280z Progress. Frame, Floors, Exhaust, Fuel Cell - Lots of Pics!

[trwebb26]

Nope... didn't know that... and now that the exhaust side is finished - you are right... it doesn't fit. I'll likely be taking a bit of a break from the car for a while, now. Funny too... Like 24 hours before I figure it out for myself.

[Slow_Old_Car]

I don't know if you've already thought about this, but if my memory serves me correctly the Holsets need a 1/4" spacer between the turbine and the manifold; I noticed you had no spacer. Have you checked clearances?

 

inaccurate, depends on the holset used. the Hy35w's with 90 degree elbows pre-cast into the compressor housing fit without the use of a spacer when clocked right. grind off the stock wastegate actuator flange, the clock it so that the 90 degree elbow is either very close to the intake manifold, or very close to the frame rail. it will fit.

[e_racer1999]

inaccurate, depends on the holset used. the Hy35w's with 90 degree elbows pre-cast into the compressor housing fit without the use of a spacer when clocked right. grind off the stock wastegate actuator flange, the clock it so that the 90 degree elbow is either very close to the intake manifold, or very close to the frame rail. it will fit.

 

Excellent information. Thanks for the clarification!

[Slow_Old_Car]

Here's some shots of the last setup i did. Low side cold pipe, half for clearance, half to show off the 4" Aluminum cold air that runs next to it feeding the turbo.

 

Hope it helps.

 

[trwebb26]

I have an HE351 with the 90 cast compressor outlet. I'll obviously be looking into this tonight... When I looked at it last night I held the compressor housing up there and it didn't appear to fit, but I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out where the clearance problem is.

[trwebb26]

If you were tuned into the Z gods today - you may have heard them say "you're welcome" to me as I tried fitting up my Holset turbo to the manifold...

 

 

I could fit a 3/16" drill bit between the manifold and compressor housing (both were cold, obviously). WOO HOO!!! Had me contemplating putting the Z aside for a while to calm down, but now the work must press on!

 

I need to do some chopping on the housing so I want to remove it from the center section. Tomorrow I'll be shopping for a pair of gigantic-ass snap ring pliars for this snap ring (look near my thumb):

 

I tried to use a cotter pin removing tool, needle nose, and some screwdrivers but I can't get the damn thing out.

[Slow_Old_Car]

get 90 degree long handle needle nose pliers from your local auto parts place and file/grind the tips down to where they work, it also helps to grind in a slighly raked in profile to each tip to encourage better grip.

 

i'd heard of other guys buying a different tool, possibly from a dodge dealership, but i've always used the same set of modded 90 degree pliers ever since the 1st setup i did.

 

be ready with a couple smaller flatheads to steak between the snap ring and the compressor housing as you go along.

[trwebb26]

Exhaust and downpipe done:

 

 

Intercooler piping - hot side:

 

 

 

Cold Side:

 

I bought hump hoses for both hot and cold sides, but I don't think I'm going to put them in... or maybe I'll put them in at the intercooler connection.

 

The pictures don't seem to do my work justice. I'm happy with how everything turned out.

 

This week:

- Finish the intercooler tubing. I'm going to bend some light gage rod around the ends of the tubes that have hose connections and weld it on.

- Filtered Air tubing - and order the air filter. 4" piping - here I come.

- Mount fuel rail and finish fuel plumbing.

- Do some wiring (new injectors, wideband o2 sensor, speedo sensor...)

 

Thanks for watching and I appreciate any feedback / constructive criticism.

[trwebb26]

Well... Started out tonight trying to figure out how to route the fresh air lines. And I didn't get very far. I can't figure out a way to get a large volume of filtered air from the FRONT of the car (before or beside the intercooler) to the turbo inlet - there just isn't any room to do it cleanly.

 

All of this got me to thinking about hood scoops... I'm NOT thinking about putting in a hood scoop for fresh air, but what about making a reverse scoop and drawing the cold air off of the ground? I'm thinking about running a scoop under the core support to a box where I can moumt a filter and draw the air. To investigate - I put the airdam and bumper back on the front of the car tonight and started laying it out in my head. I've never seen it done like that before, but I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work. Only downside I can see is that it might be heavier than the average air intake setup.

 

I sure wish I could think of a better way. I did a bunch of searching, and I don't think I have room to run another tube through the core support. Any Ideas?

[Nelsonian]

Here's the set up I will be running eventually when I get to the assembly stage of my build. I bought this intercooler from Austin after he parted out his l28et gear, and I also snatched up his turbo and downpipe. The lower intercooler pipe actually routes below the front core support as shown in the provided pic's. Might be an option for you as well....

[heavy85]

Filter may get dirty quick but that's something you can deal with. When I had cold air in front of the radiator ... before I added oil cooler and could no longer fit the filter despite much work to be able to - no I'm not bitter ... the filter would get dirty very quick. Couple hundred miles and it's covered in bugs and crap. When it's in the top of the engine bay the bottom half gets dirty fairly quick from sucking up dirt from below so I imagine if the whole this is low then the filter would fill up that much quicker.

 

Cameron

[WizardBlack]

I have an HE351 that fit without spacers. Look at the link in my sig for a few pics.

[trwebb26]

I've got my plan mapped out for my intake... It is going in the front-left wheel well behind the headlight bucket. 4" mandrel bends should be here next Tuesday.

 

Today I made aluminum brackets to support my fuel rail and worked on my dash. I got a bad batch of blue LEDs online when I made my dash the first time - so I had to replace 4 of them with CRAZY expensive ones from radio shack (about 4 bucks each!). I also did some trimming on the dash and cleaned it up.

 

Tomorrow

- work on finishing fuel plumbing (I think I'm going to be short a fitting or two)

- reinstall clutch slave and bleed it.

- run wires for wideband O2, reverse swtich, speedo sensor, fuel pump, and fuel injectors. If I can finish the wiring - put the dash back in.

[Xylemer]

Did you have any issues welding to the cast?

 

I have heard mixed opinions about welding cast and I guess if it is done correctly, then there should be no issues.

 

I have a HX35W and I was thinkin about modding it to run an external WG set-up.

 

Oh, and what a sweet build! It is coming together nicely, very much an inspiration to all of us!

[trwebb26]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

For the hot side of the turbo - with the preheating / slowed cooling and use of 99% nickel rod... I haven't seen any cracking. My old man tells me that more than likely if there will be a crack - it would've happened by now.

 

On the turbo manifold - we still used the nickel rod and preheating / slowed cooling, but there have been so many people on this site use regular mig without any special treatment with great results - it seems the general opinion is that the manifold is a very weldable cast steel than a typical "tough to weld" iron.

 

Again - thanks for the feedback. I ask a lot of questions in my posts that never get a reply on... makes me wonder if I'm talking to myself.

[Xylemer]

Thanks for taking time to answer mine.

 

What hoop is that?

 

I am thinking about putting a hoop and doing some bracing while doing the rust repair on mine. I have a friend who builds cages for jeeps and other off-road stuff.

[trwebb26]

Autopower SCCA bar (with the diagonal brace). The fit was just ok as the plates that bolt the bar to the wheel tubs weren't exactly in the right place. I made the bar level to the ground / centered in the car and just drilled the holes wherever they ended up in the wheel arches (not the same on both sides). All in all - not bad for $400 and it will serve the purpose of adding some safety to my car.

 

Somebody else sent me a PM asking about the paint I used on my floorboards. It is zero-rust paint. I've bought 6-packs of the areosol 3 separate occasions (I've used about 12 cans of it on everything you see in this forum post) I ordered it from this website which also has some good info about it:

http://zero-rust.com/

I really like the paint and the claims from people online. It definately seems like a better product than anything you can buy at the local auto parts stores.

 

I got 2 new tight radius 90 degree 4" diameter bends and the -4 AN oil feed line and fittings for my turbo today. I'll probably start working on the fresh air line today... It sure will be nice to have it done. I've been talking/thinking about a good way to do to it for a long time, now. Pics will be up when I have a chance to show some progress.

[Xylemer]

I think I read somewhere else about the bad fitment of that hoop. Its gotta be cheaper than taking it to someone and having it fab up.

 

So, how do you think the zero-rust paint holds up against Por-15?

 

Por-15 is tried an true, but I am up to try out some other things.

 

Did you do your frame rails with the car on stands? I hate welding upside down, but I do not want to spend the money building or buying a rotisserie.

[trwebb26]

So, how do you think the zero-rust paint holds up against Por-15?

 

Por-15 is tried an true, but I am up to try out some other things.

 

Did you do your frame rails with the car on stands? I hate welding upside down, but I do not want to spend the money building or buying a rotisserie.

 

I've never used POR-15, but I'm pleased with zero-rust. Surely somebody in the hybridz community has used both? I did my frame rails on jackstands. Welding upside down was really tough at first - but if you mess with the voltage setting on your welder (I used less voltage) - it worked much better without dripping spatter all over me.

[trwebb26]

Been a while since my last update. I've been busy on the car. Here is some progress....

 

Front bumper/airdam on:

 

Seats and dash in... still a lot of grinding dust all over the place:

 

My office:

 

And without the flash (not everything is turned on in this pic):

 

My new wallpaper for my computers:

 

Getting closer... some stuff left to button up on the wiring / plumbing - parts will be here this week to finish:

 

Intake routing:

 

I know you are all jealous of my mocked up air filter - the real thing will be here this week:

 

I was pretty nervous about tire clearance... Looks like everything will clear accept when the car is 100% lock steering and at full compression on this strut... and it may even clear that, but I can't tell with the car on jackstands. I'm crossing my fingers I won't have to make clearance.

 

I'm missing a part... does anybody have the plastic bushing that goes on the end of the ebrake assembly that they'll give/sell to me? I burned mine up when I was welding on my tunnel:

 

Thanks for watching and I appreciate the feedback.