into the garage rafters.   One reason being that this method will completely clear the garage door when it is closed.   Also another

advantage of this design is its versatility.   The booth dimensions can be changer just by moving these four bolts and  3/32" cables.   I used plastic sheeting 25' long x 9' high and 6 mil

thick.   I think the thicker sheeting is superior unless the booth was going to be used only once.

The top edge of the sheeting was folded over 2" and glued  to add strength.  General Tool 3/8" brass grommets were installed into this edge area.  They were spread apart 24".  More grommets can added if necessary for support.

A 5/16" x 4" lag screw is installed in the garage rafter.  All four 3/32" cables has one 5/16" turnbuckle to adjust tension to prevent sagging.The rear and right side booth walls assembled.  Note that final trimming of the bottom edge of the sheeting has not been done yet.  Still waiting for sheeting top hooks to determine final height.

Edited February 20, 2018 by toolman

[toolman]

Right front side of booth 

Right curtain closed up.   When the bottom of curtain is trimmed. the curtain close up into a  much smaller bundle.

 

[toolman]

 

Sorry about the inconvenience,  I deleted the Garage Booth-continued post and am reposting it here.

Closeup of the right corner of garage booth

It uses a 2 1/2" lag screw to fasten two 3/ 32" curtain cables in garage roof rafters.   The turnbuckle provides cable tension adjustment.

A 1" PVC pipe is used to be booth corner vertical support.   It is slotted with a cutoff tool to fit tightly into the corner cable arrangement.  The slotted PVC provides a stable vertical brace.

Next a bottom mount of this PVC pipe must constructed.

[toolman]

Decided to enlarge the booth size from 1 1/2 car to 2 car size for various reasons: more room to paint, left side curtain closer to fan and easier

to use.   Also, now the garage  door does not have to be closed to utilize the curtains.  The following  photos show the improved booth design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After trial fit,  24" was removed from the bottom of the curtains.   4"  was allowed on the bottom to be held by a 2 X 4. 

 

 

 

 

Made a duct out of scrap sheeting to connect fan to curtain.  No sure how to attach duct to curtain.  Might try putting the duct hose into another hose section attached to the curtain.  

 

Left curtain must also be modified for fan to blow through but still allow to be folded up.

Edited February 26, 2018 by toolman
pics and text mixed up

[toolman]

The photo shows the fan duct folded up and held in place with 3" wide strap.   The strap is duct taped to fan body and the other end is velco attached to opposite side of fan.   

 

 

 

Extra grommets were added the area above the fan for more support.

 

When the curtain is open and aligned with the fan, it looks like this.

 

 

 

Once the fan is switched "on" , the incoming air pressure basically seals itself in the curtain wall.

 

It works like those inflatable bounce houses for kids.   When finished using everything folds up nice and neat.

Edited February 28, 2018 by toolman

[toolman]

Picked up four intake filters 20" x 20" and four exhaust filters 20" x 20".   Fabricated a metal frame out of some right angle  1/8" vertical shelve poles.

 

I hung a 10" strip of sheeting about 3" in front of the curtain cable by stapling to the ceiling.   The gap was necessary to allow  curtain movement but be close enough to seal the curtain to the ceiling.   With the fan running, you can see the fan pressure is sufficient to seal the curtains.

 Outside view -The garage door was lowered to the #1 exhaust filter frame and  #2  block off frame.  

 

    Inside view of exhaust filters

 

The booth airflow test consisted of hanging thin strips of plastic sheeting in the air to observe its movement.   As you can see, the test strip near inside exhaust filter  is being drawn against the filter-indicates sufficient airflow leaving the booth.

.

 

The outside test strip indicates outward airflow also.

After more testing, I found one of the exhaust filters had pushed out of the frame.   So I added some metal screen on the inside to stiffen the exhaust filters.   That seem to solve that problem.   I spent a little more than $200 of materials to build to this booth( mostly from Home Depot).    This booth suits my needs and requirements.   I hope you guys found its construction interesting.

 

   Added screen wire to stiffen the filters.

 

•  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by toolman
add pic and corrections

[toolman]

Back to rust repair-on Left Rear Rocker Panel.   First pic shows all the dirt and rusted metal that was cut out.

 

Pic of area that was worked on.  What made this job harder was the rustproofing inside the panel.  Scrapping took most of off then removed the rest with lacquer thinner.  Then the area was sandblasted clean.   My new curtains helped as they kept the media spreading even further.

 

 

Rear view of repaired area.  Also, found additional rust on wheel housing.  Note-raised area above seat belt anchor bracket

 

 After sandblasting the area.

 

Made temp[ate for panel patch.

 

Note: the raised area had to be hammered formed.  This was necessary so the patch would not touch the seat belt reinforcement  plate.  The factory plate has similar raised area.   I also made the wheel housing side one piece to prevent  future leakage.

 

Patched the wheel housing area,

 

I drilled a 1" hole near the seat belt bracket so I can rustproof this area after painting the car.   240Z  usually had corrosion problems on front

and rear of left/right rocker panels.   I think more though rustproofing and urethane seam sealing will do a better job against corrosion.

Edited March 12, 2018 by toolman

[toolman]

Returned Sunday from a convention in Las Vegas but managed squeeze  three hours of Z work time in.   As I was waiting for the front 

lower quarter panel leg, I decided to pull out two dents on the same rocker panel.

To do this, a 110vt stud gun was utilized.

The gun spot welds copper studs to the damaged area then the sliding grabs and pulls the dent out.

 

Pic of crease  on rocker panel.

 

Another angle of stud pulling.

 

If the repaired becomes "high" ,  there is also a shrinking tip that can be used.   This flat tip will heat a small area "red 

hot" then tap this area with a body hammer down.   Next, "quench" the area with a wet rag. This will create the shrinking action to occur and lower the area.

Repaired area after grinding with#24 grit paper

 

Pic of the other dent repaired with stud gun

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2018 by toolman
correct text

[toolman]

The quarter panel dog leg section is still on back order from the manufacturer so I just do other body work for now.   Next, the old metal reat fender flares must be cut out with acutoff wheel and air saw.

Additional flaring work must wait till the new wheel and tire configuration is determined.

 

 Inside view of cut out fender flare

 

 

The left rear quarter panel was stripped of previous paint jobs (about three) plus the original primer and color.

 

To aid in paint stripping, the addition paint layers( besides factory ones) can be removed with a single edge razor.   In this case, the top 3 paint layers came off in one'

thick piece leaving only factory color and primer left behind.

 

Since  I had some extra time, I decided to add additional lights to my garage area.   Two 4000 lumens Led Shop Lights on Amazon for only $30 each were installed.

As you can see the two LED lights really brightened up the garage.  I will probably add a couple more to light the sides of the car when I am painting.