New Floor Pans and Frame Rails

[piston]

i should also add, if anything is going to brake, the rubber motor mount would start to show signs or tear apart before it just decides to bust your metal fab mount supports.

[tonycharger72]

It's really great to see a car like this rescued and built better than new. Your fabrication skills are truly amazing, very impressive. I would be interested in seeing what the new weight of the car will be, I'd personally be willing to trade any porkiness for the structural rigidity you now have- Horsepower cures all pork.

 

Really nice job, you really should be proud. I wish I had your talents. Don't forget to weigh her when complete. Keep the pics coming!

 

Thanks mate, I will certainly keep the pics coming!

 

Body rigidity has certainly improved - my garage floor is quite uneven and when I put the car on Jack-Stands I never require 4 corners supported, 3 Jack-Stands do the trick now ! I still put a 4th in place just for safety of course !

 

But, as you mention, think a bit of weight has been added - all be fine as long as add sufficent HP to compensate !

 

i should also add, if anything is going to brake, the rubber motor mount would start to show signs or tear apart before it just decides to bust your metal fab mount supports.

 

I dont know............I think the driver side mount would have a similar force applied to it like a hammer slamming into the top of it, which could cause it to bend and dent downwards as the engine torques over, which would cause it to eventually crack and then fail. The engine mount above it would just compress, compress, compress - the passenger side mount could rip over for sure.

 

I think you could spot the depression on the mounting plate itself as the first sign that there is a problem - I am sure there is some quite simple mathematical forumla I can plug some numbers into to verify beyond doubt that these mounting plates should hold the force of the engine or if they require a few decent gussets thrown in place.

[piston]

oh, you have one of those bushing/center type mounts.

[ModernS30]

Man, I like how this went from new floors and rails to a tubular cross member and a 1uz!

[ModernS30]

Yeah, I raised my floors so that they are flush with the bottom of the rockers.

 

I want it LOW.. and maybe a full under tray.

 

 

 

I have one question. How tall are you and how does your seat mount work out? Is it super low to the floor? I know that when I put my racing seat it I was to close to hitting my head on the roof.

[tonycharger72]

I have one question. How tall are you and how does your seat mount work out? Is it super low to the floor? I know that when I put my racing seat it I was to close to hitting my head on the roof.

 

I am 6ft and had to modify the height of the Seat Rail Cross Sections to be a touch shorter than the original ones.

 

I basically lifted up the floor pans by 25mm, this was so I could use the 65x35x1.6mm Rectangle section for the floor rails and not have them either, in the car with me or scraping along the ground.

 

The original Z seat rails mounting fixtures are quite tall, about 120mm at the front and down to around 90mm for the rear seat mounting section above the original floor pans.

 

From memory, I used 50x50x2mm box section for the new Section Rail cross sections where I would attach the seats.

 

This effectively lowered the seat mounting position by up to 40mm, which would compensate for the raising of the floor pans.

 

Is it super low to the floor?

 

You can still stick your hand under there to move the seat backward and forward - so still ample room, but Yes, it is a lot closer to the floor than the original mounting points were!

 

As for how I have mounted the seats...............

 

All I did was weld a bit of flat-bar 25x25x3mm section and bend up the ends so I could quickly mount in the seat. But this won't work long-term, the flar-bar is to flimsy and the seat can move around. I will have to figure out a better way of securing the seats in place...........but when I decide on what seat I will use, then I will work out a good way of mounting it in place.

 

Also.............I actually originally used the 65x35x1.6mm box section (same as the stuff I used for the frame rails) for the Seat Rail Cross Sections, and I found when I sat bolt upright - my head touched the roof - which was awfully tedious, so out it came and in went the 50x50x1.6mm.

 

A point to note here is that if I were to do it again, I would install the seat rail cross sections before or at the same time as I tack in the new floor pans - I used 1.2mm steel for the floors and there ended up being a little bit of distortion on the inside edge (floor area adjacent to the transmission tunnel) which made attaching the seat rail cross sections a bit of a nightmare........bits of the floor just weren't flat anymore!

[tonycharger72]

Man, I like how this went from new floors and rails to a tubular cross member and a 1uz!

 

Hehehehe, and it keeps changing !

 

Well the design at any rate - I got it all done and slapped on the front guards (fenders) and they foulded on the wheels at the front. I was running 7deg of Caster, which I thought would be fine for clearance, but apparently not.

 

So I have moved the entire crossmember back about 55mm, which has taken the front wheels back to dead centre in the guards and should be giving me close to 0-2 Caster (I haven't re-checked it yet). This also required me to make new engine mounts.

 

I decided I am just going to modify the rear mounting point of the LCA's to except a bearing and make my own adjustable LCA's............which in the long run is probably a lot better option than just fixing the struts in one position and unable to move it at all (or very little). That is if I change it at all.

 

But figure out all that stuff later - I have had enough of playing around with the crossmember and making engine mounts for the time-being - I will get stuck into my Dash and wiring harness for now !

[ModernS30]

Thanks for the responses guys! I am in high hopes of starting my floors soon. I like the look of the floors being high up there like that, it should let me get lower without as many worries. The only thing I worried about way my head hitting the roof. I am only about 5' 10" still growing but can't be much cause my dad is 5' 7" and my mom is 5" 4" so I shouldn't end up 6'. I had no clue how I was going to make the floors fit close and everything till I looked at how you did it. Hammering it down like that is a great idea. What is this "weldable" paint that was mentioned? I would worry about the overlapping material on the metal getting rusty on the inside. I am assuming this is to prevent that. Although most moisture would evaporate upon welding. Then making it a air tight seal with some sort of sealant should stop this issue. I am not sure if it would or not. Definitely watching this thread though, interested to see how this car turns out!

[tonycharger72]

I would worry about the overlapping material on the metal getting rusty on the inside.

 

I welded some spring perches onto my Brother's struts and he was advised to throw on some Zinc paint underneath the threaded collars before welding to protect it against rust.

 

I am just going to slap seam sealer over all the welded joins after I have hit with a good quality Epoxy Primer.

 

Here is some pics of how the front wheels sat before I moved the Crossmember back................bit to much caster !

 

 

And this is how it sits now.

 

 

& these are the new Engine Mounts I made to suit the new Crossmember position. I left the Gearbox Crossmember the same, so the engine is still in the same position as it was before, just moved the front suspension back.

 

 

I might throw in some gussets for the engine mount with the centred tube - these engine mounts use the original style of Z engine mounts - makes life a bit easier when installing the engine compared to the earlier mounts I was using from an R31 Skyline.

Edited March 16, 2010 by tonycharger72