josh817 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Alright guys I have been stacking up so much stuff its about time for me to install all of it! This is what I have: 1. EDIS-6 ignition system 2. Megajolt Lite Junior 3. Disk brakes 4. 3-2 header with 1 5/8" primaries 5. Rear spoiler 6. 280z Voltmeter Things I am looking into getting soon: 1. Two 2" or 2.25" pipes 2. Rebello head and cam Alright so, I have already built my MJLJ and rev limiter. I opted to build it myself so I could learn how to solder and save $40. My Physics teacher let me stay in after school and use his soldering iron since the one I have is just the plug in type and his is the adjustable heat type. Couple of days after school everything turned out great. I bought a full EDIS-6 system from a guy that sells 4-6-8 systems. I received wires, coil, VR sensor, trigger wheel, and the module. For under $200 I now have an accurate ignition system with rev limiter! To install it I will follow Braaps setup for the trigger wheel: He gets a 2 row pulley and cuts off the wall of the second row. The trigger wheel can then be pressed onto the pulley and tack weld it if needed. Now, with that said these are my problems... When I go to take my pulley off, the motor will be in the car. I guess I will use a mallet to hit it off but getting back on may be a bugger so I may need to pull the radiator. Ok but problem, the pulley seals off the front cover. My motor is still fresh (first oil change), can I reuse that pulley seal in the timing cover or will I have to take that entire cover off and replace it... My dad says I may be fine since its a fresh motor but if it wasn't fresh he would replace it. The seal is put in from the back though so timing cover must come off... If that is the case then I will cut the oil pump spindle, probably replace the pump, change oil, change water, and obviously replace gaskets. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO AVOID THAT THOUGH! Also, I will need to send the pulley off to the machine shop since I do not have a press. As long as I schedule a time with him, I can drop it off and get to work on the front cover. While the water is drained I can hook up the heater core (hopefully its not bad). This brings me to another problem, VR sensor placement. I still need to read up on how much gap is needed between it and the trigger wheel, I heard its very forgiving. In order to not wait a month for Eric to do his thing at the machine shop I must have everything ready. The trigger wheel spacing all depends on where you mount the VR sensor. I think I will make use of the A/C bolts and make a plate, we have some angle iron and flat iron I can work with. I already know I don't want it near the alternator though and I'll just make sure the wires are secure and protected from header heat. Heat shouldn't be a problem though, they will be ceramic coated. I'm using the TPS off of my ZXT manifold from the old motor. I chose TPS rather than MAP due to the radical cam (and soon even more radical Rebello cam). Another problem I am having is finding a source of shielded wire. I don't want anything online and it needs to be under 14 gauge. About the size of a cigarette pack! It will mount under the glove box since I made the 280z plastic glove box fit in my 240z. I hate that cardboard crap! I think the coils will go on the firewall. I'm not really into spending a good amount of money on custom length wires... Alright so I received 4 wheel disk brakes from a member on here. He was VERY generous to me! VERY! I had a P90A head with an extra set of hydraulic lifters and he traded me that for the brakes! PLUS he bought me NEW rotors and brake pads! I felt really spoiled after the trade however I couldn't really help him with anything since he went over to the RB side, but he was happy to help another member out. Unfortunately I do not have pictures of the calipers, they are at the shop because I was sand blasting them. Now I will need rebuild kits, RED caliper paint, and whatever is needed to convert over ie: master cylinder, bias valve, longer studs, spacers. I do hope these brakes fit in my 14" Supra wheels... They're vented rotors in the front and then Maxima rotors/calipers in the back I do believe. Rears Fronts Now exhaust, right now I have a 6-1 header however for a street car, 3-2 would be better. Shift that power down lower a little bit plus help with scavaging with alternating pipes for firing cylinders. I bought the 1 5/8" primary header from a member on here for $75 shipped. Yes, it does have air injector bungs but I don't care as long as they don't interfere with the intake manifold. I don't have a picture of the headers but they're off being ceramic coated. Once they're done I am switching from one 3" pipe to dual 2.25" pipes with glasspacks. I would say a 2" pipe as the difference between 2.25 and 2" is +- the same amount of area as the current 3" pipe. With the EDIS-6 ignition and new exhaust I will have a dyno day to get some numbers. This leads me into my future plans... Rebello street port P90 with a .525 cam or whatever grind he has of that. I'm running a .490"/290º Schneider cam right now and don't want to get too crazy and if my dyno numbers are higher than 220hp I will not go for his head, rather I will wait until next motor. This however is a $1500 set back, can't complain performance is pricey sometimes. I ported my head but I think my port job was only mild. When I change out heads, I can reuse this metal headgasket right...? As you can see I'm trying to plan everything so that I don't have to go back in and replace a gasket/part ten times over... I'm still having a hard time justifying such spending on a head and then I will probably have to go out and spend a ton more for 45mm carburetors. I may just get another P90 head and spend a lot of time on porting it myself however once the initial cost of a good head is spent there aren't anymore expenditures. Lets just say I'm still thinking about it... My urge to want to beat everything on the street drives me but I tell myself, if thats the case, go back to a turbo or get an RB. Next up is body work... Oh boy... I've been avoiding this for a year... However! I am REALLY excited to dive in now! Spring break is next week and all my buddies are leaving so I can get some really good time in to sand, prime, and Bondo. I will go with Rustoleum paint I think or some cheap auto paint. The sweet news is that once again I get a major break since my dad owns his own shop. He has the sander and such and then the lady who does his body work said I can use her spray booth and all their equipment. Just buy the paint from her and tell her when! Right now I have many grommets to purchase as I think the firewall has like one decent gromet left. Floor plugs are needed too. I bought a rear spoiler however I was surprised that there was no info nor any help from members on how to mount the damn thing! It was hollow so I was like how do you mount this to the car... Instead, I came up with my own way which I'm not particularly fond of but hey what else? Buy some "Great Stuff" I think it is, its spray foam that seals off crap outside, expands and hardens. I inserted some wooden blocks (wish they were metal) and I will put inserts into the wood and then screw into the inserts. Now my only problem is, does this mount flush with the end of the hatch or is it .5-1" UP on the hatch? It won't sit flush with the hatch if you have it sitting evenly with the bottom of the hatch... Approach the spoiler with screws from inside the hatch. Now some more body work problems is that my drivers window will not roll up properly. If I roll it down, come time to roll it up, the front end goes up before the rear end. I have to sit there with a screw driver and wedge it up, then crank it up more, wedge it more. People say its off its tracks, no. I took it apart 3 times and it still does it. Strange thing is that it wasn't progressive. One day, rainy and nearly late to work of course, it won't roll up. Didn't slam the door that day or anything... I have the proper 240z door on the passenger side and a 260/280 on the drivers side. I would like matching doors so if anyone has a 240 drivers door here in the DFW area with no rust or big dents, I will trade + money or buy OR if you have a good 260/280 door that works too. I'm anal about matching stuff. The interior will receive truck bed liner and metal door panels. The insides of the doors where the window sits will be sprayed with this wax stuff I was told about or Rustoleum because my biggest fear is having time/rust take its toll on a part of the car that will eventually be very hard to find or very expensive. I don't care about comfort, I'm in there to drive not **** around. Right now the fumes are a bit much in the car and I know two things. My tail light assembly is popping out and my vapor tank hoses are original so replace the hoses, easy. The tail light, should I just add some caulking to it and move on? Paint scheme will was initially something nutso but I decided to go with an aggressive yet more calm look. Red with black stripes, but a dark red. I don't think Z's look good with an orange-ish red. I want this type of red which I guess is kind of orange in the light..: One thing thats going to annoy me is that I'm not pulling glass out to paint so anything in there will be whatever color it is now... I'll pull the hatch, doors, hood, airdam, etc though. Speaking of airdams, mines pretty rough. Do you advise using Bondo to cover up those cracks or should I get on it with more fiberglass? I would also like metal headlight buckets but I'm not sure if its a good idea to bolt two materials together. I absolutely hate fiberglass but this will have to do. Its the same airdam as the car above, Type III with side skirts although I don't really like the skirts so when I strip the car down I may just leave them off. This thread will have a walk through/progress posts in it as I go along. I think bodywork is the most I will do until I am out of college. I want suspension but its a street car and I don't want to get too hot and heavy until I get out. I am trying to keep the car at its purest. Thats probably the reason why I don't want any other motor but an L engine. The interrior will be stripped, only heater and radio (though I may take the radio out). It will be light and quick however not insane wheel spin quick. To end this awfully long post I will add that my exhaust is for sale when the new one gets put it. It is a 3" pipe all the way through and 3" ID/OD one chamber Flowmaster with tip. The pipe has a 3 bolt flange connecting it to the ceramic coated 6-1 headers. I know the pipe is a bit big so if you turbo guys want the pipe it will work well for you. The connection from header to pipe is right by the bell housing so just have a downpipe ready and hook her up. Also, my old ignition will be for sale; thats an electronic dizzy, coil, and HEI module. Bolt and wire it right up and you are good to go. PM if anyone is interested in this stuff, I will be putting them in the For Sale section eventually. Anyone in the DFW area be aware that I am now working for my dad in his shop for $15/hr. I have a few customers however I am wanting to expand and build up a reputation. I will do motor rebuilds for anyone, whatever you want L4 or L6 (doing a U20 Datsun 2000 motor right now... that caught me by surprise) If you are interested in giving me the opportunity to build you a good motor just shoot me a PM and we can go from there. ***What I need from someone with MS or something is a general ignition table for my Megajolt system so I can get the car started and running. Megajolt provides a 10x10 table and you can set whatever increments of advance you want. I will do 10%-100% TPS with whatever RPM.*** Thank you in advance for any help you guys can provide while I go through this! I'm sure there will be many questions. See yah later, Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 New plans... I'm not sure how painting goes but I think I'm going to pay the body shop lady to spray the car and I will sand. Should only be like $150 to spray plus paint. A friend talked me into staying out of red and doing silver but I that dark red still pleases me. I'm sure that picture has been tossed around her a lot. I like the paint but of course the contours catch our eye. I won't have any of that, at the max I will have some small flares if I have to use spacers for the brakes and my wheels stick out a little. I think I can do the ignition on a weekend because paint will probably take up an entire week if not two. I think the process goes: -Strip -Primer -Bondo -Sand -Primer -Sand fine -Paint -Sand finer -Paint -Sand finest -Clear coat I'm not really sure nor am I interested in sanding a ton. I wouldn't mind if it was at home but I don't have a compressor nor a spray gun, mask, plastic shelter, etc. Basically, once the car is disassembled I'm not putting it back together until paint is done. That sucks since it will be over in a different location rather than my garage. I'm not looking for anything fancy, I just need paint. I may invest in a cheap spray gun and some nozzles and use a buddies air compressor. Dad has a giant one thats oiled so it doesn't run too much and if it does it doesn't matter, my buddy on the other hand my have an oil free one and I know its the smaller 10 gallon type or whatever that sits horizontally. If its oil free, running it for an hour at a time will ruin it since the bearings are nylon I do believe... If I do that I can clear out the garage, spray it out with a hose and then tarp off the doors or something. I'll look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Alright Dad said his small air compressor is the oiled type. Harbor Freight has some cheap guns. The ones I'm looking at only have a 20oz gravity fed cup, there is one that has the cup on the under side which is 1 quart. I'm not to sure which to pick but I can imagine the gravity fed ones will be hard to control... $60 comes with two guns, 1.4mm and 1.8mm tip for the big one and 1mm for the smaller one. I don't know if I will like a 20oz cup though... If I run out in the middle of a spray I'm going to be screwed. They are all HVLP guns by Central Phnuematic. Quite honestly this is all very very new to me so really, if you view this thread and you know what you're talking about, throw in some pointers. I have no idea what to do for primer or paint, too many different things like primer, sealer, hardener, paint, reducer, etc. I don't know the order, nor do I know what to get. I'll head over to the body shop this week and ask them, hopefully they will have the colors I want on the shelf. I guess I will have to do it outside and just use a face mask since I don't have a respirator. I'll need to get the gun, paint and any of the crap that goes with it, Aircraft Stripper (works awesome), lint free shop rags, 5lb of bondo, sand paper pack, Mineral Spirits, butcher paper, and paint tape, paint filters, paint stirrers. What grit sand paper in what order? Beats me. I saw some Expert Village videos and the guy said 320-420 for final primer sand before paint. 1st coat of paint will be like 800 grit and final coat is anything from 1200-2000 grit, clear coat, then a buff. Still don't know what 2 stage and 1 stage is but I think I want 2 stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Okay, didn't read all of that, haven't got the time at the moment... but: Heater core: (presuming the problem is gunked up passages, not potential leakage) Go flush it back and forth with a garden hose now, before its time to hook it up. If you can manage a way to get some hose onto it and then cap one end, and fill the thing up with some super duty radiator flush (the stuff that comes in a big quart bottle, permatex product, white bottle, the serious serious flush) and let it sit, and then flush back and forth with a garden hose, you should be able to de-gunk it fairly well. Sanding: Its impossible to "go too fine for this stage" at any stage; the smoother each coat is when you are finished with it and ready to spray the next coat on (whether a primer, paint, pearl or clear) the smoother that next coat goes on. I am learning this firsthand with the little bit of rattlecan work I have done on my CRX... and believe it or not, 400-600 grit is nowhere near as fine as you might think it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Yah isn't like anything past 1200-1500 pretty much as fine as a sheet of paper? I did 220 on our BMW and its smooth to MY touch. I don't have the touch of a painter though so meh. Right now I am researching single stage or two stage paint... Apparently if I want a metallic color, two stage is the way to go. Whichever will work fine to me, this isn't a show car by any means. Watched Expert Village all night and I see that I should find some metal body filler rather than applying bondo first. Metal body filler willcover the steel and isn't affected by water. Rough up the metal filler, go over with bondo, sand to 80 grit, go over with the putty stuff, sand to 220, prime. After doing some research I think I have my steps down, minus the sanding. Two Stage: 1. Strip 2. Prime 3. Fill -Metal filler -Body filler -Putty filler 4. Sealer 5. Base coat 6. Paint? or is the base coat the color paint you are wanting to produce? 7. Clear coat Single Stage: 1. Strip 2. Prime 3. Fill -Metal filler -Body filler -Putty filler 4. Sealer 5. Paint One thing I need to know is how many coats do you spray? 3 or 4 coats, bumping up the grit each time? I was told once before that you just spray however many coats and don't worry about sanding between sprays until you wet sand and buff for the final product... I keep changing my mind but red with black just grows on me too much. If red is too expensive, I'll do blue and silver. Found this picture in our abulms or on google images, I forget. I love this red, same style air dam, black stripes, spoiler will be black and mirrors. I put the black on in Paint so shush. Ok something I am dying to know still is the front cover seal. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Ok, so paint: Strip car. Metal filler. (wicked hard to use, don't use it unless you have to.) Epoxy primer. (if you are not using an epoxy primer designed to be filled over, DON'T PRIME YET) Body filler. Spot putty. (VERY VERY LITTLE) Primer. Sealer. Basecoat. (this is your color coat, stop here for single stage) Pearl/Candy. (if used) Clearcoat. Seriously, spot putty is not totally needed, and since it's lacquer based, it will shrink a lot under a two-part primer like what you will be using. (all modern paints are at least two part, some are more.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Yah according to the videos I saw they said the a glaze of "icing" was to cover the 80 grit sanded bondo, smooths out the appearance and fills the course texture from the 80 grit. I need to find metal filler. I searched around and found a "Lab-Metal" but this stuff seems like something I have to buy online... Looked as easy as body filler when the dudes were applying it on the video too. If it saves me from rust, hell yah I'll use it. Apparently you can thin that Lab-Metal stuff out and then spray it for a rust proof coating. Will the epoxy primer and sealer take care of any future rust problems? When you say two parts you mean like paint and hardener right? How about the sanding between layers of paint? Do I spray a base coat, sand, spray another coat, or do I just spray several coats, clear coat, wet sand and buff? I'm starting to get the steps down, now I just need to get some practice with the guns to I don't get runs or anything... Things I need to plan for are the big gaping spots on the body. I'm yanking the antenna out I think so that hole will be there, I also have trim holes. I don't know if I should just tack weld those up or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'd tack weld them up. The metal filler won't stop rust, and you have to use a file to file it down, sanding does not work. Use a good quality lightweight filler, it'll be easier and look better in the long run. Also, properly applied, even Bondo brand filler is just fine, and will not cause rust. Improperly applied, ANY BRAND OR TYPE of filler will rust out and chip off. The best way that i can find, talking to all the local paint guys here, is as follows: Strip paint, filler, repair rust with a welder and sheetmetal. Use a two part epoxy primer designed to be filled over to encapsulate the entire shell, do your best to get in every crack and crevice. Block sand the entire car. 80 grit. Apply lightweight filler to the areas that need it, making sure that any tacked in places are sealed so water can't get in the seams and cause rust. This is the biggest cause of body filler failures, is water coming in BEHIND the filler. Use 80 grit or 100 grit to shape the filler, then block everything out with 220. The "icing" filler is just a really really really lightweight body filler, that sands out really smooth, kinda like thick primer. Prime again AFTER filler, and block the car out again, first to 220, then 320, then prime again, and wetsand to 320 grit. If needed, prime again and wetsand to at least 600 grit, all over. Definitely wetsand to that grit, but only prime the car if you need to, don't want the paint to get too thick. Use a good bond sealer, This improves adhesion to the basecoat layer. Some of these are ok to sand, some are not, check the can. Apply the basecoat. Usually done in two coats, sanding at MINIMUM 600 grit wet. Usually 800 or 1000 grit is used to colorsand. Apply the clearcoat, follwing the directions. Make sure to use basecoats and clearcoats that are compatable and make sure the primer and sealer are compatable as well. Most don't sand the clear coat, I don't think, but usually three coats of clear go on, and then the paint is allowed to cure. After curing, the paint gets buffed out and looks perfect , we hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'd tack weld them up. The metal filler won't stop rust, and you have to use a file to file it down, sanding does not work. Use a good quality lightweight filler, it'll be easier and look better in the long run. Also, properly applied, even Bondo brand filler is just fine, and will not cause rust. Improperly applied, ANY BRAND OR TYPE of filler will rust out and chip off. The best way that i can find, talking to all the local paint guys here, is as follows: Strip paint, filler, repair rust with a welder and sheetmetal. Use a two part epoxy primer designed to be filled over to encapsulate the entire shell, do your best to get in every crack and crevice. Block sand the entire car. 80 grit. Apply lightweight filler to the areas that need it, making sure that any tacked in places are sealed so water can't get in the seams and cause rust. This is the biggest cause of body filler failures, is water coming in BEHIND the filler. Use 80 grit or 100 grit to shape the filler, then block everything out with 220. The "icing" filler is just a really really really lightweight body filler, that sands out really smooth, kinda like thick primer. Prime again AFTER filler, and block the car out again, first to 220, then 320, then prime again, and wetsand to 320 grit. If needed, prime again and wetsand to at least 600 grit, all over. Definitely wetsand to that grit, but only prime the car if you need to, don't want the paint to get too thick. Use a good bond sealer, This improves adhesion to the basecoat layer. Some of these are ok to sand, some are not, check the can. Apply the basecoat. Usually done in two coats, sanding at MINIMUM 600 grit wet. Usually 800 or 1000 grit is used to colorsand. Apply the clearcoat, follwing the directions. Make sure to use basecoats and clearcoats that are compatable and make sure the primer and sealer are compatable as well. Most don't sand the clear coat, I don't think, but usually three coats of clear go on, and then the paint is allowed to cure. After curing, the paint gets buffed out and looks perfect , we hope! Makes perfect sense! Only things that are getting me is what to use to seal off welds and bondo to prevent it leaking. My car was an Arizona car so there is like barely any rust. Nothing on the body except along the edge of the hood with some surface rust. The biggest area is the quarter windows. Previous owner didn't do gaskets around them so that area is rust but not horrible. I'll buy a can of that stuff which supposedly converts the rust. Spray it on clear, dries black when contact with rust. Lastly, I'm guessing you were saying to sand between base coats it sounds like. Also makes sense. Since I am doing stripes, should I just spray the main color (red), sand that between coats, and then make my last spray the stripes? I think this is where I asked my dad if I am expected to retape the same line for EVERY spray. Oh and idea on filling in the antenna hole since its so big? What about the pillars or whatever you want to call them between the hatch and the quarter windows? Those are known to rust out and I have bondo cracking and falling off on there. Just refill it and move on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 For paint and body discussion visit my other thread here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=145621 As it is in a more relevant section of the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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