Challenger Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Well I have always loved and admired Myron's front end which is in a way a "hybrid" of the stock framing and a tubular front end. I will be over the winter or possibly earlier beginning the pre steps to me jtr install and Id really like to go this route on the front end. Id be gaining alot of space for ducting, easier to work on, stiffer and it looks a whole lot better. This would be on a 78 280z so Im wondering If anyone could provide insight on how to begin with this.. My car is painted so I dont want to remove the fenders but will probably need to.. Ill definitly need to remove the hood, headlight buckets, and the airdam.. Any ideas, insight would be helpful. I know theres alot of cutting on this and it would be a fun project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Im about to cut my front rails off, and then I was also thinking about cutting out the fender area, and then boxing in the strut mount area, and then connecting all the goodness with tubing. I am going to leave large formed top rail though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Im about to cut my front rails off, and then I was also thinking about cutting out the fender area, and then boxing in the strut mount area, and then connecting all the goodness with tubing. I am going to leave large formed top rail though. Please document your steps! From the first cut, to the last weld. I've got a crunched 73 i've been toying w/ fixing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Derek, To do it right you really want to remove all the body panels from the front. If you don't you'll probably scratch the paint and will have harder access to the area around the front core support. Monkey, I'm curious to see what you do as well. I replaced the frame rails in my 240 last winter and came real close to building a tube frame front end but chickened out. The frame rails weren't all that hard, the rest of it, particularly the strut towers and tying it all into the rest of the car was what made me nervous. At some point I would like to install a cage and do the tube frame front. Ultimately replacing the Mac struts with an SLA front suspension but that is beyond my current capabilities and tools. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Yeah I wouldnt feel safe cutting and welding anywhere even NEAR my car, let alone on it. The whole front end would be pulled apart and the back end covered in weld drop proof blankets. Im not looking to do a full tube front end so I think that simplifies it ALOT knowing you dont have to mess with the suspension mounting points, heights, etc. Also wheelman, did you use jtr mounts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 If your chassis is still in good shape then your not going to have to do much cutting. I would get started by removing everything that is attached to the front end. If you plan to weld on a lot of places then I would get the entire front end bead/sand blasted or youl have to just go at it with a wire wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 Yeah that was what I was going to do first. But Id like to finish up the rear suspension first... get it where it can roll. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Derek, Yes, I have a standard JTR type setup in mine but I did modify the set back plates to raise the engine 1/2" to provide better clearance for the power steering. It also produced better drive line angles as a side benefit. I custom made transmission cross member mounts as well. I don't like the way the JTR unit is designed so I used the Datsun cross member and moved it about 4 1/2" back in the tunnel. PM me if you want more details, I know there's a thread on here somewhere with pictures. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Well I spent part of today dissassembling the front end. Removed the radiator, A/C core, hood, turnsignals, etc. Trying to "survey" it all to see what is needed. Im guessing the next step would be removing the fenders/headlight buckets, airdam.. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Personally, if your front end is in good shape, which it seems to be, I wouldn't touch it. Myron cut his off since his front end was tweaked. While Myron did a good job rebuilding his, it probably didn't do him much good in terms of aerodynamics. I don't know that for a fact, but to me, it doesn't looked like it helped. I'm curious as to what you want to do as well. Do you plan on cutting from the strut towers forward and replacing the rad support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Well I actually was looking at more of what terry had done on his front end. Forgot he had done this. I dont want to cut off the sides where the headlight buckets attach, but mostly the upper radiator support, turn siginals mounts, and the pieces below it. Pretty much everything above the lower radiator support cross member. You can see where he had to weld a piece to bridge the front of the frame rails. But this wouldnt be required if I did what I explained above, and I would still have alot of the structural rigidity nissan had built into the front end. Another reason I am considering this is to be able to run a hood like terry's. This would allow me to tilt the radiator and make ducting from the grill out the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Ehh, the one thing, which IMO is a pretty major thing is that the rad support spreads its load out pretty much from top to bottom. It wasn't until I believe it was johnc that mentioned this in a post that I realized how tied in the rad support is. Another thing I noticed is that while the structure is fairly beefy where the rad support is, the front of the car forward of the rad support LOOKS fairly flimsy. This is mostly just an observation BTW, I'm not an expert or anything... far from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Yeah I wouldnt want to leave the top open, it would have some type of bracing from side to side. I see how the radiator support plays a large role in the front ends structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Although i'm willing to help you with what ever you decide to do, I'm going to have to agree with rturbo930 and say leave the core support alone. Maybe you can describe some of your objectives and what you plan to achive by cutting out your core support. I just think there are other alternatives before cutting out such an importatnt peice of the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Yeah Im kind of trying to run the benefits (atleast what I think are benefits) and downfalls of it through my head before I do anything irreversable... as I think about it more the less Im wanting to do it. Im going to sleep on it and see what I think tomorrow.. Ill probably have changed my mind, but I do that alot. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Derek, You should do a search for a thread where Bartman described how he cut the top of his core support out and what he did to reinforce it afterward. He did it in order to tilt the radiator so he could install an LS1 air filter box in front of his engine. If I remember correctly his turned out pretty good. I think he later found that he had cooling problems though due to restricted air flow through the radiator. If you are planning to create a hood like Terry's there should be no problem with cooling. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 Yeah, Ill look that up. Thanks. Im slowly drifting away from this. It seemed like a good idea over the last few weeks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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