Lazeum Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Very nice job! I'll be following your work also along the way. It's very interesting & entaintaining! When you are all sick of seeing this mod, just shout out Please! don't stop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Very nice job! I'll be following your work also along the way. It's very interesting & entaintaining! Please! don't stop Well since you put it so nicely LOL Had some plastic trim pieces laying about from an Australian Ford Falcon.............. After some brainstorming and dissecting in my head they got the chop and weld treatment and now have an Ipod / Iphone dock cradle,I hope to find a set of SC400 Lexus power window switches to mount ahead of the dock and between them and the shifter will be the engine start button. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBang Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I love all the plastic work you are doing. I've got a lot of similar work in mind for my own car when I get to the interior and its great to see someone else doing something other than a stock dash or a complete replacement. I've got some different ideas for the direction I'm going to go with mine, but its still great to see someone doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 I love all the plastic work you are doing. I've got a lot of similar work in mind for my own car when I get to the interior and its great to see someone else doing something other than a stock dash or a complete replacement. I've got some different ideas for the direction I'm going to go with mine, but its still great to see someone doing it. Bang You guys from the Lone Star State. always had a soft spot for you all probably due to growing up watchig westerns........... Seriouslty though thanks for the compliments much appreciated, and look forward to seeing your take on what you are planning, watch out over the next few days as I do some serious disections as I just came up with another idea. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Ahhhhhhhhhhh the madness continues. Had to give some thought as to how to mount the new fascia and also how the console fascia and shifter garnish would be treated as far as trimming, then came to the realisation that it wouldn't work as I had it, so got the cutting disc and chopped the previously mounted and welded lower 2DIN surround out and mounted and welded it to the fascia, this will now help with the mounting and mean that I will now have a 1 piece fascia which curves down into the console where it will meet the shifter garnish, the idea now is to have the console and dash dressed in stitched suede and the new combined fascia and shifter garnish finished in a low bake gloss black, I'm thinking GM's Panther Mica black. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsonian Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 The plastic welding is truely inspirational to me. So much so I have a plastic welding kit on it's way from Eastwood.com. I really like the path you are taking with the fascia, and suede treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 The plastic welding is truely inspirational to me. So much so I have a plastic welding kit on it's way from Eastwood.com. I really like the path you are taking with the fascia, and suede treatment. Thanks, but just to let you know, Im using a $5.00 soldering iron, no joke, happy to do a vid of a section in action to prove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairladyturbo Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Very nice, I will definitly be following this build. I also added you on Facebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Wanna make a mold of it to resell to us that don't have your mad fab skills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 Wanna make a mold of it to resell to us that don't have your mad fab skills? Goth First, anyone with the most basic skills can do this, you just need to get over your misgivings about attempting it, you need to remember that unlike steel for instance, plastic is very forgiving in the you can quickly undo remodel or add to it. Second, I would but the face of these fascia's are only half of it, there are very intricate mounts and grooves on the reverse side that would be hard to replicate. Third, you guys drive on the wrong side, LOL, so these even if replicatad probably wouldnt suit Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) Started looking around at what I could use and modify to produce the centre console fascia......... The wonderful thing is that so many items today are mode from plastic and if you look carefully enough you re bound to come across something that has the intricate well fitting forms you need, in my case I needed something to fabricate the fascia from and also something that would act as the bed in which it sits, low and behold, I came across an old Compaq PC case I was going to turf and the front fascia gave me some idea's, the following are a selected few pics of what transpired. As soon as I get the gear shift bezel I will be able to lock up the front surface and fabricate a support panel to mold into the new fascia. Cheers John Edited May 1, 2011 by Sirpent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 Forgot to add how the switches came to be and what they are from, ES300 Lexus passanger items. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 Centre Console Gear Shift Fascia now almost done, obviously an access point will have to be cut out for mounting of the gear shift bezel etc. That will the determine where the reinforcements will go on the underside, next is to set the surround of the fascia in black into the centre console and weld that into position. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 First trial fit of the 3 pieces together in the car, some tweaking to do but overall alignments are good Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 OK, getting close to the point of finishing this mod off, everything is now aligned nicely, gaps are great and apart from a few behind the scenes mounting points I need to weld in, all's good. So to keep the mind occupied, Im also turning my attention to the electric windows and looks like I have found a suitable donor system out of a local GM car (left hand reg in the photo next to the S30 on the right)to play around with, these units are very ceap brand new off the shelf here at around $70.00 a pop, and are plentyful, so nothing lost in trying. And finally, Ive also decided that the headlamps need some attention, so Im looking at sourcing these and giving them the chop (deleting the driving light) and weld treatment for transplant into the "Z" Will post as things develop. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBang Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Ooh... what are those lights from? I was thinking of something like that for the Z but I never got around to figuring out what would fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Ooh... what are those lights from? I was thinking of something like that for the Z but I never got around to figuring out what would fit. 2000 W210 Mercedes E Class sedan Bang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBang Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Can't wait to see those mocked up in the Z's buckets. Do they look like they will fit well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 UPDATE: It just goes to show that no matter how much research you thought you have done, ITS NEVER ENOUGH ! In the past week I have learnt that the entire electronics system and hardware from a C32 sedan CANNOT be retro fitted into my car, that's the bad news. So after spending the better part of a day curled up in a fetal position sucking my thumb and thinking about my new position I tried to visualise exactly how the entire AGM package could work and came to the conclusion that dumping the auto trans, ECU and TCM and fitting a manual trans could allow me to move forward, what i have to do however is run something like a MoTeC M600 aftermarket management system instead. The reason for this is simple, after making another call to the UK and speaking to a tech at ATP about getting my ECU decoded so as to eliminate the security features I learnt that this was only part of the puzzle, the C32's ECU and TCM actually use telemetry from an array of other inputs such as the ABS, traction control, launch control and even suspension telemetry etc, if one of these telemetry streams is inactive the ECU and TCM read it as being a fault and the entire electronics go into limp mode. As we all know, Datsun even with all their visionary idea's in the 1970's never equiped my 260Z with such features and retro fitting them all from a Benz would end up costing me the price of a C32 sedan. If I was to use a manual stick shift like a Getrag with the MoTeC management system basically what I will be dealing with is a lump of metal with pistons injectors etc etc etc that the MoTeC can be set up for. I put my theory to one of Australia's best tuners, a friend of mine called Peter McDonnell and we did some soul searching on the phone and over the net and so far it looks doable. So now it looks like I will end up with not only the first S30 powered by a C32 AMG motor, but also the first C32 manual period "FINGERS CROSSED" Im lucky as MoTeC are in my home city.I spoke to them on the phone about the M600 unit to run the motor, as far as we can tell having crawled all over the M112 it should be doable even down to the fly by wire accelerator as the Motec provides input for it. The other good point is that we should be able to map and tune some more hidden potential out of those charged cylinders as a result. This is a link to the MoTeC unit in question if there are any tech's reading this that want to check it out. http://www.motec.com.au/m600/m600overview/ Plus side, it should be fun being able to use the left foot for some cog swapping as oppossed to just resting on the foot rest,this is the box thats planned for the conversion known as a Getrag M90, it was used for years here in Australia behind production GM V8's and will be up to handling the torque of the M112 motor. This is a link to a local supplier showing the box in question http://www.holmart.com.au/online/prod438.htm This will mean the fabrication of a adaptor or modified bellhousing and using a flywheel from a standard C320 Benz non supercharged manual box, unfortunately these boxes just aint up to the task behind a supercharged version of the motor and hence Benz never produced a manual C32. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 (edited) This is going to be a long update........... AT LAST It's official, motor should be here at Melbourne Docks on Friday 17th of August !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To celebrate I went out and purchased a diff today for the project along with a box I decided after much thought surfing and consolation,on installing an M86 LSD diff used in the the Australia XR6 Turbo Falcon and picked up a 20,00K diff, ratio is 3.46:1 So this weekend I spent much time designing a new cradle assy which will support the diff and firm up the rear suspension. As far as the box, I also secured a T56 box with chev bellhousing out of an Australian Commodore which ran a Gen3 V8 and got it for about half what everyone else was asking in the market place. So back to the rear cradle, what I am envisaging is utilising the moustache bar as a suspension mounting and fabricating a new beam from which I will then run a web structure down to the rearward control arm beams more or less creating a single structure carrier structure and ancillary control arm platform. From the rear control arm mount points forward I will run 2 horizontal beams to the forward facing control arm mount therefore creating a cradle off the original mounting points. The idea then is to use these beams as the bases for the side dampner mounts for the M86 diff. At the rear I will use the factory mount that bolts to the diff cover along with the factory dampner and have this bolted to the new rear carrier. The idea is that this moustache replacement will look similar to a C4 Corvette set up as per attached. If it works, then I can have the certification engineer go over it and advise what final modifications need to be made, a lot easier than trying to convey ideas and concepts. The new carrier no longer becomes the main insulator for the differential but rather a carrier for the suspension so will be solid mounted. Nevertheless it will still carry the diff aa it incorporates a rear mounted insulator held in place by a single bolt to the diff cover and dual bolts from the dampner to the mounting point which in this case will be the new carrier design, while the front has a dampner either side, so the entire diff floats so to say within the cradle. By using the new carrier in this way also, distribution of suspension forces are now spread across a wider area namely the rearward rails rather than the 2 drop brackets from the cross beam between them. I think it will work nicely as a package especially once I introduce Arizona rear control arms to the mix. The thumbnail sketch is just that and did a lot of measurements today of the original Z components so as to start a CAD file of the assy. At this stage an exhaust notch has to be added, also the rear carrier will have to include a centralised "Kick Out" on the upper beam to facilitate the rear diff mounting point. Some design changes will mean that the lower control arm pivot depressions will be built into the carrier and the cross beam will also have these so as to dispense with singular clamps. I did stuff up as I drew the front carrier upsaid down showing 2 separate clamps when in fact the body has the pivot depressions build into them meaning the front beam will be a single unit with a mirror image. All in all however clearances look very good and it may allow me to incorporate diagonal supports also running from the upper carrier down to the lower front beam, this triangulation should make it a more robust assy, but will see as I get closer with the CAD drawings. My only thoughts now are about the rear carrier mount points, the old moustache par pivots will work well but I'm also going to see if I can incorporate the remaining redundant hanger bolt points also, this will give me a 6 bolt point assy for the carrier. Any enlightenment from any members on the forum who may see or have experienced problems with a similar mod please feel free to post. Cheers John Edited July 24, 2011 by Sirpent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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