Marc280 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hey mate, it all looks pretty good. So what are the next steps for you from here, wiring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 No, body work - lots of bodywork !!! I recently finished getting rid of the original chassis rails in the engine bay and replacing them with nice new box section - also ditched the original radiator support panel and will make a new piece! I have ordered some new floor pans from Rare-Spares and am waiting to go and grab them, it appears as if someone went off-roading with my Zed if you look underneath it - so instead of trying to fix what is there just going to cut it all out and replace with new floors - so that should be a fun experience installing them Also - about 2yrs ago I bought a set of ZG flares - wasnt overly keen on just bolting them on, so instead I moulded them into the guards (lots of bog) - thought it looked really cool, but they have started to crack - so I am in the process of replicating them out of fibreglass - so making two new front guards - and thinking of what I would like to do with the front end, would love to install newer modern altezza style front headlamps, but dont think that is going to be possible without re-making the bonnet and ditching the bumper bar! Also getting a local body shop to whip me up steel replica's of the rear ZG flares, so once done will hack up the rear guards and weld them on!!! I bought a small sand blaster a few months back so will bead/sand blast the Zed and fix up the body work and give her a re-spray, After that will look at getting it running again - but still have to decide if I am going to go with dual exhaust or single and if I will stick with the current fuel tank I am running - I modified it for the RB30 conversion and slapped in a fuel cradle from early 90's Pintara - using an in-tank Walbro 242 from memory - but has a 42-45L capacity, which is a bit sh#t - would like to be able to get more fuel into it, but also like to run dual exhaust - only way out of that is running the fuel filler neck inside the cabin probably - Dont know if the engineer or Rego will be to happy about that!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc280 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 The fun of body work.... I'm keen to see how it all turns out though. I'd love to have gone with a 260z or 240z but I've got the 280zx which is in good condition and the early zed are starting to get real pricey in Australia.... I've seen many very ordinary ones going for $6000+. I never realised rare spares did parts for the zeds but that is good to know. Just make sure you take lots of measurement if your cutting out all the floor and make sure nothing moves! I've heard of a couple of stories where people have cut out a lot of metal and things have moved out of alignment. Do you mainly want the dual exhausts for the look? I haven't had to go through the whole engineering process yet although I'm told they can be fairly strict with a lot of mods these days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted November 2, 2008 Author Share Posted November 2, 2008 I don't mind the later 280zx's - used one for a daily driver for a few months and was quite surprised by it, honestly felt like a much better put together car than my 260z, more comfortable, heaps less noise - just a little thirsty on the fuel with the L28, was only getting about 420km's out of 60L!!! Don't know if I am all the keen on cutting out the floor pans - have half a mind to just go over what is there with nice new fresh channel!!! "Do you mainly want the dual exhausts for the look? I haven't had to go through the whole engineering process yet although I'm told they can be fairly strict with a lot of mods these days...." I want to get a larger fuel tank in there - only have about 42L with the in-tank fuel pump setup that I was using for the RB30, so was thinking that if I was going to the hassle of slapping in a larger fuel tank I may as well do it so I can run dual exhausts, however see how it goes the more stuff I do the more money I will have to hand over to the engineer to approve anything!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gritz Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Great progress..but one thing i noticed is it seems as if you could mount your engine alittle further back, is there a reason for not doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 "Great progress..but one thing i noticed is it seems as if you could mount your engine alittle further back, is there a reason for not doing this?" There was a few mate !!! I really wanted to run A/C and at present have the stock underdash Datsun AC/Heater unit - the outlet/inlet pipes are just clear on the passenger side rocker cover, also the heater outlet pipes are just clear on the drivers side, with the engine in its current position! But that was only the start - it was were the engine mounts are mounted on the 1UZ, they aren't really even mid-block, they are slightly more towards the back on the engine, but I really didn't want to run a 2nd crossmember - so I enlarged my original Datsun crossmember and sloped the mounts back to meet the 1UZ engine mounts - they slope back a bit and I wanted to centre them in the middle of my crossmember for strength, I tried to slope the 1UZ engine mounts forward, but it then would have been impossible to get the bolts through them to bolt the 1UZ engine mounts to the block, So the 1UZ engine mounts have to almost come straight down, So that was a consideration not to push the engine much further back!!! But, it was all about the Subaru PS rack - the reason the crossmember looks like it does, the engine sits were it does is because of the Subaru Rack really!!! I tried mounting the rack on the stock Datto Crossmember and just wasn't happy with it, so decided to make a whole new centre section for the crossmember, firstly stood the rack up (like it is mounted in the WRX, Forester, Legacy etc, etc, etc) I did this so I would gain lot's of clearance for the intermediate shaft over the Chassis-Rails plus make running PS lines SOOOOOOO much easier - however this limited how far back I could push the engine as the alternator would foul on the intermediate shaft coupling to the rack, Therefore the engine is where it is because thats how far I could get it back without the intermediate shaft hitting the Alternator! But if it had gone further back the hood-latch would have to be modified ala JTR style, would have had to re-route heater and A/C lines (like make new holes in the firewall, Clutch MS would not have fit (that was more luck than anything else and the Gearbox linkages align perfectly with the original gearbox level hole in the cabin! With the Driver on the other side of the car in the US it would be a different story, still have the issues of heater/AC pipes, clutch MS, shifter location and engine mounts being interesting with mounting the engine further back, however the intermediate shaft would be fouling on the A/C compressor and not the alternator, maybe even the oil filter as well - can't see how you could possibly run the A/C compressor in its stock location with the driver on the other side of the car, which means you would have to remove it, therefore could get the engine back quite a way in the US, however you would run into all those aforementioned issues!!! The 1UZ sits approximately 110mm of the firewall - I am curious now , wonder how that compares with the L-Series in its stock location??? This all means that the engine is a touch further forward than I would have liked but had to weigh up all those other bits and pieces - I am just hoping it wont take noise drives when I pull hard on the anchors !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorMuffn Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Good read! So how did you work out your exhaust and fuel tank, Tony? It occurred to me that you might be able to route the dual exhaust to vent just in front of the rear tires like some Shelby Cobras. And thanks for hitting me up on my thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 I dont have any pics, But I cut the top of the fuel tank, grabbed an early 90's pintara fuel cradle and welded a new top on the fuel tank to suit the Pintara fuel cradle, I removed the stock Pintara fuel pump and used a Walbro 341 (think that was it) internal EFI fuel pump, A touch elaborate but wanted to put the fuel pump inside the tank and remove the need for a surge tank! As for the fuel lines, I have some alluminium tube and some bundy bundy steel tube, but I haven't decided which one I will use, I will just run it down my new chassis rails, not in the tunnel like before, These are my new chassis rails ! Plus I ditched the way I mounted the engine and gearbox earlier in this thread! http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=143576 As for the exhaust, I really don't know what do to there - I think running twin pipes is going to be tough, also extractors are going to be tricky as well, I have no room on the passenger side (drivers side for USA), but I still have to built the radiator support panel and finalise my plans for the rear suspension before I think about any of that stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorMuffn Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 That is AMAZING!!! Your fabrication really inspires me, tonycharger72. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Thanks mate! Think if you have the will, anyone can do this stuff, I learned how to weld about 12mths ago and this is the first big thing I have done - but there has been a fair amount of trial and error involved ! Have you though about what sort of ECU you are going to run with your project? http://www.adaptronic.com.au/ I will probably be using this ECU, very cheap and there is a step by step process of how to wire up your 1UZ, plus downloadable maps to start your 1UZ off with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorMuffn Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 That link will help a great deal. I'm not quite there yet, but up to this point I was thinking megasquirt. I will definitely be looking into that adaptronic. Thanks, Bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.