jhm Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Chassis stiffening always a good thing. Here's a link to some good ideas, if you're looking for additional inspiration. https://imgur.com/a/chassis-stiffening-inspiration-R27sh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 10 hours ago, jhm said: Chassis stiffening always a good thing. Here's a link to some good ideas, if you're looking for additional inspiration. https://imgur.com/a/chassis-stiffening-inspiration-R27sh Thanks for sharing. I like the lower front fender brace, and some good ideas under hood and hatch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) Fenders came in, I’ll get some more pics this weekend. Doing a track day at Sebring on Saturday, getting that driver mod in. Edited February 13 by FastFloridian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Test fitted the other fenders and bumper, I’m liking how it’s coming out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Nice pieces, and great progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A to Z Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 looks like you have a good start on it. My concern would be the rails. they made need to be patched, and using a V8, and modified at that, BEEFY rails would be a good idea. Some guys have even using thick steel runs of pipe that are U channel . I attached pics of my car and some of the patching done. MY car had 45K original miles and 30 years of its life sitting in an airplane hanger and I STILL had to fix the rails. I attached a close up pic I got from one of your pics, and it already looks like it needs attention. here is a link to watch : 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 On 3/2/2025 at 12:18 AM, A to Z said: looks like you have a good start on it. My concern would be the rails. they made need to be patched, and using a V8, and modified at that, BEEFY rails would be a good idea. Some guys have even using thick steel runs of pipe that are U channel . I attached pics of my car and some of the patching done. MY car had 45K original miles and 30 years of its life sitting in an airplane hanger and I STILL had to fix the rails. I attached a close up pic I got from one of your pics, and it already looks like it needs attention. here is a link to watch : Thanks for the advice. The passenger side rail near the back definitely needs attention. I still haven’t decided what to do, been going back and forth with a repair, or possibly replace all of them. I know Apex sells a set that looks decent, hadn’t put too much thought into trying to make some myself. If I do a full replace I definitely want something beefy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I see bad dog has done heavy duty frame rails, and those can fit over OEM, I’m liking that option, any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calZ Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 They've been the standard for a long time. Recently some other options have come onto the market, Capital Metal Works being one, but I've never heard a bad word about Bad Dog. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 I took the OEM ones off and welded the Bad Dogs on. I suppose it depends on the condition of yours, but mine were pretty bent up and there was rust inside the frame rail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A to Z Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 yeah, Bad Dogs I hear are good, and that you can put them over the factory ones, but if the factory ones are rusty, then they need to be repaired/patched first or removed and replaced with these. I I think they way blok did his with thick heavy steel is probably the ultimate (the youtube link I posted earlier). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 For a street car I think the rails make sense. For a race car that has a cage perhaps not. For a similar amount of weight you can triangulate the cage with tubing on top of the floor that extends to the suspension pickup points. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A to Z Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Sure. The end result is to avoid twisting of the unibody. Many ways it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 Got some time on the car today, everything is prepped and ready to pull the motor/transmission. Will be a few weeks before I can get back on it though. Pulling out the shifter I discovered a lot of wiring wire there touching the drive shaft, smh. Good thing I’m re-wiring this thing from scratch. Did a mock pull, hooking up to hoist, found out I need some thinner shackles, couldn’t get chains on. Looked at the frame rails too, only a little rust on one spot, but they are banged up a bit. I think I’ll cut out the rusted section, about 8”-10” or so and get the bull dog rails. I’ll order that after I pull the motor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A to Z Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Boy, someone butchered the heck out of your console! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 On 3/8/2025 at 11:57 AM, tube80z said: For a street car I think the rails make sense. For a race car that has a cage perhaps not. For a similar amount of weight you can triangulate the cage with tubing on top of the floor that extends to the suspension pickup points. Agreed, for the weight I think I could have done something more effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 On 3/8/2025 at 2:57 PM, tube80z said: For a street car I think the rails make sense. For a race car that has a cage perhaps not. For a similar amount of weight you can triangulate the cage with tubing on top of the floor that extends to the suspension pickup points. Interesting point. It’s got a cage already, going back to the rear suspension tower. Might not need to do much with the rails. Just got the last piece for my front suspension, spindles that work for the Apex track attack suspension and accept 370z wheel hubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 Got some good progress this weekend, finally pulled the motor and transmission!!! Exciting milestone, this is going to open up a lot more stuff to work on. First time ever doing that too, this build will have a lot of firsts for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFloridian Posted yesterday at 05:48 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 05:48 PM Got the engine on the stand. Ended up having to take the clutch off to fit, nice and easy to do with the engine out. Still needed some spacers to clear the flywheel. I’ll start looking into clutch upgrades and a lighter flywheel. Bought some furniture dolly’s to set the transmission on so I can move it easily. Got a small garage, so need to rearrange stuff as I work. I’ve got a track day at Sebring next weekend so it’ll be a few weeks before I can work on anything. Probably start taking apart front suspension and subframe and get engine bay wiring out and cleaned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted 10 hours ago Share Posted 10 hours ago (edited) I track my Ford powered 260Z. My personal experience is that transmission gearing is extremely important to getting the most fun on the track. In Florida, you will most likely be doing track days at Daytona and Sebring. Both tracks have very fast sections. Before doing track days, I autocrossed the car. In autocross, you only really need second gear if you have the right differential / tire height. I used Hoosier 275/35-15 tires and have a 3.36 rear end. With a 1.94 second gear in a T-5 and 6,500 rpm, 2nd gear was good for 73 mph. When I started doing track days, I needed all the gears. I had replaced the stock 1st through 4th with G-Force gears and shafts, but fifth gear was still stock. With that set-up, these were my gear ratios. 1st 2.95:1 2nd 1.94:1 3rd 1.33:1 4th 1:1 5th 0.59:1 Worked great until I needed 5th gear. that big a drop absolutely killed the fun (no acceleration in 5th). After my first time a Daytona, I changed 5th gear to 0.81:1. The .81 gear absolutely transformed the car. Now 5th gear is warp drive. The transmission that you show probably doesn't have a good selection of gear ratios, and probably won't hold much power. If it were me, I would get the new TKX with the close ratio rears. That transmission will handle the power and maximize you fun on track. If I didn't already have so much invested in my T5, I would get a TKX. This is the TKX I would get: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/TREMEC-TCET18084-TKX-Close-Ratio-5-Speed-Ford-Manual-Transmission,452007.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq-x1paVSDoNvgI38myLy79UBWXzZFW-QeQ4bK1_vWnSHM7bEEJ Gear Ratios 1st - 2.87, 2nd - 1.89, 3rd - 1.28, 4th - 1.00, 5th - 0.81 Edited 10 hours ago by 74_5.0L_Z Add content 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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