MONGO510 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hi Performance fans! My name is John, but I was nicknamed Mongo many years ago while crewing for a buddy that was running a Lotus 23 sports Racer. It started raining and I showed up in the Hot Pits wearing this hat. It will be self explanatory to those of us that have been on this planet for a while! The car in the back ground is the 510 I built for my Son. VOILA---- Mongo510! The 510 Has been converted to RHD, SR20DET installed, Coilover suspension in front, Roadster springs in rear. All suspension is fully adjustable. The car runs very well and ran a 13.9@101.47MPH on its first outing at the Drag Strip. The Engine is totally stock. I was working on the Dime when I was directed to this site for information and ideas. I spent many hrs. looking at the cars, checking performance #'s, and salivating in general! Heck, I'll admit it, I was sporting a "Woody". I had to build myself a Z-Car!! LOL I continued working on the Dime and watched the "cars for sale" section for a good prospect. I finally found a decent candidate listed here and contacted the owner. More to come!! Soon! (Admins please edit if you feel necessary) John(Mongo510) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 The Z was listed in the "cars for sale" section and looked like a good candidate. It was an early 260Z from the San Jose Ca. area. It was a young guys uncompleted project. The engine was partially disasembled and it had a ZX 5spd installed. The car was almost rust free, The only problem area was under the battery and it was still basically sound and only needed surface rust cleaned up and treated. There was just a few small dings in the body, with the worst shown in pic #1. The deal sealer was the fact that it came with a set of 3, remanufactured 45mm Webers still in their boxes and never installed. New linkage was included as well as a Weber Manifold. The price was $1200. I jumped on it!! I rented a tow dolly and headed south from Portland Or. She was mine! I sold the Weber setup on EBay for $900, and the 260 engine and 5spd on Craigslist for $200. Total cost for great starting point was about $200 including gas and tow dolly rental!! More to come!! Mongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 Newest update! I tried bending up my own roll cage with a bender from Harbor Freight . I tried filling some sample tubes with sand and multi apex techniques and it actually looked pretty good, but I can be a bit anal about somethings and I knew that it would always be there in the back of my mind that it didn't look perfect to my eyes. I know it would have passed any tech inspection because I've fabbed this stuff up before on 2 different Formula cars. I made some calls to old racing pals and got a Phone # for a shop named ProFab. He happened to be only 8 miles away and he was building a cage for a 240Z at this time. I took my tubing(1-1/2X .095 wall DOM) to his shop and checked out the cage in the 240. It was masterfully constructed and real eye candy! He used the 240 cage as a pattern and had my cage bent up 3 days later! It was done a day earlier than he had quoted!! Total cost for bending and fishmouthing was $225. Total cost of cage will be under $400. Sweet! The shop owners name is Steve Gatrell and I would recommend him to anyone. Really nice work for a great price! Here are some pics of my pile of bent tubes. She starts going in tomorrow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 So here is one of the mods I am working on now! This will be mounted to the floor inside the car using the existing mustache bar mounting points. Shocks will be monoshocks from a motorcycle. Does anyone have a computer program to calculate what the length of the upper control arm should be? Should it be parallel to the lower C-arm? Ideas? Mongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted November 13, 2009 Author Share Posted November 13, 2009 (edited) I see I have acquired a Subtitle to my screen name LOL. Thanks, BRAAP and RTZ. You guys make this fun! OMG! I have totally lost control of this project! LOL. When It was originally started It was going to be a fairly hot street car with a 6SPD and a warmed over SBC. It has now morphed into a race car that is very thinly disguised as a street car! WOOWHOOO!! Its intended use is Hill climbs, AutoX, Silver State Classic, Track days, and Street Driven Toy. Here is the build sheet as of 11/13/09 Engine: Chev 400 block, forged 327 crank, eagle 6" H-Beam rods, SRP forged flattops, Aluminum Flywheel, Howards solid roller camshaft, 1.6 roller rockers, gear driven cam, big valve aluminum heads, Wiend intake, 780 Holley carb, Hooker headers, Megajolt controled crankfire ignition. Power train: T56 6 Spd trany, longnose R-200 diff with VLSD installed, stock half shafts. Frame/ Chassis: Subframe connectors installed, full rollcage, Poly suspension bushings, strut rod replaced with R&P tie rod and clevis assy., front coilovers/ illumina shocks, Rear suspension is a fabricated double a-arm set-upwith double adjustable shocks. Brakes: 4 pot Toyota/ ventilated front, 280ZX/ Maxima rear, 15/16ths master. Wheels/ Tires: to be determined Here are some pics of the progress! More to come! Mongo Edited November 13, 2009 by MONGO510 additional info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Here are a few pics of my front struts, I ended up using the early struts as the collars I got didn't fit the larger 280 parts. They should be ok, although the 280 struts would be a little stronger. The collars are parts from an EBay coilover kit for a Honda. The kit came with 4 Collars and 4 springs. Springs are 450# and 500#, so they are more than I want. Coilover kit cost $40 to my door. I will sell the springs on EBay and hope to get $20 for them. That will make the cost of the collars $20. I am building my own camber plates, so the front suspension will be pretty reasonably priced. Here's some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 I have been installing my rear flares, as per 240hoke. They are going on smoothly and will look good on there. This thin metal is really a bitch to weld! I ended up making lots of very short beads! 1/4"-1/3". Even at that I burned a few holes in it that had to be filled. Oh well. I found out how sharp this damn sheetmetal can be when I sliced the top/side of my Rt. index finger. It was cut pretty deep so I got to do something else I always wanted to try. Surgery!! I had some sutures on hand in my F.A. Kit so I dug one out and sewed up my finger!! Cool! Didn't really hurt much, but it was a bitch trying to tie the sutures with only one hand. You all can call me "DOC" now. LOL Here's some pics of the days events. More to come! Mongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) I decided while I was installing new Poly Bushings that I would install grease fittings. There were a few tricks that needed to be done for them to work properly. See pics. My Zerks were metric so I drilled all holes with a #9 drill bit, which is the correct size for a 6X1.0mm fitting. We are dealing with relatively thin material here, so you want the correct size so that the fitting will tighten up without stripping. Once the holes were drilled they were tapped with a 6x1.0 tap. This process was repeated for all of the suspension bushings.(front control arm, inner and outer rear control arm) Make sure and give some thought to where you place your fittings. You don't want them to interfere with any other parts. One thing that is a must(IMO) is to bevel the inside radius of all of the bushings as well as to put a notch in the inner edges of all of them. The notch allows for the fitting to protrude into the bushing, and the bevel will allow grease to flow all the way around the inside diameter of the bushing. When the rear inner caps are installed I will seal the caps with a high strength sealer such as Yamabond or Hylomar. The sealer should prevent the grease from squirting out the sides of the caps. I have a small grease gun that I will fill with "Sil glyde" to use as lubricant. If you are not familiar with "Sil-glyde", you should be! It is excellent brake assembly lube, internal and external, and is great for any rubber parts. Edited December 7, 2009 by MONGO510 additional text and pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 (edited) After doing a little research, I have come to the conclusion that G.C.,(Ground Control), Camber Plates have the features that I want, So I bit the bullet and bought a pair for the front struts. The fellows at GC said the plate mounts on the underside of the tower. I took a good look at how the tower was constructed and really didn't think the original tower would maintain structural integrity with all of the slots cut into it. It also would look much better with the finished plate mounted on top. The following pics show how I did my install. It is much stronger and better looking than the recommended installation. I hope these help with your project. Mongo Edited January 17, 2010 by MONGO510 additions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 Here are a couple of pics of the rear suspension I am fabricating. This is just in the preliminary build stage and will probably not look anything like this when completed. It has adjustable a-arm length, adjustable a-arm pivot point, and pivot height is adjustable. Shocks are double adjustable Hayabusa shocks. Shock mount is adjustable to vary the spring rate. Stock hayabusa rate is about 800#'s/in. I will shoot for a wheel rate of about 275#'s/in. Here are the pics. The subframe ties into the mustache bar mount and also bolts to the floorpan in six other places Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Here are some pics of my latest work. The first is a pic of my completed front suspension. The next 2 are some pics of my front Anti-Roll Bar . It is from the 180SX that I got my SR20DET from. As you can see, it is a very good fit. And the final pic is of the tie rods I made up, I think they came out pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 (edited) Some pics of of the Ignition System I have been working on. It is a Ford EDIS/8 system that will be controlled with a "MEGAJOLT" programmable Ignition unit. I made the trigger wheel from an old flexplate and a piece of 10ga. steel. I also shot an pic of the controller. Edited February 20, 2010 by MONGO510 add-ons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Its been a while since I did an update, so here are some pics of what's been happening. 1. EDIS ignition is up and ready to go. 2. Radiator, Fan, Shroud, and Expansion tank are installed. 3. Fuel tank is installed. 4. rear floor sheetmetal is installed. 5. Wiring is almost done. 6. Install inspection plates on transmission tunnel. 7. Install battery box in pass. side storage compartment. 8. Reposition original fuel pump mount with new pump installed. 9. Fabricate exhaust crossover section. Mongo Edited April 18, 2010 by MONGO510 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 It's Alive!!!! We started the engine and it sounds like it is going to be a runner!! Specs are: 400 block forged 327 crank H-beam rods Forged SRP pistons Alum. big valve heads Howards solid roller cam and lifters 1.6 Roller rockers stud girdle Gear drive EDIS Ignition/ Megajolt controller I am Stoked!!! see it here.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logan1 Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Awesome work bro... sounds like a very angry engine; should be fun once you get it on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logan1 Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Really looking forward to seeing the rear suspension installed. Also what size and offset wheels are you planning to run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted May 4, 2010 Author Share Posted May 4, 2010 (edited) Logan, I hope to run 8-1/2" fronts, 9-1/2" rear wheels. I have been busy on the rear suspension build. I have been building parts and hope to have the assembly in the car in a week or so. I realized that I have not been calling this by its correct name,as the rear suspension is a rocker arm set-up and not a simple double a-arm set-up. Here are some of the latest parts from my work bench. The first pics are of the rocker arms and the upper Heim joint. Do not be fooled buy the look of this rocker set as the Heim is massive!! It is a 1-1/4 in Heim that is designed to use a 1" through bolt. It probably way over size, but this is to be a street driven car and I don't want any failures. The second set of pics are of the rocker length nut plates and show there details. More pics will follow later in the week as more parts are fabbed up. Mongo Edited May 4, 2010 by MONGO510 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MREDDLE Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I can not wait to see the rear suspension unfold. I hope this works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 Here is the link to the rear suspension build. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/91914-rocker-arm-rear-suspension/ After running the engine for 30 mins. or so I have decided that the gear drive has got to go. It makes a ton of noise and I can't live with it. Fortunatly I have a new Comp Cams double roller timing chain in the toolbox. Another delay! 8-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 Latest update! I reassembled my doors and of course I had to modify every thing in sight. I had to straighten up the bent regulators and install new channel felts. I got some good used window rollers from RTZ and BRAAP( Thanks Fella's!) and reassembled the door guts. The stock door panels were in pretty poor shape(holes for speakers, broken hardboard, tears, etc), so I decided to use the same material for new panels as I used on my 510. ABS plastic sheeting. This stuff looks pretty good, is bullet proof, and easy to work with. It is also reasonably priced.(get it at Tap Plastics). I used the top of the original panel and fabbed up a new lower section. While I was at it I decided to change the door opening mechanism. I changed it to the door levers that are used in the rear of a 2+2. No particular reason why I did it, just that I could. LOL Here are some pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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