Ross' Sleeper Z

[rossman]

Nah, I never contacted him.  I just didn't want to deal with him anymore.  Cost me another $100 to get the filler fixed. C'est la vie!

[rossman]

Regarding the tank, I will have to say, that besides the constant delays in delivery and the incorrectly placed filler neck, the tank appears to be built well.  He told me his welder quit in the middle of the job.  So, I cut him some slack.  In the end I finally got my tank.  It's no show piece (I didn't expect it to be) but all the welds look acceptable and he did install AN fittings as I requested.  Although, one fitting looks like it was damaged and "repaired" on the sealing surface.  In hindsight, should have just had him install NPT bungs. Anyway I'm going to pressure test it with AN caps soon...before I put fuel in it.

Edited January 20, 2019 by rossman

[rossman]

Seam sealed both floor pan weld joints with 3M Urethane Seam Sealer. Used a trimmed acid brush to goop on the sticky, messy, stuff.  Next up will be painting the pans with POR 15 black.  I don't care too much about how it looks as this all will be covered with carpet.

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by rossman

[rossman]

Finally installed the dash after removing it over 3 years ago to "install some new gauges." 😆 This time with a new #vintagedashes dash pad, new SpeedHut Revolution gauges (Coolant Temp, Fuel, Oil, Boost, and AFM), custom three gauge panel, and Vintage Air AC evaporator/heater blowing thru the stock vents.

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by rossman

[rossman]

This is the car as it sits today, pretty much ready to start.  All I have to do is put oil and fuel in it.

 

These guys were a huge help.  That's my son Zachary on the left and his friend Colby on the right.  They got the intercooler, intercooler piping, and rear LCAs installed in no time.

The 24" ac condenser is a tight fit but it works!

 

 

Aluminum fuel tank and lines are installed.  I had to polish the inner flares, same as I did back in 2008 due to purchasing cheaply made stainless pipe.  I'm going to get rid of all of it because I don't want to do that again!

Here you can see my TTT LCAs, new fuel pump mount, and barely see the TTT mustache bar.  The main reasons for the LCAs and mustache bar are for clearance to the half shaft boot.  Note to self:  Don't forget to tighten those damn LCA pivot bolts before I get all excited when the car starts!

 

Back side of Wilwood parking brake.  I hated dealing with the hydraulic line lock.  It's just not a good solution for a street car.  I went thru three of them that failed due to leaks before I started looking for a better solution.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by rossman

[rossman]

14 hours ago, rossman said:

All I have to do is put oil and fuel in it.

Oh, and engine coolant....must not forget that!  Also I failed to mention that all the dash wiring is connected all the electricals are working properly.  I initially had a problem when the ignition switch was in "acc," the hazard light switch would power up the car like the ignition switch was switched to "run," then back to "acc"  and then back to "run" as the flasher cycled.  Took me quite a while to figure out what the hell was going on! It turned out that I had reversed two identical stock connectors that go to the rear turn signals/fuel level sender (Y, GB, GR) and the cig lighter/antenna/wipers (LW, L, LY). 🤪

Edited March 15, 2019 by rossman
clarified my electrical problem

[rossman]

It's finally running again!   

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5yo7SPSUCJrKMGWd9

 

The video was shot after running the engine for 30min @ 2 - 3K rpm to break in the re-polished cam and new Nissan rockers. 

 

My cam and rocker saga is detailed here: 

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by rossman

[grannyknot]

Congrats! That has been a few yrs since you had it going.

[rossman]

Yes it has! A little over 3.5 years if I remember correctly.

[Leon]

Nice job Ross, looking good!

[rossman]

Thanks! I can't remember if I listed out all the mods I've done over the past 3.5 years, but here they are: 

 

1) Baddog floor pans and frame rails

2) zfever aluminum fuel tank

3) relocated fuel pump

4) Techno Toy Tuning rear LCAs

5) Custom (HZ group buy) rear Wilwood Arizona Zcar Rear disk setup) with Wilwood parking brake calipers and custom parking brake cable

6) S2k seats with custom seat mounts

7) Six additional Speedhut 2-5/8" Revolution gauges, now 8 total including speedo and tach  

8. New replacement vinyl kit. Purchased an MSA full carpet kit but didn't like the quality.

9. Removed the rear bumper to straighten but realized it's too far gone.

10. Rewired the fuel system, mounted to the firewall now (instead of a cutting board 😄)

11. Removed the PCV plumbing that was choking off the block vent. Simple k&n filters now but will replace with proper catch cans soon

12. Had the cam repolished by isky and installed new Nissan rockers and lash pads. The previously installed, resurfaced rockers started spalling.

13. New battery

14. Vintage Air AC because Houston. Tired of sweaty back 😅

15. New Rota 16 inch wheels to fit over my new rear parking brake calipers - now with proper offset

16. Replaced 6 puck sintered iron clutch disk with an organic. I think it may already be slipping 😣

18. Replaced the passenger side axle CV shaft boot. I believe the stock lca was hitting it.

19. Installed new Techno Toy Tuning mustache bar. I believe the 280z one I had previously was allowing the diff to rotate enough to allow the cv axle boot to contact the rear lca.

20. I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can remember!

 

On the short list...

1. Proper catch cans

2. "Racing" side mirror fix. Both flop around...worse now that I tried to simply tighten the ball clamp down 

3. Four wheel alignment

4. New shifter in inner bellows using Miata bellows.

5. Dynamat

6. Actually install vinyl and carpet

7. It never ends! 😁

 

Thanks for looking!

Edited April 28, 2019 by rossman

[rossman]

Dirty as hell but this is the car as it sits now.

[rossman]

Been driving the car around a bit.  I finally got the idle tuned good enough the it doesn't die every time I let off the throttle, lol!  Does anybody know of a good resource for tuning "modern" efi, specifically a system similar to Wolf v500?  Seems like Haltec is similar since the owners of both companies used to be partners at Haltech, at least that's what I remember from internet folklore. 

[rossman]

 

A recent photo of the engine.  It needs a lot of clean-up, wire tucking, etc. but it runs and drives reasonably well given my novice tuning abilities. I need to fix a few things that are bugging me before I get it professionally tuned like reasonably sized catch cans and a better IAC solution.  The current IAC setup works ok at idle but turns into is a leak when the turbo spools up, slowing boost response.

[rossman]

It's been over a year since I posted last and about time for an update.  I knocked off all the items on the above "short list" except for the catch can.  I purchased a Mishimoto can but haven't installed it yet. I've been driving the car on-and off, going to local car meets - basically having fun with it.  This was until earlier this week when I decided to fix some rust around the hatch that has been bugging me since I got the car.  In hindsight I should have addressed the rust first...but here we are now, going backwards :).  Anyway, boy did I open the proverbial can 'o worms! I didn't get any pictures of what it looked like before I started but I could tell that it had some filler with rust coming up.  I figured the rust was worse than I could see so I went ahead and purchased a top plate from MSA.  It should be here in a few days. In the mean time I've been digging and cutting out rust.  It's turned out to be a much bigger job than originally planned.

 

Here is what it looked like after I removed the top layer of paint and filler.  At this moment I knew I was in trouble, lol!!

 

 

 

 

The top plate was removed and it, just kept getting worse.  Basically there was significant rot everywhere there was overlapping sheet metal. You can see the shoddy patchwork the PO did (or had done) and the complete lack of rust protectant.  I thought my welding was bad!!!  As you will see soon, Nissan did little to no rust protection from the factory.

 

 

 

This is what is left of the top plate.

 

 

More to come soon........

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by rossman

[Ironhead]

OMG, that is a mess.

 

I think in the '60s and '70s cars were only expected to last a few years, and they were built accordingly.  It isn't just Datsun, pretty much every car from that era has rust issues.

 

We all like older cars for our own reasons, but in terms of being long lived/reliable/efficient transportation devices, modern cars are so vastly better.  I think you could buy nearly any 2020 model car and drive it for as long as you like without rust ever being an issue.

[rossman]

6 hours ago, Ironhead said:

OMG, that is a mess.

 

I think in the '60s and '70s cars were only expected to last a few years, and they were built accordingly.  It isn't just Datsun, pretty much every car from that era has rust issues.

 

We all like older cars for our own reasons, but in terms of being long lived/reliable/efficient transportation devices, modern cars are so vastly better.  I think you could buy nearly any 2020 model car and drive it for as long as you like without rust ever being an issue.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself!  You can see the brown pieces from a brown 280z in one of the pictures showing the hatch.  Those pieces are relatively rust free but not 100%.  There is much more effective thick, green primer on them. I truly believe there is no such thing as a rust free Datsun or any car from the 70's or earlier.  All you have to do to prove it is to peel back the onion.

[rossman]

Here are more pictures from today's work.  Fortunately the left side is less rotted that right.  I was relived to see solid metal under a light surface rust on the underside of the hatch top panel.  I'm going to stop there and weld it up.  below are my plans for the exposed metal and rust that I cannot reach. 

 

1) All exposed exposed metal will be primed with with PPG two part epoxy primer. 

2) Lightly rusted/pitted metal that is hidden will get treated with Rust-oleum Rust Reformer followed by the same epoxy primer.

3) All metal free from the car will get the rust removed by electrolysis then painted with epoxy primer.

4) Overlapping joints will get weld-thru primer followed by seam sealer and cavity wax - I'm doing my best to avoid lap joints.

 

I'm open to suggestions but this is my plan for now.  I looked online for long-term testing of rust converters.  There are lots of people saying that this or that converter "works great" but no real tested evidence.  From what I found, it seems that the Rust-oleum product is pretty decent.  I'm not sure how well the epoxy primer will adhere to it...open to suggestions.

 

This is the right side corner prior to cutting it up.  I'm fairly certain this area has never been opened up.  As you can see there is very little or no effective rust protection in there from the factory.

 

 

This patch panel if from a sacrificial ass of a 280z.  As you can see it's in pretty good shape. I'm glad I had the forsight to grab it when I had the chance. The $150 I paid for it saved me hundreds of hours of metal forming.

 

This is the same area after removing the badly rusted parts.  All of the panels have some amount of rust - mostly just surface rust.

 

\

 

Fortunately the left side is not as bad.  I was surprised to see solid metal under the.  Oh and the cheap Amazon WEN finger belt sander has paid for itself several times over.  It's my new favorite tool for paint/rust removal. The 3M Zirconia belts have lasted at least 5 times longer than the cheapies that came with the tool. They are certainly worth the extra $.

 

There is at least 5 pieces of lap jointed metal coming together here.  Prime real-estate for rust.

 

Another valuable tool but a little too pricey though. I have found good alternatives at Home Depot for less.  The quick loading system is just their way of locking you into their disks - totally unnecessary, might save a few minutes/day in a production shop.

t

Here is a good picture of the underside of the 280z top plate.  It also has rust problems albeit not as bad, but completely hidden from view.  Rust never sleeps!

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by rossman

[boosted300]

3 hours ago, rossman said:

 

I'm open to suggestions but this is my plan for now.  I looked online for long-term testing of rust converters.  There are lots of people saying that this or that converter "works great" but no real tested evidence.  From what I found, it seems that the Rust-oleum product is pretty decent.  I'm not sure how well the epoxy primer will adhere to it...open to suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't used it personally, but I've seen a lot of people using/recommending POR-15 and seeming to have great success with it.

 

 

[RJ280ZX]

8 hours ago, rossman said:

I'm open to suggestions but this is my plan for now.  I looked online for long-term testing of rust converters.  There are lots of people saying that this or that converter "works great" but no real tested evidence.  From what I found, it seems that the Rust-oleum product is pretty decent.  I'm not sure how well the epoxy primer will adhere to it...open to suggestions.

 

Muriatic acid will eat the rust and leave you with bare metal, the full strength stuff works better but hard to come by.  Be careful, if you leave it on too long, it will eat the metal. 

Here is an example of what the acid can do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfk2J0fXZzM  full strength version of the acid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Q7I26cwkU

 

Skyco ospho rust converter will "convert" the rust into something paintable.  You apply it, let it sit 24 hrs then wash it off, then paint it.   I just started doing this method this last year, so I can't offer you any lasting results, but I think it will work better than other methods I have used.  Remember, you need to wash it off after you let it sit or the paint won't stick. 

 

I recommend using POR-15 to repaint it,  they have an aerosol can that can be painted directly to the bare metal.  

Edited January 1, 2021 by RJ280ZX
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