qwik240z Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 I spoke to the fabricator who is making my front mount. He may be willing to build these for us. I need to get an idea of how many of you are interested. We need to finish mine first. Once mine is done, I will need to put some miles on it and test the strength of it, good reason to go to the drag strip too. Once we prove it is strong enough we can look at making more. From what we can see he thinks that building a brace that will sit over top of the diff and have an adjustable bump stop on top of it will take care of any front lift issues. If all this works out, we could provide a bolt in front mount for this swap. The estimated cost would be around $250 and it would be done on an as ordered exchange basis. You would need to send in your stock front mount and it would be modified as seen in the pics. If I can find a source for a few of the stock mounts I would buy them and then we could do it on a core exchange. You could buy the mount from us and pay a core deposit and then once you got the new mount installed, you could send us your old front brace and get the core deposit back. That way you wouldn't have to have your car off the road while waiting for it to be made. We will need to have around 10 people that want them to make it worth his time. If you are interested, please respond to this. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas28O Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 David that mount does not look very strong. Post some of the updated pictures if you can. If you build the mount like LS1240z did this will allow you to get rid of the stock x-member. this will help give you more room for the exhaust to clear. You will also have less leverage by using the bolts that the diff strap use to bolt to. Good luck on the q45 diff swap. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Well, to me it looks plenty strong, BUT having the diff suspended from above has two advantages. 1 when you have to take apart the rear suspension, you don,t have to support the diff with a jack. I made the ron taylor mount for my R200, and it was a saving grace not to have to support that diff when I rebuilt my car. 2 As stated by other's here, the twisting forces excerted on the front of the diff mount would be under compression, not tension, diffenetlly a BIG advantage. That's Just my 02. Here's one example that your fabricator could look over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Id be interested with a mount like fastzcars. If i don't end up making one first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lason Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 $250?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Lunar240z ,The picture isn't my mount. I just downloaded someone else's pic. I don't remember who's, and I don't want to take credit for some one else's work!. Although heres the one that I did make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 $250?? Z parts are getting expensive. $300 for a Billet Moustashe Bar, $350 for the AZC rear brace, $300 for a set of billet axles for the Q45 C/V's, $200 for Q45 C/V adaptors, and the list goes on. How much do you think a fabricator should get for his time, $10 per hour? Around here they get $70-$80 per hour. And that is during regular work hours. So is a profit of $20-$30 worth it tothe guy to give up his free time to make parts for us? After paying for the material and shop supplies, he will probably make $100 per unit profit on these and if he sells 10 of them that's a whopping $1000. It might take him 20 hours to make ten of them and he is taking his days off and evening time away from his family to do it. How much would you need to be paid to give up your one day off per week? I guess it is all relative as to how much money you make and how much you value your free time. If you have a family, free time is pretty rare. I wouldn't trade my day off for less then $500 cold cash. But that is just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 guess it is all relative as to how much money you make and how much you value your free time. If you have a family, free time is pretty rare. I wouldn't trade my day off for less then $500 cold cash. But that is just me. 3 Hours Ago 08:03 AM . I have to agree with you on that, I value my time as well and I wouldn't either. And your right, parts are expensive. Most of this stuff is VERY low production or one off items. If you want the billet stuff, you pay. If not you make it yourself. Oh, one more thing quik240z, Thanks for posting the pics and the offer for selling the mounts. Ther are only a couple of guys here willing to do this. I was just posting so your fabricator could see other people ideas on making a better mouse trap. Just because the factory used that crossmenber for a diff mount , doesn't mean we have to:burnout: : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lason Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Z parts are getting expensive. $300 for a Billet Moustashe Bar' date=' $350 for the AZC rear brace, $300 for a set of billet axles for the Q45 C/V's, $200 for Q45 C/V adaptors, and the list goes on. How much do you think a fabricator should get for his time, $10 per hour? Around here they get $70-$80 per hour. And that is during regular work hours. So is a profit of $20-$30 worth it tothe guy to give up his free time to make parts for us? After paying for the material and shop supplies, he will probably make $100 per unit profit on these and if he sells 10 of them that's a whopping $1000. It might take him 20 hours to make ten of them and he is taking his days off and evening time away from his family to do it. How much would you need to be paid to give up your one day off per week? I guess it is all relative as to how much money you make and how much you value your free time. If you have a family, free time is pretty rare. I wouldn't trade my day off for less then $500 cold cash. But that is just me.[/quote'] Yeah i see your point. i guess Im used to seeing the high prices on the billet stuff because of the cost of a CNC machine, etc etc while this is just a few pieces of metal welded up and after the first piece is built, tested and all that a jig could be made up to pump these out rather quickly so even at $70-80 an hour which is what the going rate of a machinist is plus the metal which I know has gone up in recent times I could see a more reasonable 100-125 myself. Either way it doesnt matter, Im not the one putting the price on it but that is the reasoning behind the sticker shock. Also the day off thing threw me for a loop. I thought this guys job was fabrication or did I miss something? Its been a couple years since I have worked at a machine shop but when I did I would have loved to be able to pull in a whopping $1000 for a days worth of work but thats just me Point is this is anything but billet. The two shouldnt be compared in price or fabrication. The only similarities are they are both types of metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Lason< I guess we have to agree to disagree. If it took the guy 2 hours to make each mount, and he did it after hours, It would take him 20 hrs. It would probably take him a week to make them all. I would want to make it worth while for me to spend my family time to do this. Anyway that's just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lason Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Lason< I guess we have to agree to disagree. If it took the guy 2 hours to make each mount, and he did it after hours, It would take him 20 hrs. It would probably take him a week to make them all. I would want to make it worth while for me to spend my family time to do this. Anyway that's just my opinion. true dat, I hear exactly what your saying and what it all boils down to is "if they pay it then charge it" and with a market like Z cars he can deffenitly do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Listen, I dont care how much it costs if it works. I need a piece of mind and want to get in the 9s with Corzette. I cant do that without the stronger diff axles stubs etc. I would like to have the mount that bolts into the holes where the old diff strap went but if the other one is strong enough Im game for that one too. Im in but need to know what the final verdict is on design. The thing is with the diff mount is right now we dont have any other exchangeable options like with the rear bar. We can use stock or aftermarket but this piece has not been mass fabricated yet so it will cost more initially. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 true dat, I hear exactly what your saying and what it all boils down to is "if they pay it then charge it" and with a market like Z cars he can deffenitly do it. Tread lightly Lason... You're talking about some serious time to fabricate a piece. If it's to pricey for you, then buy a welder, get the appropriate tools to support the fabrication and then make your own... You'll only have better than $1000 in tools to start with. Point is, this guy has made something that, if works will solve a currently non-existant "buy off the shelf" part. THAT is priceless. Billet bling or not, it's "Functional" (assuming this part works) and can't be discounted because it isn't shiny. I'm always amazed at how cheap Zcar guys are when it comes to the price on a non-existant part... Terry I'm gonna whip something up that will use that exact mounting bolt location and use a clevis bracket to mount onto the ears of the Q45 bushings. Dave, maybe you and I should talk offline and your fabricator could make what I've got in mind for your car and make it work... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert dog Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Yep, it is amazing what folks think a machinist's time is worth. This one guy wanted me to make a billet alternator case for him, vents and all. He didn't want to spend more than $150... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Poly Zmanaustin Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Hey Lason, Here's how I see it. Problem 1: the part is a little pricy which is relative for everyone depending on their perception of what it is truly worth. Problem 2: with low production volume at a lower price it just isn't worth the fabricators time for less. I think the current price is worth it for a one off or limited low production run, but that is irrelevant. My suggestion if you want the part cheaper and don't want to make it yourself then maybe you should look to hit other forums and drum up more interest and get the production volume up. Don't want you to think I am knocking you, just saying rather than suggest the cost is too much maybe an alternative is to be proactive in finding more people that want it and work toward a potential solution. Okay, I am jumping off my soapbox now. Just my .02. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Also the day off thing threw me for a loop. I thought this guys job was fabrication or did I miss something? Its been a couple years since I have worked at a machine shop but when I did I would have loved to be able to pull in a whopping $1000 for a days worth of work but thats just me Point is this is anything but billet. The two shouldnt be compared in price or fabrication. The only similarities are they are both types of metal. The guy works at a hot rod shop and is a mechanic/fabricator. He would have to do a project like this on his own time, not the shops time. Sorry for the confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest el240z Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Hey guys, just wondering if this front diff mount will work on the R230 from a 300zxtt? EL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 It seems that everyone has a different idea as to how this part should be made, how much it should cost and what torque and power it should be able to hold up to. Some of you are building cars for the drag strip, some for drivers, some for drifting, and some for road racing, etc. Everyone will have different level of HP, torque and intended use for their cars and they may not be the same as my intended purposes. From what I can see of the mount the way it is designed, I think it will work for me just fine, once we add some type of limiter (bump stop, strap) to keep it from moving up upon acceleration. As to there being a better way, I am sure that there may be. I don't plan to have to do much repairs to my car so I don't care if the diff will need to be supported with a jack if I want to work on the rear. Mounting from above or below doesn't matter to me as long as the part does it's job and holds the diff in place. I don't want to spend the money for this guy to design and re-design this part over and over until it meets the standards of everyone on the list. He spent about 4-5 hours on it so far and I am glad to pay for it as long as it does what I want and need. The guys at this shop have done so much fabrication work on much more powerful cars then my Z and I trust them 100% to design and produce a part that will do the intended job properly. I was trying to be helpful by sharing this with others but I now feel that it would probably be better to just let everyone design and make their own. I think leaving it to shops like Arizona Z car and Modern Motor Sports is probably a better idea. They have the resources and testing abilities and the engineers on staff to make a part that will appeal to the masses. Too bad that they have not made a front mount yet. I wonder why! Good luck to all of you. If I can be of help, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 So are we saying the production of this part is now OFF ? If so.... bummer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Terry I'm gonna whip something up that will use that exact mounting bolt location and use a clevis bracket to mount onto the ears of the Q45 bushings. Thanks Mike...please do share...Im still collecting parts and that part is the only one not currently covered... Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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