1974 260Z track car. Ground Up.

[JIM73240Z]

This is the most progress I've done on this Z in like 4 months.. lol, even though it only took me 25 minutes. Yawn.

 

This Clarke MIG welder isn't all that bad for sheet metal. I'm using C25 gas, (75% Argon/25%CO2). Using the right gas is important.

 

Vertical down welds.

 

Pretty decent looking fillet weld. Nice and flat.

 

 

the right gas is important indeed. i was welding and ran out of gas but did not realize it at first. why is it looking so $hitty. oh. ran out of gas. took the cylinder to get refilled and went home. hooked it up and same thing. crappy welds. wtf. took the cylinder back to the store and the guy looked at me and asked what i was brewing. im not brewing beer, like to though. im welding. you got the wrong gas there son. (i swear im hearing a banjo in the background as he gives the correct gas.) good to go.

 

looks good. keep it up.

 

jimbo

[cockerstar]

rofl

Either you have one tiny tank for welding or that guy was trying to fill an enormous home brew set up!

 

How much did you spend on your welder? I'm looking for something for in home use on my Zs, but I'm used to nice miller machines too! I'm trying to find that balance between disappointing myself and spending too much money.

[MoNkEyT88]

Yes, I know what you mean.

 

I use $6,000 machines all day at work, so I expect quite a bit.

 

If I were you, I'd at least get a 220v machine. I didn't because I don't have 220 service, although it wouldn't be hard to add.

 

If I had to do it again, I'd be willing to spend ~$1,000. BTW.. the clarke 130EN can be had for ~$300.00, and I think it's worth at least that.

 

With this machine I'd be iffy to weld my roll cage, even though Clarke suggests up to 3/16". My roll cage tubing is .134 wall. I'll be testing it a lot before I decide whether I'm going to TIG weld the whole thing, or use the Clarke welder.

 

I also bought a spool of aluminum wire, but haven't got a chance to test it out yet. I'd like to see how it does.

[260zman]

Ali wire can go okay in the mig, just change the mig liner before swapping rolls over, as the aluminium seems to pick up the ferrous crap in the old liner and not weld very nice. Will take a fair bit of mucking to get it set correctly for aluminium too, ie: heaps of wire feed and heaps of amps!! Good luck! oh and i'd just tack the cage up with the mig, then yeah baby TIG all the way. just my little bit of limited trade knowledge!

[MoNkEyT88]

Heres the sub frame connector/floor support.

 

1"x3" sq tubing. Didn't weld it to the caster rod mount, I think I'm going to make a mount later on from steel plate.

 

 

[MoNkEyT88]

Also, it worked out pretty nicely. I raised the floor pans up a little bit to be able to try to gain ground clearance. (I hope)

 

So, with the floor pan raised, the 1x3" tubing lines up perfectly flush with the bottom of the caster bracket. So no need to make anymore cuts on that end.

 

Does anyone know what spot of the suspension is the lowest on the car, hanging down?

[Daeron]

I know when I kicked a rear wheel on my 75 280, the outer trailing edge of the lower control arm was the point of contact. Stock suspension. I don't know if that helps, or if that much is simply stating the obvious but its what I know.

[cockerstar]

I went down to Oxarc to look at welders yesterday. They have a lovely lincoln machine they will sell for $618. It's 110v and lists for $752.

It looks perfect, but it's more than I want to spend right now.

Time to hit up the local pawn shops

[MoNkEyT88]

If you spend the money to get something decent now, you won't be thinking about how you wished you'd bought something decent down the road.

 

I've been looking at craigslist for new machines. I found one, and asked a guy at work if he had any experience with them. He says "Yeah, thats mine." - " What did you buy it?" -- "No, I posted that on craigslist."

 

What a small world, turns out he sold it like a week before anyway to another guy at work. O well.

[MoNkEyT88]

I've been working on the doors and dash to start making molds for the carbon fiber.

 

Turns out the doors aren't as straight as I'd like them to be, and I have to do all the body work first, just to use them as the plug for the mold.. Ohh well.

 

I'll have pics up sometime of the progress.. Also I'm looking at houses, busy bee...

[MoNkEyT88]

Here's the best door out of the two.. It's still in need of work to get it perfectly straight before I start making the mold.

 

Didn't get any work done today, been busy looking at houses, and ITS MY BIRTHDAY!! woo..

dash progress.. or not.. ha

 

New Vacuum pump..

[Daeron]

happy day to you!

 

Are you making door skins from carbon, or what? I missed that memo... If so, that should be a valuable plug and mold! IIRC, the door SKINS are universal on all S30s, even 2+2s but I may well be mistaken. I know if they are, its about the only part that can be said of.

[MoNkEyT88]

I'm going to be (Attempting)making the whole door from CF.

 

The skin will be a 1 part mold, and the inside will be a separate 2 piece mold. Then the two halves will be bonded together.

[jdizzy204]

woot !!! happy belated Bday. ill be starting my carbon project soon too:mrgreen:

[MoNkEyT88]

 

This is what I'm trying to achieve with the dash.

 

Currently I'm working on a door.. the dash will need a bit more work for the plug before I can make the mold.

[MoNkEyT88]

Looking pretty straight.

 

Waiting for paint to dry.

[Daeron]

LOL @ Hot-N-Ready

 

Is that dashboard going to have a smooth surface, like a fiberglass body panel, or will it be textured like stock?? I saw the pic you posted, and couldn't help but think "Aww, that would be nice... but I would MISS the crinkles!" Is there a commercial product or method to get a finished texture similar to the stock dash other than the rattlecan crinkle finish?

 

Just curious. The door is looking great; have you thought about laying a laser on the lines to see how perfect they are?? It doesn't look like you have much room for improvement, but it's a thought.

[MoNkEyT88]

if you wanted to have the same finish as the stock dash, you could just make a mold of the exact dash without doing any sanding/filling etc..

 

I'm going to be using a clear gel coat for UV resistance. It's not the lightest way to make a part, but it should slow UV break down.

 

Because the finish of the dash will transfer to the mold, and then to any part you make with the mold, it will also have the same finish.

 

Although because of the glossy nature of the finish (clear gel coat, or a clear coat) it would just look like orange peel. This is why most people would want a smooth carbon fiber part. (And who wants an orange peel finish?)

 

A glossy smooth finish will give depth to the carbon fiber part. A sandblasted or sanded finish on the mold would give the carbon fiber part a matte finish in the end.

 

Another way to add more of a texture would be to not do a clear coat, or use a clear gel coat on the finished carbon part. But it might allow for some imperfections to show in the resin that occurred in the infusion process.

 

Here is a shroud for my STI that was just resin, no clear or gel coat.

[Daeron]

You caught me out, I was thinking purely fiberglass.. I honestly find no appeal in carbon fiber finish 99% of the time.. carbon's appeal to me is structural and not aesthetic.. the appearance of the material is really nice and all.. but it doesn't suit my tastes, so I hadn't even thought about what an exact mold would look like for a carbon finish.. AND I had figured you were almost certainly going to be sanding any part made, at least some.. so any texture left in the mold would fail to make it through.. Bah, if I REALLY wanted good texture for a piece like that, it should be fiberglass core covered in a vinyl or leather material, really.. that is what I've always figured Nissan was imitating with their plastic and their molds

 

Anyhow, like I said, that door looks great and I can't wait to see your dash! Stock Reproduction FTW!

[MoNkEyT88]

Door mold progress.