widening the chassis

[Guest irish]

Well this is my first post but i have been lurking around here for about 7-8 years and i finally have a project car and have something to post here:burnout:

 

I have a 1970 datsun 240z. I am in the process of gutting it so i can send it to media blast. I definately have my work cut out for me as far as rust repair goes.

 

I decided I am going to build this car once and build it right. My other goal is for this to be pretty much to build my dream car the way i want it with every switch and bolt ect. done the way i want. so here is what I have planned as of right now.

350 SBC pushing about 330-350 horespower

widebody/roadster kit with doors welded shut and smoothed out

roll bar/cage

a curb weight of about 2700-2900 lbs. with driver

those are the major points.

 

My goal performance wise is to have a corvette/BMW M3 killer, not just in the quater mile either. I'm talking on a road course, skidpad ect. ect. ect.

 

So i came up with the idea last night of spliting the car down the center and adding +/-6 inches to widen the wheel base width. to help with cornering and whatnot... and cause it would be badazz. I think i got it all figured out except the windshield. The only thing i could think of is to go junkyard diving and get a windshiled/frame off of something with generally the same shape but a few inches wider and graft that onto my car. any other ideas?

 

I did a search and came up with this thread ( http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=136117&highlight=widening+chassis ) where they talked about it but said there would be problems. one problem they say would be a problem is the trans tunnel would be to wide. once the trans mount is lengthened what else would be the problem?

 

I know this is not an easy weekend project i am thinking about doing. i told my wife that hopefully the car would be done by the time my daughter is taking her drivers test....shes 3 months old.

[jknc90]

If it was me, I'd just use or make a widebody kit. Take a look at EVERYTHING down the centerline of the car, you'd have to widen everything. At least you realize this would be a HUGE undertaking. Goodluck with whatever you decide to do and welcome to HybridZ.

[johnc]

I would be more selective about where I cut to widen the car.

 

1. Core support and firewall cut down the middle, add material to widen.

2. Leave the greenhouse, floor pans, and trans tunnel alone.

3. Cut the rocker panels and rear bulkhead at the floor pan and add material to widen.

4. Cut the top of the rear 1/4 panels and add material.

5. Cut the rear floor down the middle and add material to widen.

6. Cut the rear finisher panel and add material to widen.

[SHO-Z]

From my experience with a Z convertible you are not going to have a good road race car. All of the torsional stability in the car is through the roof structure. I used 1x2x 1/8” tube stock tied into the frame rails for lateral stability. I have been thinking of adding an X brace to help torsional stability. The X brace would be required of a V8 Z convertible with the torque of a V8. I can feel the car flex when I put it hard in a corner.

 

As far as widening the car I would do it all with fender flares and wider suspension. I sort of wish I would have included flares on my car.