Stiffening the unibody =) Spent all day on mine

[Guest 70240z]

Spent all day Reinforcing the Unibody to Support the new Engine

 

 

Started installing Frame stiffining Kit from Dandos today http://dandos.com Tell him Kyle from ZDriver/StrictlyZ told you to call if you call them..

Heres a few photos.

 

For those doing High HP cars IE: V8 conversions I totally recommend you calling Dandos and getting this kit..

 

 

 

 

 

I welded the seams of the front so it all looks like one piece..

The pics below are prior to me doing the welding..

It looks too cool now but my Digi Cam ran out of film and I was too tired to take new pics..

 

 

Now I just cant wait to re drop in the 300ZXTT engine..

 

[chucky]

how much does the kit cost?

[80LS1T]

Ok call me crazy but that just looks like some long peices of sheet metal?! And I dont think cutting that cross member where the seat was, was a good idea. Couldnt you have gone under it by cutting a slit in it? Then slid that "reinforment plate" through it?

 

Just how thick is that ?

 

 

Guy

[Guest 70240z]

YYes there long pieces of sheetmetal but the thing is they are pre bent to to the right width to fit in the places where needed..

 

80LT1

I probably could have but I am planning to lower the seat brackets anyway and also add a cross sectional reinforcement..

[Mikelly]

THat is a very interesting alternative for guys who don't have the skills/ tools to work with metal. Kyle, How long did it take to onstall that kit and what does it normally run... I've got boxed steel subframes in both my cars, but this is interesting none the less...

 

Mike

[Guest chip]

Do you have any pics of your car? the pic that shows the back tire looks cool.

[Guest zline]

cool i guess, wouldnt that polyurethane expansive foam stuff they've got going and some PDK bars do the same thing? those pdk bars are more like rollcages w/o the roof loop

 

 

 

I looked @ the site and couldnt find a price..maybe im just blind

[Dan Juday]

I have my doubts about the benifits of that plan for frame strengthening. I think Sam Friedmans kit is much more substancial and has better engineering behind it.

 

I do like the fuel filter relocation though. Much handier to get to there.

[Guest 70240z]

Dan,

Any links to info on his kit??

 

PS The fuel relocation is just So I can make sure I'm getting fuel =)

[Dan Juday]

My bad, Sam FREEMAN. http://zparts.com/inprogress.html Scroll down to the bottom of the page 'til you see a yellow convertable. This kit comes in stages. The full kit includes frame rail stiffeners with subframe connectors, sill stiffeners that triangulate the sill to the rear wheelhouses, as well as a transverse stiffener behind the seats.

[Z-Dreamer]

I like the idea of reinforcing the unibody from inside, rather than adding subframe connections under a car that already has poor ground clearance. There is a thread discussing the reinforcement of the Z unibody in the Brakes, Wheels, Suspension and Chassis forum under the title "Why a unibody?" with many knowledgable contributions from various members, good stuff!

 

Again, how much? And what gauge is the sheet metal?

 

Mark

[Synlubes]

Kyle,

Do you have pics of how / where this kit goes (attaches) behind the seat braces to the rear ?

What gauge metal is this ?

[Synlubes]

Ok, thoughts doing both this

 

and this together as a package ?

 

[DavyZ]

I like the idea of reinforcing the unibody from inside' date=' rather than adding subframe connections under a car that already has poor ground clearance....

Mark[/quote']

 

Mark, the kit is designed to be about the same measurement from the floorpan to the bottom of the rail as the stock one, so I doubt it's really an issue. Also it apparently makes the car a whopping amount stiffer.

 

Last I heard, the 'kit' installed was about $1200--last was last year BTW, so it may have gone up. I can't remember waht the normal retail for just the metal was.

 

Davy

[Mikelly]

$1200 installed? Thank GOD I can fabricate... Maybe I'm in the wrong business. People actually pay $1200 for installation of these??

 

I'm pretty sure I've got a reciept somewhere of when I had a car done for me about 6 years ago and I paid $180. Pretty sure. And I can honestly say I wouldn't charge $1200 to install Pete's design Sub-frame in a car...

 

Man...

Mike

[fl327]

1200? Im happy i can make stuff like that happen for a lot less too. well, with overhead and bay area prices its not that bad when i think about it, getting stuff like that done to your ride is a luxury. I really dig how the fenderwell side of the frame is addressed, i never thought of doing it like that. the kit looks good i think, just like wider factory frame rail.

stuff like that is MANDATORY on a v8 240z, dont ask me how i know

[Sleek Z]

I see there is some confusion on the price of the reinforcement kits that I have for sale at ZPARTS.COM

 

The entire Z Spyder convertible kit with a Stage I unibody strengthening kit runs $1295. for everything including a detailed fabrication and installation manual and generous free tech support from the designer.

 

The strengthening kits can also be purchased separately. The Stage I kit costs $650. and the Stage II (ideal for Z cars with hi-output or V8 engines) sells for $850.

 

Some of you have expressed surprise at what seems to be high prices for the bracing kits, but one fact always is true in life, you usually get what you pay for. With Sam Freeman's design you get well thought out and tested engineering that really works wonders on a Z car body weakened by having top cut off or from a unibody twisting, torquey V8 swap. When you do it yourself, you usually spend a lot of time dabbling and over welding non engineered steel plate and channel in all sorts of illogical places not needed, sometimes with disasterous consequences and cosmetic defacement of your car's unibody. A kit like I sell at ZPARTS.COM saves you tons of time and does the job intended without a lot of mess and hassle.

 

I have personaly have done the 1000 mile round trip 3 times to the West Coast Nationals in a convertible Z reinfoced with the Stage I reinforcement kit and the car is tight and solid as any new car from a factory. Doors open and close and fit perfectly 7 years after the Stage one was installed. The car does not rattle or flex in strange ways in turns or under hard acceleration and corning. It's rock solid and all because the Stage I is so well engineered.

 

In the ad for the Z Spyder Convertible http://zparts.com/ads/zspider/zspider_index1.html the yellow Z car pictured there was setup by owner with a Stage II bracing kit because car was intended for very competitive auto crossing and road racing running a max bore, stroked L28 with side draft Mikunis. From what the owner has told me, he is more than totally pumped about how stiff and solid his car feels in hard cornering and strong accelleration to date. He said he can not say enough good things about the outstanding improvement Sam Freeman's personal installation of the bracing kit has made in his car.

 

OK, just wanted to clarify the above prices and advantages of the kit I sell at ZPARTS.COM in order so there will be less confusion at Hybridz.org.

 

Chow,

 

Eric Neyerlin - owner of ZPARTS.COM

[denny411]

If I could figure out how to shrink some jpegs, I would post some picks of my frame ties.

They take the place of the original frame rail and take up no extra space(except where they extend rearward to tie in)

 

BTW.. I think it took me less than 10 hours to complete mine, and cost about 50.00 for materials.(that`s with all the right tools though.)

[Trevor]

I'd like to see pics.

Do you have MS photo editor? It can re-size jpg files.

[ZROSSA]

I would like to see photos as well. While we are on the subject does any one have photos on the frame strenthening done in the how to hotrod your datsun book? I dont want a cage. Just some ideas on where to weld in brakets and the like.

 

Cheers

 

Douglas