TimZ Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Tim, I like your idea of hanging the front using a clevis/rod end system. The one draw back for me in using the S13 diff is it doesn't have the big fat ears with built-in bushings, so I wouldn't have any damping up front. I thought about that too, but the rod ends, while not offering any damping/noise reduction, would still allow some amount of twist, so I don't think you'd run into the normal problem of having hard mounts on one end and soft on the other. You'd probably want to check the geometry to make sure that you don't allow too much twist, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 20, 2006 Author Share Posted April 20, 2006 Here's a quicky of what I'm thinking for up front to connect the diff ears up to the top frame: I had a slightly insane idea about fitting some spherical bearings in the upper frame and running a long bolt across and through the bushing, but I think I'll assign that one to the sanitorium, mainly because mounting the bearings in the frame will mean drilling big holes in them which will weaken the of course (even with chunky mounts for the bearings) and I can't find a 9" 5/8" bolt for love nor money. What I'll do instead is have a couple of cross bars running between the two longs beams and then inbetween those a couple of fore-aft pieces that I can hang the bush from: Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 21, 2006 Author Share Posted April 21, 2006 Just rustled these fellas up: And more remarkably they fit! I did 10mm holes at 65mm centres, so I guess I was lucky. I had been tempted to enlarge them to 11mm before trying, but figured why not see. Naturally I offer no guarantees that these measurements will work for everyone else Well OK, the right hand side (UK drivers side) fits no problems. On the left hand side there is interference with the exhaust hanger bracket, so I'll need to tweak the mount in that area to fit. I'm also going to reduce the overall height by an inch or so to give a bit more room up top for the rod end and bar. Just got to wait for a bit more material now and I'll be able to crack on. Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 22, 2006 Author Share Posted April 22, 2006 Not had much time to do anything today which is a shame as it's been nice and sunny. Anyway, I've managed to get this sorted: I figured that I might as well bolt the front parts to my cross member as well as to the strap mount points, can't hurt to tie things in even more! Had fun assembling everything on the car and tack welding the bottom tabs on. First time I've welded in very limited space (cars on axle stands), boy what a fun new experience! You can just see on the far upright where I've notched it to fit around the exhaust hanger bracket. I also whipped 20mm off the top of them to give me a bit more room. One interesting thing I found whilst everything was fitted to the car was that the right hand strap points were 2mm further forward than the left ones - joy! Still 65mm apart I'm happy to say though. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the top tabs on that the rod ends will sit in, and a supporting web between the two tabs and then this bit will be all wrapped up. Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 23, 2006 Author Share Posted April 23, 2006 Finished up the front mounts today: Think they came out OK. Also did a little work on the rear frame again. I welded in the 4 crush tubes and drilled some vent holes. I cunningly managed to snap the tip of the drill bit on the last hole though, so I now have little rattle to remind me in the future to do all drill of parts before assembly Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 That's looking really good, Rob - nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speeder Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 Beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 27, 2006 Author Share Posted April 27, 2006 Minor progress. I've made and welded in the threaded inserts to take the rod ends on the rear frame: Used a bit of scrap tube to check that it'll work and the top bars will be able to get in to the right positions. And made up some little spacer things that will keep the rod end centred in the tubing and stop things rattling too much. I'll weld these suckers on to the top bars. Annoyingly I'm away this weekend so I won't be able to get the top bars made up and trial fitted. First I need to clean off all the crappy undercoat on the frame rail so that I can seat the rear frame solidly to get accurate measurements, time to dig out some scrapers and a few choice grinder attachments me thinks! Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 D'oh! I got everything mounted up on the car yesterday to check the fit, and discovered off course that the fore-aft bars won't fit due to body interference. Only a couple of mm off mind but enough to totally screw things up. So after a bit of swearing I decide I would move the rod end points on the rear frame inward slightly. Well by 60mm each side actually, I figured I might as well get them in as much as possible without interfering with the diff. There was another issue caused by me not remember exactly how the rear frame located to the chassis rail, as it it's practically flush with its rear edge. This meant the rod ends where not free of the chassis rail so fitting the fore-aft bar wouldn't be too easy. So I decided to move the rod end mount point an extra 30mm forward. Hopefully now when I get it all back under the car things will fit and my neighbours won't be forced to blush Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Bit more progress, got the top bars made up and they seem to work OK. Had to make a minor mod to that exhaust hanger bracket admittedly I'm going to reassemble on the car and tack a bit of scrap on as a cross piece to the two bars to make sure they're lined up exactly right. Arranging things correctly on the bench is rather tricky! Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted June 11, 2006 Author Share Posted June 11, 2006 Blimey, it's pretty much finished! I got the top bars linked and bodged in some hangers. Alas my cunning plan of the big fat bushing was a no go as I ended up having to reduce the height of the front mounts, but I think what I've come up with will do the trick. I'm going to put in some big fat poly washers top and bottom of the diff ears to hopefully take a bit of the loading shock. Pics show it with the pinion way to high, once I've got the poly washers I'll be able to adjust on the bench to get the right clearance there. So I just need to chop a few of the sharp corners of the front mounts and it's job done, should all be finished by this time next year Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peej410 Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 very nice, any idea what all this weighs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S15 200sx owner Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Holy **** Rob!! I have been absent from the board for a little while and just come back on to see your HUGE amount of progress on the rear end!!! Brilliant!!!! Good work man, getting a little complicated in the end, but man it looks pretty stout!!! Look forward to hearing the reports of it all bolted up in your car. Once again, great work Rob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted June 15, 2006 Author Share Posted June 15, 2006 Hey Clint, Good to see you back! How goes your little project? I have to agree that things have got a little mad getting over the last hurdle. It's something I'll live with but at some point in the future I think I'll revisit - when the car gets stripped down and is on a rotisserie I think, so I can fab things up in place. Still it's done now so I can put it to one side and get on with other fun things like my Z32 hub/strut and front lca/rod reworkings. One day I may even get the gearbox back in so I can turn the engine over, I hear miracles do happen occasionally Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S15 200sx owner Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Hey Rob, I have been a little side tracked of late after buying the 911 turbo . I have just moved house, and now have a reasonable garage/workshop, so will be moving the 240z home shortly, then should start making some progress . Man i am looking forward to getting the Z going, should be scary! The Porka with only 400hp is fast enough! Later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 dats pretty ... impressive work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 Hey Rob' date=' I have been a little side tracked of late after buying the 911 turbo . I have just moved house, and now have a reasonable garage/workshop, so will be moving the 240z home shortly, then should start making some progress . Man i am looking forward to getting the Z going, should be scary! The Porka with only 400hp is fast enough! Later.[/quote'] LOL, I moved 2 years ago and the new place still looks like a bomb site! Think I'm juggling too many projects - as ever I've been sidetracked from any fun stuff after carelessly starting to prod parts of the car and revealing to true extent of the rot. Ho hum, here comes new frame rails, sub-frame connectors, floor panels, inner wings, bonnet hinge plates, cills, of and anything else I get my angle grinder on - joy! Thanks Prox! Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 inner wings...??? So what do you guys all use to cut metal at home? I don't have a band saw and a reciprocating saw or sawzall takes too much time, so I just use a cut off wheel on a handheld grinder and try to get things as straight as possible. I do have a chop saw for tubing tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 Hey Owen, What, did only the UK Zeds come with wings then? They deploy at speeds over 70mph so you can literally overtake the slow people in front OK, back to reality, wings = fenders, having said that you might not call the inner wings inner fenders, but you know those useful bits of structural sheet metal that make up the sides of the engine bay. For cutting I've just been using thin cut off blades in my angle grinder and a chop saw for the tubing, so pretty much same set up as you have. Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S15 200sx owner Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Hey Rob, Hows your progress buddy? I'm right into mine now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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