ANOTHER Datsun Z/LS3/T56 Swap Thread

[Ironhead]

4 hours ago, JoeK said:

I picked up the Harbor Freight metal bandsaw/chopsaw. With a 25% off coupon it was right around $200. After a couple hours of tuning it up, it is pretty much flawlessly square cuts every time. Or angles, since I did a complete pie cut exhaust using it. 

 

Thanks Joe.  Honestly, I have the driver's side header completely tacked up now, and have refined using the grinder technique to the point I will probably just finish out with it.

 

I tell you though, I have found that the disc sander with a 36 grit "hard metals" abrasive has been essential to face each cut so I get good fit up.  The grinder would not work at all without the sander. 

[Ironhead]

Haven't had much time recently to work on the car, but I did manage to finish the primary tubes for the driver's side header.  Again, the goal was less perfect balance/flow than it was to make the headers fit well and not burn anything.  I also wanted fairly easy install, in that I wanted to avoid having tubes on both sides of the steering shaft, that sort of thing.  The numerous small bends were incorporated in pursuit of that goal...to maintain good clearance from steering shaft, oil lines, clutch hoses, etc.

 

So far this has been easier to do than I expected, just very time consuming.  Also argon consuming....with so many welds, and the necessity to back-purge all of them, the argon goes very quickly.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

[grannyknot]

Ironhead,  check out this stuff, Solar flux.  I was burning through Argon as well until I found this, works well and one can will last you forever.

 

[Ironhead]

Thanks Granny!  Just ordered a tin of that flux!

 

Did some work on the collector today.  The "spike" is a weld-on part that is supposed to give you about the same benefits of using a true merge collector, but without having to buy one.  SPD wanted around $300 each for 4 into 1 merge collectors, just because there is a lot of fab time that goes into making them.  I suppose making my own might have been an option, but they are sort of complex and I figured it was beyond my limited skill level.  So the budget approach is just to weld in this spike and use a standard formed collector.

 

It was a relief to find that everything still fit in the car as intended after it was all assembled and tacked together.  Some of the clearances are so small I was afraid the final welds on the primaries might have caused sufficient distortion to pull things out of whack...but so far so good.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Ironhead

[Ironhead]

I managed to finish the driver's side header.

 

 

 

Seems to clear everything well, and I think there is enough clearance around the spark plug wires so I won't need to worry about them melting.  It also clears the underside of the car by at least 1" everywhere.  I don't plan to wrap it as things stand now, unless heat problems develop somewhere I failed to anticipate.

 

 

 

 

I am going to make some sort of support from the unused tranny brackets that are circled...just to provide support for the ends of the headers and hopefully prevent any cracking down the road.

 

 

The collector exit diameter is 3", and after a lot of pondering and vacillating and reading contradictory opinions, my current plan is to finish things off with a dual 3" exhaust system.  To provide decent ground clearance I will probably have to use oval tubing in the portion where it goes below the rear suspension.

 

Of course, I still have to do the passenger side header, which looks like it will be a bit more tricky as there is less room.

 

Thanks for looking. 

 

 

[CptButterfinger]

This thread is awesome, getting close! Interested to know more on what you ordered from Woodward. Did you modify the AE front crossmember to use that rack or was the single bolt style mounting an AE option?

[Ironhead]

1 hour ago, CptButterfinger said:

This thread is awesome, getting close! Interested to know more on what you ordered from Woodward. Did you modify the AE front crossmember to use that rack or was the single bolt style mounting an AE option?

 

I ordered the AE crossmember unpainted, then just cut off the bases for the stock rack mounts, and welded on a mount to fit the Woodward rack.  There are a few pictures of this on page 4 of this thread.  The Woodward rack is very easy to make a mount for, basically all you need is a piece of .25" steel plate.  I added braces below to stiffen things up, but this was probably overkill. 

 

I ordered the Woodward rack in a significantly quicker ratio than the stock Datsun rack, but I also just wanted another option than my stock rack.  It was very tired and loose, most of the parts needed to rebuild it are NLA, and I just wanted an aftermarket option rather than trying to deal with 45 year old parts.  This has been the case with most of the build....not too much OEM Datsun stuff is left. 

[CptButterfinger]

Makes sense, I see that now. I'm interested in doing something very similar on mine, would you mind sharing the part numbers you ordered from Woodward? You also mentioned them machining your outer tie rods, which outers did you start with before having them modify them? 

 

Totally agree on the tired old z parts argument. I really don't like that I don't yet have a good solution for my rack, shaft, or column and it's been one of my bigger safety concerns I've wanted a solution for. Thanks for sharing!

Edited April 26, 2019 by CptButterfinger

[Ironhead]

Sorry, I couldn't dig up the specific part number.  It is one of the Woodward "heavy duty" manual racks from this page: http://www.woodwardsteering.com/PDF/5. Heavy Duty Manual Steering Racks, types JL, JLR.pdf

 

You just order LHD "Front Steer" rack (assuming your car has LH steering), then tell them the length you want, the ratio, and the threading for the tie rods....the part number is built from that.  You can call and talk to them, they are very helpful.  You might not want exactly the same part number as mine anyway, depending on what steering ratio you want and other factors.

 

My outer tie rods were made from scratch by Woodward.  They do this all the time and it is very inexpensive.  You just need to know the thread of your inner tie rods (which come as part of the Woodward rack), and the thread of the Heim joints that thread into the other side. Keep in mind one end will be a LH thread and the other a RH thread, so that you can adjust your toe by turning the outer tie rod.

[Sirpent]

Fancy you writing this on my build thread and then me spending the last hour at 4am catching up in yours 

 

“Fantastic project and work.  Every aspect of your metalwork is so impressive.  Honestly, it almost looks like you could have just built a new Z from scratch!”

 

Seriously? You kidding me right? I mean my work looks like the construction on a sardine can compared to this Hercelian “Transformers” build......... Pfffffffffffft

 

I am seriously going to raid some ideas 💡 I got from your thread and also outright steal others.

 

Please don’t leave any more sarcastic comments on my thread LMAO 😆 

[Ironhead]

I got both headers finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am reasonably satisfied with the outcome, but I have to say this was a time consuming chore.  Enough of a chore, that if I was doing it over again I would plan the build in such a way that off-the shelf headers...like the Hawks...would be compatible.  In my case I could tell that my motor mounts and the Apex cross member braces would have prevented the Hawk headers from working.

 

In addition to not hitting or burning anything, I wanted to be able to install/remove the headers with the motor in the car.  This was very difficult on the passenger side.  As it turned out, I can do it, but I have to remove the Apex brace and the starter in order to do so.  I can live with that.

 

As I said before...hell with "equal length"....at the end of the day I was trying to find someplace they would fit...period.  The two headers look quite a bit different because the interference issues were different on each side.  On the driver's side the primary obstacle was the steering shaft and oil lines.  On the passenger side it was the starter, oil lines, and the crossmember brace.

 

Anyway, I am glad it's done.  Thanks for looking. 

[LLave]

Great work! That is a tight fit. Those are going to work great for you. Much respect for the accomplishment. 

 

I think the take away with "custom" engine mounts is the buy a set of headers ahead of time, mock up with them and build around them. Haha. I wish I had too. 

[rossman]

9 hours ago, LLave said:

Great work! That is a tight fit. Those are going to work great for you. Much respect for the accomplishment. 

+1! Very impressive indeed!

[Ironhead]

Thanks gents!

[EF Ian]

Final result looks great.

[Ironhead]

I got the cold air intake done....at least to where it passes through the radiator support.  It is done pretty much the same way every LS swapped Z, ever, has been done....but here it is regardless.

 

I just have to decide on an air filter.  I will probably just weld a piece of 90 degree aluminum tube to the outer flange, then use a cone filter on it.  The same sort of cone filter that adds at least 50 RWHP to any car they are installed on.

 

 

 

 

[Ironhead]

With air filter....

 

 

[CptButterfinger]

On 1/12/2019 at 4:07 PM, Ironhead said:

 

 

 

Who's alternator mounting bracket is that, and which OEM tensioner was used? I was planning a similar alternator only belt routing, and this solution looks really slick. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by CptButterfinger

[Ironhead]

23 minutes ago, CptButterfinger said:

 

Who's alternator mounting bracket is that? I was planning a similar alternator only belt routing, and this solution looks really slick. 

 

https://www.ictbillet.com/ls-truck-alternator-bracket-low-mount-lsx-ls3-lq4-lq9-l33-billet.html

 

IIRC the tensioner is the OEM one from the Pontiac GTO.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Ironhead

[EF Ian]

Nicely done.