Jump to content
HybridZ

280zcar's 78 280z LS1/T56


Recommended Posts

Great Car man, I was so sad when I caught up to now and saw that you're car caught on fire :(

 

I just bought a 240z myself, great condition. Since I pretty much don't know anything about cars except maintenance stuff, I probably will not be doing anything to my car. I'm also going to SMU in the fall :D

 

I'm going to try and make it out to cars and coffee next next saturday, hope to see you there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 196
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Glad to hear I'm not just talking to myself here, lol.

 

I haven't made it out to cars and coffee much this year.... too damn hot.... But I might actually make it out this time. If I do I'll keep an eye out for your 240z. Congrats on the purchase. If you ever need a hand on the car or got a question feel free to ask.

 

SMU is a great school... my sister went there for her first year of law school not too long ago before finishing up at UT, best of luck in the fall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: Rusticular Cancer edition....

 

 

You can see some other effects of the fire... the melted Alarm siren...

 

IMAG0309.jpg

 

And what it looks like from underneath at the fenderwell....

 

IMAG0313.jpg

 

 

So that is what remains of my battery box area..... Most of the "metal" that is missing was simply pulled away with pliers. What sucks is that the rust attacked the firewall enough that I am going to have to replace a section of firewall too... yay.. have to rip out the interior now... Not all bad...

 

Now I can fill in the hole where the wiring came through the firewall and send all of the wiring directly into the fenderwell and move the fusebox inside the car. I think I might try and get a hold of a LS1 wiring harness and computer to see how I want to mount and run those wires as well.

 

 

Pulled out the strut on the driver's side and scraped away almost the last of the undercoating.

 

IMAG0318.jpg

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lol absolutely. It's just so hard not to address the things I've been putting off for some time. At least I'm leaving the front suspension and brakes alone... Probably... Maybe.... Ahhhhh... There is no escaping the infamous "while you're at its."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cut out most of the fenderwell area that will be replaced. I also started to draw out the section of firewall that will be removed. I need to get the dash out and see exactly where I want to cut to avoid as many brackets as possible.

 

IMAG0321.jpg

 

IMAG0320.jpg

 

IMAG0323.jpg

 

also pulled the passenger strut and finished the last of the undercoating scraping...

 

IMAG0326.jpg

 

 

for anyone curious I removed all of the undercoating with some paint stripper, a 1.5 inch blade scraper, and a bunch of mineral oil with a scotch brite pad.

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Drivers mount welded up.

 

IMAG0392.jpg

 

I need to trim the corner that is hanging off.

 

IMAG0391.jpg

 

 

Passenger side: first attachment point reinforced.

 

IMAG0402.jpg

 

 

Triangular shaped piece is a piece of angle iron and will be bolted to the crossmember as a second attachment point.

 

IMAG0395.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Picked up a mig welder.

 

I've been using a friends welder for the mounts and such. I figured it was about time to pick one up for myself and stop mooching off him. I still need to get some wire and exchange for a new gas cylinder.

 

It's nothing fancy but it should be adequate for some light sheetmetal duty. I'm sure I'll upgrade at some point but it should do the trick for now.

 

It's a Lincoln sp-135plus 115v.

I was glad to find a 'plus" model because the voltage setting is variable and not tapped for only ~4 settings. Guy who i bought it from only used it to build a fence ~5 years ago and its pretty much been sitting dormant in his garage since then.

 

Plan is to weld in new sheetmetal at the battery tray and then probably end up filling some of the holes in the engine bay/minor seam welding.

 

IMAG0443.jpg

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got a new bottle of gas and getting to work. I had to go to a couple places before I found a place that wasn't trying to rape me on gas or hydrostatic testing. One place wanted $60 for the hydro test... f*** that

 

I'm holding off on the battery tray until i feel like yanking out the dash and filling all the holes on the firewall.

 

Started welding up the holes in the engine bay and grinding them down...

 

IMAG0454.jpg

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished welding up the passenger side... need to revisit some areas still.

 

IMAG0458.jpg

IMAG0457.jpg

 

Welded up EGR and smog pump ports on passenger exhaust manifold.

 

IMAG0463.jpg

IMAG0460.jpg

 

Welded up all the holes from the hood latch bracket and a few others on the firewall. I got pretty much all of the ones that lead into the cowl area. I still need to rip out the dash to get to the rest that are lower on the firewall.

 

IMAG0465.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yanked out dash, hvac, etc... (all the brown/orange stuff is left over insulation not rust)

 

IMAG0472.jpg

 

Cut off some of the brackets in the engine bay that were used for the stock motor.

 

IMAG0470.jpg

 

Most of the above came off the driver's fenderwell...

 

Made a few holes where the factory spot welds were, so they were welded up....

 

IMAG0469.jpg

 

Been looking at different ways to run the wiring after the holes are plugged up. Almost thinking of trying to run the chassis wiring through the frame rail since the only parts it contains are wiring for the headlights, horns and turn signals.

 

Also thinking about using a weatherpack bulkhead connector for the engine harness and maybe the chassis harness too...

 

something like this.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Weatherpack-Bulkhead-22-Pin-18-14/dp/B005O0V5JQ

 

wp22-3.jpgwp22m-k_med.jpg

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tacked in the new firewall sheet metal.

 

IMAG0488.jpg

 

Pulled out Gas tank and battery. This is the next "mini" project... while I'm at it... Plan is to essentially throw the entire previous setup in the trash... A LS1 camaro fuel tank will go in its place. I'm not entirely sure what I am going to do about battery placement though. Of all the work on the car I was always most ashamed of this cluster f*@# back here.

 

IMAG0486.jpg

Edited by 280zcar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I decided to cut some more holes in the car....

 

Go back to post 47 and you'll see what I am addressing here... or if you are lazy like me... here is a quick recap... When I initially pulled out the poorly installed roll bar hoop I just tacked in some sheet metal over the holes.. then car caught fire... and it was put off... etc..etc....

 

Previous temp "solution"....

 

SDC10127.jpg

 

and currently... just need to cut out some steel and weld it up.

 

IMAG0507.jpg

 

Firewall patch welds ground down...

 

IMAG0508.jpg

 

and I made the fatal mistake of putting the car entirely on Jack stands.... this thing is never going to be done.... lol

 

IMAG0505.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bent up and welded a new section to finish out the inner fenderwell. I was thinking about moving the battery back up front but decided to keep it in the back. I still need to figure out where it'll end up, but we'll have to wait and see if I end up regretting that.

 

IMAG0519.jpg

 

Started applying body filler.... I haven't done any body work really in 6 years... I'm a bit rusty but I remember how much I hate sanding. Lots of work still left.

 

IMAG0515.jpg

 

I also went ahead and yanked the engine and trans out to make working on everything a little easier.

 

IMAG0518.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...