Zetsaz Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 On 6/4/2025 at 5:49 PM, calZ said: The branding on their cover annoys the hell out of me. Obviously advertising their name is fine, but using up a significant chunk of prime fin area is crazy. It's similar to T3/Apex/others laser cutting their logo into their plate metal parts in the least structurally sound way possible. The Escort diff cover has their logo in about the same spot, but despite the much higher fluid capacity they kept it small. Only 3 fins are interrupted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 @calZ I agree, the logo location is unfortunate but I'm running with it as I'm working around various clearances and I didn't find great options. Given all of the modifications required of any cover, I had also weighed making my own but PTZ cut me a great deal 😁 I suppose the silver lining and eye opener for me was how much more aftermarket there is now for r200s than when I was looking to build one 10 or 15yrs ago. Just the availability of monolithic chromoly conversion stubs alone versus welded options is huge. @Zetsaz if you run the older r200 style covers you also need to open up the mounting flange bolt holes as they are upsized from m8 to m10 on the more "modern" r200s. Attached are some pics of the machining operations on the cover for a better idea. Unfortunately still delayed for my chassis to get scheduled in so I think I'm going to do some more fabrication and welding on various aspects while I wait so the shop won't need to worry about it. I've been hesitant to get too far into the bodywork at home as our garage is attached and my wife doesn't like the mess and chemicals 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 Took a break from the build this past month to focus on family and other projects, but I'm constantly reminded of the Z 😂. Picking up where I left off, the bare chassis is strapped on a body dolly tentatively scheduled to the bodyshop in August and misc. parts have been trickling in for the eventual reassembly. I saw an episode of the new Freiburger and Finnegan show where they brought back the v8 blowthrough turbo Rotsun and found their T3 rear diff mount fasteners coming loose. I have the same T3 mount and have also ran into the same issues as I've posted earlier in the thread. My plan is to drill and safety wire everything, but it was a good reminder that I still needed to check clearances and modify if needed ideally before everything is painted and finished. The diff still bolts up as it should with the nice PTZ rear cover and escort rear member. This weekend I'll mock up the rear section of the twin 60mm exhaust again and see what needs adjusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A to Z Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 what a beautiful little puppy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 Thanks he's usually around when I'm working on projects but mostly out of frame. Spent a couple weeks recovering from surgury but feeling well enough now to start back in on things. Working through clearancing the rear end for the twin 60mm exhaust tonight I realize I should probably just fully modify everything now versus after the underside gets refinished. I clearanced the t3 r200SN front mount, and while the welds aren't the most aesthetic, I'm fairly impressed as it has full root penetration. Working forward, I had previously clearanced the rear crossmember but I think I want to fully plate it out and weld in some structural reinforcement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Looking through some old reference videos I found one from a couple years ago on carb sync check, throttle response and engine movement with the new at that time Milkfab engine mounts. You could balance a glass of water on the valve cover on idle and rev 😆. I had played with a few configurations and had it pretty dialed at that point, with an emphasis on driveability and response. I'm hoping when it comes back together the response will be even snappier with the more free flowing Protunerz manifold and vband G Series turbo. 20230207_161111.mp4 Edited July 23 by Dat73z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted yesterday at 05:11 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 05:11 PM Transport is booked for next week so this weekend has been misc. final prep. Bunch of random bodywork to minimize filler and some fab/welding, but here's some highlights. I finished clearancing the diff front member for the twin 60mm exhaust. I also clearanced the area around the snout as I will be taking VSS signal for the speedhut speedbox. After some further measurement I'll be vbanding the entire exhaust again as I can gain maybe another 1/4-1/2" ground clearance by reconfiguring the angles over the existing slip joint configuration. As is I think it is similar or better clearance around the diff than the 3" pipe I had tucked there before. Re-fit the AL driveshaft and confirmed my suspicion that the Escort member moved the diff forward ~1/2". Not a big deal but need to remember to re-check the axle plunge depth and shorten the DS if necessary when the time comes. Also marked out where the DS interferes with the factory xmember so will plate in and weld that out later. Finally I've been seeing a lot of very very nicely done s30s in person lately to get an idea of bodywork problem areas and things the owners would have done differently. One area was the rear valence around the exhaust, specifically exhaust was fitted later and required trimming of the rear valence on a finished car. So I went ahead and trimmed out the rear valence accounting for exhaust movement and duplicated the shape on the pass side for symmetry. Worked out a bunch of other fine details as well and at the end of the day it's an imperfect 50 year old car but needing to bash things in or cut things out after a bare metal respray would drive me nuts. It's been a journey but I've met some really cool people and seen some absolutely heavy hitter s30 builds this past few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat73z Posted 2 hours ago Author Share Posted 2 hours ago Final reference pictures of the rerouted SS -8 and -10 fuel hardline bracketry around the Escort member. I left enough room to run twin -12 but the main choke point is around the massive CD trans. Also for those that asked about the FPG in-tank surge tank bracketry I haven't forgotten have just been busy. The design was finalized along with a custom level sender arrangement and the prototype went for manufacturing a week or two ago so I'll provide more details when I get back to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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