Mikelly Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 So after seeing some impressive Zs rule the weekend at VIR, I've made a hard and fast decision to finish my Zcar ASAP. I will likely NOT be very street legal, and won't have much of an interior or Dash. I'm going to finish painting the underside and engine bay this weekend and get it ready for wiring and start plumbing it. The car will go to the installers for cage right after Jim's car is finished up... I worked on my custom isolators for the struts last night and fitted the hood... I have some fitment issues to overcome with the hood, but I'm preparing a second set which is shorter to install to see if the situaition is resolved! I expect to have the motor in this car and the interior (Seats/ Mini-dash/ Gages/ harnesses) installed by April. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhadman Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Project Plans escalated... That has a habit of happening, don't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBC_400 Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 that is what hapened to my project. it started with putting better springs and breaks on my z, and has slowly grown to a complete custom built chassis with corvette C-4 suspension full cage motor plates coilovers etc. basicaly it is completely different car with a datsun body along for the ride. and my favorite part is that the entire back half of the car (firewall back) is one piece removable with turning out just a few bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Mike, Get it done and to the track. It will be nice to have another running Z at the track. You'll be glad you did. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 I guess what I should have said is I'm accelerating my schedule to complete this car... The escalation of this project took place in 2000 when I had a fuel cell fire at the back of the previous car... minor in scope, but certainly was an attention getter... This new car is a roller on coil overs, and my adjustable suspension, and I've got Corvette C5 calipers for it, along with some 13 inch rotors... I've got the motor, drivetrain and cooling resolved and parts in house, and the game plan is to completely finish the underside and engine bay this holiday weekend. I want to have the car ready for exterior panel paint within the month of April... The cage and all wiring/ plumbing should be done by then. I'd like to take her to the track in May or June. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Gonna use the 383 or LS-1? Either one would be nice. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 Here's the dilema... I've got the 383 DONE and ready to install, and I've got a complete clutch setup for it and a bellhousing for the Gforce T5. I don't have any of that for the LS1... I've got TWO LS1 motors... One currently making 390+ crank HP w/ 420+ # Torque. The other will be well over 500HP at the crank, making similar figures to the 383 stroker... IF I could sell the 383 stroker (Which is brand new and never fired), then the decision would be easy... But I haven't had a single offer, PLUS my Heads/ Cam LS1 isn't done being built. Should be wrapped up very soon... Goal is to have the car at SUB-2400# with a full tank of gas. The LS1 would get me in under that... The 383Stroker might be iffy! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I've got the perfect solution... Build another Z for the 383!! hehe -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 UPdate: This morning the car is in the air on the lift... Yesterday I cleaned up the underside of the car, prepped and painted most of the fenderwells, welded closed the bumper strut holes in the rear, as well as the exhaust cutout for the factory location. I'm going to wiremesh the four oval holes in the rear panel... I also trimmed the feder lips on my stock fenders so now the fender has a smooth edge at the bottom of the fender, rather than the 90 degree crimp. Today I'll weld up the holes in the firewall that won't be used, and I'll finish prepping the engine bay for paint. I want to finish paint prep today and get it all done by tomorrow. This three day weekend has been a big help. Once the paint work is done on the underside of the car, I'll start the plumbing. I also need to talk to my neighbor up the street about nocking out the bodywork and paint on the car. Since it will now be a track car, I don't need the body work to be show quality... Just straight and even, with a nice solid paint job! Fun FUN FUN! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 Pictures Mike pictures -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peej410 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 it must be nice to have warm weather, im glad to see you pushing again mike hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 Well this evening I was sidetracked with assisting the wife in sorting out the new BMW we got... All kinds of features I wasn't aware of on this little thing... Anyway, other than making my new TC rods, I'm done with the front end and the chassis is pretty much painted and done. All holes in the firewall are sealed except those I will re-use. I also finished up filling in the panel holes at the rear of the car. I finished the uprights for the custom radiator mounts. Now I just need my u-brackets to hold down the radiator from the top. I plan to re-install the rear suspension tomorrow night and mount the panels on the car so I can be ready to ship it out to paint. I need to get with the guy I know that paints locally and see if I can get in the hopper for getting this done and then get the cage done, or vice-versa! I'm rolling guys... I'll take pics and post them.. basically the whole underside, engine bay and interior of the wiper motor area of the car is painted in an "Aluminum" color! Almost lost the right thumb in screwing with the coil overs, trapping my right hand between the body of the car and a strut assembly... Kinda hurts at the joint, so I wrenched something internally... Joy, more injuires/ war stories! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 Latest and greatest update... Got the suspension all button'ed up tonight and re-installed the fuel cell... Spent the rest of the evening notching the underside of the hood for top hat clearance, and installing the hood, strut bar and accessory hatches. Got a call from John at the Fabrication shop where Jim's car is. He offered to paint my car at my house for the cost of materials and some cash... And teach me how to do it in the process... I'm all about learning! So it appears that this project is going to fall into place pretty quick. He said my car should be able to get into the shop for the cage within 2-3 weeks at the most, since they are test fitting Jim's motor, and tweaking the headers for clearance. ALl that is left is sorting the new hubs, along with the brake swap we're doing with the parts We got from Ross, mixed with parts we're putting together for an OVERHUB install... My car should be either painted or caged in the next few weeks with the other following suit within a week or so... After that, it'll be plumbing, wiring, and install of the drivetrain! Almost five years later (Took the other Z off the road in October, 2000!)... Might actually have my second V8 Z finished up! I'll take some pics tomorrow night of where it sits right now! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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